The Dharma, sutras, and commentarial interpretations of interest to American Buddhists of all traditions with news that not only informs but transforms. Emphasis on meditation, enlightenment, karma, social evolution, and nonharming.
(To contact us, leave a comment marked "private").
CBS 2 Los Angeles; VOA; Sheldon S., Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
The City of Los Angeles is surrounded by tall, snowy mountains of Los Angeles County.
Heavy snow shuts down 5 Freeway through the Grapevine on Thanksgiving, steady rainfall continues across urban and suburban Los Angeles with snow falling in the local foothills and surrounding mountains.
(VOA) Northern LA mountains, Angeles National Forest, covered in snow
Slayer: The Final Campaign LIVE in Los Angeles at The Forum
Slayer! (Beavis & Butthead)
(Streamed live, midnight, Nov. 30-Dec. 1, 2019) Join Nicki Tedesco and her subscribers LIVE as we anticipate the arrival of Slayer to the stage for their final concert ever.
Streaming starts way before they start, so the concert does not begin until 12 minutes in. Thank you to all for chatting and thanking me for standing completely still during a Slayer concert to bring you all this footage.
WARNING: Flashing lights may induce seizures! If you're triggered by hearing me enjoy myself and laugh while cussing and waiting 12 minutes for Slayer to start, then go to another channel or go to the concert. This video was made for my subscribers and we chat between songs. If you enjoyed this, I am so glad I could bring you along!
Alex Jones talks with Megadeth front man (and former Metallica member) Dave Mustaine about conspiracies, Christianity, hypo[critical]christians, and what's really going on. Why did the CIA/LBJ assassinate U.S. Pres. JFK? He wanted to pull our currency out of the private Federal Reserve banking system, the "Moneychangers," and put the right to print money back in our government's hands. The powers that be weren't going to stand for that. They were already mad at him for threatening to end their very profitable War on Vietnam. Mustaine wanted to record with the Dead Kennedys when singer/genius Jello Biafra shot him down for recording with war profiteers/music publishers. Mustaine had no idea the warmongers were now in the music business. So much for any real "rebels" or "rebellion" coming out of commercial rock. Expect more pop candy and hedonism.
Ellora Caves: The Mind-Boggling Rock-Cut Buddhist Temples of India
Rock-cut Buddha statues in Ajanta cave
There were no caves here to begin with. How are we to comprehend the 100+ artificial Ellora caves and Ajanta caves? How were they built? By space-devas?
Somehow the massive Ellora complex of publicly visible 34 unique structures has been magically cut out of pure rock, into the side of a mountain, without the use of "modern" technology. This construction would be difficult if not impossible to replicate today.
This never-before-seen documentary closely looks at the intricate Buddhist temple and suggests — as have many archaeologists on the ground — that thousands of years ago, ancient cultures were far more advanced and sophisticated than scholars are generally willing to give them credit for. Who handed them that level of technology?
We call them "caves" but they are much more
What baffles experts at Ellora is the incredible precision, not possible by hand, and extensive layout of the design imposed on the rock. It is plausible that whoever or whatever built these caves was using unknown advanced ancient-alien technology.
Cave 16, the magnificent Kailasa Temple, is notable for being the largest monolithic structure in the world! It was carved out of a single rock.
"My family drives me crazy!" What can I do or what can anyone do? The Buddha had three answers:
mindfulness (sati)
forgiveness (khanti)
deeds (karma).
Ahh, noting can bother me now.
We'll talk about the first two and leave the why (Number 3) out of it. This is about being proactive and doing something right now for immediate results.
Meditators seek truth. Our quest is to see for ourselves, not just to hear nice words, ideas, and smart answers to life's problems. So we'll undertake to practice guided visualization, serenity meditation, mindful walking, and the cultivation of boundless loving-kindness (metta). Followed by sharing, discussion and vegan refreshments. Free/by donation. Suitable for beginners. More
"How to deal with family: mindfulness and forgiveness"
The New York Times bestselling co-author of Sex at Dawn explores the ways in which “progress” has perverted the way we live: how we eat, learn, feel, mate, parent, communicate, work, and die.
Most of us have instinctive evidence this world is ending — warm winter days, face-to-face talking replaced by head-to-screen zombie behavior, USA in perpetual war with enemies it invents, dysfunctional politics.
