It's maya, an illusion, but it follows rules this samsara, wheel of life and death, rebirth and suffering. It is as real as a dream. Are we the divine play of Brahman, GOD,
Showing posts with label sickness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sickness. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 22, 2025
Monday, July 7, 2025
Clingy love is doomed to disappoint
Mystic Knights "I'm Afraid"
"Peace of mind, peace of mind, hard to keep, hard to find" sings Danny Elfman
How to gain peace of mind, Dalai Lama?
The 14th Dalai Lama explains how one might gain peace of mind
Labels:
aphrodisiac,
betrayal,
biological drive,
consume,
craving,
deception,
delusion,
desperation,
dopamine,
ego,
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love,
madness,
passion,
possession,
sex,
sickness,
solitude,
war
Thursday, May 22, 2025
Science: How bad could one beer be?
How dangerous could one beer be?
CHAPTERS
- 00:00 Intro
- 01:22 Drinking appears beneficial
- 03:54 The first mistake
- 05:00 Hank's Razor
- 07:34 Rethinking drinking
- 08:53 A failed trial
- 10:43 A new genetic tool
- 13:04 How risky is drinking?
- 14:50 How dangerous is alcohol?
- ASK HOWTOWN A QUESTION: howtown.co/contact
SELECTED SOURCES
1981 Bay Area study pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7258861
How much alcohol is healthy and safe to drink? - Association between daily alcohol intake and risk of all-cause mortality jamanetwork.com/journals/jama...
- Lancet mega-study of 195 countries thelancet.com/journals/la...
- Kiran Biddinger’s mendelian randomization study of cardiovascular effects jamanetwork.com/journals/jama...
- FULL SOURCE LIST: docs.google.com/document...
Howtown is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (sloan.org), in association with IMI (theimi.co), and is grateful for the generous support of the Patreon Town Council.*
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*Patreon Town Council: Bev Fong Chris Wubbels Sean Barrett Mike Purvis Ziver Imren Jim Jon Hewett Albychen Hernando Garcia Vladimir Khalimovskiy Sean Talon Evan Hass Mark Tinker Julian Mayorga L.A. O’Connor Hoang Anh Ky Mikey Limotta Marcos Huerta Joaquim Salles Sam Gaty Verner Sääsk Jason Dunlap Parag Mallick Paul Monaghan Edgar Sutawika.
- Joss Fong, Adam Cole, Howtown, Jan. 10, 2025; Ashley Wells, Pfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Sunday, August 4, 2024
'As You Like It' FREE Shakespeare in Park, LA
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| 2024 Festival — Independent Shakespeare Company in Griffith Park, LA (iscla.org) |
Shakespeare in the Park is a long tradition in American theatre. Los Angeles, being a cultural hub of the, well, West Coast, has the Independent Shakespeare Company. This summer As You Like It is running most nights, FREE, from July 10 to September 1.
As You Like It is one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays. It offers a powerful choice: natural order as experienced by the banished Duke and his followers in the forest versus a selfish, superficial consumer society represented by the usurping Duke Frederick.
Those who go on this adventure in the Forest of Arden find that with class and gender boundaries shattered, they discover themselves and a tolerance for others.
ISCLA is serving up a heartfelt screwball romantic comedy with songs inspired by Al Bowlly (a crooner popular in 1930’s Britain) to evoke an atmosphere of falling in love.
Performances run from Wednesday to Sunday @ 7:00 pm. The Immersive Prologue begins @ 6:00 pm. 2024 Calendar — Independent Shakespeare Co. (iscla.org)
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Cannibal Corpse live in Baltimore (video)
Chris EEEE Barnes is the Dave Mustaine of Cannibal Corpse: his parting was for the best. Just look
Cannibal Corpse "Stripped, Raped and Strangled" and "Hammer Smashed Face" (5/27/23) Hell in the Harbor
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| He sold his soul for rock 'n roll w/ Black Sabbath |
It isn't just Coachella and Stagecoach that California is famous for. There are also big mega shows and a kind of hard rock almost metal show on the same Polo Grounds in Indio.
