Tibetans in Exile: Uprisings and India (video)

Billy Kung (artasiapacific.com); CC Liu, Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly; BBC; UprisingArchive

Nun Namdak Choeying, 44, prays in room she shares with two other nuns in Dharamsala. In Tibet she aspired for full ordination and escaped to India in 2006. She dreams of being reunited with five siblings and parents in Tibet and immerses herself in prayers to keep her mind occupied (A).

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Monk Dorjee, 38, and his father, 27 years apart.

In 1959, following the failed Tibetan uprising, the 14th Dalai Lama sought refuge in [Himalayan] India. Soon after that, thousands of Tibetans followed suit in order to escape religious and cultural persecution [by the Chinese].

a Tibetan photographer currently working for the Associated Press based in New Delhi, has produced a body of work documenting the plight of Tibetan exiles now living in India.

A car drives along a road that snakes beneath snow-capped peaks near Zoji La in Indian Kashmir. Many Tibetans say that being in the mountains makes them miss their homeland.

(Uprising Archive) Documentary overview of events in Tibet in the spring of 2008 as reported to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy by verified sources. Not an exhaustive account. More: tchrd.org; uprisingarchive.org.

   

Kalsang, 19, studies Buddhism near Dharamsala.

Like so many other Tibetans before him, Topgyal was 8-years-old when his parents paid a smuggler to take him across the Himalayan mountains on a week-long journey by foot from Tibet to Dharamsala, in the state of Himachal Pradesh in northern India. He has not seen his family since.
 

In 2007, while studying English literature at a college near Mumbai, Topgyal took photography classes in the evening and began freelancing for the AP in New Delhi a year later.

He began photographing his schoolmates and others who were smuggled out of Tibet at an early age, and he soon realized that the photo document was a powerful tool to show the world the difficulties Tibetan exiles faces.

“The great tragedy of my life is not being separated from my family,” he said to the New York Times, “but being separated from the sensibility of missing them after living without them for decades.”

The map of the world is wrong (video)

West Wing; Pat Macpherson, Pfc. Sandoval, Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly

This is not at all what our world looks like. Eurocentric: sizes are distorted and repositioned.

What does our planet really look like? We don't know. NASA's deceives the world by releasing very different faces of it. NASA doctors composite images. Earth is no globe but an oblate spheroid. Instead of following the correct Gall-Peters Projection Map, the distorted Merrcator is used.

A brief explanation of the distorted and corrected map from "The West Wing," Season 2, Episode 16

• What is the Gall-Peters Projection Map?
• VIDEO: Brief graphics show map distortions

Lloyd Pye gives a 3 min. explanation of what's wrong with the circa-1600 Mercator map we use.

A different kind of map showing correct sizes and locations, the Peters Projection Map

Fantasy cartography spreads Eurocentrism, as West inverted Muslim map.

All maps are representations that emphasize different things like these 25

How NASA misleads the world (video)

DMurphy25 (video) Puppet Test Pilot, 4-16-16; Pat Macpherson, Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly

"An in-depth examination of some of the evidence that indicates that the Earth is not a spinning, orbiting globe"

 

The Biggest Lie of All?

When I was kid I always sensed that we were being lied to in school. It was obvious. I reported it to my parents, and they became angry, "Who are you to question it? You learn what they tell you." I did, but I doubted, I questioned, I got in trouble. 

After a while, I thought everyone knew we were being lied to. I would marvel that anyone still believed somethings that had obviously been debunked. There was another world, a world of lore, mythology, and things handed down. If you want to be thought silly you can study it, ancient Greek stuff and the like. It means you are educated, the Iliad, the Odyssey. 

The Jewish/Christian Bible was constantly referred to in the culture. Scientific assumptions, most of them wrong, were adhered to and never questioned until they were revised. Then everyone just switched without batting an eye. The thing they would scoff at, attack you for, then exile you on account of as an outcast or persona non grata they then switched to. They didn't decry themselves or think, "Maybe this is not the only thing I was being lied to about." 

