Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal

Thursday, July 23, 2026

Surf's up! Triple threat: wavy, hot, humid

Fat Happy Zen monk Budai can surf
Why do waves go so well with Buddhism? There's something about sex, sand, and suffering -- which one meets with while reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on the beach. But becoming a greater surfer has much more to do with wu wei (the ease of effortless flow), wushu (Chinese martial arts), and applying Taoist principles like yin and yang to Zen (jhana) Buddhist practice, which involves mindful in-the-moment awareness and radical acceptance of what is.*

Southland facing a triple threat of heat, humidity, and high surf

Temperatures topping 100 inland raise wildfire risk

Rong-Gong Lin II (July 21, 2026, Los Angeles); Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Bethany Hamilton, attired in surf wear and fancy board as part of surf culture (Wiki)

Super Girl Surf Fest 2026

Southern California will face a triple threat this week of dangerous heat, muggy weather and, along the coast, hazardous high waves. It may be better for surfing, but it will be risky for all beachgoers who get near the water.

"We're looking at an at least several days -- if not longer -- heat event, which can really be concerning," said meteorologist Robbie Munroe of the National Weather Service's Oxnard office. Hollywood may catch fire on the Sunset Strip from all the tourists dripping sunblock.

We only watch to, uh, observe her form, uh, surfing

Prepare: World Surf League 2026

From Tuesday through next Monday, temperatures could hit 109 in Paso Robles, 108 in Lancaster, 106 in Canoga Park, 102 in Santa Clarita, 99 in Covina, 92 in DTLA, and 87 in Long Beach.

Officials warned of elevated fire danger across large swaths of SoCal starting Tuesday, with a high risk of fast-moving and "plume dominated" fires driven by heat and instability. Such blazes have large vertical growth and can spread rapidly even when not driven by the wind. More: latimes.com

*Woo Way: The Tao of Surf

It all started with my coach...then 10,000 hours later I was riding the face of Poseidon

With no "self," there are only conditions.
Wisdom Quarterly's new book on going with the flow while out to sea among brutal sharks, cancerous sun, chapping wind, and rich territorial surf punks suffering from localism and getting into fights about it.

Why do waves go so well with Buddhist practice? There's something about "sex, sand, and suffering" -- which one meets with while reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy safely on the beach. But it has much more to do with wu wei, wushu, and applying Taoist principles to Zen practice.

Ancient surfboard from 1600s found in Hawaii

For instance, when out on a wave about to ride, instead of "doing," try "allowing." Go with the flow. Rather than interfering or trying to cut against the grain, embody radical acceptance of what is and ride it out. That's what Wisdom Quarterly's resident Meditation Teacher Seven says is a far better approach than struggling to dominate.

In surfing as in life, prepare for the gnarly.

Let the waves dominate so that the only thing to do is allow, allow, allow. Then in this allowing, suddenly it becomes effortless and intuitive, perfectly obvious and impossible to explain with words.

People do sometimes try to express it in words, but it all becomes a jumble of oohs and ahhs like surf slang or Himalayan shoestring spiritual seekers on ayahuasca down in the jungles of the Amazon with shamans Michael Harner.

Natives knew plant medicines
As a graduate student in the 1950s, Michael Harner undertook field research on the culture of the Jívaro (Shuar) Natives of the Amazon in Ecuador [5] as he began to pursue a career as an ethnologist. His UC Berkeley doctoral dissertation (1963) became the basis for his book, The Jívaro: People of the Sacred Waterfalls [6]. In 1960-1961 he reported that he became a participant-observer by experimenting with the powerful plant medicine ayahuasca with the Conibo of the Peruvian Amazon [5]. He wrote about in the articles "The Sound of Rushing Water" (1968)[7] and "The Role of Hallucinogenic Plants in European Witchcraft" (1973)[8]. Dr. Harner, Ph.D. returned to the Native Jívaro in 1964, 1969, and 1973, at which time he learned the use of the psychoactive entheogen maikua (Datura brugmansia, jimsonweed) [5]. More

Dr. Michael Harner: shamans know their plants

There's a similar feeling to be had by skateboarding or hang gliding, BASE jumping or surviving the pit (slam dancing to a favorite song at a concert). Surfing seems very safe by comparison. It all becomes instinctive and beyond thinking. It's a good place to be just for that moment, rising above the turmoil of the mind or diving into the silence of the heart. Rumi would understand. The historical Buddha pointed out the detailed Path to it.

