Thursday, January 15, 2015

Pope and Buddhist "fundamentalists" (audio)

Bhante, Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Pat Macpherson, Crystal Quintero, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Mitch Jeserich (KPFA FM, Berkeley); BBC.com; The World (pri.org); NPR (npr.org)
Theravada monks with Pope Francis as he visits Buddhist temple in Sri Lanka (jcourt.net).

Pope on sticks and stones: What did you call my mother? Bam! (Steviet7867.deviantart.com)
 
Pope Francis shows [his violent] side:
You'd better not insult my mother [or I will punch your face]
Matthew Bell (PRI's The World, Jan. 14-15, 2015)
Pope Francis sits next to Hindu leader Ndu-Kurukkal Siva Sri T. Mahadeva during the Interreligious Encounter in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Jan. 13, 2015 (Stefano Rellandini/Reuters).
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Pope Francis made an adept, subtle move to win over a nation alienated by a legendary predecessor -- and then showed off his straight-talking side Thursday, telling reporters on a plane he would punch out someone who insulted his mother.



He said "Yo mama," and I punched him.
The issue came up in a talk from the pope to reporters en route from Sri Lanka to the Philippines. "No one,'' the pope said, referring to last week's assault on the satiric [French] magazine Charlie Weekly, ''can kill in the name of God. This is an aberration [unless it’s one of our Crusades then it’s just business as usual over at the Vatican where we kill and torture in the name of our God and have for 1,000 years].”
 
The pontiff added there were limits to freedom of expression, however. “One cannot react violently, but if (someone) says something bad about my mother, he can expect [me to react violently with] a punch. It’s to be expected,” Francis said.

Not a "good" Catholic but Catholic: Hitler
[So let's see if we have this straight. This Catholic pope, there being non-Catholic popes believe it or not, will violently slam you in the face for calling his mother "fat"? How about calling his God something? How about satire, how does he feel about that? Catholicism and Catholic Church leaders have always had an affinity for censorship and fascism, as when the Vatican befriended and encouraged Nazi Adolf Hitler and dictator Benito Mussolini, both themselves nominal Catholics.]

Buddhist monks welcome Pope Francis (JC)
“There are a lot of people who speak badly about other religions. They make fun of them. What happens is what happens with my friend (who insults my mother). There is a limit.”
 
The long exchange followed a successful trip to Sri Lanka, in which he made a key symbolic addition on Wednesday: a quick visit to a Buddhist temple in the capital, Colombo. The pontiff removed his shoes and listened respectfully while monks chanted and prayed, and his hosts treated him to a rare view of some relics of descendants of the Buddha.
 
The brief temple stopover speaks to the success of Francis' two-day trip to Sri Lanka. The last papal visit to the South Asian island nation was 20 years ago, and Pope John Paul II was boycotted by Buddhist leaders on that occasion. More
 
Pope Francis releases dove while he visited a shrine in Madhu. He said there must be "reparation" for the "evil" Sri Lanka has suffered during its 26-year-long civil war (AFP/BBC).
Buddhist "elder" (thera), Pope Francis (center), Hindu swami bow heads as the Argentinian pontiff met leaders from many religious groups on Tuesday in Sri Lanka (Reuters/BBC).
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Soft dictator "King" Rajapaksa's coup failed.
Pope Francis I is in Buddhist Sri Lanka, an island off the southern tip of India that is 70% Theravada Buddhist and a stronghold of early Indian Buddhist tradition.

He is there to rally 7% of the population, which is Christian, and to promote or at least give lip service to "reconciliation" among the formerly warring Buddhist Sinhalese (70%) and Hindu Tamils formerly struggling to split the island in two to have their own homeland (Tamil Eelam) in the north, just across the strait from the state of Tamil Nadu, India.

But a larger issue has arisen on the island during what was once Asia's longest running civil war: the ridiculous rise of "fundamentalist" Buddhist monastics and their lay supporters who resent the island long established Muslim minority.

The nearby Maldives were once Buddhist strongholds but were converted, it is said, when a Muslim merchant boat with Muslim saints was shipwrecked there. Muslims have long lived alongside Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, Catholics, secularists, tourists, and the tiny and diminishing indigenous population of original aboriginal animists.
 
Are popes idiotic, hypocritical, or what?
Bravo, bravo to some acts of violence. And let's make the ETs Catholic! (thewire.com)
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Catholic view: St. Michael (freerepublic.com)
Isn't it amazing how many times the great pontiffs put their foot in their mouths?
 
The Nazi Pope, the traitorous and hated retired Pope Benedict, was bad enough writing in his memoirs how he and his brother were members of the Hitler Youth, which much embarrassed the corporation's officials within the Vatican who then went on to lie in trying to deny it. But there it is in writing and widely published.

Now we get this great pope, but he goes around fondling and washing young boys' feet and calling it an act of "humility," holds and kisses baby boys in creepy ways, says "Who am I to judge?" when it comes to his fellow gay bishops and child molesting priests in the Catholic Church, denies nuns advancement and females a better place in the church, then says he wants to baptize space aliens when they arrive.

