To save Los Angeles' elephants (sutra)

Elephants are especially social and wise animals

L.A. Zoo elephants' whereabouts a mystery amid relocation battle

(ABC7) May 21, 2025: Where are LA's elephants Billy and Tina? The Los Angeles Zoo's two remaining manacled/shackled Asian elephants appear to have been transferred in the dark while demonstrators let their guard down. abc7.com/post/activists...

• UPDATE: The elephants have been secreted away overnight (May 21, 2025) and shipped via truck to the Tulsa Zoo rather than the animal sanctuary anti-animal-cruelty demonstrators were demanding.

LA Zoo elephants Billy and Tina relocated to Tulsa | FOX 11 LA

• Animals in Buddhism
• To herald the coming birth of the Future Buddha, pregnant Queen Maya dreamed that she conceived of Prince Siddhartha when a white double tusker royal elephant entered her side: Queen Maya's Dream
• In Buddhism, elephants get names like Parileyya and Girimekhala, usually after the woods in which they reside.

'Not another zoo': Critics want LA Zoo elephants moved to sanctuary

(TODAY) May 13, 2025: Elephants Billy and Tina, the last two Asian elephants at the Los Angeles Zoo, were set to be relocated to another animal prison at the Tulsa Zoo, but there is pushback from animal-loving demonstrators and critics online alleging, “They will suffer in an inhumane environment.” NBC’s Morgan Chesky reports for TODAY. #elephant #animals #zoo

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  A Light to the World — Svetaketu leaves Tusita

  Pārileyyaka Sutta: When the Buddha was staying in a forest near Pārileyya, some meditative monks asked Ananda to take them to him. He did, and the Buddha, reading their thoughts, taught a sutra on the destruction of the cankers (āsavas) by the full realization of the impermanent and impersonal nature of all existence: all things are transient and devoid of any self (S.iii.95ff.) Translation: Pālileyya Sutta translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi (SN 22.81)

Conscious elephants in Buddhism: The Full Moon Honey Offering Festival

Animal karma (deeds) also bear karmic results

The Honey-Offering Festival is a Buddhist religious ceremony that commemorates the service and sustenance provided by animals to the Buddha.

It was during the Buddha's tenth Rains Retreat (Vas or Vassa) in Parileyya Forest.

According to legend, during his retreat to solitude, a wild monkey brought an offering of a honeycomb to give to the Buddha to eat, as an elephant named Parileyya brought fruit and protected the Buddha from fierce animals in the forest.

The 31 Planes of Existence

When the Buddha accepted the gift of the honeycomb, the monkey became so overjoyed that he began to leap from tree to tree, and in his exuberance fell to his death due to his reckless jubilation. However, because of his generous gift, that monkey was immediately reborn on a celestial plane called the World of the Thirty-Three (Tavatimsa), the second of the six heavens in the Sensual Sphere (below many other heavens of the Fine Material Sphere and Immaterial Sphere).

Since these events are believed to have taken place on the day of the full moon, the occasion has come to be commemorated as Madhu Purnima, or “Honey Full Moon.” The festival is observed on the full moon of the tenth lunar month in Theravada Buddhist countries in South and Southeast Asia. More

Conscious elephant karma

The “Four Harmonious Friends,” Bhutan

The Commentaries (e.g., DhA.i.48ff.; iv.26 ff. UdA.250f.; see Thomas, op. cit., 117 n) say that the elephant's name was Pārileyya (also Pārileyyaka) and describe in vivid detail the manner in which the elephant looked after the Buddha, omitting nothing, even to the extent of finding hot water for his bath.

Later, when the Buddha's attendant Ananda came with many others to invite the Buddha to return to Sāvatthi, the elephant Pārileyyaka provided all of them with alms food. The Buddha agreed and returned.

But such was the attachment the elephant had formed toward the Buddha that he died of a broken heart when the Buddha left the forest.

However, as a result of all his good deeds (wholesome karma) toward these enlightened beings, he was immediately reborn as a deva (angel, offspring of the gods) in Tāvatimsa in a golden palace (vimana, mansion) said to be 30 leagues high, where he is now known as Pārileyyaka devaputta.