We hear some myths and lies so frequently that they feel like truths: Civilization is humankind’s greatest accomplishment. Progress is undeniable. Count your blessings. You’re lucky to be alive here and now.
Well, maybe we are and maybe we aren’t. Civilized to Death counters the idea that progress is inherently good, arguing that the “progress” defining our age is analogous to an advancing disease.
Prehistoric life, of course, was not without serious dangers and disadvantages. Many babies died in infancy. A broken bone, infected wound, snakebite, or difficult pregnancy could be life-threatening.
But ultimately, Ryan argues, were these pre-civilized dangers more murderous than modern scourges, such as car accidents, cancers, cardiovascular disease, and a technologically-prolonged dying process?
At a time when our ecology, our society, and our own sense of self feels increasingly imperiled, an accurate understanding of our species’ long prelude to civilization is vital to a clear sense of the ultimate value of civilization — and its costs.
In Civilized to Death, Ryan makes the claim that we should start looking backwards to find our way to a better future.More
“Sex at Dawn: How We Mate, Why We Stray, and What It Means for Modern Relationships challenges conventional wisdom about sex in a big way. By examining the prehistoric origins of human sexual behavior, the authors are able to expose the fallacies and weaknesses of standard theories proposed by most experts....” — Dr. Andrew Weil, M.D.
Plant Based News (PBN) announces the premiere of its new documentary Vegan 2019 at the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills.
In recent years the vegan movement has skyrocketed. No longer a niche environmentally-sensitive, cruelty-free food movement, the V-word now makes regular appearances in mainstream media.
Data puts the number of vegans in the UK, for example, anywhere between 600,000 and 3.5 million, depending the data source.
In a bid to investigate this phenomenal growth, PBN Founder Klaus Mitchell created Vegan 2019 -- a documentary that takes a deep-dive into how and why plant-based diets are rising in prominence. It looks at some of the most significant vegan moments of the year.
For the first time, fast food giants put plant-based "meats" center-stage. Burger King launched its "Impossible Whopper," and KFC tested plant-based mock-chicken in the US and UK.
UK stalwart Greggs saw its profits soar after launching its viral vegan sausage roll, and plant-based tech company Beyond Meat launched on the NASDAQ.
While these innovations in animal-free food garnered debate, top vegan athletes were showing how it’s not only possible to survive on a vegan diet but to thrive, excel, and beat the meat eaters.
Tennis ace and plant-based enthusiast Novak Djokovic showed mental and physical prowess beating Roger Federer in a thrilling five-set Wimbledon final.
The link between athleticism and plant-based eating is set to be explored even further, with the release of highly-anticipated documentary The Game Changers.
This year saw more people becoming aware of the environmental dangers of animal ranching. This warning was hammered home when news of Amazon Rainforest fires swept across mainstream news.
Millions of people pinned their hopes of change on teenage vegan climate activist Greta Thunberg, who fearlessly gave speeches in front of world leaders, blasting them for stealing the future from young people.
Vegan 2019 features leading names in the world of entertainment, sports, and animal advocacy, whose stories weave together to create a thrilling tapestry of a vibrant movement.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A featuring special guests. Proceeds from the screening will be used to cover the cost of the event and support the work of Plant Based News.More
Going vegan/vegetarian just got easy. The San Gabriel Valley has a great new buffet restaurant hidden on Valley Bl. in the sketchy town of El Monte next to the river, near the big bus station: Sweet Veggie with multiple locations.
Newest location opens in El Monte, SGV
This place is incredible with tons of vegan sushi, salad, and Chinese food favorites -- popcorn chik'n with basil, stir fry, build-your-own tacos, mushrooms, savory soups, all kinds of tofu dishes, self-serve ice cream (six flavors), desserts, drinks, pizza, French fries noodles...and so much more.
Call first because the place is packed.
It's all you can eat and drink at only about $10. It's incredible, authentic, non-profit, and delicious. The delicious part is the amazing thing for authentic vegetarian Chinese Buddhist temple food and mock meats, seafood, and dumplings. Some of the food
Chocolate is addictive due to sugar and toxic due to contamination (asyousow.org).
The Food Industry's Secret Weapon (Why SUGAR is addictive and in 80% of processed foods)
Sugar is 8 times more addictive than cocaine.
This short video explores the addictive nature of sugar, why it's in all of our food (as a preservative that has the fortunate side effect of being severely addictive) and how it is affecting our brains, bodies, and overall bad health.
