(Firstpost) Japan: Viral abandoned baby monkey with plush toy finds new family | Firstpost America | N18G
Mom, are we human? - No, Son, they won't let us in their club yet. - Why?
Panchi-kun (born July 26, 2025), known simply as "Punch [the Monkey]," is a baby Japanese macaque at Japan's animal internment camp, aka Ichikawa City Zoo [1, 2]. Punchy gained viral attention on social media for his attachment to a large orangutan stuffed plush toy doll [3]. According to zoo prison officials, Panchi-kun's internet popularity led to a surge in visitors to the zoo starting in February 2026 [4]. More
At the dawn of human (pre-)history, what did our ancestors do to stay warm in the Ice Age?
Born Jeffrey Block (Dec. 10, 1944), now known as Bhikkhu Bodhi [a], is an American Theravada Buddhist scholar-monk, a major inspiration for Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal, educated in California, ordained in Sri Lanka, and now teaching in New York and New Jersey.
Long ago at BPS, Bhikkhu Bodhi authorized our Dharma editor to promote his mail order Buddhist course called The Buddha's Teaching: As It Is, a ten-cassette set he recorded in the basement of the Washington Buddhist Vihara with glossary and notes. To reach a wider audience, we took it online with millions of views, our dhamma-dana.
Block was born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1944 to Jewish parents. He grew up in Borough Park, where he attended elementary school P.S. 160 [4] and graduated from New Utrecht High School [5]. He then worked as a door-to-door salesman selling paintbrushes [6].
In 1966, he obtained a B.A. in philosophy from Brooklyn College, where he first encountered Buddhism in books at the bookstore [6]. In 1972, he obtained a doctoral degree (PhD) in philosophy from Claremont Graduate University [7, 8] in Southern California before deciding to move to Asia to ordain as a monk. More
Buddhism in Vietnam (Vietnamese Đạo Phật, 道佛 or Phật Giáo, 佛教), as practiced by the Vietnamese people, is a form of East Asian Mahayana Buddhism, according to 2019 figures [1].
Buddhism is the second religion in Vietnam (though arguably the first since the U.S. Department of State's 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom cites Vietnam's "White Book" that the Buddhist population increased from nearly 10 million in 2008 to approximately 14 million in 2021, which accounts for 13.3% of the overall population of Vietnam).
Korean Beauty Expo influences the Vietnamese
According to the Vietnamese government's 2019 National Population and Housing Census, approximately 4.6 million individuals officially identified as Buddhists, representing 4.8% of the total population at that time.
Roman Catholics represented 6.1% of the total population in the same 2019 census.
The vast majority (83.6%) in this officially atheistic communist country stated that they have no [organized] religion or practice [the traditional] folk religion. More
(Zen Panda) Why do people really fall in love? Is it fate, beauty, or something deeper? This fanciful Zen wisdom story reveals the hidden truth behind human attraction. A wise wanderer teaches that love is not given — but reflected. When someone loves us, do they see themselves in us, or are they seeking what they lack? Understanding this distinction can transform how we experience love. Stop chasing it — because if we become whole, love will find us. 🌊🔥✨ Watch to discover the two powerful truths that change the way we see love forever. #ZenWisdom #love #spirituality #BuddhistTeachings #mindfulness #ZenStories #InnerPeace
The Buddha's warning: The four people who will RUIN your life
(Buddha's Wisdom) ANCIENT WISDOM REVEALS THE FOUR TOXIC PERSONALITIES DESTROYING LIVES TODAY 🔍
In the royal courts of ancient proto-India, the Buddha observed a pattern so dangerous, he felt compelled to warn future generations. (The four types are explained in the Sigalovada Sutta, DN 31).
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 The Warning That Changed Lives
03:00 The Sweet Talker: Charm as a Weapon
08:45 The Empty Promiser: Words Without Action
13:04 The Secret Enemy: Hidden Darkness
17:44 The Enabler: Toxic Comfort
22:08 Buddha's Secret Solution
His 2,600-year-old Dharma or Teaching exposes four types of people who can destroy our life while pretending to be our friends. Today, these same toxic personalities walk among us, wearing modern masks.
DISCOVER:
The "Sweet Talker" who charms to deceive
Hidden court documents revealing the Buddha's psychological profiling methods
The shocking connection between ancient deception and modern manipulation
Why enablers might be more dangerous than enemies
How these toxic types have evolved in the Digital Age
If the company we keep doesn't lead us to wisdom, compassion, and truth, where does it lead us? Have you encountered any of these four types in your own life? How did you handle it? Let us know in a comment. Next week explores the five true friends, wisdom also taken from the Sigalovada Sutta. "The wise grow in the company of the wise."
For adults only. Are you 18? Pretend to press here <> if you are. Otherwise, go away. Not suitable for monastic eyes.
"Sex with Sadie" (or it could've been "Sex With Emily") was a show by graphic feminist sexologist Dr. Sadie Allison (that was Rated somewhere between R, NC-17, and XXX), CEO of TickleKitty.com, a "toy" company concerning itself with base sensual pleasures of every description, the practice of villagers.
Sex or passion for Valentine's?