What is surfing?

Hawaiian surfer on North Shore near Sunset Beach Paumalū (Daniel Ramirez/Wiki)

I'dunno, Bro, looks pretty gnarly. Let's just tan.

Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual surfer (or two) uses a carefully modified wood, fiberglass, or polyurethane board to "ride" on the face, the forward section, of a swelling wave of water. This swell usually carries said surfer toward shore or to a watery death by drowning for not respecting Mother Nature enough. Waves suitable for surfing are primarily found on ocean shores. But they can also be found as standing waves in the open ocean, artificial simulators, lakes, rivers in the form of a tidal bore, or wave pools (and also in a physics experiment when a tide pool is sent back to sea). More

Where to Surf in Los Angeles | Discover Los Angeles
Woman applies a lot of sex wax before surfing
Surf Spots - California Beaches: The Wedge? That's Newport Beach. LA's Palos Verdes Peninsula isn’t known for its surfing outside of local circles, and there is a sad reason for that. It’s called “localism.” The area has a severe case of the disease. Located between Los Angeles and Long Beach, and possessing some excellent breaks, one would think this place would be much better known. Locals know all about surf spots like Palos Verdes Cove (near the crumbling peninsula called Palos Verdes Estates), Lunada Bay, Haggertys at Malaga Cove, among others.
Best Surfing in California (South Counties) | Billabong
Best surfing spots in California: 12 waves to surf | Red Bull
Southern California surf spots: Which one is best? | Los Angeles Times
California’s Best Surfing Waves | Visit California
Discover the Top 10 Surfing Beaches in Southern California | Pacific Surf
Online Newspaper & Magazine Publications Catalog | PressReader

What's going on in the SoCal water?

Giant LA all drains into Santa Monica Bay

A few weeks ago, LA and OC beaches were being subjected to king tides, riptides, with dangerous surfing conditions for experts only. The cause this time seems to be a tropical storm elsewhere disrupting the height and frequency of waves. Surfers may love it as they avoid great white sharks, but others will find it hard to take a dip or swim. Localism is, of course, a greater danger as human sharks with a sense of entitlement circle strangers and drive them out. Expect swells, tubular conditions at The Wedge and elsewhere. Warning: Water may be a little contaminated due to crumbling infrastructure. Sharks are a tiny worry compared to the microscopic contaminants and plastic particle debris. Enjoy.

Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Jennifer B., Seth Auberon, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Lust for Sofia or Love of Wisdom?

Forget that silly Latina Sofia Verga'raw and stare at me (SuicideGirl wiki 'thirst trap')

(comedyspace.) Nobody gets thirsted after and trapped like American actor Sophia Vergara

I'm not sex symbol; I'm a simbolo sexual

Sofía Vergara, 54, is smart and beautiful, so voluptuous and brainy with shine and humor that it has made her one of the highest-paid actresses in the USA [3, 4, 5]. Happy birthday (July 10th)! The Latin (Colombian) North American is an actress, TV hostess, personality, and the most enchanting judge on America's Got Talent. Sofi is perhaps best known for her role as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett on the ABC sitcom Modern Family (2009–2020) and more recently as Griselda Blanco from the Netflix miniseries Griselda (2024). She has received five nominations each at the Primetime Emmy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards. She rose to prominence when co-hosting two TV shows for the Spanish-language TV network Univision in the late 1990s. After acting in the English-language film... More

