In the beginning, in the dreamtime, it might have been that Brahma (the creator god of the Vedas and Hinduism) uttered a word, a sound, an aspirated aum or OM. Or maybe it made this sentence: Let there be light. And that sound was Brahma, the supreme, the alpha and the OMega, the A and the alph'. That's not what happened in the Agganna Sutta, the Buddhist account of "Genesis," the discourse on beginnings, which begins with light. That's because that sutra only deals with life on the origin of life on Planet Earth, not the universe. Here Gaia.com looks into the sacred sound at the beginning of form or what is now called the study of cymatics:
A machine to 'see' sounds (resonant vibrations)?
What if we could suddenly "see" sounds?
Vibration underpins all matter in the Universe.
The CymaScope is the first scientific instrument that can provide an analog image of sound and vibration. The once invisible world of sound is revealed in a myriad of [sacred] geometric patterns. When the microscope and telescope were invented, they opened vistas into realms that were not even suspected to exist.
Sound has been invisible throughout history, except in graphic depictions of conventional acoustics instrumentation.
Now, with the development of the CymaScope instrument, the omnipresent, unexplored realms of sound and vibration are made visible for scientific study and artistic appreciation. (Source: CymaScope via sunnylanblog.wordpress.com)
New research finds the autistic brain has psychic abilities
(Danny Jones Clips) Iya Whiteley: Autism is a spectrum disorder, but not talking may be masking other powers and abilities. Indigo and Crystal Children can communicate even if they do not "talk" (verbalize) much. They have differences but these are not necessarily deficits. Social awkwardness to us is something else to them. More
Monty Python's Flying Circus competitive mass spectacle sport of Novel Writing (The Final Rip Off)
.
A century of spelling keeps going strong
A field of 243 top young spellers will converge on National Harbor, Maryland, from [today] May 27 to May 29, 2025, to compete in a historic Scripps National Spelling Bee.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the iconic American competition, which was first held on June 17, 1925, with just nine participants.
“Reaching 100 years is more than a milestone — it’s a testament to the enduring power of words, learning and the human spirit,” said Corrie Loeffler, executive director of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
“For a century, this competition has brought people together through eras of profound change — from world wars to the digital age — and still, the Bee continues to inspire excellence, curiosity, and connection. It’s a living piece of American history, and we’re honored to celebrate its legacy.”
This year’s 243 national qualifiers advanced through local and regional bees that took place through the end of March. All rounds of this year’s national competition — preliminaries, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals — will take place at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, Maryland.
Highlights of 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee field
Yes, well, it comes as no surprise really. *Yawn*
The spellers range in age from 8 to 14.
Only 53 spellers return from the 2024 field, and 178 spellers – 73% – are competing in their first Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Only one 2024 finalist advanced to the 2025 national competition: Faizan Zaki, who finished second last year behind Bruhat Soma, following his record-breaking spell-off.
Tarini Nandakumar is competing in her fifth consecutive Scripps National Spelling Bee. She was a finalist and finished ninth in 2023.
Navtaj Singh, Micah Sterling and Avinav Prem Anand are competing in their fourth straight national competition. Harini Murali is in her fourth Bee overall, as is Zaki.
There are spellers from all 50 states and the [ruling imperial seat of power known as the] District of Columbia [Columbia being the original name of "America," after the titular goddess who was buried and erased from U.S. history, as if Amerigo Vespucci gave the Americas their name].
Texas has the largest representation with 22 national competitors. California is next with 20, followed by Ohio with 15, and Illinois with 13. Florida and New York have 12 each.
There are 13 competitors from outside the 50 United States, representing the Bahamas, Canada, Germany, Ghana, Guam, Kuwait, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. More
Celebrating a 100-year tradition...
2025: 100 YEARS OF THE BEE
(Scripps National Spelling Bee) 2025 - For a century, the Scripps National Spelling Bee has been much more than a competition. It has become a symbol of perseverance, intellect, and community. From its humble beginnings to becoming a cornerstone of American culture, the Bee has empowered millions of students, fostered lifelong friendships, and united communities in the love of language and learning. Through the words we spell, we tell stories — stories of personal triumph, academic achievement, and the diverse fabric of the American experience. As we honor this incredible milestone, we celebrate not just 100 years of history but 100 years of making an impact on generations of learners and the communities they inspire. Join us in commemorating this momentous occasion, as we reflect on the past, celebrate the present, and look forward to an even brighter future.
What is spelling but memory? Memory, like most things, is due to karma: Ananda
Ananda recounting all the suttas, beginning each with, "Thus have I heard." (First Council)
.
