Russian redhead treks top secret Siberia

(Eli from Russia, Jan. 31, 2026) Inside Siberia's secret mountain range that Russia kept off maps: the Taiga. Two years earlier, Eli EXPOSED Russia: Did you know this about Russia?

• Buddhism in Russia and Siberia?

Climb Mt. Kailash to see the 'Bird People'

The avians, bird people: garuda

Tibet Travel (Tibet Visa) I brought departed souls [photos of the departed] to Shiva and kissed holy Mount Kailash once again [and visited Kyunglung, the home of the Garudas or avian beings]: a very personal documentary

• Garuda: The Myth and The Symbol (NOW! Bali)
• Tibetan Tantric Buddhists prostrate countless times on spiritual pilgrimages in devotional Vajrayana Buddhism, particularly at stupas (reliquary mounds called chortens in Tibet)
• When birds attack watch out
• The inner kora? See Gongkar Chö Monastery, where we find:

Mandala of Vajradhatu (Gongkar Chö)

...There is also gilt [gold] on black painted mural of Mahakala represented as Pranjaranatha (Gonpo Gur), the Sakyapa Protector, in the inner hall of the main shrine and also a few spectacular spirit traps. The inner sanctum of the monastery has frescos of the Sakyapa founders, painted in Kyenri-style of art and an inner kora (nang-khor). The paintings have been influenced by traditional Chinese art. The chapel is located to the right of the Assembly Hall and has statues of the past, present, and future buddhas. One floor above the main hall, paintings of the original monastery layout can be seen. The monastery shrine is flanked by the Khyedor Lhakhang and the Kangyur Lhakhang; the Khyedor Lhakhang has frescos of Hevajra, and Yab-Yum (tantric depiction of the sexual union) [2, 4, 5, 8]. Along the circumambulatory path around the inner sanctum... More

• Garudas (suparnas) are the Avians or "Bird People" (Greco-Roman Harpies) in Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain cosmologies
• In Greek and Roman mythology, a Harpy (plural Harpies, Ancient Greek ἅρπυια, Romanized hárpyia [1,2], Latin harpȳia [3]) is a mythical half-human and half-bird creature, often believed to be a personification of storm winds [4]. They feature in Homeric poems [5].

Garuda (mount) of God Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi

Garuda (Sanskrit गरुड, Romanized Garuḍa, Pali गरुळ, Romanized Garuḷa) is a Hindu deity who is primarily depicted as the mount (vahana) of the Hindu God Vishnu (the Preserver or Sustainer). This divine creature is mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain religions [1, 5, 6].

Garuda is also the half-brother of the Devas (light beings, deities), Gandharvas (divine messengers, angels), Daityas (Asuras), Danavas, Nāgas (snakes, serpents, dragons, reptilians), Vanara and Yakshas (ogres). He is the son of the sage Kashyapa and Vinata. He is the younger brother of Aruna, the charioteer of the Sun (Surya).

Garuda is mentioned in several other [Brahminical and Hindu] texts such as the Puranas and the Vedas.

Garuda is described as the king of the birds and a kite-like figure [7, 8]. He is shown either in a zoomorphic form (a giant bird with partially open wings) or an anthropomorphic form (a man with wings and some bird-like features).

Garuda is generally portrayed as a protector with the power to swiftly travel anywhere, ever vigilant and an enemy of every serpent [1, 8, 9]. He is also known as Tarkshya and Vainateya. More

• Tibet Travel (Tibet Visa), Jan. 9, 2026; CC Liu, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit

Hiking far from the maddening crowd

Mindful Breathing, Four Elements

Sometimes it's enough. Sometimes one needs to get away, faraway, far from the maddening crowd, Dharma Bums in search of enlightenment. On return to the U.S., it's straight to Dharma Bum Temple in Southern California.

Imagine wandering in ancient India (Buddhist Emperor Ashoka's Great Bharat) in search of peace and a permanent end to ALL further suffering (disappointment, lack of fulfillment, ill, woe, misery).

Wandering like one lost, suddenly one is not lost. One is a wandering ascetic, a shramana (shaman), on a spiritual quest for stillness and wisdom (samadhi and panna). Going about from village to village in search of alms, like a deer that lists where it may, one stumbles on Thimmappana Betta Twin rocks.

