A total lunar eclipse will occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Tuesday, March 3, 2026 [1], with an umbral magnitude of 1.1507.
A lunar eclipse allegedly occurs when our Moon (Luna, Soma, Chandra) moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon's near side entirely passes into the Earth's umbral shadow.
Buddhist Lunar Observance
Holy Family: Rahula, the Buddha, and Ananda
An Uposatha (Pali uposatha, Sanskrit Upavasatha) day is a Buddhist day of special observance, in existence since before the Buddha's time (600 BCE), and still kept today by Theravada Buddhist practitioners [1, 2]. The Buddha taught that the Fasting Day is for "the cleansing of the defiled mind/heart," resulting in inner calm and joy [3]. On this lunar day, both lay and monastic members of the spiritual community (sangha) intensify their practice, deepen their knowledge of the Teachings, and express communal commitment through millennia-old acts of lay-monastic reciprocity. On these days, lay Buddhists make a conscious effort to keep the Five Precepts or (as the tradition suggests) the Ten Precepts. It is a day for practicing the Buddha's Teachings and meditation. More
Trump, what blackmail does Bibi have on you?
Unlike a solar eclipse, which can only be viewed from a relatively small area of the world, a lunar eclipse may be viewed from anywhere on the night side of Earth. A total lunar eclipse can last up to nearly two hours, while a total solar eclipse lasts only a few minutes at any given place, because the Moon's shadow is smaller.
The Dharmic religions have a different reason for eclipses, noting the existence of another planetoid object, Rahu. Of course, our Sun and Moon are also local and chasing after each other in the sky, as the CIA found in published and subsequently declassified texts. But the West scoffs at all that, insisting the cockamamie story the news tells us is the truth, the only truth, and the whole truth with nothing else being possible. Any "scientist" foolish enough to believe such claims is doing little to serve her or his science and its ideals. But who dares to stand up to the consensus reality until the herd does?
Why do Zionist Jews love war and blood?
The Moon's apparent diameter will be near the average diameter because it will occur 6.7 days after perigee (on Feb. 24, 2026, at 18:15 UTC) and 6.9 days before apogee (on March 10, 2026, at 9:45 UTC) [2].
This lunar eclipse will be the third of an almost tetrad, with the others being on March 14, 2025 (total); Sept. 8, 2025 (total); and Aug. 28, 2026 (partial). During the eclipse, the Moon will occult NGC 3423 over North America.
Deep-sky objects are rarely occulted during a total eclipse from any given spot on Earth [3]: 161. This eclipse will fall on the Lantern Festival, the first since Feb. 11, 2017. More
Total lunar eclipse happens tonight and Friday morning
Strange cloudy weather may conceal eclipse
(FOX Weather)
March 13th, 2025: FOX Weather Meteorologist Stephen Morgan explains the timing of the Blood Moon total lunar eclipse tonight and Friday morning. All you need to see the eclipse is to step outside and look up, but millions may have cloudy sky blocking their view.
Harken, it's time to awaken, deluded Earth Man. O, Moon Goddess, I was having a wild dream.
An Uposatha (Sanskrit Upavasatha) day is a Buddhist day of observance, in existence since before the Buddha's time (600 BCE) and still being kept today by Buddhist practitioners as he advised [1, 2].
The Buddha taught that the Uposatha Day is for "the cleansing of the defiled mind/heart," resulting in inner calm and joy [3].
On this day, both lay and ordained members of the sangha (spiritual community) intensify their practice, deepen their knowledge of the Teachings, and express communal commitment through millennia-old acts of lay-monastic reciprocity.
On these days, lay followers make a conscious effort to keep the Eight Precepts or (as the tradition suggests) Ten Precepts of intensive practice, over the ordinary Five Precepts observed all of the rest of the time. It is a day specially set aside for practicing the Buddha's Teachings and engaging in meditation. More
Oops, glasses marked safe and approved may not be. And even if they are, don't stare too long.
New and improved map of totality shows shadow moving in wrong direction for our cosmology
.