This is the Middle Way avoiding extremes
Among all the disciples of the Buddha, foremost in memorization was his personal assistant [and possibly one of his sons with a dancing girl named Mriga, according to some traditions, which would make him Ven. Rahula's half-brother] Venerable Ananda.
[It makes sense that Ananda would also be the Buddha's son but that this would have been suppressed or discarded in most traditions. One shining piece of evidence is when Ven. Rahula (whom the Buddha had ordained at age 7) was 18, he was getting very frisky and overwhelmed by sensual craving, presumably due to hormones at that age and the luxurious life he had left behind in the palace in his former kingdom of Kapilavatthu. He was walking with the Buddha and Ananda, if memory serves, making comments about how at that moment there were in the world only three people with the past karma to become "world monarchs" (cakkavati or chakravartin rulers).
Ven. Rahula, the Buddha, and Ven. Ananda
Prince Siddhartha had turned his back on that possibility, forecast by soothsayers when he was a child, much to his father King Suddhodana's delight. Ananda was already a monk for a long time. And there was him. If Rahula disrobed, returned to the palace, and let nature take its course, he could become king of this world. Such talk worried the Buddha, who instructed a monk that -- after 11 years in the robe learning the basics -- Ven. Rahula was now ready to intensively put the Teachings into practice. He did and thereby attained arahantship. If the other person there was Ananda, it would be among these three close relatives that the karma existed to attain to the status of a world-monarch.] Was Ananda the Buddha's son?
Ananda lived one kappa = 120 years
It is only because of Ananda that we have "Buddhism" as we do. When the Buddha passed into final nirvana, having established the Sangha (the Buddhist Monastic Community) and left in place the Noble Sangha (the community of enlightened disciples in any of the four stages of awakening), Ven. Maha Kassapa took it upon himself to begin a religion. He did this by calling together the First Buddhist Council of fully enlightened disciples (theras and, presumably, theris). The texts say 500 arahants (fully enlightened beings) attended, but this number simply means "a large number." It was almost 499, as it were, because Ananda was the most important person to be invited, but he did not qualify to attend. He was needed to recount the suttas (sutras, sermons, narrated teachings, the Buddha's "discourses").
Another monk was put in charge of the Vinaya (Monastic Disciplinary Code rules). But Ananda was only a stream enterer at the first stage of awakening. So he made a strenuous effort to put into practice all that he knew, had heard directly from the Buddha, and committed to memory. It was no use. He failed. This path cannot be accomplished simply by a "sense of urgency" (samvega), which is important to recognize the meaning of the Buddha's last words to be a lamp unto oneself and work out one's own salvation with diligence (to mindfully put into practice the theory of the Teaching in so consistent a manner that one makes an end of all suffering in no long time). Because he tried so hard, Ananda failed. He had slacked off for years, so he never attained arahantship, full realization.
Now the opposite problem was impeding him -- to much efforting, too much strain, too much craving and grasping. He needed santosha ("contentment") to ease his mind so it could blossom. The night before the Council was to meet, he practiced intensive meditation deep into the night. Finally, he recognized his failure with frustration and exhaustion, so he gave up and decided to go to sleep.
Laying off the pressure (surrendering, giving up, letting go of craving it and needing it), he began to lie down. He was going from the extreme of too much to the other extreme of too little, at one moment achieving balance between the two, the Middle Way that avoids extremes of austerity and luxury. He became the only disciple to achieve awakening outside of one of the "four bodily positions" (lying down, sitting, standing, or walking). He attained, because he let go, between sitting and lying down.
He sat right up and experienced the paths-and-fruits of self-realization (magga-phala). He was welcomed into the Council by the other fully enlightened beings and recited all the discourses he had heard over the preceding 25 years as the Buddha's chief assistant. This is why all sutras begin not with "once upon a time" but rather "thus have I heard" (Evam me sutam).
Buddhist tradition maintains that the disciple Ānanda used the formula for the first time, as a form of personal testimony... [to say that he himself was attesting that this is what the Buddha had said]. Scholars may rightly doubt that this could be true for all sutras, certainly not applying to later apocryphal Mahayana inventions, which have become some of the most famous "sutras" [sutured together sermons with a single throughline or thread] of all, namely, The Heart Sutra, The Diamond Sutra, The Lotus Sutra... More
Nevertheless, it is undisputed that Ananda had a tremendous memory like a spelling bee champion. And one is forced to wondered what it is about India (ancient Maha Bharat, Jambudvipa, Asoka's Empire) that produces to many remarkable memory banks in little boys and girls of Indian origin.
