When Japan was Black (Jomon, Ainu)

Black Kamakura Buddha Daibutsu, 1885, Amitābha

(African History Fountain)

• Buddhism in Japan
• Jōmon period of Japan
• Ainu people of Japan

Before animals: the evolution of life

Choanoflagellate colony stained to highlight DNA and other features (Nicole King lab)

Mono Lake’s extreme environment, characterized by high salinity and toxic substances such as arsenic and cyanide, may have driven the evolution of this distinctive species.

.

California discovery may explain evolutionary arising of animals

Microscopic choanoflagellate B. monosierra

(The Brighter Side of News) Mono Lake, nestled in Northern California’s Eastern Sierra Nevada, is a haven for unique life forms [as it fills with water washing down from Yosemite National Park's alpine lakes, most of which evaporates faster than it can be replenished].

Its iconic tufa formations and thriving populations of brine shrimp (aka fly larvae) and alkali flies showcase an ecosystem adapted to the lake's hypersaline, alkaline waters.

• PHOTO: Globular colonies of the choanoflagellate Barroeca monosierra seen under a microscope. As indicated by the 50-micron scale bar in the upper left, these colonies are at the limit of what’s visible to the naked eye (Alain Garcia De Las Bayonas, Nicole King lab, © The Brighter Side of News).

Dhamma Aboard Evolution: Agganna Sutta

Now, researchers from the University of California at Berkeley have identified a microscopic organism in this extreme environment that could illuminate the early evolution of life.

The discovery is a single-celled organism called a choanoflagellate, a group that holds special significance in the study of evolution. Although not animals themselves, choanoflagellates are the closest known living relatives of animals.

Their biology offers vital clues about the transition from single-celled to multicellular life. What sets this particular species apart is its microbiome.

Unlike other choanoflagellates, which typically consume bacteria, this species forms a stable, physical association with its bacterial partners. This makes it the simplest known organism to host a microbiome, providing researchers with an unprecedented opportunity to study how early interactions between single-celled organisms and bacteria influenced the evolution of complex life, including animals.

This could explain life.

“Very little is known about choanoflagellates, and there are interesting biological phenomena that we can only gain insight into if we understand their ecology,” says Nicole King, a professor of molecular and cell biology at UC Berkeley and an investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. More

• Ancient tribal protectors of Mono Lake: Kucadikadi ("shrimp eaters" or "fly people"), Northern Paiute of California

The Chicken or the Egg?

I don't think, therefore I'm not, Rene

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? It's very simple in reality. Only in theory it's impossible to answer because it's a philosophical paradox or causality dilemma. The conundrum is a kind of logical fallacy of getting caught up in categories, terminology, and semantics, losing sight of the fact that we as onlookers are the ones creating the arbitrary labels, determining the limits of categories, and making the subjective judgments to include somethings and exclude others.

• The dilemma stems from the observation that all chickens hatch from eggs and all chicken eggs are laid by chickens, a situation where it is not clear which of two events should be considered the cause and which should be considered the effect, to express a scenario of infinite regress, or to express the difficulty of sequencing actions where each seems to depend on others being done first.

Wittgenstein would be dismayed. The answer, of course, is the proto-chicken, a creature which is a "chicken" because it lays chicken eggs but is not a chicken because it itself was not born of such an egg. Yet, if it looks like a chicken and clucks like a chicken, it is chicken enough because it does the most important thing, which is to give birth to chickens rather than it itself being born the way "chickens" are thereafter. (The exact same evolutionary question might be asked of Homo sapiens or modern humans. Which came first, the human or the womb? If all humans are born of wombs and all human wombs are produced [only] by humans, we're in the same dilemma. (Neither is completely true, but we begin with this assumption to our detriment).

The excellent thing about this discovery by UC Berkeley, my own alma mater, is that it gets at the reality and avoids the logical trap, causality dilemma, or infinite regress logicians would be caught in. There is a transitional creature that is neither yet fully animal nor solely pre-animal because it has a stable microbiome it has partnered with. Similarly, humans born of a womb and giving birth via a womb must have been preceded by a humanoid creature who did not do both.

