(MorgueOfficial) In the Bible, "God" demanded bloodsacrifices, the death (murder) of innocent men, women, and children, and repeatedly unleashed plagues and floods to destroy humanity. Why would a "loving God" constantly demand sacrifice and worship? What if that weren’t God but actually the Devil? Who were the Cathars?
Scientists discover a ‘third state’ between life and death
From bon vivant to living corpse and in between?
Scientists have discovered a "third state" between life and death that is neither alive nor quite dead. Not alive, not dead? There is a third state.
It sounds spooky, but it’s the future of medicine. More specifically, this "third state" is when the cells of an organism adopt new functions even after "death."
Based on Tibetan Book of Dead
In Vajrayana Buddhism, there is an "intermediate" state between life and rebirth during the time we call "death." But beings, from their perspective, do not die. They go on. They are alive then, seeming to die, they continue. Thereafter, during a period said to be 40 days, they are reborn. Of course, looked at more closely, they are alive the whole time. At the instant of passing on from this state, one reappears elsewhere in the very next moment. Leaving one state is called "death" by others in that state, but for the being undergoing the change, things did not end. Support for life in that state was cut off and, therefore, the being reappeared elsewhere. The scary thing, then, is not that we will pass away. It is that we will be reborn without certainty of where and how. It has much to do with the last conscious moment conditioning the next, which determines the rebirth. For beings who have won the first stage of enlightenment, many bad rebirth destinations have been eliminated. One cannot be reborn in a state below the human plane. But all other beings can be reborn in those unfortunate destinations, in worlds of profound suffering like the animal realm and lower. In the meantime, between lives, beings are living with a more subtle body in the angelic (deva) or ghost (peta) realm for the transition to another life in accordance with one's store of karma (past deeds of all kinds). The Bardo Thodol or "Tibetan Book of the Dead" is for the hearing of a Vajrayana Buddhist during the transition between lives to guide one to a successful rebirth.
Peaceful and wrathful Bardo beings
Or in other words, the cells are functioning, but the being is dead. And this spooky phenomenon is revolutionizing synthetic biology as, usually, death is considered to be irreversible.
But with this new discovery by science of a "third state," different cells from a range of organisms can be repurposed into biological "robots." But what can they do?
The science
In a review published in the journal Physiology, researchers are contemplating the implications of taking cells from organisms (dead or alive) and turning them into biological robots that have new functions.
For example, researchers have managed to successfully create tiny "robots" from human cells which could be used to heal wounds, regenerate tissue, and treat diseases. These are known as anthrobots.
In another instance, researchers from Tufts University in Massachusetts have also created xenobotsfrom the cells of already dead frogs. The cells, despite coming from a dead organism, can self-replicate and perform simple tasks. More
QUESTION: Can meditation cultivate merit (punya) to transfer to the dead?
ANSWER: Yes, intensive sitting meditation is one way to cultivate skillful qualities like stillness, silence, calm, peace, serenity, contentment, joy (piti), bliss (sukha), and insight (vipassana) through fourfold mindfulness (satipatthana).
Can we meditate to help the dead?
Another way, particularly if dealing with monkey mind or a sugar rush is mindful walking to cultivate "being here now," holding attention on the present moment, the present action (walking), and slowing down to pay attention rather than operating on automatic pilot.
Yet another way is to engage in skillful action (feeding others, giving, letting go of things we cling to, offering help, compassion to alleviate the suffering of others, developing joy in the joy of others, equanimity or looking on with unbiased spreading of attention to make our love, compassion, and joy-in-others'-joy universal and unbounded).
And just when this is done, one utters the "mantra" or "prayer" or dedication of merit, bringing to mind those to whom we are making the offering:
To “share or transfer merits,” sincerely say: “May [so and so] receive merits from this good deed that I have done.” And to cultivate boundless loving-kindness (metta) add: “May ALL beings be free from the suffering in the apāyā.”
