My trip to India, most spiritual country?

(Wise Lessons) The Mysterious Life of Anandamayi Ma

• Anandamayi Ma?

(Nahana) India sucks!!! Don't ever come to this country

(Isha Branderhorst) I stayed in an ashram in Rishikesh, and it changed my life: honest experience

• (Mystics of India) Sadhguru on wild, wild country, Osho (Swami Bhagwan Rajneesh), and spiritual "cults"
• Where is Rishikesh, yoga capital of the world?
• Is an Ashram an intentional community?

Clingy love is doomed to disappoint

Mystic Knights "I'm Afraid"

"Peace of mind, peace of mind, hard to keep, hard to find" sings Danny Elfman

How to gain peace of mind, Dalai Lama?

The 14th Dalai Lama explains how one might gain peace of mind

Free movie: 'The Gods Must Be Crazy'

What have the gods wrought?

The Gods Must Be Crazy is a comedy film written, produced, edited, and directed by Jamie Uys. An international co-production of South Africa and Botswana, it is the first film in the popular The Gods Must Be Crazy series.

Set in Southern Africa, the film stars Namibian San farmer Nǃxau ǂToma as Xi, a hunter-gatherer of the Kalahari Desert whose tribe discovers a glass Coca-Cola bottle dropped from an airplane.

The Gods Must Be Crazy

They believe it to be a gift from their gods. When Xi sets out to return the bottle to the sky gods, his journey becomes intertwined with that of a biologist (Marius Weyers), a newly hired village schoolteacher (Sandra Prinsloo), and a band of guerrilla terrorists.

The Gods Must Be Crazy was released in South Africa in 1980 by Ster-Kinekor and broke several box office records in the country due to its immediate popularity, becoming the most financially successful South African film ever produced up to that time. More

• The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980) with Paddy O'Byrne as narrator (IMDb)

Burning from the Inside: Bauhaus (video)

Bauhaus from Burning From the Inside; Gothy Gothison, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

LYRICS: "Kingdom's Coming"

Madness in the wind's got something to say

It ripped you apart

It will always be that way

It said, kingdom's coming, causes chaos

Will cut to pieces

The film you saw today

It's your big bad secret

Your crown of thorns

You want for nothing, nothing at all

Sky will open soon, could be today

(Can't look back, back again)

Your kingdom's coming, coming today

(You want it all, but it's on the run)

Can't take it easy, can't turn back

(The sky will open soon, could be today­)

Forget your bastard ego, get it off your back

(Your kingdom's coming, coming, coming today)

Can't just look back, back again

(Can't take it easy now, can't turn back)

You want it all, but it's on the run

(Forget your bastard ego, get it off your back)

The sky will open

"Burning from the Inside"

Running without aim

Through the razor reeds

That only reach my knees

And when I'm lying

In the grey sleep

I don't know how

To walk the boards

I open my eyes

And look at the floor

And now I don't see you

Anymore

There is no choice

We make a point

To counteract
A threatening hand

Close my hold

Let's be near

Let's be near

The atmosphere

Dr. Grossman destroys gender ideology in 5

Dr. Miriam Grossman; Sheldon S., Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Many Ukrainians hate the LGBTQIA+ movement and some go to extremes to show it.

Dr. Miriam Grossman, MD, destroys gender ideology in 5 minutes

(TFP Student Action) Aug. 10, 2023: Dr. Miriam Grossman, MD, delivers a dose of truth regarding so-called "gender-affirming care" during a recent U.S. House Committee hearing.

She speaks clearly as a medical professional, debunking the notion that sex is "assigned at birth" when it is determined at conception and revealed at birth.

Lost in Trans Nation

Dr. Grossman is a board-certified psychiatrist treating children, adolescents, and adults.

The author of five books, she has been translated into 11 languages. Lost in Trans Nation: A Child Psychiatrist's Guide Out of the Madness [many summaries and workbooks] is her most recent book, which explains the widespread devastation caused by transgenderism.

Her medical practice focuses on gender-distressed young people and their parents. She believes that every child is born in the right body.

Dr. Grossman has been vocal about the capture of her profession by ideologues, leading to dangerous and experimental treatments on children and the betrayal of parents.

She has testified in Congress and lectured at the British House of Lords and the United Nations.

TFP Student Action invites every American of goodwill to spread the truth on this controversial topic, with peaceful charity and clarity. For indeed, we are made male and female.

