Showing posts with label self. Show all posts
Showing posts with label self. Show all posts
Monday, May 25, 2026
Friday, May 1, 2026
Mind cannot be seen, so where is it?
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| 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
Sunday, March 8, 2026
Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Where do thoughts come from?
Where do our thoughts come from? Buddhist Wisdom
This post explores Buddhism's unique perspective on the mind (stream of cittas, consciousness), revealing that our thoughts do not spring from a fixed "self" but rather from an intricate dance of interconnected supporting conditions. These are spelled out in the 12 causal links of Dependent Origination.
Discover the profound teachings of Dependent Origination and anatta ("not-self," that all things, while real, are impersonal, impermanent, and utterly incapable of fulfilling us, and are therefore quite illusory, maya) to unlock a surprising sense of freedom and a deeper understanding of who or what we truly are. This is an invitation to see our mind in a whole new light.
- 00:00 - The question behind the question (infinite regress)
- 01:28 - Who owns the thoughts?
- 06:59 - Thoughts arise from conditions
- 13:59 - THE ROOT - ignorance as the fuel
- 17:56 - When understanding brings freedom
Thursday, October 2, 2025
Awakening is greatest human potential
Why awakening is the greatest human potential | Buddhist Wisdom
Buddhist wisdom points to awakening (bodhi, enlightenment, full realization of the Truth). This video explores why it's humanity's greatest birthright: a path to completely uproot suffering through penetrating insight into "not-self" (anatta) and "emptiness" (shunyata).
Discover how meditation and the Noble Eightfold Path lead to boundless compassion, wisdom, and inner peace.
Dive into timeless Buddhist teachings (like mindfulness of the body), philosophy, and psychology for true freedom and healing.
- 00:00 - What is awakening?
- 06:03 - Why is this our greatest potential?
- 10:55 - The path to awakening
- 15:36 - The awakened life
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Alan watts on the illusion of self (TV)
Maya, the Illusion of the Self: Alan Watts will transform YOU
🔔 Subscribe for more life-changing wisdom and spiritual insights. ► Subscribe to Simply Art - Inspire @simplyart-inspire. Maya, the Illusion of the Self - Alan Watts will transform US
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| Of course, I'm real! I'm a self with a soul! |
Māyā also connotes that which "is constantly changing and thus is spiritually unreal" (in opposition to an unchanging Absolute, or Brahman), and therefore "conceals the true character of spiritual reality" [5, 6].
The question becomes, Is this true of the [Five Aggregates clung to as] "self," "ego," "personality," or "soul"? Are they absolutes or conditioned phenomena coming into temporary being utterly dependent on supporting causes and conditions?
The Mahayana (Hindu-Buddhist) way of saying this is to state that self and all other phenomena are empty (Śūnyatā).
- Alan Watts, when there was a Zen boom, provided explanations and answers for Westerners wishing to understand Eastern philosophy and The Way, be that the Buddha's eightfold path or the Tao or the marga as found in the Vedas and Hinduism.
- Alan Watts (alanwatts.org), KQED; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
Sunday, May 18, 2025
What if there's no self, Alan Watts?
Alan Watts The Individual and the World Pt. 1 full lecture (Alan Watts Organization Official)
- Alan Watts (KPFK 90.7 FM) "Individual and the World," Pt. 1 (from Buddhist Radio, aka "Something's Happening" Sunday mornings at 8:00 am on KPFK with Diane of Hollywood Tuckman, Roy's wife)
Wait, you can't leave us hanging there, Alan. Keep going, keep explaining
- Alan Watts (alanwatts.org) via Archive.KPFK.org May 11, 2025; Dhr. Seven, Seth Auberon, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Sunday, March 9, 2025
Illusions, reality lies using autocorrect
Our existence is a lie…and here’s the proof
[There is a "mind only" philosophy in Buddhism that says it is ALL maya. See Yogachara and Madhyamaka.] This video explores the hidden layers of existence, the illusions shaping our perceptions, and the truth that’s been right in front of us the whole time. Once we see it, there’s no going back.
