Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Halloween, Day of the Dead, Samhain (video)

Amber Larson, Crystal Quintero, Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Pat Macpherson, Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly; History Channel (history.com); Alexandria II; NortonSimon.org
(The History Channel) The true origins and "The Real Story of Halloween" or All Hallows' Eve


Waking up in white suburbia -- Pasadena, California -- on Halloween/Samhain* looking for adventure means a quick trip to Alexandria II (Alexandria I is in Egypt and too far). It is the east valley's own Bodhi Tree Bookstore for local witches.

Whatever we need, some accoutrements, Buddhist talismans, meditation cushion, Native American items, Day of the Dead baubles, crystals, white sage to smudge, a feather, a mystic singing bowl, and we're off to the Angeles Forest at the top of this street, Lave Avenue.
When we reach the limit of the road, we begin to hike to Echo Mountain. It's overcast and about to rain, which is strange after searing days of 100 degrees. The Dead (petas or pretas, remembered in the Buddhist texts known as the Petavatthu or "Ghost Stories") are preparing to cross the veil. They're there, not easily visible composed only of prana, air, and light (karma-born "spontaneous" devic/preta bodies). They're not really "dead," only gone from here, transitioned, transformed, but here to make contact, to be remembered. We miss them, so we still care for them.

RIP: On Art and Mourning (Norton Simon)
When we get back, we'll indulge our mourning by taking a stroll through the first floor halls of the Norton Simon Museum with its massive collection of Buddhist art from Gandhara and all parts of Asia. It's one of the best in the world.

Halloween/DOTD is for sexy costumes!
Then we'll travel south to Highland Park for some Dia de los Muertos celebration preparations. You're not really Californian unless you're at least a little Latin. Call it appreciation, call it cultural appropriation, call it whatever your best Latina friend calls it. I want to look like Sofia Vergara but will settle for Frida Kahlo or Eva Longoria or that macho guy. Tomorrow, the cemeteries will be filled with the living. Then we go to The Castle, a haunted house for a Halloween party/get-together to see who or what comes through the thin veil.

This was Mexico long before it was US
Most people in the US today live in what was Native American "Upper California," Mexico
Take seven finger and paint your skull bright colors (DesignCahat/deviantart.com)
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Dia de Los Muertos: A Brief Overview

(National Hispanic Cultural Center) Synthesized between Mesoamerican (modern Aztec-Mayan Mexican lands between North and Central America) beliefs and European influences, Dia de los Muertos gives people the opportunity to remember lost loved ones with traditional offerings. This annual community program is one of our most popular events. Learn more at diadelosmuertos.

*Samhain (Sao-wynn)
Michelle Trachtenberg ("Truth or Scare"/Discovery Kids); text: Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit

Celts are good, Celts of Ireland are better, and the Irish of the US are best. So go west.

Yum, the scariest thing I could think of was to dress like a sexy zombie, arrrgh.

Where did the Celts originate?
Samhain (pronounced SOW-in) is a Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter or the "darker half" of the year. Traditionally, it is celebrated from October 31 to November 1, as the Celtic day began and ended at sunset. This is about halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice.

It is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Imbolc, Bealtaine, and Lughnasadh. Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. Similar festivals are held at the same time of year in other Celtic lands such as the Brythonic Calan Gaeaf (in Wales), Kalan Gwav (in Cornwall), Kalan Goañv (in Brittany), and Samaín (in Galicia, Spain).
 
Nirvana is better than dying/rebirth.
Samhain is believed to have Celtic pagan origins and there is evidence it has been an important date since ancient times. Some Neolithic passage tombs in Ireland are aligned with the sunrise around the time of Samhain. It is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature and many important events in Irish mythology happen or begin on Samhain. More 

WeHo Carnaval: L.A. Halloween (FREE)

Visitwesthollywood.com; Ashley Wells, Pfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly


This year’s Carnaval takes place on Tuesday, October 31, 2017 from 6:00 PM to 10:30 PM.

Where is it? How do I get there?
The Carnaval [like WeHo's New Year's Eve] is an annual public event that takes place on Santa Monica Blvd. between North Doheny Dr. and La Cienega Blvd.
 
