Jeffrey Sachs: Europe, do not provoke Russia

(Times of India) "I warn you: Do not provoke Russia": American Prof. Jeffrey Sachs roars at EU and US at European Parliament | VIRAL

The Buddha of Afghanistan (Gandhara)

(Young Buddhist Association) The History of Buddhism's Spread in Afghanistan | Dharma Friday Incognito, Episode 46

• The Buddha was from Bamiyan and Kabul (Kabil, Kapil, Kapil'avastu), Afghanistan: Dr. Ranajit Pal: Non-Jonesian Indology and Alexander
• The Buddhas of Bamiyan
• Bamiyan, Bamyan Province
• Zuhak, Bamyan, Afghanistan
• Mes Aynak ("little source of copper"): world's largest unexcavated Buddhist temple complex
• Mes Aynak mine
• Gandhara, Central Asia/NW Pakistan)
• Buddhism in Central Asia
• Bactria, Central Asia
• Ajinateppa (Ajina Tepe), Tajikistan
• Seleucid Empire, West Asia

(TarikhNamah) Afghanistan was once the center of the Buddhist World

(The Global Buddhist) The Lost Buddhist Kingdom of Afghanistan | Forgotten Heart of Buddhism

• (OSU School of History, Philosophy, and Religion) The Afghan Discovery of Buddha: The Intellectual Prehistory of Islamist Iconoclasm (dry lecture from UCLA)
• Young Buddhist Association; The Global Buddhist; Tarikh Namah; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Behind Rothschild's sealed vault: Tartaria

(Old World Proof) What they found sealed inside the Rothschild Vault in Frankfurt in 1898

• The Rothschilds: German Jewish banking family

Hey, Rothschilds, how much did your "nobility" cost?

(TJDS) Amazon's Jeff Bezos is terrified masses will revolt and come for him

The Buddha's Mothers' Day (5/10)

Prince Siddhartha's [Central Asian/Scythian/Saka] mother, Maha Maya Devi, depicted in India

A "mother" is much more than one gives birth, she nurtures: Mother Maha Pajapati Gotami

Queen Maya as a sal tree spirit

Isn't there a grammatical error in the title? No, there is not. For it is not the Buddha's mother we are discussing. It is all of them and therefore this shall be the Buddha's Mothers' Day.

 
Which all? There is, of course, the Buddha's biological birth mother, Maha Maya Devi (Queen Maya, literally "Great Illusion"). She was reborn on earth, gave birth to the Bodhisatta (the Buddha-to-be), and passed away seven days later.

 

Madonna Pajapati and child

Prince Siddhartha Gautama (Pali Siddhattha Gotama) was mothered -- adopted, raised, and cared for intensely -- by her sister, Queen Pajapati Gotami, the co-wife of King Suddhodana ("Pure Giving"). She for her efforts years later was rewarded with a very rare distinction: she became the world's first Buddhist nun, Ven. Maha Pajapati Gotami, and reached enlightenment.

• Honor My Mother Gotami (bhikkhuni.net)
• Mahapajapati's going forth in the Madhyamaka-Agama (Ven. Analayo)
• The non-historicity of the Eight Additional Nuns' Rules as revealed in the Bhikkhuni Vinaya (Ayya Tathaaloka)
• Non-historicity of the Eight Garudhammas (Ayya Tathaaloka)
• Articles (Alliance for Bhikkhunis)
• Doubtful history of the Eight Garudhammas

Most Buddhists interested in history or genealogy will know this much, as much as it may come as a surprise to others. But there was a third very important mother figure in the Buddha's life. The texts call her Nakulamata the Gahapatani, mata meaning "mother").

• Did the Buddha love his mother(s)?

This may seem like a strange depiction of baby Siddhartha,
but it is how he looks on the casket of his funerary ashes:

Detail of Afghan Bimaran casket (Charles Masson)

.

Queen Maya had a marvelous dream.

The story goes that one day as the Buddha was walking in northern India with his attendant Ven. Ananda (his Scythian/Shakyian cousin or possibly son in some traditions), he came by a village. And there sat the elderly "Nakulamata" and "Nakulapitu," Nakula's mother and father. Seeing the Awakened One, they became overjoyed and started to shout, "Son! Son! After a long time, you finally found time to visit us!"

Ancient carving of Buddha’s mother Maya found

Ananda became confused because the Buddha did not correct them. He warmly greeted them like a son. They lamented that he had been away so long, leaving them alone, but at least now he was back. Ananda's consternation grew. "What do they mean in calling you 'son,' venerable sir? Surely, your mother is in Kapilavatthu, the Land of the Sakas [Shakyas, Indo-Scythians]."

Then the Buddha explained that for 500 ("many") lives, these two had been his parents, and indeed this woman many, many times through many rebirths had been his mother.

• 

  Possible to marry, be intimate, remain happy?

  Nakulamata appears on a list of the Buddha's eminent lay females. The story goes that a father and mother (husband and wife) were householders in Sumsumaragiri in the Bhagga country. When the Buddha visited their village, staying in Bhesakala Forest Grove, they went to see him. They immediately fell at his feet, calling him "son" and asking why he had been away so long. It is said that they had been the Bodhisatta's parents for 500 previous births and his close relatives for many more. The Buddha taught them, and they became stream enterers (the first stage of enlightenment). The Buddha visited their village again when they were old. They entertained him, telling him of their devotion to one another in this life and many previous lives, asking for instruction on the sort of karma that would keep them together in the afterlife (many future rebirths). The Buddha referred to this in the assembly of the monastic community, declaring them the most intimate companions among his disciples. More: Nakulapita Gahapati and Nakulamata Gahapatani
• Eight qualities of women, Nakulamata (AN 8:48)
• "Marriage" (Guide To Buddhism A To Z)

I dreamed a great double tusker entered my side, and I knew I had conceived.

Why did Siddhartha's mother pass after a week? Legend has it that the only she took rebirth on Earth in the human plane from Tusita on the fortunate deva plane was to give birth to him. Mission accomplished. She then returned to that world. And the Buddha went to Tavatimsa (Sakka's Heaven of the Thirty-Three) to hear him teach the Abhidhamma as the Buddha, leading to her and many other devas' attainments of insight and enlightenment.

.

Gold container of the Buddha's relics

The Awakened One came back home and taught them, and they became awakened. Therefore, the Buddha offered the greatest thing any son or daughter could do for a mother or father: dhamma-dana.

• The Gift of the Dharma — the giving of enlightening teachings, known as dhamma-dāna — according to the Buddha, surpasses all other gifts. This type of giving, sharing, generosity includes those who elucidate the Buddha’s teachings, such as monastics who recite sutras from the Tripitaka or preach sermons or explain them, teachers of meditation, unqualified persons who at least encourage others to keep precepts, or helping support teachers of Dharma and meditation. The most common form of giving is material support, charity, donations, gifts of food, money, robes, shelter, and medicine [41]. More
• Treasury of the Buddha's Discourses: Appreciation of parents' love
• Buddhist attitude towards parents in Theravada Buddhism (drarisworld)

La vie de Bouddha (montagne de marbre, Danang): Sujata (milkmaid) and Punna offer dana

.

Other "mothers" in Buddhism

Earth Witnessing Mudra (c. 850)

It's not hard to get woo-woo. It's easy. Behold: Y'know, come to think of it, Siddhartha had another mother who saved him, Mother Nature (Bhumi, Tierra, Gaia, Urth, Mat Zemlya). One day, the wandering ascetic was striving and struggling under the bodhi tree. Mara didn't worry, didn't bother to step in. But then Siddhartha remembered that at age 7, at the Ploughing Festival of the Scythians/Sakas, he spontaneously entered meditative absorption (jhana) from past life practice. The wandering ascetic realized that this was the way to awakening, to enlightenment, and faulted himself for fearing pleasure (piti), realizing that the bliss that results from absorption is blameless and supersensual.

He determined to take up samadhi (practice of the four material absorptions), which his first yoga teachers, Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta, had taught him six years earlier. Mara took notice. He began to intervene as an obstacle. He took on the form of an ogre (yakkha, rakshasa), chief of an entire army of ghouls and monsters to chase him off his meditation seat at the base of that tree. Mara challenged the ascetic: "What gives you the right to sit there on my spot? Get out of here!" Rather than fearing or fleeing, ascetic Siddhartha made a mudra (hand gesture), pointing at his Earth Mother (earth witnessing mudra).

• Kisa Gotami: The mother who could not let go: After losing her only child, she became desperate, unhinged, and asked if anyone could help her. Her sorrow was so great she went crazy until a man out of kindness pointed her to the Buddha, the Master Physician, to bring her child back to life. He would have medicine, she was assured, and he did.
• Ven. Patacara, foremost exponent of the Vinaya: A harrowing and unbelievable story of childbirth, motherhood, and loss has been attributed to her in some ancient Buddhist texts and in others has been attributed to Kisa Gotami.

Kisa Gotami: I failed as a mother! My baby's dead! - Let's make a cure. Get mustard seed... - I can do that! I'll be right back! - from a house not touched by death. - OK, that should be no problem.

.

Siddhartha, Sujata, and Punna at offering

He was born under a sal tree as his mother gave birth, Queen Maya, gave birth standing like a tree spirit/dryad (salabhanjika). Then he went into spontaneous absorption sitting in the shade of another tree at the Ploughing Festival, age 7.

Ascetic Siddhartha as emaciated as a spirit

Then years later as a wandering ascetic, leaving the Group of Five wandering ascetics, he continued his struggling under another tree. But now it was too late; he had gone too far and was collapsing, malnourished and exhausted by his striving through painful austerities. Who should appear but a woman, Sujata, who pledged to make offerings to a tree [spirit] if she could become a mother. Realizing a miracle had occurred and she was now pregnant, she took an offering of milk rice to emaciated Siddhartha, mistaking him for the spirit of that tree. This kept him from dying, turned him around, led to him renouncing extreme austerities, and put him on the road to buddhahood, supreme awakening with the ability to teach.

• Sujata (Sujātā, Nandabala) was a farmer's wife, who offered dana in the form of food (kheer, a milk-rice pudding) for the wandering ascetic Siddhartha under a big old tree, ending his six years of asceticism. Sujata's servant/attendant, Punna, had gone to clean up around the tree ahead of the offering when she spotted Siddhartha under the tree and mistook him for a dryad in the flesh. His emaciated appearance did not look human, but rather he seemed as withered as bark.

• 

  Had this mother not stepped in to nurture him?

  Wrongly believing him to be tree-spirit who had granted Sujata's wish to get pregnant, Punna ran to get Sujata, who came with the offering. That gift (dana) gave him enough strength to cultivate his path-of-practice, the Middle Way that avoids extremes of sensual indulgence and extreme asceticism, develop the absorptions (jhana) that temporarily purify the heart/mind and give rise to supernormal perception, and attain enlightenment (bodhi) by systematic practice of Dependent Origination, after which he became known as the Buddha, the "Awakened One" [1, 2, 3]. Why was Sujata so fortunate as to generate such incredible merit? It is said that in a previous life, she had met Padumuttara Buddha, who made a certain predicting that one day she would be the first lay disciple of a future buddha [4]. Now it had come to pass because by going for guidance (sarana) to him, she preceded even the man on the road as the Buddha went to find the Group of Five at Isipatana and teach them. More

Mother of the household: Rahulamata

Cousin, wife, confidante Bimba nurtures Sid

One need not stop here when traveling Woo-Woo Road. There was another key mother in Siddhartha and the Buddha's life, namely, Princess Yasodhara (Bimba Devi), Prince Siddhartha's wife and the mother of their child, Prince Rahula.

Prajñāpāramitā Devī, Cambodia

She did not stop becoming important when Prince Siddhartha renounced the world and left worldly riches, power, and fame behind. She took on a much more important role when she asked to ordain as a Buddhist nun with the Buddha's foster mother (stepmother, aunt, adoptive mother, primary caretaker) Queen Pajapati Gotami. The Buddha's former wife became famous in her own right as the fiercest spiritual disputant in all the land. It became her custom to travel to a town, set up a broom, and anyone who knocked it down was thereby challenging her to debating contest, all of which she won. So prominent was she that sexism in the monkhood (bhikkhu sangha) seems to have led to reciters and scholar monks burying her in the texts by giving her many names: Yasodhara ("Gracious One"), Rahulamata ("Rahula's mother"), Ven. Kaccānā Bhikkhuni (later Theri), Bhadda ("Gentle") Kaccānā, Bhadra Kātyāyani, Sundari (not to be confused with the Buddha's sister, Sundari ["Beautiful"] Nanda aka Janapada Kalyani), and so on. (It seems Christians took the same tact in the Bible, burying Mary's significance by confusing various Marys).

• Compassion, Mercy, and Love: Guanyin and the Virgin Mary (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Seven mothers of the Buddha?

Prajñāpāramitā Devī, Berkeley

Seven mothers are enough, but in addition to Maya, Pajapati, Nakulamātā, Sujata, Bhumi, and Yasodhara (Bimba, Rahulamata), who would be the seventh? Certainly, there's a devi (goddess, "shining one," angel, deity) out there who helped young Siddhartha and/or the Buddha, who nurtured him, supported him, saved him, or so encouraged him that he was able to accomplish his aim of supreme enlightenment (samma-sam-buddhahood) to teach countless humans and devas and help countless others by alleviating a mass of suffering.

Ambapali bests the conceited Licchavis

Perhaps one could argue for Prajnaparamita of Java (Prajñāpāramitā Devī), Kwan Yin (female Avalokitesvara), brilliant courtesan and supporter Ambapali, a colorful Tara, Yeshe Tsogyal, Goddess Marici, Ven. Khema, Ven. Uppalavanna -- his two foremost female monastic disciples -- or the Queen of Heaven (Saraswati, Shri Lakshmi, Ma Durga, Maha Devi, Rati, Parvati, Radha, Matsu), whoever that Heavenly Queen might be (Guanyin or Virgin Mary), even if it turns out to be Maya Devi in Tusita.

Mothers so love their children that when they become novices (samaneras), they feed them.

 

Mother Sutra: We've all been mothers?

(Mata Sutta, SN 15.14-19 PTS: S ii 189 CDB i 659)

Whatever greatness we achieve, it is often on the backs of our mothers, whom we rarely thank.

 

Statue of mother and children (Genoa)

Thus have I heard. The Buddha was staying in Savatthi, and there he said: "Inconceivable is the beginning of rebirth (samsara). No beginning point is seen from which time beings, hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving, have been reborn and continue wandering on [from life to life, world to world, sphere to sphere].

"It is difficult to ever find a being who has not already been your mother at some time in the past or pother...

• a being who has not already been your father...
• your brother...
• your sister...
• your son...
• your daughter at some time in the past or other.

My beautiful Black mom

"Why? Inconceivable is the beginning of rebirth. No beginning is seen from which time beings, hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving, have been reborn and continue wandering on.

"Long have beings thus experienced suffering, experienced pain, experienced loss, swelling cemeteries — long enough to become disenchanted with all formation (composite fabricated things), long enough to become dispassionate, long enough to find release." More

• Mata Sutta: "Mother Discourse" (Ven. Thanissaro translation)
• Women in Buddhism (Wikipedia)
• Conceived and compiled by Dhr. Seven with the help of Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Amber Larson, and Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

How did Buddhism reach China?

(Natasha Yehenara) How did Buddhism reach China? Buddhism in China, Greco-Buddhism, the Buddha (Scythian Prince Siddhartha Gautama) was from Gandhara (Central Asia), modern Afghanistan (likely Buddhas of Bamiyan, Mes Aynak, and Kabul as one of the three seasonal capitals all collectively referred to as Kapilavastu). See Dr. Ranajit Pal: Non-Jonesian Indology and Alexander  #academia #Buddhism #historyfacts #Gandhara #GrecoBuddhism #ChineseCulture

Strange discovery about Chinese DNA

(Asian Ancestry) What did British musician and artist Brian Eno know about China? "China My China," he sang.

Brian Eno "China My China" (2004 digital remaster)

Final war in Tartaria against non-humans

(Tartaria History) The final war of Tartaria was fought against something inhuman

Advanced Tartarian architecture appropriated

Were strong Blacks from Africa and elsewhere, particularly the indigenous of the Americas, exploited and used to replace other "giant" humans, perhaps advanced Tartarians? Nations gave a final order for their removal, their containment, removal, liquidation, and utter erasure from the historical record? The Great Wall of China was not built by China but, apparently, to keep the [barbaric] Chinese out [or keep giant "Tartarians" contained] because the turrets are facing the wrong direction in some places. More crucial to the discussion than the existence of giants, extraterrestrials, antediluvian Atlanteans or others (cannibals who eat meat with original formula tartar sauce), or anything else is the systematic erasure of the historical record. That cannot be denied. Why history was erased, even as legend and rumor linger, is a separate question to speculate about. That this part of it was erased is now undeniable. The evidence is in the remnant architecture and fragments in records that can still be pieced together by dogged determination.

The giants of Tartarian army erased

(Tartaria History)

CIA/ISI's Taliban blew up Bamiyan Buddhas

(The Liberator) They blew up Buddha statues...and proved Buddhism right

• ISI: Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan
• CIA: Central Intelligence Agency (multinational, mostly serving Israel while stationed in USA)
• Buddhas of Bamiyan
• Buddhism in Afghanistan
• Buddhism in Central Asia
• The Scythians (or Sakas)

Why is Russia so doggone BIG? (video)

Why is Russia so darn BIG?
(Johnny Harris) March 24, 2021: The story of moving east and just...not stopping.

Korea in Asia is beautiful and close by

Ways to support: Patreon (johnnyharris). Custom presets and LUTs: https://store.dftba.com/products/john... Where to find JH: Instagram (johnny.harris), Tiktok (johnny.harris), Facebook (johnnyharrisvox). Iz's (Johnny’s wife’s) channel (iz-harris). How Johnny makes videos: Tom Fox makes his music. Work with him here: https://tfbeats.com/. He makes maps using this AE Plugin: aescripts.com/geolayers/?aff=77. All the gear he uses: izharris.com/gear-guide. His courses: Learn a language (brighttrip.com/course/language). Visual storytelling: https://www.brighttrip.com/courses/vi...

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ABOUT: Johnny Harris is a filmmaker and journalist. He is currently based in Washington, DC, reporting on interesting trends and stories domestically and around the world. His visual style blends motion graphics with cinematic videography to create content that explains complex issues in relatable ways. He holds a B.A. in international relations from Brigham Young University and an M.A. in international peace and conflict resolution from American University. Press: NYTimes: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/09/op... NYTimes: https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion... Vox Borders: • Inside Hong Kong’s cage homes Finding Founders: https://findingfounders.co/episodes/j... NPR Planet Money: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/10721...

Soviet Union, empire, Russia, Central Asia, Far East, Vlad Putin, Czar, communist regime, capitalism, European, country, size, largest, Canada, Moscow, Mongols, Turkey, Korea, China

Life in Russia: Sami, comedy, sanctions

(Eli from Russia) Things people don't understand about Russia: 7 weird Russian habits

(Eli from Russia) Life in the most sanctioned country in the world

(Eli from Russia) I stayed with Sami (formerly referred to as Laplander) reindeer herders in a village in the Russian Arctic | Expedition to the Far North

• Sámi people: Indigenous whites (Nordics) of the North

(Stand Up Europe) I escaped Putin's regime...just to meet Trump voters @standup_europe

Dagestan fighters; Buddhist Kalmykia

(History Leaks) How Dagestan became a land of fighters

My life in most sanctioned country in world. American Khalil Rountree Jr., mixed martial artist

Southernmost republic of Russia | Makhachkala, abandoned villages, sand dune, mountains, Khabib's

(Eli from Russia) Nov. 26, 2021: Dagestan is named a hidden gem of the Caucasus in Russia, formerly the USSR. It is also the most multi-national republic in the country. Let's discover its beautiful mountain villages and canyons and get to know the local traditions.

TIMECODES

• 0:00 Welcome to Dagestan!
• 1:36 Local cuisine and payment for breaking the dishes
• 3:30 Dagestan - hidden gem of the Caucasus
• 4:17 Makhachkala's beaches
• 6:50 Crazy drivers
• 9:40 Natural beauty of the Sulak Canyon
• 11:02 Khabib's Restaurant
• 12:56 Russian Machu Picchu - abandoned village Gamsutl in the mountains
• 18:09 Sarykum strange sand dune near the capital
• 19:19 Why do Dagestanis love their region?

Russia's only Buddhist republic in Europe

(Eli from Russia) Traveling through Eastern Europe's only Buddhist republic...on a camel

• 

  Lhasa's Emissary (J. Snelling)

  Kalmykia has many groups: Kalmykia is the only indigenously Buddhist part of Europe (Buddhism in Kalmykia)
• Bactrian camels of Bactria
• Buddhism in Central Asia (The Stans)
• Buddhism in Russia
• Buddhism in Russia: The Story of Agvan Dorzhiev: Lhasa's Emissary to the Tsar (John Snelling)

📌 ABOUT: Elinabakunova.com/russianclub: Russian Speaking Club where participants can practice the Russian language. Join us at any level! ;) 🔸What can be found on this channel? 👉🏻 Explanation of the Russian culture and facts about Russia that can't be found on Google 👉🏻 Interviews with people on the streets on controversial topics 👉🏻 Opportunities for education for international students and learning the Russian language 👉🏻 Travel vlogs from the Big Country.

• Where is Dagestan? Steppe nomad mountain people
• Sasanian Empire (Sassanid)
• Caspian Sea
• History Leaks; Eli from Russia; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Ancient Asia's forgotten blonde DNA

Ancient Asia’s forgotten blonde DNA

"Bottle Blonde Rose" (from Black Pink) is Asian from Korea via New Zealand, raised in Australia

Could I have ancient Far Western Chinese DNA?

(Ancestry Code) Blond and redheaded Asians with green and blue eyes? The historical Buddha (from Gandhara/Central Asia had blue eyes, too?) Something buried beneath the sands of Western China has shaken the story of our past to its core. In a land once feared as “the place of no return,” the sands of the Taklamakan Desert kept a secret no one was meant to find — archeologists uncovered something no one was prepared for.

• Afanasievo culture
• Blond Asian Alodia Sheen (ca.pinterest.com)
• The Tarim Basin
• Old Uyghur
• Demographics of Shanghai
• Turpan (Turfan)
• Buddhism in China
• Buddhism in Central Asia
• Buddhism in Afghanistan
• Buddhism in Russia
• Gandharan Buddhism
• Tartarian Empire

Eurasia: The Caucasus are in Western Asia?

Men with auburn beards. Women with golden-red hair. Children whose strawberry braids still glimmered after 4,000 years. The desert had kept them perfectly intact — skin, clothes, even strands of colorful hair untouched by time.

Their faces were tall and sharp, their clothing woven with patterns never seen in ancient China. Nothing about them made sense. For centuries, old chronicles spoke of “yellow-haired tribes” roaming China’s far west — tales dismissed as wild exaggerations or legend. But these bodies proved the stories were real.

Made it this far? Might as well like and subscribe to the channel. Let us know in the comments what to see next, or if super angry with how topic was covered, suggest a specific topic. Either works.

• Ancient Asia’s Forgotten Blonde DNA:  Dec. 24, 2025

#genetics #sciencefacts #blondehair #genetics #sciencefacts #blondehair #ancienthistory