🕒 TIMESTAMPS
- 00:00 – The Illusion We Never Noticed
- 02:12 – How Our Mind Creates Reality
- 05:47 – The Hidden Patterns Controlling Us
- 09:30 – Are We Living in a Simulation?
- 12:15 – Breaking Free from the Illusion
- 15:20 – The Ultimate Truth
Can we control the illusion we call "reality"? How our minds shape reality!
Beatle George Harrison explains the reason for meditation and yoga
Magic mushrooms give access to reality or nuts? - Joe Rogan: What's the hardest you ever tripped?
Personal perception vs. shared perspective - Non-duality is not the answer the Buddha taught
What then is reality really?
How our mind shapes reality
- Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
Monday, September 9, 2024
Darth Vader dead: RIP James Earl Jones
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| Don't play with your blue saber! - You're not my Dad! - I am, and there goes the naughty hand! |
(Binary Residue) What is the most famous line in Star Wars? Wrong! Well, right, but not anymore. |
| We knew it would come to this. I should have prepared more. How could I know? |
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| "Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose," said the wise one. |
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| The Dharma of Star Wars |
The impossible has happened. The Dark Side has come one step closer to losing the epic war in heaven between good and evil, between the Force (may it be with you) and the Dark Side (may you be spared).
The voice of Darth Vader, James Earl Jones, Luke Skywalker's dad (though in one video on the Mandela Effect, where Jones speaks of not believing the script as he read it and said "LUKE, I'M YOUR FATHER" not "NO, I'M YOUR FATHER"), has ceased to be and is no more.
And he will never be again but has already reappeared (been reborn) as someone else. Well, he is neither the same as who he was nor altogether someone else by the strange operation of radical impermanence (anicca).
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| The Zen of R2-D2 (Bortolin) |
It's not just that things will someday die. It's that all things at all times, at every sub-moment as they arise, turn, and pass away, are passing away. The very "constituents of being" (the Five Aggregates clung to as self) are turning, falling away, and hurtling towards destruction. What is there worth clinging to?
So it is with the being we identify as the great actor James Earl Jones. He appeared as the voice of the character Darth Vader (a scary echo of Dark Invader?)
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| The wisdom of George Lucas' Star Wars |
- Everything can wait. Only seeking our spiritual liberation cannot wait. When Jones met Yama, the King of the Dead, he was asked a series of questions, according to the Buddha. We will all be asked these benign questions from kind Yama. Did we never think that as others were dying that we might die? Seeing the signs of old age, sickness, and death in others, did we never think that these messengers were talking to us, too?
- Clear the LightWorkers' Persecution Imprint (lwa.edwardmannix.com/dvyt)
Obituary (WP)
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| James Earl Jones dies at 93 (Chip East/Reuters) |
His agent, Barry McPherson, confirmed the death but did not cite a cause. Jones’ personification of barrel-chested authority in Hollywood and on Broadway, augmented by his 6-foot-2 frame, was in jarring contrast with his stammer and extreme timidity in childhood.
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| How to commemorate him? |
He discovered his love of performing in high school, when a teacher in an effort to draw him out, called on him to recite a few lines of poetry the young student had composed.
Jones, then 14, was shocked at the sudden confidence in his voice. “The written word is safe for the stutterer,” he later observed. “The script is a sanctuary.” More: James Earl Jones, commanding actor who voiced Darth Vader, dies at 93 (Washington Post via MSN)
(Shawna K.) Involved in yet another Mandela Effect or misremembering?
Thursday, July 11, 2024
Slo-Mo Battle: Eckhart Tolle vs. Ram Dass
A dialogue with Ram Dass and Eckhart Tolle
- [The Buddha taught that samma samadhi, "right concentration or stillness," while very beneficial and leading to saintly qualities is not nearly enough for the attainment of actual awakening (bodhi) and liberation (nirvana). It may seem a fine distinction, but the Buddha's whole reason for teaching was to establish the Dharma in the world that had been lost for thousands of years or much long, in spite of the fact that we had the Vedas and Brahmanism and Indian teachers all of that time. If those things had been enough to bring people to enlightenment, he would have had no reason to establish "right view" and a "path of purification" that leads to a real/permanent state of moksha or "liberation." While Hinduism literally uses the exact same words -- nirvana, moksha, samadhi, karma, and the like, they mean very different things in the Teachings of the historical Buddha. Mahayana Buddhism, on the other hand, seems to have bought into the Hindu definitions and acts as a kind of popular sect of Hinduism more than as a form of Buddhism. But the average person will never know this without studying it deeply. Indeed, other religions have "salvation" and "liberation," but it is only because they are defining those words differently. From an Early Buddhist standpoint, the terms are being misapplied to impermanent states, to forms of rebirth in heaven or in the company of Brahma, as if one would stay there forever and therefore be free of samsara when someone was actually still fully immersed in the problem the Buddha found a final solution to.]
