Seeing reality as it is: the Buddhist way

(Buddhism Podcast) Seeing reality as it is: The Buddhist way of seeing life

The Buddhist Way: As it is

(Bhikkhu Bodhi) Intro to Buddhism Series, Lecture 01. The Buddha

The real truth about women: Schopenhauer

(The Selves) The real truth about women: Schopenhauer

C'mon, Arty, you don't mean it! Come hug me.

Arthur Schopenhauer (Feb. 22, 1788–Sept. 21, 1860) was a German philosopher and writer known for his 1818 work The World as Will and Representation (Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung), which was expanded in 1844.

It characterizes the phenomenal world as the manifestation of a blind and irrational noumenal will [11, 12, 13].

I'll get him, girl. Watch me

Building on the transcendental idealism of Immanuel Kant, Schopenhauer developed an atheistic metaphysical and ethical system that rejected the contemporaneous ideas of German idealism [8, 9].

Schopenhauer was among the first philosophers in the Western tradition to share and affirm significant tenets of Indian philosophy, such as asceticism, denial of the self, and the notion of the world-as-appearance [14], as an ILLUSION the Buddha and other Dharmic teachers called Maya. More

The Uncanny Valley: What is 'human'?

Not all humans today are of earthling origin, which is to say, there are many hybrid ETs

• North 02: What is the uncanny valley?

Psychedelic elephants: animals get high

The drunkard said, "They're here, they're there, pink elephants [are] everywhere!"

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Oh no, it's not just humans. Elephants and other animals SEEK out psychedelics. (Think of the magic mushroom-loving reindeer of the Arctic circle, who not only search for Amanita muscaria or Fly agaric hallucinogenic mushrooms in the snow but also lick "yellow" snow in the hopes that the reindeer responsible for the deposit found some, just as shamans filter the strong entheogenic compounds in magic mushrooms for their followers and patients). There are humans and animals in Nepal, Turkey, and the Hindu Kush region who feast on hallucinogenic "mad honey," derived from rhododendron (grayanotoxins) and other plants collected by bees.

Don't get high, Kids. Meditate to see visions.

Mushrooms, contrary to what many might think, are not plants. They are a whole different kingdom, the fungi studied by mycologists. But there are plenty of plants -- like the components of Ayahuasca of the Amazon Jungle/Rainforest, which is comprised of three plant pharmacy ingredients, strangely, not the same three -- that are entheogens. There is Syrian Rue, there are alkaloids galore in rainforests, and animals are looking:

• Even in the Buddha's time, among the Sakas (Shakyas, Indo-Scythians), there was a "magical" entheogenic/psychedelic drug known in Vedic Sanskrit as soma (haoma in the Avestan language of the Indo-Iranians/Aryans west of ancient Jambudvipa). No one knows what exactly was in this concoction, but it seems to have included powerful local cannabis, kumis, and the mysterious psychedelic known as blue lotus. Did wandering ascetics (sramanas, shamans) partake of it for divine visions or did warrior princes imbibe it for guidance and/or to go berserk in battle like Berserkers?

Hallucinogenic plants

Oh no, Dumbo, it's bad trip time! Set and setting!

Deep within the heart of Africa, a captivating spectacle unfolds — one that challenges our understanding of animal behavior and the natural world.

Elephants, the majestic titans of the savanna (grasslands), have been observed engaging in a curious ritual: seeking out and consuming plants known for their psychoactive properties.

So that's why they stink so much: detoxing

[This is in addition to elephants' penchant to visit fallen fruit that has fermented and the ground (by the natural activity of yeasts and bacteria) and gorge themselves on it until they are as drunk as skunks, if skunks could get drunk, which they can if enough fruit falls on the ground to pique their interest or if Uncle Kelly leaves his glass of the "water of life" (Gaelic fuisce, whisky) out overnight after passing out and they come searching for Seamus the Dog's food bowl for freebies.]

This behavior, both fascinating and enigmatic, raises intriguing questions about the motivations and experiences of these gentle giants.

As we delve into this phenomenon, we uncover a tapestry of ecological interactions, evolutionary adaptations, and mysterious quests for altered states of consciousness. [Wow, suddenly AI started writing this intro for MSN?] Let's read on: The Psychedelic Elephants of Africa: How Some Animals Seek Out Hallucinogenic Plants

Does Wisdom Quarterly advocate (entheogenic) drug use?

