Monday, June 30, 2014

But I really love myself! (sutra)

Ashley Wells and Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly
Nepal's other Everest: trekking to the summit of Gokyo Ri and some of the best views in the country. About two hours’ walk north of Namche Bazaar, the largest town in the Khumbu region, the trail forks. Turn right towards Everest Base Camp (Zolashine/Getty/BBC.com)


Royal Sutra
Dhr. Seven (trans.), Wisdom Quarterly (Rājan Sutra from "Inspired Utterances," Udana 5.1)
Buddha on Gokyo Ri peak (Hendrik Terbeck)
Thus have I heard. Once when the Blessed One was residing near Sāvatthī at Jeta's Grove in the millionaire's monastery, King Pasenadi of Kosala and Queen Mallikā went to the upper floor of the palace.

The king turned to the queen and said, "Mallikā, is there anyone dearer to you than yourself?"
 
"No one, great king, no one is dearer to me than myself. Great king, and how is it with you, is there anyone dearer to you than yourself?"
 
"No one, Mallikā, no one is dearer to me than myself," he answered. Then King Pasenadi left to see the Blessed One. When he arrived, he bowed, sat respectfully to one side, and related to him the exchange.

Then realizing the significance of what was being said, the Blessed One exclaimed this verse of uplift:

"Scanning all directions with awareness, one finds no one dearer than oneself. Others, too, are equally dear to themselves. So if one loves oneself, one avoids hurting others."

Dangerous dreams in rural Utah
Dangerous dreams in rural Utah: Four English travellers deal with the reality…


The Truth About Religion (audio)

Wisdom Quarterly; the Right Reverend Alan Watts (alanwatts.org)
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, which truth is the truest of all?"
The Episcopalian minister turned Zen Buddhist priest Alan Watts blows the lid on the real meaning of religion as it is practiced in the West and East. It is staggering what we have come to in the West looking to the insights of the East for guidance. Watts originally delivered this two part talk under the name "Democracy in the Kingdom." Part 2 will be played on the first Sunday in July at 8:00 am. This one was aired on June 29, 2014 at 8:00 am. AUDIO: PLAY

Twins and Suicide; My Shink; N. Korea (audio)

Wisdom Quarterly; Glynn Washington, Nancy Lopez (SnapJudgment.org, #514)



Twin sisters Christa and Cara careen after tragedy
Christa Parravani and her twin sister, Cara Parravani, did everything they could to set themselves apart. They wore different styles of clothes, pursued different careers, listened to different music. But when tragedy struck and Christa found herself without her other half, the lengths she went to to get close to her sister were beyond incredible. Christa is a writer and photographer. For more on her life before and after her twin sister, check out her memoir Her.

Baby Steps (Agoraphobia): When trapped inside a jail of our own making, the only liberator up to the task is a fellow prisoner. Joshua Walters is a performer who explores language, creativity, and madness (Producer: Mark Ristich/Sound Design: Leon Morimoto).
    Two Bowls (North Korea): From the "Risk" storytelling podcast comes a story by Christine Lee of love and sustenance in North Korea (Producer: Kevin Allison of Risk)
    • (Skuggi Snaps/flickr.com)
      Not being on or the other ...import/export, or business but to continue the Buddhist missionary work for the existing Japanese American community...
    • Clues and Answers ...the dim cool room in which my grandma sat was filled with Buddhist artifacts. Teak dressers, and framed kimonos.  In the middle of...
    • Creatures of Habit I have two tattoos and counting. I am a budding Buddhist. My spirit animal is Bill Cosby. I’m a writer and anti-hipster....
    • It's not about the bike ... (for 20 minutes) until I regained my Yogic and Buddhist composure. Question: So what did I learn from this experience? 
    • Not AGAIN! So there I was a peaceful little Buddhist boy. I prefer the term W.A.S.A.B.I or "White Anglo Saxon Buddhist Individual" getting ready for my new school. I mentioned offhandedly that... 
    • Killer Camera ...the village where I stayed there was a new house blessing. Buddhist priests had a ceremony and most of the village was there for a...

    The Seven Obsessions

    Wisdom Quarterly; Ven. Nyanatiloka, Buddhist Dictionary: Manual of Terms and Doctrines


    Obsession destroys (tasithoughts.com)
    The seven obsessions or anusayas (proclivities, inclinations, tendencies) are:
    1. sensuous greed (kāma-rāga, see fetters),
    2. resentment (aversion, anger, patigha),
    3. speculative views (wrong views, opinions, ditthi),
    4. skeptical doubt (vicikicchā),
    5. conceit (māna),
    6. craving for continued states of existence (bhava-rāga),
    7. ignorance (avijjā) (D.33; A.VII.11-12).
    "These things are called obsessions or proclivities because, as a consequence of their pertinacity, they again and again tend to become the conditions for the arising of ever new sensuous greed, [aversion, and delusion]'' (Path of Purification, Vis.M. XXII, 60).
     