Desi Lydic on Trump's Nebraska electoral vote play and the 2024 solar eclipse
(The Daily Show) April 4, 2024: Genius comic Desi Lydic unpacks the mania surrounding the upcoming solar eclipse, Trump's attempt to change Nebraska's electoral vote system, and why the New York Marathon is pissed at the MTA. Plus, Ronny Chieng and Jordan Klepper have a good old-fashioned moon versus sun debate. #DailyShow #Comedy #Trump
WARNING: According to Hindu and Indian lore, it is very bad to see a solar eclipse. Go indoors and stay there until all is clear. It's bad luck and mojo. The shadow is harmful. Approach at own risk.
Our whole lives, for every eclipse, we have been told, "It will be 500 years before this happens again" to make it seem like a precious and irreplaceable sight to see. That's the profit-motive news for ya.
It may technically be true, but the fact is there is a full eclipse every 18 months and partial ones every five months, according to C2C 4/3/24 guest astronomer Dr. Tyler Nordgren. That makes a lot more sense.
There's always one to see that will be better, like the upcoming Egyptian full solar eclipse that will last for like 7.5 minutes, which million will travel to see. It won't be possible to sit on a pyramid to see it, but the skies are likely to be clear. The other thing we are not told is that, whatever it is that causes an eclipse (likely Rahu and not Luna/Chandra/Soma, our moon) casts a shadow as wide as itself and not narrower. It is a law of light and optics. So if it is the moon, our satellite is very small and nearby. Some declare that sun and moon are of the same size, revolving above us in a changing oval pattern, not Earth (Tierra, Bhumi) revolving in their faces as they hold still.
The other interesting thing to know, and it's good reason to get to totality if possible, is that 95% or even 99% totality is nothing like the full thing. All that happens at less than totality is some dimming and interesting shadows under trees where dappled light shows many little eclipses. In 100%, the world goes dark, temperatures drop, and the birds and insects get confused, one going silent and landing, the other chirping, only to stop a few minutes later to carry on as before. What an awe-inspiring sight it must have been before we thought we knew everything, trying to come up with an explanation for what was happening. Now we assume we are told the real story, when we've been fed misinformation that does not align with our observations. Yet, no one seems to notice.
Anyone can know that some senseless story is afoot, that NASA has been lying to the world for decades. Consider this: Which way is the Earth moving, turning, revolving? It's spinning east, we're told. Los Angeles is racing toward New York. That's why the sun seems to rise in the east and set in the west. While this is happening, the sun stays still in the eastern sky. And we are made to believe that moon crosses in front of it, seeming to head west or south sometimes. Look at the path of the eclipse, a shadow starting in the south (Texas) and moving up to the northeast (Maine).
That would not happen with the arrangement we are told we begin with. Maybe it's starting in Maine and coming down toward Texas and beyond. That would make more sense. Years ago, there was a solar eclipse visible on the West Coast, beginning in the Pacific Northwest and crossing down toward Florida and beyond. No one noticed that this is impossible?
Eclipse shadow moving in wrong direction
The shadow could never move from the northwest down to the southeast IF the Earth were spinning east to make the sun seem like it is traveling west. Map it out on a markerboard, and one thing becomes clear: We're being lied to. At that time, we were at Caltech surrounded by scientists, science students, and eclipse fans. We posed the question of how what we were seeing through filtered telescopes and using pinhole boxes could not possibly be caused by the moon.
Before the eclipse, the moon was in eastern sky and disappeared by daybreak. This was mentioned to the Caltech professor standing there in front of a crowd. He agreed. Then, looking through the telescope, the professor was told to see it. He did. "Look again," he was prompted. Whatever is passing in front of the sun to obscure it is coming down from the upper left down to the lower right. "Okay," he said, since we could all see and confirm that. "So we're to believe the moon traveled backwards to get in position to block the sun by descending down and crossing at an angle?"