Dr. Robert Lustig deserves the credit for educating many people about how sugar is affecting all of our health. Check out his talks on YouTube, his booksThe Hacking of the American Brain and Fat Chance, and his excellent website (robertlustig.com).
The Mindfulness Expo has something for everyone, whether one has just stepped into the world of spirituality and meditation or has walked this path for a while. There are classes for all. Create your own schedule. Attend one class, or attend as many classes as you like. The Expo’s 50-minute workshops will reset your mind with clarity, and your heart with connection. Don’t want to attend any classes? Check out the vast array of exhibitor booths. Tickets are only $35, but nourishing the soul and connecting with like-minded people is priceless. Come join this all-encompassing one-day event, and rejuvenate mind, body, and spirit!
(Burgundee Bordeaux) Thanksgiving is a celebration of "far and away the most massive act of genocide in the history of the world," according to "The Truthseeker" (aka Daniel Bushell).
Unthanksgiving Day and National Day of Mourning protests expose the real story of the first settlers: a bloodbath after our federal government announced it was offering from 5¢ to 50¢ per Native scalp.
Lies My Teacher Told Me
The money was handed out to any white person who killed a Native American. Will there ever come a year when European-whites become a minority in the US? It depends how "minority" gets defined. Playing with the definition, media alarmists say "our" country is being taken over by "them."
The Other Slavery
What's the truth? Let's seek the facts from Ihanktonwan First Nation hereditary Chief Phil Lane, Mexica Movement Director Olin Tezcatlipoca, Atsina tribe member Lenore Stiffarm, who suffered sexual abuse from the Holy Roman Catholic Church at an "Indian boarding school" (designed to molest and rape children and/or take the Indian out of them by beating the language and culture out of them until in 1972 it again became legal to speak indigenous languages), Savage Anxieties author Prof. Rob Williams, and heroic attorney Daniel Sheehan of the Lakota Child Rescue Project.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown should be a national educational requirement in every school across the board. Let's abolish Columbus Day because 1492 never ended and there are no statues of limitation for murder. gopetition.com/petitions.
(RT America) Big Box stores have all announced they are opening early on Thanksgiving this year, to enlarge the horror shopping show that is "Black Friday" (moving into the financial black on the holidays). People are starting to call Thanksgiving "Thanksgiving Thursday." Yes, some folks are amending our Native genocide/family holiday name to incorporate what really matters to America -- shopping. "The Resident" (aka Lori Harfenist) discusses.
(AJ+) Thanksgiving is actually a National Day of Mourning: Native Americans in New England have been hosting an annual protest in Plymouth, Massachusetts since 1970. When was the "first Thanksgiving"? According to demonstrators, it was in 1637, when Gov. John Winthrop hosted a dinner to celebrate the return of soldiers who had massacred 700 Native Americans. These demonstrations are intended to highlight the myth that natives and pilgrims lived together peacefully and that "Indians" gave up their God-given land willingly for some trivial consumer goods the way European invaders claim.
.
“I was teaching a lot of misconceptions.” We used to indoctrinate American kids about the “First Thanksgiving”
On a recent Saturday morning in Washington, D.C., about two dozen secondary-and-elementary-school teachers experienced a role reversal.
This time, it was their turn to take a quiz: answer “true” or “false” for 14 statements about the famous meal known as the “First Thanksgiving.”
Did the people many of us know as pilgrims call themselves Separatists? Did the famous meal last three days? True and true, they shouted loudly in unison. Were the pilgrims originally heading for New Jersey? False.
But some of the other statements drew long pauses, or the soft murmurs of people nervous about saying the wrong thing in front of a group. Renée Gokey, Teacher Services Coordinator at the National Museum of the American Indian and a member of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, waited patiently for them to respond.
The teachers at this Nov. 9 workshop on “Rethinking Thanksgiving in Your Classroom” were there to learn a better way to teach the Thanksgiving story to their students. But first they had some studying to do.
“I look back now and realize I was teaching a lot of misconceptions,” Tonia Parker, a second-grade teacher at Island Creek Elementary School in Alexandria, Virginia, told TIME.
It can sometimes seem that the way kids are taught about Thanksgiving, a staple of American education for about 150 years, is stuck in the past; an elementary school in Mississippi, for example, drew backlash for a Nov. 15 tweet that included photos of kids dressed up as “Native Americans,” with feather headbands and vests made of shopping bags.
