UFOs on Los Angeles radio

(LINK: goharrison)

Finally, a serious look at the Disclosure Project with Dr. Steven Greer: drivetime KPFK DJ Cary Harrison (GoHarrison.com) interviewed Greer at Sundance for today's broadcast. Today's show follows on the heels of a rare interview with the maker of "Zeitgeist: The Movie" series

• Go Harrison, MTW 3:00-4:00 pm (90.7 FM)
• All shows archived at KPFK.org

Dr. Greer is deeply embedded in the US space program, SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence), and the disclosure of secret (or "black budget") semi-governmental projects. The word "semi" here is important because the government sponsoring these things is not the one we elect or think of as our "government." Top officials, the face of government, are not briefed and are in fact denied access if they try to probe what is happening. Greer, who is outside the government, has briefed many presidents including Obama.

(Jagbodhi) Project Camelot interviews Dr. Steven Greer (review before watching). This is not a conventional interview. Rather, it is a frank and contentious debate. To hear Greer uncontested, visit his website (disclosureproject.com). This interview is purposeful and unapologetic.

Clinton stated this famously when he referred to the White House as the "crown jewel of the federal prison system," according to Dr. Greer. Theories that reference government secrecy are not referring to all government, just portions of it that siphon off enormous amounts of money to keep the "military-industrial complex" awash in taxpayer funded funds.

Wisdom Quarterly has been pushing the envelope for years reporting on the UFO phenomenon from both a scientific and spiritual perspective. The Buddha talked about it constantly -- it seems to have been taken for granted in the ancient world -- but the understanding of it has been completely mythological rather than literal.

It is hard to find a Buddhist monk or nun who will publicly claim to believe in devas (lit. "shining ones," light beings, extraterrestrials), gandharvas (messengers of the devas), or nagas (reptilians, dragons, hybrid, shapeshifters). It is impossible to escape the existence of devas and unseen beings of all kinds.

So we have made it mythology and preserved it. Wisdom Quarterly believes it is literally true, however much it has been blown to mythical proportions. Fortunately, the mythology is committed to spiritual texts, arts, and histories worldwide in very different religious traditions.

• Dr. Michio Kaku live on Conan O'Brien

Clearing a Thicket of Wrong Views

Wisdom Quarterly translations and essays on the subject of "Right View"

Did I exist in a past lives? Who was I? Who will I become? (expirationchug.com)

The Buddha explains: An uninstructed ordinary person... does not know-and-see what ideas are fit and unfit for attention. This being so, one does not attend to ideas fit for attention and instead attends to ideas unfit for attention...

One reflects in an unbeneficial way by asking such questions as: "Was I in the past (in a former life)? Was I not in the past (arising out of chance and meaningless circumstance)? What was I in the past? How was I in the past? Having been what, what was I in the past? Shall I be in the future? Shall I not be in the future? What shall I be in the future? How shall I be in the future? Having been what, what shall I be in the future?"

Or one is inwardly perplexed about the present: "Am I? Am I not? What am I? How am I? Where have I come from? Where am I going?"

Pondering in this way, one of six kinds of [WRONG] VIEW arises:

1. "The view I have a self arises as true and established,
2. or the view I have no self...
3. or the view, 'It is precisely by means of self that I perceive self...'
4. or the view, 'It is precisely by means of self that I perceive not-self...'
5. or the view, 'It is precisely by means of not-self that I perceive self arises as true and established,'
6. or else one has a view like this: 'This very self of mine -- the knower [witness, experiencer, who like Descartes concludes, "I think therefore I am"] that is sensitive here and there to the ripening of skillful and unskillful actions (karma) -- is the self of mine that is constant, everlasting, eternal, not subject to change, and will endure past death as long as eternity."

This is called a thicket of views, a wilderness of views, a contortion of views, a writhing of views, a fetter of views.

Bound by a fetter of views, the uninstructed ordinary person is not freed from birth, aging, or death, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, or despair. One is not freed, I declare, from suffering (dukkha).

The well-instructed disciple of the noble ones... knows-and-sees what ideas are fit and unfit for attention. This being so, one does not attend to unprofitable ideas but instead attends to profitable ideas:

1. This is suffering (dukkha)...
2. This is the cause of suffering...
3. This is the cessation of suffering...
4. This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering.

Giving attention in this way, three fetters [binding one to samsara] are abandoned: identity-view, doubt, and attachment to precepts and practices* (MN 2). [Alternative translation of this sutra by Ven. Thanissaro at accesstoinsight.org].

*To abandon these three fetters is synonymous with gaining the first stage of Buddhist enlightenment (stream entry).

Buddhas in a Pagoda in Sagaing, Burma (allmyanmar.com)

So when is such knowledge truly one's own?

Right View
Kaccayana said to the Buddha: " 'Right view, right view,' it is said. To what extent is one in possession of right view (samma-ditthi)?"

The Buddha replied: "By and large, Kaccayana, this world focuses on two equally mistaken extremes [in view] of existence and non-existence. But when one sees the origination of the world as it actually is with right view, 'non-existence' with reference to the world does not occur to one.

