Dust to Dust (sutras)

Amber Larson, Ananda, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Pansu Sutras: "Dust Discourses" (SN 56.102-113) based on Ven. Thanissaro translation; Indie Film Maker; Top 14

This shapeshifting "screaming skull" is an Australian peacock spider (ibtimes.com).

 

Pre-Jewish yogic heart symbol, merging arrows

Then the Blessed One, picking up a little dust on the tip of his fingernail, said to the monastics, "What do you think, meditators, which is greater, the dust on the tip of my fingernail or the great earth?"

 

"The great earth is far greater, venerable sir! The small amount of dust the Blessed One has picked up on his fingernail is next to nothing. It doesn't come into the count by comparison. It is not so much as a fraction, this dust the Blessed One has picked on the tip of his fingernail compared to the great earth.

 

"In the same way, meditators, few are the beings who on passing away from the human world are reborn again among human beings. Far more are the beings who on passing away from the human world are reborn in hell(s).

• Naraka (Sanskrit नरक, Pali niraya) is a term in Buddhist cosmology usually referred to in English as the "hells" (or the "hell realm") but are something closer to "purgatory." They are closely related to diyu, hell in Chinese mythology. They differ from Christianity/Catholicism in two respects. Beings are not sent in as a result of divine "judgment" or "punishment," and rebirth there is not technically "eternal," but it sure can feel like it even if one is only there a week, how much more if one is there exhausting bad karma for an incomprehensibly long period, up to hundreds of millions to quintillions (10¹⁸) of years called kalpas/aeons. More

(INDIE FILM MAKER) Horror musical instrument: The Apprehension Engine. What would a sketch of an idea  for an instrument that specialized in creating horrifying sounds look like: One man got his good friend Tony Duggan-Smith to build it with the intention of using it in horror film scoring. It consists of metal rulers which are bowed, a hurdy gurdy wheel-like mechanism, a string played with an attached ebow, a spring reverb (also played with an ebow) some long metal rods, magnets, trash, anything at all to get unnerving sounds.
 

"Therefore, take as your duty this [fourfold] contemplation:

1. 'This is suffering (dukkha, all forms of unpleasant experience, pain, disappointment, dissatisfaction, ill, unhappiness)...
2. This is the origination of suffering...
3. This is the end of suffering...
4. This is the path of practice that leads to the end of suffering.'"

Then the Blessed One, picking up a little dust with on the tip of his fingernail, said to the monastics, "What do you think, meditators, which is greater, the dust on the tip of my fingernail or the great earth?"

 

"The great earth is far greater, venerable sir! The small amount of dust the Blessed One has picked up on his fingernail is next to nothing. It doesn't come into the count by comparison. It is not so much as a fraction, this dust the Blessed One has picked on the tip of his fingernail compared to the great earth.

 

"In the same way, meditators, few are the beings who on passing away from the human world are reborn again among human beings. Far more are the beings who on passing away from the human world are reborn in the animal womb... in the domain of the hungry ghosts.

 

Indian saint, atheist-Catholic Teresa Mata

..."In the same way, meditators, few are the beings who on passing away from the human world are reborn among devas ("shining ones," angels, godlings, deities, fairies). Far more are the beings who, on passing away from the human realm, are reborn in hell(s)... in the animal womb... [or] in the domain of the hungry ghosts.

 

..."In the same way, meditators, few are the beings who on passing away from the deva realm are again reborn among devas. Far more are the beings who on passing away from the deva realm are reborn in hell(s)... in the animal womb... [or] in the domain of the hungry ghosts.

 

..."In the same way, meditators, few are the beings who on passing away from the deva realm are reborn among human beings. Far more are the beings who on passing away from the deva realm are reborn in hell... in the animal womb... [or] in the domain of the hungry ghosts.

"Therefore, take as your duty this [fourfold] contemplation: 'This is suffering... This is the origin of suffering... This is the end of suffering... This is the path of practice that leads to the end of suffering.'"

