Two hats in the world: Pussyhat vs. MAGA

Crystal Quintero, CC Liu, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; PussyhatProject.com; Wiki

Ears matter. Pussyhat Project for Women's March causes run on pink yarn (SFgate.com)

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There are two hats you can wear in the world, Red Hats or Yellow Hats. But that's in Buddhist Tibet up in the Himalayas (see below). Coming down from those heights, we're in a tiny part of America (a big continent) in a country that rules the world or in any case thinks that it does. And here it's MAGA ("Make America Great Again" baseball cap) against Pussyhat (pink knitted beanie). Choose your side. We all want a great America, but we don't need to dress like a trucker to say so. We want a pink, pussy-friendly country.

They should be illegal. Because I said so. I bigly don't like 'em. Makes me want to grab 'em.

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PUSSYHAT PROJECT We did it! We created a sea of pink. Women's March on Washington D.C. and over 600 sister solidarity marches took place January 21st, 2017 (pussyhatproject.com).

Pussyhat locations (this Ally offers a #Pussyhat related discount... This Ally will allow knitters to drop off their #pussyhats during business hours...)

Those hat are stupid. These hats are best.

Our Story (Pussyhat Project was co-founded by Krista Suh and Jayna Zweiman. Krista is a...Kat Coyle designed the Pussy Power Hat pattern. Kat owns The Little Knittery...

The creators of the Pussyhat Project explain how craft projects... (fastcompany.com) Born from this protest was the Pussyhat Project, a movement with...a bit of a rock star in the knitting community, designed the simple pattern...

United we knit, divided we split: let's make pink pussyhats together. Take that, Trump.

Finally, the pendulum is swinging from fake "liberals" under Obama to real progressives.

• Knitters are furiously making pink "Pussyhats" for the looming marches... (dcist.com)
• With "Pussyhats" at Women's Marches, headwear sends a defiant... (NPR.org)
• Choose COMEDY (Glendale Laughs Comedy Festival)

National Split by Hats: Tibet

Je Tsongkhapa, founder of the Yellow Hat sect or Gelugpa school, on the altar in his birthplace temple, Kumbum Monastery, near Xining, Qinghai (Amdo), China (Mario Biondi/wiki).

   
Emergence as the Dominant School

The 14th Dalai Lama is a Yellow Hat ruler.

By the end of the 16th century, following violent strife among the sects of Tibetan Buddhism, the Yellow Hats or Gelug school emerged as the dominant one over the Red Hats.

According to Tibetan historian Samten Karmay, Sonam Chophel (1595-1657), treasurer of Ganden Palace, was the prime architect of the Gelug's rise to political power.

True colors - sea of pink, Women's March

Later he received the title Desi, meaning "Regent" [person left in power who awaits the return of the king], which he would earn through his efforts to establish Gelugpa power.

 

From the period of the 5th Dalai Lama in the 17th century, the Dalai Lamas held political control over central Tibet. The core leadership of this government was also referred to as the Ganden Phodrang.

 

14th Dalai Lama, CIA op.

Scottish Botanist George Forrest, who witnessed the 1905 Tibetan Rebellion led by the Gelug lamas, wrote that the majority of the people in the Mekong valley in Yunnan were Tibetan.

According to his accounts, the Gelugpas were the dominant power in the region, with their lamas effectively governing the area. Forrest said they used "force and fraud" to "terrorise the...peasantry" [giving some credence to China's modern propaganda campaign that it helped average Tibetans by  "liberating" them from serfdom under Vatican-style overlords in the Vajrayana Sangha, with the Dalai Lama ("Pope-King") emerging as a kind of authoritarian Trump figure]. More

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Tsechu Mask Dance Festival, Bhutan (video)

Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly; EBSLanguage (EBS 외국어 학습); Tapas Photography

(Part 4) "In Search of a Celestial Kingdom," onward to Bhutan's capital Thimphu for a Tsechu ("Day Ten"), the kingdom’s grand festival (영어로 하는 세계테마기행, Themes Around the World).

Indigenous Himalayan shamanic influences color Teschu masked dance festivals (TP).

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Bhutan's famed Tiger's Nest monastery (AW)

High in the last Himalayan Buddhist kingdom -- now a democracy after the final king stepped down to modernize the country rich in unspoiled resources but more interested in Gross Domestic Happiness than Gross Domestic Product -- there is an ancient festival underway.

Hindu sadhu far below on the Ganges (TP)

Bhutan's Vajrayana Buddhism, which blends indigenous shamanism (Bon) and Tibetan/Chinese Mahayana universalism, devotees take part in a colorful annual display.

Tsechu is a masked dance festival that lasts for several days and celebrates the life of Guru Rinpoche, who brought Buddhism to Bhutan.

Tsechu: "Day Ten"

Wisdom Quarterly Wikipedia edit

Dance of the Black Hats (Stephen Shephard)

Tsechu (ཚེས་བཅུ།), literally "Day Ten," is an annual Bhutanese religious festival held in each district or dzongkhag of Bhutan on the tenth day of a month of the lunar Tibetan calendar, the month depending on the place.

