ARROYO SECODELICFESTIVAL (arroyosecodelic.com) May 22–25, 2026:
Highland Park, Los Angeles, al ages with 60+ bands across six walkable venues along famous Figueroa Street. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (Memorial Day weekend). Tickets are available as 4-Day Passes to all shows in all venues. See individual schedule for full lineup by day.
Microdosing at the Psychedelic Institute, LA
Featuring punk legends FEAR ●
Flamin' Groovies
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Adolescents ● Levitation Room
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Strawberry Fuzz
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Mike Watt & The Secondmen ● Juanita & Juan
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Untitled
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The Warlocks ● Death Valley Girls
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Flat Worms
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Valgur ● Toys That Kill
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Buckets ● Cinnamon
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The Darts
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Windows ● Cissi TV
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Op Ed
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Sun Atoms ● Baus
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Cameron Romance
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The Flamenco Souls ● Axxident
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Wave Decay
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and more...
In Bear Awareness, Ajahn Brahm answers meditators’ questions, actual questions from students of meditation––questions readers may have wondered about as well.
While most satior mindfulness meditation teachers praise the benefits of "bare awareness," Ajahn Brahm teaches bear awareness.
He helps us make friends with the scary things that come up on the cushion, and he shows how to lift the mood with a well-placed stuffed teddy or a well-timed pun.
The intimacy of the question-and-answer format provides a fresh experience of learning from a Western master meditator who studied with the awakened Thai master Ajahn Chah.
Whether he is urging readers to fly Buddha Air (as we sit back and relax on our way to nirvana), giving tips for dealing with panic attacks or depression, or extolling the bliss (piti) of meditation that is better than sex, he gives us permission to enjoy our lives and our practice. More
The fifth of the Five Precepts the Buddha advised humans to adopt is to abstain from intoxicants that occasion heedlessness such as alcohol, drugs, and such substances [12, 13].
The Five Precepts (guidelines for morality, virtue, human ethics, harmlessness, ahimsa) are called pañca-sīla, binding on all Buddhist laypeople. They are to abstain and refrain from:
killing any living being
stealing (taking what is not given)
sexual misconduct
false speech (which means speaking falsehoods or lying and malicious speech, harsh speech, and frivolous speech or "animal talk"* mislabeled as gossip)
the use of intoxicants (such as beer and spirits or surāmeraya).
Early Buddhist texts nearly always condemn alcohol as do Chinese Buddhist later post-canonical texts (of the Mahayana tradition).
Smoking is sometimes also included here.
In modern times, traditional Buddhist countries have seen revival movements to promote the Five Precepts, the least good karma if we hope to ever be reborn on the human plane again and avoid the subhuman planes.
In the West, the precepts play a major role in Buddhist organizations. They have also been integrated into mindfulness training programs -- though many modern "mindfulness" specialists, having changed the definition of "mindfulness" (which the Buddha called sati) to something that better suits them -- do not support this because of the precepts' spiritual religious import.
Lastly, many conflict prevention programs make use of the precepts. More
What do we do when drinking other than "animal talk"?
Back off, Bich! - Don't call me 'bich,' Birdbrain!
*What is "animal talk"? It is lowly speech, literally "beastly talk," the name the sutras (ancient texts) give for the following: "Talk about:
Last near, a large part of Los Angeles County burned in the "LA Fires" -- Eaton Fire in the foothills of Altadena above affluent Pasadena and the Palisades Fire in the affluent coastal area of Pacific Palisades near Malibu -- but did anyone like the mayor learn anything? Not so far as anyone can tell. No official has read The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin?
OJ: Blame it on him. I'm the Juice
Granted it's about igniting social unrest (like the LA Uprising of 1992 triggered by racist LAPD cop and disgraced perjurer Mark Fuhrman, who died last week) rather than wildfires burning out of control, but whatever we've been through as a county, there's worse to come. There's the Big One, an earthquake to flatten the place, a tsunami to inundate the low lying areas of the basin, and there's a cosmic radiation solar emission to take out all the electronics and powerlines.
Fraud Fuhrman hired by FOX
What did the Buddha say about being in this sort of position? He once asked a king what he would do if messengers were to tell him that an adversary were approaching from the east, west, north, and south. The king replied, "What could I do but rely on the Dhamma?" The Buddha then said that there were four such enemies approaching so that whatever he was going to do, it would be wise to do it NOW. The thing is, the Buddha wasn't only talking to that king. Those same adversaries are approaching each of us. But do we notice, listen, pay attention, or act accordingly?