This elephant is also identified with the elephant in the Bhisa Jātaka (J.iv.314). Source

• Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation) (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Jimmy Kimmel hates DJ Trump (JKL)

Trump’s loony cabinet gets final touches, Matt Gaetz joins Cameo, RFK Jr. skeletons

I may be dead, but I'm still prez of this failing nation

(Jimmy Kimmel Live) Nov. 25, 2024: The holidays are upon us and 17,000 flights have been canceled or delayed since Friday, QB Jameis Winston gave one of the most suspiciously upbeat pre-game interviews in the history of football, G-Joe Biden stepped out for the annual pardoning of the Turkeys today in Washington, Wicked racked up $165 million dollars at the box office this weekend and AMC released a special popcorn bucket for the film, since DJ Trump won the election vasectomies in the United States have skyrocketed, Trumpo picked another Fox News correspondent to be surgeon general, sex scandal ex-congressman Matt Gaetz is now on Cameo after withdrawing from attorney general consideration, some of RFK Jr.’s old interviews are getting attention, and JKL sent a team out to Hollywood Blvd. to ask people walking by our theater about some of Trump’s cabinet picks that were totally made up in a new Donald Trump Cabinet Edition of Lie Witness News. #Kimmel

Re-wilding buffalo prevents wildfires

How bison could be the natural solution to wildfire management

Who would return to tending the land after processed foods, booze, and casino money?

Stop killing and eating us. We can work together.

As wildfires increasingly ravage large swathes of land across the globe, scientists and conservationists are turning to an unexpected ally: the European bison.

Recent studies and conservation efforts in Spain suggest that these majestic creatures could play a crucial role in managing the overgrown vegetation that fuels wildfires.

White men shoot bison for genocide of Indians

Bison have long been recognized as ecosystem engineers, capable of significantly altering their habitats. Their feeding habits and physical strength allow them to clear dense undergrowth, creating firebreaks naturally.

These firebreaks can help contain fires and prevent them from spreading uncontrollably. More: How bison could be the natural solution to wildfire management

• Rewilding 170 buffalo (bison) in Europe could reduce carbon dioxide of 43,000 gas-powered cars
• Nine Native American Queens of Hollywood
• Xochitl, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Cow dances, rescued from meat industry

Are horses people, Mom? This one is. He's Mr. H.

Killing on an industrial scale -- it's a horrifying thought. Are humans the only ones who think or know things like that they're going to be killed? No. Some animals can sometimes think just like humans. Strange the way our karma (deeds) have of bringing about karmic results.

Some companion-humans know that pets know. Some mothers know infants understand more than they should. Some people have remembered being reborn as animals and recounted what they thought as they heard humans talk. They could think.

I'm a girl cow, like all cows. Call me Georgette

The heart knows without thought

But how could they understand what was being said? There is an alternative to words in telepathy as well as in the more mundane aha moment known in German as a Gestalt or suddenly seeing the whole picture.

If humanoids were smiling and looking at us like we were about to become dinner, we would not need to learn their grammar and phonics to smile and get the heck out of there. Creepy vibes could be enough to get the picture.

Who could think killing innocent cows trying to go about their own business could be okay? "They're stupid, they don't know nothing, they don't have feelings," we tell ourselves, and people kill. This is heavy karma rooted in ignorance, greed, and fear/aversion. How much better to understand and not kill?

Why we need to kill all animals: they're too cute

Cow literally dances with joy after being rescued from meat industry

Gut Aiderbichl: Sightseeing attractions like an animal sanctuary close to Salzburg, Germany

I do not put cows on cattle trains. Now, humans...

(Organically Human, Aug. 11, 2024) Ever wonder what a happy cow looks like? Here's one, human-folk! Check out this cow who is literally getting her dance on after being sprung from the meat industry.

• (Did you know ALL cows are female? That's why they have teat milk and calves around them. The males are called "bulls" that are mostly slaughtered or discarded by the flesh industry as useless to their capitalist practices. The author here keeps referring to this cow as "he" when it's a "she" and by grammatical custom in English would be referred to as an "it," presumably because it makes it easier to kill if we are not reminded that it is a fully sentient living being).

I was in a lab, Bich, being experimented on.

Who knew a cow could get down and bust a move? After being tethered to a narrow stable for most of her life, "Bandit" performs its freedom-dance showing his her gratitude to his her rescuers from Gut Aiderbichl Sanctuary (gut-aiderbichl.com) home to 500 rescued cows, bulls, calves, as well as ex-lab chimpanzees.

Mama, may I eat it instead of hamburger?

Measuring emotions in animals is very important because it helps us better understand them, their needs and wants. As Bandit shows, a major need (and want) is to run free, breathe, eat, love, have babies, be with friends, not have its head chopped off, and maybe even dance every now and then.