Experimentation beyond science?

Certainly not. Drugs are bad and go against the fourth of the Five Precepts incumbents on Buddhists. If any thing (drug, food, behavior) occasions heedlessness (the violating of precepts or engaging in any of the Ten Courses of Unwholesome Conduct), it should and must be avoided and abstained from. Who in their right mind would take something that destroyed all one's virtue. One often hears of people who say, "I would never [fill in the blank with any bad thing]...unless I were drunk or high." Therefore, one should not get drunk or high because to do so is to engage in harmful karma that will come back to one, and it won't matter that one was high, as when drunk drivers get imprisoned just for driving drunk even though they didn't hit anyone yet. And when they do hit someone, it will not have been "on purpose" (with intention), so how can they be held liable? They can. They are. If one murders or steals while high, it does not matter to judges, juries, or the general public that the perpetrator excuses the behavior by saying, "Yeah, but I was high." Stay sober. Praise sobriety. Study plants:

• Study magic mushrooms, ecstasy, drugs at CIIS

Oh, much better, trippin' on reality

Get high on life or the ecstatic meditations (jhanas), with samadhi in mind, opening the third eye (dibba cakkhu), stimulating the pineal gland in natural and nonharmful ways. Try pranayama to alter consciousness in a way that does not destroy one. There's a fine line between character-building and soul-destroying (even though "soul" is not really the best word to use as it has misleading connotations) experiences. Drugs are a kind of Russian roulette. Find a shaman, a guide, a discipline before f'ing around and finding out. Will kids find out? Don't they always? It is an explorer's function to go on a quest. So let it be a spiritual quest of mind-expanding "soul" searching that brings about the end of suffering by heightening compassion and wisdom. That's what Wisdom Quarterly is saying. Read Dr. Ammon Hillman's The Chemical Muse to see just how long this has been going on in Western culture. Then read John Allegro's banned magic mushroom text about the real meaning of Christianity. Antihero Homer Simpson is the perfect example of what not to do, besotted on the couch being programmed by TV's hypnotic influence, accomplishing nothing.

• DiscoverWildScience via MSN.com, April 8, 2025; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Science: Cats want to play fetch. Cat Sutra

"Zig, hey!" says ginger white kitty, while extending its paw in the air (zaLysonArts/Getty).

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A surprising number of cats want us to play fetch with them

What good results from the deed of meditation?

Many people have seen dogs fetch, but cats like to get into the game, too. Despite their very different hunting and play styles, fetching appears to combine elements of predatory [hunting, stalking, killing] and social behavior for both species.

Although their domestication histories and natural behaviors are very different, cats and dogs share many similarities.

Both species are predators, live closely with humans and are capable of enjoying rich social experiences with us.

Is this fake Buddha quote true? Kind of, partly

In our newly published study, we found that more than 40% of cats described in our survey data played fetch, compared with almost 80% of dogs.

We also outlined several possible reasons for fetching, including play, selection during domestication, and learning effects. More

The Creeping [Cat] Sutra (AN 10.216)

Karmic-result? Deal with it.

“Meditators, I teach an exposition of the Dharma on creeping. Listen, attend closely, and I will speak.”

“Yes, venerable sir,” they replied. The Buddha then said: “What, meditators, is the exposition of the Dharma on creeping?

“Meditators, beings are the owners of their karma (deeds), heirs of their karma; they have karma as their origin, karma as their relative, karma as their resort; whatever karma they do, good or bad, they are its heirs.

I'm a stalker. I'm a predator. I'm a killer.

(1) “Here, someone destroys life, is murderous, bloodyhanded, given to beatings and violence, is merciless to living beings.

“One creeps along by body, speech, and mind: One's bodily karma is crooked, one's verbal karma is crooked, one's mental karma is crooked.

“[Therefore,] one's destination is crooked, one's rebirth is crooked. And for one with a crooked destination and rebirth, I say, there is one of two destinations -- either the exclusively painful hells or [rebirth/reappearance as] a species of creeping animal.

“What are the species of creeping animals? The CAT, the snake, the scorpion, the centipede, the mongoose, the mouse, and the owl, or any other animals that creep away when they see people.