In 1995, Det. Fuhrman was called to testify regarding his alleged "discovery" of evidence in the OJ Simpson case, including a bloody glove recovered at OJ's Brentwood estate. During the trial, witnesses claimed that in the 1980s, LAPD cop Fuhrman frequently described African Americans as "niggers," claims he denied. In response, Simpson's defense team produced recorded interviews with Fuhrman, and witnesses proved that he had repeatedly used racist language during those interviews [1]. As a result, the defense claimed Fuhrman had committed perjury and was not a credible witness. The credibility of the prosecution has been cited as one reason big Simpson was acquitted [2]. The defense claimed Fuhrman planted key evidence as part of a racially motivated plot against Simpson. When asked under oath (without the jury being present), Fuhrman declined to answer all questions, invoking his Fifth Amendment right. These questions included whether he planted or manufactured evidence. He didn't want to answer? Fuhrman "retired" from the LAPD in 1995. In 1996, he pleaded guilty by pleading "no contest" to perjury for his false testimony related to his use of racial epithets. Fuhrman claimed he was not a racist and apologized for his use of racist language [3]. He did not apologize for potentially starting the deadly "LA Riots" or the people killed, an uprising that was a long time in the making due to flagrant LAPD racism. More
The Buddha was dwelling in Savatthi. Then King Pasenadi of Kosala approached the Blessed One in the middle of the day, bowed, and sat respectfully to one side. Sitting there, the Blessed One said to him, "Great king, where are you coming from in the middle of the day?"
"Venerable sir, just now I was engaged in the affairs of an anointed noble-warrior king, enjoying the intoxication of royal sovereignty, obsessed with lust for sensual pleasures, who has attained stable control of his kingdom after having conquered a great sphere of earthly territory."
"Great king, what do you think? Suppose a trustworthy and reliable man were to come to you from the east and say, 'If it please your majesty, know that I come from the east where I saw a great mountain, as high as the clouds, coming this way, crushing all the living beings [in its path]. Do as you see fit.'
"'Then suppose a second man were to come from the west... Then a third man were to come from the north... Then a fourth man were to come from the south and say, 'If it please your majesty, know that I come from the south where I saw a great mountain, as high as the clouds, coming this way, crushing all living beings. Do as you see fit.'
"Great king, if such great peril should arise, such a terrible waste of human life — a human rebirth being so hard to obtain — what should be done?"
"Venerable sir, if such great peril should arise, such a terrible waste of human life — a human rebirth being so hard to obtain — what else should be done but conduct in accordance with the Dhamma, right action, skillful deeds, meritorious karma?"
"Then, great king, I inform you, I announce to you, aging and death are rolling in upon you. Great king, when aging and death are rolling in upon you, what should be done?"
"Venerable sir, as aging and death are rolling in upon me, what else should be done but conduct in accordance with the Dhamma, right conduct, skillful deeds, meritorious karma?
"Venerable sir, there are elephant battles [fought by] anointed noble-warrior kings enjoying the intoxication of royal sovereignty, obsessed by lust for sensual pleasures, who have attained stable control of their kingdom and who rule having conquered a great sphere of earthly territory. But there is no use in elephant battles, no sense in them, when aging and death are rolling in.
"There are cavalry battles... chariot battles... infantry battles... But there is no use for such battles, no sense in them, when aging and death are rolling in.
"In this royal court there are counselors who, when the enemies arrive, are capable of dividing them by their wit. But there is no use for such battles of wits, no sense in them, when aging and death are rolling in.
"In this royal court there is abundant gold and silver stored in vaults and depositories, and with such wealth we are capable of buying off enemies when they come. But there is no use in battles of wealth, no sense in them, when aging and death are rolling in. As aging and death are rolling in upon me, venerable sir, what else should be done but conduct in accordance with Dhamma, right conduct, skillful deeds, meritorious karma?"
"So it is, great king, so it is! As aging and death are rolling in upon you, what else should be done but conduct in accordance with Dhamma, right conduct, skillful deeds, meritorious karma?"
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said it, the One Well-Gone [the Welcome One], the Teacher, went on to summarize:
Kṣitigarbha [Sanskrit क्षितिगर्भ, Chinese 地藏, Pinyin Dìzàng, Japanese 地蔵, Rōmaji Jizō, Korean 지장 (地藏), Romaja Jijang, Vietnamese Địa Tạng (地藏), Standard Tibetan ས་ཡི་སྙིང་པོ་, Wylie sa yi snying po] is a bodhisattva (being bent on supreme buddhahood) primarily revered in East Asian Buddhism and usually depicted as a Mahayana Buddhist monk.
His name may be translated as "Earth Treasury," "Earth Store," "Earth Matrix," or "Earth Womb."