She was one of millions facing a life sentence on a factory farm – but this video proves that being capable of moo-ves like this, one never becomes accustomed to a lifetime of being corralled, chained, and imprisoned.

So if anyone has ever wondered what happy cow look like (really happy cows), Bandit is your gal. Go, Bandit, go!

• German Animal Sanctuary (gut-aiderbichl.com)
• Euro an Gut Aiderbichl » Tierschutz » HORSEtoday (archive.org)
• Seven big cats in Ukraine need urgent care and evacuation | International Fund for Animal Welfare (ifaw.org)
• 7 health benefits of mushrooms | UCLA Health
• Cow literally dances with joy after being rescued from meat industry (Organically Human)
• Written by Orietta C. Estrada (edited by Wisdom Quarterly) AND originally published on One Green Planet (Organically Human via MSN)

Mice problem? The "Buddhist Solution"

Editor-in-Chief Waylon Lewis (ElephantJournal.com); Shambhala Buddhist Community; Pfc. Sandoval, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

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Why would you want to kill us? We're cute!

Mice are cute and smart and feeling and have families, but they poop and pee, shred and get into foods in our houses. So they have to go, but how?

Let’s avoid torturing, poisoning, killing, or freaking ’em out. No torture, no death, and NO cost.

Look, I’ve got mice all over my kitchen countertops and in my cabinets and even in my toaster. I'm doing this tonight:

Mice walk into tube, fall into can.

“This ingeniously simple mouse trap really works. Thank you!”

UPDATE: I’ve now caught four mice this week, three the first two days, and haven’t seen any traces of new mice activity around my kitchen or elsewhere.

They’re really cute and sentient [feeling] and freaked out. I kinda like ’em. I don’t get this whole attitude of “exterminate/poison my own house.” It’s expensive, it’s aggressive, it’s stupid, and it’s bad for ME, too. This is way easier.

This query was sent to the Shambhala Buddhist community:

• If you have experience removing mice from your building in a sane and compassionate way, please send your thoughts. ~ Thank you, Noah

Many replies, many compassionate solutions

I just caught three mice the humane way for catch and release. (See below for photos).

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Need a monkey? Use a monkey trap.

Hi, Noah. If you can find where these little beings are entering your dwelling, you can block the entry with a spray foam product: "Great Stuff: Insulating Foam Sealant." You’ll need to reinforce the foam with some steel wool, however — otherwise they can chew their way back in. ~ Cheers, Mike

Dear Noah, et al., here at the Halifax Shambhala Centre, and also in my flat [apartment], we use the high-pitched frequency sound producers that plug into electrical outlets in all rooms. They are sold at hardware stores [about $20]. It takes about a month for them to move elsewhere, but the mice seem to hate it so much they do leave – and new ones just pass through very briefly. ~ Cheers, David

Mice are smart, kind, but reproduce too much

I’ve used cheap, simple Have a Heart-style traps I found on ebay.com by searching ‘mouse trap’… I put a little peanut butter inside, then let the mice go [catch here and release elsewhere] a few blocks away in a park. I haven’t had mice now for six months, and I used to have a ton of them, eating stuff on counters and pooping everywhere.

[Fear] And their poop is supposed to be awful. Some sort of disease is related to it. Would love to hear from others on what they’ve done, so I can share with our readers who want to be compassionate when it comes to this common problem. ~Yours, Way

Everyone, until we plugged in our high frequency sound repeller thing, we used the Have-a-Heart traps successfully. However, here in the Haight Ashbury [neighborhood of San Francisco] the mice prefer organic crumbly feta over organic crunchy peanut butter. (Your mice may vary). ~ Sean

I have used the “[ultra-high frequency] sound” [no sound to you] device also, but find a product called Shake Away which you can get online. This is an organic repellent of bobcat and fox urine. No odor to you. You place it in the holes they come in. Under conditions of snow and rain it is best sprinkled around the perimeter of the building. It works well and is not harmful to anyone.

• Don't kill, repel animal pests the easy way

I use the number online to order direct, which saves money for me but may be a moot point for you as you will have it shipped to Canada. Perhaps, in Canada there is a product made there. Humane collection of the urine is assured.

Make sure all food products or any other attractive mice materials are not available, i.e., good housekeeping practices. The shake away is not harmful to us or pets, and I have read the sound [device] does not harm pets or animals. I have one in my chicken coop with no effect on the birds. ~ Cheers, Merle

Concluding advice: I find marching around with a flute gets them to follow me and then I can lead them out the door. ~ Yours, Chris Easy. It's a free, humane method, and they don’t die of fright.

