Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal

Friday, January 6, 2017

Science: The men in women's orgasms (video)

Josie Griffiths, The Sun (via nypost.com, 12-30-16); Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly

Science says these are the men who will make you orgasm

Are you on the hunt for a man who is guaranteed to give you an orgasm every time you have sex?

Test: What do you see? Seven dolphins?

Well, we have good news! A team of scientists has been doing the hard work for you -- and they reckon they’ve found the magic equation for bedtime bliss.

Researchers at the University of Albany have been quizzing young women in heterosexual relationships about their sex lives -- and, importantly, how intensely and frequently they experience the Big O.

The scientists then looked at the partner’s traits -- including income, personality, sense of humor, looks, and body measurements.

What's wrong? - I'm not feeling it from you. But y'know, that other guy... I felt it from him.

They also asked the ladies to rate their partner’s looks.

The study found that women were more likely to climax if their partners were rich, confident, and attractive -- while the intensity of their orgasms also depended on how good-looking their man is.

Ladies who found their fella attractive had more intense orgasms, while a man’s broad shoulders were also found to be related to sexual satisfaction.

Make 'em laugh, make 'em breakfast

Well, yeah! I've been saying this for years.

Researchers also found that it really is possible to laugh a woman into bed -- with women having more regular sex, and more frequent orgasms, with funny men.

The researchers wrote: “Orgasm intensity was related to how attracted [women] were to their partners, how many times they had sex per week, and ratings of sexual satisfaction.”

“Those with partners who their friends rated as more attractive also tended to have more intense orgasms.” More

WARNING: Explicit content and naughty words and concepts discussed frankly! (New York Post)

Pretty when you CRY? (sutra)

Ashley Wells and Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Ven. Thanissaro (original trans.) Assu Sutra: Crying Tears (SN 15.3); The School of Life (video); Lana Del Rey, "Pretty When You Cry"

(The School of Life) This brief video is off on some details but right on in its central message.*

See Jane say: Samsara is so sad!

[Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Buddha was residing in Savatthi in Ancient India.]

There he said: "From an inconceivable beginning comes rebirth. No beginning point is discerned when living beings -- hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving -- set off to wander [lost in ignorance, driven by craving, seeking fresh delight now here, now there].

"What do you think, meditators, Which is greater, the tears shed while wandering on through rebirth for such a long time -- crying due to being joined with what is displeasing and being separated from what is pleasing -- or the water in the four great oceans?"

Believe me, I'm crying on the inside.

"As we understand the Dharma made known to us by the Blessed One, greater are the tears shed while wandering on through this inconceivably long samsara -- crying due to being joined with what is displeasing and being separated from what is pleasing -- rather than the water in the four great oceans."

"Excellent, meditators, excellent! It is wonderful that you understand this [liberating] Teaching.

"The tears shed while continuing to wander on through this long round of rebirth are greater -- crying due to being joined with what is displeasing and being separated from what is pleasing -- rather than the water in the four great oceans.

"Long have we (again and again) experienced the death of a mother.

No, she can't be gone! I just talked to her!

"The tears we have shed over the death of a mother while wandering through this inconceivably long round of rebirth -- crying due to getting what we do not want and losing what we want -- are greater than the water in the four great oceans.

"Long have we (again and again) experienced the death of a father... the death of a brother... the death of a sister... the death of a son... the death of a daughter... the loss of relatives... the loss of wealth... loss due to disease.

Does this wheel come to an end? (Yes, get off).

"The tears we have shed over loss due to disease while wandering on through this long cycle of rebirth -- crying due to being joined with what is displeasing and being separated from what is pleasing -- are greater than the water in the four great oceans.

"And why is that? From an inconceivable beginning comes rebirth. A beginning point is not evident of beings -- hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving -- setting off to wander.

"Long have you we experienced disappointment (dissatisfaction), experienced pain, experienced loss, swelling cemeteries -- enough to become disillusioned and disenchanted with all composite things, enough to become dispassionate, enough to let go (and be released by wisdom)."