Foremost in wisdom

Ven. Khemā, the nun "foremost in wisdom"

Queen Khema and the illusion of beauty: becoming a nun on seeing the truth 😊

Sex is a trap, Jack. Just u wait.
Enlightened Buddhist nun Khemā, the Buddha's chief female disciple declared "foremost in wisdom"
The Buddha's chief female disciples Khema and Uppalavanna
On Women as Teachers in Early Buddhism: Dhammadinna and Khema | Buddhist Studies Review
Gender and Authority in Buddhist History: From Enlightened Masters
Pali canon Literature of Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand (Theravada school)
CLASSIC: The Great Disciples of the Buddha (Bhikkhu Bodhi)

Honey trap: sexpionage

A thirst trap is a type of social media post intended to sexually entice viewers [1, 2, 3, 4]. It refers to a viewer's "thirst" (tanha, craving, grasping, clinginess, lust, attachment, sensual desire), a colloquialism likening sexual frustration to dehydrated thirst.

It implies desperation, with the afflicted individual being described as "thirsty" [4, 5, 6] in the Buddhist sense and soon caught in a trap.

The phrase entered into the American lexicon in the late 1990s. It is most related to internet slang that developed in the early 2010s. Its meaning has changed over time, previously referring to a graceless need for approval, validation, affection, or attention [7, 6], for which the term "attention whore" was coined. More

The other Sophia, Goddess of Wisdom

(MorgueOfficial) The Lost Gospel: Jesus secretly worshipping Goddess?

Gnosticism's Nag Hammadi texts: gnosis.org

Buddhist Perfection of Wisdom
The great Gnostic Sophia: Sophia (Wisdom) was a Greek goddess. In Gnosticism, Sophia is "Wisdom," Sofia (Koine Greek σοφία, sophía—"wisdom," Vulgate Latin Sapientia, as in sophists) is a central idea in Hellenistic Greek philosophy and religion, Platonism, and especially Gnosticism.

Originally carrying a meaning of "cleverness or skill," the later meaning of the term, "sound judgment, intelligence, practical wisdom," is close to the meaning of phronesis ("practical wisdom, intelligence") and was significantly shaped by the term philosophía (the "love of wisdom") as used by the philosopher Plato.

The Goddess Sophia in the East and West

If Carrot Top can, anyone can.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, the feminine personification of Divine Wisdom or Holy Wisdom (Ἁγία Σοφία, Hagía Sophía) can refer either to Jesus Christ the Logos or Word of God (as in the dedication of the church of Hagia Sophia in Emperor Constantine's City) or to the Holy Spirit. References to sophía in Koine Greek translations of the Jewish Hebrew Bible are translated from the Hebrew term Chokmah (ḥoḵmā). More

Buddhistdoor quote: Ayya Khema (1923–1997)

Comedyspace.; Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Seth Auberon (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

Who copied whom: Gnostic Jesus or Buddha?

They didn't understand, Jay. - I know, Sid

(Primeval Archives) The Buddha ("Awakened One") and the Gnostic Jesus ("Anointed One") were teaching the same escape route they somehow both knew. Who took it from whom?

Answer

*Irony* Well, clearly Buddhism, which existed five or six centuries before Jesus was born, must have stolen the idea from Christianity by somehow finding a way to time travel centuries into the future, seeing how popular Christianism would get then absconding like a time bandit with Gnostic papyri under his arm back to South and Central Asia (India and Afghanistan). Wait, is there time travel yet? When will that arrive?

So Jesus Christ must have heard the teaching, seen the Buddha's finger pointing at the path (as preserved in the Buddha-Dharma and the Sangha, the Teachings of the Buddha and the monastic institution the Buddha set up to preserve and practice those Teachings so that the world would never be bereft of path or enlightened disciples, who are the unexcelled source of merit for the world).