I was after Maus. I guess karmic-results are just

“Thus, a being is reborn from a being; one is reborn through one’s deeds. When one has been reborn, contacts [impressions] affect one. It is in this way, I say, that beings are the heirs of their karma.

(2) “Someone takes what is not given… (3)…engages in sexual misconduct… (4)…speaks falsehood… (5)…speaks divisively… (6)…speaks harshly… (7)…indulges in idle chit chat… (8)…is full of longing… (9) …has a mind of ill will and intentions of hate… (10)…  More

• [EDITOR: KARMA (deeds, intentional actions, courses of action) refers to doing. Having been willed, carried out, and stored up, there are two kinds of outcomes -- the "resultants" (vipaka) and the "fruit" (phala) that ripens. [One might distinguish between immediate mental resultants and longer-term fruits or future circumstances that result from deeds.]
• Mikel Delgado, Judith Stella, The Conversation, Nature via ScienceAlert.com, 9/5/24; Dhr. Seven (ed.) "Creeping" (AN 10.216) based on Bhikkhu Bodhi translation (suttacentral.net, AN 10.216), CC Liu, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Science: Insects NOT attracted to light

Anton Petrov, Feb. 12, 2024; Sheldon S., Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

We were completely wrong about why bugs are attracted to lights

(Anton Petrov) Feb. 12, 2024:  This video discusses a new study that explains why bugs are attracted to light...and it's a bit depressing. They are not attracted to light. That is not what has been happening at all, even though we all thought that self-evidently it was.

Links: https://theconversation.com/the-surpr...

https://www.nature.com/articles/s4146... #insects #biology #bugs

• 0:00 Bugs attracted to light
• 1:30 Previous assumptions that were not correct
• 2:50 New research and how it was done
• 3:35 Discoveries and unusual findings
• 5:20 How this affects insects' instincts
• 6:55 Which lights are the worst?
• 8:00 Conclusions
• 9:20 Variations among insects

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Up close with a real "Wolfman" (60 Minutes)

Wolfman (60 Minutes Australia, Jan. 11, 2023); Seth Auberon, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The British man who eats, sleeps, and lives with wolves | 60 Minutes

Hungry Bear, can we just be friends? - OK.

(60 Minutes Australia) Jan. 11, 2023. Wolfman (2007): From childhood, we're taught to fear and loathe wolves. Just think back, there's the "Big Bad Wolf" of the fairy tales, the werewolves and wolfmen (lycanthropes) in horror flicks, even Wolverine from X-Men -- evil, dangerous, bloodthirsty beasts.

How could anyone possibly make friends with a pack of wolves? Good question. There's only one man with the answer.

• Native American Wendigo "Wolfman"

Shaun Ellis [born 1964, a sort of "dog duty ascetic" in Buddhist terms, motivated by hands on science and animal conservation rather than salvation and liberation from samsara] is from that rare breed of researchers -- part genius, part crazy.

The keystone wolves (wild dogs) of Montana

He's spent 20 years studying them in the wild -- eating, sleeping, living with wolves, trying to learn their language, finding out what makes them so frightening and how to keep them safe and separate from ranchers.

It really is hair-raising stuff. It's no wonder they call him the "Wolfman."

WATCH more of 60 Minutes Australia: 60minutes.com.au. #60MinutesAustralia Subscribe: 9Soci.al/chmP50wA97J. Full Episodes: 9now.app.link/uNP4qBkmN6.

Lycanthropy is an ancient condition sometimes involving shapeshifting (Werewolf /Wiki)

Lyin' noses on Ryan's Roses (Seacrest)

DJ Ryan Seacrest via Hillary Kombe, 6/14/22; Crystal Q., Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

I know how to milk money out of human misery.

(Hillary Kombe) Ryan's Roses: Caroline (Jan. 29th, 2018). Setup: The most gay deejay on LA's airwaves stumbles through a bust, as a cheating man is contacted and grilled as to why he didn't choose to send imaginary free flowers to the woman now on the phone, possibly a spouse or a serious girlfriend. This flimsy premise has made gayish guy-pal Ryan Seacrest's morning drive radio show Number 1 over all the morning zoo competition in LA. Love hurts. And Rye-Rye is here to milk it for all it's worth. It's nice to see a man struggling with the public face of his sexuality achieve commercial success on terrestrial radio after all his other ventures paid off, like with Simon Cowell.

