China's Gao Temple caverns were converted into a peculiar kind of Chinese hell, where devils are depicted torturing beings reborn in perdition. Do Buddhists go to heaven? (Deanspic/Flickr)
Halloween is America's greatest holiday. It is one of the few times we formally acknowledge that it is not all about us. Our ancestors are still with us in one form or another. In the Petavatthu, the Buddha explained that it was not possible for someone not to have relatives dwelling in the unfortunate abodes -- the realm of ghosts and subhuman existences collectively. This is because "relatives" is defined as going back seven generations (just as it extends for the Native Americans). What leads to rebirth on those unfortunate planes? The anti-precepts lead there: not abstaining or discouraging killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, deceiving, or drug taking. To abandon these and encourage others to abandon them is the way to the human world and higher worlds. But here now -- where we are shamed for any "deviant," "sinful," or "wrong" impulse -- Halloween is the only appropriate holiday for acting out in all the ways that are forbidden. It is no wonder Halloween has become more popular with US adults than children.
For just one day I'll pretend I'm a s----y devil. My parents say it's crazy and they won't have it under their roof! But every other day of the year it's hypocrisy. How can pretending (and deceiving others) be preferable to play acting? Halloween is not when we are like this; Halloween is when we express how we think of being. Strangling the expression of everything unpleasant does not make it go away. It feeds it and keeps it alive with guilt, shame, and turning a blind eye. Let it see the light of day. Maybe it's not as much to be afraid of as we fear. It would be less worse to die than to live always fearing death. Whosoever would purposely turn from the truth, whatever the truth may be, is no truthseeker. (Barbara Virgo Hobbs/Flickr.com)
Perseus Cluster Screaming Skull space jack 'o lantern is actually a Chandra image of galaxies in X-rays (A. Fabian, et al./IoA Cambridge/NASA/Space.com).
The endless round of existences (Sanskrit, samsara) we cycle through due to ignorance and craving is called the Wheel of Rebirth (Hanciong/Devaintart, Flickr) MORE.
Stories of the Departed Spooks, creeps, haints, poltergeists, and shape-shifting monsters... in Buddhism? The Petavatthu is a collection of ancient Buddhist scriptures called the Ghost Stories found in the Khuddaka Nikaya.
Composed of 51 verse narratives, it specifically describes how the effects of unprofitable karma can -- when and if they ripen at the time of rebirth -- lead to conscious arising in the unfortunate realm of hungry "ghosts" (petas).
This happens in accordance within the framework of intentional actions and their results. It gives prominence to the teaching that giving alms to successful Buddhist practitioners (arhats, buddhas, meditators, monastics, moral individuals) is capable of benefiting the ghosts of one's relatives.
But how could my good actions become someone else's good actions? They can not, technically speaking. But since "actions" include words and thoughts, there is a way. If one's relatives in the realm of ghosts approves, lauds, and commends the good one does either on their behalf or in general, they themselves are generating very meritorious mental-karma.
When the deed they are approving of is very excellent, such as giving to an enlightened person, it can have immediate benefits for them. That a relative does it is important, that they approve of it is crucial. The other worlds are not far.
(Britphoto) The 11th Annual Dia De los Muertos ("Day of the Dead") festival filmed (and edited) by Karl Polverino at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Oct. 30, 2010.
Hollywood Forever is a cemetery like no other. One of the world’s most fascinating landmarks, it is the final resting place to more of Hollywood’s founders and stars than any place on Earth. Founded in 1899, this graveyard was an integral part of the growth of early Hollywood. Paramount Studios was built on the back half of the original site, where it still operates today. It is the choice resting place for most of the founders of Hollywood’s great studios, as well as its writers, directors, and performers.
The cemetery is now listed on the National Register of Historic Sites. Visitors come from all over the world to pay respects to Johnny Ramone, Cecil B. DeMille, Jayne Mansfield, Rudolph Valentino, Douglas Fairbanks, and hundreds of Hollywood’s greatest stars. But mostly they come to celebrate a Latin holiday quickly catching on. It is the new Cinco de Mayo ("Fifth of May") for Los Angeles's indigenous ethnicity.
After all, not long ago California belonged to Mexico. Los Angeles ("The Angels") was settled by celebrants of a culture that remembered its ancestors and set aside this special day (traditionally Nov. 1st) to care for them after their passing. Not coincidentally, almost a world away, Europe chose the same day. But it is the eve of that day that became most famous as All Hallow's Eve.