Jesus was a Buddhist monk (BBC)

Socrates, Jesus Christ, the Buddha, Lao Tzu

Primeval Archives does such a great job presenting the case then falls on his A.I. face by claiming that all the evidence that Jesus spent the missing 18 years of his life between the time he was a teen then a teacher traveling to India, Tibet, and the mystic East. All the evidence in the world wouldn't convince someone who has already made up his or her or their mind.

Jesus Lived in India

Is there evidence? Because if there is, then the question answers itself about who borrowed from whom. The BBC says that Jesus was a Buddhist monk during a part of those "missing years," which did not really go missing at all, but rather were buried and erased by the institution. Churches, councils, Vatican, clerical organizations, they never heard it, just as they ignore the Apocrypha, a wondrous source of Christian and pre-Christian knowledge. The lost Gnostic Gospels cannot now be ignored, nor could the parallels between what may spiritual traditions seem to be trying to say in their own way.

Nicolas Notovitch, Russian Christian, found written documentation of Jesus (St. Issa) in Tibetan monastery Hemis Gompa, Ladakh
He returned to West, was met with shock and doubt. Then someone claimed to go ask at the monastery, which denied knowing anything about a book documenting Jesus (St. Issa) training there then returning to Palestine (ancient Israel) before getting in trouble again, getting crucified, cut down and released by bribed Roman guards, and returning to India to live out his life till the age of 80 in Kashmir, where he is buried in the Jewish style
Indian Swami Abhedananda heard about this, traveled to Ladakh, was shown the book (because he was not a Westerner who would steal it like others were likely to do), corroborating all that Notovitch had claimed
Why a Hindu Accepts Christ and rejects Churchianity: Swami Abhedananda
Jesus Lived in India: His Unknown Life Before and After the Crucifixion | Holger Kersten | Goodreads

Jesus was a Buddhist monk (BBC documentary)

Truth is truth, and no one is owner of it. What the Buddha, the Awakened One, realized he shared with the world like an openhanded teacher. Jesus may have had a much smaller circle of special disciples (Apostles), but he certainly tried to tell people of his visions, realizations, and setting forth a way of following in his footsteps. It's a terrible pity the official Church took that, stripped it of its vital call for real gnosis (direct personal experience, shamanic realization, seeing to believe) and replaced it was a pitiful shell of obedience to authority, mindless learning by rote, and blind faith.

We are responsible for our own actions, which is our karma (deeds). We reap what we sow, which is to say we harvest what we plant. As is said in Buddhism, "No one saves us but ourselves; no one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path; buddhas [awakened teachers] only point the way."

Primeval Archives (video); BBC (documentary); Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly COMMENTARY

WW III begins: USA, ISR, PRC, RU, Iran, Turkey

(Kim Iversen) World War III has already begun: here's proof

Jewish Zionist Trump booster Laura Loomer

The Nakba genocide continues:

☠️ Israel's death count in Lebanon ☠️

(Ana Kasparian) Will IDF have any bombs left for Iran at this rate?

Hate to say we told you so

Killer Klown Krump: The World is Ending!

kimiversenshow.com
kimiversen.com
Is demented Trump about to nuke Iran?
The Jimmy Dore Show
DropSiteNews.com
TheGrayzone.com with Max Blumenthal
(The Daily Show) Trump's cabinet is on TikTok, conservatives move Iran goalposts, and TDS turns 30

Jewish man stabbed near NY's Central Park

(NBC News) Stabbings near New York City's Central Park

Who stabbed this person? Revenge!

A member of the richest group in the United States, the Jewish community, has been stabbed near Central Park in a possible hate crime. An Asian man was stabbed by the same suspect, now apprehended, but that's not important. A Jew was harmed, terrifying the community of Jews in the USA, who number not quite a million of the 341 million. But demographers, Mossad intelligence, CIA cubicle workers, and pricey PR firms are trying to find ways to fluff that number as much as possible by including any and every one that could possibly be the slightest bit related to the group. While there are no recruitment or religious conversion plans afoot to get people to join this exclusive and insular group, the public numbers will be managed to obscure their miniscule size as percentage of the population and disproportionate representation in politics, university admissions and faculty positions, high finance, Hollywood and the entertainment arts, as well as those surrounding and connected to accused and convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Donald Trump.