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| Slipknot took the mantle from Ozzy. |
If rock 'n roll is the great Satan, or at least the sort of music the Dark Lord prefers, why would so much more progress be made using Taylor Swift, Beyonce, weird Billie Eilish, sexy Dua Lipa, and all the flash-in-the-pan pop singers, particularly those from Korea (K-Pop) and manufactured in Hollywood public relations offices?
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| Metal gal crowd surfs over the mosh pit as the band pounds out "Hammer Smashed Face" |
- Cannibal Corpse; Seth Auberon, Pfc. Sandoval, Crystal. CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly
Labels:
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Friday, March 29, 2024
Ajahn Brahm: What's right? Complaint danger
The Dangers of Complaining | Ajahn Brahm | March 1st
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| Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung (Ajahn Brahm) |
Ajahn encourages us to put our energy into positive things. Outlook is everything. If we have a choice what to look for, praise will pay off much more than complaints.
Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon: buddhistsocietywa. Recorded at Dhammaloka Buddhist Centre, Perth, Western Australia.
Buddhist Society of Western Australia’s teaching's page: bswa.org/teachings. To find the full playlist visit: buddhistsocietywa, or click on 'Playlists' in the top menu bar.
Copyright Buddhist Society of Western Australia bswa.org
- Pat Macpherson, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Wednesday, January 3, 2024
Celebrities who dated lucky normal people
Starsinsider.com; Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
These celebrities have dated regular people
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| Lesbian Cynthia Nixon |
Friday, October 6, 2023
Pfizer tested one vax, gave another (TJDS)
Mike MacRae, Jimmy Dore, Craig "Pasta" Jardula, Kurt Metzger (TJDS: "The Jimmy Dore Show," jimmydore.com), Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Labels:
big pharma,
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China,
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Saturday, September 16, 2023
Dotard: Joe Biden is licensed to fall (video)
Sheldon S., Pfc. Sandoval, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
.
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| Who's moving in, Esther? - My name's Kamala |
‘License to fall’: Joe Biden mocked in James Bond parody
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| Actor Struan Rodgers impersonates Biden |
Labels:
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Friday, August 5, 2022
Dangerous Personality Type: Damaged Empath
Empath Help, YouTube, July 18, 2020; Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Other videos:
- Empath Help Playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list...
- The Empathic Sensitivity Manifesto youtu.be/FRUVjEETFas
- Emotional Empath: youtu.be/wsEnW3x3rnk
- Emotional Types youtu.be/WpmiTVVPbmo
- Opposite of Empath youtu.be/Y55eYOE68Fs
- What to Do If You Are Caught By a Narcissist youtu.be/KKFICUlrvf0
- What is an Empath? youtu.be/DS4DUxV41Yg
- Are Empaths Real? youtu.be/w_VJ-eJUGt4
- Empaths and Relationships youtu.be/JtpxrcwyYQI
- Empath Healers youtu.be/SYbulIAFcLM
- Damaged Empaths youtu.be/xbGnin_fkbg
- Empaths and Anxiety youtu.be/v63nIpEUudw
- Healing Empathic Sensitivity youtu.be/hIMz66WYg84
- Empaths and Personal Responsibility youtu.be/Xw77odFbtl4
- Empaths and Emotions youtu.be/m6QqwsYRgQk
- Tools For Dealing With Narcissists youtu.be/rDzDlioZ6yc
- Empathic Sensitivity and Projecting Externally youtu.be/tJdcShH_pEk
- Empaths and Emotional Safety youtu.be/3bEFXjbyR5Q
- Do You Lie For Love? youtu.be/UZi3MtozNsE
- Alexandria Testimonial youtu.be/XnrVIyCddSw
- Getting Your Needs Met youtu.be/NRBR8SHRyhc
- How to Stop Being Manipulated youtu.be/3XscqG3rQ8A
- Empaths and Shame youtu.be/hCqLemiByhM
- Empaths and Pleasers youtu.be/Y8elO45aZME
- Empaths: How To Say No youtu.be/qVuUXttI7VU
- Empaths Change Your Life youtu.be/eR35OXFyeJg
