Dhammapada: The Buddha on restless mind

(Relaxing Subjects) The Dhammapada: The Buddha's words on the restless mind

Peace breaks out in Iran (Mandy Kahn)

Look, if we do nothing else this summer, let's meditate to evolve towards peace and metta

(F 24 E) US-Iran peace agreement (MOU) leaves Israelis in state of shock!

(Code Pink Action) Why attack a peace deal? - Both sides of duopoly are bad 😂

CODE PINK (codepink.org)

 

Friends, Peace Class meets Wednesday nights. Join us on Zoom. Start time 6:00 pm (Pacific):

• Zoom Meeting: us02web.zoom.us/j/82150472713
• Meeting ID: 821 5047 2713
• Free with guided meditation
• ALL are welcome!

Every year, Peace Class goes on hiatus from July through September. There is this meeting tonight and again next week (June 24th), then summer hiatus begins. Join me for final two classes of this cycle. This is the text of the peace talk delivered last week:

(DemocracyNow.org) Peace in Iran and other headlines

Ro Khanna pledges to refuse Israeli/AIPAC bribes

• Trump and Iran sign PEACE DEAL (memorandum) aimed at ending illegal US-Israel War [crimes] on Iran

This is Revelation

Yin (softness) Yang (strength) are in balance.

When all beings can clearly see everything-that-is, all beings will choose to live in peace, in harmonious coexistence with one another.

Harmony (akin to kshanti) happens effortlessly when everyone has access to all-that-is. Harmony is what happens when everyone is engaging their full intuitive powers, seeing with clarity, gazing at the world through their higher consciousness, through their Peace Minds.

Harmony happens effortlessly when all is known by all. But we aren't there yet.

 

We are at the end of the age that precedes all beings knowing all. We are at the beginning of the time of revelation that bridges two ages. We are at the beginning of the revelation that gets us from not-knowing to knowing.

Jane Fonda on future of the USA

‘We’re not going back’: Fonda’s fiery anti-Trump speech ignites NY crowd

 

Harmony is peaceful coexistence for all.

What does this transition period look like? What does it feel like? Imagine that all-that-is-true were shown to us as a huge sweeping picture, a massive wall-sized image, one enormous scene.

 

Then imagine that wall-sized picture sliced up into 10,000 pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Yes, one would be able to reassemble the full picture, if one had all of the puzzle pieces.

 

What's happening during this time of revelation is that some people are receiving some of the pieces of what-really-is, whereas most people hold just a handful of the pieces. And rarely do two people hold the same pieces.

But we aren't finished colonizing yet!

(Breaking Points) "God will CURSE Trump!" De facto PM Itamar Ben-

Givr and Zionist Jews and Republicans melt down over Iran peace deal

 

Strength in diversity and cooperation

That means we might hold a few puzzle pieces of what-really-is, and our neighbor might hold a few pieces, and those pieces could be from different quadrants of the picture. Those assembled pieces could show entirely different things.  

 

Our neighbor might hold three pieces that seem to be part of a barn and might say, "I've seen what is, and we're in the countryside."

 

We might hold a few pieces that seem to make a skyscraper and might say, "I've seen what is, and we're in downtown."

 

A third neighbor might be holding pieces that show part of a cloud and might say, "We're in the clouds—not touching ground at all!"

All three of these neighbors might have glimpsed some aspect of what-really-is yet not understand how those things fit together. So they might be tempted to turn to each other and say, "You're wrong!"  

 

They might even be in despair wondering, "How can so many people think that this is an image of clouds we're in when I know it's a picture of a barn?"

 

This is what the Time of Revelation feels like, especially in the beginning. It feels to many like deep confusion. And such confusion can lead to despair.

 

But when we realize what's really going on, which is that all-that-is is being revealed, slowly, we can cross this bridge and transit this period with grace.

 

We can hold compassion for ourselves, knowing we are all undergoing a process that takes time. We can hold compassion for our neighbors, benighted as they seem. We can hold compassion for ALL beings.

 

Kill Iran so we can build up Israel. - OK, Bibi.

These are not easy times to transit. Our politics are polarized. Many of us look at our neighbors and say, "How can you believe that? How can you possibly see things that way?!"

What's happening is a literal difference of seeing, not a figurative one. This is not just a duel of differing opinions. Some have seen what's-really-happening by way of direct exposure or spiritual revelation, and others have not. Some have seen one slice of what's-really-happening, and others have seen a slice of a different portion.

