The Dharma, sutras, and commentarial interpretations of interest to American Buddhists of all traditions with news that not only informs but transforms. Emphasis on meditation, enlightenment, karma, social evolution, and nonharming.
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I spent one month studying Buddhism. It changed me.
(Nas Daily) Feb. 15, 2024: This is Month 1 of my six-month Spirituality Challenge. I went super deep into Buddhism. And I came out a changed man. Let me tell you the story. Thanks to @BuddhismInEnglish for sharing your wisdom. See you next month for a video about the world's oldest religion: [the Old Vedic religion adopted by] Hinduism [which was only organized as a "religion" by Adi Shankara in 725 CE]. Thanks for watching Nas Daily, bringing people together, which is why it creates content that does exactly that.
CORRECTIONS: The Buddha (born Prince Siddhartha Gautama) was born in Gandhara (modern-day Afghanistan a little west of Nepal along the same mountain range, the foothills of the Himalayas at a portion called the Hindu Kush), probably in the town of Bamiyan but moving between three seasonal capitals in an ancient place the texts called Kapilavastu, probably ancient Kabul and Mes Aynak, the site of the world's largest unexcavated Buddhist temple complex, which is thought to be at least one square mile in size. For political reasons and ethnoreligious tensions, the Buddha had to be relocated in history (not in physical reality) from Muslim Afghanistan and Indo-Pakistan east closer to India. Nepal was selected as that faraway place possibly because it might have been the site of the original Lumbini, though that likely was in or around Sistan-Baluchestan in the "Aryan" (Aryian = Iranian = Persian) land of Sakastan/Scythia that is now a land between Afghanistan and Iran. See Dr. Ranajit Pal from the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute and his maverick history book, Non-Jonesian Indology and Alexander.
Yeah, Doug, "Why Buddhism?" What's the point of the Dharma, the Buddha's Teaching, particularly if one takes a secular slant? Can't we just OBEY the God, bow to his son, thank his Holy Mother (or worship his former-wife Asherah), and be done with religion? Get the holidays, send in a check, and otherwise ignore it, Y'know, "God is dead" and all that.
(Doug's Dharma) March 25, 2024: Why Buddhism? Doug discusses a couple of quick reasons why someone might want to consider adopting a Buddhist outlook and Buddhist practice in life. 🧡
Thumbnail image courtesy Josch13 at Pixabay.
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NOTE: As an Amazon Associate, Doug earns from qualifying purchases. Amazon links are affiliate links, where he will earn a very small commission on purchases made at no additional cost to purchaser. This goes a tiny way towards defraying the costs of making these videos. Thanks!
Nas Company, Feb. 2024; Doug's Dharma, March 24, 2024; Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Let's try to explain the Book of Genesis: Adam and Eve
(Jake Doubleyoo) Premiered May 27, 2023: This video covers (most of) the Book of Genesis, from creation to Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah and the flood, and the lives of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Patreon: jakedoubleyoo
JJJreact
OMG! - Yes, Donny? - No, I was just takin' your name in vain. I'm selling your book! - OMG.
Bibles (KJV) are available everywhere for free, but why not pay $60 so billionaire Trump can profit?
Jordan Klepper on how we should deal with Jan 6th rioters
(The Daily Show)
March 27, 2024: Clever Jordan Klepper reports on Ronna McDaniel’s short-lived stint at NBC News and the key question it raises: How should America deal with the people who denied the results of the 2020 election and stormed the Capitol on January 6th, 2021? #DailyShow #Jan6#Insurrection #Trump
How the GOP is trying to win female voters amidst anti-abortion legislation
March 27, 2024: The Supreme Court’s latest abortion pill ruling exposes the
Republicans' struggle to secure female voters while taking their rights away.
Jordan Klepper dives into the GOP’s woman problem, and how they're
planning to win them back. Rape, incest, life and death. #SCOTUS
Jordan Klepper on Trump's Bible grift and GOP reaction to Baltimore bridge collapse
Angelic Ariel, aborted offspring ofTrump and his womanizing, is rolling in her baby eyes.
(The Daily Show) March 26, 2024: Jordan Klepper tackles Trump’s new branded Bibles and how right-wing media is rushing to blame the Baltimore bridge collapse on Democratic policy. Plus, Josh Johnson weighs in on Florida’s social media ban for children under 14, and what this means for the rising generation of schoolyard bullies.