    Yam. VII first determines in which beings such and such obsessions exist, and which obsessions, and with regard to what, and in which sphere of existence [Sensual, Fine Material, or Immaterial]. Thereafter it gives an explanation concerning their overcoming, their penetration, and so on. Cf. Guide VI (vii).
     
    According to Kath. several ancient Buddhist schools erroneously held the wrong view (opinion) that the anusayas, as such, meant merely latent -- and therefore karmically neutral qualities -- which however contradicts the Theravāda school conception. Cf. Guide V, 88, 108, 139.
    What causes people to fixate on someone [or something] so much that it takes over their being and wipes out whatever common sense and self-esteem they have for themselves?

    Recently I have seen this in a few individuals who have basically thrown their self-respect out the window by going uber crazy over someone they initially had a crush on that turned into a full on -- almost Fatal Attraction -- kind of situation. 

    anger-managementThe irrational behavior reaches fever pitch when they are rejected by the object of their affection.  Their feelings of  ultra-attachment turn into hurt and open bitterness.  It becomes a frenzy of texting,  calling, and harassing the person who scorned them.

    In one instance, I have seen it become violent.... because they have attached their egos and their self-esteem so much to their object of affection...

    Are you what you eat? "Chewicide" (film)

    Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Seven, Pat Macpherson, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; Keidi Obe Awadu, ChewicideMovie.com, LivingSuperFood.com


    This is a healthier vegan option
    Junk food, fast food, the SAD (Standard American Diet), and highly-processed foods all contribute to our American problems with healthcare and paying for it. "I'm saving money on the 99 cent menu but paying for it at the doctor's office."

    Despite all the great and not-so-great (i.e., "official") information on better dietary practices, we still suffer epidemics of man-made chronic disease brought on by chewicide.

    Junk food: U.S. men are getting fatter
    Chewicide, what's chewicide? Munching brought on by emotional-eating, low self-esteem, the impact of psychological craving brought on by advertising campaigns and empty calories from corporations that favor profit by compromising the health of their consumers.

    The use of GMOs, hidden in foods we all eat particularly corn chips, is causing perforations in the lining of our stomachs -- by design. This is the way Monsanto's Roundup-ready pesticide and pest resistant products kill insects, by exploding their stomachs.

    French fried slayers: starch, acrylamides, plasticized oil, dipped in red sugar
     
    Well, wuddintcha know? They have the exact same effect on school children, working adults, acne-ridden teens, and anyone else who eats conventional, non-organic food. What are the chances?
    Whether it's consuming the flesh of animals fed GMOs or plants injected with GMOs or condiments utilizing GMO foods (like the 50 pounds of high fructose corn syrup the average American eats on top of the 162 one-pound sacks of sugar one is trying to digest without developing cancer, diabetes, OCD, ADHD, autism, brain fog, fatigue, erectile dysfunction, depression...), we take in too many harmful ingredients, additives, and calories. Yet most of us are suffering from malnutrition -- a lack of nourishment in spite of the surplus of salt, sugar, and fat our brains' crave.

    There is an antidote to the madness and disease: conscious eating of actual food
     
    Be conscious or commit chewicide
    Companies induce us to eat more (by adding excitotoxic MSG, artificial flavorants, other addictive glutamates, "natural" flavors that are synthesized using petrochemicals, sterilizing preservatives, mold inhibitors, attractive colorants, etc.)  then an entire industry capitalizes on the effect of our standard American diet with ineffective, but highly profitable, medical "treatments," pharmaceutical interventions, surgeries, and radiation sessions to address our symptoms.

    But we keep eating. Money doesn't grow on trees, so the only way for corporations to make good money from food is by processing it and selling it at an exorbitant price compared to how much it cost to make. A pound of potatoes, for instance, is worth almost nothing wholesale. But fry it, salt it, bag it, and even a few ounces spells obscene profits. Who cares if consumers' suffer in the transaction?