But the approximately 25 teachers at that Washington workshop were part of a larger movement to change the way the story is taught. More
[The Buddha spoke of a "refuge" (sarana). For there is only one real refuge. That's nirvana. But it has come to be thought of as threefold, Three "Refuges" as the path to the real refuge: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, the Three Jewels, Triple Gem, or Three Treasures. That's how the enlightened Thai Meditation Master Ajahn Chah is assuming it is understood here as he explains that the heart is at the core of nirvana:]
The Buddha said to find our refuge. That means to find our real heart. This heart is very important. People don't usually look at important things. Instead, we spend most of our time looking at unimportant things.
For example, when we clean house, we may be bent on washing the dishes and so on. But we fail to notice our own hearts. Our hearts may be rotten, we may be feeling angry, washing the dishes with a sour expression on our face.
That our own hearts are not very clean, we fail to see. This is what I call "taking a temporary shelter for a refuge."
We beautify house and home, but we don't think of beautifying our own hearts. We don't examine suffering (disappointment, woe, dukkha*).
The heart is the important thing. The Buddha taught us to find refuge within our own heart: Attahi attano natho: "Make yourself a refuge unto yourself/Be your own refuge." For who else can be our refuge? The true refuge is the heart, nothing else.
We may try to depend on other things, but they aren't a sure thing. We can only really depend on other things if we already have a refuge within ourselves. We must have our own refuge first before we can depend on anything else -- be it a [savior,] teacher, family, or friends.
*DUKKHA: not getting what we want; getting things we don't want; separation (loss) of the loved; connection with the unloved; old age, sickness, death; pain, misery, boredom, suffering.
DW (Deutsche World, German PBS TV, 11/18/19); CC Liu, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Under threat: Venice needs to save its future
(DW) Built on ten million log posts, small islands, and mud banks, Venice, Italy, is slowly sinking. More than ever, the "Pearl of the Adriatic" is under threat. Having recently been hit by its most severe floods and with a state of emergency declared, what is being done to save it and its priceless art?
Well over 1,000 years ago the first wooden huts were built out on the middle of a lagoon -- marshland -- off the coast of northern Italy. The archives tell us these were the homes of people fleeing barbarian invasions in the aftermath of the collapse of the Roman Empire.
Later, with land in short supply, human-made areas were developed. But construction was far from easy; the bed of the lagoon consisted of sediment and mud, forming a foundation that was constantly moving and sinking. Yet, Venetian architects managed to build the city’s palaces, towers, and Catholic/pagan cathedrals.
Venice stands on a forest of wooden piles -- 10,000,000 in all -- which anchor the buildings to the lagoon’s muddy bed. The buildings themselves are constructed in such a way that they can compensate for movement, even earth tremors, without suffering noticeable damage.
But the water the Venetians built their city on is becoming more and more of a threat.
Industrialization has played its part in disturbing the natural balance of the lagoon: The sea bed has subsided and the effect of the tides has changed, resulting in a water level in the city’s canals that is 24 centimeters higher than when they were first built.
Add to that the controversial presence in the lagoon of giant cruise ships: a source of income for the city, but also one that contributes to atmospheric pollution, as well as causing wake (water rise) damage.
DW Documentary goes beyond the headlines. Watch world-class documentaries from German broadcasters and international production companies. Meet intriguing people, travel to distant lands, get a look behind the complexities of daily life, and build a deeper understanding of current affairs and global events. Subscribe and explore the world with DW Documentary.
In Hidden Secrets of Money (Episode 9), Host Mike Maloney draws eerie parallels to the misguided leaders and monetary policies that doomed civilizations from Ancient Rome to modern-day America.
Will Pres. Trump save the American Empire -- or is he leading us to sure bankruptcy like he has all of his failed business attempts? Will the private "Federal" Reserve Board be able to pull off yet another round of extremist interference and postpone another crisis? Find out how Maloney believes it will play out.
More? Catch Episode 9 and 10 exclusive bonus features, and watch eight bonus feature videos, kicking off with a 39-minute director's cut feature from Mike Maloney. Be sure to pick up a FREE copy of his bestselling book, Guide to Investing in Gold & Silver.
NO SAFE SPACES trailer starring right wing comedian Adam Carolla and extreme right wing Jewish Christian capitalist conservative Patriarch Dennis Prager.
Hillary would have been worse.