Tsechus are religious festivals of the Drukpa Lineage of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism (Bhutanese Vajrayana). They are large social gatherings that perform the function of social bonding among people from remote and very spread out villages.

Buddhist India, Arunchal Pradesh (TP)

Large markets congregate at fair locations, leading to brisk commerce (Dancing on the Demon's Back: the Dramnyen Dance and Song of Bhutan, Elaine Dobson, John Blacking Symposium: Music Culture and Society, Callaway Centre, Univ. of Western Australia, July 2003). The Thimphu and Paro tsechus are among the largest in terms of participation and audience. More

Buddha Boy: English translations (video)

Wisdom Quarterly; Walking Stranger 78 (video compilation)

Buddha Boy (born April 9, 1990) has given talks over the years -- some to inspire the greatest spiritual ideals, some to bless and comfort and bring prosperity, some to plead for peace and compassion towards one another as well as animals and the forest/environment. These are given in the local language, while chanting is usually done in Sanskrit. Many are videotaped. And a few are formally translated. This is a collection of subtitled videotaped utterances to give a sense of Buddha Boy's (Dharma Sangha) message for the world so far.

  
Om Namo Guru Buddha Gyani ("Salutation to the One who knows Buddha" or "Hail the future buddha-knowledge guru") is also known as Ven. Dharma Sangha, Tapaswi Palden Dorje, Tamang Tulku Rimpoche, who was born Ram Bahadur Bomjon.

   

He has yet to announce accomplishing his goal and making known that timeless and immediately effective Dharma for the sake of which one sets off on a noble quest. He began meditating 2005 at the age of 15. This pivotal year, "Mayan 2012" (or 0-1) in the popular consciousness, may see the fulfillment of his prediction. But what did he predict?
   
How it all began
DharmaSangha.info edited by Wisdom Quarterly
Buddha Boy, now Ven. Dharma Sangha or simply Guru, visited Lumbini, Nepal (the garden believed by many to be where Siddhartha was born).  He took Five Precepts (pancha sila) of abstaining from killing animals (and so becoming a vegetarian), stealing, lying, thinking negatively of others, and intoxicants then trained with gurus in Dehra Dun, India.
  
He returned to Nepal's beautiful lakeside city of Pokhara. And taking ill he implored his family not to sacrifice any animals or take any alcohol otherwise further complications would arise. He got better but was still limping when he disappeared from his home the night of May 16, 2005.
   
When his mother found out, she alerted the village, and everyone joined in the search. A local boy claimed to have seen him while shaking a mango tree. Guru had come by and picked one up then stepped fully clothed into the river. “I thought you had disappeared,” the boy remarked to Guru. “Have I?” Guru replied. “You’d better go home, and be careful not to touch me.”
   
The boy ran home to tell his story, but at first nobody believed him. Guru’s relatives went to the ravine. Guru smiled characteristically when they found him. They told him to come home. “I’ll go home at 4:00 pm” Guru said. His family decided it would be wise to keep an eye on him, so some siblings stayed. At 4:00, he picked up a couple of mangoes and began to eat one. He told his little brother to bring him water, rice, his lama robes, a mala (beads), and a picture of the Buddha. His little brother did.
  
Guru’s sister came to tell him to come home at once. Seeing how emaciated he looked from his previous illness, she cried and begged him. He told her to stop crying, and she went home.

Meditating in the jungle with Buddha Boy, Nepal's tropical Terai

Meditation Begins

Then sitting in a meditative posture he seemed to go into trance. He began to ask himself questions and answer them out loud. The villagers came and told him to stop being silly and come home. They feared he might be ill or crazy. When his older brother touched him, Guru’s body became exceedingly hot and turned red.
  
“Please leave me alone, or one of us may die” Guru said. “If anyone disturbs me or my things at midnight, I will have to meditate for 20 years. But if all goes well, I will meditate for six years.”
  
Then Guru, followed by his brother and in the distance villagers, set out to find a good place in the forest for meditation. His parents insisted he take some food and water with him. Finally, he reached his destination at 11:00 am on May 18, 2005. This was the day the villagers of Ratanpuri celebrated Buddha Jayanti (Vesak).

Buddha Boy's first pipal or bodhi tree.

He settled himself under a pipal tree (just like the historical Buddha's sacred fig tree), having offered 10 kinds of fruit to the picture of the Buddha. About 30 villagers saw where Guru was meditating, and they left an offering of over 1,000 rupees as was the custom at Buddha Jayanti.
  
On that night at 12:00 am, some pranksters came to disturb him and steal the offering. They quarreled over the money, and later accused each other in front of villagers. Having confessed, they asked Guru’s forgiveness.
  