    The best antidote to chewicide is mindful "conscious eating." It is certainly worth the effort to change our lifestyles from committing chewicide to nourishing ourselves on living foods (fresh, green, preferably sprouted). When we let food be our medicine, suddenly we do not need medicine. Food is Nature's perfect answer to all of our health problems. Eating with gratitude, while relaxed and joyful, and  according to one's biomechanics, blood type, and Ayurvedic dosha may also be helpful. Learn more or join the movement
    • What's wrong with American men? As Americans we like to pride ourselves on being the best country in the world [WQ EDITORIAL: when everybody knows that's Switzerland]. However, it's clear that other countries... More proof we're fat. Here's what the average American man looks like compared to other men... How do YOU measure up? Artist compares "average" shape of men from around the world...
    • VIDEO: Hey, why are you so FAT?
    • "If you don't move, you get fat." But how can you move when you're exhausted, and your brain and heart are telling you they're starving, and when plastics and chemicals are making you obese even as you diet? Meanwhile, the diet industry, food corporations, and cancer.... 30th over 1,000 people gathered at IP Church in Los Angeles to hear a Pacifica-sponsored speech by the acclaimed Canadian addiction specialist, physician, and bestselling author Gabor Mate.AUDIO: Poor SLEEP makes us fat, demented American men are fatter than other men... The study adds to a growing body of evidence that there's "an intimate relationship between the amount of sleep we get and our ability to maintain a good, healthy body weight," says sleep expert Helene Emsellem, director of the Center for Sleep and Wake Disorders in Chevy Chase, Maryland. But Americans don't seem to be getting the message that we need seven to nine hours per night. More than 1 in 5 of us...
    • How Western diets are making world sick It had a visceral potency to it when you could see it directly there." In a conversation on Fresh Air, Patterson tells Terry Gross that the effects of urbanization are making people everywhere in the world both fatter and sicker.

    Saturday, June 28, 2014

    Obsession: Why won't you love me? (video)

    Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, Crystal Quintero, Wisdom Quarterly; LanaDelRey.com
    “I have strong relationships with icons,” Lana Del Rey says (Kurt Iswarienko/nytimes.com)
    (RV)  Lana Del Rey, "Pretty When You Cry" from the recently released CD now Billboard's No. 1 "Ultraviolence" 


    Lana Del Rey is fantastic and making a splash from coast to coast. She was recently featured on NPR and the pro-propaganda American "paper of record," The New York Times.

    Finding Her Future Looking in the Past
    Jon Pareles, (nytimes.com, June 12/15, 2014)
    Lana Del Rey is diving deeper into retro sophistication.
     
    LOS ANGELES - In October, before starting an international theater tour, the songwriter Lana Del Rey consulted a clairvoyant. She was instructed to write down four questions in advance and sleep on them. The first question on the list, Ms Del Rey said in an interview in May at her house her, was "Am I meant for this world?" It's probably not the kind of question most multimillion-selling pop singers would ask themselves with their careers clearly ascendant... More

    I'm mostly harmless.
    Whether she's taking a jab at Lady Gaga in "I *ucked My Way Up to the Top," causing a dance sensation with "Summertime Sadness," singing the glories of the "West Coast," appearing at Coachella 2014, play at the pre-wedding party for Kim Kardashian and Kanye West in Versailles, releasing "Ultraviolence," or showing Charli XCX and Amethyst "Iggy" Azalea how it's done, she is on fire.
     
    In an interview with Grazia magazine, she explains: 

    Lana Del Rey and Lady Gaga (rapgenius.com)
    “It’s about a singer [speculated to be Lady Gaga] who first sneered about my allegedly not authentic style but later she stole and copied it. And now she’s acting like I am the art project and she the true super artist. My God and people actually believe her, she’s successful! I shouldn’t continue ranting; it doesn’t get anywhere.” She hasn’t officially named the artist, but speculation is strong that it is about Lady "Fame Monster" Gaga and the record executive in "So Legit" (RapGenius.com). 
    The best thing about her is how vulnerable she sounds, like a hopeless love addict on Angelina Jolie/Disney's "Maleficent" theme "Once Upon a Dream," with an ironic fierceness that proves she is not just a waif or songstress like Hope Sandoval or the 90's generation of Lilith Fair acts. This is yin with a little yang. Jon Pareles explains that "doubt, regrets, obsessive longing and self-destructive impulses are often at the core of Ms. Del Rey's songs and videos. 'I wait for you, baby, that's all I do/You don't come through, babe, you never do,: she sing in 'Pretty When You Cry.'"

    The downcast superstar Lana Del Rey (artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com, June 27, 2014)
    Sensual and emotional obsessions are like burning at the stake (Lana Del Rey/West Coast)
      
    At home with Elvis portrait (NYT)
    [Verse 1] All the pretty stars shine for you, my love/ Am I that girl that you dream of?/ All those little times you said that I'm your girl/ You make me feel like your whole world/ [Chorus] I'll wait for you, babe/ That's all I do, babe/ Don't come through, babe, you never do/ Because I'm pretty when I cry... [Verse 2] All those special times I spent with you, my love/ They don't mean sh*t compared to all your drugs/ But I don't really mind, I've got much more than that/ Like my memories, I don't need that/  [Chorus]/...Don't say you need me when/ You leave and you leave again/ I'm stronger than all my men/ Except for you/ Don't say you need me if/ You leave last, you're leaving/ I can't do it, I can't do it/ But you do it well/  [Outro] I'm pretty when I cry.

