(Diane Jennings) Happy St. Patrick’s Day! If celebrating today, make sure you don’t accidentally offend an Irish person. From the ultimate crime of saying "St. Patty’s Day" (seriously, it's Paddy!) to disrespecting Guinness, tea, and our right to complain, here’s what not to do.
Ever wonder why we side-eye people who mispronounce Irish names like Caoimhe or DĂșn Laoghaire? Or why ordering a Guinness and drinking it immediately is a massive mistake? This is a survival guide to keeping Irish people on your good side. What’s the worst offense on this list? đ» Let me know in the comments! #irishvideo#irishpeople#irishgirl ▶ Patreon: dianejennings
Amy Winehouse; Sydney Lima, High Society, 7/8/20; Pat Macpherson (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly
The Most Expensive Rehab in the World | High Society
(VICE) Paracelsus in Switzerland is the most expensive rehab in the world, serving a clientele of royalty, politicians, oligarchs, business tycoons, and A-list celebrities.
Forget the £20,000-a-month celebrities spend at The Priory in Surrey, or the £41,700 they shell out for 45 days at the Meadows in Arizona.
A five-week residential rehab here costs a whopping £315,000 -- about ten times the average UK annual salary.
Staying at a lakeside villa in Zurich, Switzerland, with a 24/7 limousine transportation, a personal chef, a butler, and a concierge, clients have access to a five-star hotel spa and a live-in therapist (who sleeps in the spare room). Activities include yoga, massage, martial arts, tennis, weightlifting, and more.
VICE sent writer and model Sydney Lima there to see if it could help her kick her drug, drink, and partying lifestyle. But while she was there, she uncovered a strange, unexpected world.
In the next report from High Society, VICE investigates how deadly synthetic drugs made by Russian DarkNet cartels are spreading through Tbilisi’s world-famous nightlife scene.
ABOUT: VICE is the Definitive Guide to Enlightening Information. From every corner of the planet, its immersive, caustic, ground-breaking, and often bizarre stories have changed the way people think about culture, crime, art, parties, fashion, protest, the internet, and other subjects that don't even have names yet. Browse the growing library and discover corners of the world one never knew existed. Welcome to VICE.
Pop Will Eat Itself; Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly
German Auslanders expelled from Poland in 1948: Get out, you foreigners! (Bundesarchiv)
I always thought they (PWEI) were saying, in German, "I am an Icelander." Auslander actually means "outlier," "outsider," or "foreigner," someone from the periphery or parts unknown, like the Native Sami (SĂĄpmi, formerly Laplanders) in Sweden. We think they look like adorable Swiss Miss blondes, but to the Scandinavian, Nordic/Germanic Swedes, the Sami are icky "Natives" and "savages," crude people who live in the Lapps/Lapland, where no rightminded person would choose to live, in the cold, among the reindeer, by the restless sea.
ITBEFY; Louis Armstrong: Black & Blues; Sushmita's Diaries; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
Not Black enough: cultural scapegoating
(The Situational Therapist) Aug. 15, 2021. I have grown up hearing from friends, family, and others that I was not Black enough. Black and white people always said I was "acting white, dressing white, and talking white." I have always felt this experience of othering in the Black community left significant emotional scars, but I was not able to articulate it until I became a therapist. People who feel they are too Black for white people and too white for Black people all have experienced some form of being scapegoated by their family. Like this video? Please consider donating or joining my app The Situational Practice
[Love thy neighbor.] As the American-born child of parents who emigrated from India,comic
Hasan Minhaj often feels a little out of place.
"I exist in this
hyphen," he says. "I'm an Indian-American-Muslim kid, but am I more
Indian or am I more American?"
"What part of my identity am I?" Those
are the kinds of questions Minhaj deliberately sidestepped when was
getting his start in comedy.
Muslim stand-up comedian Hasan Minhaj
"It was almost like I was on the playground
all over again," he says of his early career. "I just was afraid if I
get real...people aren't going to like it; they're going to think I'm a
freak."
After years doing stand-up, Minhaj became a correspondent with The Daily Showin 2014.
The following year, he starred in Homecoming King,
a one-man stand-up show in which he began to open up on stage about his
experiences as a "third culture kid" who doesn't fully share in either
the culture of his parents or that of his hometown of Davis, California.