- How to Be Comfortable With Discomfort youtu.be/NbvFCBK6hCE
- Does Your Talk Disempower You? youtu.be/6m2IxV5yq1A
- How to Serve In A Healthy Way youtu.be/KWa7YJtIUXU
- Using Ground Rules To Have Great Conversations youtu.be/UNeMsyAOl2g
- Why People Don't Talk youtu.be/IWNQcYA0usI
- Why Problem-Solving Makes Things Worse youtu.be/mN8MN0sZG8w
- What Does It Mean To Do Your Inner Work youtu.be/aTIyAcPLvcc
- How We Are Programmed For Relationship Failure youtu.be/ZQtKzGHSJ48
- Are Fairies Real? youtu.be/3xoGIkeTRNQ
- Is It Your Anger or Someone Else's youtu.be/zn6f6TkhLI4
Tuesday, July 19, 2022
7 dimensions of depression explained (video)
Various speakers, Big Think, 2/14/21; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
7 dimensions of depression, explained: Dr. Daniel Goleman, Johann Hari, Pete Holmes, more
- Psychologist Dr. Daniel Goleman
- Researcher Johann Hari
- Dr. Julie Holland, MD
- Comedian Pete Holmes
- Neuroscientist Dr. Emeran Mayer
- Psychiatrist Dr. Drew Ramsey, and more
From gaining insight into how the brain-gut connection [where most neurons reside] works and adopting something closer to the Mediterranean Diet, to seeking help from medical or spiritual practitioners, depression is a personal battle that requires a personalized strategy to keep it at bay, as well as more research and understanding.
Check Drew Ramsey's book Eat to Beat Depression and Anxiety: Nourish Your Way to Better Mental Health in Six Weeks
TRANSCRIPT
JOHANN HARI: When I feel depressed, like loads of people, I say I feel down, right? And as I was learning about the causes of depression and anxiety for my book, "Lost Connections," I started to realize, I don't think that's a metaphor. There is this amazing professor at Stanford called Robert Sapolsky who in his early 20s went to live with a troop baboons in Kenya. And it was his job to figure out when are baboons most stressed out. So his job was to hit them with little tranquilizer darts and then take a blood test and measure something called cortisol, which is a hormone that baboons and us release when we're stressed. And baboons live in this hierarchy, so the females don't interestingly but the men live in a very strict hierarchy. So if there's 30 men, number one knows he's above number two, number two knows he's above number three, number 12 knows he's above number 13. And that really determines a lot. It determines who you get to have sex with, it determines what you get to eat, it determines whether you get to sit in the shade or you're pushed out into the heat. Yeah, it's a really, really significant where you are in the hierarchy.
And what Professor Sapolsky found is baboons are most stressed in two situations. One is when their status is insecure. So if you're the top guy and someone's circling which comes for you, you will be massively stressed. And the other situation is when you feel you're at the bottom of a hierarchy, you've been kind of humiliated. And what Professor Sapolsky found is when you feel you've been pushed to the bottom, what you do is you show something called submission gesture. Baboon will put its body down physically or put its head down, it will put its bottom in the air and it will cover its head. So it clearly seems to be communicating, "Just leave me alone, you've beaten me. Okay, you've beaten me." And what lots of scientists, people like Professor Paul Gilbert in Britain and Professor Kate Pickett and Professor Richard Wilkinson also in Britain have really developed is this idea that actually what human depression is in part, not entirely, but in part, is a form of a submission gesture. It's a way of saying, I can't cope with this anymore, right? Particularly people who feel they've been pushed to the bottom of hierarchies or who feel remember the other stressful situations when you feel your status is insecure it's a way of just going, "Okay, can I retreat?" "I don't want this fight anymore." "You've beaten me." It's a kind of very strong evolutionary impulse where you feel you're under attack to just submit in the hope that the stress and anxiety will then go away. The sources of the stress and anxiety will then go away.