Bad basic information leads to worse speculation. The monk Budai or "Fat Happy or Laughing 'Buddha'" is not the historical Buddha Gautama, and no one should ever confuse them. Cool Charles Kos has it wrong: What your Garden Buddha did 60,000 years ago may shock you! Is he Prometheus and the fallen angel, an ancient giant? This is his story. Have you ever wondered about the story behind [Budai]? Gautama Buddha was a historical figure who lived centuries before Jesus. He was a mystic rebel against Brahmin priests. He tried the way of wandering asceticism (shramanism). It didn't work, but he realized the Middle Way avoiding extremes of luxury and penance. he taught the Path and confidence in his attainment and that of his students spread throughout Asia. All beings -- other than arhats and buddhas -- are said to have been reborn, and this cycle goes back in time indefinitely. But each being reborn is not the same being nor, however, can it be said to be completely different. We wander, change, cling to identity, lose everything dear, as karma (our actions) work themselves out impersonally. But we sure do take it personally.

• Enlightenment, "magical powers" for sale $13,000
• Creepy facts about Little House on the Prairie

• Catalonia's unilateral declaration of independence from Spain; Madrid government imposes direct rule under Article 155 of its constitution
• Pres. Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan announces that the Kazakh language will begin using a Latin script, rather than the current Cyrillic
• High Court of Australia: 5 parliamentarians ineligible to serve
• At the National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Xi Jinping assumes his second term as General Secretary, and the political theory Xi Jinping Thought is written into the party's constitution
• In Japan, the ruling coalition, led by incumbent Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, retains its house supermajority in the general election

LA Anarchist Book Fair (Oct. 28-29)

LA.anarchistbookfair.com; Seth Auberon, Pfc. Sandoval, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly

Featured speaker: Dr. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz (12:00 PM, Saturday, Oct. 28), author of An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States, Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment, and "All the Real Indians Died Off": And 20 Other Myths About Native Americans.

• EVENT SCHEDULE

Red and Black Revolution Organizers are seeking volunteers who would like to participate in a partial re-enactment of the Russian Revolution at this year’s Book Fair to commemorate its 100-year anniversary. Interested?

Real history (beacon.org)

• SIGN-UP Now: Vendor form (tabling) or Workshop/Presentation form (also available in Spanish)
• Have an event for the Calendar? Send details 
• Press Release (also available in Spanish) 
• Principles of Unity

Volunteers needed! Please contact to help out and participate in turning around the fascist state that will be known as "Trump's America."

White Nationalism: A Challenge for Anarchists (Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz)

• The Saraswati from India to Tibet
• VIDEO: Nikola Tesla time travel experiment
• Sex scam guru Nithayananda comes back offering "magic powers"
• Frosty Heidi & Frank's Punk 'n Brew Halloween Party

SoCal VegFest: Oct. 28-29 (video)

CalVegFest.org; Eventbrite.com; HappyCow.net; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Compassion is beautiful karma!

This weekend is the third annual SoCal VegFest! SoCal VegFest is a vegan food festival designed to engage curiosity and raise consciousness in people of all ages.

 

There will be plant-based food sampling, live music, guest speakers and celebrities, cooking contest and demos, raffles and prizes, yoga and meditation workshops, apparel booths and a cruelty-free marketplace, animal welfare, environmental, and humane organizations, activities for kids, a Halloween costume contest...and, of course, lots of yummy food trucks and vegan vendors!

• OC Fair & Event Center (MAP)
• 88 Fair Dr., Costa Mesa, CA 92626
• Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 28-29, 2017
• Discount tickets with code: "HAPPYCOW2017" 
• (only $5 online with promo, but $10 at the door)

The Festival is a project of APRL (Animal Protection and Rescue League), a local animal welfare non-profit, with a 100% volunteer staff.
 

More info: CalVegFest.org!

TeamCow will also be there with the cow mascot and lots of decals to share! Come say hello to the cow! More + SCHEDULE

Peace,
Team HappyCow
HappyCow's Healthy Eating Guide (happycow.net)

The Beautiful People, Vegans of LA (eventbrite.com/e/2017-socal-vegfest-tickets)

For photos of previous years of the SoCal VegFest and past promos, see albums

10 Superpowers Monks Have in Real Life (video)

The Richest; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Real Magic? Levitating monk, can we believe our eyes? THE SUPERNATURALIST/Discovery
 

Redrik11

Magician Dan White meets up with a Buddhist monk in Nepal with the power of levitation allegedly. THE SUPERNATURALIST on Discovery.com On a quest for magic in Nepal, fake stage magician Dan White reveals some of his magic tricks to the local residents.