Cats are great, but not if you like mice/rats. (You know folks have rodents as pets. They’re smart, sweet, and can do as many tricks as dogs)… Cats also have issues with destroying birds if they’re outside, and they may not be fully happy living inside only, but that’s another question others will know more about.

Don't worry. You're about to be released into wild

Anyways, this is what I do: …paper towel roll or brown bag, peanut butter or something on one end, half off the counter over a (tall) trash can. They fall, get the peanut butter and something to hide in, you put the lid on, walk/bike/take them to nature/a park or put ’em outside as you would with humane traps, yay!

I have to do this somewhat regularly, but it keeps them out of the house for weeks on end and prevents them from making a mouse hotel in the basement or whatever. (They can’t settle in). They’re cute, so don’t kill ’em! ~ Metta

Bonus: From an expert: Creative Ways to Drive Out Mice. More ideas and photos: Ban Glue Traps: Here’s an Easy Alternative. via Imgur, Reddit: This f'ing ingeniously simple mouse trap really works. Thank you, Reddit! More

Compiled by Waylon Lewis, founder of Elephant Journal and how of Walk the Talk Show with Waylon Lewis. He is a first-generation American Buddhist "Dharma Brat." Voted #1 in U.S.... BIO

• Mice Problem? The ‘Buddhist Solution.’ | elephant journal

Joe Biden condones slaughter, pardons two

Kathryn Watson, CBS News, 11/20/23; Ashley Wells, Pfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Mmm, that bird looks good. Pres. Biden pardons national Thanksgiving turkeys Liberty and Bell during ceremony on South Lawn of the White House on Nov. 20, 2023 (CBS News/Getty Images).

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CBS News: Biden pardons two Thanksgiving turkeys, Liberty and Bell

Even turkeys aren't safe from Molester-in-Chief.

U.S. Pres. Biden pardoned two lucky turkeys today to mark the 76th anniversary of the National Thanksgiving Turkey Ceremony, one of the time-honored, albeit quirky, White House traditions.

"I [give two gravy boats about the rest of them but] hereby pardon Liberty and Bell! Alright," the president said to applause.

"Congratulations, birds! Congratulations."

Leave your door unlocked, I'll see you tonight.

[The president was happy to keep two alive, presumably to make out with on the lawn before their mothers returned for them, while doing nothing about the babies in Gaza, other than suggesting to Netanyahu that maybe he consider pausing a little, just a tiny bit for some humanitarian aid to be snuck in or backing the genocide completely and covering for Israel in spite of international condemnation and outrage, and even getting into the fight, risking American lives by sending ships and weapons into the region to fight Iran and anyone the CIA is willing to call a "proxy."]

• VIDEO: White House issues brutal response to Biden's 'inappropriate' nickname given by anti-Israel critics
• Joe Biden’s 15-year-old granddaughter, Finnegan, gets a turn traveling to Asia with ‘Pop’ Biden (nydailynews.com)

Biden enjoys incestuous grooming-kiss with grandkid, Finnegan Biden, who needs inheritance.

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Don't worry, we have spares (body doubles).

Liberty and Bell hail from Willmar, Minnesota and have been staying in a room at the luxurious Willard InterContinental Hotel near the White House, as is custom. 

"These birds have a new appreciation of the word, 'let freedom ring,'" Mr. Biden said, reading a line written for him poorly. He's only aging and getting more enfeebled. This year's turkey pardon ceremony happens to fall on Mr. Biden's 81st birthday [and Chinese dictator Xi's wife, as Joe clumsily reminded him at APEC].

Grandpa's sexy and loves me.

The president doesn't have any other plans on his public schedule [because it's time for another golf vacation or maybe a visit to the plastic surgeon for some touch ups].

"I just want you to know it's difficult turning 60," the president attempted to joke, adding that he wasn't present for the first turkey pardoning event. On a more somber note, the president switched gears to remember deceased former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who died Sunday at the age of 96 [while former Pres. Jimmy Carter keeps kicking at 99 in hospice care or assisted living].

I prefer my sexy grandkids to Jill, that bookworm and dud.

One indicted for war crimes yet not the other

"This week, we'll gather with the people we love and the traditions that each of us have built up in our own families," Mr. Biden said. "We'll also think about the loved ones we've lost, including just yesterday when we lost former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who walked her own path, inspiring a nation and the world along the way. And let's remind ourselves that we're blessed to live in the greatest nation on this face of the earth."