"When one sees the cessation of the world as it actually is with right view, 'existence' with reference to the world does not occur to one.

"By and large, Kaccayana, this world is in bondage to attachments, biases, and things clung to [supporting conditions that sustain the illusion of there being a self independent of or embedded in the Five Aggregates of Clinging]. But one such as this does not get involved with or cling to these attachments, fixations of mind, biases, or obsessions. Nor is such a person resolved on 'my self.'

"One has no doubt that when there is arising, only suffering [Dependent Origination] itself is arising. When there is passing away, only suffering is passing away. In this, one's knowledge is independent of others. It is to this extent, Kaccayana, that there is right view" (SN 12.15).

• The way to overcome biases in both directions and see things just as they are is the practice of serene-concentration (jhana, samma-samadhi), which purifies the mind, and insight-contemplation (vipassana), which pierces the illusion and reveals the liberating truth by applying the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.

How to Arrive at Enlightenment
"Truly, meditators, a noble [enlightened] disciple who has seen and has known (understood) -- independent of faith in others -- that 'When there is this, then there is that, that with the arising of this, that arises, with the cessation of this, that ceases...' [this is a direct reference to Dependent Origination as practiced with a purified mind during insight-meditation, not as learned in theory]. When a noble disciple thus fully knows-and-sees the arising and cessation of the world as it is, that disciple is said to be:

• endowed with perfect view
• endowed with perfect vision
• an attainer of the true Dharma
• in possession of the initiate's knowledge and skill
• one who has entered the stream of the Dharma
• a noble disciple replete with purifying knowledge
• one who is at the very door of the Deathless" (S.II.79).

CARTOON: Enlightenment is a lot rarer and easier than people imagine.

How?
Wisdom Quarterly (SUMMARY)
It takes an accomplished teacher to guide one quickly to the goal. But in America we are taught the opposite: "Be your own guru. Buy a new book. Follow an easy plan." That's a great way to live but no way to get enlightened. Maybe a trip to Asia is necessary, but plenty of teachers from Asia now come here.

Here are the three steps if easy steps are what's needed: First, let go, which means feeling safe in a world aimed in every way at keeping us scared. Second, practice what the Buddha taught (virtue, gentle and compassionate self-restraint, the path to meditative-concentration). Third, take the mind now made tractable, with a memory suddenly enhanced by concentration, and practice the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.

There are no rites and rituals, nothing to accept on faith, no fees to pay to a teacher, no ordination (or a temporary one is enough), no lifelong commitments or conversions. It's as easy as that.

Wisdom Quarterly has seen, met, and spoken with enlightened Westerners (even modern Americans) who did it this way! All of our Dharma study (reading and debating) -- clearing our own thicket of wrong views -- and attempts at meditation did not bring us to this conclusion. We have seen it. Our advice to readers for what to do today? Make good karma.

The Science and Religion of the "Impossible"

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Michio Kaku
http://www.colbertnation.com/
Colbert Report Full Episodes

Stephen Colbert interviews physicist Dr. Micchio Kaku on the science of things still thought by most people to be impossible.

The Buddha described a world above the ordinary human plane. Earth is not limited to humans, not by a long shot. There are other beings here: unseen, hidden, shape shifting, and visiting. In fact, it's not accurate to think the planet belongs predominantly to humans. Nagas (hybrid reptilian beings) and Kinnaras (hybrid avian beings), in addition to numerous others (yakshas and maras, devas and asuras).

Sky-ruler Virupaksha subduing reptilian (Woodenship/Flickr)

The sky immediately above the Earth is ruled by four "Great Kings" (maha rajas) -- a situation that makes much more sense in extraterrestrial/UFO terms than wispy angelic spirit beings. Of course, ETs are able to cloak themselves, transform their appearance, and relocate by teleportation. These are not "supernatural" occurrences. But because we do not generally understand the processes and laws of physics involved quite yet, we naturally have no alternative but to think them "magical."

Kinnaras, avian hybrids also called Garudas, stylistically depicted (Eddy-Jalbout/Flickr)

And to those who will not accept anything as magical, they're mythical, fanciful, utterly make believe. There's a middle ground. The science of the impossible is being revealed. When scientists come out and blow the whistle on secret government activities -- as compiled by persistent researchers like Richard Hoagland and Steven Greer -- it becomes very difficult to discount what is being explained and the documentation to support it as simple nonsense.

While Stephen Colbert jokes and Micchio Kaku grows famous, the revelations of real whistleblowers gets obscured. Phil Schnieder was killed for revealing a world so beyond our imagination that all we can do is watch "The Matrix" to try to get our head around what is happening.

What does it have to do with Buddhism?

The Buddha described this world with its many kinds of beings. We accept that the Dharma is true and leads to: enlightenment, fortunate karmic outcomes, and immediate happiness here and now. How, then, are we to ignore the others things he mentioned?

He did not ignore this world and what was going on. It may be secondary to purifying our minds, making merit (storing up beneficial karma that will follow us in the future like a never-departing shadow as we walk towards the light), and stopping harming others, but it is on the list.