Where did animals like us come from? That is the question at hand. If this is how "animals" behave and get defined (born of womb and birthing others via a womb), we will trap ourselves in assumptions and the rules of logic. Once we broaden the category to include the proto-animal, or in this case the choanoflagellate with a microbiome, we can begin to see how things might have gone through an intermediary phase not allowed for, assumed, or understood by our strict logic. So hooray for the transitional creature that yet remains alive to be studied that we might understand these animal bodies we identify with as and cling to as "self."

• PHOTO: A colony of choanoflagellates stained to show its features. Cyan indicates DNA — the doughnut-shaped DNA of the choanoflagellate cells and a cloud of bacterial DNA inside the colony — while flagella are white and microscopic hairs (villi) on each cell are red (Kayley Hake, Nicole King lab © The Brighter Side of News).
• PHOTO (TOP): Microscopic life moves. "With the Volvox, this specialization transforms into a full division labor that you can actually see reflected in the cells... – @adelicateculturecell on Tumblr
• The Brighter Side of News via MSN, 1/23/25; Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly COMMENTARY

Trump: Tulsi, RFK, Elon, Gaetz (comedy)

Trump acts cordial with Genocide Joe while Matt "Molester" Gaetz, Tulsi Gabbard, and Hegseth "Fox News" score nominations

(The Daily Show) Nov. 13, 2024: Jordan Klepper tackles Trump's meeting with Biden and the president-elect's newest nominees: Matt Gaetz, Tulsi Gabbard, and Pete Hegseth. Plus, Troy Iwata makes Jordan jealous with his new Secretary of the Interior title. #DailyShow #JordanKlepper #Trump

Trump’s CRAZY cabinet picks, meeting with Biden and pranking Aunt Chippy with driverless car

(Jimmy Kimmel Live) Nov. 13, 2024: The finale of The Golden Bachelorette aired tonight, DJ arrived in DC today for a meeting at the White House with G-Joe, Melania did not meet with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, Trump is filling up his presidential cabinet quickly with one of the hosts of “Fox and Friends Weekend” Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense, Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence, and accused criminal Matt Gaetz as attorney general (Why? Because they all kiss up to Trump like loyal Nazi generals), and in honor of JK’s birthday Aunt Chippy gets pranked with a driverless car. Subscribe to get the latest: bit.ly/JKLSubscribe. #Kimmel

DJ meets G-Joe at WH; picks Fox host Hegseth for SecDef: A Closer Look

Shock noms: Gaetz, Hegseth, Huckabee, Gabbard; Joe & Don’s cordial WH

What's that, AOC? Something to say for yourself?

Science: life, death, and a ‘third state’

Scientists discover a ‘third state’ between life and death

From bon vivant to living corpse and in between?

Scientists have discovered a "third state" between life and death that is neither alive nor quite dead. Not alive, not dead? There is a third state.

It sounds spooky, but it’s the future of medicine. More specifically, this "third state" is when the cells of an organism adopt new functions even after "death."

• 

  Based on Tibetan Book of Dead

  In Vajrayana Buddhism, there is an "intermediate" state between life and rebirth during the time we call "death." But beings, from their perspective, do not die. They go on. They are alive then, seeming to die, they continue. Thereafter, during a period said to be 40 days, they are reborn. Of course, looked at more closely, they are alive the whole time. At the instant of passing on from this state, one reappears elsewhere in the very next moment. Leaving one state is called "death" by others in that state, but for the being undergoing the change, things did not end. Support for life in that state was cut off and, therefore, the being reappeared elsewhere. The scary thing, then, is not that we will pass away. It is that we will be reborn without certainty of where and how. It has much to do with the last conscious moment conditioning the next, which determines the rebirth. For beings who have won the first stage of enlightenment, many bad rebirth destinations have been eliminated. One cannot be reborn in a state below the human plane. But all other beings can be reborn in those unfortunate destinations, in worlds of profound suffering like the animal realm and lower. In the meantime, between lives, beings are living with a more subtle body in the angelic (deva) or ghost (peta) realm for the transition to another life in accordance with one's store of karma (past deeds of all kinds). The Bardo Thodol or "Tibetan Book of the Dead" is for the hearing of a Vajrayana Buddhist during the transition between lives to guide one to a successful rebirth.

Peaceful and wrathful Bardo beings

Or in other words, the cells are functioning, but the being is dead. And this spooky phenomenon is revolutionizing synthetic biology as, usually, death is considered to be irreversible.