I'm a young 81 and doing a bang-up job. Watch how big the BANG I make is going to be.

Joe Biden would never molest his daughter, no matter what Ashley Biden wrote (pp.67-68)

• Joe Biden sexual assault allegation (Shsssh!)

I also love kids, so we're good there.

The origin of the presidential turkey pardon ceremony is a bit murky. Pres. Harry Truman was the first president to hold a photo-op at the White House with a turkey he received from the National Turkey Federation and the Poultry and Egg National Board.

The White House says Truman began the tradition, but that's a claim the Truman Library and Museum has disputed.

It's also possible the ritual began with Pres. Abraham Lincoln after his son urged his father to spare the bird they had planned to slaughter and devour for Christmas.

The take home message? Protect your birds.

This year's turkeys, which hatched in July, were sent to the White House from the Jennie-O Turkey Store.

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Jennie-O says the turkeys have been "receiving the five-star treatment befitting turkeys of their stature." Liberty and Bell will retire to a University of Minnesota farm in the Twin Cities.

Hey, Kids, want to touch my Peeping Tom?

[Or the poultry may be given to Hamas who will torture them by turning them over to the IDF who will slaughter them and smear their blood on doors before bombing them in mimicry or mockery of American Christian holy day celebrations, presumably. Too dark? Hah, soldiers on a killing spree would never do anything like that]. More + VIDEO

• 21 reasons why Americans are turning away from religion
• Code Pink: Women for Peace
• American Veterans for Peace
• Jewish Voice for Peace (jvp.org)
• Not In Our Name: Jewish voices for peace

This is the man we expect to stand up to out-of-control Israel?

SHOCKING AUDIO: My Daddy the Pedophile: A Memoir (Audible Audiobooks)

• Breaking Biden: Exposing the Hidden Forces and Secret Money Machine Behind Joe Biden, His Family, and His Administration (Alex Marlow)

The Magpie who loved me and friends (video)

Tsuki, 7/8/23; Danielle (The Dodo, 5/18/21); Crystal Q., CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Woman gives toys to a wild magpie — and he invites all his friends over to play | The Dodo Wild Hearts

(The Dodo) Danielle -- friendless and alone, depressed and anxious -- had just moved into her new house when all of a sudden, a wild magpie landed at her feet. He was very trusting and inquisitive and would follow her around and sit on her knee. Then he brought his son over. Before long, 25 teenage magpies were playing in her yard, too.

Keep up with The Magpie Whisperer on Instagram: thedo.do/magpies. Introducing Dodo swag: https://shop.thedodo.com/ Love animals? Subscribe (http://thedo.do/2tv6Ocd). ¿Hablas español? (https://thedo.do/2BsuN4o). Follow The Dodo: Tweet on Twitter: https://thedo.do/2Jast1M #thedodo #cat #kitten

5 extinct animals we have footage of

(Tsuki) The majority of organisms that have ever existed are now extinct. Most animals have been wiped out by mass extinction events, and some scientists argue that we are currently going through a mass extinction event. Humans have raised the rate of biological extinction. We are losing animals at an astonishing rate. Most animals disappear without a trace. Fortunately, for some recently-extinct animals, footage remains. This video goes through a few of these species, five animals thought to be extinct with only a tiny sliver of hope that at least one of each still survives.

CHAPTERS

• 0:00 Intro

1. 1:10 Baij (Chinese freshwater dolphin)
2. 2:44 Heath Hen (American pre-turkey)
3. 3:50 Golden Toad
4. 5:06 Ivory-Billed Woodpecker
5. 6:22 Thylacine

Attributions: Baiji Dolphin images: Chris_huh wikimedia.org public domain. Greater prairie chicken footage: Robert Barnes vimeo.com CC BY-NC-ND. Thanksgiving image: Jennie Augusta Brownscombe wikipedia.org public domain. Ivory billed woodpecker images: L. Shyamal wikimedia.org. (CC BY-SA 3.0) Thylacine images: Tim Bertelink wikimedia.org (CC BY-SA 4.0). Dasyuromorphia animal images: Helenabella wikimedia.org (CC BY-SA 3.0). Michael J Fromholtz wikimedia.org (CC BY-SA 4.0). Mathias Appel flickr.com (CC0 1.0). Bernard DUPONT flickr.com (CC BY-SA 2.0). I (Tsuki) have edited and adapted some of these clips and images. Creative commons licenses: https://creativecommons.org/license.