Showing posts with label taoism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label taoism. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 5, 2026
Friday, May 1, 2026
How did Buddhism reach China?
(Natasha Yehenara) How did Buddhism reach China? Buddhism in China, Greco-Buddhism, the Buddha (Scythian Prince Siddhartha Gautama) was from Gandhara (Central Asia), modern Afghanistan (likely Buddhas of Bamiyan, Mes Aynak, and Kabul as one of the three seasonal capitals all collectively referred to as Kapilavastu). See Dr. Ranajit Pal: Non-Jonesian Indology and Alexander #academia #Buddhism #historyfacts #Gandhara #GrecoBuddhism #ChineseCulture
Labels:
Bactria,
Buddhist Councils,
central asia,
China,
East,
gandhara,
greco-indian fusion,
greeks,
hellenistic empire,
indo-pakistan,
kashmir,
mahayana,
sakastan,
scythian,
Shakya,
taoism
Wednesday, April 22, 2026
David Wilcock killed, called 'suicide'
(Praveen Mohan) Edgar Cayce (A.R.E.) reborn as David Wilcock, the man who said too much
(ETimes) David Wilcock's final 72 hours deepen death [murder] mystery as friend reveals last call with UFO researcher and government whistleblower along with Corey Goode (GAIA TV).
![]() |
| Dave Wilcock LOVED to smoke weed as a teen, so it's ironic he died on 4/20. |
.
![]() |
| Reincarnation of Edgar Cayce? |
A very strange series of deaths
(American Discourse News) David Wilcock from Ancient Aliens dead 48-hours after his co-author Wynn Free: coincidence or conspiracy? Nick Pope and Erich von Däniken are also dead.
No confirmation of his death
(DAHBOO77) What has really happened to David Wilcock?
Corey Goode gone way bad?
![]() |
| David Wilcock (Wikipedia) |
![]() |
| Edgar Cayce, 1910 |
Humans really do have magic powers?
Asian girls taking over Western metal?
Labels:
baby,
buddhist women,
China,
female first,
Feminism,
Japanese,
metal,
rock n' roll,
romantic western women,
Shinto,
taoism
Sunday, April 19, 2026
Zen's Bodhidharma on the ONE method
The ONE practice that contains every spiritual method | Bodhidharma's breakthrough sermon
In this final chapter of the series, the First Zen Patriarch Bodhidharma [from India] reveals the most essential teaching of his entire lineage — and it begins with beholding the mind.
This video is a direct transmission of Buddhist Wisdom that cuts through centuries of misunderstanding about what spiritual practice truly means.
Discover why temples, rituals, chanting, and good deeds alone cannot free us — and what actually can.
In this sermon, Bodhidharma teaches
→ The single method that contains all other methods
→ The three hidden poisons (greed, anger, delusion) — and how they silently run our life
→ The six "thieves" operating through our own senses, robbing us of peace every day
→ Why "three asankhya kalpas [aeons of indeterminate length]" of hardship is not what most people think
→ The true meaning of the six perfections (paramitas), the three sets of precepts, and invoking the Buddha
→ How to behold our own mind and free ourselves from suffering — in this very lifetime.
This is not a lecture. This is Buddhist Wisdom spoken directly — clear, unfiltered, and as alive today as it was 1,500 years ago.
📌 THIS SERIES
- Chapter 1 — Blood Stream Sermon (watch first)
- Chapter 2 — Wake-Up Sermon
- Chapter 3 — Breakthrough Sermon (you are here)
🔍 TOPICS COVERED
- Bodhidharma teachings | Breakthrough Sermon | Beholding the mind | Three Poisons in Buddhism | Six Perfections (paramitas) explained | Buddha Nature | Zen Buddhism | Buddhist Wisdom for modern life | First Zen Patriarch | Liberation from suffering | Three sets of precepts | Six thieves of the mind | Enlightenment teachings
- Bodhidharma: between myth and reality (Penglai Martial Arts)
Every week, this channel brings rare Buddhist Wisdom drawn from the original [Mahayana] teachings of the great masters — Bodhidharma, Bankei, Linji Yixuan, and the earliest Zen patriarchs. If the ancient path to liberation is what one are looking for [that person might try Theravada, a back-to-basics Buddhist movement that holds the teachings of the historical Buddha in the highest esteem over subsequent Mahayana interpretations and apocryphal inclusions, distortions, and additions], subscribe and turn on notifications to never miss a teaching.
Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Bruce Lee on Muscle Beach, Los Angeles
In 1971, Bruce Lee was enjoying a day with his wife Linda Lee Cadwell and family at "Muscle Beach," a portion of Venice Beach next to Santa Monica under LAX's flight path, when Kurt Wagner — a 315-pound strongman who could deadlift 750 pounds — publicly challenged his Buddhist/Taoist/Chinese philosophy.
What happened in the next six seconds shocked the entire "Muscle Beach" crowd and changed strength culture forever.
This is the untold story of when raw power met precision, when mass confronted understanding, and when a world-champion strongman learned that everything he believed about strength was incomplete.
🥋 The confrontation that Muscle Beach never forgot
🥋 How a 135-pound man dropped a 315-pound giant in six seconds
🥋 The solar plexus strike that penetrates through muscle
🥋 Why mass without wisdom is just weight to carry
🥋 The strongman who became Bruce Lee's student
Kurt Wagner thought his 315 pounds of muscle made him unstoppable. Bruce Lee showed him that technique, properly applied, can overcome any size advantage — not through luck, not through tricks, but through deep understanding of anatomy, physics, and human movement.
This is the legacy of Bruce Lee teaching that real strength isn't measured in pounds, but in wisdom and understanding.
Joe Rogan: This is impossible
(The Hidden Record) Only Dr. Joel Wallach (criticalhealthnews.com) knows what killed legendary and superhuman Bruce Lee (Kung Fu, Jeet Kune Do, Chinese martial arts). It was his bad diet, going to extremes, killed by gluten and insufficient micro and macro nutrients.
Monday, April 13, 2026
Buddhism split: Mahayana emerged
(Buddha's Wisdom) Heretical new texts turn the historical Buddha Shakyamuni's Dharma (Doctrine) on its head, infusing it with the Old Vedic Religion of the Brahmins, Taoism, Hinduism, and later thought, sometimes directly opposing what Gautama Buddha taught about nirvana and samsara and many other things, including the Ten Perfections (reduced by Mahayana to six) and the 31 Planes of Existence (reduced to six)...
'Wu wei' explained: Taoism in Zen
(Daily Tao Wisdom) The true story of wu wei (a concept in Taoism inherited by Zen (Chan), Chinese culture, and the Mahayana school of Buddhism -- told by the man who refused to explain it, "He Fang" (He Yan?)
Labels:
Alan Watts,
China,
Lao Tzu,
martial arts,
taoism,
wandering asceticism,
Zen
Friday, April 10, 2026
KUKAI: Zen documentary FREE in LA
KŪKAI is a visually stunning documentary that brings to the screen the remarkable story of Kūkai, one of the most influential figures in Japanese cultural history. In 804 AD, he traveled from Japan to Tang China in search of knowledge, beginning a journey that would leave a lasting mark on art, learning, and cultural life across East Asia.
- FREE TICKETS: Register now: “KŪKAI” Exclusive Screening Tour 2026 (U.S.)
- “KŪKAI” Exclusive Screening Tour | Los Angeles, USA Tickets, Saturday, April 11 • 2:30 PM - 5:30 PM | Eventbrite
REVIEW: No. This is the worst kind of hagiography. We saw it in Beverly Hills on Sunday as part of its pre-release screening. It is as faith-based as it gets, and Japan is already infamous for its uber faith (bhakti) path Nichiren Buddhism. In the struggle between tariki and jiriki, it goes over the top that magic, mantra, and mumbo-jumbo are the path. It's not the Path the historical Buddha taught, and anyone could see that with the slightest amount of study. Faith (saddha, confidence, conviction) is an important step in walking the Path, but blind faith or an overdependence on some other force in the universe being invoked to come save us, it's not what the Buddha taught. It seems the antithesis of his message to a suffering world. The Dharma (Dhamma) is all about taking a good look at reality and our responsibility for ourselves. We're in this mess, we're keeping ourselves in this mess, and we have to make the effort (with help) to awaken ourselves. This is not a do-it-yourself project, but it is certainly not a Brahminical tantric secret of hocus pocus and everything working out. There were six "heretical" teachers and popular pernicious wrong views at the time of the historical Buddha. And he taught the Net of All-Embracing Views (Brahmajala Sutta) to counter those wrong views and bring about right view, the first factor or limb of the Ennobling Eightfold Path. What's wrong with this movie? What's right with it? Create a mechanical looking lead who never speaks, use a thundering "God voice" in classical Chinese with untranslated Sanskrit terms when they could easily be shown in English in parentheses, leave females out of 99% of the story, only including them as a footnote of grateful praying sycophants. Use AI to make the whole historical tale seem like a bad, one-sided fiction.