But with this new discovery by science of a "third state," different cells from a range of organisms can be repurposed into biological "robots." But what can they do?

The science

In a review published in the journal Physiology, researchers are contemplating the implications of taking cells from organisms (dead or alive) and turning them into biological robots that have new functions.

For example, researchers have managed to successfully create tiny "robots" from human cells which could be used to heal wounds, regenerate tissue, and treat diseases. These are known as anthrobots.

In another instance, researchers from Tufts University in Massachusetts have also created xenobots from the cells of already dead frogs. The cells, despite coming from a dead organism, can self-replicate and perform simple tasks. More

• A giant structure in space challenges our understanding of the universe
• A 200-year-old rock painting may depict a strange tusked creature that lived in the region over 260-million-years-ago (Ghost? Remnant? Survivor? We've all been lied to about the archeological timeline?)
• Archeologists discover significant permanent side effect of smoking
• 8 cartoon characters that exist in real life
• Lawyer claims UFO technology was developed in WWII after nuclear testing (and we've been lied to about it ever since)
• Colossal rock engravings may be ancient borders, study suggests
• Photographer disappeared on solo boat trip off Wales only to turn up in Ireland two days later
• Hiyah Zaidi, Metro via MSN, 11/1/24; Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Beam me up, Scotty: Stargates, dimensions

Ancient Aliens: Stargates and Dimension Travel Uncovered (S7, E1) | full episode

(HISTORY) June 29, 2024: Legends from around the world speak of sacred entryways to the land of the gods. See more in Season 7, Episode 1, "Aliens and Stargates." Watch all new episodes of Ancient Aliens, Fridays at 9/8c, and stay up to date on all of your favorite shows on The HISTORY Channel website at history.com/schedule.#AncientAliens

Mandela Effect: Cpt. Kirk never said "Beam me up, Scotty" in this timeline

Master space travel through the jhanas.

Subscribe for more from Ancient Aliens and other great The HISTORY Channel shows: histv.co/SubscribeHistoryYT. Find out more about the show and watch full episodes on the website: histv.co/AncientAliens. Check out exclusive The HISTORY Channel content: History Newsletter (histv.co/newsletter). Website: histv.co/History.

Rite of passage: 'Long Line of Ladies' (film)

Long Line of Ladies (LA Asian Pacific Film Festival)

I called my dad and told him my menstrual period began. He was so happy, he rushed home.

.

(

When does a girl become a woman? Ihuk

VCM) "Long Line of Ladies is a stigma-breaking, female-directed short documentary that gives viewers a glimpse into the story of the Karuk tribe of Northern California.

"It takes a significant step forward, normalizing period conversations by highlighting a culture that celebrates and uplifts its young women when they come of age."

From Academy Award-winner Rayka Zehtabchi and Shaandiin Tome, Long Line of Ladies intimately observes the months-long process of one girl, her family, and their tight-knit Karuk as they come together to prepare for her Ihuk.

• Website: Karuk Tribe (karuk.us)
• Indigenous America's most sacred landmarks (USA)
• Ty'ithreeha Allen's Ihuk Ceremony: Alliance for California Traditional Arts (actaonline.org)

Are goddesses only symbolic?

The Ihuk is the Native American tribe's coming-of-age ceremony for girls, which had gone dormant for over a century due to the violence and destruction brought on by the new Americans and their California Gold Rush.

In the weeks leading up to her Ihuk, Native American girl Ahty learns traditional songs and dances and mentally and physically prepares to spend four days blindfolded and fasting on sacred, tribal land.

Meanwhile, the women and men of the tribe around her support and uplift her as they pass down knowledge, prepare regalia, and above all promote the continued revitalization of their sacred ceremony. 

• The Ihuk Ceremony and Maple Bark Skirts - Alliance for California Traditional Arts (actaonline.org)

When I was a girl

The Daughter-Goddess Persephone

My name is Ty’ithreeha Allen. I am 16 years old now. I had my Ihuk ceremony when I was 12. I grew up attending flower dances, which are coming-of-age ceremonies held for [Indian] girls who have become young women at the onset of their period. My mom was pregnant with me when the first flower dance, or Ihuk as it is called in the Karuk language, was held again after not being held for over 80 years. So I have grown up attending the dance and other ceremonies my entire life. I have grown up dancing, learning, and practicing my culture. My family and I prepared for my Ihuk for two years before the actual ceremony took place. All of that prepared me for my Ihuk as I entered womanhood. More

Discussion with the filmmakers

It's good to get our ancient culture back.