Parking can be a nightmare (pun intended), so we’ve gathered some quick links that may help you get to the party safely:
Admission
The admission is FREE. No tickets are required, but there are some guidelines you may want to be aware of. With big crowds and risqué [read naked, raunchy, sexy, outrageous] costumes, WeHo’s biggest party of the year is a bit rowdy for innocent eyes. We recommend you leave kids and pets at home.
  • NOTE: No backpacks, camera bags, or totes allowed. For everyone’s safety, please carry items in clear plastic bags. (Or, just carry an ID and credit card with you).
Halloween Parties

There are parties throughout West Hollywood that occur alongside the Halloween Carnaval. Search for other Halloween parties in West Hollywood. (We want everyone to have a great time, but you can’t purchase or consume alcohol on the street). Have fun and be safe, pretty please.

Live Entertainment
There will be a couple of stages with artists performing throughout the evening. The lineups this year have been kept hush-hush, but you can be certain they will be fantastic! More

"What the Ancients Knew: India" (video)

Host Jack Turner; Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly
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Samhain? Halloween in 1000 BCE (video)

Ancient-Astronaut Arguments; CPS; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly


It is widely believed that many Halloween traditions originated from Celtic harvest festivals which may have pagan roots, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain.

Party like a Catholic!
It is said this festival was "Christianized" as All Hallows Evening, Hallows Even, Hallowe'en. The word Halloween, or Hallowe'en, dates to about 1745 and is of Christian origin.

Hallowe'en means "hallowed or holy evening" after the Christian saints being honored in an attempt to appropriate the popular pagan celebration going on. It comes from a Scottish term for All Hallows' Eve (the evening before All Hallows' Day).



Christian Xmas Krampus
In Scots the word "eve" is even, and this is contracted to e'en or een. Over time, (All) Hallow(s) E(v)en evolved into Halloween.

What did the Sumerians know? (video)

ZEG TV, Oct. 16, 2017; Seth Auberon, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
(ZEG TV) Sumerian Clay Tablets Hold The Most Important Evidence on Earth
 
This is a re-creation of a Sumerian star map or "planisphere" recovered from the 650 BCE underground library of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh, Iraq (Mesopotamia) in the late 19th century.

Long thought to be an Assyrian tablet, computer analysis has matched it with the sky above Mesopotamia in 3300 BCE and proves it to be of much more ancient Sumerian origin.

The tablet is an "Astrolabe," the earliest known astronomical instrument. It usually consisted of a segmented disc-shaped star chart with marked units of angle measure inscribed on the rim.

Unfortunately, considerable parts of the planisphere are missing, approximately 40%, damage which dates to the sacking of Nineveh.

The reverse of the tablet is not inscribed. Some call this the "Sodom and Gomorrah Tablet" because it describes a comet or asteroid which some think destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah about 3300 BCE.

For more information see Alan Bond and Mark Hempsell's book about this tablet called "A Sumerian Observation of the Kofels' Impact Event."

(RC) Our U.S. Moon Hoax. We went. But we didn't show when or how.

Monday, October 30, 2017

School replaces detention with meditation

Buzzfond.com; Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
No one can do meditation. "Meditation" is what happens when we get out of the way and quietly sit still. The mind moves to coherence with many benefits as its byproducts.
I bow and honor you with highest respect. You, too, teacher. I've found my cool.

Clean water, stress-free rest, good nutrition, yoga are secrets to being able to sit still.
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School replaces detention with meditation with stunning results
Oh, it's nice! I'm not "doing" but allowing.
Imagine you're working at a school and kids start to act up? What would you do?

The typical answer is to discipline them. But there is one school helping them develop self-discipline instead, with great results.
 
Robert W. Coleman Elementary School has been doing something different when students act out: offering them meditation and yoga.

This room is not a standard detention room. It's filled with plush pillows and quiet but vibrant decorations.

Buddhist "novice" (samanera) in meditation
Kids are encouraged to sit in the room and go through practices like conscious breathing or meditation [allowing the mind to be while focusing on one thing rather than drifting off to a million things], helping them center themselves. 

They can talk through what happened if they wish.

Can white kids of all ages benefit from meditation and yoga, too? Only time will tell.


I can just be, be myself wherever I want.
The room also offers an after school program, Holistic Me, where pre-schoolers through fifth graders learn yoga and meditation.

Some are doubtful that energetic kids [labelled "ADHD" and force fed Ritalin, Adderall and other toxic adrenalines] can sit still and meditate. But they can.

Instructions: How can I start meditating?
"It's amazing," Kirk Philips, the Holistic Me coordinator at Robert W. Coleman Elementary School said. "You wouldn't think that little kids meditate in silence. But they do."