00:00 - Jordan Klepper welcome
00:21 - Trump announces his latest business venture: Bibles
02:33 - GOP’s reaction to the bridge
04:57 - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs social media ban for children
07:20 - Josh Johnson weighs in on Florida’s social media ban
The REAL reason Olivia Dunne is the "face of gymnastics"
(Sports Dive) Welcome back to Sports Dive. Today the channel is talking about the REAL reason Olivia Dunne is getting money hand over fist and ruining college sports and female gymnastics by being sold as the face of it.
The US public likes "Aryan" Nazi Barbies
She's an average to mediocre athlete with a pretty face, and that face is what matter to brands paying her for sponsorships, leaving the real athletes behind. Excited to learn more about this? Make sure to watch the whole way through to not miss the details. Also subscribe to the channel because Sports Dive posts some of the best content online [sort of, well okay, not really but we need the hits. Hey, when Taylor Swift did the same thing to pop music, no one said anything, and that made her the top earner]. #sportsdive #oliviadunne #gymnast
Celebrated annually on the last Wednesday in March, "Manatee Appreciation Day" is more than just a tribute – it’s a global call to protect the gentle giants [related to elephants] of the sea.
Manatees have no natural predators [other than motorboaters swinging brutal propeller blades], which contributes to their serene demeanor. However, this does not mean they are without threats.
Human activities pose significant risks to manatee populations. Despite these challenges, manatees have shown remarkable resilience, with conservation efforts playing a crucial role in protecting them.
A childlike heart will yet believe even as adults scoff at ancient lore.
I know what I saw! (Cristobal Columbus)
MERMAIDS (mythical half-female, half-fish creatures) have existed in seafaring lore at least since the time of the ancient Greeks. Typically depicted as having a woman’s head and torso, a fishtail instead of legs, and holding a mirror and comb, mermaids live in the ocean and, according to some legends, can take on a human shape and marry mortal men [as in the selkie lore of Ireland, Manx, Scotland, Faroe Islands, Iceland, the British Isles]. Mermaids are closely linked to sirens, another folkloric figure, part-woman, part-bird, who live on islands and sing seductive songs to lure sailors [like Homer's Odysseus and his crew] to their deaths. Mermaid sightings by sailors, when they weren’t made up, were most likely manatees, dugongs, or Steller’s sea cows (which became extinct by the 1760s due to cruel human over-hunting). Manatees are slow-moving aquatic mammals with human-like eyes, bulbous faces... (HISTORY*)
SUTRA: In a very strange Buddhist sutra, Great Moggallana, the male disciple declared by the Buddha as "foremost in psychic powers" mentions that at the bottom of the sea, there are indeed mermaids who dance seductively. A reference to shapeshifting space aliens living in bases below the ocean? There is worldwide awareness that at some point in the past, there really were vicious creatures who swam the seas, just as reports of harpies and others were reported by many cultures. Let's examine what one of the Buddha's four chief disciples said of these mysterious creatures from MN 50:
Alas, no further mention of the sea-nymph mermaid selkies is made in this sutra, Is it reasonable to think the great monk was simply repeating Indian or Scythian lore? He was addressing Mara, to warn him what was to happen for bad karma of the sort this mara was accumulating. Modern people don't believe in Mara, despite the Mara Samyutta, and all those references to him by the Buddha. There's a thick translation of The Connected Discourses by American Theravada scholar-monk Bhikkhu Bodhi that includes it. So if Mara, a kind of Tempter -- Lucifer, Cupid, Eros, Devil -- figure in Buddhism could be real, are mermaids so hard to believe in, existing underwater by inhabiting vimanas ("mansions" that areUSOs) so hard to swallow?
Human activities have not been kind to manatees. Boating, pollution, and habitat destruction stand out as the three greatest threats.
Despite legal protections against hunting, manatees continue to be poached for their meat and hides. Furthermore, their natural habitats, crucial for their survival, are being decimated by human development and intrusion.
Boat strikes are particularly alarming, leading to tragic injuries or even death for these gentle creatures. This dire situation underlines the urgency of increasing awareness so that manatees will continue to exist in the future.
Getting to know sea cows
Secret places, Mexico's cenotes, near Belize
Manatees, also known as the cows of the sea[even though their closest relatives are elephants], are a marvel of marine life, characterized by their gentle nature and slow-moving grace [which caused people like Christopher Columbus to report mermaid sighting, possibly with the intention to violate them as he was planning for the gentle Indigenous humans he met].
These large, aquatic mammals belong to the order Sirenia [which is interesting because the Spanish word for "mermaid" issirena], which also includes three species of dugongs.