 

We are stepping into knowing-what-really-is at vastly different rates. And this is exactly as things are meant to happen. What-really-is is that we're a group of beings evolving towards discovery and an expression of our own peaceful and loving truest nature. That's what's really happening!

 

We are evolving forwards. And eventually, we will know who we are. We are beings of peace. And eventually, we will feel as we are. We will feel the urge to choose to live peacefully, to express compassion-for-all.

We will choose to fully express our unique selves and selfhood, while creating space for others to express themselves fully. We will choose compassionate coexistence.

The trees have been waiting patiently in peace.

We will choose harmony with others, harmony with the waters and the forests and the soil and the air, harmony with the animals of this planet.

We will choose selfhood, and we will choose harmony. But we have a ways yet before arriving there. We are departing from one shore, sailing towards another.

 

We are departing the shore of believing our community is dog-eat-dog, that the rules are an-eye-for-an-eye. That's the shore we're leaving.

I like it better when we ALL get along in peace.

We'll arrive at the shore of dog-celebrate-dog, dog-help-dog. That's where we'll land.

 

Revelation is the time to discover who we truly are as a species. This is the time to learn, not later in peace. Right now, we can learn that dog-eat-dog was never our true nature. We were living through a dog-eat-dog phase, just as people, while they're babies, are living through growing pains in a diaper phase. A child grows out of using a diaper: A child becomes a grownup. We are now growing into dog-celebrate-dog.

 

Higher we rise, easier to see the big picture

We get from one shore to another by learning the truth about who we are. Now, there's a lot to know. The full picture of who we are as beings is a lot to take in. The full picture of what our planet is, how it fits into the greater universe, is a lot to take in.

The full picture of what's been happening in our societies, what's been happening of which we have been unaware, is a lot to take in. A lot.

 

Revelation arrives in pieces. It arrives as different pieces that are in the hands of different people fall into place at different rates. Eventually, all will know all. As for now, some know some.

 

So when we look at our neighbor and think, "How can that [bleep] think that way?" we must understand that our confusion is natural and know that our neighbor will eventually see everything. And so will we.

 

All will eventually see all.

In the beginning

The light slowly began to dawn.

What does revelation look like at its beginning? It can look like deep differences between how we see the world and how our family members, partners, children, and those pesky neighbors see the world.

If we choose to walk with compassion, we will understand that the children of earth are doing the work of waking up and becoming enlightened in perfect pace, with appropriate timing for everyone, at the right rate for each individual.  

 

Everyone has the right to choose how quickly to evolve. Some will choose to cling to the dog-eat-dog way-of-being, and some will let go of such thinking, feeling, and being.

 

What happens when a person sees the completed puzzle, the full image of all-that-is? That person knows and chooses peacefulness, one's own peaceful way of being in peace. And what one feels for others at that moment is compassion-without-end.

Once we understand that all who can see the full puzzle will carry peacefulness, and once we understand that the puzzle pieces are arriving into the hands and lives of most people we know, at varying rates, this era of revelation begins to make sense.

I never saw it that way! It makes sense now.

This is what revelation looks like: It looks like a few more puzzle pieces arriving into the hands of a few more individuals.

Revelation happens in stages, dependent on an individual's desire to know more. And individual who really wants to know more creates space within oneself.

Entitled feminist racism?/Absurd nihilism?

Equal rights, equal fights? #roadrage - Emil Cioran: Nothing can be solved.

#whiteprivilege? #implicitbias #feminism - Live anyway and get used to it (1955)

Ticket? Do you know who my father is? - Female road rager hits man's car #instantkarma

Police protect and serve: breaching doors (fail) - Sexist jokes are not funny, Msiter! 😂

 

If we create openness in mind, if we cultivate compassion in heart, with non-judgment and non-attachment (letting go), more puzzle pieces will begin to fall into our hands.

I'm starting to see, but my eyes are blurry.

It may take five or 10 or 20 years to have enough puzzle pieces to get a full sense of what's really going on, but we are so loved. Every human alive is so loved through this process, so loved by the divine, so loved by our ancestors, so loved in all phases of self-discovery and self-actualization. All who walk this process do it perfectly.

 

This summer, we might spend time with family members whose puzzle pieces imply a completely different picture than ours, and if we allow the lower mind to run the show, we are very likely experience, at best, frustration being around them, at worst, anger and hate, at very worst, expulsion of others from own compassionate heart because they're holding different pieces of the puzzle and they imagine that the shape of the puzzle is different than what we imagine it to be!