Happy Valentine's Day, elementary school class!
Dr. Sadie, is there Nothing Higher to Live For than [boinking, schtooping, and the ChoctawHeimlich]?
Sure there is, Wisdom Quarterly. My TEDx Talk (below) is all about fearlessgiving not mutual wham-bam-thank-you-mam'ing.
No, we'd just like an honorific title, too. What we mean by "sexy" is passionate. We're interested in Turning Passions Into Profits like that shady guru Howard Christopher, Lisa Garr's motivational speaker pal.
Wisdom Quarterly, what about turning your passion into fearless giving?
VIDEO: Nothing Higher to Live For: A Romantic View of Romantic Love Some people have nothing but romantic love to live for. It may not be bad but done out of instinct and passion. Love is sweet, and it is our greedy (lusty) nature to give in. But why do we worship relationships so ardently, and why do we stop our search for real fulfillment with it? We see no better gods than Cupid, Mara, Kama, and Eros. If love is the highest thing to live for then it is a hopeless universe, because we should see in a calm hour that Cupid's arrows thrill and make us bleed, leaving us pathetic and clingy. Where does hate come from other than a prior attachment now broken? Nothing Higher To Live For?
*Turning sexual PASSION into skillful action of Fearless Giving with Dr. Sadie
Turning sexual passion into skillful karma
Wretch, right, Dr. Sadie? - No, stretch, Dear, and get limber. - I thought you said get Limburger.
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How can we empower real intimacy?
(TEDx Talks) How did a renowned American sex educator develop the passion for "fearless giving" (dana) that allows her to teach intimacy techniques to millions? What obstacles and prejudices did she overcome to blossom as America's Pleasure Coach? And how can we adapt her "fearless giving" model to create happiness in our own lives -- in and out of the bedroom?
In her short TEDx talk, Dr. Sadie shows how to face life's challenge with true determination, especially when one's drive to give fearlessly runs smack up against daily reality.
She offers examples from her own childhood, where intense family dysfunction, coupled with being fiercely ostracized at school for guiding girlfriends through their budding sexuality, could easily have kept her from ever being successful.
Yet, her drive to give fearlessly and passionately has led her to become one of today's leading authorities on sexuality and an award-winning sex self-help author with over two million books sold (as of 2013).
Watching Dr. Sadie enables us to discover our own inner "fearless giver." By the end of the talk, we'll know the best moment to fully embrace it.
I go to nightclubs for the restroom camaraderie
ABOUT: Dr. Sadie Allison is one of America's leading experts on human sexuality. Founder and CEO of Tickle Kitty, Inc., Dr. Sadie is the IPPY Best Sexuality Award-winning author and publisher of today's bestselling line of fun, informative, sex-help guides — the kind we wish we'd read earlier in life. Her ever-popular classics include Ride 'Em Cowgirl! and Tickle His Pickle. Dr. Sadie's mission is to empower women and men to embrace an even deeper enjoyment of their sexuality through encouragement, information, and inspiration [rather than the standard American discouragement, ignorance, and guilt/shame of our parents and teachers] — topped-off with a dash of humor.
TEDx: In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = "independently organized TED event." The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized* (*subject to certain rules and regulations).
Dr. Sadie Allison, TEDxGoldenGatePark, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, Nov. 14, 2013; Vanessa (Klein Ally Show, KROQ, 2025); Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Dhr. Seven, Shauna Schwartz, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
(Jat 190) The Buddha told this story at Jetavana, the Jeta's Grove Hermitage, about a virtuous lay follower. One evening, when this faithful disciple came to the bank of the Aciravati River on his way to Jetavana to hear the Buddha, there was no boat at the landing stage.
[What is "noble" friendship (kalyāṇa-mittatā) in Buddhism? The greatest thing about a "noble" (enlightened) friend, whether a layperson as in this case or a monastic, is the opportunity to HEAR the Dhamma, the Buddha's Teachings that lead to enlightenment and nirvana. They speak of it when they speak, though often pleased just with quietude and noble silence, are just by their being fine examples of good conduct, virtuous, uplifting (although capable of misconduct and even immorality until they reach the stage of arahant even if the popular misconception is that a stream-enterer immediately becomes morally flawless and of perfect conduct, never mind what the Ratana Sutta has to say about it). The Noble Sangha(lit., "community of enlightened beings"), which includes every being attained at least to the stage of stream-entry or possibly even the two preliminary stages (saddhanusari and dhammanusari), is one of the "Three Treasures" (ti-ratana) or Jewels, the ultimate guides for beings subject to suffering (disappointment in this unending Cycle of Rebirth, which can be brought to an end (nirodha) but never ends by itself). There are by this reckoning seven such "noble ones." However, Ven. Upatissa's Path of Freedom has more details on the three types of stream-enterers (the sattakkhattu-parama facing as many as seven more rebirths, the kolaṅkolaor "passing from one noble family to another" is the stream-enterer who may be reborn fewer times and travel from teacher or school until settling down with the right one and reaching nibbana, and the eka-biji or "one-seeder" or "germinating only once more" stream-enterer, each weakening the further fetters binding one to ignorance and the Wheel of Becoming or Cycle of Rebirth, see AN9.12), which is more helpful than the standard condensed Path of Purification enumeration of just four stages of enlightenment/awakening.]