Sunday, March 8, 2026
Tuesday, March 3, 2026
Hidden Birth of Zen (as Taoism)
![]() |
| Bodhidharma: Nothing you do... - Are you crazy, then why do anything? - Be. Go with the Tao |
![]() |
| What are you doing, Zen Master? - I'm going with the Tao. - You're not doing anything. - Yes. |
- So much of what people call "Zen" (capitalized as opposed to zen or jhana/dhyana) sounds more like Taoism (with a stiff dose of Confucianism) than Buddhism, and here's why. It was all picked up in translation. So what was lost? Those may be beautiful spiritual/temporal traditions with which to blend, but what is obscured is the historical Buddha's message until it is almost completely lost and replaced by Hinduism (with its Tantra, yoga, and magic that gave rise to another branch Vajrayana/Shingon attached) to a new religion that came to be called Mahayana, far from the Buddha's Dhamma.
Everything Zen
![]() |
| We silly Westerners have no idea! We think we know |
We aim to find out on Thursdays in Los Angeles at the Pasadena Zen Sangha. There is a path. What is it? If one were to ask the average American Zen practitioner, then everything likely to be heard in response would be some derivation of Taoism, not Buddhism or any relation to relation to the Doctrine of the historical Buddha.
| Shikantaza: just do it because it's just sitting. |
For all that, on "Buddhist Radio" (Alan Watts - KPFK 90.7 FM, 8:00 am, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026) Alan Watts explained Zen in 18-minutes.
His brief talk lays bare the root of every misconception. Moreover, Buddha's Wisdom (in the video displayed above) does much to add context and clarify. Zen can be grasped.
![]() |
| KPFK Public Radio - Online Archives Archive |
Zen promotes spontaneity, naturalness, flow, being at ease, comfort, and relaxing into a kind of "just being" present and mindful (of the moment) without so much thinking (premeditation).
- FREE THURSDAYS: Zen Meditation Community, LA
- Buddha's Wisdom, Feb. 2026; cartoonist Brad Warner, Angel City Zen, 4/15/24; Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Hel (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Labels:
Alan Watts,
birth,
Brad Warner,
Buddha nature,
cartoon,
chinese,
discipline,
Eight Jhanas,
flow,
Japanese,
Lao Tzu,
law of nature,
Los Angeles,
syncretism,
Tao,
taoism,
tariki or jiriki,
Zen,
Zen Comics
Friday, February 6, 2026
Zen Meditation Community, LA (Thursdays)
![]() |
| All things are as empty as the enso |
- Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church
- Pasadena Library (Rose Bowl branch)
- Ahiah Center for Spiritual Living in Pasadena
- Mindfulness Meditation Center
- Los Angeles Buddhist Vihara, Pasadena,
- Vipassana Meditation Center (Tha Bar Wa) until the Panda from Wuhan stopped our weekly sangha ("spiritual community") from meeting in person.
![]() |
| Art by Rev. Seigaku Amato |
- Weekly Zen Meditation
- Pasadena Zen Sangha (free or by donation)
- Every Thursday from 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
- Orange Grove Friends Meeting House
- 520 E. Orange Grove Bl., Pasadena, 91104
![]() |
| The Bodhisattva of Compassion: Kanzeon |
TEACHER: Sensei Seigaku Amato
![]() |
| Seigaku Amato, Hossenshiki ceremony, Japan |
Sensei or Reverend Seigaku Amato, who was educated in a Sōtō-Rinzai Zen blend, leads us every Thursday in:
- shikantaza or "just sitting" (zazen),
- mindful walking (kinhin),
- perplexing riddles to help us overcome rigid and limiting habits of mind and get us thinking outside the box (koans),
- questions and answers, and
- an open group discussion.
