RAIN: If I give, where should I give? (sutra)

Ven. Thanissaro; Crystal Quintero, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly, Issattha Sutra (SN 3.24)

Novice helps bathe younger boy (500px Nuttawutjaroenchai/Engin Türker/flickr.com)

(Ken Snyder) Two minutes of thunder, lightning, hail, and heavy rain in the Los Angeles foothills and watershed (Hahamongna) recorded at Rose Bowl Aquatics Center, Pasadena, LA, California

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Buddhist India, Rizong Fest, Ladakh (Mag Brinik)

[Thus have I heard.] SAVATTHI, ancient India - Sitting to one side, King Pasenadi Kosala said to the Blessed One: "Venerable sir, where should a gift be given?"

 

"Wherever the mind/heart feels confidence, great king" [the Buddha answered].

"But a gift given where, venerable sir, bears great fruit?"
 
"This is one thing, great king -- 'Where should a gift be given?' while this, 'A gift given where bears great fruit?' is something else entirely.

"What is given to a virtuous person, as opposed to an unvirtuous one, bears great fruit. In that case, great king, I will ask you a counter-question; answer as you see fit.
 
"Great king, what do you think: In one case there is a war at hand, a battle imminent. A warrior caste (kshatriya) youth would come along -- untrained, unpracticed, undisciplined, undrilled, fearful, terrified, cowardly, quick to flee. Would you take that person on? Would you have any use for a person like that?"
 
"No, venerable sir, I would not take that person on. I would not have any use for a person like that."
 

Buddhist novices paddle flat-bottom boat across lotus and lily pond (flickr.com).

 
"Then a Brahmin caste youth... a merchant caste youth... a laborer caste youth would come along -- untrained, unpracticed, undisciplined, undrilled, fearful, terrified, cowardly, quick to flee. Would you take that person on? Would you have any use for a person like that?"
 
"No, venerable sir, I would not take that person on. I would not have any use for a person like that."
 
"Now, what do you think, great king? In another case there is a war at hand, a battle imminent. A warrior caste youth would come along -- trained, practiced, disciplined, drilled, fearless, unterrified, not cowardly, not quick to flee. Would you take that person on? Would you have any use for a person like that?"
 
"Yes, venerable sir, I would take that person on. I would have use for a person like that."
 
"Then a Brahmin caste youth... a merchant caste youth... a laborer caste youth would come along -- trained, practiced, disciplined, drilled, fearless, unterrified, not cowardly, not quick to flee. Would you take that person on? Would you have any use for a person like that?"
 
"Yes, venerable sir, I would take that person on. I would have use for a person like that."
 

Kshatriyas: the Buddha's son, Ven. Rahula, the Buddha, and his cousin, Ven. Ananda

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"In the same way, great king, when someone has gone forth [become a Buddhist monastic] abandoned a home-bound life for homelessness [a life of wandering asceticism] -- no matter from what clan -- and that person has abandoned five factors and is endowed with five other factors, what is given to that person bears great fruit.

"Which five factors has that person abandoned? That person has abandoned [these Five Hindrances]:

1. sensual craving...
2. ill will...
3. sloth and torpor...
4. restlessness and worry...
5. uncertainty (doubt, skepticism, misgivings, lack of confidence/saddha/faith).

These are the five factors abandoned. And with which five factors is one endowed? One is endowed with:

1. the aggregate of virtue of one beyond training...
2. the aggregate of concentration of one beyond training...
3. the aggregate of wisdom of one beyond training...
4. the aggregate of liberation of one beyond training...
5. the aggregate of knowledge-and-vision of liberation of one beyond training.

The Buddha, Bentota Gama, Sri Lanka

These are the five factors with which he is endowed.

  
"What is given to one who has abandoned five factors and is endowed with five factors in this way bears great fruit."
 
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said so, the Teacher, the Wayfarer (the Well-Come and Well-Gone One), summed up:
 

As a king intent on battle would hire a youth

in whom there are skills, persistence, and strength

and not, on the basis of caste/birth, a coward --

so, too, should one honor a person of noble conduct,

wise, in whom are established composure and patience

even if this person's birth were humble and low.
 