The veils separating the human, ghost (preta), animal, monster (asura, yakkha, naga, kumbandha), and hellion planes seems to thin at this time, perhaps allowing lower planes to again savor the wondrous but largely taken for granted opportunity of existence as a human, the last fortunate destination in Buddhist cosmology.
Remembering Mara (maranasati) on LA's Day of the Dead
Mindfulness of Death Wisdom Quarterly translation Maranassati Sutra (AN 6.20) Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was residing at Nadika, in the Brick Monastery, where he addressed the recluses, "Recluses!"
"Yes, venerable sir," they replied.
"Mindfulness of death when developed and made much of is of great fruit, of great benefit. It leads to the deathless [nirvana], has the deathless as its final end. Therefore, one should develop mindfulness of death."
When this was said a certain disciple addressed the Buddha: "I already develop mindfulness of death."
"How do you develop mindfulness of death?" the Buddha replied.
"I think, 'Oh, if I were to live for a day and night and attend to the Blessed One's instructions, I will have accomplished a great deal!' This is how I develop it."
Another disciple added, "I, too, already develop mindfulness of death."
"How do you develop mindfulness of death?"
"I think, 'Oh, if I were to live for a day and attend to the Blessed One's instructions, I will have accomplished a great deal!' This is how I develop it."
Then another added, "I, too, develop mindfulness of death... I think, 'Oh, if I were to live for the interval it takes to eat a meal and were to attend to the Blessed One's instructions, I will have accomplished a great deal.' This is how...."
Then another added, "...I think, 'Oh, if I were to live for the interval it takes to swallow four chewed up morsels of food and were to attend to the Blessed One's instructions, I will have accomplished a great deal.' This is how...."
Then another added, "...I think, 'Oh, if I were to live for the interval it takes to swallow one chewed up morsel of food..."
Then another added, "I...think, 'Oh, if I were to live for the interval it takes to breathe out after breathing in, or to breathe in after breathing out..."
When all this was said, the Buddha addressed them. "Whoever develops mindfulness of death thinking, 'Oh, if I were to live for a day and night... a day... the interval it takes to eat a meal... swallow four morsels of food and were to attend to the Blessed One's instructions, I will have accomplished a great deal!' -- such practitioners are said to dwell heedlessly. They develop mindfulness of death slowly for the sake of ending the defilements.
"But whoever develops mindfulness of death thinking, 'Oh, if I were to live for the interval it takes to swallow one morsel of food... for the interval it takes to breathe out after breathing in or to breathe in after breathing out and were to attend to the Blessed One's instructions, I will have accomplished a great deal!' -- such practitioners are said to dwell heeding my advice. They develop mindfulness of death acutely for the sake of ending the defilements.
"Therefore should you train yourselves: 'We will dwell heedfully. We will develop mindfulness of death acutely for the sake of ending the defilements.' That is how you should train yourselves."
That is what the Buddha said. And the recluses delighted in his words.
Text by Runnin Scared (VillageVoice.com), Wisdom Quarterly
A century ago, there were only 2,000,000,000 people. Welcome to the human plane, 7 billionth! You are among more than 7 trillion "Earthlings" like ants, fish, bugs, and unseen beings.
The UN Population Division estimates the world's 7 billionth person will be born tomorrow. How do they know this? The UN says the number is "derived from the annual series of world population estimates obtained by interpolating the results of the 2010 Revision of World Population Prospects by assuming exponential growth within each year."
Standing shoulder to shoulder, 7 billion of us would only fill Los Angeles.
Translation: Tracking chips implanted in all our brains by shampooists working hand-in-hand with the Illuminati. Due to birth rates, the 7 billionth person will most likely be born in India or China. Who cares about them? Where do you fit into to this number? The BBC has a program that calculates what number person you were on Earth when you were born. More
How did sex, such a lovely thing, turn into slavery, abuse, and rape? It cannot help that so many societies are hypocritical about the subject. It is taboo to even mention. We are shame for any overt sign of lust or longing, for any lack or limitation. All that hypocrisy and shaming comes back.
There is a less savory side to trying to satisfy sensual cravings.
It comes in the form of organized sex abuse. Maybe we should rethink our attitudes, mores we contribute to by participating in mainstream media images and roles. The result of ignoring the issue is not a tragedy in Thailand (the Southeast Asian hub), Hollywood, New York, Paris, London, and Amsterdam. It is a tragedy everywhere.
It's one arena where whites are in as much jeopardy as everyone else, only we do not know it. "That's something that only happens over there," we say. Where? Where our dads go on business? It may be sexy. But imagine a world where ordinary sex were sexy.