• The ultimate origin of Sanskrit sramana (Buddhist Pali samaṇa) may be the Evenki language word сама̄н (samān) "shaman," possibly via Middle Chinese or Tocharian B; however, the etymology of this word, which is also found in other Tungusic languages, is controversial (see Shamanism § Etymology).
• A wandering ascetic (Buddhist monastic) has three pursuits: training in the higher virtue, higher thought, and higher insight. One must follow these pursuits keenly, otherwise, it is said, one's presence in the Buddha's Monastic Order (Sangha) will be like that of an ass in a herd of cattle (A.i.229).
• A samana (or shramana) is a person "who labors, toils, or exerts...for some higher or religious purpose" [1][2], "seeker, or ascetic, one who performs acts of austerity" [3][4][5][6]. The term in early Vedic literature is predominantly used as an epithet for seers (rishis) with reference to śrama associated with ritual exertion.
• The term in [pre-Hindu] Vedic (and subsequently Hindu) texts does not express non-Vedic connotations found in post-Vedic Buddhist and Jain canonical texts [7].
• During its later semantic development, the term came to refer to non-Brahmanical ascetic movements parallel to but separate from the old Vedic religion [4][5][8].
• The śramaṇa tradition includes Buddhism [10], Jainism [9], and others.
• In this Noble Sangha (attained spiritual community) four kinds of monastic are to be found: stream-enterers (sotāpannas), once-returners (sakadāgāmins), non-returners (anāgāmins), and full-enlightened ones (arahants). These are not to be found among the followers of other dharmas, contrary teachings (Samana Sutta, A.ii.238).
• The Samana Sutta (A.iv.340) covers the different names by which a Tathāgata ("Wayfarer," the word the Buddha chose in referring to himself) is known.
• (Descriptions derived from the Buddhist Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, Samana Sutta, by G. P. Malalasekera, Pali Text Society, London edited for Wisdom Quarterly by Dhr. Seven)

(All Trails) It's an easy hike to Thimmappana Betta Twin rocks in Ramanagara, Karnataka, India.

DIRECTIONS

The trail to Thimmappana Betta Twin rocks is only 0.6 miles long with a 91-foot elevation gain. It will take 30 to 60 minutes to arrive. The Twin Rocks near it are one of the popular tourist destinations in Kuttagallu.

Spectacular views make up the landscapes of this location, which are green with a bit of a rocky outcrop. Along with being green, this location is diverse as well and is home to various species of flora and fauna.

The trailhead rests by Bettada Kalyani at Kuttagallu and can be reached via various transportation options, such as taxi, cab, private vehicle, or foot.

TOP SIGHTS

Thimmappana Betta peak, Chakrateertha Pond. Twin Rocks. Expect some pesky mosquitos along the trail. It may even rain. It is not crowded. The best time to go is after summer and before monsoon season. Parking: Free, small lot. More

How shall we meditate when we get there?

Standing in the face of adversity

"Meditators, there are five types of warriors found existing in the world. What are these five?

"There is a warrior who, on seeing a cloud of dust [stirred up by an enemy army], falters, faints, does not steel oneself, cannot engage in battle. This is the first type of warrior found existing in the world. More

• SUTRA: How the Buddha's 'warriors' practice

Mt. Everest: Storm traps 1,000 rich climbers

Hundreds trapped by out-of-season blizzard conditions on Mount Everest

COST: Price of completing the world’s most iconic mountain climbs (outforia.com)

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(NBC News) Oct. 5, 2025: Rescue efforts were underway on Sunday on Tibet’s eastern slope of Mount Everest, where nearly 1,000 [rich] people [spending at least $84,000 in 1922 prices for the attempt to summit and gain bragging rights] were trapped by a blizzard, according to Chinese state media reports. NBC News’ Camila Bernal has the latest. For more context and news coverage of the most important stories of the day, click: nbcnews.com. #nbcnews #currentevents

(BBC News) Rescuers bringing down rich, trapped, Everest climbers

(DW News) Heavy snowfall has trapped hikers on slopes of Mt. Everest

Heavy snowfall, wind, rain has trapped hikers on the slopes of Mount Everest

(DW News) Oct. 6, 2025: DW (Deutsche World) is a German public broadcast service. One trekker has died. Rescuers have guided hundreds of other trekkers trapped on Everest to safety. Unusually heavy snowfall and rainfall have battered the Himalayas. According to Chinese state media, the hikers have reached the small township of Qudang, Tingri County, and rescuers have made contact with the remaining 200 trekkers. Kenton Cool, a British mountaineer, talks about the situation and rescue efforts.

Hiking: annual trip to Yosemite Nat'l Park

Let's begin with a solo exploration of the back country then get down to the valley proper, where the whole family enjoys glamping, getting up early, and glorious hiking up Half Dome.

Yosemite September 2025 Family Trip

The views from Glacier Point, Yosemite

(Take It Outside) Sept. 11, 2025: 🌲✨ Join our family as we explore Yosemite National Park in this month! We start the trip in Yosemite Valley, taking in breathtaking views of El Capitan ("The Captain") and Half Dome from below. Then we drive up to incredible Glacier Point, where the panoramic views of the valley and high country leave us speechless. The highlight of the trip? Tackling the Half Dome hike—an unforgettable challenge climbing up the cables and soaking in the views from the summit, then making the long trek back down.