What is the world coming to in just this century? We're the superpower, the Evil Empire: war on top of war, chemtrails, UFO sightings, enslaving others in a surveillance state and in third world sweatshops, money woes, chemical foods, cancers, and a general disregard for each other.

• The 31 Planes of Existence and Unseen Beings
• Virupaksha in India: now subsumed as "Shiva"

The world's oldest form of spirituality

Modern shamans are still revered among indigenous people the world over -- from Mongolia to Scandinavia, Alaska to Tibet.

Was the Buddha a Shaman?

Wisdom Quarterly

The Buddha rejected the ultimate authority of the Vedas, ritual priestcraft, and Brahmanism. He returned to the oldest form of spirituality, shamanism (a shramana Dharma). By rejecting the dominant brahmin priest mediated temple-religion (Brahmanism) of his day, he promoted a wandering mendicancy. There were other teachers (most notably Mahavira, the founder of Jainism) who, like Christ was later inspired to do, went against the stream of religious institution.

The Buddha did not invent shamanism but may have been the first to establish an orderly monasticism open to the public, inextricably linked to the community. Later Christian forms derived from Buddhism, as well as certain Mahayana traditions (like some Japanese and Korean Zen groups) went against this interdependence with the community towards an isolationism the Buddha warned against in the Vinaya. Shamanism apparently is much older than anyone imagines. In 2008 a very telling grave site was discovered:

Was the Buddha a shaman? Perhaps not in the way we think of the word. He was a shraman, which informed our understanding of the word. He was constantly in contact with unseen beings and worlds and taught how beings came to be reborn there. He often referenced those unseen: “In the world with its devas, maras, and brahmas, in this generation [humankind] with its shramans [recluses] and brahmins [priests and spiritually noble individuals], devas and humans, whatever is seen, heard, sensed and cognized, attained, searched into, pondered over by the mind -- all that is fully understood by the Tathagata [the Buddha]. That is why he is called the Tathagata” (AN: 54).

In most places for most of history, shamans and "medicine men" have been women and some special men. People are usually selected as children for being somewhat "touched" (odd, wyrd, queer, sensitive, special, psychic, or on a spiritual quest for meaning). The Buddha was the first founder of a world religion to admit women. (Mahavira had done so, although Jainism is hardly known outside of India, and nuns have come to dominate that coexisting shraman tradition).

Tools of the trade. Artist's drawing of a possible shaman burial, illustration drawn to scale, found near the Sea of Galilee (P. Groszman).

Ancient Grave May Have Belonged to Shaman
Michael Balter (ScienceNow.com)

Before there were priests or doctors, people seeking solace or treatment for an illness often called in a shaman, an intermediary between the human and spirit worlds. Archaeologists working in Israel now claim that a 12,000-year-old grave of a woman buried with various animal and human body parts is that of an early shaman. If true, it could mean that shamanism arose during a critical period in human cultural evolution.

Although largely supplanted by organized religion, shamanism is still widespread in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. For example, many Eskimo groups around the Arctic Circle practice shamanism. The roots of shamanism reach back at least to the ancient Greeks and possibly even to prehistoric times. Many archaeologists assume that shamanism preceded organized religion, and some see depictions of shamans in cave art from 15,000 years ago or earlier--although that interpretation is controversial.

But recent excavations at Hilazon Tachtit, a cave west of the Sea of Galilee in Israel, may provide new support for prehistoric shamanism. Hilazon Tachtit was occupied by the Natufians, a people who inhabited the Near East between about 15,000 and 11,500 years ago. Most archaeologists see Natufian culture as a transition between hunting and gathering and the sedentary lifestyles of early farmers. More>>

• Michelle Moran's History Buff Blog: History Buff gathers archaeology news from around the world. From Egyptology to anthropology, History Buff wants to know with author interviews and Q&A.

Punk band "Crass" to tour U.S. (video)

Crass, one of the most brilliant and influential punk bands in history, is coming to the US. The anarcho-punk legends, who stunned the world with "Reality Asylum" and ever increasing controversy, will play the Fox Theatre in Los Angeles on Friday, March 18, 2011. Steve Ignorant announced that he will present "The Last Supper (Crass songs 1977-1982)" plus a few shocks and surprises. This is a once-only tour, never to be repeated. SoCalSkankers.com

2011 TOUR DATES

March 10 New York, NY @ Santo's Party House

March 11 Montreal, QC @ Le National

March 12 Toronto, ON @ The Opera House

March 13 Chicago, IL @ Logan Square Auditorium

March 16 Seattle, WA @ Neumo's

March 17 San Francisco, CA @ Slim's

March 18 Los Angeles, CA @ Fox Theater

March 22 Austin, TX @ Emo's

March 25 Baltimore, MD @ Sonar

• Crass tickets at ticketmaster.com

The Wisdom Quarterly anthem/fight song
Crass's Eve Libertine sings:

Marx had an idea from the confusion of his head. Then there were a thousand more waiting to be led. The books are sold, the quotes are bought. You learn them well, and then you're caught. Anothers left, anothers right, anothers peace, anothers fight.