How we label it is how it is for us

How to make LOVE the 40 Year Old Virgin way (The Age of Aquarius)

 

We get to choose how we walk this moment of revelation. We can do it with compassion, we can do it with grace, or... Walk in the way that builds the world you want. When you see all, you will know your own peace, and you will choose your own peacefulness.

 

If we choose peace now, even before we see all, we will walk through challenging times with the most possible ease. And our presence here, among those of earth, will be a living slice of grace.

Remember, there are only two Zoom Peace Classes left before summer hiatus: us02web.zoom.us/j/82150472713. Convert it 6:00 pm (Pacific) meeting time to any time zone at: dateful.com/time-zone-converter. Stay in touch through my mailing list: mandykahn.com.

 

Learn more about Peace Class and sign up for future sessions at: eventbrite.com.

 

 In peace, Mandy (Facebook, Instagram)

• Precepts for peace in Vajrayana Buddhism (samaya)

Mind cannot be seen, so where is it?

(Buddhism Podcast) The mind cannot be seen, so where is it? | Buddhist Wisdom

But what is aware that it is aware?

There is a mind-door, greenish in hue, near the heart. This heart-mind seems to be the physical base of consciousness, not the brain in the cranium. When meditating, attention can be adverted to the area around the heart. There there is a mirror reflecting experience, consciousness, awareness. If the "mind" were in the brain or the head, it seems attention would be placed there to find it. But it is very much down closer to what in the West we refer to as the seat of our emotions. The Buddha did not specify a physical base for vijñāna (consciousness) or manas (in Early Buddhism). However, he seems to have been well aware of the practical application of locating this base for the sake of realizing the ultimate nature of mind-and-matter (nama-rupa), ultimate mind (a stream of cittas) and ultimate materiality (a stream of kalapas). But this is for advanced practitioners of Buddhist meditation rather than philosophers and speculators. For those, perhaps Zen no-mind would be better or the compelling mind-only (Yogachara) view.

• Buddhism Podcast (video); text by Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly

The Divine Play: Why was I born, Yogi?

(Silent Wisdom)

Soma and 5-MeO-DMT with Indian yogis

Did soma (elixir containing a secret psychedelic mushroom or plant) give rise to "Hinduism"?

(dakota 2 earth) I gave [Indian wandering ascetic shaman] Aghori Yogis sapo (bufo), 5-MeO-DMT. They laughed at it, not rejecting the mind-expanding experience but seemingly accustomed to it by their own sadhana or daily spiritual practices.

• Hinduism (aka Sanātana Dharma)

Hinduism's secret mushroom theory

(dakota of earth) July 10, 2025: INDIA: The information presented here is purely for historical and cultural exploration and should not be interpreted as encouragement or promotion of any substance use. Some content may be sensitive or challenging to some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised!

DISCLAIMER: This educational documentary investigates a theory about the entheogenic origins of Hinduism [what the British dubbed Indus-ism to describe all the varied practices and belief around the Indus River Valley, melding them all under one rubric when they never saw themselves as "religions" or anything apart from regular life].

LINKS: dakotaofearth / dakotawint http://www.kick.com/earthie In this documentary, I travel across India exploring temple carvings, sacred rituals, and hidden clues that point toward a secret mushroom cult at the roots of Hinduism. Is it possible that psychedelic mushrooms were the true Soma of the Rig Veda? Join me as I uncover evidence, interview scholars, and search sacred sites to reveal a story that’s been hiding in plain sight. ➤ Subscribe for more documentaries on spirituality, ancient history, and hidden truths. Watch the full story and decide.

The Secret War for the Human Mind

(Prof Jiang Media) The Secret War for the Human Mind | Prof. Jiang Xueqin

New Year, New Mind: Cultural Reset (2/8)

JuBu Ven. Dr. Bodhi, PhD (Claremont Colleges)

BAUS is having an important New Year event (NEW YEAR, NEW MIND) at Chuang Yen Monastery in Carmel, Upstate New York. This is the home of our beloved venerable Theravada Buddhist scholar-monk teacher Bhikkhu Bodhi. It will be held on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026.

This cultural reset helps welcome in the Chinese (Lunar) New Year observed by most of Asia and nearly all Buddhist communities, ushering in the Year of the Horse: 2026 Lunar New Year.

