The full moon day in May is called VESAK and signifies the day Siddhartha Gautama was born, became the Buddha (the "Enlightened One"), and made an end of all further rebirth (by attaining final nirvana). This thrice blessed day all took place on the full moon of the ancient month of Vesakha, roughly equivalent to the Gregorian calendar's May. (It varies every year). This year it falls on the 12th; therefore, most Buddhist temples in America will celebrate it on Sunday, May 11th, to fall closest to it. But in reality it will be celebrated all month long in various Theravada Buddhist temples, monasteries, and nunneries. One of the largest and most well-conceived celebrations happens in the suburbs of Los Angeles in the small town of Azusa (which boasts that it has everything from A to Z in the USA, but the word Azusa is really an ancient place name for a Native American Tongva village, just like Pasadegna, Topangna, and elsewhere all across LA County and beyond).
Vesak in Long Beach, May 17, 2025
Celebrations continue throughout the country and world. This Sunday (May 18, 2025) the Los Angeles Vihara, now located in Covina (after being established in Hollywood then moving to Pasadena), will hold a massive cultural program in honor of Vesak (after last Sunday's Uposatha or Full Moon Lunar Observance Poya Day Eight Precept meditation retreat). The Vihara is now the mindfulnessmeditationcenter.org but now distributes the latest information on WhatsApp rather than Facebook or the website. The event is free. Wear white in honor of longstanding Southeast Asian Buddhist tradition, extending back to the time of the historical Buddha.
WHAT HAPPENED?
It was a 100-mile odyssey in a steel chariot pulled by more than 350 horses, too far to walk.
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We traveled on across Los Angeles (from Pasadena to the Valley over to Hollywood then east and further east) to visit five Buddhist temples in search of holiday festivities, finding three active ceremonies:
Mindfulness Meditation Center of Covina (the Los Angeles Buddhist Vihara, which began on Beechwood under the Hollywood Sign decades ago, moved to Pasadena for another decade or more, then landed in a massive property deep in the San Gabriel Valley with plans for a large stupamonument) to observe the Eight Precepts (Poya Day, Uposatha, for a serious lunar observance, as distinct from next Sunday's more festive cultural event to celebrate the Buddha's birthday, great awakening, and final nirvana) then on to our evening destination:
Peace Point Meditation at DIMC, Azusa
Dhammakaya International Meditation Center, Azusa, to sit with 100 Buddhist monks from a dozen different Buddhist countries and at least 20 Buddhist nuns from all over. It is a strange spectacle in a very green forested area. Due to the cooling heat wave, it felt like being at a resort in Thailand, White Lotus style, with giant imperial Roman banners topped by golden eagles hanging in the distance, as if the Nazis had organized the 1936 Olympics only for Hitler's ego to be trounced by American Jessie Owens. So spectacular is the ceremony that it is shown live on TV in Thailand. Dressed in white, we take our seats as the monastics enter two by two in a long line, drone cam and boom cameras catching it all. The mayor gives a speech in honor of Mother's Day, a science professor named Dr. Gautam Somethingorother delivers a short speech on how much meditation has helped him and how depressed and troubled scientists are without spirituality, Vietnamese monks chant in unison, a representative of Hsi Lai (Going West) Buddhist Monastery from the other side of the San Gabriel Valley (hsilai.org), chants in the style of Taiwanese Fo Guang Shan Buddhism, donations are made to the Sangha by special guests (lots of gift-giving all the way around, as is the custom in Buddhist Thailand), then a giant circumambulation around one of two large golden Buddha statues ensues, while chanting traditional Pali language verses. Finally, candles are lit and we repeat words of loving-kindness (metta) led by a senior monk to bless the entire world. All the while, all the Thai women have their phones out to document their spiritual journey with selfies as if these grand dames were teens. Then gifts and snacks are distributed to the hundreds in attendance, who go off into the clear summer-like spring night. It seemed as if the only SoCal Thai monastery not in attendance was Tan Jeff's (American Ajahn Geoff's) Wat Metta because Ven. Thanissaro badmouthed Dhammakaya and doesn't get invited anymore. Ah, that's just like the Tan Jeff we know. More
Vesak is celebrated all month long at temples across US!