Host Tami Simon (Sounds True) referees (or mediates the conversation). Filmed in Maui, Hawaii, on October 28, 2011, posted on May 19, 2014.
People don't see it: Alan Watts on life's [Mahayana-Hindu] secret awakening
ABOUT: The Love Serve Remember Foundation is dedicated to preserving and continuing the teachings of Ram Dass and his guru Neem Karoli Baba.
Website: ramdass.org. Instagram: babaramdass, Facebook: babaramdass, Twitter: babaramdass.
Monday, May 27, 2024
Top theory on where consciousness comes from
The Top Theory on Where Consciousness Comes From | Stuart Hameroff
What is "consciousness," the magic of retroflex self-awareness or "awareness" of any kind? Is it inherent in the universe, a quality of materiality, a spiritual component in the material world, a material locus in an illusory spiritual world? Although the Buddha 26 centuries ago laid out the process of consciousness, vinnana, in stark detail, that has not been good enough for a Western science ignorant of it. However, it is nearly certain that the definition, characteristics, and meaning of these consciousness-es would never satisfy the West because here in the U.S. and European countries, we imagine something more to consciousness than an impersonal (empty, essenceless, selfless) process. Because we (a collection of impersonal processes) are aware, we search in vain for something tangible, permanent, viable, and personal behind all of the apparent change, unpleasantness, and stark reality of what is just a constituted (dependently originated) process and not a thing in and of itself. If we go in search of self, we must at some point come to consciousness. If consciousness is misunderstood and clung to as self, there will be suffering and identification with that suffering. Unless things (the Five Aggregates clung to as self) as seen as they really are, there will be no letting go, no freedom, no liberation, and no awakening from the illusion of it all. In that spirit, the West keeps searching. And here's one theory about where "consciousness" comes from and therefore, to some extent, what it is.
Monday, March 4, 2024
Study: threefold rise in US bisexuality
PsyPost, 3/4/24; CC Liu, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
The findings shed light on the evolving landscape of sexual orientation in the United States.
While acceptance of same-sex sex sexuality and marriage has notably increased, bisexuality has remained somewhat in the shadows, with less clarity around its trends and behaviors.
This gap prompted researchers to delve into nationally representative samples to map out the landscape of bisexuality.
This approach allowed them to maintain a focus on a nationally representative sample, ensuring that their findings could speak to broader societal trends.
The study employed four measures based on sexual behavior and one measure based on identity.
Starting in 1989, the GSS included questions about the number of male and female partners respondents had since turning 18, which the researchers used to categorize respondents into groups based on the sex of their sexual partners.
This trend was further corroborated by the increase in respondents identifying as bisexual, which more than doubled from the 2008–2010 waves to the 2012–2018 waves.
Interestingly, the proportion of individuals identifying as bisexual surpassed those identifying as gay or lesbian in the more recent cohorts, underscoring the growing visibility and acknowledgment of bisexuality as a legitimate sexual orientation.
The research also highlighted the complexity of bisexual identity and behavior. For instance, while there was an increase in the number of individuals identifying as bisexual, this did not always align with the patterns of sexual behavior reported.
Some individuals who had sexual partners of both sexes did not necessarily identify as bisexual [though we would objectively categorize them as such regardless of their subjective claims], which points to the nuanced ways in which sexual orientation is experienced and understood.
This finding is indicative of the generational shift in attitudes towards sexuality, where younger cohorts exhibit greater openness and fluidity in their sexual orientation and behaviors.