And one thing that is so important, Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson really developed this, is they've shown so as inequality grows, depression and anxiety grow. They've shown, this is very robust effect, right? This helps us to explain it. One in five Americans will take a psychiatric drug, one in four middle-aged women in the United States is taking a chemical antidepressant in any given year. And I began to think, could it really be that just so many people are just mysteriously lacking a specific chemical in their brain? Why does it seem to be rising so much if that's the cause? If you live in Norway, your status is relatively secure, right? No one's that high, no one's that low, movement between where you are is not so extreme. If you live in the United States, especially today which is...
- Read the full transcript at bigthink.com/neuropsych/depression...
Watch the newest video from Big Think: bigth.ink/NewVideo. Learn skills from the world's top minds at Big Think+: bigthink.com/plus.
- Women who value self-direction tend to have more opposite-sex friendships, study finds (psypost.org)
- 'Hell on earth': Ukrainian soldiers describe eastern front (msn.com)
- Eye-tracking study indicates people automatically direct their attention towards emergent leaders (msn.com)
- VIDEO: An epic fight between a bear and a moose was filmed in Yakutia
- Oh, AOC! The real reason Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was arrested
- Inside The Beatle's George Harrison's criminal past
- Sacred plant retreats at our center in Ecuador | Acupuntura y Herbolaria en Santa Cruz de Tenerife (medicinahumana.net)
Saturday, June 25, 2022
Hollywood starlets then and now (video)
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| I'm beautiful on the inside! Ask Raymond. Stunning 70s' stars then and now (livestly.com) |
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| Madonna* who starred in Desperately Seeking Susan was like a virgin in the Big Apple. |
1960-80s Hollywood actresses and their shocking look in 2021
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| Bridgitt Bardot was the hottest piece of Hollywood property the studios ever had. |
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| We know they say there's no Satanism in Hollywood, no devil worship, no soul selling, but... |
.
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| *Madonna unfiltered, unedited image |
Behold, 30 uber-beautiful Hollywood starlets who have changed for the worse. See how they looked then, in the 1960-1980s, and what they look like now, circa 2021.
- [Marie Louise Veronica Ciccone or "Madonna"]
- Meg Foster
- Kelly McGillis
- Shelley Duvall
- Michael Learned
- Penny Marshall
- Sally Kirkland
- Kathy Coleman
- Sissy Spacek
- Cathy Silvers
- Diana Muldaur
- Rae Dawn Chong
- Sally Struthers
- Ali MacGraw
- Vanessa Redgrave
- Brigitte Bardot
- Diane Keaton
- Linda Hamilton
- Marlo Thomas
- Carol Burnett
- Kathleen Turner
- Betty White
- Victoria Jackson
- Amanda Bearse
- Teri Garr
- Joan Van Ark
- Faye Dunaway
- Lauren Tewes
- Lynda Day George
- Tina Louise
- Linda Evans
- Betty White
- Instagram: instagram.com/big_star_x
- Song: Alive - Ikson soundcloud.com/ikson
- #Actresses #BIGSTARX
Copyright Disclaimer:
This video made for educational and entertainment purposes.
Footage used in this video is protected by the Fair Use Law, section 107 used for commentary, criticism, news reporting or education for transformative use.
NOTE: Nowhere does it claim the first photo is Madonna. Her photo is linked then shown unfilited then then used to illustrate the Mandela Effect, so laugh and relax..
**MADONNA: (Subreddit 64) /StBlaschek Feb 28 '20 edited Feb 28 '20) If it's any help, her Wikipedia page has been heavily edited, so I wouldn't take what it says too seriously.
I checked the edit history, and there are hundreds of edits, and most of them are silly.
If I were you, and since it bothers you and your friend so much, I'd look through the edit history and see if her birth name has been changed.
Edit: I about drowned myself in wiki edits, but I found one from 2014 citing an article that discussed her legally changing her name to "Madonna Louise Ciccone" back in 2012. Why the heck would she legally change her name to "Madonna" if she was born Madonna?