Guru left his first meditation spot and traveled north on May 24, 2005. At that time he gave six pipal leaves to his second eldest brother telling him to keep them in oil. He said that as long as his family kept the leaves, all would be well. His relatives cried when he left.
  
Again the villagers were concerned about his whereabouts. But late in the afternoon, a cowherd saw him at his new meditation site. The villagers sent his family to bring him home. But Guru refused and moved to yet another pipal tree to the east.

He told his family that he must continue to meditate at all costs.  He drew a boundary around his meditation area. Later villagers and relatives built a fence for him. A growing crowd gathered at the site, so he asked for a hut to be built and sealed with plastic on all sides. He remained in it for 15 days. After that he explained: “I have received some energy so that I may now meditate under a tree outside.”
   
There was a terrible drought in the village. Guru advised the villagers to petition a naga (dragon, reptilian entity, snake deity). After five days, it started raining.
   
On his 75th day of meditation, he opened his eyes and asked his elder brother to address him, “Om Namo Buddha Gyani”  (“Salutation to the One who knows Buddha”). Then he returned to his meditation. From that day on he was addressed as Om Namo Buddha Gyani.
  
On August 18, 2005 he called together his friends who were lamas. They asked him how it was that he was surviving without water. Guru replied that two nagas -- "dragons" often associated with water -- protected him from either side. That day Guru also changed his clothes and wore a white cloth called ngag.
  
[The Nagas are a tribal group who reside in the Indian Himalayan range, as are the Nga, both of whom seem named after the reptilian entities of Indian lore. Such beings, which are not always bad, are highly regarded in Tibet, Bhutan, and China as well.]

On November 6, 2005 a venomous snake (also called a naga) bit him. He sweat more than two liters (apparently still not taking liquids) as he continued to meditate. He thus overcame the venom. Local follower believe he reached enlightenment on this day, for the Bodhisattva (one yet to be enlightened) has the ability to survive otherwise deadly snake venom by staying against a tree, soil, and stone to digest, breakdown, and clear the poison. One is able to remain unaffected by wind and can understand the communication of all creatures (which more than by way of auditory language seems to be telepathic).
  
On November 8, 2005 Buddha Boy told the people gathered that he did not have the energy of a buddha. And he asked them not to publicize him as an "incarnation of the Buddha."
   
On November 11, 2005 a bright light appeared shining forth from his head (aura, nimbus, halo). His followers cried with joy and became even more fervent. But he told them, “Leave me in peace, and there will soon be peace in the country.” [That peace seems to have arrived.]
   
However crowds kept increasing. People chanted because pujas are emotionally devotional events rather than silently meditative ones. They set up a marketplace, according to broadcasters from Radio HBC 94 FM who visited the site on December 10, 2005.
   
The crowds were kept at a distance of about 50 meters.  All witnesses claimed that Guru  neither ate, drank or left to relieve himself.  He just sat and meditated under the pipal tree. Baffled onlookers were ever increasing.  There were stories of miracles: a girl and a young man had gained the power of speech although they could not speak. More

• Kagyu: Vajrayana's  esoteric whispered transmission

A Brief Slice of Heaven (Buddhism in India)

Life at the Kagyu Nalanda Monastic order in Bylakuppe, Karnataka, India -- doing homework and playing video games (Flickr/Abhishek Sundaram)

The laughter of little children as they darted around us, the shy smiles as we walked about with our SLRs clicking away at anything that moved, some heads bent over books memorizing their contents in classrooms, others tending to daily chores, and everyone waiting for the Saturday evening screening of a Bollywood flick in one of the larger classrooms. No, I am not in a Residential Primary School but the Kagyu Nalanda Temple at Bylakuppe.

It was on July 2nd that we found ourselves heading towards Bylakuppe, a Tibetan settlement near Mysore, India for a photo holiday. Bylakuppe, surprisingly, is said to be the largest Tibetan settlement outside of Tibet. I would have imagined either Dharmashala or Sikkim, the seats of the Dalai Lama or the Karmapa, to be the largest. Having previously through some friends received permission to stay within one of the monasteries, we set out... More>>

Animal Compassion: shabkar.org

Shabkar.org is a non-sectarian website dedicated to vegetarianism as a way of life for Buddhists of all schools. The site takes its name from Shabkar Tsodruk Rangdrol (1781-1851), the great Tibetan yogi who espoused the ideals of vegetarianism.

The Buddha's Dharma is the Middle Way. Avoiding extremes is part of it. By presenting an online collection of texts and other content on Buddhism and vegetarianism.

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Shabkar.org aims to contribute in a positive way to the view that practicing vegetarianism is an essential part of Buddhist teachings while keeping in mind that becoming a vegetarian or vegan can be a gradual path.

• Green Dharma: FREE download
• "Save Animals" by Kunga
• Pledge to Reduce Meat Eating
• No meat in Kagyu Centers
• Buddha's Final Teaching & Vegetarianism
• Saving Lives

(Painting by Dugu Choegyal Rinpoche)