Kṣitigarbha is known for a vow to take responsibility for the instruction of all beings in the six worlds [a condensed grouping of the 31 Planes of Existence the historical Buddha outlined] between the final nirvana of the historical Gautama Buddha and the future rise of Maitreya Buddha, as well as a vow not to achieve buddhahood until all hells are emptied.
He is therefore often regarded as the bodhisattva of hell-beings as well as the guardian of children and patron deity of deceased children and aborted fetuses in Japanese culture.
Usually depicted as a monk with either a halo or a crown bearing images of the Five Tathāgatas around his shaved head, he carries a staff to force open the gates of hell and a wish-fulfilling jewel to light up the darkness. More
STATUE: Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva (Jizō Bosatsu, 地蔵菩薩) is a Japanese wood and bronze statue of about 1175 in the late Heian period, which is now in the permanent Asian collection at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
The statue depicts Jizō (Sanskrit Ksitigarbha), who in Japanese Buddhism is the bodhisattva of the earth and is considered a protector of children and travelers.
He is also a rescuer of beings in all hells and is considered a guardian of spirits for children who have died before their parents [1].
Description: Jizō is garbed in traditional Buddhist monk's attire, lacking ornate jewelry or adornments typically seen on images of bodhisattvas [2], many of which represent the historical Buddha before his great enlightenment, at which time he became the Buddha, and the Future Buddha Maitreya. More
Yogachara (Sanskrit Yogācāra) is an influential tradition of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing the study of cognition, perception, and consciousness through the interior lens of meditation and philosophical reasoning (hetuvidyā) [1, 2].
Yogachara was one of the two most influential traditions in Mahayana Buddhism in India, along with Madhyamaka [3].
The compound Yogā-cāra literally means "practice of yoga" or "one whose practice is yoga." Hence, the name of the school is literally "the School of the Yogins" [4, 3].
Yogācāra was also variously termed Vijñānavāda (the Consciousness Doctrine), Vijñaptivāda (the Ideas or Perceptions Doctrine), or Vijñaptimātratā-vāda (the "Mere Representation" Doctrine), which is also the name given to its major theory of mind that seeks to deconstruct how we perceive the world.
There are several interpretations of this main theory, which include various forms of idealism as well as phenomenology or representationalism.
Aside from this, Yogācāra also developed an elaborate analysis of consciousness (vijñāna) and mental phenomena (dharmas, "things"), as well as an extensive system of Buddhist spiritual practice, namely, yoga [1],
The movement has been traced to the first centuries of the common era and seems to have evolved as some yogis of the Sarvāstivāda and Sautrāntika traditions in North India adopted Mahayana Buddhism [5, 6].
The brothers Asaṅga and Vasubandhu (circa 4-5th century) are considered the classic philosophers and systematizers of this school, while it is also traditionally attributed by Buddhist believers to the figure of Maitreya-nātha [7].
Yogācāra was later imported to Tibet and East Asia by figures like Shantaraksita (8th century) and Xuanzang (7th century).
Today, Yogācāra ideas and texts continue to be influential subjects of study for Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism and East Asian Buddhism. More
Neturei Karta (Aramaic נָטוֹרֵי קַרְתָּא, Romanized Nāṭōrē Qartāʾ, literally "Guardians of the City," i.e., Jerusalem as representative of Israel itself) is a Jewish anti-Zionist organization.
It was founded in Jerusalem in 1938 and is primarily active in parts of Israel and the Western world, including the USA. It was established by Haredi Jews originally affiliated with World Agudath Israel, which represented the most devout members of the Haredi community of the Old Yishuv.
The organization's members, who adhere to stringent interpretations of Jewish religious law, are known for their religious conservatism and insular lifestyles.
Neturei Karta's international political activism is rooted in its opposition to Zionist Israel's existence.
This, in turn, is rooted in its members' core religious belief that the Jewish exile is to be maintained until the coming of the Messiah. It is not NK placing this injunction on Jews but rather God and the Bible (Torah) that secular Jewish and Christian Zionists ignore. More
"California Treeams.") Trees for Jane wants to thank everyone for their support for Trees for
Jane! As of March 2022, if anyone wants to follow Jane Goodall (RIP) on her
journey to save our forests and climate, visit
Jane’s Green Hope
a project of the Jane Goodall Institute.
Celebrate Earth Day and Dr. Jane Goodall’s birthday on April 3rd and all month long throughout April.
Let’s celebrate Earth Day and a woman who for over 60 years inspired and motivated millions of people across the world to live in greater harmony with nature and to take action on behalf of the planet we share with plants and animals.
Compelled by Dr. Goodall’s mission to live sustainably and with vegetarian compassion, we look with new hope for a brighter, greener future.
As she has shared, one of the most resilient and impressive forces on Earth is contained within the seeds of plant life, which can break through walls and always find a way. More: janegoodall.org
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