Peace Class, Deep Dive Poetry (10/22)

Our true nature is peaceful and loving

Peace Class, FREE on Zoom (prs.org)

Our true nature is loving and peaceful. Why, then, is there so much belligerence, negativity, hate, aggression, violence, and war in our society? It is because we have been caught in the “terrible twos” of our evolution.

When a child is 2 years old, it is natural and organic for that child to express itself by throwing fits when feeling frustrated or angry or sad — to cry, wail, bang fists, and kick. This behavior is common, natural, and we love our 2-year-old children as they transit through this evolutionary phase to adulthood.

This is stupid! It doesn't work! Buddha was wrong!

This behavior is so common that our culture has a name for it. We call it “the terrible twos.”

But soon a child is three years old, then four, then five. And it learns to ask for what it wants, and it learns to self-soothe. That is to say, it evolves. This progression, this refinement, this “evolution” is natural, just as the “terrible twos” was a natural phase to go through for a child.

Humanity has been in an extended expression of a kind of “terrible twos.” Loving parents understand that their two-year-old child will evolve out of certain maladaptive behaviors. And so that parent soothes the child, and loves the child, and soon, the child enters a new phase in its development.

Why, then, have we as humanity been “stalled” in our “terrible twos” for so long?

Deep Dive Poetry (live at Library of World Religions, PRS, Hollywood)

• Deep Dive Poetry (live in-person)
• Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, 7:30 pm
• The Philosophical Research Society
• 3910 Los Feliz Blvd., Hollywood, CA

Feat. poet Suzanne Lummis (Lummis House)

It is because we have failed to understand that what we are experiencing is a phase—a temporary and brief transit on an evolutionary trajectory, growing pains.

Instead, we look at our own behavior and say, “Ah, this is just how we are. This is human nature. We get angry and we have fits, banging our fists. We are violent. That is our innate, inherent, and natural way of being. We can't be expected to change.”

This thoughtless assumption -- or actively promoted view by some in the biological and social sciences -- is a powerful misconception. This misunderstanding has powerfully paused us at an evolutionary rut that would have been natural to evolve through very quickly.

Featured poet Anders Carlson-Wee

A child experiences age two very briefly; the vast majority of its life is spent in a much more evolved state.

Yet, we've spent thousands of years in an evolutionary rut that teaches lessons that could be learned—and evolved from—in a single generation. Why?

It is because we look at the current phase we're in, and our behavior at this point, and create an “identity” based on it. We begin to think of violence and cruelty as our true human nature. It is not.

Hosted by Mandy Kahn (live)

Just as it is natural for a baby to evolve from a child into a young person, and from a young person into an adult, it is natural for our human community to evolve. In fact, eventual evolution is natural and inevitable. We choose how quickly that evolution takes place.

It is unusual for a collective to spend so long stuck in a single evolutionary phase. But it is also our option to do so.

We can evolve as quickly or as slowly as we'd like. We have free will. And our free will is always honored by the universe.

Evolution by “peacening”

We are here to evolve by peacening

We are here to evolve. Our eventual “peacening” is happening and inevitable.

All-that-is understands our trajectory and loves and honors us at every point in our evolution, just as a loving parent loves its baby, loves its 2-year-old, and thereby holds space for its child's maturity to bloom and come forth.

We have looked at humanity's belligerent actions and have identified with those actions. We have concluded that we are inherently this way. And those conclusions have become hard and fast beliefs passed down from generation to generation. (Who are we, the Hatfields and McCoys?)

Beliefs not only precede experience, beliefs create experience. The belief that we are belligerent gets expressed in our behavior. The more it is expressed, the more challenging it is to see it as a phase.

As a result, we've misunderstood who we are.

We are loved and honored in all phases of our development, and nothing that we do is judged as terrible.

Therefore, maybe transitioning to using the phrase “temporary twos” to describe this evolutionary phase would be fruitful. Humanity is in its “temporary twos.”

It is natural to experience some belligerence, some anger, some aggression, some violence and so on during this organic—and early—evolutionary phase. But this phase is brief and transitory. It is also natural—and inevitable—to evolve past it. And the vast majority of our human experience will be an experience of original loving nature.

Come see Deep Dive Poetry at PRS

When we understand that our nature is inherently peaceful and loving and that our experience of our own belligerence is very temporary, we will be empowered by a fuller and more accurate sense of ourselves.

We will understand how to navigate. We will understand the true direction of “ahead.”

Believing our nature to be belligerent—inherently, unchangeably belligerent—has been like having a false North Star fixed in the sky then trying to navigate towards the North Pole.