See also the "Thirty Sutra" (SN 15.13)
The Buddha's philosophy, the Dharma, teaches us that our cravings (greed, lust, clinging) are at the root of our restlessness. Calm can be achieved through letting go (composure, samadhi) and insight (wisdom, vipassana).
*“The story of the Buddha’s life, like all of Buddhism, is a story about confronting suffering. He was born between the sixth and fourth century B.C.E., the son of a wealthy king in the Himalayan foothills of [Kapilavastu, Scythia/Afghanistan]. It was prophesied that the young Shakyan prince -- then called Siddhartha Gautama -- would either become a world monarch or a very holy man. Since Siddhartha’s father desperately wanted him to be the former, he kept the child isolated in a palace with every imaginable luxury: jewels, servants, lotus ponds, even beautiful dancing women…”
Trying to get meaning from old Sanskrit quotes

How to perform at Brokechella 2017

Crystal Quintero, Wisdom Quarterly; brokeLAfest.com

I want to be a star, I want to be famous, I want to win a TV show and get a contract!

This is a call for submissions to perform this year's festival (brokelafest.com)

There are alternatives to Beyonce's Coachella.

It's here: Submissions are now open for BROKE LA! The annual, multi-stage discovery fest -- formerly called "Brokechella" -- will return April 2017.

Now in its seventh year, the festival serves as Los Angeles' premiere discovery platform, featuring the best of music, vendors, comedy, film, art, and more.

Submissions are still open for FILM, VISUAL ART, INNOVATORS, and VENDORS! If you perform it, vend it, build it, screen it, whatever it, the Broke in LA Fest wants to see it! Important submissions dates below:

Visual Art submissions are open until February 1st and are not subject to a late fee. Haven't submitted yet? There's still time for film and discovery submissions. NOTE: Vendor and visual artists have different deadline schedules. See those respective pages for details. More

Thursday, January 5, 2017

"Life of the Buddha" (cartoon)

Ashley Wells, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Lasantha Roshan (video)

Are you a god, a human...? No, I am awake.

This is an allegorical, legendary tale of how young [Scythian/Shakyian] Prince Siddhartha renounced the luxurious life of the palace to go on a quest to make an end of ALL suffering.

First he had to discover what "suffering" (dukkha) is, second its cause (ignorance, aversion, and greed, fear), third its solution (the path), and finally practice the path to full realization. The story of the Buddha has been embellished and mythologized all in the service of its message.

Oh, Ziggy, will you never learn!?

It is not a historical documentary the way we would record it today, but instead an mystic and heroic of how we can all journey to discover that what the Buddha found is relevant to ALL who suffer and are motivated to make an end of all suffering.

The suffering is not happening by accident or chance. It is being caused. It will continue so long as it remains unseen and unaddressed. But just seeing the problem is not enough. One must take up the path-of-practice that leads to serenity and insight and culminates in enlightenment (bodhi) and nirvana (liberation).

A Young People's Life of the Buddha
Ven. Silacara, A Young People's Life of the Buddha (accesstoinsight.org)

Birth
Boyhood
Youth
Leaving Home
Compassion
First Endeavors
Success
Making Known the Teaching
Sigala
[Chief male disciples, counterparts to the nuns Khema and Uppalavanna] Sariputta and Moggallana
[Hometown:] Kapilavatthu
Daily Life
[Foster mother/aunt] Maha Pajapati
Wonder-working
Discourses (sutras)
The Kindness of the Buddha
["Judas" in-law] Devadatta
[Final passing into nirvana] Mahaparinibbana

Princess Leia is still alive (video)

Megan Kearns (btchflcks.com); Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly

Princess Leia: Feminist Icon or Sexist Trope?

Megan Kearns

When I was a young girl, Star Wars was my favorite movie. I’ve watched it more times than any other film. Premiering in 1977, the same year I was born, the epic sci-fi space opera irrevocably changed the movie industry.

Beyond battle scenes, or the twist of Vader being Luke’s father, it impacted my childhood because Princess Leia was my idol.

In the Star Wars trilogy, Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan (played by Carrie Fisher) was a member of the Imperial Senate, a diplomat, and a spy for the Rebel Alliance. Courageous and determined, she boasted a defiant will. Leia boldly spoke her mind. And it’s what resonated the most with me.

When I was 7, my mom sewed together a Princess Leia costume for me for Halloween -- a white dress with a hood cinched around the waist with a sparkly belt, accompanied by a plastic light saber. Yes, I realize Leia didn’t wield a light saber in the movies, but she did have a laser gun.