(He did not say if they arrive because he surely knows they are already here and have been for a long time, and the Church will eventually make the announcement because no one believes governments -- like England and Canada -- that disclose their official secret UFO files).

Pope in Asia: This is how I'd punch him if he called my mother a name (BBC video).

 If this pope is not an idiot, which he probably is NOT, is he a hypocrite? Case in point: He goes to Buddhist Sri Lanka, with its own Buddhist "fundamentalist" hypocrites, to preach "truth and reconciliation" to the Buddhists and Hindus after a long civil war and to canonize the island's first "saint" -- then he ends up criticizing the Charlie Hebdo attackers AND in the same breath stating he would punch someone in the face for calling his mother a name.

On other occasions he, or his PR firm, say he has been misquoted or his words mistranslated. What will they say for him this time? [Today on The BBC Newshour (Jan. 15, 2015 podcast) and The World the rationalizing/PR damage control began by saying something to the effect of those Latins, unlike we Anglo-Saxons, have a frisky way of speaking, not literal like us.]

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Q: Patty, Sandy, is this pope an example of how Catholics really are (like that Catholic website that quotes Jesus as saying he didn't come to Earth to do anything but wage war, allegedly a biblical passage), or is he an idiot, or a hypocrite? A: That's hard to say. He's much better than the previous pope, but he's no John Paul II, who almost singlehandedly dismantled the Church and its central tenets while being beloved by the whole world like the 14th Dalai Lama.  

Q: So not an idiot and not a great Catholic...a hypocrite then? A: Possibly. But a goodhearted one! Q: And why are so many of the right wing maniacs at FOX News Roman Catholic? A: Maybe they're trying to prove their mettle to FOX's largely white Evangelical Christian fundamentalist-leaning viewers. Q: Yeah, then, why not be fundamentalists?

A: That's hard to say for sure, but even if Puritans burned witches in Salem, they still didn't do half of what Catholics have done and still do in the name of religion -- wars, misogyny, torture, Crusades, Inquisitions, helping Hitler, anti-Semitism, fascism, corporate theocracy, hypocrisy, continuing the countless crimes of the "Holy" Roman Empire. Joining FOX News just seems like a nature offshoot of that behavior. Ask Garrison Keillor (see below). Sure there's angry Bill O'Reilly to be embarrassed about, but what about FOX's rabid Roman Catholic Judge Jeanine Pirro? All those Sunday masses and all that plastic surgery just to spew such venom? Fear mongering about a "reverse-Crusade" coming back to bite us:

FOX News' Roman Catholic Pirro: "We need to kill them. We need to KILL them...You're in danger, I'm in danger. We're at war...Our job is to arm those Muslims to the teeth" (FOX).
  
Entrance to Buddha Dambulla Cave, Sri Lanka (Richard Silver/rjsnyc/flickr.com)
Sri Lanka was once an idyllic place, enchanted and full of serendipity, but was ruined by war.
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The disastrous "Buddha Power Army"
Sri Lankan novelist Nayomi Munaweera helps expose fundamentalists (nytimes.com).
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Stupa decorating (sundaytimes.lk)
AUDIO: Nayomi Munaweera, author of Island of a Thousand Mirrors, on the embarrassing "Buddhist fundamentalists," war crimes of the ousted political family, and strange recent Sri Lankan elections, where the winner seems to have come out of nowhere. The new leader was inserted into the process in November and is now in office with a mandate, after an alleged 80% of the island's electorate turned out to vote -- the typical pattern of a selection rather than election.

Who meddled in Sri Lanka's democracy? The usual suspects used to be India and the UK but now it looks like it may have been the USA. Letters and Politics (Jan. 13, 2015, 10:00 am download this clip (MP3, 10.27 MB) or PLAY clip on computer's media player. Also on this episode, "The Battle for Radio" with Victor Prickard, author of America’s Battle for Media Democracy. 
Why does Sri Lanka have Catholics?
Newly minted "St. Vaz" of Sri Lanka holds disfigured crucifix of Catholic God (AP).
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Get me Vaz, I need Vaz before I visit.
(WQ) The Island of Lanka (Ceylon, Serendib) has long been attractive to merchants and European imperialists such as the Portuguese, Dutch, and British, who set up a fort at Galle and a large stronghold in Goa, India. Joseph Vaz was born in Goa and came to Sri Lanka to spread Catholicism.
  • Born in Portuguese colony of Goa in 1651, arrived in Sri Lanka in 1687
  • Jailed multiple times by Dutch authorities for helping Catholics, dressed as a beggar to hide himself
  • Produced prayer books in Sinhalese and Tamil
  • By his death in 1711 he had earned himself the title Apostle of Sri Lanka
Pagan glory in Catholic hands.
Who was Sri Lanka's first canonized Catholic saint? One is voted into sainthood in Catholicism, which is not nearly as difficult as it used to be when the Vatican had the Office of the Devil's Advocate, its actual name, to test, verify, and debunk claims of sainthood from proposed candidates. Without anyone formally adopting the contrary position in an adversarial legal system, it is only a matter of popularity, money, and expediency to get canonized. For example, just about anything will count for a "miracle." Vaz died centuries ago, I get told by my doctor that I have diabetes, I pray to Vaz, "OH, cure my diabetes!" On my next check up I'm fine. Miracle! MIRACLE!

