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.
Share original poems, songs, lyrics, spoken word, or just come listen. Each open mic performer will get 5 minutes for an original work. Sign up on arrival. Our FEATURED PERFORMER for National Poetry Month is Seven, who performs in Buddhist Sanskrit, Gaelic, English, and pre-Spanish (Nahuatl). An urban shaman and yogi with Native American roots (Kizh/Tongva), he won the San Gabriel Valley Poetry Festival chapbook and broadside contests, among many other honors, and has been published in several anthologies and journals, including the library's very own The Stone Bird: Anthology. He was also a featured poet at L.A. Shakespeare Fest and LitFest Pasadena with the word troupe Poets in Distress. Open Mic Poetry | Los Angeles Public Library
May 28, 4:00 pm REAB Traveling Symphony Series Presents: Symphony of Shared Stories Van Nuys Branch Library
May 29, 10:30 am REAB Traveling Symphony Presents: Collaborative Poetry with DSTL ARTS Fairfax Branch Library
May 30, 12 noon REAB Traveling Symphony Presents: Collaborative Poetry with DSTL ARTS Hyde Park Miriam Matthews Branch Library
May 30, 2:30 p.m. REAB Traveling Symphony Presents: Collaborative Poetry with DSTL ARTS Baldwin Hills Branch Library
June 9, 6:00 pm Poetry Open Mic Westwood Branch Library
ADA accommodations: (213) 228-7430 at least 72 hours prior to event. Para ajustes razonables según la ley de ADA, llama (213) 228-7430 al menos 72 horas antes del evento.
AwareProject.org for rethinking psychedelics (The Aware Project, Los Angeles)
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
On the Summer Solstice of Saturday, June 20, 2026, from 7:00 to 10:00 pm the LAist is holding a rave at Remainders Creative Reuse. Total price of entry? $5.00 (five USD and 49 cent service fee).
Break out the rave gear and join Remainders Creative Reuse and LAist.com for a night of wild dancing, crafting, and community.
DJ Tekfor will be on hand all night bumping the 90’s rave jams and all the other hits. And there will be not one, not two, but three crafting stations with instructors:
Already have a project in progress? Bring it along! Or if still looking for a spark, we’ll have a pop-up crafting table ready for everyone.
Whether a raver knits, collages, beads, sketches, or basketweaves, this is the perfect excuse to make something while soaking up the ravey 90’s vibes! Come as you are. (Bonus points will be awarded for 1990s-inspired outfits).
We wouldn't put anything past Larry Mantle or Pasadena's KPCC 89.3 FM and its long-running battle to seem more relevant than Madeleine Brand and Santa Monica's KCRW 88.9 FM.
No, remember there was that Asian science journalist at KPCC and like the LA and Pasadena Weekly? She used to go to all sorts of parties, festivals, events, write about it, be on the radio all the time. Then KPCC booted her, KCRW picked her up? She lived in a small house in NoHo, the value of which kept going up, trapping her in LA.
RIGHT SPEECH (sammā-vācā) in most Buddhist texts (such as the Pali canon) is presented as four abstentions [29, 68]: "What is right speech? Abstaining from lying (false speech), from divisive speech, from abusive speech, and from idle (beastly talk) speech: This is called right speech."
Instead of the usual "abstention and refraining from wrong" terminology, a few Buddhist texts, such as the "Fruits of Recluseship Discourse" (Samaññaphala Sutta) and Kevata Sutta in the Long Discourses of the Buddha (Digha Nikaya) explain this virtue in an active sense, after stating it in the form of an abstention [69].
For example, Fruits of Recluseship Sutra states that a part of a Buddhist monastic's virtue is that of "abstaining from false speech. One speaks the truth, holds to the truth, is firm, reliable, not a deceiver of the world" [69].
Similarly, the virtue of abstaining from divisive speech is explained as delighting in creating concord [69] and peace and harmony between people.
I'm humiliated! I can never face the world!
The virtue of abstaining from abusive speech is explained in this sutra as including affectionate and polite speech that is pleasing to most people.
The virtue of abstaining from idle chit chat (animal talk or ticcharana-katha) is explained as speaking what is connected with the Dharma, the goal of of which is liberation from all ignorance and suffering [69, 40] by realizing the freedom of enlightenment and the bliss and peace of nirvana. More
Roasters (Comedy Central); The Artist is The Enemy; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit (Noble Eightfold Path factor)
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:
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