Let donors build pleasant hermitages and there invite

the learned to stay. Let them build reservoirs in dry forests

and walking paths where terrain is rough. Let them -- with

a clear, calm mind/heart -- give food, drink, snacks, clothing,

and lodgings to those who have become straightforward.

 

Just as a 100-peaked, lightning-garlanded, thundering cloud 

raining on the fertile earth fills the plateaus and gullies,

even so a person of confidence and learning, wise --

having stored up provisions -- satisfies wayfarers with food

and drink. Delighting in the distribution of alms:
 

'Give to them! Give!' one says. 

That is one's thunder,

like the thunder of a raining cloud.

That shower of merit, abundant,

rains back on the one who gives.

• See also AN 3.57, Iti 76
• Kid-monks/nuns? No one under 20 can ordain as a Buddhist monk/nun but only "novice," śrāmaṇeras/śrāmaṇērīs

India's caste system violence, 2016
(News World Today) Violence in Haryana state, India as the relatively well off agricultural Jat caste or community agitates for more perks in the national quota system, February 22, 2016.

With a billion+ pop, India is vast

The Buddha rejected the Vedic, Brahminical, Hindu caste system as inherently unjust and put in its place a kind of meritocracy -- judging individuals based on their actions (karma) rather than their dharma (social obligations dictated by birth into a permanent caste position). Dalits (formerly called "Untouchables") are so disgusted with their terrible treatment today within Hindu-dominated India that they have been converting to Buddhism en masse for social relief. But India has a quota system that many feel is not as fair to their group as it is to others, so violence breaks out from time to time just as communal violence (between religions) does when Hindus go on the rampage, usually against Muslims or Sikhs.

(Inside India) Far from a peaceful nation of Hindus practicing ahimsa (harmlessness, nonviolence) and vegetarianism, the world's largest democracy gets crazy with sexism, caste-ism, racism, patriarchy, conservatism, partisanship, intolerance, and self-interest. The ideals of Dharmic Religions are excellent, the living up to them by lay followers not so much.

• VIDEO: Blood red rain in India explained by science (chemtrail "red blood cells" with missing DNA?)

Big Desert Bloom: California is full of flowers

Deborah Netburn, Los Angeles Times (latimes.com); Xochitl, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly

VIDEO: Botanists Chester and Harper go on the hunt for rare desert blooms (latimes.com).

 
TRAVEL: Death Valley's "super bloom"

It’s been 11 years since the harsh Death Valley landscape was this full of life. “Super bloom” isn’t an official term, National Park Service officials say, but it has come to describe the rare floral pageant of yellows, pinks, purples, and reds that blankets the desert moonscape after a perfect...
 

Science: Stalking wildflowers in the Anza-Borrego desert to forecast the Big Bloom

(Deborah Netburn) Tom Chester is standing in the middle of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, ignoring the majestic scenery. The towering Santa Rosa Mountains, the wide vistas and the clear blue sky are not what interests the 64-year-old retired astro-physicist. Instead, he keeps his eyes trained to the ground....

 

Published in Los Angeles Times on March 5, 2016 — headline: "THE BIG BLOOM - A band of plant enthusiasts scours the desert floor of Anza-Borrego Park for wildflower buds ready to burst"
 

Chuparosa bush, Glorietta Canyon, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (Mark Boster/LA Times)

Want to track the Anza-Borrego bloom yourself? Here's a list of resources

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The Buddha's sayings about flowers (video)

Acharya Buddharakkhita (trans.) edited by Crystal Quintero, Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly, Pupphavagga: "Flowers" (The Dhammapada IV), AccessToInsight.org (alt. trans.)

The Buddha, polished gold face, wrapped in protective plastic, Thailand (dfcpix/flickr.com)

  
The Dhammapada's flower verses

Full blossom beauty (Nam Keng/flickr.com)

44. Who'll overcome this earth, this realm of Yama, and this sphere of humans and devas? Who'll bring to perfection the well-taught path of wisdom as an expert garland-maker would a floral design?
 