In both cases, we are BROADCASTING our intention of goodwill and compassion in offering help. PureDhamma.net
NOTE: One does not lose merit by giving but rather multiplies and compounds it.
The mistake Americans make about the Day of the Dead is that it's mournful, when it's really all about life and living, food and celebrating, remembering and loving. Goths may love the look, but it's uplifting.
The Bodhisattva Guanyin (Kwan Yin): Goddess of Compassion
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“May the merit and virtue accrued from this work adorn the Buddha's Pure Lands. Repaying four kinds of kindness above and aiding those suffering in the paths below, may those who see and hear of this all bring forth the resolve for Bodhi (enlightenment) and, when this retribution-body is over, be reborn together in ultimate bliss.” Transference of Merit (abuddhistlibrary.com)
Vajrayana
A tulku returns to help others.
In the initial stages of our journey of self-cultivation, most of us may still be inclined to transfer merit only to ourselves, our family members, and/or our loved ones. It is superior to broaden that giving to all sentient beings to make it universal and unbounded by self-interest.
Self may be the focal point of our efforts when we start practicing Buddhism. As practice deepens and our understanding of Buddhism becomes more profound, the capacity of the heart will gradually expand. This makes us more willing to share merits with all sentient beings.
The Vedic Brahmins' Cosmic Buddha Vairocana
The practice of merit transfer involves dissolving and reducing our sense of separation and selfishness, thereby cultivating boundless love, compassion, and unbiased equanimity.
The sharing of merit is most supreme, complete, and without outflows (defilements) when our mind/heart is capable of expanding giving to include all sentient beings.
A thanksgiving prayer for the (grateful) dead
To help all sentient beings be liberated from suffering and attain happiness, we generate the Bodhi mind of attaining Buddhahood and transfer our merit to all sentient beings.
We can vow to use the limited power of our vows to resonate with the infinite, compassionate vows of the various Cosmic Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and attain supreme enlightenment along with all sentient beings. More
Why are Mexicans and other Hispanics in Latin America obsessed with a Day of the Dead? It is to remember and honor loved ones who have passed. They are still here. We still love them and want the best for them. (Filial piety is common in the culture just as it is in Asia and used to be around the world). The idea of death is not a ghoulish thing in that context, but it mixes with spooky American Halloween or tainted by Catholic All Hallows Eve and loses its Obon and Samhain (Sau-in) echoes, which aim to honor and remember, connect and care for those lost to Death.
In Buddhism, who is the Grim Reaper? One might think it's Yama, the King of the Dead, the kind judge in the afterlife. "Justice" is meted out not by him, who is just the one who delivers the news, but by karma (our personal store of deeds coming up for appropriate results). If it's anyone, it has to be the king of the yakkhasMara, the personification of Death, a kind of Santa Muerte who is actually a "Cupid" or "Lucifer" figure in Buddhism who resides in the highest sensual-celestial heavenly world. His aim is that people should go to hell but rather to stay trapped in his sphere of influence, of which he imagines he is the ruler. In his view, no one should escape the Sensual Sphere (the human plane, the subhuman worlds, and a few of the lower celestial angelic planes) to the superior Fine Material Sphere or the even loftier Immaterial Sphere. These three spheres (Kama Loka, Rupa Loka, Arupa Loka) are general categorizations of the individual planes (lokas) within the 31 Planes of Existence.
Mara's influence only extends up to the world where he was reborn and is referred to as Mara Devaputra (a literal being "Mara reborn among the devasor gods"). He frequently comes to earth where along with the asuras or anti-devas he causes a great deal of mischief for mortals who are fueled by sensual desires, craving, and clinging. They hear the Dharma, the path to liberation made known by the Buddha, but it is hard to follow with all the allure of the five sense strands of pleasure. What is the antidote? It is practice, which reveals what we are clinging to: that which is impermanent, disappointing (incapable of ever fulfilling us), and impersonal. We will not see these Three Marks of Existence, the true nature of things, so we go on trapped, revolving in samsara, faring according to our karma (deeds), constantly facing and having to endure the results. When our deeds (intentional actions) are motivated by greed (attraction), hatred (aversion or fear), and delusion (wrong views), the result is suffering. When our karma is rooted in nongreed (letting go), nonhatred (kindness, heart), and/or wisdom (right view), the results (vipaka and phala) are sweet. It's our choice IF only we were mindful and in control of ourselves, but we usually are not. Buddhists are as bad as the Mexicans, always going on about Death.