• NEW YEAR, NEW MIND (Feb. 8, 2026)
• CYM, Carmel, NY: BAUS.org/en

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Dharma,

CYM has completed the first semester of the course Ancient Path, Modern Mind: Chinese Buddhism in a Changing World with Ven. You Min.

The Temple is pleased to announce that the second semester will begin in 2026, with the opportunity to explore three core themes under the guidance of Ven. You Min:

New Year, New Mind-Abbot Youmin

1. the foundational sutras and treatises that shaped Chinese [Mahayana] Buddhism
2. ⁠the cycle of Buddhist festivals and their rituals
3. ⁠the lived life of the monastic order in relation to society.

Students are invited to cultivate focus, compassion, and balance through study and shared practice. More: 2026 Ancient Path, Modern Mind: Chinese Buddhism in a Changing World, with Venerable You Min

• 2026 New Year, New Mind: A Cultural Reset For Inner Life (docs.google.com)
• Lunar New Year 2026 in Paris, France, 13th arrondissement: free program with parade, shows, exhibitions, and entertainment
• Abbot Ven. Youmin, Chuang Yen Monastery (baus.org); CC Liu, Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation) (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Curing the Five Hindrances of mind/heart

(Venerable Gotami) Stuck in life? These Five Things (Hindrances) are hold you back

1. Sense craving (kāmacchanda): seeking pleasure through the five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste and physical feeling.
2. Ill-will (vyāpāda): feelings of anger, hostility, vengefulness, resentment, hatred, and bitterness.
3. Sloth-and-torpor (thīna-middha): mental and physical lack of energy with little to no ability to make effort toward samadhi or concentration.
4. Restlessness-and-worry (uddhacca-kukkucca): the inability to calm the mind and bring it to stillness (samadhi) and focus one's energy.
5. Skeptical doubt (vicikiccha): lack of confidence, conviction, faith in the practice and one's ability to succeed in calm and insight toward enlightenment and liberation.

• The Five Hindrances (pancha-nívarana)

Etymology

According to Gil Fronsdal, the Pali term (nīvaraṇa) translated as "hindrance" actually means "covering." What these hindrances cover over are: the clarity of our mind, as well as our ability to be mindful, wise, concentrated, and stay on purpose [1].

According to earlier translations by Rhys Davids, the Pali term nīvaraṇa (Sanskrit nivāraṇa) refers to an obstacle or hindrance in the ethical sense, usually enumerated in a set of five [7].

In Pali language literature: Pali canon

In the Pali canon's Samyutta Nikaya, several sutras or discourses juxtapose the Five Hindrances with the Seven Factors of Enlightenment (satta-bojjhanga) [a].

For instance, according to SN 46.37, the Buddha states: "Meditators, there are these Five Hindrances, obstructions, corruptions of mind, weakeners of wisdom. What are the five?

1. Sensual craving...
2. ill-will...
3. sloth-and-torpor...
4. restlessness-and-remorse...
5. skeptical doubt...

"There are, meditators, these Seven Factors of Enlightenment, which are nonhindrances, nonobstructions, noncorruptions of mind/heart. When cultivated and developed, they lead to the realization of the fruit of true knowledge and liberation. 

"What are the seven? The enlightenment factor of mindfulness... equanimity... [8][b]."

Ven. Anālayo emphasizes: To overcome the hindrances, to practice satipatthana [the Four Foundations], and to establish the awakening factors [the Seven Factors of Enlightenment] are, indeed, according to several Pali discourses, the key aspects and the distinctive features common to the awakenings of all buddhas of the past, present, and future [9].

Ven. Anālayo supports this by identifying that, in all extant Sanskrit and Chinese versions of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse (Satipatthana Sutta), only the Five Hindrances and Seven Factors of Enlightenment are consistently identified under the dhamma contemplation section.

Contemplations of the Five Aggregates clung to as self, Six Sense Bases and Four Noble Truths are not included in one or more of these non-Pali language versions [9].

In terms of gaining insight into and overcoming the Five Hindrances, according to the discourse on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, the Buddha proclaimed:

 

"How, meditators, does a meditator live contemplating mental objects in the mental objects of the Five Hindrances? Herein [within this Doctrine and Discipline], meditators, when sense-craving is present, one knows, "There is sense-craving in me."

When sense-craving is not present, one knows, "There is no sense-craving in me."