Holistic Life Foundation Co-founder Andres Gonzalez told Oprah magazine, "We've had parents tell us, 'I came home stressed out the other day, and my daughter said, "Hey, Mom, you need to sit down. I will teach you how to breathe."'

"Kids" can do amazing things like this novice.
Robert W. Coleman Elementary tells us there were zero suspensions last year and also zero so far this year. Other schools report benefiting from meditation, too.

Although meditation is an ancient practice, programs like these show they still have an enormous [beneficial] impact on modern-day life. PHOTOS

Meditation: The Language of the Heart

Straight from the Heart: Thirteen Talks on the Practice of Meditation by Ven. Ajahn Maha Boowa Ñanasampanno, Ven. Thanissaro; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Buddhism is about the heart (mind)and the breath (prana or chi) = compassion + wisdom.

Ajahn Mun taught that all hearts (minds) have the same language. No matter what one's language or nationality, the heart has nothing but simple awareness, which is why he said that all hearts have the same language. When a thought arises, we understand it.
But when we put it into words, it has to become this or that language, so that we don't really understand one another. The feelings within the heart, though, are the same for everyone. This is why the Dharma (Pali Dhamma) fits the heart perfectly. The Dharma isn't any particular language. The Dharma is the language of the heart. The Dharma resides with the heart.

Pleasure and pain reside within the heart. The acts that create pleasure and pain are thought up by the heart. The heart is what knows the results that appear as pleasure and pain, and the heart is burdened with the outcome of its own thoughts. This is why the heart and the Dharma fit perfectly. No matter what our language or nationality, we can all understand the Dharma. It is because the heart and the Dharma are a natural pair.

The heart forms the core within the body. It's the core, the substance, the primary essence within the body. It's the basic foundation. The conditions that arise from the mind, such as thought-formations, appear and vanish again and again.

Here I'm referring to the rippling [vrittis] of the mind. When the mind ripples, that's the formation of a thought. Labels, which deal with conjecturing, memorizing, and recognizing, are termed sañña. "Long" thoughts are sañña; short thoughts are sankhara. In other words, when a thought forms — "blip" — that's a sankhara. Sañña refers to labeling and recognizing.

Viññana refers to the act of taking note when anything external comes and makes contact with the senses, as when visible forms make contact with the eye and cognition results. All of these things are constantly arising and vanishing of their own accord, and so the Buddha called them khandhas (heaps, groups, aggregates). Each "heap" or "group" is called a khandha. These Five Heaps of Khandhas are constantly arising and vanishing all the time.

Even arahants (arhats, enlightened beings)have these same conditions — just like ordinary people everywhere — the only difference being that the arahants' khandhas are khandhas pure and simple, without any defilements giving them orders, making them do this or think that. Instead, their khandhas think out of their own free nature, with nothing forcing them to think this or that, unlike the minds of ordinary people in general.

To make a comparison, the khandhas of ordinary people are like prisoners, constantly being ordered about. Their various thoughts, labels, assumptions, and interpretations have something that orders and forces them to appear, making them think, assume, and interpret in this way or that. In other words, they have defilements as their boss, their leader, ordering them to appear.

Arahants, however, do not. When a thought forms, it simply forms. Once it forms, it simply disappears. There's no seed to continue it, no seed to weigh the mind (heart) down, because there's nothing to force it, unlike the khandhas governed by defilements or under the leadership of defilements. This is where the difference lies.

But their basic nature is the same: All the khandhas mentioned are inconstant (aniccam). In other words, instability and changeability are a regular part of their nature, beginning with the rupa khandha [form aggregate], our body, and the vedana khandha [feeling or sensation group], feelings of pleasure, pain, and neutrality. These things appear and vanish, again and again. Sañña, sankhara, and viññana are also always in a state of appearing and vanishing as a normal part of their nature.

But as for actual awareness — which forms the basis of our knowledge of the various things that arise and vanish — that does not vanish. We can say that the mind cannot vanish. We can say that the mind cannot arise. A mind that has been purified thus has no more problems concerning the [re]birth and death of the body and the khandhas; thus, there is no more rebirth here and there, appearing in crude forms such as individuals or as living beings, for those whose minds have been purified.

But those whose minds are not purified, they are the ones who take rebirth and die, setting their sights on cemeteries without end, all because of this undying mind.