I continued to wear that costume long after Halloween. Every week (sometimes multiple times a week), I would pop in our VHS of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, don my white dress, and act out Princess Leia’s scenes. I probably would have worn that costume to school if my mother had let me.

Looking back, why did Leia have to be a princess? Why did she have to bear a title that too often symbolizes hyperfemininity, passivity, and sexualization? Why couldn’t she have been the president’s daughter or mere been a senator?

So, yes, Leia is a princess. But she’s a bad ass warrior princess -- a precursor to the rise of the warrior princesses.

(Russianvids) She lives! She lives? Carrie Fisher may not be dead.

O, Harrison, your muscle is so big!

In the very first scenes of Star Wars, we see Leia shoot a laser gun. Yeah, she gets captured, but she doesn’t go down without a fight. When she’s taken hostage, Leia unflinchingly stands up to Darth Vader, who intimidates everyone else but not her. She remains defiant. She stands up to Governor Tarkin, the Death Star’s commander, too, as we witness... More

"DMT: The Spirit Molecule" (video)

Editors, Wisdom Quarterly; DMT: The Spirit Molecule (Enigmas of the Universe)

Dude, know what I just realized?

The Spirit Molecule investigates the miraculous chemical dimethyltryptamine (DMT), an endogenous (occurring naturally in the body) psychoactive compound, which exists in humans and numerous species of plants and animals.

There's a world of difference between "dope" and entheogens. Avoid dope, alcohol, junk (adulterated) food that quickly waste body and mind.

This documentary traces Dr. Rick Strassman's government-sanctioned, human DMT research and its many trials, tribulations, and inconceivable realizations.

Alex Grey: Science and Spirituality

A closer examination of DMT's effects through the lens of two traditionally opposed concepts, science and spirituality, The Spirit Molecule explores the connections between cutting edge neuroscience, quantum physics, and human spirituality.

Dr. Strassman's research and the experiences of the human test subjects before, during, and after the intense clinical trials raises many intriguing questions.

Dennis McKenna: Consciousness, the Universe, DMT

A variety of experts voice their unique experiences with and thoughts on DMT within their respective fields.

As Dr. Strassman's story unfolds, the contributors weigh in on his remarkable theories, including the synthesis of DMT in our brain's pineal gland, and its link to near-death experiences.

Glenn Greenwald: Russia and WikiLeaks

Glenn Greenwald, Amy Goodman (DemocracyNow.org, Jan. 5, 2017); Wisdom Quarterly

Mainstream media disseminates fake, deceitful news about Russia

Glenn Greenwald, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and one of the founding editors of The Intercept, has a new article headlined: "Wash Post is richly rewarded for false news about Russia threat while public is deceived."

In it, he writes, "Any story that bolsters the prevailing D.C. orthodoxy on the Russia Threat, no matter how dubious, is spread far and wide. And then, as has happened so often, when the story turns out to be false or misleading, little or nothing is done to correct the deceitful effects." More

There's a "dearth [lack] of evidence" linking Russia to WikiLeaks release of DNC emails Greenwald: The Senate Armed Services Committee holds a hearing on alleged Russian cyber-attacks, and top intelligence officials are briefing Pres. Obama on a review of evidence that Russia hacked the email servers of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). President-elect Trump will be briefed on Friday. This comes as he is supporting statements by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange that Russia was NOT the source for the mass leak of emails from the Democratic Party. More

Who cares now? I got a memoir book deal!

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Ajahn Brahm: meditation instructions 3 (video)

Ajahn Brahm (bswa.org); WestEndBuddhist.org (video); Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly

Meditation retreat with Ajahn Brahm, a British Theravada monk trained in the Thai Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah, who after his attainments went on to become an abbot in Perth (Buddhist Society of Western Australia), and an unwavering supporter of fully-ordained Theravada Buddhist nuns (bhikkhunis).

Books and more (bswa.org)

This is Day 3: Questions and Answers at the West End Buddhist Temple and Meditation Center in Mississauga, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The was the Q&A exchange on the third and final day of the retreat with the beloved "Buddhist Seinfeld," Ven. Brahmavamso Maha Thera.