Labels:
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old age sickness and death,
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ugly american,
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Friday, June 19, 2020
Trump's possessed carcass, 74, weakens
Jimmy Kimmel; Jimmy Dore; Jimmy Corden; Jimmy Fallon; Editors, Wisdom Quarterly
Jimmy Kimmel talks about things opening up in California, Donald Trump's embarrassing commencement speech at West Point, where the aging president -- whose body is failing and seems to be possessed by extraterrestrial (lizard, reptilian) or demonic forces -- struggled to take a sip of water and walk down a ramp. What birthday cards might he have received?
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| Sunburnt lizard Trump attacks Twitter and social media in retaliation (Jimmy Dore). |
Trump struggles at West Point, quickly declining at 74
(Late Late Show with James Corden) 3 Things: Trump can't walk, talk, drink
- VIDEO: Trump continues to call for harsh policing against peaceful demonstrators, and top general apologizes for going along with him
- VIDEO: Republican Nat'l Security Advisor John Bolton writes tell-all book, The Room Where It Happened, about Trump's treason and failures
- VIDEO: Jimmy BF Fallon's trying as hard as he can
Thursday, March 19, 2020
Bill Gates knew epidemic was coming (video)
Bill Gates (TED Talk, Vox); Trevor Noah; Pfc. Sandoval, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
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| Microbes are "monsters," viruses are ghosts. |
The world avoided a horrific global outbreak of Ebola in 2014. Thousands of health workers worked and we had good luck. In hindsight, we know what we should have done.
Bill Gates was told something was coming and to keep his money, he was onboard. He could help spread disease with contaminated vaccines or profitable force immunization regimes.
(Vox) How Bill Gates plans to make money from disease modeling.
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| There are many ways to make money from fear. |
What scenario might make the most money for him and his foundation? Vaccine research is super profitable, as Big Pharma knows. It's right up there with arms sales. As he says, "There's no need to panic... BUT we need to get going." Money doesn't make itself.
The TED Talks channel features talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Talks are on Technology, Entertainment, and Design -- and science, money/business, global issues, the arts, and more.
Labels:
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TED Talks,
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Thursday, May 25, 2017
Mysterious Manuscript: Voynich Code (video)
The Secrets of Nature; Pat Macpherson, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
It
is the world's most mysterious manuscript. A book written by an
unknown author, illustrated with pictures that are as bizarre as they
are puzzling -- composed in a language that even the best
cryptographers have been unable to decode. No wonder this script
even has a part in Dan Brown's (of DaVinci Code fame) bestseller The Lost Symbol.
Voynich Code: The world's most mysterious manuscript
The Secrets of Nature, May 9, 2014 (updates 2026)
The Secrets of Nature, May 9, 2014 (updates 2026)
It
is the world's most mysterious manuscript. A book written by an
unknown author, illustrated with pictures that are as bizarre as they
are puzzling -- composed in a language that even the best
cryptographers have been unable to decode. No wonder this script
even has a part in Dan Brown's (of DaVinci Code fame) bestseller The Lost Symbol.- VIDEO: A 600-year-old book is written in a language nobody has been able to decode
- The Abhidharma: Buddhism's most "mysterious" book?
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- Where to Go if You Want to See Manhattanhenge in 2017
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- How the Story of "Moana" and Maui Holds Up Against Cultural Truths
- The Hidden Dangers of Road Salt
- World War I Cemeteries & Memorials Around the World
- This Long, Violent Border Dispute Between Colonial Maryland and Pennsylvania is Why We Have the Mason-Dixon Line
- The Surprising Origin Story of Wonder Woman
- LEGO Is Making a Women of NASA Set
Sunday, June 7, 2015
The Buddhist millionaire's ENLIGHTENMENT
Hellmuth Hecker (Anathapindika: The Great Benefactor); Dhr. Seven, Crystal Quintero, Amber Larson, CC Liu (editors), Wisdom Quarterly
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| Yearning for enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India (glosackmd/flickr) |
.