The moon mostly goes from the east, not overhead, but in a trajectory that takes it south, moving west, and curving up toward Santa Monica and the Pacific Northwest. It changes through the year, but it is inconsistent with holding still as we on Earth race at 1,000 MPH toward the east. The professor, a vaunted scientist, was stymied. He kept starting and stopping like man in search of a lie to cling to: "The moon actually rises twice, because there are two moonrises every day," he repeated, not coming to a point. Does it?
We don't think so, but say that it does, how would that explain anything. Could he have meant to say it appeared the night before as usual then raced back to block the sun in the late morning to form the eclipse. He was asked for the path of travel, which was obvious every night preceding the eclipse. Point at Maine or the northeast and swing the hand across the sky toward Florida, continuing over the Gulf and back up toward the Santa Monica Bay. That's how it looks from Los Angeles. That was no different the night before.
Often the moon doesn't make it all the way before sinking down below the western horizon. With that established, how in the world was the moon now coming down from high above the sun at an angle? The Caltech professor had no answer, and he knew it, but everyone was staring at him, hoping for a clever explanation that would render all of this clear.
Instead, he said, "I'll have to ask the boys in the lab" as if they were working on the problem underground somewhere on campus, toiling away with their calculus and adjusting their world-class telescopes, sending frantic messages on their computers to Hubble to turn around and catch this earthly event. Did the professor quit, realizing he had been lied to and had been lying to all of his students and now his current audience? Nope. That paycheck kept him right where he was, head down, going along to get along.
Wisdom Quarterly will get to the bottom of this mysterious controversy tomorrow at the West Coast's greatest institute of scientific learning, Caltech, at the university's big solar eclipse viewing party. All are welcome to attend because Griffith Park Observatory will be closed and the Mt. Wilson event has been scuttled. Hey, if they're available, why not stump a scientist with facts?
How to watch the solar eclipse from California — and avoid heartbreak if chasing ‘totality’
RONG-GONG LIN II, LORENA IÑIGUEZ ELEBEE, SEAN GREENE, LOS ANGELEST TIMES, PUBLISHED APRIL 1, 2024, UPDATED APRIL 3, 2024, 11:11 AM PT
A partial solar eclipse will appear in Los Angeles from the southeast on Monday morning, April 8, 2024. The big party we were planning on Mt. Wilson has been scuttled due to inclement weather.
While a narrow strip of North America celebrates the arrival of a rare total solar eclipse April 8 — when midday darkness will be cast on a sliver of states, including Texas, Illinois, Ohio, and New York — there won’t be any “totality” in Los Angeles.
Still, if the skies remain cloud-free, California will enjoy an impressive partial eclipse that will feature the moon taking a bite out of the late-morning sun.
In Los Angeles, about half of the sun will be visibly covered by the moon, and in San Francisco, one-third will be.
The northernmost parts of the state will see the smallest amount of the eclipse, while cities to the south will experience more.
In Crescent City, in coastal Del Norte County, about 25% of the sun will be eclipsed; in Holtville, near the Mexican border in Imperial County, up to 58% of the sun will be blocked.
It’ll be the last partial solar eclipse for L.A. and San Francisco until 2029.
The event has generated considerable buzz, as it will be the last total solar eclipse seen from the contiguous United States until 2044.
The last one was in 2017, and before that, in 1979. Last October’s “ring of fire” solar eclipse was not total but “annular,” in which the moon was a bit farther away from Earth and short of completely blotting out the sun, thus leaving a glowing ring around it.
2024 solar eclipse
Map shows the path of totality arcing through parts of Texas, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and New England. Obscuration varies from 100%, 90%, 75%, and a minimum of 50% farther north.
On April 8, parts of the United States will experience a total solar eclipse. The rest of the continental U.S. will be able to see a partial eclipse.
Cities in a narrow, 115-mile [wide?] “path of totality” — where the moon completely blocks the sun’s visible surface — include Mazatlán, Mexico; Dallas; Indianapolis; Cleveland; Niagara Falls, N.Y.; and Sherbrooke, Canada.
An estimated 31.5 million live in the path of totality, and about 200 million others are within a few hours’ drive.
