Hollywood royal Gwyneth Paltrow at 50

Vogue, 9/27/22; Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Wow, I used to look up to Gwynie

In celebration of her 50th birthday, leading actor and elite Hollywood royalty Gwyneth Paltrow sat down with Vogue to reflect on this milestone.

Ahead of the celebration the actor turned [Goop.com] wellness mogul was feeling calm, which she explained was a change from how she had felt in previous decades [particularly when endangering her child on a scooter without a helmet while lecturing others on how to parent or consciously decoupling from ex-husband Chris Coldplay Martin].

Goop Mogul Gwen? Ha, she has some nerve posing nude holding her[self] shiny in gold glitter.

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Paltrow discussed how her sense of style has — and has not — changed over the years, what it’s like to see images of her younger self canonized in fashion history, and what she’s most grateful for that she did in her 20s.

Vogue: Happy early birthday! How do you feel approaching this milestone?

ALA, Resveratrol, Vit. C? (goop.com)

Gwyneth Paltrow: I feel great. I feel very happy and fulfilled and not scared and weirdly not freaked out about it. I remember turning 30 and feeling like there was so much pressure to be married and have a baby. I was not in a serious relationship when I turned 30, and I remember just thinking, I’m disappointing my parents. I haven’t married my stockbroker or a lawyer, and I’m this weird artist. When you’re in your 20s, you’re really a kid, and I think there’s this expectation that when you’re 30, you are going to really start to have a handle on your life. And then when I turned 40, I really freaked out.

Really?

Largely because I had a very strong relationship to my livelihood and importance being tied to my image and relevancy in the world. Rightly or wrongly, I really felt that way. When you’re kind of rewarded for being attractive and then you build a living and a livelihood, it’s predicated on that.

• More: Gwyneth Paltrow on turning 50: ‘I’ve earned my wrinkles’ | Vogue.com

Gwyneth Paltrow stars in Shakespeare in Love

SUTRA: The Great Conflagration

Bhikkhu Bodhi (trans.), Mahāpariḷāha Sutta — Saṁyutta Nikāya Connected Discourses on the Truths  (SN 56.43), "The Great Conflagration" edited by Wisdom Quarterly

The Buddha, Gandhara (Afghanistan/Indo-Pakistan)

(SC 1) “Meditators, there exists a hell named the ‘Great Conflagration.’ There, whatever form one sees with the eye is:

• undesirable (sn.v.451), never desirable;
• unlovely, never lovely;
• disagreeable, never agreeable.

"Whatever sound one hears with the ear…

"Whatever odor one smells with the nose…

"Whatever taste one savors with the tongue…

"Whatever tactile object one feels with the body…

"Whatever mental [object] phenomenon one cognizes with the mind is:

• undesirable, never desirable;
• unlovely, never lovely;
• disagreeable, never agreeable.”

(SC 2) When this was said, a certain meditator said to the Blessed One: “That conflagration, venerable sir, is indeed terrible; that conflagration is indeed very terrible. But is there, venerable sir, any other conflagration more terrible and frightful than that one?”

“There is, meditator.”

(SC 3) “But what, venerable sir, is that conflagration more terrible and frightful than that one?”

(SC 4) “Those wandering ascetics or [temple] Brahmins, meditator, who do not understand as it really is:

• ‘This is suffering’
• ‘This is the cause of suffering’
• ‘This is the cessation of [all] suffering’
• ‘This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering’

"— they delight in volitional formations that lead to rebirth, in volitional formations that lead to aging, in volitional formations that lead to death, in volitional formations that lead to sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair.

"Delighting in such volitional formations, they generate volitional formations that lead to rebirth, generate volitional formations that lead to aging, generate volitional formations that lead to death, generate volitional formations that lead to sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair.

"Having generated such volitional formations, they are burned by the conflagration of rebirth, burned by the conflagration of aging, burned by the conflagration of death, burned by the conflagration of sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair.

"They are not freed from rebirth, aging, and death; not freed from sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair; not freed from suffering, I say.

(SC 5) “But, meditator, those wandering ascetics and Brahmins who do understand as it really is:

• ‘This is suffering’
• ‘This is the cause of suffering’
• ‘This is the cessation of suffering’
• ‘This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering’

"— they do not delight in volitional formations that lead to rebirth, nor in volitional formations that lead to aging, nor in volitional formations that lead to death, nor in volitional formations that lead to sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair.

"Not delighting in such volitional formations, they do not generate volitional formations that lead to rebirth, nor generate volitional formations that lead to aging, nor generate volitional formations that lead to death, nor generate volitional formations that lead to sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair.

"Not having generated such volitional formations, they are not burned by the conflagration of rebirth, nor burned by the conflagration of aging, nor burned by the conflagration of death, nor burned by the conflagration of sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair.

"They are freed from rebirth (sn.v.452), aging, and death; freed from sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair; freed from suffering, I say.

(SC 6) “Therefore, meditators, an exertion should be made to understand:

• ‘This is suffering…’
• ‘This is the cause of suffering…’
• ‘This is the cessation of suffering…’
• ‘This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering.’” Source