• Some meditators can levitate. Is this one doing it in front of the camera? Very doubtful. It looks to us as if Discovery went too far in trying to get a sensational "story," not the first time Westerners have over reached. Read Magic and Mystery in Tibet. Does it not look odd that he's so close to the wall, a great place for a wall mounted crane or life, a few camera tricks. The thing that seems  most fake about it is Dan White's lame reaction and the cameraman's non-fascination. Someone has to tell you to get a picture of this? Someone has to ask, Are you seeing this? No, Dan, we were too busy scratching off this snow flea to notice. Oh, look, you're right, he's floating. You don't see that every day. Thanks for pointing it out. And he doesn't zoom in, and he doesn't get close, and he doesn't fixate on the spectacle. Oh, brother. Not to mention that it is a serious  Monastic Code violation to flaunt magical powers, as it would cause a disruptive uproar of people going to see him do it again...and again and again.

PBS: American Edgar Allan Poe (video)

#PoePBS (pbs.org/video), Sept. 27, 2017; Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Tonight (Oct. 25) in NoHo, North Hollywood, is Los Angeles' Lit Crawl 2017

(PBS) AMERICAN MASTERS | Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive: Official Trailer
  

Best known for his Gothic horror tales and narrative poem “The Raven,” Poe’s stories are the basis of countless films and TV episodes, and have inspired even more, as has his name and image. Determined to re-invent American literature, Poe was an influential -- and brutally honest -- literary critic and magazine editor, who also invented the detective protagonist with his character C. Auguste Dupin.

• Monday, Oct. 30, 2017 at 9 PM/8 Pentral
• VIDEO: Condensed cool history of Poe
• Subscribe to the PBS channel 
• American Masters on Facebook
• Like PBS on Facebook 
• Follow PBS on Twitter

The Raven

By Edgar Allan Poe

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—

    While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—

            Only this and nothing more.”

    Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;

And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.

    Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow

    From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—

For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—

            Nameless here for evermore.

    And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain

Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;

    So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating

    “’Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door—

Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;—

            This it is and nothing more.”

    Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,

“Sir,” said I, “or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;

    But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,

    And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,

That I scarce was sure I heard you”—here I opened wide the door;—

            Darkness there and nothing more.

    Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,

Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;

    But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,

    And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore?”

This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, “Lenore!”—

            Merely this and nothing more.

    Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,

Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.

    “Surely,” said I, “surely that is something at my window lattice;

      Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore—

Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;—

            ’Tis the wind and nothing more!”

    Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,

In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore;

    Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;

    But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door—

Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door—

            Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,

By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,

“Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I said, “art sure no craven,

Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore—

Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!”

            Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

    Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,

Though its answer little meaning—little relevancy bore;

    For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being

    Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door—

Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,

            With such name as “Nevermore.”

    But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only

That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.

    Nothing farther then he uttered—not a feather then he fluttered—

    Till I scarcely more than muttered “Other friends have flown before—

On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before.”

            Then the bird said “Nevermore.”

    Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,

“Doubtless,” said I, “what it utters is its only stock and store

    Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster

    Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore—

Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore

            Of ‘Never—nevermore’.”

    But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,

Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;

    Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking

    Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore—

What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore

            Meant in croaking “Nevermore.”

    This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing

To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s core;

    This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining

    On the cushion’s velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o’er,

But whose velvet-violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o’er,

            She shall press, ah, nevermore!

    Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer

Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.

    “Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent thee—by these angels he hath sent thee

    Respite—respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore;

Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!”

            Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

    “Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!—

Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,

    Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted—

    On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I implore—

Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—tell me—tell me, I implore!”

            Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

    “Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!

By that Heaven that bends above us—by that God we both adore—

    Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,

    It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore—

Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore.”

            Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

    “Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting—

“Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!

    Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!

    Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door!

Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!”

            Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

    And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting

On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;

    And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,

    And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;

And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor

            Shall be lifted—nevermore! Source

Psychosis or Spiritual Awakening? (video)

Phil Borges; Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon, Dhr. Seven (eds.) Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit

TED Talk: "Psychosis or Spiritual Awakening" by speaker Phil Borges at TEDxUMKC

Filmmaker and photographer Phil Borges has been documenting indigenous and tribal cultures for over 25 years. His work is exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide and his award-winning books have been published in four languages. His recent project, "Inner Worlds," explores cultural differences with respect to consciousness and mental illness.
 