There were no significant differences in the reporting of bisexuality among different racial and ethnic groups, suggesting that the increase in bisexuality may be a widespread phenomenon across diverse communities in the United States.
“Future research on sexual orientation can better recognize that the terms with which we identify ourselves are social and that there is some degree of choice about how to identify our sexual orientation, particularly among individuals with histories of both male and female partners.
Study shows threefold rise in bisexual behavior among Americans
A study published in The Journal of Sex Research
uncovered a significant rise in the number of Americans identifying as bisexual or reporting bisexual behaviors, especially in recent years.
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| I'm not lesbian. I'm but call myself abrosexual. |
While acceptance of same-sex sex sexuality and marriage has notably increased, bisexuality has remained somewhat in the shadows, with less clarity around its trends and behaviors.
This gap prompted researchers to delve into nationally representative samples to map out the landscape of bisexuality.
For their study, the researchers utilized the wealth of data provided by the General Social Survey (GSS). The GSS, a cornerstone of social science research, has been gathering data on the attitudes, behaviors, and characteristics of the American public since 1972.
The research team analyzed responses from a substantial sample of 32,238 respondents who completed the GSS between 1989 and 2018, along with an additional 2,313 respondents from the 2021 wave.
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| The End of Gender will mean the end of gay? |
The study employed four measures based on sexual behavior and one measure based on identity.
Starting in 1989, the GSS included questions about the number of male and female partners respondents had since turning 18, which the researchers used to categorize respondents into groups based on the sex of their sexual partners.
Additionally, from 2008 onwards, the GSS began asking respondents to identify their sexual orientation, offering options like “gay, lesbian, or homosexual,” “bisexual,” and “heterosexual or straight.”
These indicators allowed the researchers to track changes in how people report their sexual orientation and behaviors over time.
The researchers found that the proportion of respondents reporting partners of both sexes since age 18 experienced a notable increase over time.
Specifically, the study documents a threefold rise in such reports, moving from 3.1% in the 1989–1994 waves to 9.3% in the 2012–2018 waves.
- [So as has been reported for years, about 10% of the population will behave in a "gay" way, with "gay" being defined as purposely (as opposed to forcibly) engaging in any kind of erotic behavior or "experimentation" with a member of the same biological sex, whatever the rationalization for doing so. This would include all bisexual behavior but exclude rape or non-consensual assault.]
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| Bis are sick. I'm trans, so I go only date men. |
Interestingly, the proportion of individuals identifying as bisexual surpassed those identifying as gay or lesbian in the more recent cohorts, underscoring the growing visibility and acknowledgment of bisexuality as a legitimate sexual orientation.
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| I don't like "butch" and "dyke." Call me abro. |
Some individuals who had sexual partners of both sexes did not necessarily identify as bisexual [though we would objectively categorize them as such regardless of their subjective claims], which points to the nuanced ways in which sexual orientation is experienced and understood.
“There are several likely explanations for this,” the researchers wrote. “First, sexual behavior can be exploratory, taking place before a person has clarified their own sexual orientation identity, a process that continues throughout young adulthood. Our measure likely captures gay and lesbian persons who had partners of a different sex before they came out or clarified their sexual orientations, which can occur later in life.”
“Second, sexual orientation can be fluid [like when you're just act out gay impulses on weekends or when drinking or intoxicated?], with some people changing their sexual behavior and/or their sexual orientation identities over time. In both of these cases, using the sex of sexual partners since age 18 measure means that we may be capturing sexual experiences that have taken place many years ago, especially for older respondents.
“Finally, even persons who have more recently had partners of both sexes may not consider themselves bisexual [because of the embarrassment that would cause to be lumped into the LGBTQIA+ cohort, where Q does not mean "queer" but "questioning" or even "quasi" by society], and the term may not fit their understandings of themselves and their sexual behavior [or at least not that they would want to admit it].”
The study also shed light on demographic variations in the reporting of sexual orientation and behavior.
Younger individuals and women were more likely than their older and male counterparts to report partners of both sexes and to identify as bisexual.
