Meanwhile, madman, convinced he can fly a magic carpet off a cliff, jumps to his death (with a parachute just in case) but ends up flying the carpet down for two minutes at a tremendous speed, safely deploying his parachute and making it safely to the ground, having filmed the entire experience from his POV. One has to see it to believe it and never read stories about Aladdin in the same way: French man leaps off mountainside on a magic carpet and flies thousands of feet down to safety through midair (MSN)
The Vas or Buddhist Rains Retreat period ("Lent") for monastics has begun. In Southern California, although the weather is good and anything but rainy, Theravada monastics remain on a Southeast Asian seasonal calendar. This is the time when it is frequently raining due to the annual monsoon. The roads are muddy. The fields are flooded.
The Buddha planned for this in ancient Proto-India. Wandering ascetics would be blamed for walking around on alms or on journeys without considering the massive number of frogs, insects, fishes, bugs, crawlies, snakes, and others writhing on the renourished ground as water finally starts coming down after a dry spell.
Is it possible to learn Buddhism in English translation? Yes.
The Buddha spoke Pali (Magadhi, Prakrit, his Scythian/Gandharan language, and understood Sanskrit, an exclusively Brahmin liturgical language at that time), but Buddhism has spread in many other Asian languages over the centuries, into English and European languages due to British imperial scholarship. Now it is available in many tongues all around cosmopolitan LA.
Fully ordained American Theravada Buddhist nuns in Los Angeles. The tradition lives.
What would the Buddha do?
The Buddha called for wanderers to choose a lodging, a vihara if available or some suitable natural residence like a cave or shelter, and stay there until the rains pass. That might be four months. This, then, becomes the ideal time for intensive meditation practice, study of the sacred texts, and helping lay practitioners to understand and apply the Dharma (Dhamma).
Monks read the Pali canon, present sutras, sermons, and question and answer periods. They chant to distribute blessings, engage in the development of loving-kindness, and attend to the needs of the abbey, monastery, convent, nunnery, temple, pagoda, or monastic center.
The tradition lives on in the megalopolis that is Los Angeles and around the country in Theravada temples from all countries.
Closer to central Los Angeles (rather than deep in the suburbs of the SGV) another big Sri Lankan Buddhist temple exists with many services in English:
"The Theravada [Buddhist] tradition is the oldest and most authentic version of the Buddha's teachings now surviving." More
SERVICES: Monks begin the day at 6:00 am with services in the shrine room. First, there are offerings to the Buddha, then a recitation of a sutta to invoke blessings for the world, and finally a meditation on loving-kindness that extends good will and harmony to all beings.
MEDITATION: On Tuesdays and Fridays, 7:00 to 8:00 pm, instruction in meditation is given to beginners as well as those with more experience. Meditation is followed by a Dharma talk based on the teachings of the historical Buddha. From time to time, weekend intensive retreats are organized. On the first Sunday of each month, a one-day retreat is held. More
Sundays from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm. Meditation and Buddhist talks, perfect for those looking to deepen their spiritual practice. Weekly meditation classes and practice.
July 28: Candlelight Ceremony for World Peace and Meditation Session on the Buddha
Aug. 4: Introuction to Mindfulness Meditation
Aug. 11: Mindfulness of Breathing (Anapanasati)
Anger is punishment and also leads to misdeeds
Aug. 18: Lovingkindness Meditation to Overcome Anger (Mettanussati) with Ven. Makadure Dhammapeethi Thero
Aug. 25: Witness the Truth for Sustainable Peace and Happiness (The Four Noble Truths and Three Characteristics of All States of Existence) with Ven. Unaleye Sirinanda Thero
Sept. 1: Mindfulness of Feelings (Vedananupassana)
Sept. 8: Mindfulness of Thoughts (Cittanupassana)
Sept. 15: Embodiment of Qualities of the Triple Gem and Divine Beings (Buddhanussati, Dhammanussati, Sanghanussati, and Devatanussati)
Sept. 22: Contemplation on Letting Go (Caganussati)
Sept. 29: Overcoming Barriers; Five Hindrances (Panca Nivarana) for Meditation
Oct. 6: Seven Pillars to Empower Meditation (Satta Bojjhanga, the Seven Factors of Enlightenment)
Oct. 13: The Five Aggregates (Pancakkhandha) Comprehensive Understanding of Human Life with Ven. Usgoda Dhammagaru Thero
Oct. 20: Dare at the End of Life (Maranussati or Mindfulness of Death) with Ven. Nepalaye Suwanna Thero
Monthly Lunar Observance Day
This month was celebrated Aug. 11
The Mindfulness Meditation Center is a Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhist monastery inside the Los Angeles Buddhist Vihara (in Covina, SGV). The four months between July and October is the Rains Retreat or Buddhist "Lent," a period of nonwandering, intensive meditation and teaching, so every Sunday from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm features a Dharma talk and mindfulness meditation:
(BBC Select) Aug. 6, 2024: In June 2013, an international team of archaeologists uncovered a lost urban landscape deep inside the Buddhist Cambodia's jungle, close to the magnificent 12th-century temple complex of Angkor Wat.