This is why the Buddha taught the world, and in particular the world of human beings, who know right from wrong, good from evil, who know how to foster the one and remedy the other, who understand the language of the Dharma he taught.

This is why he taught the human world above and beyond the other worlds. It was so that we could try to remedy the things that are harmful and detrimental, removing them from our thoughts, words, and deeds. It was so we could try to nourish and foster whatever goodness we might already have and give rise to whatever goodness we do not yet have.

He taught us to foster and develop the goodness we already have so as to nourish the heart, giving it refreshment and well-being, giving it a standard of quality, or goodness, so that when it leaves its present body to head for whatever place or level of being, this mind that has been constantly nourished with goodness will be a good mind.

Wherever it fares, it will fare well. Wherever it takes rebirth, it will be reborn well. Wherever it lives, it will live well. It will keep on experiencing well-being and happiness until it gains the capacity, the potential, the accumulation of merit it has developed progressively from the past into the present.

In other words, yesterday is today's past, today is tomorrow's past, all of which are days during which we have fostered and developed goodness step by step — to the point where the mind has firm strength and ability, from the supporting power of this goodness, that enables it to pass over and gain release [from rebirth and suffering].

The forest monastic tradition rediscovered in the 20th century, Isan, Thailand: famous monks

Such a mind has no more rebirth, not even in the most quiet or refined levels of being that contain any latent traces of conventional reality (sammati) — namely, rebirth and death as we currently experience it. Such a mind goes completely beyond all such things. Here the reference is to the minds of buddhas and arahants.

There's a story about Ven. Vangisa that has a bearing on this. Ven. Vangisa, when he was a layperson, was very talented at divining the level of being at which the mind of a dead person was reborn — no matter who the person was. One ould not quite say he was a fortuneteller. Actually, he was more of a master of psychic skills.

When anyone died, he would take that person's skull and knock on it — knock, knock, knock — focus his mind, and then know that this person was reborn here or there, on this plane or that. If the person was reborn in a hell or a heaven, or as a common animal or hungry ghost, he could tell in every case, without hesitation. All he needed was to knock on the skull.

When he heard his friends say that the Buddha was many times more talented than this, he wanted to expand on his knowledge. So he went into the Buddha's presence to ask for further training in this science. When he reached the Buddha, the Buddha gave him the skull of an arahant to knock on.


"All right, see if you can tell where he was reborn."

Ven. Vangisa knocked on the skull and listened.

Silence.

He knocked again and listened.

Silence.

He thought for a moment.

Silence.

He focused his mind.

Silence.

He couldn't see where the owner of the skull was reborn. At his wit's end, he confessed frankly that he didn't know where the arahant was reborn.

At first, Ven. Vangisa had thought himself talented and smart and had planned to challenge the Buddha before asking for further training. But when he reached the Buddha, the Buddha gave him the skull of an arahant to knock on — and right then he was stymied. So now he genuinely wanted further training.

Once he had further training, he'd really be something special. This being the way things stood, he asked to study with the Buddha. So the Buddha taught him the science, taught him the method — in other words, the science of the Dharma. Ven. Vangisa practiced and practiced until finally he attained arahantship. From then on he was no longer interested in knocking on anyone's skull except for his own. Once he had known clearly, that was the end of the matter. This is called "knocking on the right skull."

Once the Buddha had brought up the topic of the mind that does not undergo rebirth — the skull of one whose mind is purified — no matter how many times Ven. Vangisa knocked on it, he could not know where the mind was reborn, even though he had been very talented before. For the place of a pure mind's rebirth [since rebirth does not take place] cannot be found.

The same is true in the case of Ven. Godhika. This story should serve as quite some food for thought. Ven. Godhika went to practice meditation, made progress step by step, then regressed. They say this happened six times. After the seventh time, he took a razor to slash his throat. That's how depressed he was — but then he came to his senses, contemplated the Dharma, and became an arahant at the last minute. That's the story in brief.

When he passed into final nirvana, Mara's hordes searched for his "spirit" (gandhabba, relinking consciousness, continuation). To put it simply, they stirred up a storm but couldn't tell where he had been reborn.

So the Buddha said, "No matter how much you dig or search or investigate to find the spirit of our son, Godhika, who has completely finished his task, you won't be able to find it — even if you turn the world upside down. This is because such a task lies beyond the scope of conventional reality." How could they possibly find it? It's beyond the capacity of people with defilements to know the power of an arahant's mind.