Come celebrate the Buddha's birth, great awakening, and passing into final-nirvana
TheinclusiveinternationalBuddhist flag
Sunday, May 11
Vesak (Visakha) Day: Come celebrate (open to all) through the lighting of lanterns, meditation, and a candlelight procession. many Buddhist disciples will be dressed all in white and keeping the Eight precepts for the 24-hour period in observance of the most special uposatha (lunar observance) of the year.
Join us at the Dhammakaya International Meditation Center for a joyous celebration of Vesak Day! This in-person event is a wonderful opportunity to honor the life and teachings of the historical Buddha.
On this special celebration of the Buddha, Dhammakaya welcomes more than 150 Buddhist monastics from 12 Buddhist countries and traditions to join together as a united Sangha (spiritual community), including monastics from
Burma (Myanmar)
Taiwan
China
Tibet
Cambodia
Vietnam
Laos
South Korea
Sri Lanka
Bangladesh
Japan
Thailand.
(Dhammakaya is a Theravada Thai vihara).
Buddhist monks practicing for calm and insight
We will join in group meditation, sangha-dana (offering of necessities to the monastics), light lanterns to illuminate the meditation lawn, and participate in a candlelight walking meditation.
Vesak Day is a time for all to unite and reflect on the profound impact the Buddha has had on the world. Come and be a part of this meaningful celebration!
(Seinfeld) Dec. 18, 2021: It's that time of year, so we're embracing our filthy New York roots and looking back at why we celebrate this Festivus, the holiday alternative for the rest of us! Oh, Frank Costanza, will you never learn? (What must Mr. Larry David Sr. really be like?) Family can be, um, problematic and embarrassing. Find local listings | seinfeld.com#Seinfeld#LarryDavid
Watch this video before Christmas and life will change forever
(Agrippa's Diary) Dec. 22, 2024: Christmas is a modern celebration deeply rooted in ancient pagan rituals and esoteric traditions symbolizing the eternal cycle of death [moving toward he light], darkness, and rebirth.
Its customs echo practices from ancient civilizations like Babylon, Egypt, and Rome, which honored the victory of light over darkness, the renewal of life, and the promise of spiritual transformation. [After all, in Christianity, one has to die first to get to heavenly paradise or misery unutterable.] These traditions, from the evergreen tree as a symbol of eternal life to the feasts of Saturnalia and the rebirth of Sol Invictus, reflect humanity’s enduring relationship with the cycles of nature and the cosmos.
Over time, these themes were woven into Christian narratives, where Christ became the light of the world, mirroring the sun’s return after the winter solstice.
⌛ CHAPTERS:
0:00 Introduction
01:43 Marduk, Chaos, and the First Celebration of Light
03:44 Osiris, Horus, and the Return of Light
05:38 Saturnalia, Sol Invictus, and the Birth of the Unconquered
08:00 Christ, the Sun, and the Sacred Light
10:38 Amanita Muscaria and the Origins of Santa Claus
13:48 Conclusion and Practical Advice for Honoring the Christmas Ritual
16:03 Outro
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🎶 Music used in the video:
1. "In the Heart of this Ancient City" by CO.AG Music
2. "The Coliseum" by CO.AG Music
Licensed under Creative Commons: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
🎓 SOURCES
Roll, Susan K. Toward the Origins of Christmas. Peeters Publishers, 1995
St. Augustine, Sermon 192, in St Augustine: Sermons on the Liturgical Seasons, translated by Sr Mary Sarah Muldowney. Catholic University of America Press, 1984
Kelly, Joseph F., The Origins of Christmas, Liturgical Press
Forsythe, Gary (2012).
Time in Roman Religion: One Thousand Years of Religious History. Routledge
Bradshaw, Paul (2020).