The story is best told in pictures, but words are worth...
In England and Latin America?
In Capitalist Russia, the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics?
In human-rights-loving China, the People's Republic?
RT.com, Greenpeace, 60 Minutes Australia. Dr. Michio Kaku, Wisdom Quarterly
The consequences of the Fukushima disaster will be emerging for at least several decades. According to the Japanese government, it will take up to 30 years for the complete clean up of the radiation released from the reactors.
Japan aims to reduce radiation by half over the next two years. To do so it may have to remove and dispose of massive amounts of radioactive soil, possibly enough to fill 23 baseball stadiums, reports Reuters.
(Manekinekotattoo) Exposing the "unspeakable" that will impact "all of humanity."
Experts say the areas inside the evacuation zone will have to remain uninhabited throughout the years of contamination. All collected soil and other waste will be stored in the Fukushima Prefecture, in an “interim facility” with an estimated capacity of up to 28 million cubic meters.
Despite official information, some reports suggest the Japanese government is seriously downplaying the real amount of radioactive substances that leaked from Fukushima....More
The Japanese government is starting radiation checkups for more than two million people living near the crippled Fukushima plant. But many citizens of the country fear those in charge prefer face-saving public ignorance to life-saving knowledge.
The following presentation of RUN FROM THE CURE: The Rick Simpson Story was made possible by Rick Simpson and video producer Christian Laurette. It is given free to teach us how to heal ourselves of chronic disease and serious illness using cannabinoids (from cannabis, a form of hemp).
Those who have been cured are are not asking anyone if it works. They are telling us it works. It is not a debate about would it work, might it work, could it possibly work? It has worked and continues to work.
Many inexperienced, uneducated people speak with minds full of bias about a life-saving plant they actually know nothing about. As a result they give bad advice and, in many cases, make horribly ignorant remarks. They decry the people who bring forward controversial information as if having a choice or hearing an alternative were a bad thing.
Let your food be your medicinal cure, or synthetic chemicals are likely to become your costly treatments. Comment on YouTube
(Abdlmagid1) As World War II raged across Europe and the Pacific Rim, the conflict reached every continent on the planet, including Antarctica. Little known Nazi expeditions to Antarctica were launched. What did they hope to find there?
Cultures across the planet have legends describing giant, human-like creatures. These stories are usually dismissed as folklore -- yet it is believed races of giants existed at some point in Earth's past.
(HowStuffWorks) Conspiracy theorists across the world believe that Freemasons control the District of Columbia (Washington DC) through the use of arcane symbols and geomancy. But why?
For centuries, the achievements of the past have baffled modern societies. How could ancient empires build architectural marvels like the pyramids of Egypt or Mesoamerica or the Nazca lines?
Did the U.S. government steal Tesla's technology? When impoverished inventor Nikola Tesla died in New York City, the US government confiscated his notes. Why? Were they trying to steal his technology? Did they ever relinquish the notes? Are they using free energy and hiding it from the world for the benefit of private businesses?
Convention Center overwhelmed by Girltopia (Wisdom Quarterly/Amber Dorrian).
LOS ANGELES, California - The Convention Center was overwhelmed by Girl Scouts, Brownies, Webelos, feminists, and moms, moms, moms as a fierce snowstorm -- brought on very early as a result of global climate chaos -- ruins Halloween weekend trick or treating for the Northeast United States. The storm has knocked out power to 2.7 million, snarled air and highway travel, and dumped more than 2 feet of snow in a some spots as it slowly moves north. The solar-powered Convention Center hums along as officials warned it could be days before many on the East Coast see electricity restored. And under those warm florescent lights, GIRLTOPIA is flourishing in sunny SoCal, not far from the central Occupy protest, next door to The Green Fest. It was sold out. Buy tickets early for next time.
Evidence for the Yeti or Abominable Snowman tumbles in from Siberia (RT.com)
We have gotten a flood of comments sharing news stories that Yetis (yakshas in Buddhist cosmology) and Bigfoot exist.
It was only a matter of time before the powers that be and "official" science gatekeepers (journal editors, faculty committees, funding approvers, etc.) relented in the face of mounting modern evidence.
Never mind the centuries-old evidence handed down among indigenous people all over the world. Maybe there's still a chance, maybe this story can still be buried. No "civilized" person believed in the existence of mountain gorillas until a century ago, and most of the world still has no idea what a bonobo is as they are quickly pushed to extinction.
Public relations campaigns have been orchestrated to dismiss and ridicule reports for decades. It does not take much to seed doubt and ridicule. Governments have known for a long time about Bigfoot, other monsters, and alien visitors. But we sleep well in the Matrix not knowing about such things, which could bring us closer to the truth and take us farther from capitalist-consumer-wage-slavery.
Within a Hair of Bigfoot RT.com The Russian Academy of Sciences has said it is highly likely that the Bigfoot really exists. Experts came to the conclusion after carrying out a microscopic analysis of hairs believed to belong to the yeti found in the Kuzbass region of Siberia.
In early October, professors from the USA, Canada, Sweden, Estonia, and Russia came to the Kuzbass region to look for evidence that would prove the existence of the Bigfoot. The trip was not in vain -- footprints apparently belonging to the yeti were found dotted all over the inside of the Azass cave where the creature is thought to live.
The follicular evidence was found stuck to a huge footprint on the cave’s clay floor. Professors from Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Idaho Universities got themselves a couple of precious hairs each to do the necessary research. The hairs turned out to be identical to ones that allegedly belonged to a Californian yeti, another from the Russian Urals, and a third from the Leningrad region, writes Komsomolskaya Pravda.
The first to make the fantastic discovery was Prof. Valentin Sapunov, a member of the New York Academy, St. Petersburg Scientific University -- a geneticist and biophysicist.
“In St. Petersburg the hairs were examined through a special microscope,” said Valentin Sapunov. “This is a complicated, but a very efficient method. The hairs were sprayed with a chemical composition, and then various slices of the hairs were examined. This gave us an opportunity to draw comparisons between the hairs of different biological species,” the professor explained. More
A member of the Occupy Wall Street movement looks for tent in Zuccotti Park as the first winter snow falls in New York, Oct. 29, 2011 (Lucas Jackson/Reuters).
(Time.com) The Occupy Wall Street movement began in Zuccotti Park on a glorious mid-September Saturday and, so far, many of its larger marches have taken place in the warmth of New York's Indian summer. But winter has been looming, and on Saturday, just a couple days before Halloween, the protesters got a preview of what they're in for. More
(A2zme) Shock Doctrine by Alfonso Cuarón and Naomi Klein, directed by Jonás Cuarón.
"When I finished The Shock Doctrine, I sent it to Alfonso Cuarón because I adore his films and felt that the future he created for Children of Men was very close to the present I was seeing in disaster zones. I was hoping he would send me a quote for the book jacket and instead he pulled together this amazing team of artists -- including Jonás Cuarón who directed and edited -- to make The Shock Doctrine short film. It was one of those blessed projects where everything felt fated" (Naomi Klein).
A solitary man journeyed about the world. When he met others on the road, he looked down, grunted a passing greeting, hunched his shoulders, and continued on his way.
In each village he passed, he saw the people gathering beneath the trees, the "Sacred Groves" they called them. They entered the wood by twos, threes, sometimes alone. They danced, sang, laughed, ate, and watched the cycles of the Moon together.
The man wondered what it would be like to walk beneath those trees. Each time he passed their wood, he wondered if the people would welcome him or turn him away.
He wondered why they met in their Sacred Groves, beneath the trees, instead of the village square. He wondered what drew them to those places. But the man never went into the woods. Having decided long ago that he needed no one, he walked alone. It was better that way. Still, he wondered. More
Thus have I heard. Once upon a time the Buddha was residing at Nadika, in the Brick Monastery, where he addressed the recluses, "Recluses, mindfulness of death when developed and made much of is of great fruit, of great benefit.
"It leads to the deathless [nirvana], has the deathless as its final end. How is mindfulness of death developed and made much of?
"There is the case where a practitioner reflects as day departs and night returns: 'Many are the causes of my death. Snake bite, scorpion sting, centipede pinch might be how my death would come about. And that would be an obstruction for me. I might fall, poor digestion, bile, phlegm [the humors of the body might become unbalanced]... piercing winds might be how my death would come about. And that would be an obstruction for me.'
"Then the practitioner should investigate: 'Are there any harmful, unskillful qualities still unabandoned in me that would be an obstruction if I were to die tonight?' If so, one should make an effort, arouse diligence [the opposite of negligence], endeavor, give undivided mindfulness and clear comprehension for the abandoning of those qualities.
"Just as when a person whose head is on fire would put forth effort and arouse diligence...to put out the fire, in the same way one should endeavor and abandon those qualities.
"But if by reflecting one realizes that there are no such states still left unabandoned, on account of that one should dwell in joy and rapture [abide in jhana], training day and night in skillful qualities [states or traits].