Buddhism, unlike Christianity, does not call for blind faith. It calls for confidence and keen investigation. In the Kalama Sutra, the Buddha calls for free inquiry. This is foolishly taken to mean, "Believe whatever you want because you could be right." It actually means, "There are true things; strive to see them. It will be for your benefit for a long time."

 

(New Horizons) British go bonkers and dare to discuss actual evidence

This video, on the preposterous and ridiculous subject of the earth being flat like we all always believed, shows up how much we're being lied to about -- NASA's space program (and we're not told about the secret space program), the propaganda films our country made to prove to the world we were landing on the moon live when it was so obviously faked footage.

Have we gone to the moon? I think so. But we sure did not go in 1969 and show what was found in real time. That is a self-evident hoax with innumerable flaws, not the least of which is, "How was the take off from the moon filmed? They left an astronaut down there to get the shot then came back for him?"

Doubt, think, question, investigate. That's why were showing this video, and that's why recommend even outlandish claims. They may not propose the correct interpretation, but they sure show that the faith we have now is foolish, unfounded, the product of lying, and "science" has become the new unquestionable religion with white lab coat clad priests. Question them. They're wrong.

What is right? We don't know, and we have to keep searching. Our government funds secret projects we are not told about in the mainstream media, which come out through whistleblowers and slip ups, so the scientific method is being used somewhere -- but there founded on better assumptions than we get in mainstream universities and training schools.

• Part 1: youtube.com/watch?v=lchtw...
• Part 2: youtube.com/watch?v=TdoGT... - by DMurphy25

Earth and Space: 31 Planes of Existence (video)

Ven. Anandajoti (Dharma Records); Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly

The 31 Planes of Existence (Ven. Suvanno)

This talk on Buddhist cosmology is illustrated with infographics describing the 31 Planes of Existence as envisioned in traditional Buddhist teachings.

Photos of representations of the various realms, human and otherwise, are included.

The talk shows how knowing these realms can be useful for a person's understanding of his or her place in the universe and how they move between these realms in this and future lives.

An extension of the Geography of Buddhism series, this video looks at the sacred geography of Buddhism.

• A second talk discusses DEVOLUTION and Evolution

For references to the 31 Planes of Existence in the Tipitaka of the Pali canon (the standardized record of the "Three Collections" in the Pali language), see: accesstoinsight.org/ptf...

For more detailed information on the 31 Planes of Existence the Buddha described, see Ven. Suvanno's book: archive.org

Coachella: Pink Floyd, Dylan, Rolling Stones...

Live.coachella.com; Wisdom Quarterly; Los Angeles Times

Imagine a concert for parents and grandparents -- Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd (i.e., Roger Waters), the Beatles (i.e., Paul McCarthy), Neil Young, the Who, and the Rolling Stones.

Coachella promoters Goldenvoice will bring them all out to the Empire Polo Field at Coachella later this year. It's Coachella III: 2016. The Los Angeles Times confirms it.

• Coachella promoters look to book Dylan, Stones, McCartney... (LA Times, April 15, 2016) The company that stages the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is planning a mega concert...organized by Goldenvoice, the LA-based...
• How did old punk upstart Goldenvoice snare the rock icons... 
• Stones, Dylan, McCartney, others in talks for mega concert... (Rolling Stone) The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, the Who...like Coachella, a second weekend of the mega concert is also being discussed. =...on the same bill at a music festival, the LA Times reports.

The cause of health: NUTRITION (video)

Dr. Joel Wallach, Doug Winfrey (GCN); Pat Macpherson, Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly

DEAD DOCTORS DON'T LIE

Dr. Joel Wallach begins the show by discussing our failed U.S. medical system. Outlining the statistics of how many patients are injured, infected, and killed every year within the confines of the for-profit/allopathic medical industry. 

Dr. Wallach also cites several failed medical theories, such as the belief that disease is caused by "evil spirits."

• Cures, supplements, minerals: criticalhealthnews.com

PEARLS OF WISDOM
Doug Winfrey and Dr. Wallach discuss an iatrogenic news article on a study from the Indiana Alzheimer Disease Center. The study links the use of pharmaceutical drugs that contain anticholinergics (a chemical compound that stops acetylcholine from working properly in the human nervous system).