Mussolini had an idea from the confusion of his heart. Then there were a thousand more waiting to play their part. The stage was set, the costumes worn, and another empire of destruction born. Anothers name, anothers aim, anothers fall, anothers fame.

Jung had an idea from the confusion of his dream. Then there were a thousand more waiting to be seen. 'You're not yourself,' the theory says. But I can help. Your complex pays. Anothers hope, anothers game, anothers loss, anothers gain.

Sartre had an idea from the confusion in his brain. Then there were a thousand more indulging in his pain. Revelling in isolation and existential choice -- How can you be alone if you use anothers voice? Anothers lies, anothers truth, anothers doubt, anothers proof.

The idea born in someone's mind is nurtured by a thousand blind anonymous beings, vacuous souls. Do you fear the confusion, your lack of control? You lift your arm to write a name, so caught up in the identity game. Who do you see? Who do you watch? Who's your leader? Which is your flock? Who do you watch? Who do you watch? Who's your leader? Which is your flock?

Einstein had an idea from the confusion of his knowledge. Then there were a thousand more turning to advantage. They realized that their God was dead. So they reclaimed power through The Bomb instead. Anothers code, anothers brain, they'll shower us all in deadly rain.

Jesus had an idea from the confusion of his soul. Then there were a thousand more waiting to take control. The guilt is sold, forgiveness bought, the cross is there as your reward. Anothers love, anothers pain, anothers pride, anothers shame.

Do you watch at a distance from the side you have chosen? Whose answers serve you best? Who'll save you from the confusion? Who will leave you an exit and a comfortable cover? Who will take you oh so near their edge but never drop you over?

Why the band Crass Matters

Recollecting the Buddha

Ven. Chandananda (free weekly meditation and Dharma classes, Tuesdays 7:00-8:30 pm, Los Angeles Buddhist Vihara, Pasadena, CA)

The Buddha (GermanGypsy/Flickr.com)

Four Protective Meditations
There are four practices that protect and advance an the individual who undertakes them. These four are: (1) Recollection of the Buddha, (2) loving-kindness, (3) the unattractiveness of the body, and (4) mindfulness of death. The virtuous meditator is wise to cultivate these four protections. An intelligent approach is to first develop the recollection of the Buddha (buddhanussati) by contemplating the great sage's excellent unbounded qualities:

Recollecting the Buddha
1. Destroyed he alone all the
defilements without a trace
Fully purified was his mental-continuum,
And he was ever worthy of offerings.

2. Having perfectly understood
all temporal phenomena in every way
The sage alone
attained to omniscience.

3. With knowledge born of insight,
with conduct born of virtue,
endowed with accomplishments was he,
as the sun in the sky.

4. He attained th best state.
Never in vain were his words.
Knower in full of the threefold [sensual,
fine material, immaterial] world was he.

5. By his ocean-like virtue
highest of all beings became he
and with methods diverse
the tameable he tamed.

6. For the entire world he alone,
teacher of all beings became.
The blessed Noble One of qualities supreme
a treasury of all [ten] perfections was he.

7. He was wise in all ways
towards all beings compassionate
For his own and the good of others as well
Further high virtue had he.

The Buddha (AncientIndia.co.uk)
In about the 6th century B.C.E., Siddhartha Gautama was born into a royal family. When he was a young adult his experiences with the outside world drove him to seek out a greater understanding of life and spiritual fulfilment.

Famous Alex Jones (in his own words)

(TheAlexJonesChannel) prisonplanet.com

Psychologists are More Dangerous than Conspiracy Theorists

According to a Psychology Today hit piece written by psychologist John Gartner, people prone to thinking that powerful people might actually get together and plan to maintain and advance their power are borderline psychotics who are a danger to society.

In reality, hundreds of years of history has taught us that psychologists routinely aid authoritarian regimes in enforcing tyrannical and inhumane policies while helping them crush political opposition by defining suspicion of authorities as a mental illness.

As we highlighted in our article yesterday, psychologists in the Soviet Union were used to stifle free speech by classifying skepticism and political opposition to the state as a mental illness, which is precisely the implication littered throughout Gartner’s crass hit piece.

In the former Soviet Union, psikhushkas -- mental hospitals -- were used by the state as prisons in order to isolate political prisoners, discredit their ideas, and break them physically and mentally. The Soviet state began using mental hospitals to punish dissidents in 1939 under Stalin.

According to official Soviet psychiatry and the Moscow Serbsky Institute at the time, ideas about a struggle for truth and justice are formed by personalities with a paranoid structure.

Treatment for this special political schizophrenia included various forms of restraint, electric shocks, electromagnetic torture, radiation torture, lumbar punctures, various drugs -- such as narcotics, tranquilizers, and insulin -- and beatings. Anne Applebaum, author of Gulag: A History, indicates that at least 365 sane people were treated for politically defined madness, although she surmises there were many more.

