Showing posts with label 1984. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1984. Show all posts

Monday, October 12, 2026

Irish 1st Westerner to become Buddhist monk

First Western Buddhist monk: Irish U Dhammaloka (Wisdom Quarterly)


Methinks me should be a monk
The Dharma Bum was the first Westerner to be ordained as a Buddhist monk. He chose Theravada Buddhism in Burma (Myanmar), where he was given the name Venerable U Dhammaloka. ("U," pronounced "ooh," is not a name but an honorific title used for monks and mature or men in senior positions in Burma). He was from Dublin, Ireland but -- wandering like a Dharma Bum, he first traveled to California then onto Asia, landing in faraway Mandalay, where he took robe and bowl and made a lot of trouble for the Christian colonial British exploiting India.

Irish documentary about pioneer U Dhammaloka
The Dharma Bum is a feature-length, partially animated documentary film that tells the tantalizing true story of Dubliner Laurence Carroll, who became Venerable U Dhammaloka.
  • Any relation to Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland? Of course not, because "Lewis Carroll" is the nom de plume (pen name) for Irish-connected Oxford don Dodgson, the author of classic literature for little Alice Liddell.
Dharma Bum Temple, San Diego
Laurence Carroll was born in Dublin in 1856 and spent his early life as an alcoholic hobo drifter bumming his way across the United States of America.
 
This freethinking, un-Catholic, un-Christian, atheist activist worked the shipping route from San Francisco, California, to Japan.
Irish American Buddhist J. Kerouac
Irish American Zen Buddhist and Beat Generation writer Jack Kerouac's literary prestige has been growing since 1969. Several previously unseen works of his have been published posthumously. He is recognized for his spontaneous stream of consciousness style of prose. The themes his work covers are mysticism, religion, Buddhism, childhood, poetry and literature, the San Francisco Bay Area (where Irish Dharma Bum U Dhammaloka and British Buddhist Alan Watts came for inspiration) and the New York City of the 1940s and '50s, and life. Kerouac became an underground celebrity and, with other Beats, a progenitor of the hippie movement, although he was not a hippie and mostly remained uninterested in politics [8]. His legacy has lasted generations, greatly influencing many of the cultural icons of the 1960s, including Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, and the Doors.
How Buddhism came to Britain
In Britain, the earliest Buddhist influences came from the Theravada Buddhist traditions of Burma, Thailand, and Sri Lanka. Interest in them was primarily scholarly to begin with; a Western tradition of study grew up that resulted in the foundation of the Pali Text Society in 1881 founded by T. W. Rhys Davids, which undertook the significant task of translating the Pāli language canon of the Theravada tradition into English. The start of interest in Buddhism as a path-of-practice had been pioneered by the founders of the new syncretic religion Theosophy, namely, the Russian Madame Blavatsky and the American Colonel Olcott. In 1880, they became the first Westerner Buddhists in that they asked to receive the Three Refuges (the Going for Guidance to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha) and the Five Precepts as a formal act of conversion in an ancient ceremony by which one traditionally accepts and becomes a nominal "Buddhist." Burma (now called Myanmar) and Ceylon (now called Sri Lanka) were well established Theravada Buddhist countries and colonies of the British Empire. Both colonies were majority Theravada Buddhist. Immigration from the two colonies to the UK would have happened. During the 19th to early 20th centuries, lascar sailors (people from Asia who worked in British ships) came and settled in the UK. Some of the lascars came from the seafaring communities of Burma and Sri Lanka [17]. More

The Dharma Bum found himself on the beach, hungover and homeless, after being kicked off the vessel for drunk and disorderly conduct.

He eventually made his way to Theravada Buddhist Burma, where he was helped by compassionate local Buddhist monks.

After five years as a monastic apprentice, he became the first Western man to ever don the saffron robes of a Theravada Buddhist monk.
Irish Zen Bodhisattva Soshin O'Halloran
Irish-American female Zen Buddhist saint (bodhisattva) in Japan: Soshin O'Halloran
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Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind
*Maura "Soshin" O'Halloran (May 24, 1955–Oct. 22, 1982) was an Irish Zen Buddhist nun [1]. She is known for her book Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind, which was posthumously published by her family.