Stepping into an accurate understanding of our nature returns us to our true North Star. Then it's easy to navigate by following the true North Star gleaming brilliantly for all to see.

Peace Class (Wednesdays)

• Peace Class with Mandy Kahn
• Every Wednesday at 6:00 pm (Pacific Time)
• Zoom Meeting link: us02web.zoom.us/j/82150472713
• Meeting ID: 821 5047 2713
• Sign up for mailing list: brave-basil-514.myflodesk.com/z82hxkb6mm
• CONVERT 6:00 pm (PT) meeting time to any time zone: dateful.com/time-zone-converter
• Sign up for future classes: eventbrite.com/e/peace-class-with-mandy-kahn...

• Mandy Kahn (prs.org); edited by Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

JewBu Joseph Goldstein (Pick-Ax Dhamma)

Pick-Ax Dhamma Q&A: Deep Mining the Four Foundations of Mindfulness | Joseph Goldstein

Mindfulness: A Practical Guide
to Awakening (Joseph Goldstein)

(Clear Mountain Monastery) Clear Mountain Monastery Podcast. JuBu Joseph Goldstein is co-founder (with Jack Kornfield and Sharon Salzberg but not their good friend Sylvia Boorstein) of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts (New England) – a center for tranquility, wisdom, and compassion.

• 00:00:00 Introduction
• 00:01:23 What's the definition of mindfulness? (Munindra-jii)
• 00:02:14 What is the most basic definition and the most profound form of mindfulness?
• 00:06:33 What is your relationship with the German scholar-monk Bhante Analayo?
• 00:10:41 How do the four qualities of ardency, clear comprehension, mindfulness, and concentration work together?
• 00:18:41 How can one keep their purpose aligned in daily life?
• 00:23:05 What was the Buddha's chitchat like?
• 00:30:08 What is the specific elemental meditation you teach?
• 00:38:55 How do you interweave different methods without digging a different hole?
• 00:47:03 How can one transition from mindfulness of the body to rapture and refreshment?
• 00:52:12 What is the relationship between mind knowing mind and Dzogchen teachings?
• 1:05:03 What does the phrase "deathless element" mean?
• 1:08:38 Is it worth speculating about nirvana (Pali nibbāna) before realizing it?

In this session of Pick-Ax Dhamma, Western Buddhist monks Ajahn Kovilo and Ajahn Nisabho interview the great Joseph Goldstein (a student of Indian mother (Dipa's mother) and Buddhist Meditation Master Dipa Ma and her Indian teacher Anagarika Munindra) about his perspectives on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness as taught in the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (suttacentral.net) and elaborated in his book Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening.

This conversation touches on Goldstein's

• personal relationships with his teachers and peers Munindra-jii and Ven. Analayo,
• the meaning of "ardency" (ātāpi);
• the daily life practice of clear comprehension;
• the experience of "not clinging to anything in the world";
• how to relate to "digging for the water" of practice;
• breathing mindfulness;
• walking meditation;
• intuitive practice with the [Four] Elements;
• the similarities and differences between knowing mind as mind and Dzogchen;
• whether nirvana is a state of awareness;
• how to relate to such inquiries;
• and much more!

BIOGRAPHY

Path of Insight Meditation (Goldstein+Kornfield)

Joseph Goldstein has been leading insight- and lovingkindness meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. He is a co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society, the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, and the Forest Refuge (Forest Refuge), a center for long-term meditation practice.

He is the author of: Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening; One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism; The Experience of Insight, among other books. To learn more about Joseph Goldsten, visit: dharma.org.

Tune in with fellow practitioners for Clear Mountain’s weekly online and hybrid events:

• Wednesday Evening Teaching & Discussion (6:00 – 7:30 pm PT, YouTube then Zoom)
• Saturday Morning Meditation, Teaching, & Coffee Social (9:30-11:00 am PT, online & in-person)
• Sunday Evening “Mission Majjhima!” Sutta Teaching & Discussion (5:00-6:00 pm PT, online)
• Website: clearmountainmonastery.org
• Welcome! Visit Clear Mountain Monastery for details.
• #JosephGoldstein #Awareness #Mindfulness #Meditation #PresentMoment #SelfAwareness #MentalHealth #MindfulLiving #Buddhism

• "Mindfulness" defined by Ven. Analayo

• 

  U.S. JewBu (Emily Sigalow)