The strange case of Milarepa

Bhutanese Vajrayana thanka of Milarepa (1052-1135), Dhodeydrag Gonpa, Thimphu, Bhutan

 

You just don't get Vajrayana. Ask His Holiness!

There once was a Chinese Mahayana Buddhist nun who wrote a book on Milarepa's crimes and Monastic Code violations. This was meant to counter the Tibetan Vajrayana (a Mahayana school) adoration of this "spiritual madman." There's a crazy wisdom* (divine madness) that is often confused with holiness, sainthood, or enlightenment.

It seems clear that Milarepa was not enlightened, nowhere near actual Buddhist enlightenment, but try to tell that to a follower of Tibetan Buddhism and watch the eyes roll.

He was something, touched perhaps, and very wise. He may well have been "enlightened" in Brahmanism or Hindu terms. That is not the same as Buddhist enlightenment called bodhi. There are different definitions for the same concepts and words across religious traditions and even between Buddhist schools.

Depression and spiritual awakening -- two sides of one door (Lisa Miller)

Crazy Wisdom

Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit

So what if I talk to animals? I'm a fool for God.

Divine madness, also known as theia mania, refers to unconventional, outrageous, unexpected, or unpredictable antinomian behavior linked to religious or spiritual pursuits. Examples of divine madness can be found in Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sufism, and shamanism.

The way of the shaman is wyrd, very weird.

It is usually explained as a manifestation of enlightened behavior by persons who have transcended societal norms, or as a means of spiritual practice or teaching among mendicants and teachers. These behaviors may seem to be symptoms of mental illness to mainstream society, but are a form of religious ecstasy, or deliberate "strategic, purposeful activity" (DiValerio 2011, p. ii.), "by highly self-aware individuals making strategic use of the theme of madness in the construction of their public personas" (Ibid., p. iii.). More

Impossible truths about pyramids (video)

ZEG TV, Oct. 20, 2017; Pat Macpherosn, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Impossible Ancient Pyramids Prove Everything We Know Is Wrong

 

Almost everything they teach us about the ancient history is wrong: origin of humans, civilizations, and pyramids. Our scientific instruments are simply not enough to explain the purpose of the oldest pyramids, for example. Mainstream scientists, archaeologists, historians, and anthropologists are often the main obstacle for scientific progress in public's understanding. New dating of Peruvian, Mexican, Chinese, and Egyptian pyramids takes us back long before recognized history and known rulers. The oldest Chinese and Egyptian pyramids are much superior to those made later as unsuccessful replicas. Older ones are built from granite and sandstone blocks, whereas more recent ones are much smaller, built from bricks and mud. Discover the hidden history of ancient pyramids all over the world. What is their function on this planet, what primary roles do they play in the history of humankind ? What is hidden in them really? What have we learned in the past in our history books about these magnificent buildings, and why were we taught what we were taught?

#MeToo: Life in our U.S. rape culture (video)

Frosty, Heidi & Frank (FHF/955KLOS.com, 95.5 FM); Editors, Wisdom Quarterly

It's not incest if I do it; I'm rich and powerful.

"Frosty, Heidi & Frank" is a morning zoo drive time radio show based in Los Angeles starring a fat sickly celibate guy, a lesbian who was repeatedly violated in life, and a Joe Cool/Joe Sixpack/Joe the Plumber type with severe intimacy issues (and possible sex addiction) who this morning confessed to having been repeatedly molested as a child, not saying by who but presumably an older female relative though maybe a male companion judging by his evasiveness. They all have drinking problems, which they regularly flaunt on air.

Gloria Allred gets into Roe vs. Wade fight

FHF is one of the funnier shows competing with flaming and allegedly gay Ryan Seacrest, the weirdos of The Woody Show, and the very sexually dysfunctional and gleefully racist Kevin & Bean (Ralph and Ally), and other programs in a busy but ultimately boring market that originates in Harvey Weinstein, James Toback, Roger Ailes, Bill O'Reilly, Woody Allen, Bill Cosby, and Don Juan Trump's Hollywood.