    SUTRA: Seven Obsessions
    Dhr. Seven and Crystal Quintero (trans.), Wisdom Quarterly (Anusaya Sutras 1 and 2 from the Anguttara Nikaya, "Numerical Discourses," Book of the Sevens, AN 7.11/AN 7.12)
    Theravada novices attend to the Buddha in Burma (Oscar Tarneberg/otarneberg/flickr)
      
    (AN 7.11) "Meditators, there are seven obsessions [anusayas, "underlying or latent tendencies," literally, "to lie down with," but according to Ven. Thanissaro, in actual usage, the related verb (anuseti) means to be obsessed with something, for one's thoughts to return and "lie down with it" over and over again]. What are the seven? ["They are]
    "These are the seven obsessions."

    (AN 7.12) "Meditators, with the abandoning and destruction of these seven obsessions, the supreme life is fulfilled. What are the seven? [Listed above.]

    "With the abandoning and destruction of these seven obsessions, the supreme life is fulfilled.
     
    "When, for a meditator, the obsession of sensual passion has been abandoned, its root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump [that will not regrow once topped off], deprived of the supportive conditions of development, not destined for rearising.

    I am so obsessed and so unenlightened.
    "When for a meditator the obsession of resentment... the obsession of views... the obsession of uncertainty... the obsession of conceit... the obsession of passion for continued becoming... the obsession of ignorance has been abandoned, its root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the supportive conditions of development, not destined for rearising.

    Handcuffs
    Bondage then death by cop
    "This is called one who has cut through craving, has turned away from the fetter (bond), and by rightly breaking through conceit has put an end to suffering and disappointment." 

    2 die in Los Angeles County sheriff's custody A woman being held at the sheriff's station in Valencia died at about 12:30 pm Saturday, but other details have not been released.

    The Ancient Aliens of Egypt (David Wilcock)

    Amber Larson, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly; David Wilcock (DivineCosmos.com)
    David Wilcock (2012) was, in a past life, America's "Sleeping Prophet," Edgar Cayce (1910)

    (HH) David Wilcock (Edgar Cayce) on ancient Egyptian aliens, Great Seal, the White House dome. Listen to full lecture on evidence of visitors from the past.

    The Reincarnation of Edgar Cayce? details the intriguing connection between Edgar Cayce and David Wilcock and presents the case for both having the same source for their prophetic information.

    Through the inspirational, life-transforming words from Wilcock's "higher self," part of a group known as soul readers, can learn how the present Earth changes are energetic increases also occurring on the Sun and all other planets in our solar system in scientifically measurable ways.

    (Reba Ann Karp)
    Breathtaking new evidence indicates how this energy can transform DNA, potentially making ESP, telekinesis, levitation, and other paranormal capacities as common as breathing, ushering in the promise of a "Golden Age" promise... More

    Friday, June 27, 2014

    The First Images of the Buddha (photos)

    Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Editorial (dawn.com, 6-27-14); Wiki
    The first anthropomorphic representations of the Buddha were Gandhara art (Boonlieng)
    Priceless Buddhist treasures were intercepted while being smuggled out of Pakistan, part of Pashtun Afghanistan, in the region of ancient Gandhara, India (BigStory.AP org)
      
    [Breaking the] Fasting Buddha
    Kashmir on the Pakistan side (Vivek Aryan)
    (Dawn) Truly is it said, reality is stranger than fiction -- especially here in Pakistan. Since 1894, when it was donated upon being discovered, the Gandhara-era statue of the "Fasting Buddha" has been considered the jewel of the Lahore Museum.

    Museum Maitreya Buddha
    Images of it adorn postcards and newsreels, and proud [Muslim] citizens make it a point to take visitors to see it as an indication that whatever else the country may be, a cultural wasteland it is not.

    This statue, priceless in terms of historical significance, has for a long time had a crack on the left arm. Investigations by this paper [dawn.com], upon receiving a tip-off, have confirmed an unbelievable story:

    Back in April, 2012, the crack widened while being cleaned and the statue was given over to the museum laboratory’s tender ministrations. But instead of the scientific, delicate, and professional handling that an artifact of this stature demands, an attempt was made to fix it by applying the common adhesive epoxy, which remains [shockingly] evident on the statue’s surface and has caused irreparable harm.