45. A striver-on-the-path shall overcome this earth, this realm of Yama, and this sphere of humans and devas. The striver-on-the-path* shall bring to perfection the well-taught path of wisdom, as an expert garland-maker would a floral design.

• [*The striver-on-the-path (sekha) is one who has achieved any of the first three stages of enlightenment: a stream-enterer, once-returner, or non-returner.]

46. Realizing that this body is like froth, penetrating its mirage-like nature, and plucking out Mara's flower-tipped arrows of sensuality, go beyond sight of the King of Death!
 
47. As a mighty flood sweeps away the sleeping village, so death carries away the person of distracted mind/heart who only plucks flowers (of pleasure).
 
48. The Destroyer brings under his sway the person of distracted heart/mind who, insatiable in sense desires, only plucks flowers (of pleasure).
 

Harmless bee approaches flower in search of nectar (Teacher Julia/tx.english-ch.com).

 
49. As a honeybee gathers nectar from the flower without injuring its color or fragrance, even so the sage* goes on alms-round in the village.

• [*The "sage in the village" is a Buddhist monastic on almsround, that is, a monk or nun (wandering ascetic) who receives donated food by going silently from door to door with alms bowl, accepting whatever is offered, a custom of the ancient world, particularly in India where such charitable giving is known as dana.]

50. Let none find fault with others; let none see the commissions and omissions of others. But let one see one's own acts, done and left undone.
 
51. Like a beautiful flower full of color yet without fragrance, even so -- fruitless are the fair words of one who does not practice them.

52. Like a beautiful flower full of color and also fragrant, even so -- fruitful are the fair words of one who practices them.

53. As from a great heap of flowers many garlands can be made, even so should many good deeds be done by one born a mortal (a rare human birth when one is able to accrue much merit, a great deal of beneficial karma that follows one life after life for a long time).

54. Not the sweet smell of flowers, not even the fragrance of sandalwood, tagara,* or jasmine blows against the wind. But the fragrance of the virtuous blows against the wind. Truly the virtuous person pervades all directions with the fragrance of one's virtue.

• [*Tagara: fragrant powder made from a good smelling Asian shrub.]

55. Of all the fragrances -- sandalwood, tagara, blue lotus, and jasmine -- the fragrance of virtue is the sweetest.
 
56. Faint is the fragrance of tagara and sandalwood, but excellent is the fragrance of the virtuous, wafting even amongst the devas (heavenly beings, fairies, angels, godlings, gods, and Gods).

57. Mara never finds the path of the truly virtuous, who abide in heedfulness (vigilance, persistence, watchfulness) and are freed by perfect wisdom (supermundane knowledge).

58. Upon a heap of rubbish in a roadside ditch blooms a lotus, fragrant and pleasing.

59. Even so, on the rubbish heap of blinded mortals the disciple of the Supremely Enlightened One shines resplendent in wisdom.

• ← Previous chapter   Next chapter →

The Buddha and the Flower
Ashin Ottama (DhammaTube), written text edited by Wisdom Quarterly

Reflections of the enlightened ones (with sutra references below). The contents of the video:

 

0:00:27 The Buddha holding a flower
0:02:04 Koan in Rinzai-Zen
0:03:25 Goose in the bottle
0:06:30 Satori -- solving a koan
0:10:15 The Buddha and the Crystal
0:13:04 Discrepancies in the results of practice
0:16:25 Dilution and distortions of the Teaching (Buddha-Dharma) by later additions
0:18:00 Without mind or body: Pari-nirvana
0:20:40 Hundreds of enlightened people in the West
0:22:45 Serious problem: Fear of the Aim
0:23:05 Veneration and admiration for pari-nirvana
0:26:15 We are just a whirl of virtual phenomena
0:28:18 Sayadaw U Janaka understanding ovations
0:30:50 Chain of Dependent Origination
0:34:55 The Buddha was accused of being a destroyer of life
0:36:30 Is nirvana sheer nihilism?
0:38:05 Stages of enlightenment versus genuine realizations
0:43:20 Intensive methods of insight meditation
0:49:40 Weak insight, weak purification
0:52:05 Empty bottle of whiskey = the Vasanas
0:53:35 The story of a "Rude Arhat"
0:57:10 The story of "Jumping Arhat"
0:58:25 After Ecstasy the Laundry
0:59:00 Daniel Ingram: many Paths (Maggas)...
1:01:30 Distinguishing the marks of true realizations
1:11:40 10 Questions for an Arhat
1:16:20 The Buddha holding a Crystal
1:17:50 The Spittoon Parable

SOME SUTRAS

Various sources, via Ashin Ottama, edited by Wisdom Quarterly

Walking to the Ends of the Universe

Rohitassa Sutra (A-II-47)

The Buddha answered a monk's question about walking to the end of the world: "It is in this very fathom-long [a "fathom" is a measurement of about six feet] body endowed with perception and mind that I declare the world, the arising of the world, the cessation of the world, and the way leading to the ending of the world." [Note reference to Four Noble Truths.] "However, friend, without having reached the end of the world, there is no making an end to suffering, I say."
 
Five Groups of Existence

Phena Sutra (SN 22-95)

With regard to the Five Aggregates of Clinging, the Buddha taught: "Form is like a glob of foam; feeling like a bubble; perception like a mirage; mental formations like a banana tree; consciousness is comparable to a magic trick... When you observe them and examine them appropriately, you will see that they are empty, hollow, and void [of self]. "

Nirvana

(The Udana or "Inspired Utterances," 8-3)

"There is, meditators, an unborn, unbecome, unmade, unconditioned...."
 

Describing Nirvana

(Udana 8-1)

"There is a sphere, meditators, where there is no earth, no water, no fire, no air, no sphere of infinite space, no sphere of infinite consciousness, no sphere of nothingness, no sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, no this world, no world beyond, neither Moon nor Sun. There, meditators, I say there is surely no coming, no going, no persisting, no passing away, no rebirth. It is quite without support, unmoving, without an object -- just this is the end of all suffering."
 

The All

Allness or Sabba Sutra (SN 35-23)

"And what, monastics, is 'the all'? The eye and forms, the ear and sounds, the nose and fragrances, the tongue and tastes, the body and tactile objects, the mind and mental phenomena. This is called 'the all.'"
 

The Fire Sermon

Ven. Thanissaro (trans.) Adittapariyaya Sutra (SN 35-28)
"Meditators, the all is aflame. What 'all' is aflame? The eye is aflame. Forms are aflame. Consciousness at the eye is aflame. Contact at the eye is aflame. And whatever there is that arises in dependence on contact at the eye -- whether experienced as pleasure, pain, or neither-pleasure-nor-pain -- that too is aflame. Aflame with what? Aflame with the fire of passion, the fire of aversion, the fire of delusion [greed, hatred, ignorance/wrong view]. Aflame, I tell you, with birth, aging and death, with sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair.

"The ear is aflame. Sounds are aflame... The nose is aflame. Fragrances are aflame... The tongue is aflame. Flavors are aflame... The body is aflame. Tactile sensations are aflame... The intellect [or mind] is aflame. Ideas are aflame. Consciousness at the intellect is aflame. Contact at the intellect is aflame. And whatever there is that arises in dependence on contact at the intellect -- whether experienced as pleasure, pain, or neither-pleasure-nor-pain -- that too is aflame. Aflame with what? Aflame with the fire of passion, the fire of aversion, the fire of delusion. Aflame, I say, with birth, aging and death, with sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair.

Instruction Leading to Fast Enlightenment

John D. Ireland (trans.), Bāhiya Sutra (Udana 1-10)
"Herein, Bahiya, you should train yourself thus: 'In the seen will be merely what is seen; in the heard will be merely what is heard; in the otherwise sensed will be merely what is otherwise sensed; in the cognized will be merely what is cognized.' In this way you should train yourself, Bahiya.