We rule Europe and the world like royalty!
He's a saint, a saint, canonize him quick! This testimony by me will be put in Vaz's file as proof of sainthood, no Devil's Advocate will come and question me or possibly even verify my claim at all. But Vaz would not be canonized for that. No, he would be canonized for political reasons when a pope visits a land the Church wishes to advance Catholicism. That's why he gets rushed to the front of the canonization line. And what does Catholicism even think a "saint" is? From what we have been able to gather, if one is in heaven then one is a saint. That's it. That's all. Surely the connotation is wider than that, but the denotation does not seem to amount to any more than that.
  • Sri Lanka statistics: +70% Buddhist, 12% Hindu, 9% Muslim, 7% Christian/Roman Catholic, less than 1% aboriginal.
Say You’re One of Them, Nayomi
Nadifa Mohamed (New York Times, 9-26-14)
In one of the many startling scenes in Island of a Thousand Mirrors, Nayomi Munaweera’s first [fictionalized] novel [based on real life events], a Sri Lankan girl riding the train to school is suddenly surrounded by a machete-wielding [Buddhist] mob, who demand proof she isn’t [a minority Hindu] Tamil.

In her panic, she recites the Buddhist sutras “preaching unattachment, impermanence, the [impersonal nature of life and] death,” an unholy trinity that could apply to all civil wars.

This chilling exchange reminded me of a conversation I once had on a London bus with a Somali refugee, who swerved from banal chitchat into dark reminiscence. He recalled a moment in Mogadishu when he was forced to recite his genealogy, the string of grandfathers’ names that place all Somalis within their clans, and he borrowed a school friend’s lineage, as his own would have marked him for death.

Rajapaksa: I kept the civil war going, like past leaders, to consolidate my powers. Then I ended it decisively with war crimes. Then when you wouldn't vote me into a third term, I planned a coup de tat, which failed because the military wouldn't back my plan.
 
The weight of these humiliations, momentary yet everlasting, is the ballast of a narrative that ebbs and flows in time and space.

From the maternal expanse of the Indian Ocean to the sterile swimming pools of Los Angeles [with its large Sri Lankan Sinhalese Buddhist population], the lives of Munaweera’s characters are defined by bodies of water that reflect the state of their [minds], including the corpse-clogged wells and lagoons of the Tamil north and the playful shores of the Sinhal[ese] south, alive with flying fish and ancient turtles. More

Pope Francis disembarks from the plane upon his arrival at the airport in Manila, Philippines, on Wednesday. In comments to reporters aboard the plane, Francis said though the attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine was an "aberration," free speech "cannot make provocations," especially against people's faith.
Jet set pope does Asia hop from Buddhist to Catholic lands. Seen here arriving in Philippines, the most Catholic place in Asia (Ettore Ferrari/EPA/LANDOV).

Pope Francis backs freedom of speech -- but "within limits"
Krishnadev Calamur (NPR, Jan. 15, 2015)
The pontiff said there are limits to freedom of speech, especially when it concerns religion. He was answering a question about the deadly attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Weekly.

Pope Francis says there are limits to freedom of speech, especially when it comes to someone's religion, in comments aboard the Papal Plane that made reference to the deadly attack last week on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
 
Francis defended freedom of speech, calling it a fundamental human right, but said it must not cause offense.
 
"It is true we cannot react violently," he told reporters today en route to the Philippines. "But if Dr. [Alberto] Gasbarri here, a great friend, were to say something insulting against my mother, a punch awaits him."
 
Gasbarri, the official who organizes papal trips, was standing next to the pope at the time of the comments.
 
"You cannot make provocations," Francis added. "You cannot insult people's faith." More
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Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Yosemite climbers summit world's largest rock

Seth Auberon, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly; CBS News, DailyMail, AP; ABC; Wiki
Caldwell balances on the edge of his tent, pitched on the sheer rock face and floating in midair, as the two climbers made their ascent, which taken more than two weeks (DM).
Yosemite Falls, Yosemite Valley, after adequate rainfall (yosemiteconservancy.org)


Jorgeson in green celebrates (ABC/DM)
The stark beauty of El Capitan always seizes the gaze of sightseers in Yosemite Valley within the country's most popular national park, which is often on fire.

But two small dots on the granite wall are the focus of the attention now. Climbers Kevin Jorgenson and Tommy Caldwell are near the end of a climb long thought impossible. John Blackstone reports. UPDATE: They've succeeded!

Yosemite climbers make history
Louise Boyle (Reuters via Mail Online)
Impossible: The two climbers balance on a razor-thin ledge during the climb of the momentous El Capitan, which has tested their endurance to the very limits (Mail Online).
Caldwell, center, stands with a photographer at a base camp before continuing to climb the half-mile section of exposed granite in California's Yosemite National Park (AP via DM).
People watch as two climbers vying to become the first in the world to use only their hands and feet to scale a sheer slab of granite in Yosemite National Park, California (DM).

On Monday, Jorgeson climbs what has been called the hardest rock climb in the world: a free climb of El Capitan, the largest monolith of granite in the world (DM).
 
Yosemite climbers make history as as they become the first men to reach the top of El Capitan's Dawn Wall without bolts or climbing tools.
  • Tommy Caldwell, 36, and Kevin Jorgeson, 30, reached the summit of El Capitan on Wednesday afternoon.
  • On Jorgeson's Twitter account on Wednesday, a message read: "It's not over till it's over. #DawnWall."
  • They are now the first to climb El Capitan's so-called Dawn Wall without bolts or climbing tools.
  • Caldwell and Jorgeson, who began their climb on December 27, are expected to celebrate privately with their families at the summit.
  • Jorgeson was forced to rest for two days while the skin on his fingers healed after being ripped off by razor-sharp ledge. More + VIDEO
What is El Capitan?
El Capitan in Yosemite National Park viewed from the Valley Floor (Mike Murphy).
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It is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, located on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith extends about 3,000 feet (900 m) from base to summit along its tallest face, and is one of the world's favorite challenges for rock climbers and BASE jumpers.
 
The formation was named "El Capitan" by the Mariposa Battalion when it explored the valley in 1851. El Capitán ("the captain," "the chief") was taken to be a loose Spanish translation of the local Native American name for the cliff, variously transcribed as To-to-kon oo-lah or To-tock-ah-noo-lah. It is unclear if the Native American name referred to a specific tribal chief, or simply meant "the chief" or "rock chief." In modern times, the formation's name is often contracted to "El Cap," especially among rock climbers and BASE jumpers.
 
The top of El Capitan can be reached by hiking out of Yosemite Valley on the trail next to Yosemite Falls, then proceeding west. For climbers, the challenge is to climb up the sheer granite face (and that has just been accomplished without ropes). There are many named climbing routes, all of them arduous. For skydivers, the challenge is to achieve sufficient horizontal separation from the sheer granite face before opening their parachutes. More
    Woman sought in vandalism of Buddhist temple
  • OC police arrest woman for throwing bottles at Buddhist temple
    A woman who was caught on camera damaging statues at a Santa Ana Buddhist temple has been arrested, police said. It turns out that Trang Thu Pham had a personal gripe with a person connected to the Hoc Tich Buddhist Temple, police said. “She advised detectives she had no issues or problems with the Buddhist religion,” police said in a statement.
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Yeti filmed in Russia (video)

Pfc. Sandoval, Pat Macpherson, Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly; Julian Robinson (MailOnline)
Sighting: A team of Russians believe they have captured footage of the elusive Yeti in a remote patch of woodland
Russians believe they have captured footage of elusive Yeti in a remote patch of woodland. It shows a "bear-like" figure covered in hair emerging from an area of snow-covered trees in the south-western Adygeya Republic.
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According to some Russians this dark figure stumbling through the snowy woods is a Yeti [technically an Almasty] -- and they even have a footprint. The footage shows a figure covered in hair emerging from an area of trees.

ALMAS: (Mongolian Алмас, Bulgarian Алмас, Chechen Алмазы, Turkish Albıs), Mongolian for "wild man," is a purported hominid cryptozoological species reputed to inhabit the Caucasus and Pamir Mountains of Central Asia, and the Altai Mountains of southern Mongolia. The creature is not currently recognized or cataloged by science, whose [white-labcoat-clad priests] do not believe in the possibility that such mega-fauna cryptids exist, because of the improbably large numbers necessary to maintain a breeding population, and because climate and food supply issues make their survival in reported habitats unlikely...
  • "Bear-like" creature was on camera for just seconds before disappearing.
  • Creature was spotted in the Adygeya Republic in south-western Russia.
  • The Russian team believe they have captured footage of the elusive Yeti.
  • Others question its authenticity and say it was a stunt to bring in tourism.
Taking plaster cast of footprint (DM)
This is the moment a group of Russians captured video footage of what they believed was a Yeti walking through the woods. The footage shows a "bear-like" figure covered in hair emerging from an area of snow-covered trees in the south-western Adygeya Republic before disappearing again seconds later.

A team had set out in search of the mysterious creature after local television reported that it had been sighted in a remote region an hour's drive away from the city of Adygeisk. They said they had questioned residents at a mountainside lodge who claimed to have seen it and, on speaking to others in the area, managed to secure reports of several independent sightings.

Yeti in Buddhist Bhutan (Snow Walker video)
The group claim they heard the crunching of snow as they headed out to investigate before capturing footage of the creature, which they describe as covered in hair. Afterwards, they took a plaster cast of a large footprint they said they found in the snow.
 