Is it Goddess Saraswati's doing?
Is it the clean vegetarian (ahimsa) diet?
Is it past study of the Vedas (in previous lives) as Brahmins memorizing countless slokas?
Is it genetically handed down?
Is it training and the way the Indian system chose to educate its children?
Is it rich minerals in the soil coming down from the Himalayas nourishing the babies?
Is it Hinduism (or Islam or Jainism or Sikhism)?
Is it yogic magic?
Is it British colonial rule, forcing everyone into a Western model of learning and punishment and stealing Indian and Islamic innovations (in mathematics and sciences, like the invention of "zero" and the Ayurveda or "health sciences") and calling them British?
No, it's not likely this last one, but possibly any of the previous ones.
The Buddha praises Ananda
“The foremost of my monastic disciples who are very learned is Ānanda… with a good memory is Ānanda. ...with an extensive range is Ānanda. ...[foremost] in retention [memory] is Ānanda. ...[foremost] as a personal attendant is Ānanda.” Source: AN 1.219–234: Catuttha Vagga—Ven. Sujato (trans)
Scripps National Spelling Bee; Monty Python; Ven. Sujata (suttacentral.net); memory and the story of Ananda explained by Dhr. Seven; Ashley Wells, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Jimmy Kimmel brings on the 2024 Spelling Bee winner to do battle
Trump rants about sharks, drug addict Hunter Biden found guilty, Jimmy upsets Fox News
Hey, Biden body-double, you're alright.
(Jimmy Kimmel Live) June 11, 2024: The high profile trial of Pres. Biden's son Hunter Biden ended badly for him as he was found guilty on all three counts, the Bidens hosted a party at the White House in honor of Juneteenth[an important day in American history and the end of chattel slavery and the introduction of the now common practice of wage slavery], Donald Trump had a virtual meeting with his probation officer, the Fox News crowd is upset that Kimmel is hosting an interview with Presidents Biden and Obama during a fundraiser here in Los Angeles, Oprah's tool Dr. Phil McGraw delicately interviewed Trump and mentioned a very familiar name (James Kimmel), Fibberace (fibbing Trump as a fibbing Liberace) was in Vegas this weekend where he said many incomprehensible things in the sun, including a diatribe about shark attacks and how a sinking boat should electrocute them but somehow doesn't when it sinks, but, hey, have you noticed all the shark attacks lately? Ugh, what was I saying? I know exactly what I'm saying. I don't have a script, and my teleprompters rarely work, so I'm just winging it (betcha you could never tell), which made Kimmel’s crew think, Why not give the little ones a treat with an all-Trump rendition of “Baby Shark”? #Kimmel
Who’s worse, Biden or Trump? Vote evil
Trump meets with probation officer after bizarre rally rant about sharks: A Closer Look
(Late Night with Seth Meyers) June 10, 2024: Meyers takes a closer look at Trump meeting with a probation officer after holding his first large rally since his guilty verdict, where he screamed about teleprompters, batteries and sharks.
(Steve Forbes) Biden have to pull out before race due to being too feeble
It's time to choose again: Vote Tweedledee?
Anyone who votes "the lesser evil" is purposely voting for evil. Happy birthday, Don Juan Trump, 78.
Before he is sent to prison or spared to get a government job in the White House, Trump will be 78 on June 14th. Seriously senile Biden is 81 but so much older.
Say what anyone wants about how dumb Trump is as a dishonest human being, at least he tells the truth sometimes, not knowing any better or not caring about anything but advancing and promoting himself.
He says what the powers-that-be do not want anyone to say out loud about how we spy on others or how bribes (tax deductible donations) influence politics. He knows the system because he, by his own admission, uses the system, and now that system is mad enough at him to impeach, impeach, convict, and possibly imprison him, if only to keep him out of the next election.
Get me Steve Bannon on the pipe or the vent!
Another Trump presidency is not the worst thing that could happen -- so long as it is carried out from Cell Block 6 at Riker's Island or a federal warehouse for wayward felons, a country club of minimum-security detention. Why?
Body-doubles, demons, suits?
He's not likely to start any new wars like all the other presidents do and have done, with perhaps the sole exception being hospice-bound Jimmy Carter.
Biden is a buffoon and, worse, a tool. Who or what is possessing him? When he freezes up as he did yesterday, it may be dementia and Parkinson's kicking in, but it has always seemed to be glitches in his reptilian, draconian, or demonic overlord's possession.