Far more people live in or near the eclipse’s path compared with those in 2017 and 1979.
What makes this solar eclipse particularly notable is that the entire contiguous U.S., as well as parts of Alaska and Hawaii, will be able to view at least a partial eclipse, allowing for a national experience.
But there’s a risk of heartbreak for eclipse aficionados if clouds roll in. Overcast skies will still darken in the path of totality, but “it’s obviously not as much fun as observing a solar eclipse in a cloud-free sky,” said Jean-Luc Margot, a UCLA professor of planetary astronomy.
Los Angeles view
In Los Angeles, the partial solar eclipse will start at 10:06 am, and a substantial bite of the sun will be obvious by 10:39 am, peaking at 11:12 am.
By 12:22 pm, it will be over, according to the Griffith Observatory.
Viewers will be able to see a small, little bite-sized chunk that the moon is taking out of the sun as it blocks some of its light.
— Dakotah Tyler, UCLA astrophysics doctoral student
NASA offers an eclipse explorer map, at go.nasa.gov/EclipseExplorer, with data for U.S. cities.
“You will be able to see a small, little, bite-sized chunk that the moon is taking out of the sun as it blocks some of its light,” said Dakotah Tyler, an astrophysics doctoral student at UCLA, who also makes science videos on social media.
Breatharians live on real light and prana.
“So that’s still a really cool thing to see, even if you’re not in the path of totality.”
No one should look at the sun directly during any phase of a partial solar eclipse.
And relying only on regular sunglasses, smoked glass, or polarizing filters is also unsafe.
“It is very dangerous to look at the partially eclipsed sun directly with your own eyes,” said Ed Krupp, the longtime director of the Griffith Observatory.
[Indian yogis who practice gazing at the sun, do so under special conditions that allow the atmosphere to act as a filter, when it is very low in the sky. Practice that only under expert supervision of an experienced yogi who is neither blind nor hard-of-seeing. Or else, expect a burned retina. While sunlight is good, this may not be the sun. A replacement may have taken its place, as in The Truman Show. A hologram figure hiding the real thing, as with the moon, is quite possible, as hard as it may be to believe or accept that we have been deceived for a long time.]
“You’re tempted to do it, but it will burn the retinas permanently and cause permanent [partial or possibly complete] blindness.”
A man uses eclipse glasses while looking up at the sky
Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker uses eclipse glasses to look at the partial solar eclipse during team practice on Oct. 14, 2023 (Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press).
In one documented case, a young woman who looked at the 2017 solar eclipse for 20 seconds without eye protection suffered permanent eye damage with no known treatment, according to the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai.
Within hours, her eyesight became blurry and she could only see the color black. Doctors found she had crescent-shaped retinal damage, which was the “shape of the visible portion of the sun during the partial solar eclipse in New York City,” the facility said.
[It is also important to have a diet rich in antioxidants and low in oxidized fried, processed, highly processed, and ultra-processed food-like stuffs, which put the "junk" in term "junk food," which is actually an oxymoron.]
“You need eye protection. That’s crucial,” Margot said.
People should obtain eclipse glasses or handheld sun filters, but buy them from reputable retailers.
NASA says safe solar viewers should comply with the ISO 12312-2 international standard, adopted in 2015. Those made with this standard can be used indefinitely as long as they aren’t damaged, the American Astronomical Society says, so those left over from the 2017 eclipse are safe to use if they aren’t torn, scratched, or punctured, or the filters aren’t coming loose from the cardboard of plastic frames.
BEWARE: Some eclipse glasses are labeled ISO-compliant but haven’t been properly tested, the society said.
“Don’t pick up your eclipse glasses on some street corner. People make fake ones now, and it’s quite problematic,” Krupp said.
The American Astronomical Society posts a list of North American manufacturers and importers whose products are safe if used properly.
A man watches a solar eclipse.
Mike Guymon of Santa Monica brought a Solarama — a solar eclipse viewing filter — to watch the annular solar eclipse in Bluff, Utah, in 2023 (Ash Ponders/Los Angeles Times).