In the realm of conventional speech, there is no one who can trace the path of an arahant's mind. This is because an arahant lies beyond convention, even though such a being's mind is just the same. Think about it: Even our stumbling and crawling mind, when it is continually cleansed without stop, without ceasing, without letting perseverance lag, will gradually become more and more refined until it reaches the limits of refinement.

Then the refinement will disappear — because refinement is a matter of conventional reality — revealing a nature of solid gold, or solid Dhrmma, called a pure mind. We, too, will then have no more problems, just like the arahants, because our mind will have become a superlative mind, just like the minds of those who have already gained release from rebirth and suffering.

All minds of this sort are the same, with no distinction between women and men, which is simply a matter of sex or convention. With the mind, there is no distinction between women and men, and thus both women and men have the same capacity in the area of the Dharma.

Both are capable of attaining the various levels of Dharma all the way to final release. There are no restrictions that can be imposed in this area. All that is needed is that we develop enough ability and potential, and then we can all go beyond the beyond.

For this reason, we should all make an effort to train our hearts/minds. At the very least, we should get the mind to attain stillness and peace with any of the meditation themes that can lull it into a state of calm, giving rise to peace and well being within it.

For example, mindfulness of breathing, which is one of the primary themes in meditation, seems to suit the temperaments of more people than any other theme. But whatever the theme, take it as a governing principle, a guide, a mainstay for the mind, putting it into practice within the mind so as to attain rest and peace.

When the mind begins to settle down, we will begin to see its essential nature and worth. We will begin to see what the heart is and how it is. In other words, when the mind gathers all of its currents into a single point, as simple awareness within itself. This is what is called the "mind" (citta).

The gathering [coherence, coming together in harmony and coordination] of the mind occurs on different levels, corresponding to the mind's ability and to the different stages of its refinement.

Even if the mind is still on a crude level, we can nevertheless know it when it gathers inwardly. When the mind becomes more and more refined, we will know its refinement: "This mind is refined... This mind is radiant... This mind is extremely still... This mind is something extremely amazing," more and more, step by step, this very same mind!

In cleansing and training the mind for the sake of stillness, in investigating, probing, and solving the problems of the mind with discernment (pañña, wisdom, understanding) — which is the way of making the mind progress, of enabling us to reach the truth of the mind, step by step, through the means already mentioned — no matter how crude the mind may be, don't worry about it.

If we get down to making the effort and persevere continually with what diligence and persistence we have, that crudeness will gradually fade away and vanish. Refinement will gradually appear through our own actions or our own striving until we are able to go beyond and gain release by slashing the defilements to bits. This holds true for all of us, men and women alike.

But while we aren't yet able to do so, we nevertheless should not be anxious. All that is asked is that we make the mind principled so that it can be a guide and a mainstay for itself. As for this body, we've been relying on it ever since the day we were reborn. This is something we all know. We've made it live, lie down, urinate, defecate, work, earn a living. We've used it, and it has used us. We order it around, and it orders us around.

For instance, we've made it work, and it has made us suffer with aches here and pains there so that we have to search for medicine to relieve it. It's the one that hurts, and it's the one that searches for medicine. It's the one that provides the means. And so we keep supporting each other back and forth in this way.

It's hard to tell who is in charge, the body or us. We can order it around part of the time, but it orders us around all of the time. Illness, hunger, thirst, sleepiness, these are nothing but a heap of suffering and distress in which the body orders us around from every side. We can order it around only a little bit. So when the time is right for us to give the orders, we should make it meditate.

So get to work. As long as the body is functioning normally, then no matter how much or how heavy the work, get right to it. But if the body isn't functioning normally, if you're ill, you need to be conscious of what it can take. As for the mind, however, keep up the effort within, unflaggingly, because it's your essential duty.

You've depended on the body for a long time. Now that it's wearing down, know that it's wearing down — which parts still work, which parts no longer work. You're the one in charge, and you know it full well, so make whatever compromises you should.

But as for the heart, which isn't ill along with the body, it should step up its efforts within so that it won't lack the benefits it can gain.

Make the mind have standards and be principled — principled in its living, principled in its dying. Wherever it's reborn, make it have good principles and satisfactory standards. What they call "merit" (puñña) will not betray our hopes and expectations.

It will provide us with satisfactory circumstances at all times, in keeping with the fact that we've accumulated the merit — the well being — that all the world wants and of which no one has enough. In other words, what the world wants is well being, whatever the sort, and in particular the well-being of the mind that will arise step by step from having done things, such as meditation, which are noble, virtuous, and good.