Filmed with unique access, this fascinating history documentary follows the team as they travel deep into the jungle to uncover more about this forgotten city – once the capital of the mighty Khmer Empire and home to a million people – and its eventual decline.
ABOUT: BBC Select is the home of documentaries. Available in the U.S. and Canada. Find out more and start free trial: bit.ly/3kwM3bU.
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'Chaos': Florida under state of emergency amid record rain and flooding
(MSNBC) June 13, 2024: South Florida is under a state of emergency amid record rainfall and flooding. NBC News' Sam Brock is on the ground in Florida, reporting on the current situation and NBC News meteorologist Bill Karins has the latest forecast. #Weather #Florida #Flooding
UPDATE: Entire Florida neighborhoods underwater after heavy rain
(CBS News)
June 14, 2024: Florida residents are still reeling from flooding in cities across the state that saw multiple days of devastating rainfall. In the capital, Miami, cars remain submerged, and several families evacuated from their homes. CBS News national correspondent Manuel Bojorquez reports. #news #weather #florida
(Ryan Hall, Y'all XTRA) Sept. 15, 2023: Get the best home personal weather station (shopryanhall.com) from a Southern weatherman. This video talks about Hurricane Lee and new storms in the Atlantic. #ryanhallyall
[Now that we know the government has been controlling the weather for quite some time, it changes our whole outlook on weather, hurricane damage, HAARP, chemtrails, cloud seeding, and laser guided eyes of storms. The military-industrial complex hasn't been sitting on Tesla and other futuristic technology, it's been developing and deploying it for decades. Stewart Swerdlow was right, and it hasn't just been irregularities and anomalies at Montauk Point for the government's Montauk Project, which Swerdlow participated in and reports on firsthand.]
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: ryanhallyall.com. BUSINESS INQUIRIES: info@ryanhallyall.com
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Pikeville, KY 41501.
DISCLAIMER: Please refer to local National Weather Service office to get the most reliable and up to date weather information possible [rather than relying solely on Mr. Hall's analysis].
Stranded 'Burning Man' attendees leaving after flood
(KTLA 5) Sept. 4, 2023: Muddy roads flooded by a summer storm that left tens of thousands of partygoers stranded for days at the Burning Man counterculture festival had dried up enough by Monday afternoon to allow them to begin their exodus from the northern Nevada desert. There was just one more thing to do: burn that man. Samantha Cortese reports for KTLA 5 News at 10. KTLA 5 News, Los Angeles, keeping Southern Californians informed since 1947.
Muddy weekend at Burning Man: Why doctor says Burners need to wash off mud ASAP
(ABC7 News Bay Area) Sept. 4, 2023: The mud tens of thousands of people were exposed to at Burning Man is raising health concerns for increased risk of infections. Here's what one Bay Area infectious disease specialist is recommending. abc7ne.ws/3sGtUAs\
Hurricane Hilary: First-ever Tropical Storm issued for California | LiveNOW
I'm not crazy and evil! Well, not crazy anyway!
(FOX/KHOU 11) Aug. 18, 2023, tropical update: Tropical cyclone (Hurricane Hilary 2023) is a Category 4 storm, being tracked. Emily is coming. There are waves on the Atlantic. Hilary is coming up from Lower California, Mexico, and is about to engulf Southern California. Meteorologist Tim Pandajis is keeping an eye on developments.
COMMENTS
(WQ) I somehow feel that witch is involved, lesbian witch and star of her own show, warlord, warmonger, failed presidential candidate, killer secretary of state, and all around liar. She has her own little-known TV show to keep her quiet. Chelsea was on it recently. She's still a monster. She tweets out then blocks replies. Is she conjuring storms with witchcraft with her Hollywood pack? Wouldn't doubt it.