• War of the Roses (radio show skit to catch cheaters)
• The War of the Roses: Ritual Shaming, Morality, and Gender on the Radio (usf.edu)
• Your favorite wacky morning radio show is a Festival of Lies (gawker.com)

(6/13/22) Marie is a sleuth and needs to get to the bottom of this

• Ryan and his all-female crew weekdays on KISS FM

Ryan Seacrest nabs a sponsor in Ford Corporation as Doja Cat and Harry Styles look on.

Connect with Hillary Kombe on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Music by Stephen Sanchez, "Until I Found You" (official music video), premiered June 28, 2022, from the new EP, Easy On My Eyes.

What about sex? Scarlett on monogamy (video)

Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly (OPINION); Cosmopolitan.co.uk via Yahoo News; unreleased Lana Del Rey (via a music video presented by Jessica Stone Fox)

(Jessica Stone Fox) Lana Del Rey performs "Because of You" (Music Video)

Scarlett Johansson has opened up about her relationship with French journalist Romain Dauriac, saying monogamy isn't for everyone.

 

Scarlett divorced Ryan Reynolds, who of course went on to wed Blake Lively, in 2011 [then to star in the greatest R-rated action movie of all time].

Two years later, she got engaged to Romain in August of 2013 after ten months of dating. She said at the time: "I've never been much of a traditional girl, but I do think [being engaged is] a nice period. There's something old-world nostalgic about it."

 

The couple of course went on to have daughter Rose Dorothy in 2014, but as 2017 rolled around, rumors emerged that she and Romain had split in the summer of 2016. Pictures of her at the Women's March without her wedding ring only fueled speculation further. More: Cosmopolitan UK

  

Standing up to The Man at the Women's March on Washington DC (democracynow.org)

When will "polyamory" be considered natural?

What's stopping you? Jail?

Poly means many, and amory means love. In a country of serial monagamists, were we date a lot of people but one at a time, what would it be like to date multiple people at the same time? Ask someone in the 60s and 70s. It's happening all the time, only most of us think or feel that it's cheating. Why? We aren't mature enough to talk about it openly, explain that it's our preference, and be fine with the other person doing it, too. No. You will not. We don't mind doing it, but the other person? Never. So we're hypocrites, clinging, and trying to have it all and have it our way like children. Then when people in Utah become polygamists (many marriages, not to be confused with bigamists, who marry again without telling the new person that they are already married, which is unethical and illegal), we freak out. Admittedly, even though the Christian Bible likes it, polygamy has it's own problems -- all that welfare to support a poor Mormon man's fecundity, the implicit sexist bias, the [add your offense here]. All of this is different than polyamory, the mature and open loving of more than one person. When will we consider it "normal and natural"? When the same people who gave us acceptance of interracial dating, feminism, and gay marriage feel like it. Our society and Western culture is pulled by strings. Movers and shakers, the mainstream media, religious leaders, the Hollywood machine, Washington DC, and the clandestine alphabet agencies -- we think it's our choice, but it's really them not so much telling but "manufacturing our consent." So love whom you want, but don't expect backing from society for awhile. In the Buddha's day, there was polygamy. There still is. Around the world, if you have the money, everyone is fine with it. Well, almost everyone. They don't have to be marriages. Throughout Europe, it's understood. A man will have multiple partners, and there's tacit acceptance of it. You just don't talk about it. There's comfort and things can carry on, hypocritcally, if we just don't talk about it. Ruin the family not for cheating (or molesting, or raping, or being gay, etc.) but for the CRIME of talking about it! How dare you mention it in this family; get out!

Study: How many dates before sex?

Ashley Wells, Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Kelly Bourdet, Refinery29 (Shine.Yahoo, 9-13-13)

Look, you're a nice girl and all, but I just want to wait and get to know you a little better.

  

Conservative mystery date (TMW)

A study...from Business Insider and Survey Monkey delves deep into the ever-changing connection between sex and love in America. 

 

And while this is by no means an academic study, it does offer some interesting insights into our romantic lives.