• The Latest: Weinstein scandal in statehouses #MeToo The response to sexual harassment allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein has spread to statehouses nationwide, with hundreds of lawmakers, lobbyists, and consultants coming forward to say the problem is pervasive in the halls of political power. [Just ask alleged predator Pres. Bill Clinton and his allegedly lesbian, child molesting, pizza-loving beard Hillary Clinton, who are great friends of Harvey Weinstein and John Podesta.]
• Report: Women accuse Hollywood director James Toback of sexual harassment (and worse)
• Harvey Weinstein case is just the latest wake up call 
• Weinstein: 9 days of accusations, and collateral damage... 
• The Weinstein Effect: scandal sparks movements... 
• Weinstein paid off sexual harassment accusers for decades
• Late night hosts slammed for relative silence on Weinstein 
• In wake of Weinstein news, Terry shares own sexual...
• After Weinstein scandal, James Van Der Beek reveals...
• Will Weinstein's downfall change Hollywood's culture... 
• Harassment accusations in Hollywood continue to pile up
• Weinstein: a list of the women who have accused him
• Can Woody Allen survive Harvey Weinstein's downfall? 
• Advocacy groups slam [mass rapist] Bill Cosby's "outrageous" tour on sexual assault laws
• Andrea Constand's courage buoys spirits of Cosby accusers

US military promotes rape: male and female recruits RAPED by fellow U.S. soldiers!

Women, possibly from having been molested themselves, go on to molest children.

Sex assault victims need all the help they can get to overcome PTSD.

How shall we be "immortal"? (video)

Soma Thera (Bodhi Leaves 79), Buddhist Publication Society; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; MostAmazingTop10 (Instagram)

Top 10 people who claim to be immortal

The oldest human being to ever live was Jeanne Calment, born in 1875, died in 1997 at the age of 122. Everyone agrees this is the longest a human being has ever existed… well, not everyone. Some people say there are others much older than that.
 

Great Marley's ghost! You survived death!

Some people say there are humans who have become immortal. Some people even say that they themselves are immortal. Should we believe them? Let's find out. This is the Top 10 People Who Claim to be Immortal.
  
Buddhist "immortality"? The Deathless

"Truly, it will be not long before this body lies in the earth, bereft of consciousness, like a useless log, which is thrown away."
 

Usually, uninstructed worldly minded people do not think of death and do not like any pointed reference made to it by others.

Such unreflecting, uninstructed people often shut their minds deliberately to the fact that death is waiting for us. They reject the possibility of a future life (rebirth), and occupying themselves only with things of this life, they immerse themselves in the ephemeral joys of the five strands of sense desire.

To make such people think seriously on what is perhaps the most decisive event of life they have to reckon with -- an event [the "impossible possibility"] that will determine their future lives in no uncertain way -- the Buddha said, "Every householder and everyone who has gone forth [as a monastic], should constantly reflect, 'I am subject to death.'"
 
The uninstructed worldly-minded person sees others dying all around but through intoxication with the pride of life acts as if we were immortal.

We see the victims of disease all around but due to intoxication with the pride of health we act as if we were immune from disease. Enjoying the first flush of life's springtime, we see many an old person in the last stages of decrepitude but owing to pride of youth, through becoming intoxicated with it, we act as if we might never grow old.

And we see many people losing their wealth and becoming paupers suddenly, but through being intoxicated with the pride of power or position, we pity them not, do not sympathize with them, and do not think that we too might be overtaken by similar misfortune.



Thus intoxicated by these, and many other intoxicants, we behaves like a people beside ourselves, heedless of right and wrong, heedless of this world and the worlds beyond, enjoying fleeting pleasures, like a crab in a cooking pot before the water heats up.

Even in our dreams we do not suspect that harm might befall us, but when we actually do, we lose control of ourselves, weep, and bewail our lot.
 
Reflection on death if rightly practiced by a person open our eyes to the individual essence of every form of being, its true nature, and remove the poison of pride, which makes us heedless of others' welfare.

We see them according to the words of the Buddha, "Uncertain is life, certain is death; it is necessary that I should die; at the close of my life, there is death. Life is indeed unsure, but death is sure, death is sure."