"There is also the case of one who reflects as night departs and day returns: 'Many are the causes of death....And that would be an obstruction for me.' Then one should investigate: 'Are there any harmful, unskillful qualities still unabandoned in me that would be an obstruction for me were I to die this day?' If so, one should make an effort...for the abandoning of those qualities.
"Just as when a person whose head is on fire puts forth effort and arouse diligence...to put out the fire, in the same way one should endeavor and abandon those qualities.
"Disciples, this is how mindfulness of death is developed and made much of so that it is of great fruit, of great benefit, leads to the deathless, and has the deathless as its final end."
That is what the Buddha said. And the recluses delighted in his words.
The Green Fest comes to Los Angeles this weekend. The NYC Green Festival will now be held on Earth Day weekend, April 21-22, 2012. Saving the world means going green. Gaia, Mother Nature, our planet Earth is green. Corporations are green with envy and do not mind going green when it produces that other form of green (greenbacks).
What the world needs now is sustainability, citizen gardening, permaculture farming, natural ingredients over chemicals and Monsanto monstrosities. But how? This festival is all about how. The traditions and technologies already exist, already work, already have companies behind them waiting for implementation, already sit under a booth tent waiting to be seen. Come see.
Wisdom Quarterly visited the San Francisco version and wondered why the world was still waiting. This location is within walking distance of the Occupy Los Angeles site. The fest features Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!), Medea Benjamin (Code Pink), The [formerly evil, military-industrial complex supporting] Economic Hitman, Yoga Zone, health news, and more...
The Buddha spoke of Five Precepts as a means of avoiding suffering for ourselves, others, and society. The fifth precept is, "I undertake the precept to abstain from intoxicants." There are strains of the cannabis plant people abuse as an intoxicant.
This makes it all the more remarkable that the plant has legitimate medicinal properties. Its seed is a healthy protein and its oil is a miracle. Neither are intoxicating. Both are available at every health food store in the country. Now a mixture of the plant and its oil has been found to heal cancers and other ailments. But this is not a new discovery.
In the past doctors carried Cannabis indica (Indian hemp) in their black medical bags and used it liberally as a safe cure for treatment for many ailments. People will go on abusing this plant, just as they abuse far more toxic substances without concerning themselves about the physical and spiritual harm they are doing.
This is no reason to continue to criminalize and ignore a substance even Harvard University has to admit heals disease.
(IAMHEMP420) Cannabis oil cures cancer, according to Rick Simpson.
This is the oil, protein, and fiber without the THC (healthfulpursuit.com). What Harvard Found (RevolutionNews.US) Researchers at Harvard tested one of the active substances in cannabis, THC, in both lab and mouse studies. They say this is the first set of experiments to show that the compound actually activates naturally produced receptors to fight off lung cancer.
The researchers suggest that THC or other designer agents that activate these receptors might be used in a targeted fashion to treat lung cancer.
Although a synthetic substitute of THC, known as Marinol, has been used as an appetite stimulant for cancer patients and other similar treatments, few studies have shown that THC might have anti-tumor activity.
The interesting part is that the only clinical trial testing THC as a treatment for cancer growth was a recently completed British pilot study. For three weeks, researchers injected standard doses of THC into mice that had been implanted with human lung cancer cells.
They found that tumors were reduced in size and weight by about 50 percent in treated animals compared to a control group. There was also about a 60 percent reduction in cancer lesions on the lungs in these mice as well as a significant reduction in protein markers associated with cancer progression. PhoenixTears.ca
(healthfulpursuit.com)
Cannabis stops cancer (Harvard). Cannabis stops breast cancer (UCSF). Cannabis grows brain cells in mice (Princeton). Cannabis is a cousin of the hemp plant.
Hemp cannot get anyone high, yet it is illegal. Hemp is illegal because it is the most useful plant in the world. Before petroleum it was recognized and used in England and the Colonies (the nascent United States) as the strongest and most versatile fuel, medicine (Cannabis indica) paper, fiber, food, shelter...
The first US flag was made of hemp, and hemp paper was used for an early draft of our constitution. But since corporations cannot patent a plant, it was systematically discredited and criminalized.
"Hemp can't get you high unless you smoke a joint the size of a telephone pole!" according to Dr. Ron Paul.
No one should get high or use a craving for intoxication as an excuse for promoting this plant. It has legitimate medical uses the chemical-medical industry does want people to have. It is time for a new American Revolution? ♥☠✿☮❀