"When, Bahiya, for you in the seen is merely what is seen...in the cognized is merely what is cognized, then, Bahiya, you will not be 'with that.' When, Bahiya, you are not 'with that,' then, Bahiya, you will not be 'in that.' When, Bahiya, you are not 'in that,' then, Bahiya, you will be neither here nor beyond nor in between the two. Just this is the end of suffering."

Flowers: California deserts now in bloom (video)

The Associated Press (ap.org via mail.com); Tongva Xochitl, Ashley Wells, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Meditation Freedom (video); Wildflowering L.A. (wildflowering.org)

Wildflowers around shrub in field near Badwater Basin during rare “super bloom” in Death Valley National Park. Park Service updates best spots to see flowers throughout bloom (AP).

Hahamongna Co-op Nursery OPEN HOUSE (facebook.com/HahamongnaNursery)

• Pow Wow: Native American New Hope Int'l, Pasadena, March 5-6, 2016
• Bay Area and Stanford Univ. Pow-wows (500nations.com)

Rare Death Valley "super bloom" carpets desert with colorful flowers

Normal sand dunes of DeathValley National Park, California, now carpeted in flowers.

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The Tongva are the Natives of Los Angeles

DEATH VALLEY NAT'L PARK, California - A rare "super bloom" of wildflowers in Death Valley National Park has covered the hottest and driest place in North America with a carpet of gold.

It is attracting tourists from all over the world and enchanting visitors with a stunning display from nature's colorful paint brush.

The National Park Service updates information on the best spots to see flowers throughout the bloom (websites below).

The wildflowers are being brought back to Los Angeles (wildflowering.org)

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(March 4th, 2016) Here are some things to know about this once-in-a-decade event:

WHAT'S SO SPECIAL ABOUT WILDFLOWERS IN DEATH VALLEY?

Death Valley National Park holds a world record for the hottest temperature ever recorded: 134 degrees Fahrenheit (57 degrees Celsius) on July 10, 1913. It's also home to the lowest elevation in North America, a place that's 282 feet below sea level, called Badwater Basin.

Every spring, some wildflowers bloom before it gets scorching hot, but the abundance of flowers this year is extremely unusual and happens about once every 10 years.

The last time there was a bloom of this magnitude was in 2005, and the time before that was in 1998.

• State flower: California poppy

WHY ARE SO MANY WILDFLOWERS BLOOMING?

Orchid-like passion flowers are from space...or at least Asia, showing the tremendous diversity of the plant kingdom, as distinct from animals, mushrooms, minerals...

 

Indigenous History of U.S.

Death Valley's average annual rainfall is 2 inches a year, and sometimes, it gets no rain at all.

This season, the park got three very rare storms in the first two weeks of October that dropped more than 3 inches of rain in some parts of the valley. That was enough to trigger the growth of millions of wildflower seeds that have been dormant, awaiting significant rainfall.

No one knows how long seeds can wait for rain, but some flowers blossomed in 2005 that had never been seen in the park -- indicating their seeds had been dormant for many years.
 

Flower show touts US parks, bringing great outdoors inside (AP.org/mail.com)

  

WHAT KINDS OF FLOWERS CAN I SEE?

Photos: What kind of flowers?

The most abundant and eye-catching wildflower is the aptly named desert gold, a large, bright yellow bloom that looks like a daisy. The stems this year are growing to waist height, and the flowers cover entire hillsides and vast areas of the valley floor in the southern section of the park. These flowers are easily enjoyed from the car.

Calif. desert monument

Patient sightseers who get out of their cars can see many more species. More than 20 species of wildflower bloom in the park at various elevations.

Some of the other more common flowers include the deep purple phacelia; the desert five-spot, a delicate pink flower with five burgundy spots around its center; the gravel ghost, a delicate white flower that appears to be floating above ground like a ghost because its stem is so thin it's almost invisible; and various types of desert primrose.

WHERE IS THE BLOOM LOOKING THE BEST?

Mestiza woman of Sangley, circa 1875, USA (WLS)

Now, the best flower show is at the south end of Death Valley National Park along Badwater Road, south of Furnace Creek. As the temperature rises, those flowers will fade, and the bloom will move north and to higher elevations.