"The Dating of Christmas". In Larsen, Timothy (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Christmas. Oxford University Press
Hijmans, Steven, "Sol Invictus, the winter solstice, and the origins of Christmas," in: Mouseion III (2003), pp.379-380
Allegro, John M. & Irvin, J. R. (2009). The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross: A Study of the Nature and Origins of Christianity Within the Fertility Cults of the Ancient Near East
Hoffman, Michael (2006)
"Wasson and Allegro on the Tree of Knowledge as Amanita
King, J. C. (1970). A Christian View of the Mushroom Myth
The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name Hardcover – September 29, 2020, by Brian C. Muraresku (Author), Graham Hancock (Foreword, Contributor)
📜 Disclaimers:
The voice used on this channel is a highly edited AI-generated voice that contains samples from my own voice and samples inspired by the voice of Sir Christopher Lee, for who I hold a tremendous amount of respect and appreciation, and it is used for educational purposes.
Thanks for the support!
#spirituality #christmas #religion
It's piñata time. Mexico (which extends over the border, reaching Los Angeles, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and even Chicago) has a beautiful Judeo-Christian tradition in the almost entirely Catholic country. It is called Los Posadasor "The Lodgings."
(Wiki) Las Posadas is a novenario (an extended devotional prayer). It is celebrated chiefly in Latin America, El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and by Latin Americans in the United States [1, 2].
Catholic church service in Chicago
It is typically celebrated each year between December 16-24 [1]. Latin American countries have continued to celebrate the holiday, with very few changes to the tradition since the Conquerors brought imperial rule, rape, and enslavement to the indigenous people of the Americas courtesy of the Vatican in Rome and the imperial Holy Roman Church, extracting gold, silver, and land in exchange.
Los Angeles ("The Angels") is still very Mexican even after Partition
Las Posadas derives from the European language (Latin-based Spanish) word posada ("lodging," "accommodation") which, in this case, refers to the inn from the Nativity story.
What do the Irish call the holy family: Issa-son, Muire, and Seosamh?
It uses the plural form as the celebration lasts for a nine-day interval (called the novena) during the Christmas season, which represents the nine-month pregnancy [3, 4] of the virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. More
The Holidays, when things get cold and dark, are the best time of year to party. It's also the birthday of the hippie owner John., so it's an extra festive occasion of Christmas, Kwanzaa, Channukah, and Late-Diwali.
[Humans need social contact, according to psychology, whether they think they like it or not, as we are pack animals and interdependent angels. So get out' the house and into a festive potlach atmosphere of interaction, and give an Irish goodbye when it gets to be too much.]
Use the back door for free parking
Yogis Cody and Stella have a night of music, singing, Sanskrit chanting (kirtan), party games, and lots of delicious food.
It's through the Cosmic Breezeway and in Oh Happy Days Vegan Cafe, a throwback to hippie times when all anyone did was smoke herb, attend anti-war protests, farm hair, and go to college to get a degree in systematically questioning the status quo and the corporate power structure.
Ah, those were the days when you could just turn on, tune in, and drop out. Come by to celebrate and give well wishes to the birthday boy with live musical performances.
Bring a VEGAN (no animal products of any kind) item, dessert, guacamole, salad, soup, or good quality chips. There's always pizza and entree items. All are welcome. It's FREE, so RSVP:
Trump's rambling lying Meet the Press interview, trip to Paris, suspected healthcare insurance CEO killer caught for eating McD's
(Jimmy Kimmel Live) Dec. 9, 2024: Clueless cops have apprehended a man in Pennsylvania named Luigi Mangione in the execution-style murder of the UnitedHealthCare CEO in Manhattan, the New York Mets signed outfielder Juan Soto to a $765 million deal (far eclipsing Dodger who is regarded as the greatest baseball player ever born), President Elect Trump was in Paris making an ass of himself and the nation over the weekend for the grand re-opening of a Catholic church named the Notre Dame Cathedral (which burned years ago causing tons of inexplicable lead in its roof to melt and contaminate God's holy house of ancient ET or Mud Flood technology), he spent some time with Prince William there, Dr. Jill Biden was seated next to him as he farted and soiled his adult diapers, letting off a putrid smell as she seemed to hold her breath at the Notre Dame ceremony and he used a photo of them together as an ad for his new official fragrance line for MAGA Hicks who want to smell awful, wife Melania was busy practicing her QVC skills selling some crappy Christmas ornaments on Fox & Friends, DJ had a long and rambling interview with Kristen Welker for “Meet the Press” where they had an exchange he made uncomfortable by repeatedly lying and trying to deceive her and getting mad that she was neither deceived nor taken in by his grade school bullying, he was awarded “Honorary Patriot of the Year” this weekend on Fox News, and while all of the Trump administration’s cabinet nominees have been very unsettling, it’s also a lot of fun for kids! #Kimme
Christspiracy is life-changing and mind altering! Wow, religion is both the best thing (as it was originally) and the worst thing (what greedy people have made of it): christspiracy.com
How would Jesus kill and butcher an animal, anal electrocution? Would he smite it, cut its neck with a blood-soaked knife as it gurgled and tried to scream? Use a stun gun first? Have a rabbi next to him to make sure the lamb baby he led to slaughter was killed all "kosher" like? (No, of course Jesus/Issa wouldn't do that kind of stuff! He was an ethical vegetarian. Hell-bound humans do that kind of stuff...and was it the greedy, fearful, deluded priests who led them to do it?)