Some experts also warn against staring at the eclipse for minutes on end, even with proper eye protection.
Krupp suggests looking up for just a moment, to see the progress, and then waiting 10 minutes or so before seeing how it looks again.
“Just because you have a filter, or eclipse glasses, doesn’t mean that it’s safe...to keep staring and staring. That’s the last thing you want to do,” Krupp said.
Pinhole camera and other ways
Another way to monitor the eclipse’s progression is through a pinhole camera, which can be made by poking a pin-size hole in a piece of aluminum foil or paper with a safety pin, paper clip, or pencil, and projecting the image of the sun onto the ground.
Holding up a colander can also project the partial eclipse onto the ground, as can looking at sunlight dappling through a tree’s leaves, or through your fingers aligned perpendicularly.
People using binoculars, camera lenses, and telescopes need to mount proper solar filters on the outermost lenses receiving light, filtering the powerful rays before they enter the device. Otherwise, the sunlight will be concentrated, and instant, severe eye injury can occur, NASA warns.
How to ruin your smart phone
For those interested in taking photos of the eclipse with their smartphone, Krupp suggested shooting wide-angle views.
The sun will appear pretty small, “but you’ve got the landscape around there” — similar to how people take photographs of sunrises and sunsets.
There will be eclipse viewing parties across California, including at the California Science Center in South L.A., Caltech in Pasadena, and Cal State L.A.
No parties at Griffith Observatory or Mt. Wilson
It's a great excuse to party outside.
(The big event at the Mt. Wilson Observatory was canceled due to weather worries.)
A number of public libraries across Los Angeles County also will hold viewing parties, and eclipse glasses will be available as long as supplies last.
One notable place that won’t host an in-person watch party is Griffith Observatory. Instead, it will broadcast the total solar eclipse live from Belton, Texas.
The Griffith Observatory Foundation is leading a viewing trip there as well as to Mazatlán, Mexico, where Krupp will be.
Weather worries
A big worry for eclipse chasers seeking to be in the path of totality is the weather. Unlike the Aug. 21, 2017, total solar eclipse, which was blessed with sunny skies for many, this April could be a different story.
“I’m calling this eclipse — April 8, 2024 — the ‘heartbreaker’ because we know the saying: ‘April showers bring May flowers.’ So dodging the clouds is going to be anything but a trivial task for this particular eclipse,” Jeremy Veldman, president of the Memphis Astronomical Society.
He said this in a YouTube video that covered 45 years of weather satellite photos for previous April 8 dates, as compiled by the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies.
A detailed analysis of past climate conditions for April, between 2000 and 2020, posted on the website Eclipsophile, said the probability of cloudiness increases the farther north one goes.
But climate averages are useful only if one is planning years in advance.
There have been times on April 8, Veldman said, such as in 2019, where “no matter where you go, there’s the likelihood you’re gonna be dodging clouds,” with the exception of southern Texas.
But sometimes, like on April 8, 1994, southern Texas was cloudy but other areas farther north were largely clear, even New York.
The Eclipsophile analysis said that now is the time to start looking at long- and short-range forecasts.
Where to see it?
100 million Native before Columbus
The call about where to go is mixed. Some have well-laid plans and say they’ll stay put no matter what. Other die-hard eclipse chasers may have multiple contingencies “so that they can change based on the weather,” NASA astrophysicist Kelly Korreck said at a briefing in January.
But deciding to move locations too late could leave you stuck in traffic. “Even interstates will come to a halt when the eclipse is imminent,” the Eclipsophile analysis said.
For those lucky enough to experience totality and who are positioned along the eclipse’s center line, it’ll be a relatively long event, generally 3½ to 4 minutes, depending on location.
By contrast, the longest duration of the 2017 total solar eclipse, near Carbondale, Illinois, was about 2 minutes, 40 seconds.
Veteran eclipse watchers say those in the path of totality can expect a transcendental experience. The last moment of sunlight that’s blocked out by the moon “produces a bright, bright spot on the dark disk of the sun,” Krupp said, referred to as a “diamond ring.”