Anukampa Bhikkhuni Project, Buddhist nunnery in London (anukampaproject.org)

Ajahn Brahm is the popular Buddhist teacher to a growing international audience of people keen to learn meditation and develop a deeper spiritual life... Here's more about him:

TALK: Anukampa Bhikkhuni Project (anukampaproject.org) Watch talks given during Ajahn Brahm's UK tour featuring the talks "Happy Dying, Happy Rebirth" (London)
Listen to Venerable Ajahn Brahm's new talks
YouTube topic: Ajahn Brahm
Twitter: Ajahn Brahm Talks (@BrahmTalks)
Ajhan Brahm: Right View Sutra (livingdhamma.net)
Dhammaloka City Centre • BWSA (dhammaloka.org.au)
Where is Ajahn Brahm? (cms.ajahnbrahm.org)
The Buddhist Society: "Kindfulness"

Monday, January 2, 2017

Knowing and Seeing (sutra)

Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw, Knowing and Seeing (4th rev. ed.); Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

The 12 causal links (nidanas) of Dependent Origination are typically shown along outer rim of a Bhavachakra in Buddhist art (Wonderlane, Sakya Monastery, Seattle, USA/traditional wall mural of Yama/Death holding the Wheel of Rebirth, the Buddha pointing the way out)

THE BUDDHA'S DISPENSATION

Now I know. Now I see.

On one occasion, the Blessed One was dwelling among the Vajjians in Kotigama. There he addressed the meditators [bhikkhus] with the following words:

"Meditators, it is because of not understanding and not penetrating the Four Noble Truths that you and I have for a long time wandered the round of rebirth. What are the four?

It is because of not understanding and not penetrating the Noble Truth of Suffering (dukkha, disappointment) that you and I have for a long time wandered the round of rebirth.
It is because of not understanding and not penetrating the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering (samudaya) that you and I have for a long time wandered the round of rebirth.
It is because of not understanding and not penetrating the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering (nirodha) that you and I have for a long time wandered the round of rebirth.
It is because of not understanding and not penetrating the Noble Truth of the Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering [magga] that you and I have for a long time wandered the round of rebirth.

What is "truth" (sacca), conventional and ultimate?

The eight-spoked wheel of the Dharma

The Four Noble Truths are the foundation of the Buddha's Teaching (the Dharma), this Dispensation (sasana). He then explains:

"The Noble Truth of Suffering, meditators, has been understood and penetrated [personally realized, directly grasped].
The Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering has been understood and penetrated.
The Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering has been understood and penetrated (nirvana).
The Noble Truth of the Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering has been understood and penetrated.

Craving for continued becoming [continued wandering on, rebirth, impermanent-unsatisfactory-impersonal existence, bhava] has been cut off; the tendency to rebirth has been destroyed; now there is no more renewed becoming" (S.V.XII.iii.l).

Let us then see how the Four Noble Truths are related to each other.

This introduction is an addition to the book Knowing and Seeing (rev. 4th ed.) For the untranslated Pali version, see Appendix 1 "Glossary of Untranslated Pali Terms," p. 283.

Knowing and Seeing

WHAT NEEDS TO BE FULLY REALIZED?

The Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths for us to realize the Third Noble Truth, nirvana, which is to put a complete end to rebirth and therefore to all suffering. But that is not possible without the right conditions.

In the Kutidgodra Sutra ("Peaked-House Discourse"), the Buddha explains first the conditions that make it impossible to put a complete end to suffering:

A peaked house is here a single-storied house with four outside pillars that are surmounted with beams that support a high roof that peaks (S.V.XII.v.4).

Indeed, meditators, if anyone were to say, "Without having built the lower [foundation, support, bottom] structure of a peaked house, I shall erect the upper structure [roof, top]," such a thing is impossible. So, too, if anyone were to say:

'Without penetrating the Noble Truth of Suffering as it really is,
without penetrating the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering as it really is,
without penetrating the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering as it really is,
without penetrating the Noble Truth of the [Noble Eightfold] Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering as it really is,

I shall put a complete end to suffering,' such a thing is impossible."

This means that we cannot put a complete end to suffering (i.e., attain the Third Noble Truth, nirvana) unless we have first fully realized the First Noble Truth (dukkha), and fully realized the Second Noble Truth (the origin of suffering, samudaya). Only then are we able to realize also the supramundane Fourth Noble Truth, the supramundane Noble Eightfold Path.