Los Angeles Animal Save and Animal Alliance Network are holding a screening of the amazing breakthrough fill Christspiracy -- exposing the biggest coverup in 2,000 years of history. Joaquin Phoenix says it "exposes unforgiving truths."
What if the reason the world eats so much slaughtered meat (hundreds of billions of animals murdered a year) is the priests?
The Western spiritual tradition is founded on the qualities of kindness and compassion towards animals it ignores. Buddhists were not spared this madness: Most Buddhists today think it's okay to eat an animal that was not killed for them in specific (just in general, dead there in the market to and retroactively killed for them when they pay the butcher for having slaughtered and butchered it).
Its titular head was all-kind, a-forgiving, and called on his followers to do the same. But the priests got greedy, from Judaism to Christian, ancient Greek paganism to ancient Hinduism, it was far more profitable to have people donate sacrificial animals to them, which they slaughtered (kosher, pareve, halal, etc.) in some "spiritual" way then sell them back to followers for feasts. Their gods demanded animal sacrifice. They made it holy and completely fine, as if unfeeling animals were fine to kill, like mowing down insentient blades of grass.
Even the grass is sentient. How much more the conscious, communicative animals all around us?
Please join LA Animal Save, Animal Alliance Network, and Plant Based Treaty for a FREE screening of CHRISTSPIRACY with Co-Director Kameron Waters at Au Lac Plant-based Restaurant on Sunday, Dec. 8th. Doors open at 5:00 pm. Film starts at 5:30 pm. Seating is first-come, first-served. Order delicious food and beverages from the menu. Bring friends! More: facebook.com...1236145564104756
Fly Agaric and its ties with Christmas | Amanita Muscaria Mushroom
How can we spread Western culture/Xmas cheer?
(Danni in the Wild) Dec. 19, 2023: Did our much-loved Christmas celebrations derive from a psychedelic trip brought on by the Amanita muscaria mushroom?
Where did the idea of "Father Christmas" come from? Do reindeer really learn to "fly" by eating magic mushrooms that get them high? Why does Santa Claus come down the chimney of all places? And are "machine elves" real?
Join me, Danni in the Wild, as I explore the parallels between traditional shamanic winter solstice celebrations from the Arctic communities of the Kamchadals and Koryaks of Siberia, and the traditional Christmas celebrations we practice today in Europe and the Americas. (Feliz Navidad, Latin America! We strongly advise people not to trip without a competent minder and sitter, like a shaman).
Sources and suggested further reading:
Mushrooms and Mankind by James Arthur
Magic Mushrooms in Religion and Alchemy by Clark Heinrich
Foraging Wild Foods and Medicinal Mushrooms October | UK
These red-and-white gifts just popped up under the tree overnight. I wonder what's in them.
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(Danni in the Wild) Oct. 26, 2023: Join me, Danni in the Wild, for a late fall forage in a local woodland pasture. It is a beautiful day, and there are lots of wild edible berries, plants, and fungi to find -- some of the mushrooms being medicinal, too! Please see notes on species below before mushroom hunting.
Acorns (oak seeds) contain high amounts of tannins which can cause stomachaches, so they must first be prepared (soaked, washed, rewashed, and rinsed over and over) before consuming or ground into flour;
Rosehips (future rosebuds) contain itchy hairs that should be removed before consumption;
Golden spindles are nontoxic but not usually recommended for consumption due to their tough texture and bitter flavor;
Amanita muscaria (Fly agaric) contains psychoactiveibotenic acid and the hallucinogen muscimol, so failure to prepare it properly for its intended use may result in freaking out, vomiting, dizziness, vertigo, anxiety, and lots of other unpleasant feelings!