She is also famous for being one of the "first of few Western women allowed to practice in a traditional Japanese Zen monastery" [2].

BIOGRAPHY
Hojo Takatoki Harakiri-Yagura, Tōshō-ji Temple
Soshin (Maura O'Halloran)
was born in Boston, the capital of Massachusetts, USA in 1955. Her parents moved her to Ireland when she was four years old [3, 4]. Her father was originally from County Kerry, whereas her mother was a native of Maine [4]. In Ireland, young O'Halloran was educated in Loreto College, Foxrock in Dublin and later attended Trinity College Dublin, where she graduated with a joint degree in mathematical economics/statistics and sociology [3]. Shortly after her graduation, [karma and the pull of past lives being what they are] O'Halloran ventured to Japan, where she studied to become a Zen monastic at Tōshō-ji in Tokyo and at Kannon-ji in Iwate Prefecture [3] ("Kannon" being a name for the Virgin Mary of Buddhism, the Goddess of Compassion Kwan Yin). More

An Irish Girl
Irish Zen Buddhist nun Soshin

The snow begins across the mountains
Covers the rice fields
Down below a woman awakens
Her breath is frozen in the early morning
Out on the freezing streets
With bell and bowl she goes
People come to see the face
People come to feel the light
Of an Irish Girl
Everything in the world is new
Everybody I tell wants to know you
Soshin… Soshin…
She washes noodles by the open window
Wet and soft between her fingers
The air of spring blows on her face
And the moment is eternal
Maura sits in the dark womb-like stillness
She’s thinking ‘How can I die or cease to be?
I am eternal, I am Roshi!’
Everything in the world is new
Everybody I tell wants to know you
Soshin… Soshin…
She may not change a blade of grass
Nor light the flame for souls to see
But in this silent Easter morning
She has found a friend in me

Adapted from the expanded edition of Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind, Wisdom Publications, with permission (Lion’s Roar)
Ven. U Dhammaloka: First Westerner to ordain as a Buddhist monk
I'm glad I became a Buddhist and did so much to spread freethinking against the British Empire.
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The Dharma Bum (documentary)
(Belfast Buddhist, 4/1/16) Venerable Dhammaloka was ordained in Theravada Buddhist Burma (Myanmar) prior to 1900, making him one of the very earliest attested Western Buddhist monks. He was a celebrity preacher, vigorous polemicist, free thinker, and prolific editor in Burma and Singapore between 1900 and his conviction for sedition and appeal in 1910–1911. Drawing on Western atheist writings, he publicly challenged the role of imperial Christian missionaries and by implication the British Empire. His Irish name was Laurence Carroll or Larry O'Rourke or Willam Colvin from Cork and Munster.

UK-occupied Northern Ireland
They gave him the new Buddhist name U Dhammaloka,** and that is just the beginning of the story!
  • [**In Burmese U (pronounced "oo") is an honorific that signifies "sir," Dhamma is the Pali spelling of "Dharma," loka means "world." Interestingly, aloka means "light" or "bright whiteness" -- so his name, if pronounced with a long a, signifies suggests "Dharma Light or even White Dharma."]
U Dhammaloka was erased from history. His existence lay dormant for over 100 years. Why? The reasons are explored in the film.

Teach those Brits not to mess with the Celts
This Irishman caused quite a stir in his life, as he singlehandedly took on the might of the Christian British Empire in colonial Burma.
In the film we discover why he was under constant police surveillance and ultimately had to fake his own death as he transformed himself from an alcoholic bum to the original Dharma Bum. More
The Legend of the 6th Century Irish monk who may have sailed so America (grunge.com)
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Happy St. Paddy's Day?
Wisdom Quarterly Wikipedia edit
The Patrician Roman Patriarch Patty?
As we celebrate Saint Paddy's Day today, one has to wonder why British Protestant Patrick gets so much credit from the Imperial Catholic Church.
Saint Patrick (Gaelic Pádraig, Latin Patricius, "father of the people") was a 5th-century Romano-British anti-pagan, Christian missionary, and patriarch named bishop of Ireland by an outside entity.