🏞️⛰️ 📍 HIGHLIGHTS

• Yosemite Valley views
• Drive up to Glacier Point
• Full Half Dome hike (up and down the cables)

Whether planning a Yosemite adventure or just love national parks, this video captures the beauty, challenge, and magic of one of America’s most iconic places. 👍 Remember to like, comment, and subscribe for more outdoor adventures. #Yosemite #Hiking #HalfDome #NationalParks

• Take the Fossils to Falls Road Trip
• Scott Fitzgerald, 2024; Dirt in My Shoes, 2024; Take It Outside, Sept. 11, 2025; CALIFORNIA CAMPING CREW (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Trekking: Hiking to Padma's Valley

Hiking into Padmasambhava's hidden valley: A pilgrimage with Geshe Tenzin Zopa

Padmasambhava looms large in the Himalayas

(Enter The Mandala) In April 2025, we visited the construction of the World Peace Stupa in Tsum Valley, Nepal. This was the first time we made the journey by foot rather than by helicopter. We were led by Tibetan Buddhist monk Geshe Tenzin Zopa, retracing the route he had walked many times as a child. We hope that through this video viewers can join us in experiencing the blessings of this sacred land. Music at end is "Snow Flower" by Tenzin Choegyal.

• Peace Pagoda(s)

Trek, hike, climb, and focus on the breath.

The Tsum Valley Trek goes to the remotest Himalayan region in Nepal which was once restricted as visitors were kept out. The Tsum Valley lies at the far northern side of Gorkha District in Nepal.

The valley gets its fame from being a sacred place blessed by Padmasambhava (Guru Rimpoche), misunderstood to be one of the "incarnations" of Lord Buddha [as if a buddha were ever reborn, having by definition already overcome ALL rebirth, suffering, and cyclical "becoming" in samsara, more likely a bodhisattva striving to become Maitreya Buddha].

Padmasambhava (Hemis Gompa)

Buddhists revere this place as sacred, and most living in this region follow the Tibetan form of Vajrayana Buddhism infused with remnants of Bon shamanism. The valley lies in the lap of Ganesh Himal and offers the best view of surrounding areas with a good contrast to glistening peaks in the background. Other peaks like Singi Himal and Himal Chuli may also be observed up close during this trek.

• Tsum Valley Trek | Aiming Adventure (Pvt.) Ltd.
• Enter The Mandala, July 16, 2025; CC Liu, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Forest Bathing: de-stress in nature

Hiking in giant Angeles National Forest/Preserve above Los Angeles at Bridge to Nowhere 

Shinrin Yoku: The Art of Forest Bathing | film

(Matador Network) Stuck swiping Insta every day? The practice of “forest bathing” can change what life is like. Unplug with Mike and Kati on an ancient Japanese trail, learning the creative and health benefits of Shinrin Yoku. #travel #shortfilm #outdoors #forest Shinrin Yoku: The Art of Forest Bathing was a 2020 Webby honoree in video: Travel and Adventure. Feb. 6, 2019. #outdoors #shortfilm #travel

There is a real Bridge to Nowhere in L.A.

"Forest bathing," or shinrin-yoku in its original Japanese, is a mindfulness practice that involves immersing oneself in nature.

The decades-old practice pulls from research that shows that spending time in nature can help lower stress levels (Harvard) and improve focus (U Michigan).

The resonance of the plants, rocks, spirits

Recently, forest bathing is growing in popularity, thanks in part to social media where people are sharing their experiences exploring forests and other green spaces and taking in all that they have to offer.

Over 45,000 videos have been shared on TikTok with the tag #forestbathing. Users say they've seen an improvement to their mental health. More

• Taking inspiration from Forest Bathing to reduce stress in the office - Frezza
• Harnessing the Healing Power of Nature: A Comprehensive Guide to Natural Forest Bathing - Dr. Pradeep Albert

DNA of Iceman Otzi shocks scientists

Ötzi's old clothes

(Stone & Bone) Ötzi, "the Iceman," was a stranger in a strange land, murdered by others and left to freeze in the snow and become a mummy, not a typical European of the time as previously assumed. The Iceman is the natural mummy of a man who lived between 3350 and 3105 BC. Ötzi's remains were discovered on September 19, 1991, in the Ötztal Alps (hence the nickname "Ötzi," German œtsi) at the Austria–Italy border (Tyrol state). He is Europe's oldest known natural human mummy, offering an unprecedented view of Chalcolithic (Copper Age) Europeans -- or, at least, that's what scientists assumed until they tested his DNA and that of others from the area. [It seems "Europeans" are part space beings, hybrids, but Otzi seems to have preceded that infusion of alien DNA.] More

• VIDEO: Inside 10,800 BCE Folsom site discovery in NM
• The Clovis (Paleo Indians, Beringians) disappearance - What happened to America’s first known culture? | Watch

Cro-Magnon is still a term used in science?