• Website: tfpstudentaction.org, instagram, facebook, twitter
• #tfpstudentaction #gender #ideology
• To oppose Drag Queen Story Hour for Kids, go here: tfpstudentaction.org/petition...

Matt Walshe shuts down Q&A participant for castrating children.

Proof some professors/lawyers are deceptive [blank] holes. Josh Hawley called "transphobic" by Berkeley law professor in her ridiculous and illogical attempt to shut down free speech.

Misgendering someone is "an act of violence"?

Dave Chappelle on canceling JK "TERF" Rowling

What assumptions will people make for pronouns?

COMMENT'S REPLY (8/27/23): There is no direct connection, of course, but as Dr. Grossman is "destroying" GI, according to TFP, so are the Ukrainian Nazis, while we are led to imagine that it's the Russians who are regressive, oppressive, and invasive. There is a whole other view of the cause of the CIA/USA's proxy-war and our allies in the battle for NATO's regional domination of Russian territory. Too many peace-loving liberals, who champion gender ideology, have gone mad in support of war while objecting to the slightest verbal infraction when it comes to pronouns. The combination of these elements merely illustrates this contradiction writ large.

What's a "shaman"? Defining shamanism

Matt Toussaint (shamanicevolution.org) edited and expanded by Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Shamanism is a worldwide spiritual impulse that arises spontaneously in some individuals.

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What is a "shaman"? This is a tricky question, to be certain. While there are many facets and nuances that will not be addressed here, the following article provides a basic framework for understanding what shamanism is...

• (Wisdom Quarterly) The Buddhist definition of a shaman is a "wandering ascetic," a shraman as distinct from a "temple priest" or Brahmin. When the Scythian/Sakyian Prince Siddhartha Gautama wanted to become a seeker or recluse or shaman it was because he was inspired by the sight of one.

Young samanera studying text in Burma

• Therefore, Buddhism did not invent the concept. There already existed in Central Asia (the area of the world from Northwest India up to North Asia, Ukraine, and Siberia) spiritual wanderers on quests of one kind or other, driven by spirit voices or other impulses, such as the quest for enlightenment (bodhi) and liberation (moksha). Vedic seers (rishis) and sadhvis/sadhus (holy persons), yogis and munis (ascetics, mendicants, sages). The Scythian Sage, Shakya-muni, is a popular title of the Buddha, who encouraged his monastic followers to adhere to a wandering lifestyle (Sramana Movement) and a forest tradition of meditation away from the maddening crowd.

Buddhist shaman, Yarchen Gar Monastery (F)

Because shamanism is based on experience and results, a clear definition will hold true regardless of beliefs.
 

This leaves room for multiple ways of understanding shamanism without any particular way being held as right or wrong.
 

Medicine men: often women

Shamanism is understood and experienced differently by different people and under different circumstances.
 

The common element is not the content of what is understood but the experience of the shamanism itself -- which makes it "authentic."

From that perspective, then, any attempt at a single definition is irrelevant. But there is value in bringing integrity and coherence to an understanding of shamanism, if only to operate with clarity and precision of definition.

Mexican shamans are curanderos ("healers") often confused with brujos ("witches")

DEFINITION

The common, classical definition runs: Shamanism is a system or practice of a practitioner, the shaman, who willfully changes her or his state of consciousness from normal to altered in order to enact something, communicate with something, or to perform some specific duty on the behalf of another person, community, or group.
 

Often this altered state of consciousness is framed as a movement from this world to the "spirit world." More

Psychosis or Spiritual Awakening? (video)

Phil Borges; Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon, Dhr. Seven (eds.) Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit

TED Talk: "Psychosis or Spiritual Awakening" by speaker Phil Borges at TEDxUMKC

Filmmaker and photographer Phil Borges has been documenting indigenous and tribal cultures for over 25 years. His work is exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide and his award-winning books have been published in four languages. His recent project, "Inner Worlds," explores cultural differences with respect to consciousness and mental illness.
 

The strange case of Milarepa

Bhutanese Vajrayana thanka of Milarepa (1052-1135), Dhodeydrag Gonpa, Thimphu, Bhutan

 

You just don't get Vajrayana. Ask His Holiness!

There once was a Chinese Mahayana Buddhist nun who wrote a book on Milarepa's crimes and Monastic Code violations. This was meant to counter the Tibetan Vajrayana (a Mahayana school) adoration of this "spiritual madman." There's a crazy wisdom* (divine madness) that is often confused with holiness, sainthood, or enlightenment.