The only way to attain these realizations is to first practice the mundane Fourth Noble Truth, the mundane path truth (lokiya magga-sacca), which is the mundane Noble Eightfold Path often called the Threefold Training:

Virtue (morality, ethics, sila)
Calm (coherence, collectedness, concentration, samadhi)
Wisdom (panna)

For monastics, morality is Patimokkha (direct "path to liberation") restraint, and for laypeople, it is the Eight or Five Precepts. When we are established in morality, we can develop access-concentration and full-concentration (appana-samadhi), which is "absorption" (meditation, jhana), and we can then proceed to develop wisdom, which is insight meditation (vipassana).

First samadhi (jhana) then insight

Insight meditation is nothing other than to realize the impermanent, unsatisfactory (disappointing, unfulfilling), and impersonal (non-self) nature of the Noble Truth of Suffering and Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering.

Only when we practice insight meditation well and thoroughly, and fully realize these two noble truths, are we able to realize the supramundane Fourth Noble Truth, the Noble Eightfold Path associated with supramundane Path Truth (lokuttara magga-sacca): the Path (magga) of Stream-Entry, Once-Returning, Non-Returning, and Arahantship (full enlightenment).

In summary, the aim of the Fourth Noble Truth (the Eightfold Noble Path) is to realize the Third Noble Truth (nirvana), which is achieved only by fully realizing the First and Second Noble Truths (Suffering and the Origin of Suffering).

"This is explained in the commentary to Maha Gopalaka Suttam ("The Great Cowherd Sutra," M.I.iv.3), where The Buddha explains the eleven qualities in a monastic that make it impossible for him/her to progress in this Doctrine and Discipline (Dhamma-Vinaya)." More

Does samadhi mean "concentration"? No

Amber Larson, Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Wiki edit

Before successful insight meditation (vipassana) is possible, there must be right-samādhi. What is samādhi?

Right-samadhi is the eighth limb of the Noble Eightfold Path

The common and misleading English translation of this Sanskrit/Pali term is "concentration," as in striving or straining to limit the mind's attention on one object.

But it actually means to the clearness and heightened alertness of mind that effortlessly appears through sustained practice of absorption (jhana or dhyana).

In the Mahāyāna Buddhism of Japan, jhana is translated as zen, in India dhyana, in China chan (short for chánnà), in Tibet bsam gta, in Vietnam thien, and in Korea it is seon. Although it means "absorption," the original translation of the term was "meditation" (and bhavana meant development, cultivation, lit. "bringing into being").

Dude, I am all Zen'ed out. Look at my tat.

The term samadhi derives from the root sam-a-dha, which means "to collect" or "bring together." It is "unification of mind." In early Buddhist texts, it is also associated and often considered a synonym of the term samatha (serenity, tranquility, calm abiding).

In the sutras, it is defined as "one-pointedness of mind" (cittass'ekaggatā) [but because this is what it becomes when it collects not because it is what one does to make it such] (Ven. Henepola Gunaratana, The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation, Bhavana Society, West Virginia, 1995).

According to the commentaries, Ven. Buddhagosa defines samadhi as "the centering of consciousness and consciousness-concomitants [cetasikas] evenly and rightly on a single object...

Samadhi is the state in virtue of which consciousness and its concomitants remain evenly and rightly on a single object, undistracted and unscattered" (The Path of Purification, 84-85; pp.85). More

Binaural beat deep FEAR cleanse (video)

ZenLifeRelax; Crystal Quintero, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Use headphones: Release subconscious fear, trapped negative energy with deep theta binaural beat

This soundtrack, which is accompanied by stunningly beautiful images of nature, is a 432Hz tuned didgeridoo mixed with ambient sounds, white noise, monastic chanting, Om mantra, and Solfeggio frequencies 852Hz and 963Hz.

It is a powerful auditory and visual healing, a rejuvenating journey, an easy meditation session.

When releasing subconscious negative blocks, emotions, or energies, negativity may surface to be healed and released. Feel it, focus on the emotion, allow (accept) it, [take the lesson], and its energy will release. This is the healing. It may release within one listening session or may require several listens over a longer period of time. More