  American JewBu: Jews, Buddhists, and Religious Change
• Barre Center for Buddhist Studies
• Ardent, Alert, and Mindful: Discussion (Sutta Central)
• EncyclopediaOfBuddhism.org
• Is there any evidence that S.N. Goenka's assertion that the technique taught in his retreat centers was passed down... | Quora

• Joseph Goldstein (dharma.org), Ajahn Kovilo and Ajahn Nisabho (Clear Mountain Monastery, Dec. 17, 2025); Shauna Schwartz and Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Hayden P. dead after exposing Hollywood

UPDATE: Cover up is complete: Hayden Panettiere's cause of death allegedly revealed

(ECHO tv) Hayden Panettiere died after EXPOSING evil Hollywood (Uncle Oscar)

• Anna Paquin makes chilling claim about child stars after Hayden Panettiere, Michelle Trachtenberg’s [mysterious] deaths

Panettiere, Comic Con San Diego

DEATH: Hayden Panettiere, 36, is said to have died from cardiac arrest in an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina, on August 16, 2026 [101, 102].

She was found unresponsive, and first responders pronounced her dead at the scene after resuscitation efforts failed [103].

Police said preliminary findings showed no signs of foul play [104], and an autopsy performed the following day by the local coroner's office found "no signs of trauma" [105].

(Celebrity Press) Britney Spears breaks down revealing what

Diddy and Ashton Kutcher did to Brittany Murphy

TRIBUTES: Panettiere's former co-star, Viola Davis, called her "an amazing talent...so gifted" saying she was an "old, wise soul with such a deep heart" [106].

Bryan Fuller, who wrote on Heroes' first season, said she was "more than an actress, she was a muse"[107].

Wladimir Klitschko, Panettiere's former fiancé, said she had "built an incredible career through immense talent" [108].

Others in the entertainment industry, including former co-stars, also issued tributes on social media... More

Hayden Panettiere rabbit holes

(Supplement diet, avoid phthalates, pass of Johnson & Johnson products)

What is the oldest song in the world?

(Ming) The oldest known song ever discovered

LEAK: Peter Thiel's secret 'Dialog' society

(Breaking Points) Thiel Secret Society Agenda LEAKED: 'Cults, WW III, Sex'

I don't want to drown in American society

(After Skool) Alan Watts on the MYTHS [social conventions] that keep us trapped

(Eddie and the Subtitles) "I Don't Want to Drown in American Society"

(LA's Wasted Youth) "We Were On Heroin" [or what we now call mega-dopamine]

What kind of addictive substance do you mean by "heroin," boys? - C&H White Processed Sugar.

.

Danger, Will Robbing Son, danger!

Yeah, sure, Eddie, but what is "American" society? At least with LA punkers Wasted Youth, they get right to the point, claiming to be as addicted to all-American stuff (junk food, junk TV, junk relationships, etc.) as "heroin" addicts are to heroin. Pretty sure they didn't mean actual opioid, morphine, poppy plant extract from Afghanistan. - You know, "American" society, it's like "whatever." - Okay, well, then, in that case, let's ask Dr. Robert Lustig.

The Hacking of American Mind: Science Behind Corporate Takeover of Our Bodies and Brains

Author and narrator Dr. Robert H. Lustig, MD, has 4.6 out of 5 stars (with 1,159 ratings). This unabridged audiobook "explores how industry has manipulated our most deep-seated survival instincts," says Dr. David Perlmutter, MD, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Grain Brain and Brain Maker.

Dr. Lustig, the New York Times-bestselling author of Fat Chance, reveals the corporate scheme to sell pleasure, driving the international epidemic of

• addiction,
• depression,
• chronic disease.

Metabolical: Lure and Lies of Processed Food

While researching the toxic and addictive properties of white sugar for his New York Times bestseller Fat Chance, Dr. Lustig made an alarming discovery: Our pursuit of happiness is being subverted by a culture of addiction and depression from which we may never recover.

Dopamine is the “reward” neurotransmitter that tells our brains we want more; yet, every substance or behavior that releases dopamine in the extreme leads to addiction.

Serotonin is the “contentment” neurotransmitter that tells our brains we don’t need any more; yet, its deficiency leads to depression.

Idiocracy was prophecy not comedy

(After the Credits) Idiocracy wasn't a comedy, it was a prophecy!

• VIDEO: Dr. Lustig: The Science of Happiness
• VIDEO: Science: Pleasure versus Happiness
• Dr. Lustig: lust, pleasure, craving, addiction
• VIDEO: Idiocracy: Wisdom is Disappearing
• Happiness and Hugging Meditation (Nov. 29)
• Dinah Cancer? Vaccines? iPhones (TJDS)
• "Sugar is TOXIC...like alcohol" (addictive as coke)

Fat Chance; Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity

Ideally, both are in optimal supply in our bodies.