The profession of psychology blossoms under tyrannical regimes, as explored in Ulfried Geuter's The Professionalization of Psychology in Nazi Germany. Under Hitler's Third Reich, the relationship between the ruling Nazi thugs and psychologists was close and mutually beneficial. People like Nazi psychologist Robert Ritter, Ph.D. (pictured above) were instrumental in persecuting minorities and enforcing eugenic policies of genocide.

"From Nazi Germany, South Africa, Russia, and the former Yugoslavia, to Iraq today, psychiatry has been and/or remains a key player. In fact, the marriage between authoritarian government and psychiatry is as old as psychiatry itself," writes Jan Eastgate, International President, Citizens' Commission on Human Rights. "In the 1800s, Germany's militaristic 'Iron Chancellor,' Otto von Bismarck, utilized psychiatry to influence and control whole populations in order to fulfill his dreams of conquest through war."

In his book Dangerous Minds: Political Psychiatry in China Today and Its Origins in the Mao Era, praised as “eloquent and convincing” in a New York Times Review of Books piece, author Robert Munro exposes how psychiatrists and psychologists continue to be at the forefront of the brutal Communist Chinese system of ascribing mental illnesses to those who express even mildly negative political opinions towards the ruling Party.

The book reveals how, “From the 1950s onward not only Chinese dissidents but people who submitted petitions to the authorities have been detained by the police, examined by psychiatrists, and found to be criminally insane -- or, if found mentally “normal,” designated as criminals to be cast into the prison system.”

An official Chinese police designation for those worthy of “psychiatric custody” cited by Munro lists people who write anti-government letters, make anti-government speeches, or those who merely express opinions on important domestic and international affairs that could be considered anti-government. More>>

Nepal fails to form gov't; Buddha Boy in bliss

Bodhisattva Maitreya, the Buddha to Come (Faroukh Mistry/Flickr.com)

Mt. Everest foothills teeming with strife...
AHN

Political crisis deepens in Nepal as political parties fail to form a new government by the Friday deadline. Now 28 political parties represented in the Constitution Assembly have asked President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav to extend the date to form a consensus government.

In response, Yadav extended the deadline by five days. A statement issued by the president's office said Yadav had again called for the formation of a national unity government within the extended deadline. Due to the trust deficit among the political parties, forming a new consensus government has become a tall order. The parties have been trying to get a new government for six months but have been hampered by differences over ownership of the peace and constitution-drafting processes. More>>

Meanwhile, Buddha Boy still meditating

Wisdom Quarterly (paldendorje.com)

Even as Kathmandu is embroiled in political turmoil, Buddha Boy (a.k.a. Ram Bahadur Bomjon, Tapaswi Palden Dorje, and now "Ven. Dharma Sangha") continues to meditate blissfully -- but not blissed out: He is active and engaged. Buddha Boy is currently reaching out to Dharma teachers of all religions and Mahanipa Sanghas with a training program. The program of new prayers guided by Ven. Dharma Sangha and written in Nepali, English, and in a Himalayan Bodhisattva language is limited to 1,000 Dharma gurus of all religions. This event is not a darshan event and not for the general public. Bring blankets, sleeping bags, and other essentials in order to participate. Applications accepted until Feb. 10, 2011.

Ven. Dharma Sangha (Buddha Boy) Objectives

• To help [enact] the objectives of [Ven.] Guru Dharma Sangha [Buddha Boy] by uniting [and guiding] those who have been cast aside and those who would divide society [restoring them] to the right Dharma path by eradicating discrimination and enmity.
• To adopt the path of [Ven.] Guru Dharma Sangha and create a broad and peaceful environment to encourage all castes and religious sects to adopt the path of wisdom.
• To preserve and develop the welfare of all wildlife, vegetation, and to respect the rights of all sentient beings [not sacrificing animals to gods as is a barbaric Brahminical custom].
• To establish religious trusts, meditation centers, and social welfare centers throughout the world.
• To appoint regional representatives as assistants to spiritual gurus in order to spread the messages of peace provided by Guru Dharma Sangha for other spiritual purposes.
• [T]o declare the areas covered by Charkoshe Jhadi (the name of the forest where guru is practicing [strenuous] meditation) as a National Nonviolent Meditation Region and to confirm its designation as a meditation forest. More>>>

Hindus killing animals for God? (animalrightsnepal.org)

"Hidden Histories" of Israel (review)

Jews are portrayed in a despicable light by Muslims. But it is the CIA and ultra-nationalist Israelis that are promoting the extermination of the Palestinians with Christian support, not Jews. The backlash leads to antisemitism.

Wisdom Quarterly summary of book review by Jim Miles*
Hidden Histories: Palestine and the Eastern Mediterranean (by Basem L. Ra’ad, London, Pluto Press, 2010) is a groundbreaking read on Israel and the Bible.

The majority of modern works that examine the Palestine/Israel conflict do so with a strong emphasis on the catastrophe (nakba) of 1948, what led up to it and what followed.

Prof. Basem L. Ra’ad’s new book Hidden Histories adds a new component to the discussion. The catastrophe is minimized to explore other perspectives more fully. Two perspectives are developed, in spite of the fact that the dominant media discourse orchestrated by the US, Europe, and Israel would rather these perspectives were not heard.