(@davidlarson2534) In the summer of 1978 there was a hurricane that moved north up the Gulf of California. I almost took my usual path of I-8 from San Diego to Phoenix but went to I-10 at Banning, CA, to catch some friends. Had I gone via I-8, I would have been part of the catastrophic destruction of that freeway on the eastern slope of the mountains. I traveled over the Colorado River near Blythe, CA. I was the last car to cross before they closed the freeway bridge because of potential destruction from the tropical storm.
(@catherinewilliams9680) Let's hope there are enough reservoirs in the path of this tropical storm to be able to hold some of this rain.
(@pepsiholic4084) Praying for you guys from Daytona Beach, Florida. Know exactly what you are going thru. Went thru 2 of them last year. Murdered our beach.
KTLA 5, L.A., Sept. 4 and Aug. 30, 2022; CBS News, 9/7/22; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
L.A. and San Bernardino Counties under severe thunderstorm warnings during a heat wave
(KTLA 5) Sept. 4, 2022. Hail and fast-moving winds resulted in the National Weather Service issuing severe thunderstorm warnings for Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties on Sunday. This comes as a heat wave continues to scorch Southern California, brush fires rage out of control, smog overhangs the area, rolling blackouts are threatened, and electric car purchases are being mandated.
September heat wave: Excessive heat warnings issued for Los Angeles area
(KTLA 5) A dangerous, record-breaking heat wave is expected to develop over Southern California over the next several days, prompting Excessive Heat Warnings for millions of Los Angeles residents and others in the area. Details: ktla.com/news/local-news... Chris Wolfe reports for the KTLA 5 News at 10:00 pm. Connect with KTLA online | website: ktla.com, twitter.com/ktla, facebook.com/ktla5, instagram.com/ktla5news.
Extreme heat strains California power grid as wildfires threaten state
(CBS News) Sept. 7, 2022. California's electric power grid is being pushed to its limits by a major heat wave that won't let up for at least a few more days. Firefighters are dealing with the high temperatures and dry (prolonged drought) conditions that are fueling wildfires across the state. CBS News correspondent Carter Evans reports from Los Angeles. Remember to go out and buy a mandatory electric vehicle with its carbon producing electric charging and planet destroying mineral utilizing planned obsolescence. The government is fully behind Elon Musk but not the citizens of the country.
(CBS News) Sept. 7, 2022. Extreme heat is wreaking havoc on California. Triple-digit temperatures over the course of the past week have made it difficult for crews to fight several wildfires that popped up across the state. The heat is also jeopardizing California's power grid. CBS News Correspondent Carter Evans reports from California. Then Akshaya Jha, assistant professor of economics and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, discusses how California is handling the heat [and the lack of infrastructure to mandate electric cars and water conservation efforts without desalination plants being planned to run the state the way prosperous Catalina Island is run].
Even bigger debris flow flash flood in Flagstaff drone footage
(Reed Timmer, July 30, 2022) A monster, pitch-black debris flow makes it was through Flagstaff Arizona. This is a flash flood emergency, and another has been declared by the city. All of this from just over 2 inches of rain hitting the San Fransisco Peaks burn scar area. See the result from both the ground and a drone.
Flash floods transform southern Utah streams
(Fox13Now, Aug. 1, 2022) More Utah news from fox13now.com and Facebook bit.ly/3ydzNlD. Fox 13 breaks news on weather and daily headlines from around Utah. Monsoon rains have flooded Las Vegas, Nevada, Death Valley, California, Sedona, Arizona, and other parts of the Southwestern USA.
Cyclone Amphan: Top 10 most destructive visuals caught on camera
Super-cyclone Amphan has claimed over 10 lives so far and lakhs (100s of thousands) of people have been evacuated. Take a look at some of the dreaded scenes which were witnessed due to the furious cyclone.
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NEWS9 is widely known to be the undisputed leader and most trusted source of news and information in Karnataka, India. Today, NEWS9 is the fastest growing digital news platform on the subcontinent. NEWS9 brings thought-provoking stories from across the world on topics ranging from politics, finance, Bollywood, and sport to latest trends on social media, lifestyle, tech, and wellness. Watch in your hut on your mobile. That's NEWS9.
Welcome to the wettest place on Earth. "Living root bridges" can be found in the tropical rainforests of Meghalaya state, northeastern India, among the wettest places on Earth.