But dopamine evolved to overwhelm serotonin—because our ancestors were more likely to survive if they were constantly motivated. The result has been that constant desire can chemically destroy our ability to feel happiness, while sending us down the slippery slope to addiction.

In the last 40 years, government legislation and subsidies have promoted ever-available temptation (porn, sugar, illegal drugs, social media) combined with constant stress (work, home, money, internet).

The end result is an unprecedented epidemic of mental addiction, anxiety, depression, and chronic physical diseases.

We can hack this cave, build fires, project images

With the advent of neuromarketing, corporate America has successfully imprisoned us in an endless loop of desire and consumption from which there is no obvious escape.

With his customary wit and incisiveness, Dr. Lustig not only reveals the science that drives these states of mind, he points his finger directly at the corporations that created this mess and the government actors who facilitated it.

Fast version: "I Don't Want to Drown in American Society"

And he offers solutions we can all use in the pursuit of happiness, even in the face of overwhelming opposition.

Always fearless and provocative, Dr. Lustig marshals a call to action, with seminal implications for our health, our well-being, and our culture. More

Tao of Not Trying: Alan Watts, Lao Tzu, B Wen

(After Skool) Taoism Founder Lao Tzu on Art of Not Trying

Care about what they all think, prisoner?

Wu wei (Chinese 無為, simplified Chinese 无为, Pinyin wúwéi) is a concept [popular in Zen Buddhism] from ancient Chinese philosophy that literally means "not-acting" or "non-doing," variously interpreted and translated as actionlessness, inaction, or effortless action [1, 2].

• Is it the "flow state" in Western psychology?

If I were Zen, would I thereby be a Taoist, too?

In Taoism, it denotes the nature of Tao, meaning that while the Tao (the way, path, or flow of nature) is the source of all existence and manifestation of all phenomena, its intrinsic formless essence is that it acts or moves in a silent, invisible, ineffable, often-unnoticed manner that may even seem motionless and effortless [3, 4, 5, 6, 7].

Accordingly, Taoists aspire to live their lives in alignment with such a harmonious state of free flowing and unforced activity.

In a political context, it also refers to an ideal form or principle of spontaneous and non-aggressive governance [8]. More

The Path of Least Resistance

(Benebell Wen) Ziran (The Taoist Path of Least Resistance)

Let nature reign and all will be well?

Ziran (Romanized tzu-jan) is a key concept in Taoism and East Asian Buddhism. It literally means "of its own" or "by itself" and therefore "naturally; natural; spontaneously; freely; in the course of events; of course; doubtlessly" [1, 2].

ETYMOLOGY: This Chinese word is a two-character compound of zì (自, "self," "oneself," "from," "since") and rán (然, "right," "correct," "so," "yes"), which is used as a -ran suffix marking adjectives or adverbs (roughly corresponding to English -ly).

What is the most intelligent response? Flow

According to the Shuo Wen lexicon, the character 自 zi means "nose" [one's nose, oneself when not interfered with by outside influences.] In Chinese culture, the nose (or zi) is a common metaphor for a person's own point of view [3]. More

Alan Watts, what's the Philosophy of the Tao?

Alan Watts – Philosophy of the Tao, Pt.1 | Flow, Balance, and the Course of Nature (full talk)

• Pantheon of Taoist Gods (Tao.org)

A decolonized intro to Taoism

(Benebell Wen) Taoism: A Decolonized Introduction

Rothschild DNA: Ashkenazi Jewish incest

(Wise Owl) Jewish Rothschild family's darkest genetic secret

America is Number 1 (The Daily Show)

(The Daily Show) The US is weird, but at least we don't have French fried beaches, condom taxes

(The Young Turks) Israel's 9-11 false flag attack on New York's Twin Towers' BOMBSHELL ties Israeli spy (Mossad Agent) Ghislaine Maxwell to 9/11

• Mossad Asset (IDF's No. 1 fan) Jeffrey Epstein: dropsitenews.com

G.W. Bush painting 9/11 symbols (Epstein's art)

• Cenk Uyghur finally wakes up to fact that 9-11 was an inside job with a pre-planned cover up meant to serve as a pretext for WAR (on Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, and others on a list of at least seven meant to go down like dominos)

(The Damage Report) Jon Stewart destroys Palantir: terrifying leak goes viral

If only John Oliver (Last Week Tonight) would do show on Pedo Files (AI)

Zoom: Poet Mandy Kahn's Peace Class

WHAT HAPPENED?