Skull face paint tutorial | Halloween, Day of the Dead, Samhain makeup tutorial | Snazaroo
Though the Buddha talked about 31 Planes of Existence, they were distilled down to just these 6
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(Shonagh Scott) Sponsored Shonagh Scott for Oct. 2017. Today's Halloween makeup tutorial is this beautiful but eerie skull face paint, sponsored by Snazaroo! Their products are so affordable, and their Halloween kits are great on children and adults alike and they're the sponsor. daz3d.com
Grim Reaper Makeup Tutorial for Halloween | ShowMe MakeUp
Death stands behind all rebirth.
(Shonagh Scott) Oct. 2014: As explained in the tutorial, I've created this look using cream products, face paint, and eyeshadows. Substitute the cream-based products for solely face paint.
Hit subscribe to see more tutorials using a vast range of different media and brands. Watch me create special occasion makeup, stunning evening looks, and everyday makeup routines! Go with me behind the scenes on photoshoots, and even watch me create SFX makeup for fancy dress and The Dia de Los Muertos or Mexican Halloween (All Hallows Eve, Samhain, Obon)!
Buddhists are crazy and stupid. Don't think about Death! Think about LIFE! Live it up, Man, live!!! Why the heck think about Death? - What if how we live is how we die? There is more than just this life. Samsara (the wandering through life and death) keeps going. We don't really die. We are wise to do something for the future, to prepare for it. If it all just "ended," we might be right to be hedonists living it up all the time. But it doesn't end, so we're neither insane nor dumb to be mindful of Death. It helps living life after life, and fearing (ignoring and avoiding) causes many problems that could be avoided with a little bravery to look even on Halloween.
Model - Bill
Follow him: itsteambill
Instagram; @itsteambill
The boys YouTube channel; gorillazillavids
Music;
Music - Alchemists Tale
Composer - Tilman Sillescu
www.freeplaymusic.com
Products;
Supracolor - Kryolan | 521, 517, 043, and White
Black Face Paint
Matte Brown and Matte Black Eyeshadow
Translucent Power to set the cream.
Camo Eyes Coloured Contact Lenses; camoeyes.com/product/crazy-con...
Shonagh Scott, makeup artist tutorials on YouTube, 2017, 2014; Crystal Quintero, CC Liu, Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
San Pedro Día de Los Muertos Festival to Host Largest Catrina Contest with Royal Caribbean Cruise for 10 as Grand Prize
Hey, Everybody, look at me! I'm a white doll!
National Latino Heritage Month continues, and Ashley has a question: Is it "cultural appropriation" to dress up for Dia de los Muertos? We think not, but in these sensitive times; anyone can get offended by anything.
It seems a male can become a female just for saying so, but NAACP leader Rachel Dolezal gets her backside handed to her on a platter for convincingly changing races or going biracial, even though she is an ally, has Black kids, a Black husband, and good intentions. When she decides to become a man, we're sure she'll be welcomed, celebrated, and encouraged to do drag. Let's look in and see how Ashley's doing on her journey of cultural exploration. Hooray!
A Frat Boy's Freedom to Offend (Prager U at UCLA and on Olvera St.)