These pharmaceuticals include Benadryl, Paxil, Zyprexa, Dimetapp, and Unisom. People taking these drugs have cognitive decline and problems with memory compared to those not taking the drugs.

CALLERS

• Gazel has kidney disease, wants to get off transplant list.
• Niki has follow-up questions regarding kidney disease.
• Julie has been diagnosed with hypothyroidism.
• Emma has been experiencing flu-like symptoms for a month.

(Fawkes1570) Pharmacist Ben Fuchs on allopathic drugs and protocols

"Becoming Los Angeles" (photos)

NHM.org (Ryan Miller/Capture Imaging); Crystal Quintero, Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly

(Thomas Ueda) Tom takes a selfie stick on a visit to the Natural History Museum of L.A. next to USC

The permanent exhibition "Becoming Los Angeles" tells a 500-year story about how Southern California went from tiny pueblo to sprawling metropolis. Becoming Los Angeles unfolds in six major sections:

• The Spanish Mission Era
• The Mexican Rancho Era
• The early American Period
• The emergence of a new American city in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
• The Great Depression
• World War II to the present

Here are just a few of the exhibition's highlights:
 

The Spanish ["Concentration Camp"] Mission Era 

After colonizing Mexico, Spain continued to the frontiers of North America and established California's 21 missions, founded between 1769 and 1833, as revenue generators and military outposts.

 

 

The Mexican Rancho Era

Mexican independence from Spain changed the way Californians traded with the world and also triggered permanent ongoing environmental change. The cattle ranching industry affected the land in many ways: livestock fed off local and exotic grasses, spread the seeds across the region, and changed the plant life of Southern California.
 
The Early American Period
When California became part of the United States, Los Angeles shifted from Mexican ciudad ("city") to American city.

During the mid 1880s, early city infrastructure and government services began to emerge. This shotgun, made in 1847, belonged to Swiss immigrant Charles Louis Ducommun, who trekked across the country on foot and built a successful business in Los Angeles, which allowed him to invest in the railroad, agriculture, and oil industries.

The New American City (Late 19th Century/Early 20th Century)
One of the earlier start-up businesses in Los Angeles was the Auto Vehicle Company, which manufactured this 1902 Tourist automobile, the only survivor from the car's first year of production.

The Great Depression

Fast-forward into the 20th century to see the 1939 City Model of downtown Los Angeles, built as a Works Progress Administration project. It has been outfitted with touch screens, which feature interactive slideshows and narrated stories of downtown L.A. landmarks, including Pershing Square and Chinatown.

  

World War II to present 
This strikingly designed section features everything from World War II fighter plane models to vintage graphics and an engine emblematic of America's growing industrial power.

Come experience more about L.A.'s colonists and settlers, Native Americans, rancheros, citrus growers, oil barons, boosters, radicals, filmmakers, innovators, and more! To plan a visit, click here.
 

Spotlight: Scarlett O'Hara's Dress on View
Scarlett O'Hara's famous "Barbecue Dress" from Gone with the Wind is on public view for the first time at NHM. The dress will be displayed in Becoming Los Angeles for a six-month run beginning December 2014, to coincide with the 75th anniversary of film's release. This newly conserved green-and-white dress worn by Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) to the barbeque at Twelve Oaks Plantation in Gone With the Wind will be featured in a specially made costume case near the exhibition's other Hollywood treasures.

Teachers and educators 

The NIH has closed the Lando Hall of California History for renovations and eventual installation of new exhibits. All are invited to explore Becoming Los Angeles as well as the Gem and Mineral Hall's Gold Rush exhibit. More

Inside Marble Mountain, Vietnam (video)

Wisdom Quarterly; Damon Billian: Marble Mountain; Jay Williams; Sheree Rawson

Shrine rooms inside caverns of Marble Mountain, Da Nang, Vietnam (Damon Billian)

Aussie Sheree Rawson: Ngu Hanh Son, Marble ("Five Elements") Mountain, Da Nang, Vietnam

Jay Williams in Da Nang, Hoi An, Marble Mountain (at Min. 9), Vietnam (Asia: jpwphoto.com)

Trees and the Buddha's enlightenment

Buddhanet.net (e-learning, Buddhism, Life of the Buddha) edited by Wisdom Quarterly

The future-buddha Siddhartha under the bodhi tree as the tempter Mara attacks (wiki)

(Part 1) 18. Seven Weeks After the Buddha's Enlightenment by Buddhanet.net

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UNDER THE BODHI TREE

During the first week after enlightenment, the Buddha sat under the bodhi tree experiencing the bliss of freedom and peace. He was free from disturbing thoughts, serene and joyful.