One of the most captivating aspects of manatees is their all-veganherbivorous diet, as they feed on a wide variety of submerged, floating, and emergent plants in fresh and saltwater environments. More
Will this show rock? It'll rock like Hannah Grae (who is not performing at this event): What if "Kill Bill" by SZA were a rock song? It's pretty intense, just like poetry can be. ✨ Follow HG on 🛸🛸Instagram: hannah_grae🛸
DEEP DIVE POETRY
Thursday, March 28th, 7:30-9:00 pm:
DEEP DIVE POETRY is a night of poems that dive into the deep questions -- about life, the universe, and everything -- exploring the vastness within and without. Featuring:
Virtual pornstar Taylor Swift leads the way again, breaking the internet with her deepfake leaks
The dangers of AI in the porn industry
(DW Documentary) Millions of women are victims of fake sexual content on the internet, created with AI (artificial intelligence).
But porn was supposed to be empowering
"Deepfakes" can look deceptively real, but the images, audio, or video recordings are manipulated.
When Kate Isaacs clicks on the video, she is thoroughly confused: She and a stranger are having sex. Her first thoughts are:
"Who’s that man? Who’s recording this?” And then she realizes that the video is on the internet. After the initial shock, the reality hits her: This is a deepfake, and she is a victim of image-based sexual violence.
Worldwide, millions of women are knowingly or unknowingly victims of deepfake porn -- pornographic content created by using artificial intelligence.
If only this were what "AI porn" looked like rather than the ugly face of being used, exploited
.
The technology has advanced so rapidly that these days, anybody with a smartphone and a few pictures of their target can create and distribute deepfake porn, using freely accessible apps.
WARNING: Do not live in Beverly Hills, be in the 8th grade, and make your own home porno using images from kids at your school, or you might cause an outrage and get expelled.
Women would have sex with men. Enter dolls.
The real-world harm caused by virtual abuse is profound: damaged reputations, career setbacks, threats of violence, depression, suicide.
No one is safe, and anyone can be targeted. Yet, it is almost impossible to defend oneself. #documentary #dwdocumentary
DW Documentary, March 5, 2024 (DW is a German public broadcast service.); Seth Auberon, Sheldon S., Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
The soon to be POTUS Nikki Shanahan, after RFK's election and predictable "elminination"
In a bio-pic after her or RFK's assassination, Aubrey Plaza can play her (legal-mag.com)
"I did not pick her for her looks," RFK Jr. may claim, "but rather her connections to Silicon Valley, California, her boat loads of money, and her paramour Elon Musk," he might confess when he's safely in the White House. Nicole Shanahan: wiki, bio, age, parents, ethnicity, net worth
.
Jon Stewart deconstructs Trump’s "victimless" $450 million fraud | The Daily Show
(The Daily Show)
March 25, 2024: Jon Stewart examines Don John Trump's deadline to come up with the $454 million bond in his civil fraud case and deconstructs investment talking-heads like Kevin O'Leary calling Trump's actions a "victimless crime." #DailyShow #JonStewart #Trump
Hey, Everybody, let's be a "woke" police state
Breaking news (3/26/24)
Angry, angry Mark Levin, Super Jew
Jew on Jew violence: Uber Jewish conservative Mark Levin, who's on TV (Fox) on Sundays and on AM hate radio (Salem Network) most of the rest of the time, was pouring the invective on fellow Jew Jon Stewart, whom he calls "Jon Liebowitz." Levine says Jon's lying for laughs, that he knows better than to say such things about MAGA Fuhrer Trump. He did it while playing clips of this episode on his afternoon drive show on 3/26/24, while bragging that he (Levine) has better ratings than Bill Maher but that the mainstream media won't report it, not even the radio trade magazines.
Trouble in Israel with US Ambassador to Israel, CIA-
installed PM Bibi Netanyahu, the Rebbe's (or Rabbi's)
vision for the pre-messianic leader of Jewish homeland.
RFK Jr. chooses multi-billionaire ex-wife of Google co-founder as his running mate, Nicole Ann Shanahan, an Asian from Oakland, California, who cheated on her husband with stud Elon Musk allegedly (though he reportedly denies it). All about Nicole Shanahan, RFK Jr.'s VP pick and Sergey "Google" Brin's ex-wife (people.com) Just when we got all excited about a real alternative to Joedon Triden, or is that Donnyjo Birump, RFK Jr. chooses a rich insider with no experience. Was it her looks, accomplishments, or insider status with Google that decided it for him? He could have chosen Gov. Jesse Ventura
Aubrey Plaza on SNL impersonating?
The Daily Show; Aubrey Plaza; History of Bibi Netanyahu and the Rebbe; SNL; Sheldon S., Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
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