Jewish ultra orthodox celebration of Rabbi Nachman in the Ukraine near Kiev on Rosh Hashana (Reuters/Konstantin Chernichkin).

The first is an examination of the region through archaeology and linguistics. The duality does not highlight the uniqueness of a "chosen people" in their exile or return. Instead, what is examined is the commonality of a stable and adaptive indigenous population.

The second perspective looks at the modern Israeli narrative -- an biased ethnic history used to justify the annexation of land and a declared intent to settle all of Eretz Israel as a "divine right" of Jewish people.

Ra’ad turns this perspective and focuses on the appropriation of cultural artifacts, heritage, language, and the beliefs of the indigenous Palestinians. This has happened to such an extent that Palestinians themselves are becoming unaware of their own heritage and unwittingly reflecting Israeli mythology about their background.

This is one of the most powerful ways in which a dominant society controls and culturally deletes another culture and its history. People become others, wanderers in the desert, true “Arabs” who arrived with the Islamic conquests of the seventh century, whose true home is beyond the borders of modern Israel.

It has been noted more than once in both revisionist and traditional historical writings on Zionism that “early Zionists did not shy away from seeing the Palestinians as rooted in the land from prehistoric times…. Up to the 1930s, many Zionist theorists saw the Palestinian farmers or fellahin as descendants of Judean peasantry, as Jews who converted to Islam to avoid taxation.”

Ra’ad argues that the Israelis paint themselves as the natives “and have relegated the Palestinians to cultural invisibility or active demonization within the Zionist system.” Jews then act like they are merely reclaiming their "divinely ordained" land. It's a powerful narrative, one that fundamental Christians buy into.

It makes sense to believers until they see the historical and archaeological evidence of the existence of a Canaanite culture. Its geography was widespread and a precursor to many of the myths and traditions of the region.

Ra'ad argues that “Hebrew is merely a script style that is known in Aramaic as square Aramaic” and is not the ancient language of the land.

Earlier languages, which are much more similar to Arabic, cannot be considered “paleo-Hebrew” or “ancient-Hebrew.” Arabic is shown to be “a native regional language,” not imported with the Arab Muslim conquest of the seventh century. It is the “live continuation and natural extension of the earlier languages as they were submerged.” In other words, it is not a foreign language to the region.

Shard of pottery used to suggest that the Bible, "ancient-Hebrew," and the "Kingdom of Israel" are all older than thought (MSNBC/Livescience).

It is one that naturally evolved with organic adaptations to the trade, commerce, and warfare prevalent in the region. Whether it is artificial changes on the region's map, “ancient names on the ground, or theories about ancient languages, there is a great deal of invention, guile, backdating, and fabricated justification.”

For the Israelis, if the God-covenanted land narrative falls apart, their whole universe disappears. They become just another group attempting to survive by way of dominance over a weaker group.

To prevent that, the narrative needs to be constructed both forwards and backwards: from biblical time lines to create a lineage, backwards from current times.

But Ra’ad’s work creates a discussion that poses huge problems for the narrative.

What needs to be decolonized are minds -- of Palestinians, Christians, and Jews. But given the media dominance of the US, Europe, and Israel, it will be a struggle.

Hidden Histories is an intriguing and challenging work leading toward a more honest understanding of the Eastern Mediterranean. It also serves as a warning showing how historical narratives can be manipulated or created to disown a weaker group. Source

-

*Jim Miles is a Canadian educator and a regular contributor/columnist of opinion pieces and book reviews for The Palestine Chronicle. Miles' work is also presented globally through other alternative websites and news publications.

Astrology: 13th Sign Revealed (news video)

Ashley Wells & Seven Dharmachari (Wisdom Quarterly)

(MSNBC) Rachel Maddow on magnetic pole shift, tribulation, and a thirteenth star sign

I used to sit at work doing math. I know, it's odd. I was actually doing long division with my paystub. I needed to see how much I was making a day. I wanted to quit. And I was trying to figure out how much it was costing me to stay versus how much I was being compensated.

I was on salary but making the same amount even when there were more workdays in a month. I couldn't figure it out. I couldn't figure out how it would cost me to take a day off. Then I stumbled on an amazing hidden truth I had never before heard of and never hear about until now: There are 13 "months" in a year!

Try it. It helps to have a job, and having a sinecure is much better for doodling and contemplating money, life, sex, food, chocolate, coffee, and astrology. It brought me closer to the Dharma. If like me you've contemplated getting a "cup and cross spoons" tattoo, this should keep you awake at night.

How long is an hour? Sixty minutes. How long is a day? Twenty-four hours. How long is a week? Seven days. How long is a month? Four weeks (28 days). How long is a year? It's 365 days, 52 weeks, or 12 months -- errrr! We all agree, we all know this, but the math doesn't add up! That is, not until a buried 13th month is recovered. Look:

12 (months) x 28 (days) = 336

13 (months) x 28 (days) = 364

None of this is an accident. There used to be 13 months, with an uncounted day of reflection at the end. There still are when we return to lunar phases to see the orderliness in seasonal life on Earth. The Mayans (Maya) knew it with multiple calendars and a synchronary. Buddhists do, too. Greeks, Romans, Chinese, everyone knew. Something happened a while back to alter the social order, make it about words and numbers (linear formulas) rather than images (eidetic) and stories (narratives).