This is the well being that forms a core or an important essence within the heart. We can strive, then, while the body is still functioning, for when life comes to an end, nothing more can be done. No matter how little or how much we have accomplished, we must stop at that point. We stop our work, put it aside, and then reap its rewards and consequences — there, in the next life.

Whatever we are capable of doing, we do. If we can go beyond or gain release from suffering and rebirth, that's the end of every problem. There will then be nothing to involve us in any further turmoil.

Here I've been talking about the mind because the mind is the primary issue. That which will make us fare well or ill, meet with pleasure or pain, is nothing but the mind.

As for what they call bad karma, it lies within the mind that has made it. Whether or not we can remember, these seeds — which lie in the heart — cannot be prevented from bearing fruit. This is because they are rooted in the mind. We have to accept our karma. Don't find fault with it. Once it's done, it's done, so how can we find fault with it? The hand writes, and so the hand must erase. We have to accept it like a good sport. This is the way it is with karma until we can gain release — which will be the end of the problem. More

Columbia River Indians burned by White House

Associated Press (AP.org, Oct. 31, 2017); Xochitl, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Tribes in Columbia River Gorge hit by White House decision
SALEM, Oregon - The Trump administration is neglecting the U.S. government's obligation to build new homes for American Indians whose original abodes were submerged by dams along the Columbia River, members of Congressional delegations from Oregon and Washington state said.
 
The hundreds of tribal members are living in dilapidated trailers and other substandard housing along the Columbia River.

The promised new homes haven't been built yet even though decades have passed since the dams were built. Now a funding decision by the White House's Office of Management and Budget has put even the preparation work on hold. More 

Canada to pay reparations to First Nations

Day of the Dead, Los Angeles (video)

LAdayofthedead.com, HollywoodForever.com; Piero F Giunti (Vimeo); Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
The annual Dia de los Muertos ("Day of the Dead") celebration at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in LA, CA is the largest Dia de los Muertos celebration outside of Mexico.
2016 Día de los Muertos, Hollywood Forever, "The Tree of Life" (El Árbol de la Vida)
Appropriated by the Catholic Church from Aztec traditions, there is now a posada, All Saints Day, All Souls Day, all to replace All Hallows (Spirits) Eve. The imperial Vatican never rests.

Mysteries beyond comprehension (video)

Pat Macpherson, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; wikipuppet.com; Bright Insight; Conscious Collective; David Paulides (missing-411.com); Did You Know?
How is this lady the most famous musician on planet earth (judging by $$ and views)?
When Beauty met the Beast...why didn't she scream and run away? (wikipuppet.com)
(Conscious Collective, July 20, 2017) Chernobyl today, something isn't right: This documentary about the impact to nature in Russia's Radioactive Exclusion Zone takes a look at the thriving wolf population in the area. Shouldn't everything be dead?
A nuclear disaster occurred on Mars, according to some. What is left? The regular massive desert sand storms, which would cover everything, in fact show that water has moved recently. Why is NASA covering it up? Venutians are smarter, Anandamurti found.

Cover up: thousands of Americans go missing
Lead Investigator David Paulided (missing-411.com)
Sasquatch is a myth, and who said UFOs?
A National Park ranger told former police detective and current researcher and writer David Paulides a troubling story. Over his years of involvement with numerous search-and-rescue operations at several different National Parks, he had detected a trend that he couldn’t understand. The ranger explained that during the first 7-10 days of a disappearance he would witness massive search and rescue activity and significant press coverage. Following this initial week or so of effort there was almost always an immediate halt to the coverage, a discontinued search for the victims, and no explanation from the search authorities. A documentary (partially funded by Kickstarter) will be out soon, and then everyone will know what's been going on and the cover up that has kept this deadly secret. More

Sunday, October 29, 2017

Dust to Dust (sutras)

Amber Larson, Ananda, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Pansu Sutras: "Dust Discourses" (SN 56.102-113) based on Ven. Thanissaro translation; Indie Film Maker; Top 14
This shapeshifting "screaming skull" is an Australian peacock spider (ibtimes.com).

 
Pre-Jewish yogic heart symbol, merging arrows
Then the Blessed One, picking up a little dust on the tip of his fingernail, said to the monastics, "What do you think, meditators, which is greater, the dust on the tip of my fingernail or the great earth?"
 