WARNING: Remember never to eat any wild food -- be it plant, fruit, or fungi -- unless you are 100% certain of its identity. Always cross check resources to be 200% sure. Always do research before taking herbs internally, especially if pregnant, have severe allergies, or have a weakened immune system.
PLEASE: Remember to take only what is needed from places of abundance (and never more than 10% of any plant) so as to always leave plenty for the other wildlife.
To follow along for more foraging and forest garden content, join me over on Instagram, TikTok, and Threads: @danniinthewild; subscribe to channel for more mushroom content, or follow me on Instagram, Threads, and TikTok @danniinthewild
Thanks for watching! :)
Danni in the Wild; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
(Todd Malkin) Ken Page (1954-2024) sings "Oogie Boogie," a song from A Nightmare Before Christmas live @ The Hollywood Bowl on Halloween 2015).
Page has died at 70, according to a close friend. He now faces rebirth, potentially among the unfortunate beings of the dismal hungry ghost realm for his habitual karma on earth. What did he do? He was an actor and singer, counterfeiting the truth on stage, which American Theravada Buddhist monk Ven. Thanissaro suggests is the kind of karma (deeds) that dooms one to miserable consequences.
All is not lost. Such rebirths, however long lived, are impermanent and then one carries on according to one's just desserts. Of course, it is possible that he willed, carried out, and stored up merit and skillful deeds to counteract some or all of the deeds we saw. The working out of karma is imponderable, but general things may be said about it. May Ken Page be well and happy and celebrate skillful deeds done on his behalf by those who remain living on a plane where wholesome actions are possible (such as the human plane).
They HIDE this about the Christ birth story | MythVision documentary
(MythVision Podcast) Across the globe, 2.3 billion Christians (most of them Catholic) celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 24th, inspired by the tale of wise Persian magi [or Tibetan lamas, wisemen, from the East searching for a tulku] following a star [or a shimmering UFO] to find the Messiah [possibly Maitreya].
Unknown Years of Jesus: Traveled to India, Russian Christian Nicolas Notovitch revealed after finding written evidence of Jesus' life in a Buddhist monastery called Hemis Gompa
But what if this cherished story is more myth than fact? Join MythVision as it delves into the mystery of the "Christmas Star." Was it a real astronomical event or a symbolic part of a deeper narrative?
This documentary explores ancient texts, astronomical theories [when astrotheological theories would explain much more], and cultural lore to uncover the truth behind this legendary star.
Get ready to challenge what Christians believe, and discover the hidden layers of this timeless story.
Kwanzaa [a newer American holiday tradition] celebrates African American and Pan-African culture, history, family, and community.
The holiday was created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Ron Karenga, a professor of Africana Studies at Cal State Long Beach, Los Angeles, and is typically observed on the week between Christmas and New Year’s, starting on Dec. 26.
The holiday has roots in both traditional and modern celebrations throughout Africa and promotes values including unity, self-determination, purpose, faith, and creativity — known as part of the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa.
In a letter published this week in the Los Angeles Sentinel, Prof. Karenga delivers an annual message wishing Africans peace and solidarity, particularly in the ongoing struggle for freedom and equality:
Woman worships Ra-Horakhty who blesses her with rays of light (Taperet stele, Africa/Kemet)
They'll have you siding with oppressors (MX)
“Kwanzaa was conceived and born in the womb, work and transformative struggles of the Black Freedom Movement…shaped by that defining decade of fierce strivings and struggles for freedom, justice and associated goods waged by Africans and other peoples of color all over the world in the 1960s,” Dr. Karenga writes.
“Kwanzaa thus came into being, grounded itself and grew as an act of freedom, an instrument of freedom, a celebration of freedom and a practice of freedom.”
The name “Kwanzaa” is derived from the Swahili phrase, “matunda ya kwanza.” At home, families can also celebrate with feasts, daily activities, reading books, or watching films that relate to the seven principles.
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