The right wing is laughing at us, saying we're the ones against freedom of expression, freedom of thought and action. Q: Who is filling in the ranks of policing agencies?
A: Right wingers, patriarchs, extreme sexists, rapists, racists, people on power trips. But the Left has much to answer for in trying to curtail speech and acting like the Thought Police. Who's calling for "safe spaces" and complaining excessively about "micro aggressions" as if stopping expression would ever stop the motives behind those expressions?
DISCUSSION: NoSafeSpaces.com. Adams Corolla swings to the hard right.
He had always actually been a right winger like his buddy Jimmy Kimmel.*
They're takin away our right to be sexist-racists.
Who works at Google, Apple, Facebook, and other left-leaning spy agencies? That would nominal liberals. We must be wary of an increasingly active and reactionary "cancel culture" and giving lip service to the issues we claim to care so much about.
We can't call for losing our right to save them or having others lose freedoms as we try to win freedom from oppression: capitalist, religious, political, and social. Beware the overreach. Beware we don't become the Orwellian nightmare we always feared. Vote/agitate for real change not whitewash.
*(Right-wing National Review Institute) Night Owl No Safe Spaces Discussion: The 2019 Ideas Summit, May 6, 2019. NRI's "Night owl" conversation with Adam Carolla and David French discussing free speech on college campuses and previewing the film "No Safe Spaces." Hosted at NRI's 2019 "Ideas" Summit: The Case for the American Experiment, which took place March 28-29, 2019 at the Mandarin Oriental in Washington, D.C.
When Google had a simple credo ("Don't be evil") that it kept to, it made a pact to have a diversity of voices. That means inviting speakers who are going to say things you may not want to hear -- like how your company and its products and practices are evil. But that was back in 2011. We won't hold our breath until they invite someone else likely to say things Google Corporation dislikes. Ventura visited Google's Santa Monica office on April 13, 2011 to discuss his bestseller: 63 Documents the Government Doesn't Want You to Read.
Former wrestler turned Minnesota governor and New York Times-bestselling author uncovers truths Uncle Sam is lying about and keeping from us.
The "official" story on many programs is flat-out BS, according to Ventura. In this eye-opening collection of actual government documents, the truth-seeker proves it beyond any doubt.
Ventura and co-author Dick Russell walk readers through 63 of the most incriminating programs to reveal what really happens behind closed government doors. Witness as he breaks open the vault, revealing the truth about:
The CIA’s top-secret program to control our behavior
"Operation Northwoods" — the U.S. military/government plan to hijack U.S. airplanes and blame it on Cuban terrorists as a pretext to attack Cuba (false flag operation)
Deadly health care cover-ups, including a dengue fever outbreak
What the Department of War Defense knows about our food supply — but is keeping quiet
Homeland Security’s “emergency” detention camps for U.S. citizens
Fake "terrorist" attacks planned by the United States to set new laws and control us
Although these documents are now in the public domain, the powers-that-be is trying to keep them under wraps. Ventura’s research and commentary sheds new light on what they’re lying to us about — and why it matters.
Our government lies?
(A. Jones) Say it ain't so, Jesse. While I am pleased that such a person has taken such a strong stance on 9/11, the JFK assassination, and the TSA scandal (among others), I am saddened that [everyone in] the country, including myself, has so far to go to catch up to him.... "In a free country like ours when [telling] the truth equals treason, we're in big trouble" (Ron Paul). Mr. Ventura has solidified his place in history. Speaking the truth...
All materials on this site are submitted by editors and readers. All images, unless otherwise noted, were taken from the Internet and are assumed to be in the public domain.
In the event that there is still a problem, issue, or error with copyrighted material, the break of the copyright is unintentional and noncommercial, and the material will be removed immediately upon presented proof.
Contact us by submitting a comment marked "private."
Do not follow this journal if you are under vinaya or parental restrictions. Secure protection by Sucuri.
Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at creativecommons.org/about/licenses.
The Mindfulness Expo has something for everyone, whether one has just stepped into the world of spirituality and meditation or has walked this path for a while. There are classes for all. Create your own schedule. Attend one class, or attend as many classes as you like. The Expo’s 50-minute workshops will reset your mind with clarity, and your heart with connection. Don’t want to attend any classes? Check out the vast array of exhibitor booths. Tickets are only $35, but nourishing the soul and connecting with like-minded people is priceless. Come join this all-encompassing one-day event, and rejuvenate mind, body, and spirit!