Thousands demonstrate to save Kyiv

(AP Archive) NATO and EU must weaken Russia; Ukraine to be pretext

Demographics the most important thing

The USA has about 4% of the world's population, yet it is the third most populous country in the world. It is only smaller than India and China.

It is also the most populous nation in the Americas (and there are lots of Americas up and down the continent from South to Central to Meso to North and beyond all the way to the Pole. The USA also has the largest population in the Western Hemisphere.

The estimated population of the USA is 341,784,857 (three hundred and forty-two million in round numbers) as of July 1, 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau [1].

The country's population grew by 1.8 million (0.5%) between 2024 and 2025, due to a decline in net international migration [3]. The previous year, the Census Bureau had reported a population increase of 0.98% between 2023 and 2024 [26], near the global population growth rate of 1.03% [27].

These figures include the 50 states and the federal capital, Washington, [which is actually a district of another country that preceded the official establishment of the USA, a place called Columbia, thus earning this special exclusion zone its own kind of Holy See status and the name "D.C."].

This number excludes the 3.6 million residents of five unincorporated U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands) as well as several minor uninhabited island possessions.

By several metrics, including racial and ethnic background, religious affiliation, and percentage of rural and urban divide, the state of Illinois is the most representative of the larger demography of the United States [28].

The population of the USA almost quadrupled during the 20th century, with an average growth rate of about 1.3% a year, from about 76 million in 1900 to 281 million in 2000 [29]. It is estimated to have reached the 200 million mark in 1967, and the 300 million mark on October 17, 2006 [29, 30].

Foreign-born immigration caused the U.S. population to continue its rapid increase, with this population doubling from almost 20 million in 1990 to over 45 million in 2015 [31], representing one-third of the population increase [32]. More

Shauna Schwartz, Ashley Wells, Sheldon S., Pfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit "demographics of the United States"

When Slayer was punk crossover thrash

(Fabricio Gabriel The Channel) Rehearsal 1986 | Club Horizon Garage (HD 50 FPS upgrade)

The greatest live display in the history of rock music: SLAYER METAL GRAMMYS PERFORMANCE in front of the three remaining Beatles (John, Ringo, and Yoko) and Hollywood celebrities, performing "Angel of Death"

From their humble beginning in an LA garage, no one expected Slayer at the Grammys 2022 😜

Slayer is an American (punk crossover-, thrash-, death-, speed-, black-) metal band from Huntington Park, South Central LA, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, Cuban drummer Dave Lombardo, and Chilean singer/bassist Tom Araya.

The Slayer formula #thrashmetal #TomAraya - Satanic and evil? Tom explains

Metal Massacre series (Metal Blade compilations)

Slayer's first ever song to be released "Aggressive Perfector"

Jeff's death by necrotizing fasciitis on arm

Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them one of the "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax.

💀 Since Hanneman's death from a flesh-eating spider bite in 2013, things haven't been the same. ☠️ Araya became a fat backache-complaining stay-at-home dad, King created Slayer 2.0 (the new band "Kerry King"), Lombardo left after getting fed up with never getting paid.

In the original lineup, King, Hanneman, and Araya contributed to the band's lyrics, and all of the band's music was written by King and Hanneman.

Slayer's Top 10 aggressive intros. AP on album: - "Aggressive Perfector" 7" 1986

The band's graphic lyrics and album art -- which cover religion, occultism, terrorism, serial killers, fascism, racism, and war -- have generated censorship, album bans, delays, lawsuits, and criticism from religious groups.

However, Slayer's music has been highly influential, frequently cited by many bands as an influence musically, visually (tee-shirts are everywhere), and lyrically... More

Nobody would pay to hear this garbage!