If skies are clear, you might notice a “distinct column of the shadow of the moon — this cylindrical shadow column — moving toward you,” said Science Director for Mt. Wilson Observatory Tim Thompson.
Stange sky phenomena
Once you’re in the shadow, the temperature can drop; during his total solar eclipse experience in Idaho in 2017, the temperature dropped by 20 degrees.
Then, a moment later, the moon will completely block the sun’s surface.
“It’s like somebody threw a switch. The sun is completely blocked by the moon [or more likely by Rahu]. The darkness of the eclipsed sun is darker than the sky around it,” Krupp said.
“It seems like the deepest black that you’ve ever seen, particularly in contrast with the rest of the sky — which has grown dark, but not nighttime dark.”
Animals may react strangely, thinking it’s nighttime, and it can feel like “you’ve got this wraparound sunrise-sunset,” Krupp said.
“You’re looking out in every direction from where you are in the middle of the shadow.”
Added Thompson: “It’s that sunrise-sunset effect all along the horizon. You can’t see that kind of thing, ever, except during a total eclipse.”
We're afraid to look and go blind.
For those in the zone of totality, that’s the only time it’s safe to take off eclipse glasses and watch with the naked eye, NASA says.
People may be able to see the sun’s corona, the outer solar atmosphere, that’s superheated to millions of degrees — hotter than the surface of the sun, Tyler said.
“The corona is a very bright white and very obvious. And you never see anything like that unless it’s a total eclipse,” Thompson said.
“The contrast between that and the moon is so extreme — the moon becomes the blackest thing you’ve ever seen. ... It’s just like a hole punched in the universe.”
A total solar eclipse: The total solar eclipse of 2017, in a photo taken from the Gulfstream III, a business jet operated by NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center. The sun’s corona, the outer solar atmosphere, which is viewable as streams of white light, can be seen only during a total eclipse (Carla Thomas/NASA).
Krupp described the corona as a “pearly whitish halo of light around the sun but has streamers going in various directions.”
Another feature that can be seen are flame-like structures called prominences on the edge of the sun, showing up in contrast to the white light of the corona. They are coming out of the chromosphere, “which is shining with the red light of hydrogen at a particular temperature. And that looks sort of like a little arc of red, just depending on where you get it. It hugs the dark disk of the sun,” Krupp said.
Thompson suggested those attending their first total solar eclipse not bother with special viewing equipment during totality. “If you’ve never done it before, then you don’t want to be distracted by anything,” Thompson said.
“Don’t take telescopes, don’t try to photograph it. Maybe hold up your cellphone camera and take a click or something. ...But it’s all about being there and being part of the experience.”
A person views an eclipse with solar glasses.
Tatiana Kalish, 17, of El Segundo views a partial solar eclipse at the California Science Center in 2017 (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times).
It’s a marvel that solar eclipses happen in such perfect formation between Earth, the moon [or Rahu], and the sun.
There’s “this amazing cosmic coincidence that the size of the moon and the size of the sun — in an angular sense — are about the same,” Margot said.
“Even though the sun is 400 times larger than the moon...it also happens to be 400 times further away.”
[This is likely untrue. They are the same size and roughly the same distance away. That is far more probable, but we have been led to believe this other nonsense that runs counter to every religion's explanation of the sky. The Bible says otherwise. And Buddhist cosmology, based largely on Vedic, Hindu, and Jain cosmologies. In these explanations, the Earth is a disk under the firmament with the moon chasing the sun around the sky in a circle, which is exactly as it appears to us and our observations. Science tells another story that is so unlikely and hard to believe that we must never question it or fear ridicule, expulsion from school or graduate programs, and self doubt.]
Those in the path of totality should keep an eye on the time — perhaps using a timer or alarm — to know when to put their eclipse glasses back on. Original source:
Hmm, that's kind of a let down, only 50% obscuration, barely dimming our view.
Solar Eclipse Viewing Party
On Monday, April 8, 2024, from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm, Caltech (California Institute of Technology) is holding a public viewing event at the Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics.