"It wasn't until I started exploring the personal stuff, the
one-man-show stuff, that I kind of got a chance to be more open to the
audience and to my family," he says.
Minhaj's new stand-up special, which is also called Homecoming King, isavailable on Netflix starting Tuesday.
One
of the biggest things immigrant kids oftentimes feel is...this big
disparity between our parents and us. And our parents are staunch
pragmatists and I consider myself to be an optimist....
His
rules with me growing up were very simple: no fun, no friends, no
girlfriends. You can have fun in med school, which is, like, a huge lie.
Terry, that's just a blatant lie. All my Indian friends and
Asian-American friends that are in medicine or pharmacy, they will tell
you: It doesn't get poppin' in dental school. It doesn't all of a sudden
get fun where you go to a club and see a bunch of dudes going crazy,
like, "What's going on fellas?" "What's going on? Residency! I'm having
the time of my life." It doesn't work like that!
Boogeymen: scary "Muslims" in the propaganda of the US mainstream media machine
.
Again, I felt like for my dad...I have to deliver the dream. I
am aware of that. I go back to Aligarh and I go back to Delhi often,
where my cousins live now, and I'm very aware of the opportunity that I
have when I go meet them. That's where I understand and I empathize with
what my dad feels.
On his mother taking his newborn younger sister to live in India while she finished her residency there
My
younger sister, Ayesha, was born in the States and then, at 2 months
after her birth, she went to go live with my grandparents and be raised
[in India]. So I didn't officially, officially get a chance to really meet her until I was 8 [and Ayesha was 5].
The
tough thing was, again, a lot of immigrant households, when you come to
the States, you don't have the bandwidth and set up to accommodate a
lot of things. My dad is working full time; I'm at school and then I'm
going to...an after school daycare program; and now we have a newborn,
my little sister. My mom is doing residency and rotations, so she's at a
hospital all day. There just wasn't that infrastructure to care for
this newborn baby, and financially that wasn't there. My grandparents
were in India and it was set up in such a way that she could be raised
and she was around cousins and it was an amazing way for her to grow up.
Our
narratives are very different. She grew up in India. Like, literally,
it took a village. She was around people that loved her and were there
for her, and I was this brown kid who was alone in America with his dad.
So when she came back, I was just like, I hate this person. Who are you? I just wanted a mom, and now I got you.
On how doing speech and debate in high school led him to comedy
In
high school I didn't know what comedy was, but I was involved in speech
and debate and public speaking. ...Believe it or not, they are very
similar. ...My favorite comedians are just presenting an argument and
they're doing it in a funny way. And whenever I would do speech and
debate, ... if you can make the judges laugh or if you could ridicule
your opponent's position and make the judges laugh, I always would do
better on the scorecard. ...That's when I really wanted to get into
political comedy and talk about a lot of these topics that sometimes
would be too taboo to talk about in other settings.
On how getting a job at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart marked a turning point in how his parents viewed his career
They
finally could believe that I would be OK because ...Jon, to my dad,
was somebody that you could trust and he was somebody that had figured
things out. ...He was like, "If Jon Stewart says you're alright, then I
think you'll be OK." Just having that co-sign -- more than having steady
income and getting to have your dream job -- having that co-sign with
your parents was just a huge deal.
On election night and trying to get his mom home from a visit to India once it became clear Trump was going to win
We
were doing a live show that night; it was our election night special.
We had a script written that followed what we thought was going to
happen, that Hillary Clinton would be president. [But] as...the
results were coming in, we're literally tearing apart our script. We're
rewriting a one-hour live show in real time, and I'm on WhatsApp audio
with my mom. My mom [is] being like, "We're watching the news. I'm with
your grandma. What's going on?"
So I'm trying to write jokes
about Trump winning the election while I'm on Kayak.com looking up
tickets for her to come back. ...It was a horrible 48 hours. ...And
not knowing that everything will be OK was just really awful. ...We
managed to get her home. ...I didn't want to risk anything.
YouTube
On hosting the 2017 White House Correspondents' Dinner and being asked NOT to roast President Trump
The
irony to me was the theme of the night was about honoring the First
Amendment, and you want me to censor myself? That to me -- I couldn't do
it. ...Especially given the fact that the person that I'm roasting, the
president, is someone who has so exploited that incredible privilege of
free speech. The man who tweets whatever enters his head doesn't even
want to honor the amendment that allows him to do it.
That to me just
blows my mind. So I wanted to make the conscious choice of, Hey,
I will roast [Trump's] merit and I will roast the decisions he's made. I will
try to be as tasteful as possible, but I have to talk about this.
Radio
producers Ann Marie Baldonado and Mooj Zadie and Web producers Bridget
Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Nicole Cohen contributed to this story.
Protesters hold signs and march in front of the State Capitol across the street from the US 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., Monday, May 8, 2017. The court will examine a ruling that blocks the administration from temporarily barring new visas for citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen (AP).
.
Travel ban arguments focus on Trump's comments about Muslims
RICHMOND, Virginia - A challenge to Don Trump's revised travel ban appears to hinge on whether a federal appeals court agrees that the fascistic Republican's past anti-Muslim/Islam statements can be used against him.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrestled Monday with whether the court should look beyond the text of the executive order to comments made by Trump and his aides on the campaign trail and after his election in order to determine whether the policy illegally targets Muslims.
"That's the most important issue in the whole case," said Judge Robert King, who was appointed to the court by Pres. Bill Clinton. The panel of 13 judges peppered both sides with tough questions but gave few clues as to how they might rule. The judges did not immediately issue a decision on Monday.
A federal judge in Maryland who blocked the travel ban in March cited Trump's comments as evidence that the executive order is a realization of his repeated promise to bar Muslims from entering the country. More
Texas Governor Rick Perry, speaking in San Francisco last week, likened being gay to being an alcoholic. “Whether or not you feel compelled to follow a particular lifestyle...” he said, “you have the ability to decide not to do that.”
“I may have the genetic coding that I’m inclined to be an alcoholic,” he added, “but I have the desire not to do that. And I look at the homosexual issue the same way.”
His controversial remarks come on the heels of the Texas Republican Party expressing its support for so-called “reparative therapy” for homosexuality -- a discredited counseling treatment to “cure” people of homosexuality.
What's Republican Perry doing with that pig in his mouth, cannibalism, swallowing? (DFS)
We're here, please tolerate us
The progressive response to the idea that homosexuality is a choice is the assertion that people who are gay are born that way, perhaps with a gene that makes them prefer people of their own sex, or in Judeo-Christian terms, “God made them that way.”
Westboro Baptist vs. US Army
Northeastern University Sociology Professor Suzanna Walters has a problem with this approach. She maintains that using the “born this way” approach to gay liberation reduces the LGBT movement to one that will be happy with “tolerance” or “acceptance” by mainstream American society.
Gays are evil! God hates them! (Westboro)
But is tolerance something worth fighting for? In asking to be tolerated, aren’t gay rights advocates simply asking society to tolerate the LGBT community like one tolerates anything that is uncomfortable or undesirable?
In her ground breaking book The Tolerance Trap: How God, Genes, and Good Intentions Are Sabotaging Gay Equality, Walters demands liberation over acceptance and warns against declaring victory for gay rights too soon.
Analyzing pop culture’s depictions of gay characters, the marriage equality movement, scientific research into homosexuality, and religious approaches, she makes the case that nothing less than full equality and a societal transformation is worth fighting for. More
GUEST: Prof. Walters is Director of Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, author of All the Rage: The Story of Gay Visibility in America.
Bob/David explain Overcome, a Christian Center for Reparative Therapy
Part of being committed to eliminating racism is
continuing to grow in our understanding of the horrible effects of
racism on people of color today. While there is no comparison with the
effects on people of color, white people are also dehumanized and
burdened by racism.
So it is valuable to also grow in our understanding of
this part of the system of racism that affects us all. For instance,
white people often:
Oh, to be the black sheep of the group! Or white in a group of colored sheep!!
I can overcome inequality and guilt?
• Experience a sense of being cut off from people of color -- of not
belonging with, or being welcomed by, people of color (who, after all, are a majority of the world’s population).
• Hold stereotypes and prejudices or have negative thoughts about people of
color or unintentionally give off an air of entitlement or superiority.
• Are deeply pained by learning about historical/contemporary suffering and racist inequities experienced by people of color.
• Feel powerless to create a just society in the face of racism.
• Feel guilty about the history of racism and current racist institutions.
• Fear making mistakes and being seen as racist or prejudiced.
Beloved Buddhist Saint Sivali
• Have our integrity eroded and our sense of goodness and self-worth undermined by our failures to stand up against racism we observe.
• Experience unjustified fears of people of color.
• Are separated from people of color who are working-class and poor, who
are our natural allies, with whom we could join forces to bring about a
more equitable distribution of wealth that would benefit us all.
• Experience unfounded fears of what people of color may do to white
people, when and if they ever get the chance, exactly what whites did to people of color -- exacting revenge or retribution for
past and ongoing racism.
• Miss out on the benefits of deep human relationships with people of
other “races” and cultures, and all that can be learned and enjoyed in
such relationships.
• Are unconscious of "white privilege" or subtle biases.
• Are separated from other white people by feelings about race...What would you add to the list?
A better kind of arms race
The position of supremacy is inherently dehumanizing to individuals
in the dominant group in addition to the terrible and more obvious costs to any
subordinated group.
Our full humanity can only be realized in full
community with other human beings -- in situations of reciprocity,
equity, fairness, and mutuality... More
"OBAMA — Racial barrier falls in decisive victory" was the New York Times headline four years ago after B.S. Obama won the election. But just how much have racial relations changed since 2008? That's one of the questions explored in a documentary on PBS called "RACE 2012."
Hipster racism: myth or fact? (Patt Morrison) The term "hipster racism" has been tweeted about quite a bit lately, prompting praise, debate, and a lot of head-scratching. What is it?
Racism for Dummies (Off-Ramp)
(Feb. 2008) Two "Daily Show" alums take on bigots in a new book called A Practical Guide to Racism. As Jon Stewart says, "Read it with someone you hate..."
Un-Fair Campaign to combat racism focuses on whites (Feb. 7, 2012) The billboards are striking. Splashed across Duluth, Minnesota, they read: “It's hard to see racism when you're white.” That message appears over...
Move it or lose it! (Or move it and lose it sometimes. Build up slowly).
Meditation masters, New Age gurus, and bestselling authors like Eckhart Tolle and Byron Katie all how up the silliness of resisting reality. Reality should be understood and allowed because it is that way anyway.
Since Proposition 8 violates civil rights, the case is going to the Supreme Court on appeal. But this is a California-centric decision. The courts are not speaking for other states or their individual circumstances.
With a handful of states already allowing same-sex marriages, along with other countries and almost universal acceptance of lesbianism as entertainment, it is only a matter of time before we all serve as Best Man at a lesbian wedding or enjoy the fancy nuptials of Adam and Steve.
Our heroic American soldiers are actually gay sodomites?
College students today tend to consider it a non-issue not worthy of debate. If homosexuality is wrong according to one's religion, arguments about the definition of "marriage" are not going to change that. If one's concern is strictly societal and the biological perpetuation of the species, there is no need to worry.
Buddhism and the social study of sex?Buddhism, Sexuality, and Gender (edited by Jose Ignacio Cabezon)deals with the very few places gay (possibly transgender) deviants come up in ancient Buddhist texts. The Pali Canon speaks of pandakas and their exclusion from the ancient Indian Buddhist Monastic Order, Japanese texts advocate Greek-style pederasty among priests, and scholars examine attitudes towards women and the gender symbolism of Kwan-yin...
Very, very few people are strict homosexuals. The vast majority of those identifying as "gay" are, in fact, heteroflexible. Rare, indeed, is a person on either extreme of a Kinsey continuum. The tendency toward a bell shaped curve suggests peoples' sexual boundaries are blurred. And we are all made to feel guilty about even normative sexual impulses telling us we are in need of religion for validation and/or redemption.
America's anti-sweetheart Kathy Griffin teaches us to profit from gays
But what we really need to do is come to terms with ourselves, our motives, and how we treat others. Regardless of how hard we are on ourselves -- how pure, how extreme, how blameless -- there is no merit in condemning others. Love one, love all in an altruistic way full of sympathy (resonating with their highs and lows) and compassion.
One sure way to guilt-laden (vipaka or karmic mental resultant) homosexual compulsions in future lives is to torment gays, according to the readings of Edgar Cayce and the mysterious workings of karma.
Drugs, alcohol, early childhood trauma (rape, molestation, boundary violations, emotional abuse, instability), hormonal irregularities (which now cannot be avoided in a world awash with plastic, plastic residues, and xeno-estrogenic compounds) all play into our sexuality and sense of ourselves as masculine-feminine-androgynous-or-asexual.
What is worse, fluid borders or finding out that a gay marriage was really no better than a straight one?
People are people, and violating some social norm or biblical injunction will not solve all of our problems. Nor will it bring human civilization crumbling down (unless the "fag" hating Calvinists at Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church are right).
While being open to correction by others, correcting others uninvited is a minefield. One has to imagine that not being able to marry someone of the same sex must be as bad as being forced to marry someone of the other sex for some people.
According to the Buddha, "Forbearance [tolerance, acceptance, respect] is the highest virtue."
HOLIDAY DINNERS-IN-THE-PARK The largest potluck in the nation
For over 35 years Union Station Homeless Services has hosted annual Dinners-in-the-Park on Thanksgiving and Xmas, providing warm holiday meals for people in the community. Over 7,500 meals were served last holiday season to the homeless, seniors, those alone over the holidays or unable to afford a holiday meal.
Dec. 25th online pre-registration for Xmas Dinner-in-the-Park is now closed. Join Wisdom Quarterly volunteers by coming DIRECTLY to Central Park, 219 South Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena (near the Del Mar Station, Metro Gold Line) on Xmas Day.
On Christmas Day more than 2,000 toys were distributed to children in our Santa's Village [to save them from Krampus the Scandinavian Christmas troll]. Held every year in Pasadena's Central Park, these events bring together volunteers to serve a healthy meal and holiday cheer to our less fortunate community members.
Union Station is thankful for the in-kind donations of vegetables, side dishes, desserts, and new toys that make it all possible. See the impact of community giving by contributing to Holiday Dinners-in-the-Park. How can I help? More
Q:Do Buddhists give gifts to one another on any special occasion/holiday? I know Buddhists living in Christian countries often give gifts at Christmas. But in strictly Buddhist countries, do children/family members ever receive gifts on holidays?
A:Many more holidays in Buddhist countries, like Thailand, involve giving alms (dana) to monastics rather than gifts to friends and family. Days like Magha Puja or Asalha Puja include supporting the Buddhist Sangha (Monastic Order) and alms for monastics (canned goods, etc.) Vesak, which is often called "Buddhist Xmas" in the West, is one of the most sacred Buddhist days and also includes gifts of charity.
In a lot of traditional Buddhist cultures, like Sri Lanka, birthdays are celebrated by giving gifts -- which is a great form of making merit -- instead of getting them. The goal is to reduce greed, one of the great causes of unhappiness. But due to Western influence, many Buddhists also get them nowadays. More
Thais celebrate international holidays from Halloween to Xmas, using the opportunity the way the West does -- capitalizing on it (mythailife.com).
Xmas festivities begin with Las Posadas, nine consecutive days of candelight processions and lively parties starting Dec. 16th. In urban and villages neighborhoods throughout Mexico, youngsters gather each afternoon to reenact the holy family's quest for lodging in Roman imperial Bethlehem (mexconnect.com).
A Buddhist Solution to Xmas
Wisdom Quarterly I grew up in a brown, liberal-leaning, West Coast family, Catholic with Puritanical roots. We celebrated the Holiday Season in typical California fashion: the dying tree, the polyester batting snow, the annual TV specials with all the best Claymation and super-catchy ditties like Little Drummer Boy.
My memories of the holiday are mixed. There weren't always gifts -- one year there was none -- but there was always food, family, and alcohol. O, how the adults loved their alcohol!
My parents went into debt to get presents under the tree. We took it for granted. My friend at school talked of going to Temple. It wasn't a Japanese temple, maybe Jewish or a lesser Christian sect, like 7th Day Adventist.