"The great earth is far greater, venerable sir! The small amount of dust the Blessed One has picked up on his fingernail is next to nothing. It doesn't come into the count by comparison. It is not so much as a fraction, this dust the Blessed One has picked on the tip of his fingernail compared to the great earth.
 
"In the same way, meditators, few are the beings who on passing away from the human world are reborn again among human beings. Far more are the beings who on passing away from the human world are reborn in hell(s).
  • Naraka (Sanskrit नरक, Pali niraya) is a term in Buddhist cosmology usually referred to in English as the "hells" (or the "hell realm") but are something closer to "purgatory." They are closely related to diyu, hell in Chinese mythology. They differ from Christianity/Catholicism in two respects. Beings are not sent in as a result of divine "judgment" or "punishment," and rebirth there is not technically "eternal," but it sure can feel like it even if one is only there a week, how much more if one is there exhausting bad karma for an incomprehensibly long period, up to hundreds of millions to quintillions (1018) of years called kalpas/aeons. More

(INDIE FILM MAKER) Horror musical instrument: The Apprehension Engine. What would a sketch of an idea  for an instrument that specialized in creating horrifying sounds look like: One man got his good friend Tony Duggan-Smith to build it with the intention of using it in horror film scoring. It consists of metal rulers which are bowed, a hurdy gurdy wheel-like mechanism, a string played with an attached ebow, a spring reverb (also played with an ebow) some long metal rods, magnets, trash, anything at all to get unnerving sounds.
 
"Therefore, take as your duty this [fourfold] contemplation:
  1. 'This is suffering (dukkha, all forms of unpleasant experience, pain, disappointment, dissatisfaction, ill, unhappiness)...
  2. This is the origination of suffering...
  3. This is the end of suffering...
  4. This is the path of practice that leads to the end of suffering.'"
Then the Blessed One, picking up a little dust with on the tip of his fingernail, said to the monastics, "What do you think, meditators, which is greater, the dust on the tip of my fingernail or the great earth?"
 
"The great earth is far greater, venerable sir! The small amount of dust the Blessed One has picked up on his fingernail is next to nothing. It doesn't come into the count by comparison. It is not so much as a fraction, this dust the Blessed One has picked on the tip of his fingernail compared to the great earth.
 
"In the same way, meditators, few are the beings who on passing away from the human world are reborn again among human beings. Far more are the beings who on passing away from the human world are reborn in the animal womb... in the domain of the hungry ghosts.
 
Indian saint, atheist-Catholic Teresa Mata
..."In the same way, meditators, few are the beings who on passing away from the human world are reborn among devas ("shining ones," angels, godlings, deities, fairies). Far more are the beings who, on passing away from the human realm, are reborn in hell(s)... in the animal womb... [or] in the domain of the hungry ghosts.
 
..."In the same way, meditators, few are the beings who on passing away from the deva realm are again reborn among devas. Far more are the beings who on passing away from the deva realm are reborn in hell(s)... in the animal womb... [or] in the domain of the hungry ghosts.
 
..."In the same way, meditators, few are the beings who on passing away from the deva realm are reborn among human beings. Far more are the beings who on passing away from the deva realm are reborn in hell... in the animal womb... [or] in the domain of the hungry ghosts.

"Therefore, take as your duty this [fourfold] contemplation: 'This is suffering... This is the origin of suffering... This is the end of suffering... This is the path of practice that leads to the end of suffering.'"


Bad basic information leads to worse speculation. The monk Budai or "Fat Happy or Laughing 'Buddha'" is not the historical Buddha Gautama, and no one should ever confuse them. Cool Charles Kos has it wrong: What your Garden Buddha did 60,000 years ago may shock you! Is he Prometheus and the fallen angel, an ancient giant? This is his story. Have you ever wondered about the story behind [Budai]? Gautama Buddha was a historical figure who lived centuries before Jesus. He was a mystic rebel against Brahmin priests. He tried the way of wandering asceticism (shramanism). It didn't work, but he realized the Middle Way avoiding extremes of luxury and penance. he taught the Path and confidence in his attainment and that of his students spread throughout Asia. All beings -- other than arhats and buddhas -- are said to have been reborn, and this cycle goes back in time indefinitely. But each being reborn is not the same being nor, however, can it be said to be completely different. We wander, change, cling to identity, lose everything dear, as karma (our actions) work themselves out impersonally. But we sure do take it personally.