Let's get sexually statistical (Business Insider)

How are we finding dates? No surprise, online dating is a growing means of meeting that special someone. How are we asking people out? Apparently, a text message dinner-and-drive-in invite is becoming increasingly prevalent. 

Nothing too crazy there, but the most interesting trends have to do with what we want (physically) out of our dating lives and when, exactly, we want it. More

• (Herbal) testosterone makes it possible (advertisement)
• PHOTOS: Kristen Stewart skinny dipping in Swiss Mountains
• World's Favorite Male Porn Star Talks Feminist Porn
• Answer: If you haven't kissed by the 5th date, you probably won't have sex until marriage 

"Masters of Sex" (video)

CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Showtime

Well lock the door, for sure, don't make noise, hide the evidence, and no pictures...

WARNING: Scientific "smut," not for prudish temperaments. May be arousing and/or offensive to sensitive viewers. Oh, grow up; this is the Kama Loka!

Sex researchers Dr. William Masters (Michael Sheen) and Virginia Johnson (Lizzy Caplan) were a real life couple whose groundbreaking scientific research helped start an American conversation about sex that ignited a sexual revolution. The series premiere on their lives and seminal work, "Masters of Sex," on cable channel Showtime is September 29, 2013 at 10:00 pm ET/PT. Also starring Beau Bridges.

Preparing for the SAT Monster (video)

(Brightstorm2)

It's never too early/late to study, to practice, or to take it again. Here is quick, practical SAT advice. Check out all of BrightStorm's helpful tools and tips for the SAT. And remember, according to Wisdom Quarterly, only girls really understand higher level math. If only more would study and enjoy it at a lower level.

Free science help (brightstorm.com/science)

Breaking the Spell of Religion (audio)

Exploration with Dr. Michio Kaku (Saturday, July 16, KPFK.org)
Breaking the Spell (skeptic.com)

Can science explain religion as a natural phenomenon -- or set of phenomena useful to human beings in spite of the absence of a "God" as conceived of in human cultures?

• 
• LISTEN NOW
  

Dr. Dennett, an atheist and liberal, takes a serious look at the possibility that religions may serve an important and beneficial evolutionary purpose. He is interviewed by theoretical physicist, cofounder of string field theory, and peace activist Dr. Kaku, City College of New York (CUNY). This is followed by a discussion with Steven Pinker, author of The Blank Slate: the Modern Denial of Human Nature.

In The Blank Slate, one of the world's leading experts on language and the mind explores the idea of human nature and its moral, emotional, and political colorings.

With characteristic wit, lucidity, and insight, Steven Pinker argues that the dogma that the mind has no innate traits -- a doctrine held by many intellectuals during the past century -- denies our common humanity.

It also denies our individual preferences, replaces objective analyses of social problems with feel-good slogans, and distorts our understanding of politics, violence, parenting, and the arts.

Injecting calm and rationality into debates that are notorious for ax-grinding and mud-slinging, Pinker shows the importance of an honest acknowledgment of human nature based on science and common sense.

Skeptic Society's Michael Shermer speaks on "strange beliefs" at TED

Health: Beyond the "Paleo Diet"

“With this book, she [Nora Gedgaudas] moves the diet discussion into the world of evolutionary science.” - Anna Jedrziewski, New Age retailer

"These days, hormones are a hot topic"

In Nora Gedgaudas' book, Primal Body-Primal Mind, she focuses on those specific hormones that are so commonly imbalanced and problematic to the American population, contributing to common and frustrating symptoms such as weight gain, low energy, poor mood, and even premature aging. In clear and simple terms, Nora describes the root of these hormonal problems and outlines specific solutions that are effective and easy to apply. If you suffer from any of these conditions or are concerned with presenting them, this is the book you want to read." - Dr. Janet Lang, author, educator, and Restorative Endocrinology founder More

Nora Gedgaudas: I was raised in a prominent medical family, steeped from the get-go in sciences and obsessed even as a small child with interests in biology (I was reading and absorbing advanced college textbooks on invertebrate zoology at the age of 7). Both my parents were Lithuanian immigrants who had first moved to Munich, Germany, then Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada before finally moving to and settling in St, Paul, Minnesota. My father was a world renowned radiologist (his department at the University of Minnesota hospital was the first in the country to obtain full-body CAT-Scan and MRI due to his influence). More