We're living in Los Angeles (LA, "Latin America"), or the Rust Belt City of Chicago (Chi Town), so it's time to get with it. El Dia de Los Muertos or The Day of the Dead is an important adjunct to our European Halloween and Samhain (because Obon has already past). It's autumn, the fall season, and with the change of weather and amount of daylight, so goes the mood of the city. It's time to get cozy inside with lots of light because outside, The Dead are coming. These are our ancestors, and appeasing them is a nice thing, wholesome karma.
Buddhists can "transfer merit" to them in temple celebrations in both traditions, the older or back-to-basics Theravada and the populist later-development Mahayana or Hinduism-light.
The Dead are not altogether gone, just phase-shifted out of easy reach, but contact is still possible due to the strangeness of the universe and separation of dimensions and 31 Planes. Beings go on to be reborn when they pass from here. Where do they go? That utterly depends on their karma (store of deeds, not just from this life but from countless past lives), and we can contribute to their karma by helping them.
It's like offering medicine to the sick: Some would get better with or without it, some will pass even if they get it, and there is a third group who will only survive if they get it. Is it good to give it?
In all three cases, it's good to offer it. Let them decide what they need, which they will invariably do by their response (which is their karma).
Here the "medicine" is not a dangerous allopathic toxic created by sorcerers (Big Pharma) with lots of side effects. It's not even natural plant-based medicine, which can be strong. This medicine is karma (intentional action).
If sad at the airport and one is offered a flower (by say a hairy Krishna devotee), what can one do? Slap it away in annoyance, accept it and acknowledge the offer in gratitude while politely declining, accept it and eat it then spit it back out and hand it back when charged a "donation" (by their crafty employment of the sociopsychological basis of power known as reciprocation), take it and pay up, take it and tell them to naff off for demanding money... There are so many ways we might respond.
We are like the sick patient being offered something. How we respond (our intentionally chosen response) or react (our practiced and habitually reaction) is our karma.
But if it is offered in kindness with nothing expected in return, it can be quite a balm, a salve, a medicinal. It might be calendula, in which case not only is it bright and yellow, it is also medicinal when prepared as a tincture.
So this is LA, the Day of the Dead is coming, and here's a chance to participate. The contest has many prizes. Be a Catrina, a painted doll, for the celebration.
We were surprised to learn that Catrinas are not Goth ghosts, not "The Dead," haints, ghouls, spirits. They were originally Indigenous mockeries of Hispanics who dressed up and tried to pass for pure Spanish. "Oh, look at me; I'm so elegant and fashionable with my white powder face!" We were all mixed, Mestizos and Mixtecs.
The Indigenous dressed up in elegant Euro garb to mock the half-white beauty queens and princes trying to pass as white to emphasize their mixed blood affiliation (the result of rape, coercion, and mostly enticement) with the Conquistadors and settler colonialists who had ruined the New World by their genocide, occupation, and hegemonic influence.
But what's one to do? The Europeans introduced a complex form of racism and colorism that is still rocking Latin America. Spain went so far as to define 16 groups or "castes" (casta) one would be labelled in a classification system as from the Mulatto to the Negro, from the Indio to the pure Gringo or Spanish (100% purebred Iberian Peninsula European).
"The Catrina Contest is open to all genders between the ages of 18-99 with contestants judged on creativity, design, beauty, authenticity. crowd response. We are elevating our celebration with a contest that invites everyone to bring this iconic figure to life with creativity and flair, all while keeping the spirit of family and remembrance at its core.”
— Executive Director of Discover San Pedro Ryan Blaney
LOS ANGELES, California, USA, Sept. 18, 2024 (einpresswire.com) - Discover San Pedro is proud to announce the largest Catrina Contest in California as part of its annual Día de Los Muertos Festival. This year, the contest will offer a grand prize sponsored by the LA Cruise Alliance, which includes Royal Caribbean Group, Carnival Corporation, and MSC Cruises. The winner will receive an unforgettable cruise for 10 aboard Royal Caribbean International. San Pedro Día de Los Muertos Festival (wane.com) (San Pedro is Spanish for "Saint Peter," a coastal city and massive shipping port in LA). More
PRIZES: 1. Cruise for 10 people aboard Royal Caribbean Cruises 2. Feast for 10 people at the World Famous San Pedro Fish Market 3. Round Trip for 4 people on Catalina Express 4. Downtown San Pedro Red Trolley for 3 hours up to 30 people
What it’s like to visit a Japanese American Obon festival, from the musubi to the dancing: Obon is a joyous Japanese American summer holiday dedicated to remembering and honoring ancestors (aka The Dead, and we don't mean gratefulJerry Garcia).
