KOREAN BUDDHISM began in the 4th century CE during the Three Kingdoms Period. Centuries after Buddhism originated in India, the Mahayana (Hinduism as Buddhism's "Great Vehicle") tradition arrived in China through the Silk Road in the 1st century CE, then entered the Korean peninsula in the 4th century, from where it was transmitted to Japan.
In Korea, it was adopted as the state religion of three constituent polities of the Three Kingdoms Period, first by the Goguryeo (Goryeo) in 372 CE, by the Silla (Gaya) in 528 CE, and by the Baekje in 552 C [1].
Korean Buddhism is distinguished from other forms of Buddhism by its attempt to resolve what its early practitioners saw as inconsistencies within the Mahayana Buddhist traditions that they received from foreign countries. More
Blame aging culture or youth music?
Cultural hegemony: Is white Western culture ruining the lives of South Koreans in the East?
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OMG, we're not gay! We're K-pop boy idols.
K-pop (Korean 케이팝, RR Keipap, an abbreviation of "Korean popular music" [1]) is a form of popular music originating in South Korea [2]. The music genre that the term is used to refer to colloquially emerged in the 1990s as a form of youth subculture, with Korean musicians influenced by Western dance music, rap, hip-hop, R&B, and rock [3, 4, 5]. Today, K-pop commonly refers to the musical output of teen idol acts, chiefly all-girl groups and androgynous boy-bands, who emphasize visual appeal and performance [6] over substance and individual expression.
It's OK to be angry, but keep the hits coming.
They represent a corporate approach to profit making and an illusory bigger-than-life persona and emphasis on PR (public relations). As a music genre, K-pop is characterized by its melodic quality and cultural hybridity [7, 8, 9]. K-pop can trace its origins to "rap dance," a fusion of hip-hop, techno, and rock popularized by the group Seo Taiji and Boys, whose experimentation helped to modernize South Korea's contemporary music scene in the early 1990s [10, 11, 12]. Their popularity with teenagers led the music industry to start to focus on this demographic. More
Why do waves go so well with Buddhism? There's something about sex, sand, and suffering -- which one meets with while reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on the beach. But becoming a greater surfer has much more to do with wu wei (the ease of effortless flow), wushu (martial arts), and applying Taoist principles like yin and yang to Zen (jhana) Buddhist practice, which involves mindful in-the-moment awareness and radical acceptance of what is.
Southland facing a triple threat of heat, humidity, and high surf
Temperatures topping 100 inland raise fire risk
Rong-Gong Lin II (July 21, 2026, Los Angeles); Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
Southern California will face a triple threat this week of dangerous heat, muggy weather and, along the coast, hazardous high waves. It may be better for surfing, but it will be risky for all beachgoers who get near the water.
"We're looking at an at least several days -- if not longer -- heat event, which can really be concerning," said meteorologist Robbie Munroe of the National Weather Service's Oxnard office. Hollywood may catch fire on the Sunset Strip from all the tourists dripping sunblock.
Officials warned of elevated fire danger across large swaths of SoCal starting Tuesday, with a high risk of fast-moving and "plume dominated" fires driven by heat and instability. Such blazes have large vertical growth and can spread rapidly even when not driven by the wind. More: latimes.com
Wisdom Quarterly's new book on going with the flow while out to sea among brutal sharks, cancerous sun, chapping wind, and rich territorial surf punks suffering from localism and getting into fights about it.
Why do waves go so well with Buddhist practice? There's something about "sex, sand, and suffering" -- which one meets with while reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy safely on the beach. But it has much more to do with wu wei, wushu, and applying Taoist principles to Zen practice.
For instance, when out on a wave about to ride, instead of "doing," try "allowing." Go with the flow. Rather than interfering or trying to cut against the grain, embody radical acceptance of what is and ride it out. That's what Wisdom Quarterly's resident Meditation Teacher Seven says is a far better approach than struggling to dominate.
Let the waves dominate so that the only thing to do is allow, allow, allow. Then in this allowing, suddenly it becomes effortless and intuitive, perfectly obvious and impossible to explain with words.
People do sometimes try to express it in words, but it all becomes a jumble of oohs and ahhs like surf slang or Himalayan shoestring spiritual seekers on ayahuasca down in the jungles of the Amazon with shamans Michael Harner.
As a graduate student in the 1950s, Michael Harner undertook field research on the culture of the Jívaro (Shuar)Natives of the Amazon in Ecuador [5] as he began to pursue a career as an ethnologist. His UC Berkeley doctoral dissertation (1963) became the basis for his book, The Jívaro: People of the Sacred Waterfalls[6]. In 1960-1961 he reported that he became a participant-observer by experimenting with the powerful plant medicineayahuascawith the Conibo of the Peruvian Amazon [5]. He wrote about in the articles "The Sound of Rushing Water" (1968)[7] and "The Role of Hallucinogenic Plants in European Witchcraft" (1973)[8]. Dr. Harner, Ph.D. returned to the Native Jívaro in 1964, 1969, and 1973, at which time he learned the use of the psychoactiveentheogenmaikua (Daturabrugmansia, jimsonweed) [5]. More
There's a similar feeling to be had by skateboarding or hang gliding, BASE jumping or surviving the pit (slam dancing to a favorite song at a concert). Surfing seems very safe by comparison. It all becomes instinctive and beyond thinking. It's a good place to be just for that moment, rising above the turmoil of the mind or diving into the silence of the heart. Rumi would understand. The historical Buddha pointed out the detailed Path to it.