The meditative music was soothing and immediately set a calming and peaceful tone. Mandy held a mudra of welcome, honoring Zoom participants. She not only spoke of peace but embodied it with a guided meditation/visualization. The format is ever-evolving. It's free. It's weekly. And space is open to come and investigate next Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, at 6:00 pm.

Peace Class

What's peace? Passaddhi (serene inner peace)

Friends in Peace, during this time of war, we are inspired by Aloka and the Buddhist Monks' Peace Walk. How can we bring that inner peace into our hearts, minds, and expression?

Peace activist Mandy Kahn's Peace Class (from the Philosophical Research Society in Hollywood, LA) resumes tonight for 2026.

Mandy and Seven found peace in Los Angeles.

Feel free to share link with friends. All are welcome at Peace Class (prs.org).

To join us, simply click on this Zoom link at the start time: Wednesday, 6:00 pm (PT). 

• PEACE CLASS (Wednesdays)
• FREE, February 4th, 6:00 pm (PT)
• Zoom: us02web.zoom.us/j/82150472713
• Meeting ID: 821 5047 2713
• Mandy Kahn: mandykahn.com

What is "peace" and who cares?

What goddess could make peace?

Peace (passaddhi) is one of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment (one component of the larger Seven Requisites of Enlightenment) the historical Buddha pointed out as the Path-of-Practice (that brings one to calm and insight) to Awaken.

So it holds a very honored place in the Dharma and in American life, at least in the Sixties (because of the Peace Movement and the Hippies) and earlier due to the influence of the timeless Quakers, Transcendentalists, Christian Gnostics, and Catholic monastics, particularly the Franciscans and Carmelites.

I like chanting the Buddha's actual words

In a language spoken by the Buddha (Pali), "peace" (passaddhi) is a noun (Sanskrit prasrabhi, Tibetan ཤིན་ཏུ་སྦྱང་བ་, shin tu sbyang ba) variously translated as "serenity," "calmness," "tranquility," "repose" [1]. The verb is passambhati ([rest], calm, quiet) [2].

In Buddhism, peace refers to tranquility of body, speech, and mind (thoughts and consciousness) on the path to enlightenment. As part of the seven mental factors to be cultivated, peace is preceded by rapture (pīti, bliss, joy, supersensual pleasure) and precedes stillness (samādhi, focus, concentration). More

• The Four Divine Abidings (brahmaviharas) are peace

Inner Peace, World Peace

Publisher, Inner Peace, World Peace: Essays on Buddhism and Nonviolence

Mandy Kahn hosts monthly poetry readings in Manly P. Hall's Library of World Religions (PRS)

.

Inner Peace, World Peace

What can one person do to foster world peace? How does one person's state of mind [heart] affect the state of the world? How can the ideal of nonviolence be manifested in daily life?

Buddhists have been exploring questions like these for 25 centuries, and they are still timely today. Inner Peace, World Peace is the first work in any Western language to examine the Buddhist approach to nonviolence.

Warriors for Peace? Buddhist Peace Walk

Well-known Buddhist scholars, a noted authority on nonviolent struggle, a prominent Thai Theravada Buddhist activist, and other leaders in their fields collaborate to show the contemporary relevance of the Buddhist tradition.

The authors also discuss a new international movement known as "Socially Engaged Buddhism."

• Inner Peace, World Peace: Essays on Buddhism and Nonviolence

Holy Doors: Poems by Mandy Kahn

I love the way Mandy Kahn makes poetry that elevates the ordinary to the sublime (DBM).

 

Holy Doors (Hat & Beard Press)

Mandy Kahn’s third collection of poems is a lyrical, luminous, and highly spiritual journey that explores:

• meditation
• prayer
• the afterlife
• the poet’s love of peace
• ever-accessible grace.

It is also a record of what life is like as our spiritual nature begins to live more fully within the body. Each of Kahn’s poems begins with earnest inquiry and ends with an ecstatic moment of communion with the part of the self that is connected to all things. Holy Doors: Poems by Mandy Kahn

• The Tao of Inner Peace (Diane Dreher)
• Can inner peace be improved by Mindfulness training: A randomized controlled trial (Liu, 2015, Wiley)
• Inner Peace, World Peace: Essays on Buddhism and Nonviolence (Kenneth Kraft)
• Mandy Kahn; Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation) (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly