Dead Sea Scrolls hoax spurs unusual trial

A 2,000-year-old mystery, family loyalty, and a "disturbing" online deception raise prickly legal questions. Dead Sea Scrolls - Ancient paintings emerge - Home of "Ice Giants" thaws

• Pope's alleged terror threat: 6 arrested in UK
• Secrets of luck - how to make your own
• Seven ways to gain power at work

Dharma for the Deaf ("The Flower Sermon")

Students at the sign language class have undergone a transformation. Before the end of each session, students chant Buddhist sutras in sign language (Sin Chew Daily).

KUALA LUMPUR (MK) - In the silent world, due to the lack of verbal communication, the deaf and mute are usually isolated from society, even in their own families. Nevertheless, students from an organization known as "Dharma for the Deaf" aim to inform the public that through visual language and actions the deaf and mute are not a weak community but have the ability to help those who are unfortunate too. These students are not well educated nor do they have high-income jobs; they may come from impoverished families. However, they are willing to spend their time on charity in a bid to raise funds for those who are needy. More>>

“Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.”
- St. Francis (Spanish, San Francisco) of Assisi

The Flower Sermon

Famous (apocryphal) Mahayana work
Toward the end of his life, the Buddha reputedly took his disciples to a quiet pond for instruction. As they had done so many times before, the Buddha’s disciples sat in a small circle around him and waited for the instruction.

But this time the Buddha had no words. He reached into the muck of the pond and pulled up a lotus flower. He held it silently before them, its roots dripping with mud and water.

The disciples were very confused. The Buddha quietly displayed the lotus to each one of them. In turn, the disciples did their best to expound on the meaning of the flower: what it symbolized and how it fit into the body of the Buddha’s teaching.

When at last the Buddha came to Mahakasyapa (Maha Kassapa), the disciple suddenly understood. He smiled and began to laugh. The Buddha handed the lotus to Mahakasyapa and spoke:

“What can be said I have said to you,” smiled the Buddha, “and what cannot be said, I have given to Mahakashyapa.” Mahakashyapa became something of a successor from that day forward.

• DrBlum.com: Cell phones damage teeth and nerves

Buddhist Magic and the Supernatural

Venerable Master Hsing Yun (Taiwanese Mahayana)

When we mention the word "magic," we immediately think of mysterious, unusual, superhuman actions. When we face an obstacle, do we not all wish for a miracle? Maybe Superman will appear and eliminate our problems.

When someone hits or curses us, would it not be great if we were martial arts masters? We could use one little finger to pin the person down. When being chased, would it not be wonderful if we could fly? We could easily escape the calamity. When someone wants to cause trouble, would it not be great if I could whisper a spell to make him immobile? When a rich person does not believe in doing good, would it not be nice if I could magically gather his money and give it to the poor and needy?

Magic, to most people, is essentially the wish to be outstanding, to be powerful, to be capable of accomplishing the impossible. Although magic can be used to punish the evil and help the needy, it can also be misused to endanger humanity.

Does magic have any benefit for society? Is magic good or bad? What is the meaning of its existence? I would like to discuss the Buddhist perspective on magic and the supernatural from four aspects.

I. The Definition and Classification of Magic

According to the scriptures, magic is a supernormal, unlimited, unimaginable power attained during meditation practice. We often believe that only the Buddha, Bodhisattvas, gods, or fairies have magical or supernatural power. In actuality, ghosts and demons can also have magical power. We humans have magical power, too.

Magic is not limited to the unusual acts of causing rain and storms or riding on clouds. Magic is everywhere in our lives. We can recognize it if we look carefully. When we are exhausted and thirsty after a long journey, a glass of water can quench our thirst. Is that glass of water not like a magic potion? A non-swimmer sinks like a rock after falling into water despite a frantic struggle.

In comparison, a good swimmer simply makes a few easy strokes and kicks to move around like a fish. Is this not miraculous? Beginning bicyclists may grip the handles with all their might and still fall off their bicycles. The experts can let their hands go and remain securely on their fast moving bicycles. Does this not seem supernatural?

We can also describe those amazing circus performances as magic. According to science, the body itself is a miracle. Tears flow when one is sad, and laughter comes when one is happy. Hunger can be cured by food. Cold sensations can be alleviated by clothing. Are all these phenomena not "magical"?

A woman’s mammary glands not only secrete milk but also vary the nutrient composition and amount according to the changing needs of the baby. Once the baby stops nursing, all milk production stops automatically. Is this not amazing? Magic is not limited to tricks and sorcery; it is everywhere. The change of the four seasons, the blooming and wilting of flowers, the changing faces of the moon, the large and small sizes of animals, are they not all expressions of magical wonders?

Magical wonders are all around us. How many types of magical powers are recorded in the Buddhist scriptures? According to the most common classification, there are six main categories. These are celestial [divine] vision, celestial hearing, the power of knowing others’ minds, the power of performing miracles, the power of knowing past lives, and the power of eradicating all defilements. More>>

• Hindus greet Jains

UFO in Oregon, Texas; US Military Cover-ups

Triangle UFO moves within 100 yards of Oregon witness
(Examiner) An Oregon witness was startled while riding a scooter just after 10:00 p.m. on September 13, 2010, when a triangle-shaped craft with rounded edges was spotted just 100 yards away, according to testimony from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.

• Texas father and son get up close look at Triangle UFO

The object had a light in front that the witness said appeared to be guiding it somehow. "What made the light unique was that it was circular in shape and moving back and forth across the front of the craft," the witness stated. "It reminded me of the car 'Kit' from the television show 'Knight Rider' except for the fact the light was white and round.

Now the most incredible part of this experience was that the light seemed to help determine the direction the craft would head. The light stopped pacing back and forth and was stuck on one end for about 20 seconds. The craft started heading in the direction the light was facing, and soon the craft stopped and tilted forward as if the lights were this crafts eyes." As the craft moved closer, the witness offers a description. More>>

Truth Behind UFO Sightings and the U.S. Air Force
Mirage Men author Mark Pilkington discusses how the military used UFO stories to keep aircraft projects secret. Are UFOs a mirage, conjured up by the Air Force to obscure classified flight projects? In part, argues Mark Pilkington, a British journalist and filmmaker who writes about society's oddities. In Mirage Men: An Adventure into Paranoia, Espionage, Psychological Warfare, and UFOs, he makes a persuasive case that much UFO-logy canon was started or encouraged by the government trying to conceal Cold War military projects. He recently chatted with U.S. News about the origins and effects of UFO mythology around the world. Excerpts: How has the UFO story been shaped by the government? These ideas do generate themselves to some extent, but there is evidence that they were specifically shaped in some instances. More>>

What's Real About The Rapture?

Internet Explorer 9: From corporate memo to beta

SAN FRANCISCO (CNET) - Just days after launching Internet Explorer 8 in March 2009, Microsoft's Dean Hachamovitch wrote a memo about what the company really needed to do with the next version of its browser.

Michael Moore: Never Forget: Bad Wars Aren’t Possible Unless Good People Back Them

Vision for an American Dharma "Village"

VIDEO: Vision for an American Dharma center: Ven. Vimalaramsi (dhammasukkha.org)

In the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, 25 year meditation veteran Bhante Vimalaramsi hopes to build an entire village for people to practice meditation and the Five Precepts. He teaches a type of Dharma that ignores the commentaries -- a strange thing in Burmese Theravada -- and instead reinterprets the sutras directly in at times novel (at times outlandish) ways. He explains that he was inspired to do so by a Sri Lankan monk, who is not named but who is shown briefly. (It seems to be Ven. Punnaji, who is known for irking others with unique interpretations of the texts, as he does in this video on the "real" meaning of meditation). More>>

"Mastering the Jhanas" (audio interview)

Buddhist Geeks, Episode BG 159: Mastering the Jhanas (Part 1, Feb. 15, 2010)

Host Vince Horn with Tina Rasmussen and Stephen Snyder

Short book review of Practicing the Jhanas (JhanasAdvice.com)

Episode Description

This week we speak with Theravada meditation teachers Tina Rasmussen and Stephen Snyder. In 2005, while on a 2-month retreat, they were the first Western lay practitioners (i.e., non-monastics) [although Tina was ordained as a temporary nun for at least part of that retreat, as pictured below] to complete the traditional concentration practices of Pa Auk Sayadaw – a well-regarded Burmese jhana master.

Tina Rasmussen and Stephen Snyder, 2005 retreat, California

The Sayadaw encouraged them to teach what they had learned. They have, as a result, started leading retreats and have written a book entitled, Practicing the Jhanas.

In this episode they share the progressive practice they did with Pa Auk Sayadaw, which includes all sorts of traditional practices from the Pali Canon. They also make many traditional distinctions, including the distinction between three different types of concentration: momentary, access, and absorption.

While they share some of the traditional benefits that come from concentration practice, they frame the jhanas not as something to attain, but rather as a byproduct of purifying the mind.

Episode Links

• Jhanas Advice
• Practicing the Jhanas: Traditional Concentration Meditation as Presented by the Venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw
• Knowing and Seeing by Pa Auk Sayadaw (PDF)

Transcript
Vince: Hello Buddhist Geeks, this is Vince Horn and I’m joined today over Skype with two jhana teachers, Tina Rasmussen and Stephen Snyder. Thank you guys so much for taking the time to be with me this morning. I really appreciate it.

Stephen: Thanks, Vince.

Tina: You’re welcome. More>>

Differences among Enlightened Beings

Bhante G., Abbot of Bhavana Society, The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation

...The highest respect goes to those monastics who possess not only liberation in both ways but the six abhiññas [magical powers] or "super-knowledges," which are the exercise of:

1. psychic powers
2. the divine ear
3. the ability to read the minds of others
4. the recollection of past lives
5. knowledge of the death and rebirth of beings
6. knowledge of final liberation.

The Buddha declares that a monastic endowed with the six abhiññas [although the exact same thing is said of all arhats] is worthy of gifts and hospitality, worthy of offerings and reverential salutations, a supreme field of merit for the world (A.iii,280-81).

In the period after the Buddha's demise, what qualified a monastic to give guidance to others was endowment with [these] qualities:

• moral virtue
• learning
• contentment
• mastery over the four jhanas (absorptions)
• the five mundane abhiññas (superpowers)
• attainment of the cankerless liberation of mind
• liberation by wisdom (M.iii,11-12).

Perhaps it was because he was extolled by the Buddha for his facility in the meditative attainments and the abhiññas that the Venerable Maha Kassapa assumed the presidency of the First Buddhist Council held in Rajagaha [modern Rajgir, India] after the Buddha's passing away.

The graduation in the veneration given to arhats on the basis of their mundane spiritual achievements implies something about the value system of early Buddhism that is not often recognized. It suggests that while final liberation may be the ultimate and most important value, it is not the sole value even in the spiritual domain.

Alongside it, as embellishments rather than alternatives, stand mastery over the range of the mind and mastery over the sphere of the knowable. The first is accomplished by the attainment of the eight mundane jhanas, the second by the attainment of the abhiññas.

Together, final liberation adorned with this twofold mastery is esteemed as the highest and most desirable way of actualizing the ultimate goal. See full book>>

Monk entourage arrives ahead of Dalai Lama

The entourage: Always a few steps ahead of the Dalai Lama, two “advance monks” from northern India have finally arrived in Toronto to help prepare Canada’s first Tibetan cultural center for the leader’s arrival. Ven. Tenzin Kunchok, left, and Ven. Lobsang Tgndar arrive at Pearson Sunday [Sept. 8] (Colin McConnell/Toronto Star).

“Wherever the Dalai Lama goes, they do the preparation,” said Salden Kunga, a volunteer coordinator for the Dalai Lama visit, as he waited for the monks at Pearson airport on Sunday. “They are like the entourage.” Namgyal Nangsetsang, a Tibetan Cultural Centre spokes-woman, said the busy monks are about a week behind schedule.

“When they applied for their visas, they got it half an hour later,” Nangsetsang said Sunday, clarifying an earlier statement that said the monks had trouble getting their visas. “There was no problem from Canadian Immigration.”

Before Toronto, the monks were carrying out duties in San Francisco. They stayed longer in the U.S. than originally planned, but made it to Toronto with no delay Sunday. A third monk from India will arrive in a few weeks to assist with preparations at the cultural centre, which is still under construction at a $3.2-million warehouse near Lake Shore Blvd. and Kipling Ave. More>>

Women more likely to accept climate science

A polar bear stands on an ice floe near the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard on June 13, 2008. The plight of the polar bear and its shrinking habitat has become one of the symbols for the changing climate (AP/Romas Dabrukas).

Gender appears to be the latest divide in the climate debate with women more likely than men to accept the "scientific consensus on global warming," a new academic paper finds. Aaron M. McCright, an associate professor at Michigan State University's Department of Sociology, studied eight years of data from Gallup's annual environmental poll and found that women convey greater scientific knowledge of climate change and are more concerned about it. After analyzing the Gallup data: More>>

Women Edge Past Men in Doctorates in US
(VOA) In the United States, about six out of ten students in graduate schools are women. The same is true of today's young adults who already have a degree beyond college. As a result, the Census Bureau expects that more women than men will hold professions such as doctors, lawyers, and professors.

Benefits of Daily Meditation (radio)

Deborah King, Ph.D.

Ever daydreamed of turning back the clock to a more youthful, energetic, carefree time in life? Or perhaps having a magical cosmic Undo button to erase certain effects that have accumulated over time — from stress, abuse, or other erosive habits which leave us with less than perfect health or a waning enthusiasm for life?

• LISTEN: Through the Meditation Portal (September 15, 2010) Meditation is for everyone! Deborah will discuss meditative practices and the beneficial results on health, well-being, mind, brain, and spirit. This show is for anyone feeling stressed, crazy/busy, anxious! Listen live

Science and religion alike have studied and documented the numerous benefits of meditation. They reveal that meditation has a positive effect on people suffering from, or at risk for, many physical and mental health conditions.

Meditation expands consciousness by helping us get into the space or gap between thoughts. It taps into the incredible energy that exists there: There is a thought, then another thought, but between the two, there’s a little space. According to the ancients, the space between thoughts is the portal to the infinite intelligence of the universe, or Source. Call it "Buddha Nature," "God," "Universal Energy," "Spirit," or even the elusive "Unified Field."

• Dive deeper into the fascinating world of meditation!
• Ask and It Is Given with hosts Esther and Jerry Hicks who say Your Vibrations Do the Asking: For this live lecture, the non-physical consciousness "Abraham" addresses an audience in Atlanta, Georgia, through Esther Hicks.
• Listen to King on HayHouseRadio.com Weds, 2 PM Pacific

Call (866) 254-1579 to ask Deborah your question live during the show.

The Truth About 12 Health Myths

Jennifer Tung; images by Holly Lindem (Shine)

Learn which adages — about nutrition, home remedies, and more — need an update. You’ve Always Heard That…

You Shouldn’t Cut Off the Bread’s Crust. It’s Full of Vitamins.
The truth is: In a 2002 German study, researchers found that the baking process produces a novel type of cancer-fighting antioxidant [and a very dangerous carcinogen, acrylamides] in bread that is eight times more abundant in the crust than in the crumb. That said, it’s more important to serve whole-wheat bread, with or without the crust, because it’s all around higher in nutrients, such as fiber, says New York City nutritionist Keri Glassman, author of The O2 Diet ($25, amazon.com). Make sure the ingredients list “100% whole-wheat flour.” Breads simply labeled “wheat” are usually made with a mixture of enriched white flour and whole-wheat flour and have less fiber. Related: Tighten Your Glutes in 15 Minutes

If You Go Out With Wet Hair, You’ll Catch a Cold.
The truth is: You will feel cold but will be just fine healthwise, says Jim Sears, a board-certified pediatrician in San Clemente, California, and a cohost of the daytime-TV show The Doctors. He cites a study done at the Common Cold Research Unit, in Salisbury, England, in which a group of volunteers was inoculated with a cold virus up their noses. Half the group stayed in a warm room while the rest took a bath and stood dripping wet in a hallway for half an hour, then got dressed but wore wet socks for a few more hours. The wet group didn’t catch any more colds than the dry. Sears’s conclusion: “Feeling cold doesn’t affect your immune system.”

If You Cross Your Eyes, They’ll Stay That Way.
The truth is: “There’s no harm in voluntary eye crossing,” says W. Walker Motley, an assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. But if you notice your child doing this a lot (when he’s not mimicking a cartoon character), he might have other vision problems. Related: 7 Ways to Protect Your Vision More>>

Is "Hell" Real? (Family Guy cartoon)

We make light of hell with comedy, yet such planes exist. (Family Guy: The Fat Man's Going to Hell)

The universe in at least one sense is not "fair." When an intentional action (karma) is performed, it leaves traces in the mind called impulsions (javanas). These set the stage for the fruition of those mental, verbal, or physical deeds. They have the power to give rise to mental resultants (vipaka), fruits (phala), and even rebirths.

• VIDEO: A History of Hell

The Ten Courses of Unwholesome Action (AN X.206) are called "courses" because they lead like a corridor to rebirth in unfortunate destinations, the Downfall, the Great Waste, perdition, the hells, subhuman worlds of animals, hungry ghosts, serpents (nagas), demons (yakkhas), and hellions (narakas). Eight great hells are detailed in Buddhist cosmology.

It is often misleadingly suggested that hell is singular and reserved for the worst of the worst -- the dictators, mass murderers, and politicians. So people dismiss the idea of there being a hell or that they could ever end up there (it wouldn't be fair). But, in fact, there are many levels of hells appropriate to one's action(s).

However, just as with good karma, the results are disproportionate to the act. Harsh speech, killing an animal, holding wrong views -- IF they should come up at the death-proximate moment -- have the power to lead to rebirth in a hell. Even killing a single person could lead to rebirth in the most infernal netherworld -- depending on the victim. For example, killing a blameless, harmless person (i.e., an arhat or enlightened individual) leads to just such as rebirth, as does matricide, patricide, instigating a schism in the Sangha, or even holding the wrong view at the time of death that karma is without efficacy.

The great unfairness, if it may be called that, is how easy it is to end up there. On top of that, once reborn there, the lifespan to exhaust that karma feels like an "eternity." It is not. There is no literal eternal damnation. But this is not as comforting a thought as it may seem because a day in any of the hells is far too long. How long then thousands of years or an aeon? Time flys when you're having fun in human and superhuman worlds, but it crawls on broken glass in the hells.

Karma Class: How to have it ALL

Introduction by Bhikkhu Khantipalo

Interested in long life, health, beauty, power, riches, a high birth, and wisdom?

They do not appear by chance. It is not "luck" to be healthy, or lack of it to be foolish. Though it may not be clear to us now, all such inequalities among beings come about because of the karma (intentional actions) they make individually. Each person reaps fruits accordingly.

Therefore, if one is touched by short life, sickliness, ugliness, insignificance, poverty, low birth, or stupidity and one does not like these things, there is no need to accept that that is the way it is. Something can be done. The future need not be like that provided that one makes the right kind of karma now.

Knowing what karma to make and what to avoid is the mark of a wise person. It is also the mark of one who is no longer drifting aimlessly but has some direction in life and is exercising some control over the sort of events that will occur.

The Shorter Exposition of Karma
Translated by Ñanamoli Thera (MN 135)

1. Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Buddha was living at Savatthi, Jeta's Grove, in Anathapindika's Park. Then Subha the student (brahmin), Todeyya's son, went to the Blessed One and exchanged greetings with him. And when the courteous and amiable talk was done, he sat down to one side and said:

2. "Master Gautama, what is the reason, what is the condition why inferiority and superiority are met with among human beings, among humankind? For one meets with short-lived and long-lived people, sick and healthy people, ugly and beautiful people, insignificant and influential people, poor and rich people, low-born and high-born people, foolish and wise people. What is the reason, what is the condition, why superiority and inferiority are met with among human beings, among humankind?"

3. "Student, beings are owners of karmas, heirs of karmas, they have karmas as their progenitor, karmas as their kin, karmas as their homing-place. It is karmas that differentiate beings according to inferiority and superiority."

4. "I do not understand the detailed meaning of Master Gautama's utterance spoken in brief without expounding the detailed meaning. It would be good if Master Gautama taught me the Dharma so that I might understand the detailed meaning of Master Gautama's utterance spoken in brief."

"Then listen, student, and heed well what I shall say."

"Even so, Master Gautama," Subha the student replied. The Blessed One said this:

5. "Here, student, some woman or man is a killer of living beings, murderous, bloody-handed, given to blows and violence, merciless to living beings. Due to having performed and completed such karmas, on the dissolution of the body, after death, he reappears in a state of deprivation, in an unhappy destination, in perdition, in hell. If, on the dissolution of the body, after death, instead of his reappearing in a state of deprivation, in an unhappy destination, in perdition, in hell, he comes to the human state, he is short-lived wherever he is reborn. [This may sound like the murderer got off easy; unfortunately, the heavy karma of killing is not exhausted by this one result.] This is the way that leads to short life, that is to say, to be a killer of living beings, murderous, bloody-handed, given to blows and violence, merciless to living beings. More>>

Four Courses of Action
Translated by Wisdom Quarterly (AN IV.115)
What are the four courses of action?

1. There is a course of action which is unpleasant to do but that, once done, leads to what is unprofitable.
2. There is a course of action which is unpleasant to do and that, once done, leads to what is profitable.
3. There is a course of action which is pleasant to do but that, once done, leads to what is unprofitable.
4. There is a course of action which is pleasant to do and that, once done, leads to what is profitable.

Now as for the first course of action, one considers it not worth doing for two reasons. It is unpleasant, and it leads to what is unprofitable.

As for the second, it is because of this course of action that one may come to be known either as a wise person or a fool. For a fool does not reflect, "Although this course of action is unpleasant, at least once it is done it leads to what is profitable." So one neglects to do it, and left undone it leads to what is unprofitable. But a wise person reflects, "Although this course of action is unpleasant, at least once it is done it leads to what is profitable." So one does it, and by doing it, it leads to what is profitable.

As for the third, similarly because of it one may come to be known as either a wise person or a fool. For a fool does not reflect, "Although this course of action is pleasant, once done it leads to what is unprofitable." So one does it, and it leads to what is unprofitable. But a wise person reflects, "Although this is pleasant, once done it leads to what is unprofitable." So one leaves it undone, and it leads to what is profitable.

As for the fourth, one considers it worth doing for two reasons. It is pleasant and, once done, it leads to what is profitable.

These are the four courses of action.

Buddhism continues to flower in Mongolia

Nomi Morris (Special to the Los Angeles Times)

Erdene Zuu, Mongolia’s oldest Buddhist monastery, was built in 1585 in the ancient capital of Kaakorum, once home to 67 temples and 1,500 monks.

The practice of Buddhism, suppressed for decades by the Communist Party, is being reclaimed by Mongolians as an integral part of their national identity.

SHAND KHIID, Mongolia — In the crimson-painted interior of a monastery in central Mongolia, boys as young as 6 face one another cross-legged on benches and chant Tibetan Buddhist prayers that they barely understand.

• China and Tibet -- on the ground
• World Buddhist Federation in Sri Lanka in November

Some fidget and get up every now and then to ladle bowls of fermented horse milk from a large metal vat. Their teachers occasionally call out directions.

The boys are at a three-month religious camp at the monastery, Shand Khiid. The oldest monk in residence is 97. A visiting sage from Tibet relaxes in a back room, watching sports on television.

According to a monk who showed a group of visitors around one recent day, the monastery guarded Genghis Khan's black flag of conquest until it was moved to Mongolia's National Museum of History in 1994. Four years earlier, the collapse of Soviet-bloc communism had led to the ouster of Mongolia's Communist Party. Today, Buddhism in Mongolia continues to emerge from a decades-long hiatus.

"During the Communist period, you had a devastation of Buddhism in terms of the material culture and the loss of knowledge," said Vesna Wallace, a professor of religious studies at UC Santa Barbara. "Now more people are coming to temples and visiting monasteries. There is also a new interest in meditation among the general public."

Wallace, an expert on Mongolian Buddhism, has spent the last 10 summers there and has seen Buddhist youth groups grow from three or four people to major gatherings. She says Mongolians have reclaimed Buddhism as an integral part of their national identity.

Couples who grew up with no religion are now choosing to be married in temples and by monks. The Gandan monastery in the capital, Ulan Bator, is the largest in the country and busier than it's been in decades.

Mourners across Mongolia are again consulting monks before deciding whether a loved one should be buried, cremated or left outside to the elements for what's known as a "sky burial."

And prayer piles, enormous cairns known as ovoos, have sprung up around the countryside. Truck drivers leave punctured tires to pray for safe travels and shepherds leave livestock skulls in hopes of a healthy herd. Blue scarves flutter in the wind, symbols of the blue sky that Mongols worshiped in the pre-Buddhist period.

Mongolian Buddhism is predominantly the Yellow Hat sect of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and China. But Wallace says it has evolved into its own version, having incorporated the pre-Buddhist religion of Tangarism as well as shamanistic influences.

"Tibetans prefer white scarves, Mongolians prefer blue," she said. "Even certain deities that are preferred by Mongolian Buddhism are the blue ones that represent eternity, spaciousness, and the comprehensiveness of the sky." More>>

War-Happy 9/11 Day! (full video)

(Loose Change 2nd Edition)

)(WQ) Our apologies to readers who can't "hear" this without a knee jerk reaction. It really is mind boggling. Consensus reality is a much nicer place to live, but that scripted nonsense is no way to know what's really going on.

Psst, the king has no clothes. Everyone feels bad about 9/11, except maybe the American agents who fabricated the operation with an idea of helping the US. It was a great scheme. It has served as the pretext for two major wars, the Patriot Act, election rigging, and so on. The only problem is, people are offended by objective reality. Instead, we would all rather sink into the pleasant propaganda:

"We were attacked by unpredictable, suicidal terrorists. Muslims! And it can happen again if we're not careful. President, protect us at all costs...unless you're one, too."

Good news, the world is not a terrible place where everyone is out to get us. So there's no need to live glued to the TV in constant fear. And by understanding things as they really are, it might be possible to prevent them in the future or do something about the situation we are now in. Threats of burning the Koran or building a Mosque on top of Ground Zero? More smoke and mirrors to inflame the masses.

The promised change has yet to come.

But the evidence is too convincing, the pattern of "false flag" operations too old and established in the US military. (It is not as if the US military invented these tactics or the propaganda that conceals it). "Truth is," of course, "the first casualty of war." The 9/11 secret could not be kept. Many people have come forward. But they are either ignored, assassinated, or discredited. The truth is out there. And anyone with even an elementary knowledge of history or physics can see it.

• Unsettled nation marks 9/11 with rituals of sorrow
• (AP) NEW YORK – Rites of remembrance and loss marked the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, familiar in their sorrow but observed for the first time Saturday in a nation torn over the prospect of a mosque near ground zero and the role of Islam in society.

THE CAUSE OF WAR

The Buddha explained the cause of war and strife. It is rooted in the pursuit of sensual pleasures and views. In JudeoChristian terms, it is translated as "principles and principalities." Quite literally, underworld entities (who live underground rather than in some spiritual black dimension) may be controlling things. Who? Naga rulers, reptilians, or in JudeoChristian terms, snakes, serpents, dragons, servants of the Father of All Lies kind of creatures. But there is an easier, more immediate reason for war, as explained by George Bernard Shaw:

Undershaft the arms manufacturer: "I am the government of your country: I, and Lazarus [his partner]. Do you suppose that you and half a dozen amateurs [elected politicians] like you, sitting in a row in that foolish gabble shop, can govern Undershaft and Lazarus? No, my friend: you will do what pays US.

"You will make war when it suits us, and keep peace when it doesn't. You will find out that trade requires certain measures when we have decided on those measures. When I want anything to keep my dividends up, you will discover that my want is a national need.

"When other people [peace activists and protesters] want something to keep my dividends down, you will call out the police and military. And in return you shall have the support and applause of my newspapers [corporate media], and the delight of imagining that you are a great statesman" (from the play Major Barbara).

• Medical propaganda? The 10 Deadliest Cancers and Why There's No Cure [You're Doctor Knows About]

"The Simpsons" Dharma

"Everything I know about Buddhism I learned from Lisa. D'oh! "

(Bookbird) As many folks know, I'm a Buddhist newbie. I'm so new on the path I don't know how to pronounce anything, bow properly, address monks and nuns appropriately, or what Buddhist tradition I really belong to.

I haven't "taken refuge" [gone to the Three Jewels for guidance] yet because I don't really know how. I don't know what happens if you are standing there attempting to "take refuge" and forget the words. Does Buddha have a sense of humor? I hope so.

QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS

Will I get hit with a stick sometimes? And by who? Or is it only cranky Zen folk who hit? How many bowls of water are there supposed to be? Why is it water? What direction do we fill them in? How do I use the mala -- do I even use the mala? Is it just for special people? If you pick a tradition to belong to and then decide you don't like the stick thing, can you swap? And so on.

I have a brother-in-law who is Buddhist. He is very different than me. He likes to tell me answers to questions I'm not very interested in without me asking. He doesn't like certain other traditions of Buddhists. He calls them rude names. It's kind of confusing. I guess he's human. Sometimes I really want to kick him.

I stopped writing for a week or so because I suddenly felt like a dust mote on top of a speck that sits in a dark corner at the end of the meditation hall, probably facing the wrong way.

I feel like Homer Simpson, walking into walls and shouting D'oh! That's me. I kinda wondered to myself, What business is it of mine to have anything to say? I don't know anything!

About a year ago I was talking to my friend M. We were saying what a bummer it is to realize life is an ilusion and that we were creating our own suffering. And now that I am woken up in this way, I CAN NEVER GO BACK. I want to, sometimes. I want to get mad at people and blame them and eat cookies and reinforce the idea that it was completely the fault of my childhood. I don't want to remember that if I am mindful I can work with my anger and my cookie addiction. More>>

• Hinduism mishandled in US textbooks
• Billy Ray Cyrus on UFOs (Syfy Channel)
• US Spirituality: Who, not what, you are

Buddhism's "Higher Teachings" in Daily Life

Abhidharma Online Seminar (FREE, register now)
Buddhism's Abhidharma ("Higher Teaching") is the extraordinarily detailed path to enlightenment -- meditation, psychology, particle physics, other worlds, and magic. The Dharma teachings the venerable nun Sister Susila provides are world-class, focusing on Abhidharma in daily life. Her cutting-edge Powerpoint presentation has been presented in the US, Burma, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and elsewhere around the world. Wisdom Quarterly is currently editing the new edition of her practical albeit unedited 2005 book Unraveling the Mysteries of Mind & Body through Abhidhamma.

Taught in English and Mandarin (audio with slide presentation)

• Ayya Susila retreat August, 2010 in Connecticut, USA: Talks by Sayalay Susila, on the Dharma, Abhidharma, plus serenity and insight meditation instructions.
• (Ayya Susila/KaiShiJi) Dharma Talks and Meditation Talk in English
• Metta and Vipassana Retreat, Bodhi Heart Sanctuary in Penang, Malaysia, June-July 2010 in Mandarin and English
• Concentration and Insight Meditation Retreat at Bhavana Society, West Virginia, USA 2009
• (Ayya Susila/KaiJiShi) Abhidharma Lecture in English
• (Ayya Susila/KaiShiJi) Abhidharma Lecture Video in English

TOPICS

• Consciousness (Chapter 2, page 7)
  4 Sense-Sphere (Slide)
  Fine-Material/Immaterial Sphere, Supermundane (Slide)
• Mental Factors (Chp. 3, p. 61)
  7 Universals (Slide)
  6 Occasionals (Slide)
  14 Unwholesome Factors 1 (Slide)
  14 Unwholesome Factors 2 (Slide)
  25 Beautiful Factors 1 (Slide)
  25 Beautiful Factors 2 (Slide)
• Matter (Chp. 4, p. 99)
  28 Kinds of Materiality 1 (Slide)
  28 Kinds of Materiality 2 (Slide)
  Origination of Matter 1 (Slide)
  Origination of Matter 2
• Process-Free (Chapter 6, page 147)
  Talk 1 (Slide) – new
  Talk 2 - new
  Talk 3 (Slide) – new
  Talk 4 - new

Taught in Mandarin Chinese (audios with slides)
（善戒法師開示集）阿毗達摩講座 善戒法師

• Morality, Concentration, and Wisdom: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
• Death Proximate Karma: (1) (2) (3) (4)
• Dependent Origination (Video: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
• Video: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
• Video: (Video 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
  死亡與結生
• Sayalay Susila’s Abhidharma slides: (1) (2) (3)

See more at lovingkindnessinCT.com

Healing with Kinesiology and Chiropractic

Sherrybeall.com

(alphachimp.com)

Guest Dr. Gordon Grobelny (drgordie.com, 877.495.8825), known to his patients as Dr. Gordie, is a board certified professional applied kinesiologist and chiropractor, who also practices cranio-sacral therapy, NLP, and many other cutting-edge healing modalities. Dr. Gordie has been in practice for 20 years, the last 19 in Washington State. He recently opened a new practice in West Los Angeles.

• Listen to today's show (KPFK radio)

Radio program "Healthy Planet, Healthy Me" discusses applied kinesiology as well as professional applied kinesiology to help those suffering from a wide variety of issues ordinary doctors are unable to effectively heal. Dr. Gordie explains muscle testing and how he has helped thousands of patients with his four-step protocol:

1. Correcting the Structure
2. Pointing the Mind
3. Balancing the Chemistry
4. Moving the Energy

New concepts and a new movement in quantum physics relates to Dr. Gordie's success in treating and helping heal his patients from all walks of life including athletes such as football player Eric Metcalf, who played in the NFL for 12 years and suffered from great pain prior to being treated by Dr. Gordie. Actress Linda Evans says, “Dr. Gordie has been an integral part of my health and wellness regime for close to 20 years. His knowledge of kinesiology, physiology, nutrition, and energy is as profound as his ability to apply it. He is an authentic professional applied kinesiologist and extraordinary healer.”

It's not by chance that Dr. Gordie had a three month waiting list in Washington State. In celebration of the opening of his new office in West Los Angeles on September 13th, Dr. Gordie offers 2 specials to our Healthy Planet, Healthy Me listeners and KPFK supporters. More>>

• Thai workers come forward about US slavery

Simple Brain Scan Reveals Maturity of Developing Brains
(VOA) A study describing the use of MRI brain scans to track mental maturity is published this week in the journal Science. A simple five-minute session in a brain scanner can accurately measure how far a child's brain has progressed on its path to maturity. Researchers say the brain imaging data can be especially useful in tracking abnormal brain development in adolescents. As the brain matures, neural connections change, and scientists say they can see these connections after a child spends just a few minutes in a high-tech MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging machine. More>>

Regret Kills (so stop it)

Deborah King, Ph.D.

Buddhism teaches that guilt and regret are misguided actions. They are, in fact, additional bad karma on top of the act that inspired such brooding in the first place. Solution? New good actions will dilute one's store of past bad ones. What is guilt?

While much of the regret we harbor inside comes from our own actions (infidelities we’ve had, accidents we’ve caused, debt we’ve gotten ourselves into) and things we failed to do (opportunities unexplored, love not shared, forgiveness unspoken, once-in-a-lifetime events not attended), sometimes regret stems from something that has nothing to do with us.

Sometimes it's something we have absolutely no control over or say in. Sometimes regret — feelings of grief, sorrow, and remorse — comes from our exposure to the world’s innumerable tragedies and devastations. According to the mind-body connection, what enters our consciousness also enters the rest of our being. When we take in energy from the outside world, attaching emotions like remorse and sorrow, it has to go somewhere. Unless we release it, which few know how to do, it goes into our body. There it blocks our energy field, causing stagnation and ultimately a physical or mental disease condition.

I hear this complaint all the time at my energy healing workshops. I see the havoc too much empathy is having on people’s lives. So what can we do if we’ve already depleted ourselves to the point of anger and resentment, disempowerment, and/or illness? Click here for simple steps to help pull out of a regretful state and reverse any blockage accumulating in our energetic, emotional, and physical systems!

Eat Pray Love [book better than the movie]

Do writers regret making books into movies? Elizabeth Gilbert, author of "Eat Pray Love"

News of the World

• Modern slavery in the US: Thai immigrants
• Ahimsa-in-action: protesting Tony Blair's book
• Stephen Colbert welcome US troops out of Iraq
• Koran-burning pastor condemned by own church
• Study: Flamboyant male dancing attracts women

Cutting Through Fear (CD course)

Cutting Through Fear (audio)
Within the ancient teachings of Tibetan Buddhism is a practice called Chod (literally, "to cut") that was developed almost 1,000 years ago by the legendary yogini Machig Lapdron for facing and dissolving our greatest fears and attachments.

This method is still practiced today by all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. In this CD course, Tsultrim Allione, one of contemporary Buddhism's most respected teachers, shares the fascinating history of this practice and interprets it for Western students of meditation.

Drawing from root visualization practices, she shares a four-step process that can help us meet and release fears, obsessions, addictions, anger, and other difficult emotions. (3 CDs, 3 hours)