One who thinks often of death becomes ardent in the fulfillment of duties. Therefore it is said, "The meditator who is given to the practice of [mindfully] contemplating death becomes diligent."

Visnusarman says, "In the wise [person] who thinks again and again of death, the terrible penalty, all activity, becomes lax like leather bindings soaked with rain."

"In [one] who ever and again

Reflects on death's hard hand of pain

The drive for gross material gain

Grows limp like hide [soaked] through with rain"

- Soma Thera

Thus, in those who seek immortality, all kinds of endeavor, exertion, to acquire worldly power and possessions become slack, through the perception of death, but they do all that has to be done for attaining the Deathless State [nirvana].

In the teachings of the Buddha the contemplation on death is intended to turn the mind/heart away from the accumulation of mundane power and treasure and to increase the energy of the aspirant for highest freedom.

Even at the moment of death, one has to do one's duty well. Reflection on death quickens the heart/mind and makes it develop unremitting ardor for the extinction of ill. Such reflection can never make one negligent of actions leading to freedom from craving.

Who thinks often of death thinks thus: "Now is the time to endeavor to realize the goal. Who knows that Death will not come till tomorrow? What covenant have I with Death and its hosts to keep them at bay?"

SUTRA QUOTES
What did the Buddha teach about consciousness, often thought to be the one thing that will survive death to be immortal by incessant death-and-rebirth?

The Buddha taught: "If, in any manner, meditators, an illusionist (stage magician) or apprentice were to produce an illusion, at a junction of four great roads and an intelligent person were to see it, reflect on it, and thoroughly examine it, then, to that person who sees, reflects on, and thoroughly examines it, worthless would that illusion appear, empty, and without essence!

"Indeed, meditators, how can there be essence in an illusion?

"In the same way, meditators, a meditator sees, reflects on, and thoroughly examines consciousness of any kind -- past, future, or present, internal or external, coarse or fine, low or high, far or near. To the meditator who sees, reflects on, and thoroughly examines it, worthless would consciousness appear, empty [impersonal], and without essence.

"Indeed, meditators, how can there be essence in consciousness [which is only an impersonal process not a thing]?

"The instructed noble disciple who sees thus, turns away from form, and also from sensation, perception, mental formations, and consciousness [these are the skandhas, the Five Groups of Clinging]. Turning away one lets go, detaches oneself.

"With detachment one becomes free. When freed one knows, 'I am freed,' and understands, 'Rebirth has been exhausted, the excellent life has been lived, what ought to be done has been done, and there will be nothing more to come of this [no more karma will cause rebirth].'"
 
Further, the Buddha said that one whose turban or headdress is on fire should be one who aspires to the deathless act, to nirvana. There is no excuse for delay in working for deliverance from ill (suffering of all kinds); Death is trying to take us always.
 
On a certain occasion the Buddha went to a certain house set apart for sick monastics and, having sat down on a seat prepared for him, said: "Mindfully and with complete awareness should a monastic meet his/her end. This is the advice I give you."
 

Again and again, the seeds of grain are sown;
Again and again, the devas send down rain;
Again and again, the farmers plow the fields;
Again and again, the country is enriched.
Again and again, the alms-seeker asks for alms;
Again and again, the kindly givers give;
And giving repeatedly, the givers make.
Again and again, for happy worlds above.
Again and again, the milk is drawn from cows;
Again and again, the calf goes to its dam;
Again and again, a being tires and quakes;
Again and again, the fool returns to the womb.
Again and again, comes birth and death to you;
Again and again, men bear you to the grave.
But one who sees clearly, having known the path
Which leads not to rebirth, does not arise again.
 

Samsara = endless wandering 

Vibrant with compassion for suffering humanity, the wise being bent on supreme enlightenment, the Sam-Bodhisattva thought:
 
"My forbears accumulated much wealth and passed away taking nothing of their wealth with them; nor did they return to enjoy the treasure [they stored up here]. Alas! they have been destroyed; they have missed the fortune of getting the best out of a good rebirth" (Jataka I, 2).

Thus do the great beings in search of liberation from suffering look upon life, and they having made a gift of their possessions to the world go forth to endeavor for self-mastery that leads to final enlightenment.
 