6. When Anathapindika was sick and dying
The [multi-millionaire] householder Anathapindika [Sudatta the banker from prosperous Savatthi, who was called Anāthapindika, "giver of alms to the needy"] became sick a third time with very strong pains which were getting worse and not easing.
Again the multi-millionaire Anathapindika asked Venerable Sariputra and Ven. Ananda for assistance. When Ven. Sariputra -- the male disciple foremost in wisdom -- saw him, he knew that Anathapindika was nearing death, so he gave him in detail the following instructions (only outlined here):
Enlightenment instructions

Anathapindika must have followed these detailed instructions with his heart so that even as he was listening, he was already practicing in the way the wise and enlightened Ven. Sariputra had instructed him. At the end of the presentation, tears came from Anathapindika's eyes.
Ven. Ananda turned to him compassionately and asked him to calm himself and to be at peace. Anathapindika replied: "I cannot calm myself and be at peace, O worthy Ananda. I have served the [Buddha] and the spiritually accomplished monastics (nuns and monks) for a long time, and yet I have never heard such a profound discourse."
Ven. Sariputra said: "Such profound talk, O householder, will not be clear enough for white-clad followers [lay Buddhists]; it is clear enough for ascetics."
Anathapindika answered: "Ven. Sariputra, let such talks on the Dharma be given to white-clad laypeople, too! There are those with just a little dust in their eyes [a small coating of delusion]. If they do not hear such teachings, they will be lost. If they do hear such teachings, some may be able to understand!"
The ultimate
The difference from the previously presented teaching of the Buddha is significant. Here we are concerned with ultimate questions, with the highest deliverance of mind/heart from all suffering, not just on a theoretical basis but as a practice.
But there is a great difference as to whether one merely hears these things and ponders them, or whether one actually practices, directly perceives them, and applies their relevance. In this distinction lies the essential difference between the methods the Buddha used to teach householders and he used to teach monastics.
Laypeople vs. monastics
For laypeople, insight into the true nature of existence was presented as a matter of knowledge, and this teaching was given at first to the monastics as well. But for the many monastics who had progressed further, the Buddha introduced the practice that would lead to complete liberation (full enlightenment) in this very life.
Only if one sees that Ven. Sariputra's exposition was a practical step-by-step approach to directly experiencing nirvana, can one understand that Anathapindika had never heard the core of the Teaching presented in quite such a manner.
In his dying hour he was already far removed from his worldly concerns (about money, business, and craving all his enjoyments) and, while reflecting on the Dharma, he had renounced and abandoned attachment to worldly possessions and even to this decrepit body revealed as unstable and liable to disappoint. So he found himself in a situation comparable to that of the most advanced monastics.
Under these circumstances, Ven. Sariputra was able to effectively give him instructions that would have the most far-reaching effects.
After advising Anathapindika in this way, Ven. Sariputra and Ven. Ananda left. Shortly thereafter, the householder Anathapindika passed away and was reborn in Tusita, a blissful celestial world, where his youngest daughter had been reborn.
Yet he was so genuinely devoted to the Buddha and the [Noble] Sangha [the community of accomplished practitioners whether they be lay Buddhist householders or ordained monastics] that he appeared in the Jeta Grove as a deva [a shining one, a light being], filling the entire grove with his luminosity. He went to the Buddha and, after paying respects, spoke the following verses.
The [multi-millionaire] householder Anathapindika [Sudatta the banker from prosperous Savatthi, who was called Anāthapindika, "giver of alms to the needy"] became sick a third time with very strong pains which were getting worse and not easing.
Again the multi-millionaire Anathapindika asked Venerable Sariputra and Ven. Ananda for assistance. When Ven. Sariputra -- the male disciple foremost in wisdom -- saw him, he knew that Anathapindika was nearing death, so he gave him in detail the following instructions (only outlined here):
Enlightenment instructions

- First, practice freeing yourself from clinging to the six sense faculties without attaching to them;
- Second, practice releasing yourself from dependence on the six [external sense] objects and do not attach to them either.