The Church in all its manifestations seemed miserable, a punishment, and I had no idea I would one day be saved from it all by becoming a Buddhist. Now as a Buddhist looking back, I can appreciate it and be grateful. The greed made me American, the Pagan roots Scandinavian-Irish-German-French, the mixed Latin ethnicity Californian, the friends tolerant, and family made it sweet.
We were all searching for something beyond our cultural inheritance. I never dreamed I would find the Buddhist roots of Christianity, Judaism, and so much of what we claim as Western (Greco-Roman). And California was the place to find it. I grew up with a small Zen Buddha, I still have it, and a beautiful Kwan Yin figurine. I asked my mom about them. "That's the Chinese Virgin Mary," she explained, "and the other is just Chinatown tchotchke."
Hotei, Zen Santa, who carried a bag of gifts and candy for children was a monk and bodhisattva. He is often called Happy or Fat Buddha even though he is NOT a buddha.
A Buddhist Problem with Christmas Jess Row (Slate.com)
I grew up in a white, liberal, East Coast family, Unitarian with Presbyterian roots, and we celebrated Christmas in a typical American way: the tree, the school pageant, the Burl Ives carols, the Claymation Rudolph on television. Most of my memories of the holiday are happy ones. But... More
Lock up your daughters. And your sons! No child, strike that, no mortal is safe in the dark hours of Christmas Eve. For there lurks the Christmas troll, drunk on spirits and cavorting with the witches, waiting to trick you into a midnight ride. Early 20th century author Clement A. Miles was a historian and an anthropologist of sorts. His 1912 collection of Christmas traditions which he deemed “both Pagan and Christian” is not just a cross-cultural look at the origins of Santa Claus. Here you will find werewolves, bogeys, and trolls. You will find curses and hexes and imminent death, rituals of the dead and goblin offerings. You will be warned of The Devil and cautioned against laziness. If you are in Bavaria, take heed of the Berchte -- a wretched bogey who cuts the stomachs open of naughty... More
The arrival of Nike's new Air Jordan 11 Retro Concords in stores just in time for Christmas brought pandemonium all over the country. Thousands lined up across the country to shell out $180 for the black and white "J's" that went on sale at midnight. Police were called to shopping centers in Indiana, Florida, Texas, and Virginia among other states to control crowds of hundreds lining up for the shoes. "I don't remember anything like this in the recent past at all, definitely not with the iPhone or anything like that," Linda Jackson, a spokeswoman for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, told ABCNews.com. More
Peter Joseph (Alliance Magazine, Dec. 1, 2000) Buddhism acknowledges that we exist in a vast network of life, continuously the recipients of the generosity of others. Recognizing this fact, we can choose to orient ourselves progressively to others, developing loving-kindness towards them and learning to give in all ways to all beings. That is the traditional view and the exhortation to practice.... When they begin to explore Buddhism, most people are struck by how ubiquitous the practice of generosity is....Starting with the Buddha, it has always been emphasized that a progressively open-handed and open-hearted orientation to life is essential... More
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One
of the biggest things immigrant kids oftentimes feel is...this big
disparity between our parents and us. And our parents are staunch
pragmatists and I consider myself to be an optimist....
RICHMOND, Virginia - A challenge to Don Trump's revised travel ban appears to hinge on whether a federal appeals court agrees that the fascistic Republican's past anti-Muslim/Islam statements can be used against him.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrestled Monday with whether the court should look beyond the text of the executive order to comments made by Trump and his aides on the campaign trail and after his election in order to determine whether the policy illegally targets Muslims.
"That's the most important issue in the whole case," said Judge Robert King, who was appointed to the court by Pres. Bill Clinton. The panel of 13 judges peppered both sides with tough questions but gave few clues as to how they might rule. The judges did not immediately issue a decision on Monday.
Since Proposition 8 violates civil rights, the case is going to the Supreme Court on appeal. But this is a California-centric decision. The courts are not speaking for other states or their individual circumstances.
People are people, and violating some social norm or biblical injunction will not solve all of our problems. Nor will it bring human civilization crumbling down (unless the "fag" hating Calvinists at Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church are right).
For over 35 years Union Station Homeless Services has hosted annual Dinners-in-the-Park on Thanksgiving and Xmas, providing warm holiday meals for people in the community. Over 7,500 meals were served last holiday season to the homeless, seniors, those alone over the holidays or unable to afford a holiday meal.