Known as the "Apostle of Ireland," he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints being Brigid of Kildare and Columba. Patrick was never formally canonized [2], having lived before the current laws of the Catholic Church on these matters.
We may have been better off as pagans.
Nevertheless, he is venerated as a "saint" in the Catholic Church, which also venerates the Buddha as a Catholic saint (St. Josaphat), the Lutheran Church, the Church of Ireland (part of the Anglican Communion), and in the Eastern Orthodox Church, where he is regarded as equal-to-the-apostles and Enlightener of Ireland [3, 4].

He was a slave in Ireland for years, escaped back to England then seems to have returned to extract his revenge as a patriarch to impose Roman church law on the Emerald Isle.

Patrick is credited with forcing Christianity on Ireland, converting a pagan society in the process, despite evidence of an earlier Christian presence [7].

We defend Catholicism b/c the British don't like it
In Patrick's autobiography, Confessio, when he was 16, he was captured at home in Britain by Irish pirates and taken as a slave to Ireland. He writes that he lived here for six years herding animals before escaping and returning to his England.

After becoming a cleric, he returned to spread Christianity in northern and western Ireland. In later life, he served as a bishop, but little is known about where he worked.

By the 7th century, he had already become the "patron saint of Ireland." His feast day is observed on March 17th, the date of his death not his birth. It is celebrated in Ireland and among the worldwide Irish diaspora as a cultural holiday celebrating all things Irish.

It is hardly as a religious observance nowadays, but in the dioceses of Ireland, it is both a solemnity and a holy day of obligation, even if pagans mourn the genocide he wrought upon the island.

Good John Riley's flag of the Mexican regiment
The Irish are so much like the Mexicans in this regard, taken over and thoroughly saturated by the Holy Roman Empire, as if the Church liberated the people when it enslaved them and still tries to rule every aspect of their lives and exact tribute for Rome.

So much is this connection felt that there are Los Patricios ("The Patricks" not Patricians), who were US mercenaries ordered to fight Mexico, but when they understood the fight, led by John Riley, they took the side of Mexico and fought against the US, as anyone who champions the underdog might well have done. More

Saturday, August 1, 2026

Kinky Sex Makes World Go 'Round (DKs)

(Tiago_R_Rebeiro) Dead Kennedys "Kinky Sex Makes the World Go 'Round"

"We've Got a Bigger Problem Now"

Jello Biafra, Dead Kennedys
Once upon a time a singer named Jello Biafra had a lot of good ideas for a California punk band called the Dead Kennedys (a name indicating the decline of the USA). He made albums with them and contributed to other releases like Wargasm (1982, Pax Records, PAX 4, LP) with the American War Machine song "Kinky Sex Makes the World Go 'Round." The DKs released many great songs with many great ideas but became so popular with non-punks that punks started to criticize them for getting less funny (brilliantly sarcastic or ironic) and more serious (preachy rather than clever) as time went on. The band disbanded and reformed without Jello, who released a spoken word album, No More Cocoons, with the genius "Message From Our Sponsors."

The Strange History of the DKs
(The Punk Rock MBA, Finn McKenty) Strange History of Dead Kennedys

"Message From Our Sponsor"

Better obey or you will be shot
LYRICS: We interrupt this program with a special bulletin! America is now under martial law. All constitutional rights have been suspended. Stay in your homes.

Do not attempt to contact loved ones, insurance agents, or attorneys. Shut up! Do not attempt to think or depression may occur. Stay in your homes. Curfew is at 7:00 p.m. sharp after work.

Anyone caught outside the gates of their subdivision sectors after curfew will be shot. Remain calm. Do not panic. Your neighborhood watch officer will be by to collect urine samples in the morning. Anyone caught interfering with the collection of urine samples will be shot.