It seems clear that Milarepa was not enlightened, nowhere near actual Buddhist enlightenment, but try to tell that to a follower of Tibetan Buddhism and watch the eyes roll.

He was something, touched perhaps, and very wise. He may well have been "enlightened" in Brahmanism or Hindu terms. That is not the same as Buddhist enlightenment called bodhi. There are different definitions for the same concepts and words across religious traditions and even between Buddhist schools.

Depression and spiritual awakening -- two sides of one door (Lisa Miller)

Crazy Wisdom

Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit

So what if I talk to animals? I'm a fool for God.

Divine madness, also known as theia mania, refers to unconventional, outrageous, unexpected, or unpredictable antinomian behavior linked to religious or spiritual pursuits. Examples of divine madness can be found in Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sufism, and shamanism.

The way of the shaman is wyrd, very weird.

It is usually explained as a manifestation of enlightened behavior by persons who have transcended societal norms, or as a means of spiritual practice or teaching among mendicants and teachers. These behaviors may seem to be symptoms of mental illness to mainstream society, but are a form of religious ecstasy, or deliberate "strategic, purposeful activity" (DiValerio 2011, p. ii.), "by highly self-aware individuals making strategic use of the theme of madness in the construction of their public personas" (Ibid., p. iii.). More

My dog is depressed (TED video)

Crystal Quintero, Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Laurel Braitman (TED.com)

C'mon, Grover, stop trying to tune in, turn on, and drop out. You're not human like me!

Depressed dogs, cats with OCD -- what animal madness means for us humans

Animals that amaze

Behind those funny animal videos, sometimes, are oddly human-like problems. Laurel Braitman studies non-human animals who exhibit signs of mental health issues -- from compulsive bears to self-destructive rats to monkeys with unlikely friends. Braitman asks what we as humans can learn from watching animals cope with depression, sadness, and other all-too-human problems. This talk was presented at an official TED conference and was so good it was featured by TED editors on its home page. More

 

Katie Couric exposing the military-industrial complex? No way. They must want this disinformation known and disseminated to create fear and intimidation or she would be in hot water. Invisibility technology exists, but in use?

Sexy hominids: Susan Savage-Rumbaug: The gentle genius of bonobos

Isabel Behncke Izquiero: Evolution's gift of play, from bonobo apes to humans

Frans de Waal: Moral behavior in animal

Joshua Tree, 2014: Yoga/Music experience, Dharma Mittra, Matisyahu (bhaktifest.com)

Anger, Madness, and Destructive Behavior

Dr. Stephen A. Diamond, Secrets of Psychotherapy (IV): Change or Acceptance?

What is the ultimate goal of psychotherapy?

Let's start with a simple word association experiment: When thinking about psychotherapy, what is the first word that comes to mind to describe what therapy is all about?

Take a few seconds. Got it? For many,my guess is that one, if not the very first, of those words was change. But what if I were to say that psychotherapy is really at least as much about acceptance?

When Sigmund Freud made the oft-cited and misunderstood statement that the purpose of psychoanalysis is to "transform neurotic misery into common unhappiness," he was speaking of change.

But how is even such seemingly modest change accomplished in therapy? So much of the changes that happen in psychotherapy parallel a gradual process of acceptance: acceptance of life as it truly is, as opposed to the way we wish it to be.

Acceptance of past childhood trauma and its pervasive unconscious influence in the present. Acceptance of ourselves for who we are, rather than who we are not.

Freud's off-the-cuff comment may seem cynical. But when seen in the light of his own personal suffering from oral cancer during the final 15 years of his life and how he stoically faced that terrible fate, it is a mature and sober commentary on the absolute necessity of acceptance.

Rather than reflecting his profound pessimism about the human condition, as many mistakenly conclude, Freud's remark recognizes deeply and personally the need for courageous acceptance of physical and emotional suffering and, moreover, the high price we pay for trying to avoid or deny life's tragic aspect. More

• Evil Deeds: A Forensic Psychologist on Anger, Madness, and Destructive Behavior

Milarepa and Mad Genius

The film "Milarepa" depicts the humble beginnings of the man who was to become Tibet's greatest saint. Based on ancient oral traditions, a youthful Milarepa is propelled into a world of sorrow and betrayal after his father's death. Destitute and hopeless, he sets out to learn black magic -- to exact revenge on his enemies -- encountering magicians, demons, an enigmatic teacher, and unexpected mystical power along the way. But it is in confronting the consequences of his anger that he learns the most. Photographed in the stunning Lahaul-Spiti region of Northern India, "Milarepa" offers a provocative parallel to the cycle of violence and retribution we see consuming today's world (Duke University).