Eyewitness Ludmila Hristoforova who spoke to local television said: "The creature was big, looking like a bear, but not a bear. From the door we've seen something big and shaggy." More + VIDEO
  • Pic shows: Dogs are kept in cages where buyers can select the one they want.\n\nChinese street traders at this illegal market selling dog and cat meat are chucking the animals in a nearby river to drown them to avoid distressing customers.\n\nThe illegal market has sprung up alongside the banks of the Xi River in Foshan city in southeast China¿s Guangdong province where authorities have done nothing to stop the booming business in fresh dog and cat meat.\n\nThe animals are kept in cages where buyers can select the one they want, and can either take it home alive or pay to have it butchered and cut up into fresh meat in front of them.\n\nThe traders said that people had complained about seeing the animals which were being sold live killed in front of them, and as a result had come up with the alternative to kill them humanely.\n\nTrader Ming She told local TV: "We want to prove our customers that what we sell is fresh unlike some of the shops in town, but with no facilities to kill whaFood shopping, Chinese-style: Customers browse animals sold for slaughter...
    • Please don't kill or eat animals.
  • Dogs are kept in cages where buyers can select the one they want. Chinese street traders at this illegal market that sells dog and cat meat are chucking the animals in a nearby river to drown them to avoid distressing customers. The illegal market has sprung up alongside the banks of the Xi River in Foshan City in southeast China's Guangdong province, where authorities have done nothing to stop the booming business in fresh dog and cat meat. The animals are kept in cages, where buyers can select the one they want, and can either take it home alive or pay to have it [drowned in the river then] butchered and cut up into fresh meat in front of them. The traders said that people had complained about seeing the animals, which were being sold live, killed in front of them. As a result they had come up with the alternative killing method, which they consider more humane. She told local TV: "We want to prove our customers that what we sell is fresh unlike some of the shops in town, but with no facilities to kill..."
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Buddhist Sri Lanka avoids dictatorship

Scott Neuman (NPR.org, Jan. 11, 2015); Wisdom Quarterly
Sri Lanka's soft dictator Rajapaksa tried to become hard dictator with coup de tat.
Sri Lanka's ancient pre-Buddhist women, Sigiriya mountain (Stefaan & Eric/flickr.com)

Sri Lanka's transition of power maybe not so peaceful after all
When NPR reported last week that Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa had been defeated in nationwide elections, reports were that Asia's longest serving leader willingly handed over the reins to his rival.
  • Treason? Pres. Rajapaksa leaves after casting ballot in last week's election. The new gov't says that contrary to reports of a peaceful transition when Rajapaksa lost, the long-time leader tried to stay in power by force (Pradeep Dilruckshana/AP). 
Rajapaksa, who had ruled since 2005, even tweeted that he looked forward to a "peaceful transition of power" to erstwhile ally President Maithripala Sirisena, who won by just under 4 percent of the vote.
 
Indeed, as the BBC notes, Rajapaksa had "been widely praised for conceding defeat to Sirisena before the final results were announced."

But it turns out that he may not have been so eager to go after all.

Sirisena's newly sworn-in government on Sunday accused the former president of trying to stage an eleventh-hour military clampdown after the results of Thursday's poll were known.

"People think it was a peaceful transition. It was anything but," presidential aide Mangala Samaraweera told reporters on Sunday.

At a news conference, Samaraweera said that Rajapaksa had tried to persuade army and police chiefs to help him thwart the election outcome. The bid crumbled only when Army Chief Lt. Gen. Daya Ratnayake "did not want to do anything against democracy at that decisive time," Samaraweera said.

The army chief stood firm despite orders from Rajapaksa and his brother, then-Defense Chief Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, to send troops into the streets, the presidential aide said.

The Indian daily The Hindu contacted Gen. Ratnayake to ask him about the allegations, but the army chief declined to confirm the report.

"I can't comment on that; it is very sensitive. You have to check with the politicians," Ratnayake reportedly told The Hindu. The general did say, however, that if the government initiated an inquiry, the army would cooperate, the newspaper says.
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Tuesday, January 13, 2015

The U.S. gov't knows "Bigfoot" are real (video)

Pat Macpherson, Pfc. Sandoval, Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly; UnsealedFiles; Sylvanic

(Sylvanic Bigfoot) Jeff Meldrum and Todd Standing talk about why they believe the species commonly referred to as Sasquatch or Bigfoot is alive and well in North America.

They are also found in other parts of the world where they are called by various regional names (just as the word "Sasquatch" is only one of countless Native American names for various species of this creature): The Coast Salish use the word Sesquac, "Wild Man." Himalayan "Bear Man" or Yeti, Buddhist yakkha, Russian/Georgian/Caucasian/Central Asian Almasty, which may be a remnant Neanderthal, Australian Yowie, Indonesian humanoid Orang Pendek or "Short Man"). In this episode official U.S. government files are shown that specifically list Sasquatch as a legitimate existing species [of human or something close to humans].