LONG LINE OF LADIES: Film by Rayka Zehtabchi and Shaandiin Tome, featuring Ahty, the Allen family, and the Karuk community. Produced by Garrett Schiff, Rayka Zehtabchi, Sam Davis, Pimm Tripp-Allen, and Dana Kurth. Exquisitely shot and edited by Sam Davis. Original score by Forrest Goodluck and Juan Kleban. Executive producer Melissa Berton. 

OFFICIAL SELECTION: DOC NYC—Shortlist Cinema Eye Honors—Nominee Sundance Film Festival SXSW Film Festival—Grand Jury Award for Best Short Documentary Seattle International Film Festival—Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Documentary, Audience Award for Best Short Film Indy Shorts—Jenni Berebitsky Legacy Award San Francisco International Film Festival—Golden Gate Award for Best Documentary Short Port Townsend Film Festival—Best Documentary Short American Indian Film Festival—Best Short Documentary Camerimage Palm Springs International ShortFest Edmonton International Film Festival—Best Documentary Short Los Angeles Asian Pacific Islander Film Festival—New Visions Award DOC NYC—Odyssey Impact #MyJustice Award Salute Your Shorts Film Festival—Honorable Mention, Best Documentary Short; Award for Outstanding Cinematography Pocahontas Reframed Film Festival.

• Visual Communications Media, April 11, 2022; The New York Times (longlineofladies.com); Shared by Iz E, Dhr. Seven, Xochitl, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Learning to Love Midlife with Chip Conley

Chip Conley (The Wisdom Well Blog), Listenable Book, Jan. 15, 2024; Rich Roll) Jan. 11, 2024; Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Tami Simon of Sounds True interviews Chip Conley on his new book on Buddhist Radio (Something's Happening in Honor of Roy of Hollywood Tuckman on KPFK.org, Thursday at midnight, Feb. 2, 2024, in the second hour. It's a great discussion (available free in the archive.kpfk.org for 90 days).

Aging mindset shift that adds years to life

(Rich Roll) The Rich Roll Podcast. Modern Elder Academy Founder Chip Conley joins Rich Roll to talk about redefining midlife, the concept of "age fluidity," the age curve of happiness, his personal experience with prostate cancer, and more. To read more about Chip and peruse the full show notes, go here👉🏾richroll806 ✌🏼🌱 - Rich

Learning to Love Midlife by Chip Conley

(Listenable Book) It's the "dark night of the ego." New York Times bestselling author and co-founder/CEO of The Modern Elder Academy inspires readers to embrace "midlife" as a time of joy in this “clear blueprint for creating the lives we want” (Gretchen Rubin).

👉📚 Buy on Amazon amzn.to/3U1dLkP 👉🎵Audible trial amzn.to/3Nhmv20

The midlife crisis is the butt of so many jokes, but this long-derided life stage has an upside. What if we could reframe our thinking about the natural transition of midlife not as a crisis, but as a chrysalis — a time when something profound awakens in us as we shed our skin, spread our wings, and pollinate our wisdom to the world?

In Learning to Love Midlife, author Chip Conley offers an alternative narrative to the way we commonly think of our 40s, 50s, and 60s.

Drawing on the latest social science research, inspiring stories, and timeless wisdom, he reveals 12 reasons why life gets better with age. They include:

🔔SUBCRIBE for free so as to never miss a video https://bit.ly/3NiXzqY 👉🌏 Super Cheap VPN Plan NordVPN https://bitly.ws/335u8 #ChipConley #LearningtoLoveMidlife #ChipConley

Lesbian detransitions: he back to she (video)

Dr. Phil McGraw, The Dr. Phil Show, 3/2/23; Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Seth Auberon, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

I'm not a "lesbian"! I'm a straight man in a female body, which is the wrong body for me, trying to transition so I can date gals as a straight guy. Now I want to go back to being a girl. Who knows who I'll date.