One knows how the arising of the non-arisen sense-craving comes to be; one knows how the abandoning of the arisen sense-craving comes to be; and one knows how the non-arising in the future of the abandoned sense-craving comes to be [10]. More: The Five Hindrances

Alan Watts: Identifying with thoughts

Why we don't see things as they are

(Buddhism Podcast) Why we don't see things as they truly are: Buddhist perspective, 8/19/25

Vipallasa Sutta: Distortions of the Mind

These four, O meditators, are distortions of perception, distortions of thinking, distortions of view...

Sensing no change in the impermanent,

Sensing pleasure in the unsatisfactory,

Assuming "self" where there is impersonal process,

Sensing the repulsive as lovely —

Gone astray with wrong views, beings

Mis-perceive with distorted minds.

Bound in the bondage of Mara (Death),

Those people are far from safety.

They are beings who go on wandering:

Going again from redeath to rebirth.

But when in the world of darkness

Buddhas arise to make things bright,

They present this profound teaching

Which brings suffering to an end.

When those with wisdom have heard this,

They recuperate their right mind:

They see change in what is changing,

Suffering where there's suffering,

The impersonal in what is without self,

They see the repulsive as such.

By the regaining of right view,

They overcome all suffering.

TRANSLATOR'S NOTE

Andrew Olendzki

These verses from the Numerical Discourses (AN) give the traditional list of the "distortions" (vipallasas). This Pali word is sometimes translated as "perversions" of mind, but I find this language too strong and prefer the "distortions" of mind.

The term is composed of a prefix (vi-), which carries the sense of division, separation, or removal, another prefix (pari-), meaning around or complete (as in our related word peri-meter), and a verb (-as), which can be taken as meaning "to throw."

Putting all this together, we have the image of the mind taking something up, turning it around, and throwing it back down — a distortion or perversion of reality by the perceptual and cognitive process of the mind.

The distortions are fundamental to the Buddhist notion of ignorance or delusion. It is not that we are inherently flawed in our nature. Rather, it is that we make some serious errors on many levels as we attempt to make sense of the world around us.

As we come to recognize — particularly through meditation practice, mindfulness, and stillness — some of the ways we misconstrue things about our experience, we become more able to correct for these errors and gain greater clarity.

The distortions of the mind work on three levels of scale. First, distortions of perception (sañña-vipallasa) cause us to misperceive the information coming to us through the sense doors. We might mistake a rope by the path as a snake, for example. Normally such optical illusions, or errors of vision, are corrected by a more careful scrutiny, but sometimes these sensory mistakes are overlooked and remain.

Distortions of thought (citta-vipallasa) have to do with the next higher level of mental processing, when we find ourselves thinking about or pondering things over things in mind. The mind tends to elaborate upon perception with these thought patterns, and if our thoughts are based on distortions of perception, then they too will be distorted.

Eventually such thought patterns can become habitual and evolve into distortions of view (ditthi-vipallasa). We might become so convinced that there is a snake on the path that no amount of evidence to the contrary from our own eyes or reason, nor the advice of others, will shake our wrong beliefs and assumptions. We are stuck in (clinging to) a mistaken view.

Furthermore, these three levels of distortion are cyclical. Our perceptions are formed in the context of our views, which are strengthened by our thoughts, and all three work together to build the cognitive systems that make up our unique personality.

You will no doubt recognize that the particular distortions mentioned in this text correspond to the three characteristics (the Three Universal Marks of Existence).

1. Taking what is impermanent (anicca) as permanent,
2. what is inherently unsatisfactory (dukkha, unable to fulfill) as a source of satisfaction, and
3. what is impersonal (anatta) as constituting a self — these are the primary ways we distort reality to the profound disadvantage of everyone.
4. Seeing the repulsive (asubha, unlovely) as lovely rounds out the traditional list of four vipallasas.

I like the way these verses say that when under the influence of these distortions we have "lost our senses" (vi-saññino) and our mind is "broken" or "thrown" (khitta-citta). When the distortions are corrected by right view, clear thinking and careful perception, then the texts say that we have "gotten back" (pacca-latthu) our "true mind" (sa-citta).

This is the Buddhist view of mental illness and mental health. Delusion is a mental illness that causes all sorts of suffering; mental health can be restored by correcting the flaws in how the mind operates.

Fortunately, "buddhas arise to make things bright" and illustrate in detail how the recovery of natural health can be accomplished. More

• Buddhism Podcast, Aug. 19, 2025; Andrew Olendzki (trans.), Vipallasa Sutta (AN 4.49 PTS: A ii 52), edited by Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Did we choose this life?