But we want proof, scientific (tangible, verifiable) proof! Geneticist Dr. Melba Ketchum has published such proof, and we are convinced by her DNA and other evidence. Why are others not saying that they are convinced. For one thing, it is not allowed to say so. One will be laughed out of "serious"scientific circles. For another, few if any have read the peer reviewed, published data. After all, being convinced could lead to getting laughed at and fired. Average people do not know how to read scientific papers and evaluate the evidence.
Show us the SCIENCE!
A Sasquatch (Bigfoot) wanders in the woods of Alberta, Canada (AlbertaSasquatch)
(The Bigfoot Project) Complete Sasquatch DNA Conference with principals

Dr. Ketchum, forensic geneticist
The Sasquatch Genome Project, led by Dr. Melba Ketchum, is the group responsible for the 5-year study and genomic sequencing of Sasquatch DNA, "Novel North American Hominins, Next Generation Sequencing of Three Whole Genomes and Associated Studies," that passed scientific peer review in January and was published in February of that year.

In conjunction with the screening of the new Erickson footage, the DNA study will be made available for all online as open-access at sasquatchgenomeproject.org.

Adrian Erickson will present his high-definition footage accompanied by researcher Dennis Pfohl, who personally captured video and collected DNA samples from Sasquatch individuals.

Dr. Ketchum presents physical Sasquatch samples used in the DNA study and new specimens under ongoing investigation and discuss sample chain of custody, study results, and bias encountered from the scientific establishment.
 
Press conference screening of never-before-seen HD video of Bigfoot and explanation of 5-year DNA study and new physical specimens visit the SASQUATCH MYSTERY MUSEUM EXHIBIT.
Evidence for elusive orang pendek in Sumatra?
Richard Freeman (TheGuardian.com, Primatology, Oct. 7, 2011)
Enchanted, unspoiled nature, West Sumatra, Indonesia: Rumah Gadang, traditional house in Pandai Sikek village, Ngaai Siarok Valley in Bukittinggi, panorama of Lake Maninjau (wiki).


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You're kidding me! Who knew?
Even in this age of satellite mapping and global positioning, there remain "lost worlds" where few [modern] humans tread and where species of animals unrecognized by science live.

Kerinci Seblat National Park in West Sumatra [Indonesia] is one such place. The size of a small country, its dim, steamy interior has never been explored properly. Last month I returned to these jungles for the fourth time to track an elusive and, as yet, unrecorded species of ape known to the locals as the orang pendek or "short man."

This year's expedition [2011] was the largest of its kind ever to visit the area. It consisted of two teams. The first -- made up of Adam Davies (expedition leader at the Centre for Fortean Zoology, CFZ), Dave Archer, Andrew Sanderson, and me -- would concentrate on the highland jungles around Lake Gunung Tujuh. The second team -- consisting of Dr. Chris Clark, Lisa Malam, Rebecca Lang, Mike Williams, Jon McGowan, and Tim De Frel -- would have their base in the "garden" area, the more open, semi-cultivated land that abuts onto the true forest.

According to local reports, the creature has been sighted here on a number of occasions when it comes down to raid crops such as sugar cane. More

The Buddha and the Bigfoot
G.P. Malalasekera, encyclopedic Dictionary of Pali Proper Names (palikanon.com) edited by Dhr. Seven and Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly
The Buddha deals with a yeti (yakkha) "ogre" named Alavaka who abducts human females, eats humans (with king's permission), terrorizes the area, and is highly intelligent exhibiting supernormal human faculties we have lost.
 
Yakkha, Yama, Mara: ogres and death
Ālavaka: The king of Ālavi (named Ālavaka) was in the habit of holding a weekly hunt to keep his army fit. One day while hunting, the quarry escaped from where the king lay in wait and, according to custom, it became the king's duty to capture it. Therefore, he followed the small animal for three leagues, killed it, cut it in half, and carried it in a pingo.

On his way back he passed under a large banyan tree that was the abode of the Yakkha (Yeti) Ālavaka. That ogre had been granted permission by the king of the yakkhas that allowed him to eat (cannibalize) anybody who came within the shadow of the tree. So he seized the king, but was wily and made a better deal: He agreed to release the king of Alavi if the king would promise to exchange his life for his subjects' lives: at regular intervals he was to provide the ogre with an unwitting human victim and a bowl of food (SnA.i.217ff).

What is a "yakkha"? A class of beings generally described as "non-human" (amanussā). They are mentioned along with fairies (devas), demons (rakkhasas), dānavas, messenger-angels/lowly devas (gandhabbas), avians (kinnaras), and mahoragas (nāgas) (e.g., J.v.420). In other lists (e.g., PvA. 45, 55) they range immediately above the shapeshifting "hungry ghosts" (petas); in fact, some of the happier petas are called yakkhas. Elsewhere (e.g., A.ii.38) they rank, in progressive order, between humans (manussā) and gandhabbā (deva messengers). They are of many different kinds: spirits, ogres, dryads, ghosts, spooks. In the early records, yakkha, like nāgā, as an appellative and was anything but depreciative. So not only is Sakka, who is king of the devas of the two worlds immediately above Earth, referred to in this way (M.i.252; J.iv.4; DA.i.264), but even the Buddha is spoken of as a yakkha in poetic diction (M.i.386). Many devas, such as Kakudha, are also addressed in this way (S.i.54).