HIS BOOK: The Complete Illustrated Guide to Zen
With 4.3 out of 5 stars (38 reviews), this 2021 Simon & Schuster introduction to Zen is unlike any readers have ever seen — inspired by manga and graphic novels. It offers a comprehensive overview of Soto Zen Buddhism in a delightfully captivating way.
Complete with dynamic, detailed illustrations, American Soto Zen Priest Seigaku Amato uses a semi-narrative style to take readers on a visual tour of Buddhism and, using specifics to illuminate universals, dives deeply into the practices and forms of Soto Zen.
![]() |
| In honor of our teacher the Buddha Shakyamuni |
- a brief history of Buddhism
- an iconographic overview of various buddhas and bodhisattvas
- an introduction to the various practices of Zen, including
- a what’s-what of:
- holidays
- ceremonies
- temple instruments
- religious vestments
- a how-to guide for setting up a home altar.
- BOOK: The Complete Illustrated Guide to Zen (Simon & Schuster)
- Seigaku Amato's ART — Pasadena Zen Sangha
OTHER LOCAL PRACTICE OPPORTUNITIES
- Zenshuji Soto Misson, in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, the first Soto Zen temple in North America, established in 1922
- Taichi (Calendar - Neighborhood UU Church) Feb. 7, 2026, 8:00- 9:15 am
- (Japanese) Pasadena Buddhist Temple (of Altadena)
- New Science of Spirituality Meditation Center opens in Pasadena (former home of the LA Buddhist Vihara)| Science of Spirituality
- Buddhist groups increasingly taking root in Latinx communities | Lion’s Roar
- Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Dhr. Seven, Jen Bradshaw, Wisdom Quarterly
Friday, January 23, 2026
Ever WONDER? (Alan Watts)
(T&H Inspiration) Audio: British Californian Alan Watts (also alanwatts.com) explains wonder
![]() |
| All things are impersonal, ill, and impermanent |
(True Meaning) Alan Watts: Just LET GO often misunderstood as loss through as "internal renunciation" (nekkhamma) when it actually means GAINING FREEDOM from freeing ourselves, that is, from letting go of bonds (fetters) or shackles, things we're stuck to or that are stuck to us, attachments, and all we cling to with craving and greed and lustful affection -- particularly views and the Five Aggregates clung to as self that is not-self (anattā).
- Alan Watts on Pacifica L.A. (KPFK 90.7 FM)
- Alan Watts Sunday, January 18, 2026, 8:00 am
- Pacifica Archives through KPFK.org
- Alan Watts via T&H Inspiration and Motivation, True Meaning; explanation by Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Friday, January 16, 2026
The 5 most famous Chinese poems

Li Bai (Chinese 李白, Pinyin Lǐ Bái) (circa 701-762), who is also known by his courtesy name of Taibai (太白), was a Chinese poet acclaimed as one of the best and most important poets of the Tang dynasty, even the whole of Chinese poetry.
He and his friends such as Du Fu (712–770) were among the prominent figures in the flourishing of Chinese poetry of the Tang dynasty, often called the "Golden Age of Chinese Poetry." The expression "Three Wonders" denotes
- Li Bai's poetry,
- Pei Min's swordplay, and
- Zhang Xu's calligraphy [1].
Thirty-four of Li Bai's poems are included in the anthology Three Hundred Tang Poems, which was first published in the 18th century [3].
Around the same time, translations of his poems began to appear in Europe. In Ezra Pound's famous work Cathay (1915), Li Bai's poems enjoy the lion's share (11 out of 19) [4]. Li Bai's poems became models for celebrating the pleasures of... More
- Skritter; Learn Chinese Now; CC Liu, Crystal Quintero, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit
Labels:
Autumn,
Buddha nature,
Ch'an,
chinese,
culture,
eastern philosophy,
empire,
festival,
five dynasties,
full moon,
haiku,
language,
literature,
mahayana buddhism,
poetry,
season,
summer,
taoism,
taoist,
Zen
Monday, January 12, 2026
Partying in Japan's redlight district, LGBT
(Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown) Anthony Bourdain shows the real Yakuza (Japanese mafia, mob, organized crime) run side of Buddhist Tokyo, Japan.