The ferrymen had pulled their boats onto the far shore and themselves gone to hear the Buddha. However, the disciple's mind was so full of delightful thoughts of the Buddha that even though he walked into the river, his feet did not sink below the surface: He walked on water, going across as if on dry land.
But when he noticed the waves as he reached the middle of the river, his ecstasy subsided and his feet began to sink. Then as soon as he again focused his mind on the qualities of the Buddha, his feet rose and he was able to continue walking joyously over the water.
When he arrived at Jetavana, he paid his respects to the Teacher and took a seat respectfully to one side.
"Good layman," the Buddha said, addressing the disciple, "I hope you had no mishap on your way."
"Venerable sir," the disciple replied, "while coming here, I was so absorbed in thoughts of the Buddha that, when I came to the river, I was able to walk on water and cross it as though it were solid."
"Friend," the Blessed One said, "you are not the only one who has been protected in this way. In olden days, virtuous laymen were shipwrecked in mid-ocean and saved themselves by remembering the virtues of the Buddha." At the man's request, the Buddha then told this story of the past.
Story of the past: Jataka
It's not a sutra, Homer, it's a jataka. - Shut up, Flanders! *Whisper* I'll be back for those eggs.
.
This ship is going to sink, friend.
Long, long ago, at the time of the Buddha Kassapa [3], a lay [stream-enterer] disciple who had already entered the path [reached the first stage of enlightenment] booked passage on a ship with his friend, a rich barber.
The rich barber's wife asked the disciple to look after her husband. But a week after it left port, the ship sank in the middle of the ocean.
The two friends saved themselves by holding on to a plank of wood and were eventually cast up on the shore of a deserted island rookery.
Famished, the foolish barber raided egg nests, killed birds, slaughtered and cooked them, offering a share of his bloody meal to the Buddha's disciple.
"No thank you," the disciple answered, "I'm fine" [not wishing to encourage the foolish barber in his defilementsor unskillfulkarma]. He thought to himself, "In this desolate place, there is no help [guidance] for us here except the Three Jewels [the Buddha, Dhamma, and noble Sangha]."
As he sat meditating on the Three Jewels, a naga (reptilian, dragon, CDs) king who had been reborn on that island magically transformed himself into a beautiful ship filled with the seven precious things [4]. Its three masts were made of sapphire, the planks and anchor of gold, and the ropes of silver.
The naga king transforms into a ship to save the good man
The helmsman, who was a sea spirit, stood on the deck and yelled, "Passengers for Jambudipa [earth, subcontinent, or India] now boarding for immediate passage!"
"Yes," the virtuous lay disciple called back, "that's where we're bound!"
"Then come aboard," the sea spirit invited.
The virtuous layman climbed aboard the beautiful ship and turned to call his friend the foolish barber.
(The Simpsons) Stealing to kill and devour mother and their offspring
"You may come," the sea spirit declared "but he may not."
"Why not?" the disciple asked.
"He is no follower of the pure life," answered the sea spirit. "I brought this ship for you, but not for him."
"If that's the case," the virtuous layman announced, "then all the gifts I have given, all the virtues [restraints and exertions] I have practiced, all the powers I have developed — I give the fruit of all of them to him!"
"Thank you, Master!" cried his friend the barber.
"Very well," relented the sea spirit, "now I can take both of you aboard."
The ship carried the two men across the sea and up the Ganges River that pours into it. After depositing them safely at their home in Baranasi [the holy ancient city of Varanasi/Benares], the sea spirit used his magic power to create enormous wealth for both of them. Then, poising himself mid-air, he instructed them and their friends:
"Keep company with the wise and good. If this barber had not been in the company of this virtuous layperson, he would have perished in the middle of the ocean."
McDharma's: Can the US get Beyond Meat?
[Taking eggs from nests, killing birds to survive, the foolish barber was engaged in things that make sense to worldlings even though they are very unskillful karma capable of bringing one to ruin, storing up unwholesome deeds avoided by the wise who neither encourage nor engage in them. That is the high cost of eating eggs, bloody handed, eating babies (bird fetuses), depriving them of life. Who would eat the womb of a woman with the excuse, "No, this womb was not a baby yet because sperm hadn't impregnated it"? The same people eat eggs with blood, indicating the eggs were fertilized and ready to produce a baby chick. Similarly, people eat murdered chicken-mothers, hens who lay eggs, and their rooster partners, calling them "poultry," ignoring that they are sentient beings, conscious entities killed to keep human-ghouls fed on corpses. Going vegan/vegetarian might be a better and more compassionate, environmentally-conscious option.]
Finally, the sea spirit returned to his own abode, taking the naga king with him.
Having finished this recounting of the past, the Buddha identified the rebirth (jataka) and taught the Dhamma, after which the virtuous layperson listening to him entered the fruit of the second path [reached the second stage of enlightenment].
"On that occasion [in that past life]," the Buddha said, "that disciple attained full enlightenment (arahantship). Sariputta was the naga king, and I myself was the sea spirit." Source
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