It's even embedded in our words -- month comes from moon, because every month has one full moon, new moon, and two half moons. It should be a "moonth." So people will say it's lunacy to talk this way. Get with the program. We're all solar Christians with the Son (Sun). The Serpent was cut out of the picture, a naga in the Garden of Eden, who gets called the big bad devil for encouraging wisdom. And I'm like Eve Libertine to be questioning anything.

There are answers to everything. And when I'm enlightened, if I ever get enlightened, I'll know.

New Zodiac Sign Dates: Ophiuchus The 13th Sign?
HuffingtonPost.com
Your zodiac sign may not actually be your zodiac sign... Astronomer Parke Kunkle says that due to changes in the Earth's alignment, the dates of many zodiac signs have changed, according to NBC. In addition, there may be a 13th Zodiac sign: Ophiuchus.

Kunkle says that as the Earth and Sun slowly move [precession in astronomy], the signs gradually change, as expected.

The change didn't happen over night either. The 12 signs were designated to different periods of the year almost 3,000 years ago, when astrology began, and since then the Earth's position in relation to the Sun has changed.

While the sign many people were born under may now be different, it shouldn't affect horoscope readings, according to NBC. Zodiac signs have changed:

New Dates

1. Capricorn: Jan. 20 - Feb. 16
2. Aquarius: Feb. 16 - March 11
3. Pisces: March 11- April 18
4. Aries: April 18 - May 13
5. Taurus: May 13 - June 21
6. Gemini: June 21 - July 20
7. Cancer: July 20 - Aug. 10
8. Leo: Aug. 10 - Sept. 16
9. Virgo: Sept. 16 - Oct. 30
10. Libra: Oct. 30 - Nov. 23
11. Scorpio: Nov. 23 - Nov. 29
12. Ophiuchus: Nov. 29 - Dec. 17
13. Sagittarius: Dec. 17 - Jan. 20

Astrology?!
Wisdom Quarterly (COMMENTARY)
Do we believe in newspaper column astrology? Of course not! Pseudo-scientific charts, star graphs, and gypsies -- it's a scam. But do we believe the stars have anything to do with the future, the best (in Indian terms, most "auspicious") days to undertake things?

Yes, apparently extraterrestrial visitors set the moon, which is a satellite not a planetary body, in place. The seasons were thereby arranged, and the Mayan people were given astronomy, astrology, and ways of record keeping on a cosmic scale. It couldn't have all been for them, since neither they nor their civilization would live to see the predictions. But the much longer lived visitors would have been preoccupied with these matters.

What does this have to do with Buddhism? Not only is Buddhist history steeped in astrology (with the predictions at the time of the Buddha's birth by Vedic brahmins working as court chaplains), many modern Buddhists love good horoscopes and forecasting based on Vedic, Chinese, Tibetan, Thai, and Khmer charts.

The Buddha did not promote it, but that hasn't stopped people who are obsessed with trying to gain some sense of control in this topsy turvy world. Why have the powers that be altered calendars, ruined charts, and mercilessly decried prophecy and psychic ability? There's something to it, just not in the form we have it nowadays. People believe in the principle; unfortunately, they indiscriminately believe any columnist who posts what the day/week/month/year will bring for the dime store star signs (and biorhythm scrolls).

Does no one ever wonder why? Why, why, why?

Does anyone remember Quetzalcoatl (the Mesoamerican ET, "feathered-serpent" in the Nahuatl language)? Daniel Pinchbeck explained the return of the winged serpent (extraterrestrial royal naga), who it seems just got back into the popular conscious (zeitgeist) with news of this 13th sign. Hello, 2012! Nagas (shape shifting, reptilian, serpent, demigod, human-hybrids in Buddhist mythology) are expert genetic manipulators from space who live underground, literally.

• VIDEO: 2012 The Return of Quetzacoatl (Daniel Pinchbeck)

Amazing Material Science (video)

Watch the full episode. See more NOVA.

Illusion (Maya)

Wisdom Quarterly

Maya means illusion. In the uniquely Buddhist language, Pali, the word is moha, "delusion." It's the Indian concept that the world is not what it seems to be. The Buddha revealed that what seems like permanent, painless, and personal is anything but.

Maya, according to Heinrich Zimmer, manifests its force through the rolling universe and evolving forms of individuals. According to Vedic Hinduism there is a reality, Brahman, behind the illusory changing world. Buddhism considers the world an illusion because it is misleading and, as a result to our detriment, we become attached. Others misinterpret the Dharma that says the "self (composed of form, feelings, perceptions, formations, and consciousness) is emptiness" to mean that there is nothing. It is not nothing, but rather no substantial "thing."