    Where in the world is Pakistan? It only came into existence in 1947 after the colonial British Partition of India. Along with Afghanistan, it was formerly Gandhara, India. Then the U.S. started meddling; now we bomb it secretly.
     
    One of the priceless Afghan treasures of Mes Aynak
    The trail of destruction isn’t hard to trace, given the standards at the moment: The current lab technician worked earlier as a driver and gallery attendant, while the lab "conservationist" used to be a peon.
     
    What can be made of this but the utter disregard Pakistanis tend to show towards history and culture? This is hardly the only example of this mindset. It turns out that 2012 was an inauspicious year for Gandhara-era [Buddhist] artifacts. That summer, the police intercepted a large consignment of such relics that had apparently been about to be smuggled out of the country [see photo of looted Buddhist art above].

    Gandhara is full of earliest Buddhist treasures
    But during the recovery process, the police ended up damaging many of them, unprepared perhaps for their weight and certainly unmindful of their value. In the case of the Lahore Museum, the qualified chemist employed at the lab was retired in 2009. No replacement has been found. This is unsurprising, given the importance attached to archaeology and history in the country.

    Afghan Buddhist monastery statue 700 AD (Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara)
    First Buddhas, Gandhara
    (Wiki) Greco-Buddhist art is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between the Classical Greek culture and Buddhism, which developed over a period of close to 1000 years in Central Asia, between the conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC, and the destructive Islamic conquests of the 7th century AD. Greco-Buddhist art is characterized by the strong idealistic realism and sensuous description of Hellenistic art and the FIRST representations of the Buddha in human form...

    Future Buddha Maitreya, Gandhara-style, Greco-Indian Buddhist fusion art of Afghanistan, Pakistan, ancient India, San Francisco Asian Art Museum (Boonlieng/flickr.com)

     
    Ancient Greece (in India and Persia)
    Kushan Maitreya, Greco-India
    Bactria was under direct Greek control for more than two centuries from the conquests of Alexander the Great in 332 BC to the end of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom around 125 BC. The art of Bactria was almost perfectly Hellenistic as shown by the archaeological remains of Greco-Bactrian cities such as Alexandria on the Oxus (Ai-Khanoum), or the numismatic art of the Greco-Bactrian kings, often considered as the best of the Hellenistic world, and including the largest silver and gold coins ever minted by the Greeks.
     
    When Buddhism expanded in Central Asia from the 1st century AD, Bactria saw the results of the Greco-Buddhist syncretism arrive on its territory from India, and a new blend of sculptural representation remained until the Islamic invasions.
     
    The most striking of these realizations are the Buddhas of Bamiyan. They tend to vary between the 5th and the 9th century AD. Their style is strongly inspired by Hellenistic culture. More

    Western China
    "Heroic gesture of the Bodhisattva," the Buddha-to-be, 6th-7th century terracotta, Tumshuq (Xinjiang) where the Chinese empire extended from the Far East into Central Asia, the Land of Buddhism and the Buddha (wiki).
     
    [WISDOM QUARTERLY EDITORIAL: Buddhism made it to ancient "Greece," the Hellenistic world as a vast empire encroaching into India and Persia, before it ever arrived in China. It co-originated in Afghanistan (the Buddha's likely birthplace according to Dr. Ranajit Pal) and "India" (the Kingdom of Magadha to be specific as there was no unified India at that time), where the Buddha had traveled to establish the Teaching and the first monastic Community, which was soon augmented by many Shakyan princes and princesses, relatives of the Buddha from the area of Gandhara, Afghanistan, Indo-Pakistan, Taxila (Takkashila), Indo-Iran, and lands (the modern "stans") likely under the influence of the capital of Kapilavastu, the Buddha's hometown, the kingdom he would have inherited somewhere between modern Bamiyan and Kabul, once a fabulously rich and cosmopolitan crossroads on the Silk Route.]
    • BUST: The original representation of the Buddha in gray schist, currently dated to 2nd-3rd century CE showing Hellenistic influences characteristic of the Gandhara art of Afghanistan and Northwest Pakistan (British Museum/Britannica.com)
    Maitreya in USA (Boonlieng)
    The art of the Tarim Basin, also called Serindian art, is the art that developed from the 2nd through the 11th century AD in Serindia or Xinjiang, the extreme western region of China that forms part of Central Asia. It derives from the art of the Gandhara and clearly combines Indian traditions with Greek and Roman influences.
     
    Buddhist missionaries travelling on the Silk Road introduced this art, along with Buddhism itself, into Serindia, where it mixed with Chinese and Persian influences.