What is panentheism? Not pantheism

Panentheism (/pæˈnɛnθiɪzəm/, "all in God" from the Greek πᾶν, pân, "all," ἐν, en, "in," and Θεός, Theós, "God") [2] is the belief that the divine intersects every part of the universe and also extends beyond space and time.

The term was coined by the German philosopher Karl Krause in 1828 (after reviewing Hindu scriptures) to distinguish the ideas of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (1775–1854) about the relation of God and the universe from the supposed pantheism of Baruch Spinoza [2].

Unlike pantheism, which holds that the divine and the universe are identical [3], panentheism maintains an ontological distinction between the divine and the non-divine and the significance of both.

In panentheism, the universal spirit is present everywhere, which at the same time "transcends" all things created. Whilst pantheism asserts that "all is God," panentheism claims that God is greater than the universe.

Some versions of panentheism suggest that the universe is nothing more than the manifestation of God. In addition, some forms indicate that the universe is contained within God [3], like in the Jewish Kabbalistic concept of tzimtzum.

Much of Hindu thought is highly characterized by panentheism and pantheism [4, 5].

• There's also Deism and Pandeism

In philosophy

ANCIENT GREEK PHILOSOPHY

The religious beliefs of Neoplatonism can be regarded as panentheistic. Plotinus taught that there was an ineffable transcendent God ("the One," to En, τὸ Ἕν) of which subsequent realities were emanations.

From "the One" emanates the Divine Mind (Nous, Νοῦς) and the Cosmic Soul (Psyche, Ψυχή). In Neoplatonism the world itself is God (according to Plato's Timaeus 37).

This concept of divinity is associated with that of the Logos (Λόγος), which had originated centuries earlier with Heraclitus (c. 535–475 BC). The Logos pervades the cosmos, whereby all thoughts and all things originate, or as Heraclitus said:

"He who hears not me but the Logos will say: All is one."

Neoplatonists such as Iamblichus attempted to reconcile this perspective by adding another hypostasis above the original monad of force or Dynamis (Δύναμις).

This new all-pervasive monad encompassed all creation and its original uncreated emanations. Modern philosophy Baruch Spinoza later claimed that "Whatsoever is, is in God, and without God nothing can be, or be conceived" [6],

"Individual things are nothing but modifications of the attributes of God, or modes by which the attributes of God are expressed in a fixed and definite manner" [7]. Though Spinoza has been called the "prophet" [8] and "prince" [9] of pantheism, in a letter to Henry Oldenburg Spinoza states that:

"as to the view of certain people that I identify god with nature (taken as a kind of mass or corporeal matter), they are quite mistaken" [10].

For Spinoza, our universe (cosmos) is a mode under two attributes of Thought and Extension. God has infinitely many other attributes which are not present in our world.

BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY

Reverend Zen Master Soyen Shaku was the first Zen Buddhist abbot to tour the United States in 1905–1906. He wrote a series of essays collected into the book Zen For Americans.

In the essay titled "The God Conception of Buddhism" he attempts to explain how a Buddhist looks at the ultimate without an anthropomorphic [androcentric] God figure while still being able to relate to the term God in a Buddhist sense:

"At the outset, let me state that Buddhism is not atheistic as the term is ordinarily understood. It has certainly a God, the highest reality and truth, through which and in which this universe exists. However, the followers of Buddhism usually avoid the term God, for it savors so much of Christianity, whose spirit is not always exactly in accord with the Buddhist interpretation of religious experience.

"Again, Buddhism is not pantheistic in the sense that it identifies the universe with God. On the other hand, the [Mahayana] Buddhist God is absolute and transcendent; this world, being merely its manifestation, is necessarily fragmental and imperfect.

"To define more exactly the Buddhist notion of the highest being, it may be convenient to borrow the term very happily coined by a modern German scholar, 'panentheism,' according to which God is πᾶν καὶ ἕν (all and one) and more than the totality of existence [17, 18]."