(Japan explorer) Revealing Tokyo's underground nightlife secrets
The Russians invaded Manchuria
Labels:
capitalism and religion,
clubbing,
culture,
gay,
Geisha,
homosexuality,
hostess,
Japan,
LGBT,
mafia,
mahayana buddhism,
party,
pederasty,
porn,
prostitution,
queer,
Shinto,
taoism,
yakuza,
Zen
Wednesday, January 7, 2026
China's 1 billion uncounted Buddhists
(Chinese Life with Judy & Mao) Is China really non-religious? In Beijing's most crowded temple
![]() |
| List of religions by size (Wikipedia)a |
What is the third largest religion in the world?
Who can say? One billion or more Buddhists in China go uncounted in official figures because, officially, all Chinese in China are communist atheists with no interest in religion, just a love of business, STEM, and tech.
The exact same thing happens in the United States, and any American can see it at the largest Buddhist temple in the western hemisphere, "Going West" (Hsi Lai) Temple, in Los Angeles, California:
Government and politics in China
![]() |
| Who cares about Buddhist Shaolin Temple of Kung Fu but tourists from around the world? |
.
"China" is actually called the People's Republic of China (PRC). Officially, it is a communist state governed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
![]() |
| Most earthlings live either in India or China |
Officially, the CCP is guided by socialism with Chinese characteristics, which it describes as Marxism adapted to Chinese circumstances [184].
![]() |
| The 14th Dalai Lama is considered a demon. |
![]() |
| Enormous modern Buddha statue, Henan, China |
The PRC officially characterizes itself as a democracy—more specifically, a whole-process people's democracy—that is organized around the [Russian] Leninist principle of democratic centralism [186].
However, the [empire or] country is commonly described as an authoritarian one-party state and a dictatorship [187, 188] with some of the world's heaviest restrictions in many civil rights areas, most notably AGAINST:
- freedom of the press,
- freedom of assembly,
- free formation of social organizations,
- freedom of religion, and
- freedom of the Internet [189].
![]() |
| "Freedom of religion"? Not for Tibetans, Uyghurs |
But other sources suggest that terming China as "authoritarian" does not sufficiently account for the multiple consultation mechanisms that exist in the Chinese governmental system [191].
Religion in China
![]() |
| China's top Buddhist Goddess |
Freedom of religion is guaranteed by China's constitution, although religious organizations [like peaceful Falun Gong] that lack official approval can be subject to state persecution [198].
The government of the country is officially atheist, and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) requires its members to be [or at least say they are officially] atheist [479].
Religious affairs and issues in the country are overseen by the National Religious Affairs Administration, under the CCP's United Front Work Department [480].
| Guanyin in neighboring Mongolia |
Chinese folk religion, which is framed by the Three Teachings and by other traditions [483], consists in allegiance to the shen [Japanese kami], who can be:
- deities of the surrounding nature or
- ancestral principles of human groups,
- concepts of civility,
- culture heroes and heroines, many of whom feature in Chinese mythology and history [484].
Among the most popular cults of folk religion are those of
the Yellow Emperor, embodiment of the God of Heaven, and
Chinese ritual with incense - one of the two divine patriarchs of the Chinese people [485, 486] of
- Mazu/Matsu (Goddess of the Seas) [485],
- Guan Yu (God of War and Business),
- Caishen (God of Prosperity and Wealth),
- Pangu, and
- many others.
In the early decades of the 21st century, the Chinese government has been engaged in a rehabilitation of folk cults—formally recognizing them as "folk beliefs" as distinguished from doctrinal religions [487] and often reconstructing them into forms of "highly curated" civil religion [488]—as well as in a national and international promotion of Buddhism [489].
A visit to 'evil' atheist China
![]() |
| Big statues: India, China, USA, Russia, Brazil |
European Buddhist nun in Chinese: "Stop comparing, start living"
- Chinese temple praying (rawpixel)
- Chinese Life with Judy & Mao; CC Liu, Dhr. Seven, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)


.jpg)
































.png)