- Third, relinquish clinging to the connecting link between the six senses and the six sense objects, as well as to the six sense contacts, the six feelings, the six elements, the Five Aggregates, and the four formless [immaterial] realms, as well as to all that is seen, heard, thought, perceived, and investigated* in the mind.
- *The expression "what is seen, heard, or otherwise sensed" is an expression famously found in the discourse to Bahiya of the Barkcloth (Daruciriya), who was quick to understand and was the fastest to ever become enlightened when being taught by the Buddha with the least amount of instruction: "Do not look long, do not look short. In the seen, let there be only the seen. In the heard, only the heard. In the otherwise sensed, only the otherwise sensed."
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| Knowledge cannot rival experience (Stivers). |
Ven. Ananda turned to him compassionately and asked him to calm himself and to be at peace. Anathapindika replied: "I cannot calm myself and be at peace, O worthy Ananda. I have served the [Buddha] and the spiritually accomplished monastics (nuns and monks) for a long time, and yet I have never heard such a profound discourse."
Ven. Sariputra said: "Such profound talk, O householder, will not be clear enough for white-clad followers [lay Buddhists]; it is clear enough for ascetics."
Anathapindika answered: "Ven. Sariputra, let such talks on the Dharma be given to white-clad laypeople, too! There are those with just a little dust in their eyes [a small coating of delusion]. If they do not hear such teachings, they will be lost. If they do hear such teachings, some may be able to understand!"
The ultimate
The difference from the previously presented teaching of the Buddha is significant. Here we are concerned with ultimate questions, with the highest deliverance of mind/heart from all suffering, not just on a theoretical basis but as a practice.
![]() |
| Anathapindika, full of faith as a stream enterer, famously gives as many gold coins as it takes to cover the ground to buy Jeta Grove to donate it to the Buddha and the Sangha. |
.
Anathapindika was aware, as a disciple who possessed the fruit of stream-entry (the first stage of enlightenment), of the transitory nature the Five Aggregates of Clinging, and he himself had expressed the fact that he knew the Three Characteristics of Existence: impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and not-self.But there is a great difference as to whether one merely hears these things and ponders them, or whether one actually practices, directly perceives them, and applies their relevance. In this distinction lies the essential difference between the methods the Buddha used to teach householders and he used to teach monastics.
Laypeople vs. monastics
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| Enlightenment does not come about by clinging to mere rules or rituals, as Binky finds out after reading yoga books and saying om 108,000 times (Matt Groening/"Life in Hell"). |
For laypeople, insight into the true nature of existence was presented as a matter of knowledge, and this teaching was given at first to the monastics as well. But for the many monastics who had progressed further, the Buddha introduced the practice that would lead to complete liberation (full enlightenment) in this very life.
Only if one sees that Ven. Sariputra's exposition was a practical step-by-step approach to directly experiencing nirvana, can one understand that Anathapindika had never heard the core of the Teaching presented in quite such a manner.
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| Inner light (enlightenedbeings.com) |
Under these circumstances, Ven. Sariputra was able to effectively give him instructions that would have the most far-reaching effects.
After advising Anathapindika in this way, Ven. Sariputra and Ven. Ananda left. Shortly thereafter, the householder Anathapindika passed away and was reborn in Tusita, a blissful celestial world, where his youngest daughter had been reborn.
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| The Buddha's aura, colorful and streaming. |
"O, blessed is this Jeta Grove,
frequented by the enlightened community,
Where the Dharma King resides,
the fount of all my happiness!
By deeds, by knowledge, by uprightness,
By virtue, by the sublimest life,
By these are mortals purified,
and not by lineage nor by wealth.
A wise person, therefore,
seeing one's own good,
Wisely will one choose the Dharma,
so that one may thus be purified.
Like Sariputra in his wisdom,
in his virtue, and in highest peace,
At best an ascetic who has crossed
beyond, can only equal him."
(MN 143; SN 2.20) More
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