The gentle waterways that flow through the region’s valleys become gushing torrents during the summer monsoon season and would wash away traditional bamboo bridges.
So generations of indigenous Khasi people have devised a way of building root bridges by shaping living trees, like one near the village of Mawsynram.
It works like this: Rubber fig trees are planted or located on opposite riverbanks. As the trees' above-ground roots grow, the Khasi guide them across the water, sometimes with the support of temporary scaffolding like bamboo.
Limestone cave expedition, Jainta Hills
After years of tending, the roots eventually join and take hold of each other, forming a living suspension bridge that provides safe passage over swollen rivers. The innovation has proved critical to the Khasi people.
In this environment, bridges made of harvested materials would quickly rot and fall apart, leaving villages cut off and isolated. Building a living root bridge requires patience, however.
It takes about 15 to 30 years to grow a bridge sturdy enough to support humans. But the investment pays off. As these bridges age, they get stronger. Some are 100 feet long and can hold over 50 people.
Giant "wild men" of the world
Yeti (Mande Barung) of India
Of course they exist and gov'ts know. Ask Lloyd Pye.
In the U.S. knows them as Bigfoot, in Canada as Sasquatch, in China as Yeren, in Russia, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, the Chechnia, and the Caucasus as Almas or "Wild Man," in Brazil as Mapinguary, in Sumatra as Orang Pendek, in Australia as Yowie, in Vietnam and Borneo as Batatut, Indonesia as Sajarang Gigi, in Bangladesh as Ban-Manush, in India as Mande Burung and, most famously of all, in Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet as Yeti or "Abominable Snowmen."
The little-known Indian version of this legendary ape-like creature is called mande barung -- or "forest man" -- and is reputed to live in the remote west Garo Hills of the north-eastern state of Meghalaya, India.
I was invited by passionate Yeti-believer Dipu Marak to travel throughout the area to hear for myself what he says is compelling evidence of the existence of a black and grey ape-like animal which stands about nearly 10 feet (3m) tall.
The Mande Burung is a cryptozoological ape-like creature that inhabits the Meghalaya subtropical forests in the remote Garo Hills of the Northeast India. In July of 2019I was invited by passionate yeti believer Dipu Marak to travel throughout the area of the Garo Hills, Meghalaya, in search of India's Yeti.
(Indpendent.co.uk) [In 2008] a group of amateur "Yeti-hunters" from Meghalaya gave two hairs they say they discovered in a "nest" of the Mande Burung to a renowned British primatologist. Having examined the hairs, Ian Redmond said they were like that of no other creature known to live in these jungles. Even more teasingly, Dr. Redmond said that under the microscope the hairs most closely resembled those of a human, a chimp, a gorilla, or the purported "Yeti hairs" brought back by the late Sir Edmund Hilary's 1953 Mt. Everest expedition. More
Thousands await rescue amid deadly south Indian floods
Do space devas still control the weather?
TRIVANDRUM, South India -
Thousands of stranded people were waiting to be rescued Saturday and
officials pleaded for more help as relentless monsoon floods battered
the southern Indian state of Kerala, where more than 190 have died in a
little over a week and much of the state is partially submerged.
PHOTOS: A truck carries people past a flooded road in Thrissur, in the southern
Indian state of Kerala, Saturday, Aug. 18, 2018. Rescuers used
helicopters and boats on Friday to evacuate thousands of people stranded
on their rooftops following unprecedented flooding in the southern
Indian state of Kerala that killed hundreds, officials said.
Heavy rains hit parts of the state again Saturday
morning, slowing attempts to deploy rescuers and get relief supplies to
isolated areas. Many have seen no help for days and can only be reached
by boat or helicopter.
More than 300,000 people have taken shelter in over
1,500 state-run relief camps, officials said. But authorities said they
were being inundated with calls for assistance, local media reported.
"We are receiving multiple repetitive rescue requests," the office of
the state's top official, Pinarayi Vijayan, said Friday in a tweet,
asking those in need to provide their exact location and nearby
landmarks so rescuers can find them.
Officials have called it the worst flooding in
Kerala in a century, with rainfall in some areas well over double that
of a typical monsoon season. The downpours that started Aug. 8 have
triggered floods and landslides and caused homes and bridges to collapse
across Kerala, a picturesque state known for its quiet tropical
backwaters and beautiful beaches. More
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