On Christmas Day more than 2,000 toys were distributed to children in our Santa's Village [to save them from Krampus the Scandinavian Christmas troll]. Held every year in Pasadena's Central Park, these events bring together volunteers to serve a healthy meal and holiday cheer to our less fortunate community members.
Q: Do Buddhists give gifts to one another on any special occasion/holiday? I know Buddhists living in Christian countries often give gifts at Christmas. But in strictly Buddhist countries, do children/family members ever receive gifts on holidays?
In a lot of traditional Buddhist cultures, like Sri Lanka, birthdays are celebrated by giving gifts -- which is a great form of making merit -- instead of getting them. The goal is to reduce greed, one of the great causes of unhappiness. But due to Western influence, many Buddhists also get them nowadays. More
Xmas festivities begin with Las Posadas, nine consecutive days of candelight processions and lively parties starting Dec. 16th. In urban and villages neighborhoods throughout Mexico, youngsters gather each afternoon to reenact the holy family's quest for lodging in Roman imperial Bethlehem (mexconnect.com). 
I grew up in a brown, liberal-leaning, West Coast family, Catholic with Puritanical roots. We celebrated the Holiday Season in typical California fashion: the dying tree, the polyester batting snow, the annual TV specials with all the best Claymation and super-catchy ditties like Little Drummer Boy.
My parents went into debt to get presents under the tree. We took it for granted. My friend at school talked of going to Temple. It wasn't a Japanese temple, maybe Jewish or a lesser Christian sect, like 7th Day Adventist.
The Church in all its manifestations seemed miserable, a punishment, and I had no idea I would one day be saved from it all by becoming a Buddhist. Now as a Buddhist looking back, I can appreciate it and be grateful. The greed made me American, the Pagan roots Scandinavian-Irish-German-French, the mixed Latin ethnicity Californian, the friends tolerant, and family made it sweet.
We were all searching for something beyond our cultural inheritance. I never dreamed I would find the Buddhist roots of Christianity, Judaism, and so much of what we claim as Western (Greco-Roman). And California was the place to find it. I grew up with a small Zen Buddha, I still have it, and a beautiful Kwan Yin figurine. I asked my mom about them. "That's the Chinese Virgin Mary," she explained, "and the other is just Chinatown tchotchke."
Hotei, Zen Santa, who carried a bag of gifts and candy for children was a monk and bodhisattva. He is often called Happy or Fat Buddha even though he is NOT a buddha.
Lock up your daughters. And your sons! No child, strike that, no mortal is safe in the dark hours of Christmas Eve. For there lurks the Christmas troll, drunk on spirits and cavorting with the witches, waiting to trick you into a midnight ride. Early 20th century author Clement A. Miles was a historian and an anthropologist of sorts. His 1912 collection of Christmas traditions which he deemed “both Pagan and Christian” is not just a cross-cultural look at the origins
of Santa Claus. Here you will find werewolves, bogeys, and trolls. You will find curses and hexes and imminent death, rituals of the dead and goblin offerings. You will be warned of The Devil and cautioned against laziness. If you are in Bavaria, take heed of the Berchte -- a wretched bogey who cuts the stomachs open of naughty... More
The arrival of Nike's new Air Jordan 11 Retro Concords in stores just in time for Christmas brought pandemonium all over the country. Thousands lined up across the country to shell out $180 for the black and white "J's" that went on sale at midnight. Police were called to shopping centers in Indiana, Florida, Texas, and Virginia among other states to control crowds of hundreds lining up for the shoes. "I don't remember anything like this in the recent past at all, definitely not with the iPhone or anything like that," Linda Jackson, a spokeswoman for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, told ABCNews.com. More
Buddhism acknowledges that we exist in a vast network of life, continuously the recipients of the generosity of others. Recognizing this fact, we can choose to orient ourselves progressively to others, developing loving-kindness towards them and learning to give in all ways to all beings. That is the traditional view and the exhortation to practice.... When they begin to explore Buddhism, most people are struck by how ubiquitous the practice of generosity is.... Starting with the Buddha, it has always been emphasized that a progressively open-handed and open-hearted orientation to life is essential... More