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| What? We don't have to identify. We can pass. |
There were no significant differences in the reporting of bisexuality among different racial and ethnic groups, suggesting that the increase in bisexuality may be a widespread phenomenon across diverse communities in the United States.
“The proportion of persons identifying as bisexual and the proportion of persons who report engaging in sex with partners of both sexes in the U.S. have increased markedly since 1989,” the researchers concluded.
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| Ryan Seacrest doesn't like labels. |
- [Yeah, why call yourself "gay," which has a clear stigma when you can just get away with saying "fluid," "heteroflexible," "questioning," "unsure," "I just like people for people and don't see sex," or any other hedge, rationalization, excuse, or alternative to accurate reporting?]
The study, “The Rise of Bisexuality: U.S. Representative Data Show an Increase Over Time in Bisexual Identity and Persons Reporting Sex with Both Women and Men,” was authored by Martin A. Monto and Sophia Neuweiler.
Thursday, September 21, 2023
My phone can FLY: TheHover.com
thehover.com; Jen Bradford, Dharma Buddhist Meditation (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly
- My yoga is improved with pacificrimathletics.com
- Eerie stories from US National Parks that give us chills - like these Bigfoot structures that Sasquatch creatures make out of broken tree trunks and twisted tree branches no other creature is strong enough to make
- VIDEO: Archeologists discover seven tombs of elite 'lords' in Peru from 3,000 years ago (msn.com)
- Virginia family receives millions in settlement with police over killer cops killing a Black man in wrongful death of Mr. Irvo Otieno lawsuit
- Ten killer cops killed Irvo Otieno in Virginia, March 2023
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
Neuroscience of Awakening: Buddhist Brain
Asangoham, April 29, 2023; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
The Neuroscience of Awakening: Your Brain on Buddhism
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| [The brain is not the mind. Mind is near the heart] |
In fact, research done in the last decade has shown that the brain is much
more malleable and responsive to change than previously thought.
Neuroplasticity can occur at different levels of the brain, from the level of
individual neurons to the level of entire brain regions.
One of the primary features of neuroplasticity is that it is
activity-dependent.
This means that the changes in the brain are driven by experiences and
activities.
For example, if a person engages in a particular activity repeatedly, such as
learning to play a musical instrument or practicing a new language, the brain will adapt to these experiences and develop new neural connections
that support these activities.
Neuroplasticity also has important implications for understanding the
relationship between the mind and the brain.
If the brain can change and adapt in response to
experiences, this means that our minds also can change
and adapt.
But what do we mean when we say “mind”?
What is a mind?
The mind is nothing but thoughts.
There is no mind without thoughts.
- [There is. Mind knows. Thought is the attempt to symbolize conceptualizations. According to the Abhidharma and verifiable personal experience, there were all these things before the brain. They exist independently.]
Therefore, because of the neuroplasticity of brains, we can radically change
our thought patterns, or our minds.
We can change our thought patterns to have happier or more beneficial
minds.
But even more than this.
We can also develop the capacity to slow or even stop thought completely
by the activity of focusing attention on the emptiness or empty silence
between thoughts.
Many religious and mystical traditions, including many schools of
Buddhism, teach that it is this capacity to rest in the emptiness between
thought that ultimately reveals the very nature of reality, and the reality of
who we truly are.
Script: Matt Mackane. Edit: Medo. Voiceover: Andrea Giordani. Music: Epidemic Music x Original.
DISCLAIMER 01: All ideas expressed on this channel are for entertainment and general information purposes only. There is no advice on what an individual should or should not do. Any response made by anyone after hearing this communication is their interpretation and is their responsibility. Ideas expressed by this channel should not be treated as a substitute for medical advice or professional help. If expert assistance or counselling is needed, the services of a competent professional should be sought.
DISCLAIMER 02: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If one is, or represents, the copyright owner of materials used in this video and has an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to doseofquotes02@gmail.com.
Copyright © 2022 Asangoham. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, February 1, 2023
Self-Compassion: Self-Soothing (Kristin Neff)
Kristin Neff (self-compassion.org, 10/16/14); Amber Larson, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Kristin Neff: The Three Components of Self-Compassion
Do it right now in two minutes
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