This secret event is easy to miss outside the zone
A total solar eclipse will pass over North America, starting in Mexico (which is part of N. America) and entering Texas, which soon will revolt and not be part of the USA, on the morning of Monday, April 8, 2024.
ALERT: Griffith Observatory will not have an official event as all of its staff that normally revels in such events did the smart thing and traveled to Texas to see and film the event live. They will be broadcasting it live on YouTube. And the event planned for Mt. Wilson, the highest point over the City of Los Angeles, cancelled its viewing party. Although most Caltech astronomers also left town, they left behind a young crew to hold an official event of mostly know-nothings.
However, the richest-poorest town of Pasadena, California, which has the greatest wealth discrepancy between the Haves and the Have-Nots, has a private science institute called Caltech.edu. It is set up to view the partial solar eclipse that will be visible in most places outside the "path of totality."
The Science Center near USC and Cal State University, Los Angeles are also holding viewing parties with scientists on hand to assist in interpreting and sidestepping questions about why the shadow of the eclipse is moving in the wrong direction if Earth is spinning from west to east.
The shadow of [what cannot be] the moon will cover part of the Sun over the course of two hours. At its peak at 11:13 am, the Moon (whose name is Luna and Chandra and sometimes Soma) will cover almost 50% of the disk of the Sun. [It's actually Rahu doing it, but why quibble? If science says it's the Moon, no one is allowed to argue.]
Caltech will host a solar eclipse viewing party at the Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics and the adjacent space.
There will be solar telescopes, free eclipse glasses (as supplies last), and astrophysicists on hand to help everyone get the most out of this rare experience.
Astronomers and volunteers will be present to guide the public through the eclipse and answer questions about the Sun, eclipse, and astronomy.
This is a free event open to everyone. No reservations are needed. Stay as long or as short a time as desired. For directions, parking, and more information, please visit: outreach.astro.caltech.edu. For even more information, please contact Cameron Hummels by email at chummels@caltech.edu.
American scholar-monk Bhikkhu Bodhi (trans), SuttaCentral.net; Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Here & Now Podcast (NPR, 3/8/24), Sky & Telescope
Kelly Beatty, a senior editor at Sky & Telescope made it onto the "Here & Now" podcast carried by NPR (scpr.org, LAist.com) to talk about the impending glory (or foreboding disaster) that is the upcoming Total Solar Eclipse on April 8, 2024.
The U.S. will be able to see a partial eclipse, but a lucky or unlucky strip will get more than 4 minutes of totality, which could change lives, leaving many spectators in awe. In India, it's bad luck to look or have the shadow hit you, so many retreat inside until the celestial battle between the bodies -- Rahu swallowing Surya (Suriya, Sol, our sun). Prayers may be uttered to secure Surya's release. But it's all right because Buddhist monastics will utter them to save the world, from atop the Himalayas in Tibetan temples and on the plains and jungles across South and Southeast Asia.
(3) The foremost of those who exercise authority is Māra the Tempter.
(4) In this world with its devas, māras, and brahmās (angels, devils, and divinities), among this generation (population) with its wandering ascetics and temple priests (Brahmins), its devas (light beings, "shining ones") and humans, the Tathāgata [Wayfarer], the Arahant [Fully Enlightened], the Supremely Enlightened One [the Buddha] is declared foremost.
“These are the four proclamations of those who are foremost.”
AUDIO: HERE & NOW ANYTIME (March 8, 2024): We're counting down to the total solar eclipse of 2024 with Sky & Telescope editor Kelly Beatty, plus many more stories. It's "the news you need to know today — and the stories that will stick with you tomorrow" with special series and behind-the-scenes extras from Here & Now hosts Robin Young, Scott Tong, and Deepa Fernandes with help from Producer Chris Bentley and the team at NPR and WBUR.
SUTRA: The [Buddha is like the] Sun
Bhikkhu Bodhi, Suriya Sutta, "The Sun (2)" (SN 56.38); Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly
“Meditators, so long as the sun and moon have not arisen in the world, for just so long there is no manifestation of great light and radiance.