Penetrating into the centuries, the millennia, and the aeons (kalpas) with unclouded knowledge, the Master saw by means of clear insight to the limits of the knowable and declared:
 

"In this [continued] wandering on, this journeying through incalculable time, the suffering by a person is unimaginably, inconceivably vast.
 

"How can one reckon all one's sorrows life after life, through partings from the loved, through union with the detested, through the death of dear ones, and through the loss of one's own health and wealth, limbs, and life?

 
"In this sweeping on of life's stream, hard it is to find another who has not been a person's own father, mother, brother, sister, son, or daughter. Truly, every living being might well have been associated closely with every other in this long trail of woe" (SN 11.180).
 

"Where in the whole wide world could be found a spot unpolluted by the dead? Sometime in becoming's endless flux a living being has died wherever life manifested itself" (Jataka II, 5-6).
 

To a Brahmin who was searching for virgin ground where no corpse had been burnt, the Master said that 14,000 corpses of that Brahmin's clan had been burned on that very spot on which he stood and that there is not any place on earth that is not a cemetery.

Every brand of suffering does one undergo through rebirth in diverse planes of becoming. And there is nothing in the world that arises that is fully pleasant. Everything is mixed with suffering in such a way that for the thoughtful all pleasure appears as menaced with suffering/disappointment or moving on to it because of impermanence. More

I want to live forever, you stupid son-of-a-mother-fathers! Why should I have to die?!!

.

• [How any words are enough words to lead to disenchantment? How many are enough to lead to yearning for enlightenment-and-liberation, the Deathless (immortality in a sense)? If it is not enough, there will be endless rebirth and suffering to come.]

Making nirvana Christian-Hindu immortality
Wisdom Quarterly Wikipedia edit

The Buddha reclines into final nirvana-without-remainder, final liberation (Cambodian art)

 
"I can't stand a Buddhism that doesn't promise me "eternal life" like Christianity and Hinduism do!" 

Then you might well like Mahayana Buddhism, the most popular form of the religion which is thoroughly saturated with Brahminical, Vedic, Hindu, and Universalist (catholic) Messianic Christian ideas. Look how nirvana, the "Deathless State" (deathless because there is no birth/rebirth and therefore no more possibility of death) has been transformed into immortality:

Pre-canonical Buddhism?
Stanislaw Schayer, a Polish scholar, argued in the 1930s that the Nikayas [volumes, assemblages of the Buddha's teachings] preserve elements of an archaic form of Buddhism which is close to Brahmanical beliefs (Lindtner 1997, Lindtner 1999, Akizuki 1990, p. 25-27, Ray 1999) and survived in the Mahayana tradition (Reat 1998, p. xi, Conze 1967, p. 10).

Contrary to popular opinion, the Theravada and Mahayana traditions may be "divergent, but equally reliable records of a pre-canonical Buddhism which is now lost forever" (Reat 1998, p. xi). The Mahayana tradition may have preserved a very old, "pre-canonical" and oral Buddhist tradition, which was largely, but not completely, left out of the Theravada [Pali language] canon (Conze 1967, p. 10).
 

Nirvana as consciousness(?)

Regamy has identified four points which are central to Schayer's reconstruction of pre-canonical Buddhism (Ray 1999, p. 374-377):

1. The Buddha was considered as an extraordinary being, in whom ultimate reality was embodied, and who was an "incarnation" [a "soul" or spirit entering or becoming flesh] of the mythical figure of the Tathagata [or perhaps Lord Vishnu];
2. The Buddha's disciples were attracted to his spiritual charisma and supernatural authority;
3. Nirvana was conceived as the attainment of immortality, and the gaining of a deathless sphere from which there would be no falling back. This nirvana, as a transmundane reality or state, is incarnated in the person of the Buddha;
4. Nirvana can be reached because it already dwells as the inmost "consciousness" of the human being. It is a consciousness which is not subject to birth and death.

Conze mentions ideas like the "person" (puggala), the assumption of an eternal "consciousness" in the Saddhatu Sutra, the identification of the Absolute, as descriptors of Nirvana to mean an "invisible infinite consciousness, which shines everywhere" in the Digha Nikaya (XI 85), and "traces of a belief in consciousness as the non-impermanent center of the personality which constitutes an absolute element in this contingent world." More