Lloyd Pye eliminated for presenting the truth
The king of Alavi, with the help of the mayor of the town (Nagaraguttika) and his ministers, was able to keep his promise for some time. First he would send criminals to the tree, and the ogre would tear them apart. The ogre's power was such that at the very sight of him men's bodies became as soft as butter presumably with terror as they fainted. But soon there were no criminals left, and each household was forced to sacrifice a child. 

Then women, about to bring forth children, began to leave the king's capital. Twelve years passed in this way until the only child left was the king's own son, Alavaka Kumāra. When the king learned of this, he ordered his son the prince to be dressed in all his royal splendor and taken to the ogre. The Buddha, with his Eye of Compassion, saw what was going to happen and went to the ogre's abode.

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Alavaka was away at a meeting of ogres in the Himalayas (Mt. Himavā, the Land of Snow). His assistant, Gadrabha, admitted the Buddha, after warning him of the ogre's savage nature. The Buddha went in and sat down on Alavaka's throne while Gadrabha went to Himavā to announce to his master the Buddha's arrival.

While the Buddha was there, teaching the Dharma to Alavaka's women, two other ogres, Sātāgira and Hemavata, passing through the air [by dimensional transition or sky vehicle is not stated] on their way to the assembly in Himavā, became aware of the Buddha's presence by their inability to fly over him. [Were they exercising supernormal power of levitation, teleportation, or did the Buddha disrupt the field so that vimanas, spacecraft, could not operate due to his emanations?] They descended to Alavaka's "palace" [chamber near or under or atop the banyan tree, also named Alavaka], and respectfully bowed before resuming on their journey. 

When Alavaka heard from Gadrabha and again from Sātāgira and Hemavata of the Buddha's visit, he was greatly incensed and uttering aloud his name, he hurried to his abode. There with all the various supernatural powers he could command he tried to dislodge the Buddha from his seat. But he was could not succeed even when using his special weapon, the dussāvudha. It was of no avail against the Buddha.

No evidence is good enough, not even bodies -- but perhaps tested, verified DNA?
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Then, approaching the Awakened One, Alavaka asked him to leave his house, which the Buddha did. He then summoned the Buddha back, and he returned. Three times this happened, and three times the Buddha did as he was asked, possibly figuring that compliance to a brute was the best way to soften his wrath. But the fourth time the Buddha left, he refused to return.

Then clever Alavaka expressed his desire to ask the Buddha some questions, threatening that if he did not answer correctly he would invade him, twist his mind, and toss him bodily to the other shore (other side of the sea). The Buddha was undaunted and informed the ogre that he did not perceive anyone in this world with its maras (killers, demons) and devas (fairies, light beings), its kings and gods (brahmas), who could follow through on those threats. Nevertheless, the Buddha agreed to answer the ogre's questions. They are listed in a famous sutra (Ālavaka Sutra), and Alavaka is also mentioned in the Atānātiya Sutra as a follower of the Buddha).

The Buddha answered to Alavaka's satisfaction. And as a result the ogre, being a kind of human, gained stream entry (sotāpanna), the first stage of enlightenment (SnA.i.239). Note: If he were a subhuman "demon," as the word yakkha, yaksha, and rakshasa is often translated, particularly in Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism, this would not have been possible.

At dawn, King Alavaka's men brought Prince Alavaka-Kumara to the ogre as a sacrifice to preserve the king's life. Hearing the ogre's shouts of joy at the close of the Buddha's enlightening sermon, they marveled. When they announced to the Yakkha Alavaka that they had brought their customary offering and on top of that handed him the child, he was much abashed in the Buddha's presence.

Alavaka gave the prince to the Buddha, who blessed him and gave him back to the king's messengers. The boy, having passed from the ogre's hands to those of the Buddha, and from there to the king's men, thereafter became known as Hatthaka Alavaka (SnA.i.239-40).

"India" was different in the past.
When the king and the citizens heard that the ogre had become a follower of the Buddha, they built for him a special abode near that of the extraterrestrial King Vessavana (Kuvera, one of the Four Great Sky Kings of the cardinal directions), who rules over the yakkhas, . [Note: Native Americans often report an association between UFOs and Sasquatches, e.g., a story of a Bigfoot stepping out of a a small moon that landed on Earth, an ET craft dropping off a Sasquatch for whatever reason, whether this is a "prison planet," as some say, or as an experiment.]

And the good people of Alavi provided the Yakkha Alavaka with a stream gifts of flowers, perfumes, and so on for his use. The story of Alavaka, of which this only a summary, is given in full in SnA.i.217-40 and in SA.i.244-59. It is also given in brief in AA.i.211-12 with some difference in details. 

Bigfoot researcher surrounded by Sasquatch family

<a href="/channel/UCC0vZNeaqkmui_3lzo2JBBQ" class=" yt-uix-sessionlink spf-link g-hovercard" data-name="" data-sessionlink="ei=Afq3VOihNI7f-AXA-YH4Bg" data-ytid="UCC0vZNeaqkmui_3lzo2JBBQ">BigfootEvidence</a>
(Bigfoot Evidence) Episode of "Call Out": Invermere, British Columbia - Canadian field researcher Todd Standing goes missing while searching to document the existence of Bigfoot in and around Kootenay National Park.