• Stone & Bone; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Trekking Pyrenees and an underworld

Dramatic rescue of SoCal female hiker

Stranded hiker 'death gripping' cliff in Southern California rescued | FOX 11 LA

(FOX 11 Los Angeles) April 15, 2025: Dramatic video shared by the Riverside County Sheriff's Office Aviation Division shows a daring rescue that unfolded over the weekend on the Pacific Crest Trail in Southern California as a well-equipped hiker slipped off the trail under very sunny conditions and into a small crevasse or fold, where she became trapped and terrified, clinging on for dear life.

Subscribe to FOX 11 on YouTube: @foxla

• FOX 11 News, Los Angeles, April 15, 2025; Pfc. Sandoval, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

9 US National Parks to visit in spring

Yoga (tree pose) above Yosemite, looking down at Half Dome rising out of Yosemite Valley

I want to do something different this year, something dog-friendly, maybe paddleboarding.

9 U.S. National Parks that offer unforgettable April adventures

Twenty-nine unusual activities to try in America’s natural parks like tree climbing

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Map of Yosemite National Park, California

There’s something magical about April: It’s not too hot, not too cold, and everything feels like it’s waking up from a long sleep (including megafauna after a long winter of indoor hibernation).

It’s the absolute sweet spot for getting outside and soaking in some stunning landscapes without freezing toes off or melting into a puddle of sweat.

Where better to do that than in some of the most awe-inspiring national parks the US has to offer?

From vibrant blooms to wild adventures, this is the season when these national treasures really show off their best sides. Let’s skip the tourist brochure chatter and get right into the good stuff. More

• The last true wildernesses on Earth (20 unspoiled natural paradises) | Travel Pug
• The most beautiful state park in every US state | loveexploring.com
• OOPS, wait, before you go: The decline of our national parks: Crisis from Trump-era cuts and what it means for 2025 travelers
• Build a backyard rental | Irontown Modular
• Discover Parks & Wildlife and Love Exploring via MSN.com, March 2025; Xochitl, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

A hike down Yosemite's Half Dome (video)

Raw footage descending from Half Dome with cables

(Lone Wolf Outdoor Adventures) Aug. 29, 2022: HALF DOME CABLES. This is the raw GoPro footage of the ascent on the Half Dome cable section in Yosemite National Park. August 2022 LoneWolfLasVegas.com

Gold, it's everywhere in quartz crystal

Climbing Mt. Hollywood Sign, Los Angeles

Beloved monument was frequently vandalized by clever artists/activists until a fence went up.

Los Angeles Hamalayas hamming it up for the Hollywood cameras with LA as Katmandu

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Mt. Lee with antenna peak, sign on upper left

It's odd how similar Los Angeles, the capital of the world, and Kathmandu, the capital of Buddhist Nepal, are. Both are buttressed against a great range snowy.

Behind Los Angeles to the north is Angeles National Forest, and LA County seems to continue behind this great forest, headwaters, and occasionally snowy peaks. Just like the view of the Himalayan range north of Kathmandu, it's not possible to tell which one is Mt. Everest.

Wow, that's Everest from below? No, on the left.

Old timey Hollywood Land sign (circa 1930)

That's odd since, allegedly, it's the tallest mountain in the world. It's actually probably about the fourth or fifth tallest, behind Mt. Sumeru (which may have sunk and become the current tallest) Mt. Mauna Kea, K2 above ancient Gandhara (the Buddha's country Afghanistan-Pakistan), and one that allegedly bulges at the equator to be the tallest when measured from the center of the planet.

List of mountain peaks by prominence. The iconic Hollywood sign rests on the scrub brush slopes of Mt. Lee in Hollywood along Beechwood Canyon, the street the first Theravada Buddhist temple in Los Angeles was set up by the Sri Lankan community (farther south right next to Hollywood Blvd.)

The name of the mountain (Mt. Lee) separating Hollywood from The Valley is not "Mt. H Sign," and Mt. Everest isn't the name of the peak in Nepal. Its actual name is Sagarmatha ("Goddess of the Sky") in Nepal and Qomolangma ("Holy Mother") in Tibet.

Bonkers history of (and treacherous journey to) both sides of the Hollywood sign

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Griffith Park Observatory's clear view of the sign

(Wonderhussy Adventures) Sept. 18, 2024: Welcome to Wonderhussy Adventure #827. Date of adventure: 8/1/24. Wonderhussy's friend Mike Z promised to take het up to the world-famous Hollywood sign — "but wouldn’t you know it, he brought me to the ass end" (rear entrance)!

"Which one's Everest?" #1 question on flight to summit

Website: wonderhussy.com Support: wonderhussy. Help fuel her next trip: paypal.me/wonderhussy or

Griffith Observatory with sign to the northwest

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