Mad Geniuses
Jane McGrath (HowStuffWorks.com)

Is insanity the secret companion to ­genius? Though we can't very well perform psychological examinations on those who are long dead, that hasn't stopped historians from speculating about the mental conditions of deceased geniuses by interpreting their personal letters, their works, and others' accounts.

.

It turns out some of the world's greatest geniuses were quite mad. In fact, some scientists claim that a far greater percentage of creative types (poets, painters, musicians, and the like) have been afflicted with bipolar disorder than the general ­population. Some of the world's most renowned creative minds -- including writers Mary Shelley, Virginia Woolf, and Ernest Hemingway; composers Irving Berlin and Sergey Rachmaninoff; and painters Paul Gauguin and Jackson Pollock -- are believed to have suffered from the illness (source: Patient Health International).

H. Armstrong Roberts/Getty Images (Brain Image Gallery). Though we may not know what a high IQ has to do with mental illness, brilliant people often strike us as more than a bit nutty. You don't have to look far to find examples of the mad genius in history. See more ­brain pictures.

• How Geniuses Work
• How Game Theory Works
• How Your Brain Works

­Despite evidence of a link between genius and madness, no one has proved that such a link exists. However, scientists at the University of Toronto have discovered that creative people possess little to no "latent inhibition," the unconscious ability to reject unimportant or irrelevant stimuli. As University of Toronto psychology professor Jordan Peterson puts it, "This means that creative individuals remain in­ contact with the extra information constantly streaming in from the environment. The normal person classifies an object, and then forgets about it, even though that object is much more complex and interesting than he or she thinks. The creative person, by contrast, is always open to new possibilities [source: University of Toronto]."

­Let's take a look at these mad geniuses -- the famous thinkers and artists who may have experienced mental illness. First, we'll inspect the modern case of John Nash, whose schizophrenia has been sensationalized by Hollywood.

Introduction to Top 5 Mad Geniuses
Mad Genius 5: John Nash (1928 - )
Mad Genius 4: Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890)
Mad Genius 3: Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849)
Mad Genius 2: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)
Mad Genius 1: Sir Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727)

MILAREPA the MAHASIDDHA YOGI
Edited from Wikipedia.com

Jetsun Milarepa (c. 1052-c. 1135 CE) is one of Tibet's most famous yogis and poets, a student of Marpa Lotsawa, and a major figure in the history of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism.


As soon as he saw Milarepa, an ineffable experience of concentrated bliss (Samadhi) arose in him, and for a moment he stood transfixed in ecstasy. Afterwards, he became a "Heart-Son" of Milarepa (rimpoche.co).

The essence of Milarepa lies in his writings rather than the many legends that have grown up around him. The writings, often referred to as the One Hundred Thousands Songs of Milarepa, are canonical Mahayana Buddhist texts [or at least of the Vajrayana branch of Mahayana Buddhism] that emphasize the temporary nature of the physical body and the need for non-attachment.

In contrast, the legends (and 2006 movie) of Milarepa's life are full of references to magic and wizardry and lack the same sense of devout non-attachment. They became popular through a romanticized and historically questionable biography (Mi-la-rnam-thar) sometime between 1452 and 1507.

According to the book by French explorer Alexandra David-Néel Magic and Mystery in Tibet, Milarepa boasted of having “crossed in a few days, a distance which, before his training [in ‘black magic’], had taken him more than a month. He ascribes his gift to the clever control of ‘internal air.’” David-Néel comments “that at the house of the lama who taught him black magic there lived a trapa [monk] who was fleeter than a horse” using the same skill.[2]

This esoteric skill, which in Tibet is known as Lung-gom-pa (“Wind Meditation,” lung = “wind,[3] gom-pa = “meditation”[4]), allows a practitioner to run at an extraordinary speed for days without stopping. This technique could be compared to that practiced by the Kaihigyo Monks of Mt. Hiei in Kyoto, Japan.[5] His cave is revered to this day.

(maier-hallard)

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