One would think that they know how to enter, exit, and manipulate him after half a century of doing so but, apparently, he is all the worse for wear for having so many walk ins occupy his physical body.
Unfortunately, there is more than one body-double, and it is apparent when the others are on duty. They do not act too out of character, preferring to hew closely to their scripts and trained mannerisms.
Biden has no body doubles, except Mr. Rodgers.
Vote Jill Stein, vote RFK Jr., vote Andrew D. Basiago, or vote Cornel West. Vote anyone but Pervy Uncle the geriatric white male candidate. As bad as Trump is -- and he is shamefully, woefully inept in almost all regards, a humiliating embarrassment to the country -- he's the closest thing we have to a peace candidate.
He's a belligerent, bombastic, buffoonish clown, who will pick terrible judges and select hollowed out shells of people for cabinet positions, but that would seem to be an improvement over what we have in Genocide Joe.
This Week in Unnecessary Censorship
(Jimmy Kimmel Live) June 9, 2024: Once again, Kimmel Live has bleeped and blurred all the week's big TV moments whether they need it or not. This week the features are Donald Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jim Jordan, Matt Smith, Shark Tank, and more. #UnnecessaryCensorship#Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel Live; Late Night with Seth Meyers; Steve Forbes; The Hill; Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Corporations are snatching up news outlets and cleaning house. Now you can buy toilet brushes from the same place you get your headlines. Subscribe, twitter, facebook, instagram, medium. More: SamBee.com.
HOUSTON, Texas - The Dharma Bee contest,
organized by HSS (Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh) is getting an enthusiastic
response from children of all ages across the USA.
Learning from
the popularity of spelling bee contests among Indian students, HSS has
come up with the Dharma Bee to encourage children to learn about Hindu
culture and heritage -- which incorporates the Buddha as"The Refiner" of the Eternal Dharma, an incarnation of the Lord Vishnu -- in a fun environment.
Lord Krishna and Radha (iloveindia.com)
The topic is Bhagwan Sri
Krishna (early childhood stories) and Swami Vivekananda (life and
message).Although the registration deadline
is March 10th, over 2,300 children have already registered for the contest. “Children who have registered and are participating are
really enthusiastic and are having fun while learning. In many places,
as soon as asked if they wanted to participate in such a contest, almost
all children raised their hands,” said Sreevidya Radhakrishna, a
national coordinator.More
But at least it offers something satirical to challenge the implicit messages of shows like XBC's "Handsome Prince Moneybags and the Wh*res" and OBS's "Bleach Blondie and the White Knight Stallions" and most MTV shows.
It is to boobtube programming what Comedy Central roasts are to inflated egos. It helps us see the foolishness of our conditioning. It helps us become conscious of the unconscious silliness of ideals that rule our lives, usurp our dreams, and lead us to dejection. After all, what unseen motives are impelling us on the great hamster wheel we are assured is an unavoidable rat race?
Speaking of hamster wheels and rat races, Las Vegas, the land of deserted dreams, finally gave us our new queen, Miss. America! We also crowned our best spelling child prodigy this weekend. (Is it just a coincidence that it was another white Hispanic and Indian American? Probably). It seems like only 12 months since the last ones. One has to wonder if the Maoist Buddhists of Nepal would tolerate this. Probably considering their new sex symbol. Beauty is very alluring and therefore possesses a great deal of power.
Snigdha Nandipati, 14, tackles the final word of the Scripps Spelling Bee (csmonitor.com).
I'm really hot, from Rhode Island, and play the cello. Olivia Culpo is Miss America.
Kavya Shivashankar from Olathe, Kansas is presented the winner's trophy at the 2009 National Spelling Bee on 5/28/09 after spelling "Laodicean" (Reuters/Jim Young).
WASHINGTON, D.C. – It's safe to say the best is yet to come for the new national spelling champion. She's only just become a teenager. She'll probably keep her competitive juices flowing by entering the International Brain Bee, the perfect contest for an aspiring neurosurgeon. More>>
All materials on this site are submitted by editors and readers. All images, unless otherwise noted, were taken from the Internet and are assumed to be in the public domain.
In the event that there is still a problem, issue, or error with copyrighted material, the break of the copyright is unintentional and noncommercial, and the material will be removed immediately upon presented proof.
Contact us by submitting a comment marked "private."
Do not follow this journal if you are under vinaya or parental restrictions. Secure protection by Sucuri.
Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at creativecommons.org/about/licenses.
_-_filtered.jpg)
Sound has been invisible throughout history, except in graphic depictions of conventional acoustics instrumentation.
.jpg)
.jpg)
_-_filtered.jpg){kind=link}