I'dunno, Bro, looks pretty gnarly. Let's just tan.
Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual surfer (or two) uses a carefully modified wood, fiberglass, or polyurethane board to "ride" on the face, the forward section, of a swelling wave of water. This swell usually carries said surfer toward shore or to a watery death by drowning for not respecting Mother Nature enough. Waves suitable for surfing are primarily found on ocean shores. But they can also be found as standing waves in the open ocean, artificial simulators, lakes, rivers in the form of a tidal bore, or wave pools (and also in a physics experiment when a tide pool is sent back to sea). More
Surf Spots - California Beaches: The Wedge? That's Newport Beach. LA's Palos Verdes Peninsula isn’t known for its surfing outside of local circles, and there is a sad reason for that. It’s called “localism.” The area has a severe case of the disease. Located between Los Angeles and Long Beach, and possessing some excellent breaks, one would think this place would be much better known. Locals know all about surf spots like Palos Verdes Cove (near the crumbling peninsula called Palos Verdes Estates), Lunada Bay, Haggertys at Malaga Cove, among others.
A few weeks ago, LA and OC beaches were being subjected to king tides, riptides, with dangerous surfing conditions for experts only. The cause this time seems to be a tropical storm elsewhere disrupting the height and frequency of waves. Surfers may love it as they avoid great white sharks, but others will find it hard to take a dip or swim. Localism is, of course, a greater danger as human sharks with a sense of entitlement circle strangers and drive them out. Expect swells, tubular conditions at The Wedge and elsewhere. Warning: Water may be a little contaminated due to crumbling infrastructure. Sharks are a tiny worry compared to the microscopic contaminants and plastic particle debris. Enjoy.
Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Jennifer B., Seth Auberon, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
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
(Ancient Sites Girl) The Red Pyramid is a prototype of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Northern Africa near "Mars" (aka Cairo)? The "Bat Pyramid" (el-heram el-watwaat), also the North Pyramid, is full of urine-streaked walls but has no bats now. It is called the Red Pyramid instead.
Bobby Joe Long [a] (Oct. 14, 1953–May 23, 2019) was a white rapist and American serial killer. During an eight-month period in 1984, Long abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered at least ten females in Tampa Bay, Florida. At trial, Long was sentenced to death for one of the murders and given a life sentence for seven others. He was brought to justice by a girl he raped, 17-year-old Lisa McVey, who got back at him. He was sentenced to death in 1986 by the state of Florida for the murder of Michelle Denise Simms. He was executed by lethal injection on May 23, 2019. More: Bobby Joe Long
'The Life of a Showgirl' spotlights Taylor Swift as she moves away from heartache
(Fresh Air) Reviewed by Ken Tucker, Oct. 8, 2025: Swift's previous albums focused on the love she yearned for. The dozen songs on her latest release combine to form a picture of true love found, tested, and proven strong. npr.org
From AI girlfriends to Grok Hitler, TDS takes on AI | The Daily Show
Who needs real human flesh models? Considered the $$ advantages of digital simulations?
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(The Daily Show) Aug. 28, 2025: TDS takes on AI as AI takes over the world: Jon Stewart, Ronny Chieng, and Lewis Black examine how AI has infiltrated modern dating, made itself an integral part of college education, and even turned itself into "MechaHitler" on X. #DailyShow #AI #Grok. Subscribe to The Daily Show: @thedailyshow
It might be more entertaining to see Babymetal at the Intuit Dome, LA
Get ready for the ultimate K-POP experience. 102.7 KIIS FM and China Airlines from Taiwan are sending one lucky winner and a guest on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Tokyo, Japan, to see BLACKPINK live in concert—all thanks to China Airlines, proudly from Taiwan since 1959.
(BLACKPINK) Killing it at Coachella 2023 with "Pretty Savage"
The grand prize includes:
Two roundtrip flights to Tokyo on China Airlines from one of the six China Airlines U.S. gateways
$1,200 in cash to use toward hotel stay
$1,000 in spending money for food, shopping, and unforgettable experiences
Two tickets to see BLACKPINK live at the Tokyo Dome on January 16th, 2026
Depart from one of these U.S. gateways:
Los Angeles, CA (LAX)
Ontario, CA (ONT)
San Francisco, CA (SFO)
New York, NY (JFK)
Seattle, WA (SEA)
Phoenix, AZ (PHX)
From city lights to stage lights, experience Asia on beat and in tour with China Airlines—from the blinking lights of Bangkok to the circus of Seoul and ending with the mayhem and madness happening in Tokyo.
It’s also possible to stop in Indonesia, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Singapore along the way—where every stop is part of the journey. Book now at China-Airlines.com. History’s calling. Are you boarding?
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