The original album version
Houses will be inspected for trace elements at noon. Anyone who fails to display the required embossed black velvet Mexican painting of Alexander Haig on their living room wall will be shot.

Cameras and surveillance equipment will be posted on all lampposts and streetlights.

Anyone failing to attend required worship services on Sunday will be promptly arrested and dispatched to a reeducation resort. Stay in your homes. Remain calm. The Number 1 enemy of progress is questions. National security is more important than individual will.

Sports make living exciting and worthwhile.
All sports broadcasts will proceed as normal
. No more than two people may gather anywhere without permission. Use only the drugs prescribed by your boss or supervisor. Shut up! Be happy. Obey all orders without question. The comfort you′ve demanded is now mandatory. Be happy. At last, everything is done for you. Source

"California Über Alles"

Thursday, July 23, 2026

When Slayer was punk crossover thrash

(Fabricio Gabriel The Channel) Rehearsal 1986 | Club Horizon Garage (HD 50 FPS upgrade)
  • The greatest live display in the history of rock music: SLAYER METAL GRAMMYS PERFORMANCE in front of the three remaining Beatles (John, Ringo, and Yoko) and Hollywood celebrities, performing "Angel of Death"
From their humble beginning in an LA garage, no one expected Slayer at the Grammys 2022 😜

Slayer is an American (punk crossover-, thrash-, death-, speed-, black-) metal band from Huntington Park, South Central LA, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, Cuban drummer Dave Lombardo, and Chilean singer/bassist Tom Araya.
The Slayer formula #thrashmetal #TomAraya - Satanic and evil? Tom explains
Slayer's first ever song to be released "Aggressive Perfector"

Jeff's death by necrotizing fasciitis on arm
Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them one of the "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax.

💀 Since Hanneman's death from a flesh-eating spider bite in 2013, things haven't been the same. ☠️ Araya became a fat backache-complaining stay-at-home dad, King created Slayer 2.0 (the new band "Kerry King"), Lombardo left after getting fed up with never getting paid.

In the original lineup, King, Hanneman, and Araya contributed to the band's lyrics, and all of the band's music was written by King and Hanneman.


The band's graphic lyrics and album art -- which cover religion, occultism, terrorism, serial killers, fascism, racism, and war -- have generated censorship, album bans, delays, lawsuits, and criticism from religious groups.

However, Slayer's music has been highly influential, frequently cited by many bands as an influence musically, visually (tee-shirts are everywhere), and lyrically... More

Nobody would pay to hear this garbage!

Slayer is harmful to children
Beavis & Butthead Slayer parody tee-shirt (ReproTees.com)
Science: Heavy Metal = Happiness?
Call yourself a meditator listening to this high-speed noise pollution?
Ugly heart of R'n'R: Keith Richards?
(The Versed: Masters of Music) When rock stars are asked about the
ugly leader of the Rolling Stones Keith Richards (not Mick Jagger)

Wednesday, June 17, 2026

Science: Psychology of GenX Metalheads

What was the PMRC?
This 'l save our kids from capitalist exploitation
The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) was a bipartisan U.S. government committee formed in 1985 [1] with the stated goal of "increasing parental control over children's access to music deemed to have violent, drug-related, or sexual themes."

The committee's work led to the widespread adoption of the Parental Advisory sticker. The PMRC was known for its prejudicial targeting of heavy metal music, which drew opposition and criticism [2].

Beavis & Butt-Head ROAST some metal

Tipper and Al Gore get married in 1970
On political and religious grounds, the committee was supported by American Protestant televangelists, Reaganites, and the larger Christian evangelical movement, who accused hard rock and heavy metal music of harboring Satanic and occult related themes.

The committee was founded by four women known as the "Washington Wives"—a reference to their husbands' connections with the government power elite in the Washington, D.C. area.

Those female founders of the PMRC are Tipper Gore, wife of Senator and later Vice President Al Gore... More

Who cares what B&B think?