Detransitioning: They regrets transitioning from female to male

(Dr. Phil) The number of young people who identify as transgender has nearly doubled in recent years.

The End of Gender (Dr. Debrah Soh)

Some people say this is because the transgender community is more embraced, but others say teens are rushing [being prompted to rush by medical authorities motivated by profit and their professional associations] to get medical treatments without counseling or knowing the facts.

In some extreme cases, this can even lead to what’s called “detransitioning.”

As a teen, Ryan transitioned from a female to a male but says she then realized she made an epic mistake, reversed her decision, and detransitioned to be female again.

Over 20 years ago, Kara had medical treatments and later gender reassignment surgery and says policy has greatly changed. She says it's concerning that today, there are far less requirements for children seeking puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and irreversible surgery.

However, Reece says he knew he was male as a small child, and these medical treatments saved his life as a teen.

He says denying teens the right to choose these procedures as underage kids is “trans genocide.”

Founder of Trans Student Educational Resources Eli Erlick adds that the percentage of people who detransition is small and the number one reason for detransitioning is transphobia.

Neurologist and author of The End of Gender: Debunking the Myths About Sex and Identity in Our Society (Audible Audio Edition) Dr. Debra W. Soh studies this issue and says social acceptance is good, but the number of transitions has reflected people’s skewed thinking.

And, NewsNation Correspondent Rich McHugh weighs in to discuss what he has found after a lengthy investigation on the increased numbers of teen transitions in recent years. (21107) Transcript

• Do YOU want to be on the show? BeOnDrPhilSho

ABOUT: Noprah Winfrey's tool Dr. Phil tells compelling stories about real people. Is he even a real medical doctor? The Dr. Phil Show is an American daytime talk show and TV series with host and personality Dr. Phil McGraw, who offers advice from his experience as a psychologist. (Ah, at least he might have a Ph.D., which would make him a doctor with a doctorate degree).

The show provides the most comprehensive forum on mental health issues in the history of television. (But who's counting?) For over a decade, Dr. McGraw has used the show's platform to make psychology accessible to the general public by addressing important personal and social issues.

Here on the Dr. Phil YouTube channel, find the best moments, highlights, and segments from the TV show. It uploads new videos every day, so make sure to subscribe and ring the bell for all notifications, so as to have them all rammed down the feed.

Full episodes of the Dr. Phil Show premiere every weekday on CBS, with a new season premiering every fall in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Each full episode contains an interview or multiple interviews with doctors, teens, families, parents, kids, and more.

The executive producers are Phil McGraw and showrunner Oprah Winfrey of OWN. Dr. Phil is the top-rated daytime talk show attracting millions of viewers every day alongside other talk shows, including The Ellen Show with Ellen DeGeneres, The Dr. Oz Show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, and The Steve Wilkos Show [who replaced Jerry Springer]. Dr. Phil makes regular appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and The Late Late Show with James Corden. Dr. Phil has also done crossovers with 90 Day Fiancé, Inside Edition, and Marrying Millions.

#lgbtq #transgender #transition Check  local listings for ALL-NEW Dr. Phil episodes. Website: drphil.com. Facebook: drphilshow,   Instagram: drphil,   TikTok: drphil,   Twitter: drphil.

Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thodol)

Asangoham, 1/20/23; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

How should we transmit esoteric knowledge? - Let's encode it in colored sand.

The Secret Teachings of The Tibetan Book of the Dead

(Asangoham) The Tibetan Book of the Dead, also known as the Bardo Thodol, is an ancient terma text that has its origins in the esoteric [heavily influenced by pre-Buddhist Bon] Vajrayana Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

The US of the 1960s loved Tibetan Buddhism

It is a guide to the intermediate state between death and rebirth. It is read or, more accurately, recited to someone who is dying or has recently died in order to help that person navigate the hallucinations and visions that occur during the dying process.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead offers a unique perspective on the nature of consciousness and the human experience of death and rebirth, teaching that consciousness is not limited to the body and that death is not the end, but rather a transition to a new state of being [actually of dynamic and never static becoming].

The Tibetan Book of the Dead's origins can be traced back to the 8th century when the Tibetan King Trisong Detsen [Emperor Tri Songdetsen, the 38th emperor of Tibet] directed the Indian Buddhist master Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) to bring the teachings of Buddhism [from ancient Brahminical (and Brahmin-influenced Mahayana Buddhist] India] to Tibet.