GAZING AT THE TREE

The original bodhi tree from cutting, India

During the second week, with thanks and gratitude to the tree that had sheltered him during his struggle for buddhahood, the Buddha stood without moving his eyes as he meditated on the bodhi tree.

Following this example, it is the custom of Buddhists to pay respect to not only the original bodhi tree, but also to the descendants of the bodhi tree that still thrive today.

THE GOLDEN BRIDGE

In the third week, the Buddha saw through his mind’s eye that the devas in the heavens (space) were not sure whether he had attained enlightenment or not. To prove his enlightenment the Buddha created a golden bridge in the air and walked up and down it for a week.

THE JEWELLED CHAMBER

In the fourth week, he created a beautiful jewelled chamber and sitting inside it meditated on what was later known as the "Detailed Teaching" (Abhidharma). His mind and body were so purified that an aura of six colored rays came out of his body: blue, yellow, red, white, orange, and a blend of these five.

Today these six colors make up the Buddhist flag. Each color represented one noble quality of the Buddha: yellow for sanctity (enlightenment-level), white for purity, blue for confidence (faith), red for wisdom, and orange for contentment (desirelessness). The mixed color represents a blend of all of these noble qualities.

THREE GIRLS

During the fifth week, while meditating under a banyan tree, three most charming "girls" called Tanha, Rati, and Raga [Mara's daughters Craving, Ennui, and Lust] came to disturb his meditation. They "danced" in a most seductive manner and did everything to tempt the Buddha to watch their dance. Yet, he continued to meditate unperturbed, and soon they tired and left him in peace.

THE MUCALINDA TREE

The Buddha then went and meditated at the foot of a mucalinda tree. It began to rain heavily. And a huge king cobra (naga 7) came out coiling his body seven times around the Buddha to keep him warm. It also placed his hood over the Buddha’s head to protect him from the rain. After seven days the rain stopped and the snake changed into a young man (reptilian) who paid his respects to the Buddha. The Buddha then said:

"Happy are they who are contented. Happiness is for those who hear and know the truth. Happy are they who have good will in this world towards all sentient beings. Happy are they who have no attachments and have passed beyond sense desires. The disappearance of the conceit 'I am' is indeed the highest happiness."

THE RAJAYATANA TREE

The great golden stupa (reliquary mound) at the center of Shwedagon Pagoda, Burma

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During the seventh week, the Buddha meditated under the rajayatana tree. On the 50th morning, after seven weeks of fasting, two merchants came into his presence. They were called Tapussa and Bhallika. They offered the Buddha rice cakes and honey to break his fast. The Buddha told them some of what he had found by his enlightenment.

These two merchants, by taking guidance (sarana) in the Buddha and the Dharma (the "enlightenment teachings of a supremely enlightened being"), became the first Buddhist lay followers.

 

There was no Sangha (monastic order with monks and nuns) yet. They asked the Buddha for something sacred to keep with them. The Buddha wiped his head with his right hand and pulled out some hair to give to them.

These hair relics, called kesa dhatu, were later reputedly enshrined by the merchants on their return home to what is now known as Burma. They became the central relics of the great Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon. More

Nepal marks killer quake anniversary (photos)

Associated Press (ap.org via mail.com, April 24, 2016); Wisdom Quarterly

 

Nepal marks anniversary of quake that killed nearly 9,000

KATHMANDU, Nepal - People gathered Sunday (April 24) at the remains of a historic tower in Nepal's capital that collapsed in a devastating earthquake a year ago.

Nepalese held memorial services to mark the anniversary of a disaster that killed nearly 9,000 people and left millions homeless.
 