“Then blinding darkness prevails, a dense mass of darkness; for just so long
day and night are not discerned,
the month and fortnight are not discerned,
the seasons and the year are not discerned.
“But, meditators, when the sun and moon do arise in the world, then there is the manifestation of great light and radiance; then there is no blinding darkness, no dense mass of darkness;
then day and night are discerned,
the month and fortnight are discerned,
the seasons and year are discerned.
“So too, meditators, so long as a Tathagata [a supremely enlightened buddha] has not arisen in the world, an Arahant [Fully Enlightened One], a Supremely Enlightened One, for just so long there is no manifestation of great light and radiance.
“Then blinding darkness prevails, a dense mass of darkness; for just so long there is no
explaining,
teaching,
proclaiming,
establishing,
disclosing,
analyzing, or
elucidating of the Four Noble [Ennobling = Enlightening] Truths.
“But, meditators, when a Tathagata arises in the world, an Arahant, a Supremely Enlightened One,
then there is the manifestation of great light and radiance;
then no blinding darkness prevails,
no dense mass of darkness;
“Then there is the explaining, teaching, proclaiming, establishing, disclosing, analyzing, and elucidating of the Four Noble Truths.
Gavampati Sutra: The Buddha taught Ven. Gavampati at Sahajāti in the Land of the Ceti. Senior monks were talking about disappointment (dukkha) he tells them that he knows from the Buddha that whoever understands dukkha knows all its aspects: its true nature, its arising, its cessation, and the path leading to its cessation (S.v.436).
(SN 56.30) “...Ven. Gavampati said to the elders [theras, senior monastics of ten rains retreats or more]: “Friends, in the presence of the Blessed One I have heard and learned this: ‘Meditators,
one who sees dukkha (disappointment, pain, suffering, ill)
also sees the arising (origination) of dukkha,
also sees the ending of dukkha,
also sees the way (path) leading to the ending of dukkha.
“One who sees its origin also sees its ending, also sees the way leading to its ending.
“One who sees its ending also sees it, also sees its origin, also sees the way leading to its end.
“One who sees the way leading to its end also sees it, also sees its origin, also sees its ending.’” More
Why they matter in practice, not theory
The "Four Noble Truths" are not "Buddhist Kindergarten Basics" for everyone to memorize and "believe," repeat, and accept as so many people seem to think.
When people undertake to understand them in that way, they invariably argue about the first truth: "Not everything is suffering!" they say, completely misunderstanding, misconstruing, and throwing away everything the Enlightened One is about to say as a nutshell teaching of the Dharma, the teachings that lead to that awakening (enlightenment, bodhi) he enjoys, right view, going-and-gone beyond all suffering.
Do not memorize these Four Truths by rote; penetrate them by practice. Leave them, set them aside, and sit in stillness instead. A mind composed by samma-samadhi (the first four absorptions), turning to the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, will penetrate these things and see all psycho-physical phenomena as bearing these marks, these characteristics of existence. Then one can let go. Then one can awaken. Then one will not need the Buddha nor any other teacher to see that these four are true.
They are fundamental truths leading to awakening IF one could only penetrate how true they are! We are too used to them to notice them. Finding them unpleasant, we look everywhere else but at them, even though they color all of life in this existence (as well as other rebirths in the 31 Planes of Existence).
What then is needed? First, we must purify the mind/heart, intensifying it through mastery of the first four absorptions (jhanas). Then we can quickly and successfully undertake to penetrate these truths with insight.
How? We must discern ultimate-materiality (kalapas, "particles") and ultimate-mentality (cittas, "mind-moments") directly.
Then the heart/mind with no effort other than looking will grow disenchanted, will become dispassionate, will turn away from (let go of) to anything it clings to, any phenomena that arise only to perish, all dependently-originated constituent things (1) beset by disappointment (dukkha),(2) radically impermanent (arising, turning, and passing away at every moment and submoment), and (3) and ultimately impersonal.
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