The National Park Service updates information on the best spots to see flowers throughout the bloom. For updates, visit dvnha.org or nps.gov/deva. [Deva? A deva is a Buddhist, Hindu, Jain woodland fairy, elemental, angel, royal, celestial, being of light -- there being many kinds of devas or, literally, "shining ones."]

HOW LONG WILL THE WILDFLOWERS BLOOM?

Giant CA sequoias: drought

The show won't last forever. Most of the flowers will wither in the next few weeks as temperatures start to rise.

Some flowers may be around as late as June at higher elevations, but those won't be as easy to see from a car and could require hiking. More

Weekend to feature heavy rain and winds across California California's withering winter dry spell [or infamous geoengineering-chemtrail drought] will end this weekend as a series of storms move through the state, the National Weather Service said. More

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  A new dinosaur fossil

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Joshua trees display unusually abundant booms in the Cima Dome area of the Mojave Nat'l Preserve. Obama is granting national monument status to nearly 1.8 million acres of scenic California desert wilderness, including land to connect this preserve to other established national monuments and national parks in area (David DanelskiThe Press-Enterprise via AP).

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President B. Obama is granting national monument status to nearly 1.8 million acres of scenic Southern California desert, a move the White House says will maintain in perpetuity the region's fragile ecosystem and natural resources, as well as provide recreational opportunities for hikers, campers, hunters, and others. More

California growth spurt after spring rains will result in an intense summer fire season.

Comedy: Latino "rant" on cultures (video)

Joanna Hausmann (Race/NPR.org, 3-5-16); Crystal Quintero, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly

Venezuelan white Latina comedienne makes funny videos for Univision's "The Flama," which focuses on Latino culture (Derek Gabryzack and Diana Molina/Courtesy of Joanna Hausmann).

 
Latinos in the U.S. are "just put all in one group" [when we're not all Mexicans], says Joanna Hausmann, who is using big time comedy videos to show that all Latinas and Latinos are actually all different even when the dominant U.S. culture lumps them all together.

Comedian "rants" on different Latino cultures

The media portrayal of Latinos and Hispanic culture has come a long way. But the producers of comedy videos at the website "The Flama" [flame] still see room for improvement.

 
The Flama is a website from Univision and Bedrocket Media "created by, for, and starring young Latinos."

The site features a slew of comedy videos with people talking about things like Latino culture, food, or something off the wall like what presidential candidates would look like as characters in "The Hunger Games."

 

Joanna Hausmann is a Venezuelan comedian, writer, and a full-time video creator for the site. One of her roles there is hosting a recurring video series called Joanna Rants, which covers everything from types of Spanish accents to political correctness. More + AUDIO

• VIDEO (and Pacifica audio): Jimmy Dore Comedy

Mushrooms and the Environment: Paul Stamets

Paul Stamets (Coast to Coast); MushrooMetropolis; Xochitl, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly

Popular and well-known form of mushroom, contrast with amazing lesser-known form:

"Bleeding Tooth" mushrooms, California, Pacific Northwest old growth forest (OWM)

Fungi expert Paul Stamets (fungi.com) joined Coast to Coast guest host John B. Wells (carvantomidnight.com) to discuss how mushrooms can enhance the health of our forests, our gardens, our industrial waste sites, and our bodies.

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How "Christianity" was invented (video)

Documentary Lab; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; Holger Kersten

Aryan Jesus, Chinese "Buddha" (Hotei), blue Krishna, Holy Cow (iheartit.com/Julie Talagatita)

Jesus in India (Holger Kersten)

This documentary explores the first 1,000 years of one of the most important world religions, Christianity. How Christianity conquered the Roman Empire then the world with a powerful spiritual story in place of brute military force must be understood, and the BBC is here to help (2013). Who will help explain the history of Christianity from the beginnings of Judaism and the development of monotheism to Paul (a.k.a. Saul) and how Christianity/Jesuism came into being? This is a start.