The essay then goes on to explain first utilizing the term "God" for the American audience to get an initial understanding of what he means by "panentheism" and then discusses the terms that Buddhism uses in place of 'God' such as Dharmakaya [the body of the Dharma], Buddha or Adi-Buddha, and Tathagata [Well Gone One, Welcome One, Suchness]. More

• Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit

Stories: Urgency of spiritual practice

Motivational stories to calm the mind

(Buddhist Insights Journey) In today’s fast-paced world, finding peace can feel difficult. However, the timeless wisdom of the historical Buddha reminds us that true tranquility lies within. The "Buddha Story Motivational and Calm Your Mind" brings inspiring tales from the Buddha’s life, offering lessons to uplift, soothe, and guide toward inner peace. These stories help overcome challenges, reduce stress, and find harmony, showing that calm begins with the mind and has the power to transform life.

• 00:00 Intro: Buddha motivational stories to calm the mind
• 00:41 1. The Parable of the Burning House
• 04:44 2. The Bamboo Grove and Patience
• 09:21 3. The Story of the Lost Ox sound
• 13:41 4. The Buddha and the Mirror
• 17:28 5. The Parable of the Poisoned Honey
• 21:44 6. The Fasting Monk and Compassion
• 26:09 7. The Story of the Generous King
• 30:08 8. The Monk and the Tree
• 34:40 9. The Story of the Rich Man and His Wishes
• 40:43 10. Story of the Buddha and the Beggar
• 44:32 11. The Parable of the Blind Men and the Elephant
• 47:46 12. The Buddha and the Robe of Gratitude
• 51:05 13. The Lesson of the Golden Fish
• 55:46 14. The Serial Killer Angulimala who became a Saint
• 01:04:03 15. The Buddha and the Broken Bowl
• 01:07:03 16. The Parable of the Snake
• 01:10:36 17. Story The Buddha and the Hungry Tigress
• 01:14:30 18. The Farmer and His Troubles
• 01:19:28 19. The Buddha and the Flower Sermon
• 01:24:54 20. The Buddha and the Glass of Water
• 01:28:11 Thanks for listening

• Popular videos
• 10 Buddhist Stories to Relax the Mind
• List of Buddhist stories
• Buddhist Stories: Jataka Tales about...

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• Buddhist Insights Journey, Nov. 28, 2024; CC Liu, Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Tiny 'brains' found between brain cells

This bulge of brain cells should not be that hard to understand. What we need are tools.

Behold, the physical base of consciousness? NO

Between and around the billions of neurons in the human brain is an equally vital scaffold, the extracellular matrix (ECM).

An interlinked net of proteins and sugars that surrounds brain cells, the ECM is more than simple structural support; changes in the ECM can regulate complex brain functions including memory, learning, and behavior.

Buddha's Brain (Rick Hanson)

But studies of the brain's ECM have been limited by the lack of tools to observe dynamic changes to its structure. Now, a new genetic labeling tool developed by University of Utah Health researchers Dr. Igal Sterin, Ph.D. and Dr. Sungjin Park, Ph.D. has revealed new patterns in brain ECM in mice, including differences in the amount of matrix deposited on different types of neurons.

A major advantage of the tool is that it can detect changes in the ECM over time, giving new insights into how the brain develops.

The research is published in The Journal of Neuroscience.

• In biology, the extracellular matrix (ECM) [1, 2] also called intercellular matrix (ICM), is a network consisting of extracellular macromolecules and minerals, such as collagen, enzymes, glycoproteins, and hydroxyapatite that provide structural and biochemical support to surrounding [brain] cells [called neurons] [3, 4, 5]. Because multicellularity evolved independently in different multicellular lineages, the composition of ECM varies between multicellular structures; however, cell adhesion, cell-to-cell communication, and differentiation are common functions of the ECM [6]. More: extracellular matrix

Hacking of the American Mind (How? Dopamine)

The new tool has two main parts -- a protein that binds to the main ingredients of the brain ECM fused to another protein that irreversibly sticks to a variety of synthetic fluorescent dyes.

When scientists introduced the tool into neurons, it bound to the surrounding matrix. They then added a fluorescent dye to make matrix structures visible.

Using this tool, the researchers were able to watch as ECM was deposited over time in cultured rodent brain cells, making out dense clusters of matrix that appeared on only certain neurons and at different times.

More on this breakthrough: New tool reveals details of the microscopic brain structures between neurons

• Fluorescent microscopy image of a section of mouse brain, where green is a conventional brain ECM marker. Magenta is the new tool developed by the researchers. Credit: The Journal of Neuroscience (2024). DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0666-24.2024.
• The Practical Neuroscience of Buddha's Brain: Happiness, Love, & Wisdom by Dr. Rick Hanson
• The Hacking of the American Mind by Dr. Robert Lustig, M.D.