Where is Alavaka?

Alavaka's abode was 30 leagues (league="the distance one could normally walk in an hour") from Sāvatthi, and the Buddha covered the entire journey in one day (SnA.i.220). The abode was near a banyan tree and on or in the ground (bhummattham) well protected with walls and so on and covered on the top by a metal net, like a cart enclosed on all sides.

It was three leagues in extent, and over it lay the road to Himavā by air (SnA.i.222). Ascetics [possibly levitating over the area], having seen the glittering palace, often came down to find out what it was. The Yakkha Alavaka would ask them questions regarding their doctrine (dharma), and when they could not answer he would assume a subtle form and, entering their hearts, would drive them mad (SnA.i.228). This was the threat he made to the Buddha about "perverting his mind" if he could not answer his questions correctly.

The Yakkha Alavaka shouted his name before starting from Himavā to vanquish the Buddha. He stood with his left foot on Manosilātala and his right on Kelāsakūta. His shout was heard throughout Jambudīpa (lit. "Rose Apple Land," India) and was one of the four shouts mentioned in tradition as having travelled so far (SnA.i.223; for the others see Punnaka, Vissakamma, and Kusā).

Alavaka had a special [likely extraterrestrial] weapon, the dussāvudha, one of the four most powerful in all the world, comparable to these extraterrestrial rulers: 
It had the power, if it were thrown into the sky, of stopping rain for a dozen years and if cast on the earth of destroying all trees and crops for a like period. If hurled into the sea it would dry up all the water, and it could shatter Sineru (Mt. Sumeru, with its seven mountain ranges, a transit vortex extending up into space) into pieces. It was made of cloth and is described as a vatthāvudha, and it was worn as a part of the Yakkha Alavaka's upper garment (uttariya).

There are three salient features in the story of Alavaka that link it closely to the large circle of stories grouped by Prof.Watanabe (J.P.T.S.1909-10, pp.240ff) under the title of Kalmāsapāda stories:
  • (1) The man-eating yakkha; 
  • (2) the captured king saving himself by a promise to provide the yakkha with offerings, and the sanctity or inviolability of that promise; and 
  • (3) the conversion of the yakkha. 
The conversion of Alavaka is considered one of the chief incidents of the Buddha's life (e.g., J.iv.180; vi.329; Mhv.xxx.84). Alavaka's name appears in the Atānātiya Sutta, among the yakkhas to whom followers of the Buddha should appeal for protection in time of need (D.iii.205). (See also Alavaka Sutta).
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The sutra
Yetis and yakkhas are well documented.
Ālavaka Sutta: This discourse records the eight questions asked of the Buddha by Alavaka Yakkha and the answers given by the Buddha. It is said (SnA.i.228) that Alavaka's parents had learned the questions and their answers from Kassapa Buddha in the ancient past and had taught them to Alavaka in his youth.

[If this is true it brings into question the Theravada Buddhist conception of the time between teaching-buddhas, which is normally believed to be not equally spaced yet measured in aeons, but here they are occurring roughly within the lifespan of one or two generations of yakkhas, whose lifespan at the time was considerably longer than average human lifespan but not by much in the overall scheme of things because they are just above humans but still under the Realm of the Four Great Kings, the lowliest of the akasha devas.]

But Alavaka Yakkha could not remember them and, in order that they might be preserved, he had them written on gold leaf with red paint, which he stored away in his palace. When the Gautama Buddha, the historical Shakyamuni Buddha, answered the questions he found that the answers were exactly the same as those given by Kassapa Buddha (SnA.i.231). 
 
The sutra appears in both the Sutta Nipāta (pp.31-3) and in the Samyutta Nikāya (i.213ff). The discourse is also included in the collection of "Protective Chants" (parittas). The Ālavaka Sutta is a conversation between the Buddha and Hatthaka Alavaka in which the Buddha states that he is among those who enjoy real happiness (A.i.136f).

Why people doubt Bigfoot
(History.com) History Channel documentary on the Native American legend of Sasquatch or Bigfoot. History examines ancient legends and folklore to uncover the truth about the myth of the beast. Here is a look into bizarre ogre attacks by Bigfoot.

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Where Yetis live in Himalayas, Asia
(The Bigfoot Project) Why people doubt: MK Davis interviews "hayseed" Larry McGowan, who claims he was given a rifle used to kill five or six Sasquatches at Bluff Creek California, site of the world-famous Patterson footage. The film footage has been authenticated as containing numerous bipedal creatures seen under closer frame-by-frame analysis of the original film (not degraded copies of copies, with an interesting anomaly that one creature in the bush is holding something very reflective that inexplicably shines brightly for an instant as if it were technology rather than a natural item). Enhanced film footage of "Patty" courtesy of MK Davis.
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