Summer weekends at SoCal Japanese Buddhist temples fill with carnival games, Japanese food, and dancing as people of all generations come together to celebrate Obon, a joyous holiday dedicated to remembering and honoring ancestors.
Growing up Japanese American attending an Obon festival evokes instant nostalgia. I remember being a kid eating peanut butter mochi (puffy sticky rice paste) and shaved ice during breaks between dancing. Learn more about Obon.
What is Obon?
Obon — one of SoCal’s biggest Japanese American celebrations — is a way of remembering those who have passed.
It's that spooky time of year (summer), when Japanese spirits are restless (like the West's Halloween).
It's a sacred holiday dedicated to remembering and honoring ancestors.
It’s a bit like the Japanese version of Mexico's Día de Los Muertos(Day of the Dead), with a distinctly Japanese American twist.
Festivals take place at temples and community centers from June to August and include carnival games, home-cooked food, and traditional Japanese dancing.
All are welcome. Learn more about the history and find one near you.
He was on Coast to Coast (8/2/24) discussing psychic readings he has conducted with people who claim to have been abducted by space aliens and the reasons why certain people are targeted for abduction and others are not. (It's their protein metabolism, which means it's their genetic profile).
Lawyer Anthony recounts the story of Calvin Parker and Charles Hickson, who maintain that they were abducted by aliens while fishing near Pascagoula, Mississippi, in Oct. 1973.
Vril Society gave Nazis advanced technology
According to Parker, they were intentionally paralyzed by a "light" emitted from a metallic, football-shaped flying object, then taken aboard by robotic entities.
While on the alien ship (vimana), Parker described being injected against his will and examined by what he perceived to be an extremely beautiful woman who had reptilian-like fingers. Her beauty was such that he did not mind the fingers until her cloak dropped.
Orsic channeled Sumerian text from Aldebaran
Human medical examinations later showed puncture wounds on Parker and Hickson's bodies, which corroborated their abduction story, Anthony emphasized that Parker and Hickson consistently passed lie detector tests and other interrogations, reinforcing their credibility over the years.
The Psychic Lawyer discusses a gallery event in Denver, where he connected with a young man who had repeatedly been abducted by aliens. During a reading, Anthony received a message from the man's deceased grandfather indicating that the aliens were interested in how he metabolized protein.
We come for a piece [of flesh].
[So the solution to repeated abductions may lie in a change of diet, perhaps cleaning up and going vegan, a sort of purity these malevolent or at least cold-blooded creatures would not be interested in.]
This protein detail matched findings from other abductees, who experienced an intense craving for protein and salt after abductions, as if they had been drained of their stores.
Anthony links this to research suggesting that aliens might use extracted human protein as nourishment or for other purposes, such as [hybrid breeding, mating, or] cloning.
He also shares insights related to the Roswell downed UFO incident that were provided to him by his father who held top-secret clearance in the late 1950s.
Anthony said his father revealed the rapid transition in the U.S. from archaic transistor-based electronics to the advanced alien technology of silicon chips. This was the result of reverse-engineering extraterrestrial tech recovered from Roswell [as well as Velcro].
There are many spirits (Madame Blavatsky)
He expresses his belief in a massive government cover-up of Roswell with distribution of alien technology to private corporations with government contract [Bell Labs, Boeing, Gruman, etc.] and the ET influences on our technological progress. More + AUDIO
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