Padmasambhava, known also as "Guru Rinpoche," brought the teachings on the bardos, or the intermediate states between death and rebirth, from his teachers in India.

The teachings were later compiled into the text known today as The Tibetan Book of the Dead. However, the book is not considered Buddhist scripture [not taught by the Buddha or his immediate enlightened disciples or included in the canon of teachings] in the traditional sense.

Scriptures are texts that are the words of the Buddha or other enlightened beings, and these sources are considered to be the ultimate source of Buddhist teachings or the Dhamma or Dharma.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead is considered a terma, or "hidden [cultural] treasure." Termas are believed to contain teachings that are specifically suited to the Tibetan cultural context.

Tibet's church-state  mixes politics and religion.

[These might not be acceptable teachings or regarded as "treasure" in neighboring Buddhist or Himalayan cultures like the Nepalese, Bhutanese, Mongolian, Bangladeshi, and curious hill tribe peoples of South and Southeast Asia many of whom fell within the purview and influence of Potala Palace (a kind of imperial Rome that became the Vatican/Holy See and Catholic Church headquarters ever since the pre-Jesus worship of Mithras later erasing this god and replacing him with the figure of Jesus Christ, or "Ceasar's Messiah," but keeping many of the same myths and details), Lhasa, Tibet at one time].

#bardosthodol #tibetanbookofthedead #spirituality

• Script: Matt Mackane
• Voiceover: Andrea Giordani
• Editor: Aakash Chauhan
• Score: Epidemic Music

DISCLAIMER 01: All ideas expressed on this channel are for entertainment and general information purposes only. There is no advice on what an individual should or should not do. Any response made by anyone after hearing this communication is that person's interpretation and responsibility. Ideas expressed by this channel should not be treated as a substitute for medical advice or professional help. If expert assistance or counselling is needed, the services of a competent professional should be sought. DISCLAIMER 02: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If anyone is, or represents, the copyright owner of materials used in this video and has an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to doseofquotes02@gmail.com. Copyright © 2022 Asangoham. All rights reserved.

Gender de-trans: What will the aliens think?

Detransitioner speaks to Mike Johnson about her prior gender transition

(Forbes Breaking News) July 28, 2023. At a recent House Judiciary Committee hearing on gender confirmation treatments for minors, detransitioner Chloe Cole spoke about her prior sex change (gender reassignment or transition) treatments, explaining that it almost killed her.

(The Babylon Bee) Space alien Gen. Florg: "How many genders are there?"

Fuel success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests, and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video...

Up close with a real "Wolfman" (60 Minutes)

Wolfman (60 Minutes Australia, Jan. 11, 2023); Seth Auberon, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The British man who eats, sleeps, and lives with wolves | 60 Minutes

Hungry Bear, can we just be friends? - OK.

(60 Minutes Australia) Jan. 11, 2023. Wolfman (2007): From childhood, we're taught to fear and loathe wolves. Just think back, there's the "Big Bad Wolf" of the fairy tales, the werewolves and wolfmen (lycanthropes) in horror flicks, even Wolverine from X-Men -- evil, dangerous, bloodthirsty beasts.

How could anyone possibly make friends with a pack of wolves? Good question. There's only one man with the answer.

• Native American Wendigo "Wolfman"

Shaun Ellis [born 1964, a sort of "dog duty ascetic" in Buddhist terms, motivated by hands on science and animal conservation rather than salvation and liberation from samsara] is from that rare breed of researchers -- part genius, part crazy.

The keystone wolves (wild dogs) of Montana

He's spent 20 years studying them in the wild -- eating, sleeping, living with wolves, trying to learn their language, finding out what makes them so frightening and how to keep them safe and separate from ranchers.

It really is hair-raising stuff. It's no wonder they call him the "Wolfman."

WATCH more of 60 Minutes Australia: 60minutes.com.au. #60MinutesAustralia Subscribe: 9Soci.al/chmP50wA97J. Full Episodes: 9now.app.link/uNP4qBkmN6.

Lycanthropy is an ancient condition sometimes involving shapeshifting (Werewolf /Wiki)