Minor protests were also held, with demonstrators angry at the slow rate of reconstruction in the wake of the magnitude-7.8 quake that ravaged vast areas of Nepal.

Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli laid a wreath at the ruins of the Dharahara tower in the heart of Kathmandu. The iconic structure collapsed in the quake, killing 132 people. In all, 8,856 people died in the April 25, 2015, disaster.

 

Participating in the memorial ceremonies were people who lost loved ones in the quake, and others who simply came to pray for those killed.

"I lost a friend who was working at the top of the tower on that day. I hope he and others are in a good place," said Ram Shrestha, pointing at the remains of the Dharahara tower. He said that he had just stepped out a few minutes before the earthquake struck to go shopping.

 

Madhav Newpane, who runs a shop near the tower, witnessed its collapse. He returned on Sunday with a bouquet of flowers and candles. "There were many people killed here on that day. I will never be able to forget that day," Newpane said.

 

About 100 protesters scuffled with riot police outside the prime minister's office demonstrating against the slow reconstruction of the homes. More than 600,000 homes were destroyed and around 185,000 damaged in the quake.
 

  

"Government, where is reconstruction. Open the gates of the government," the protesters chanted as they tried to force their way through a police barricade.

According to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, an estimated 4 million people are still living in sub-standard temporary shelters in conditions that pose a threat to their health and well-being.

Only 661 families have received the first installment of a 200,000-rupee ($1,868) government grant, getting 50,000 rupees ($467) so far.

 

Nepal has made almost no progress in rebuilding from the quake despite foreign donors pledging more than $4 billion in aid during a donor's conference last year.

The government, in disarray for nearly a decade, has not regrouped enough to be a strong force for reconstruction.

Out of the $4.1 billion pledged, Nepal has so far received just $1.28 billion. The delay in getting the money has been blamed on the government taking months to set up the National Reconstruction Authority, which was done only in December.

 

Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel said the delay was because it was necessary to conduct a detailed survey of the damaged houses before reconstruction could begin.

"Nepal had signed a written commitment in black and white that there would not be any reconstruction without the detailed beneficiary survey during the donor's meeting," Paudel said Friday.

"But until the detailed beneficiary survey was completed, there was no way we could go ahead with the actual reconstruction."

 

Now that the work is completed in 11 of the 14 districts affected by the earthquake, work will proceed at full speed, Paudel said. More

Whistleblower Seymour Hersh on Obama (video)

Wisdom Quarterly; Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez (DemocracyNow.org)

"Horrified": Sy Hersh on Obama’s WAR plans in Syria and Iraq
 

War-loving Commander-in-Chief Obama

Pres. Obama has announced the deployment of more Special Op troops to Syria in a move that nearly doubles the U.S. presence. This is just days after the Obama administration announced more ground troops sent to Iraq.

The U.S. is now fighting a "war" against the CIA's creation, which Russia was ready to reveal and wipe out for what it is, the self-proclaimed Islamic State, ISIL, ISIS crisis, nonsense. As the U.S. spreads in Iraq and Syria, DN! speaks with legendary investigative journalist Seymour Hersh.

War hawk like a nice-Cheney

He has just published a new book titled The Killing of Osama bin Laden. The intro reads:

"It’s now evident, fifteen years after the 9/11 attacks, that Obama’s foreign policy has maintained many of the core elements of the Global War on Terror initiated by his predecessor [George W. Bush and Dick Cheney] -- [illegal] assassinations, drone attacks, heavy reliance on special forces, covert operations and, in the case of Afghanistan, the continued use of American ground forces in combat. And, as in the years of Bush and Cheney, there has been no progress, let alone victory, in the fight against terrorism." More

 

Sy Hersh on Sanders vs. Clinton: "Something amazing..."

 

World's oldest tree turns 4,847: top-secret site

Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly; New York Times; MSN.com

General Sherman Tree, Sequoia Nat'l Park: largest living organism in the world (Jim Bahn).

The world's oldest documented tree in the world grew from a cutting from the "Tree of Wisdom" Siddhartha sat under to become the Buddha, the "Awakened One."

• The Buddha's enlightenment
• Why do we love trees?

That tree, which helped him reach enlightenment (bodhi), is called the Bodhi Tree. It would be 2,600 to 3,000 years old but technically is no more. Functionally it is still there, and you too can sit under it.

Yggdrasil (like Buddhist Mt. Sumeru)

A cutting from this sacred fig (Ficus religiosa) was given as a gift by the enlightened brother and sister Buddhist-missionary team of Mahinda and Sanghamitta, the monastic-offspring of Indian Emperor Asoka.

It lives in Sri Lanka because the marauding Muslims (Islamists) destroyed the original in Bodh Gaya ("Enlightenment Grove") India on the assumption that people were "worshipping" a tree, which runs counter to Islamic teachings.

We've seen it. It's very wide and green and occasionally sprouts an all white leaf, which is taken to be a very auspicious sign. It is revered and well watered. It is so well taken care of that a sapling from it was returned to India and planted at the presumed site of the original.

Meditation under the bodhi tree, Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India 2011 (Amos Chapple/UNESCO)

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The alleged site of the great enlightenment

This means anyone can travel to Bihar, India and take a tuk-tuk into Old Bodh Gaya (Buddha Gaya) to see an amazing site -- every kind of temple from every Buddhist country around the world surrounding the Maha Bodhi Temple, the "Great Enlightenment Monument," a tower next to a tree born of the original tree. A strange site will almost certainly greet one: Tibetan Buddhists doing 100,000 prostrations in front of the tree on worn wooden slats.

Tibetan monks gather in Bodh Gaya.

One does not normally think of Himalayan Buddhists of the Vajrayana school as being so austere and devotional. But there they bend like maroon-clad oil derricks on carrom tables.

But California is, in fact, home to what are thought to be the oldest trees. The bristlecone pines growing between the Sierra Mountains and Death Valley desert are very old, so old they look dead, petrified and broken. Yet, they live and sprout green buds.

Bristlecone pine Prometheus at Great Basin Grove, Wheeler Peak in distance (wikipedia)

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Portion of oldest tree in the world (USFS)

The tallest tree is also in California, which exist in the old growth forests close to Oregon at an undisclosed location, were found by guys who had to invent equipment to climb and measure their height. From up top other tall tree can be seen penetrating the canopy.

If they revealed the location, people would visit, trouble would ensue, someone might cut it down or damage it, such as greedy loggers. To be so tall, redwoods or sequoias, they must be very old. The great sequoia groves of Yosemite and Sequoia National Park are very old as well.

But what tree is now the "world's oldest"?

World's oldest tree turns 4,847 this year and is in a top-secret location

Methuselah Grove: forest of gnarled bristlecone pine trees in sandy soil, Inyo, California.

Even if people have laid eyes on the world's oldest tree, there's a good chance they didn't realize it.

That's because the United States Forest Service keeps all information about the 4,847-year-old Great Basin bristlecone pine -- including its exact location -- completely under wraps to protect it from any potential vandals, loggers, and researchers who may be interested in chopping it down [or drilling out core samples to count the rings vertically].

The tree, known as Methuselah, is rumored to be located somewhere on a mountain in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, part of Inyo National Forest in California. Even with that hint, searchers would be hard pressed to find the tree, however. The Forest Service refuses to release even as much as a picture of the tree out of fear that may happen.

An ancient, still living, bristlecone pine growing in Bryce Canyon (Maximowiczsa/wiki)

 

While it might sound zany to be so protective over a tree, the Forest Service admittedly has good reason. New York Times reports that the world's former oldest-known tree, an ancient pine in Nevada's Great the Basin National Park, got chopped down by a graduate student in 1964:

There are a few accounts of what happened: The student, Donald R. Currey, said in a PBS documentary that the normal approach to coring a tree was not working and that he wasn't experienced enough to know what to do, so he cut it down with the help of some foresters. Members of the forest service said he got his drill bit stuck in the tree, and so he and the foresters cut it down to remove his tool [New York Times].

Read more about the world's oldest tree -- and the possibility of finding an even older tree -- over at the New York Times.