Apparent "things" are without essence, unsatisfactory, and always in flux. But that is on an ultimate level, not to be arrived at by thinking or believing or faith. It is directly observable through serenity-and-insight meditation.

Not only is it true of mentality (the psychological components of being), it is even true of materiality (the physical components and structures). Not only is it true for every apparent "thing" in the universe, it is true for all the constituents of existence: The self is this way.

Matter is made up of invisible atoms. They can be divided into electrons, protons, and neutrons. These subatomic or elementary particles were thought to form matter, but hundreds of other elementary particles have been discovered such as mesons, muons, neutrinos, and positrons. Scientists have since discovered that these elementary particles are themselves made up of smaller particles called quarks, hypothetical particles that carry a fractional charge (Quarks Diagram, 4to40.com). Then there are the strings.

They are incessantly arising and passing away. They are incapable of satisfying. They are impersonal.

To understand that secret, to know how it works, and to transcend the cosmic spell of illusion -- simultaneously breaking outwardly through layers of appearance and inwardly through the intellectual and emotional layers of the psyche -– this is the pursuit conceived of by Indian philosophy to be the primary and finally undeniable human task.

If it were ultimately pleasant and worthy of experience, the Buddha would have commended it and spoken in praise of samsara. He did not. Instead, he spoke in praise of nirvana.

Buddhist Kindergarten (for Adults)

Dharmachari (Dharma-teacher) Seven

Bhutanese art: the Buddha in one of the most splendid temples in Bodhgaya, where he attained enlightenment, Bihar state, India. (Photographs by Y. Awanohara/Flickr.com).

I was asked by a learned monk who combines Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism to teach at a new Buddhist temple he built in Los Angeles. Because I was writing a book on the Factors of Enlightenment, I proposed an eight-week class on that subject. It was advertised in the Los Angeles Times and elsewhere.

Sixty-one Americans attended the first Sunday. Forty of them stayed for all eight weeks, two hours every Sunday, capped off with meditation in the main hall. It was so well received -- with people saying they had never heard of such Dharma topics, Buddhist meditation instructions, or explanations from the oldest sutras -- that I was asked to teach at another much older and much more traditional temple.

This time the focus was on their own lay devotees. Although they were born Buddhists and exceedingly devotional, they did not understand many concepts and details concerning the vast range of Dharma taught by the Buddha, to say nothing of the teachings of other religions. These were the seven main topics we covered in a class I called:

"Buddhist Kindergarten (for Adults)"

I. BUDDHISM: Since Buddhism places such great emphasis on personal understanding and effort, rather than blind faith, it is often asked: Is Buddhism a "religion"? The combination of wisdom and compassion results in enlightenment (bodhi). Buddhism invites skeptical inquiry, questioning authority, and the development of both rational and intuitive insight. Does spirituality trump religion

II. KARMA Why do bad things happen to good people? Deeds (karma) produce mental-resultants as well as bearing fruit in this and future lives. Personal choice leads to future responsibility as we by our deeds design our "fate" and destiny, albeit often inadvertently.

III. HAPPINESS We crave only pleasure, joy, and satisfaction. But we meet with pain, frustration, and sorrow. What's going wrong? Why do even the most privileged among us feel dissatisfied? We will examine contentment, rapture, bliss, and nirvana in our search for happiness.

IV. DEATH There may be no death, yet we must often comfort the bereaved, deal with our own mourning, and assist those who have passed on. But how can we do any of these of the topic is taboo in polite society? We will discuss the transition from one transient state of existence to another in stark detail: Who or what passes away? What is the special value of human life? How does our (death-proximate) consciousness condition our next rebirth? Why?

V. REBIRTH What determines rebirth? Wonderful, woeful, and human rebirths -- plus discussion of angels, animals, and anatomically-incorrect realms. The divinities (brahmas) are neither male nor female, but the deities (devas) are as active and mischievous as daytime soap stars. Craving, aversion, and delusion are the root causes of rebirth in unfortunate destinations, whereas opposite impulses bring about exponentially greater results. Within this Cyclical Round of Birth and Death (samsara), there is no "being," only becoming and again-becoming. What is freedom from rebirth?

VI. GOD "God" in Buddhist perspective will surprise most Buddhists because Buddhism is non-theistic not atheistic. Are the gods creators meting out rewards and punishments, or merely as well-born beings? Many views prevalent in ancient India and modern America will be considered to show how they are not all that different even as adherents fight to the death to advocate their views: pantheism, polytheism, monotheism, atheism, and that rare form of non-theism the Buddha endorsed will be discussed as well as the G.O.D. in us all.

VII. ENLIGHTENMENT How long does it take to become enlightened? There is no darkness like the darkness of ignorance, no enemy like the enemy of hate, no trap like the trap of desire. This being so, how will we ever develop the light of wisdom to realize the liberating Truth for ourselves, and can it be done in this very life? When does the marriage of wisdom and compassion that transforms greed, hatred, delusion take place? Who are the noble individuals in the world and why?

Under the sprawling Bodhi tree, I saw you, I saw me, and there was no one to be seen