Thailand is drowning in climate chaos floods

Wisdom Quarterly, Los Angeles Times

Old prayer flags are replaced in the Himalayan foothills at Swayambhunath Stupa, Kathmandu, Nepal (framework.latimes.com).

Praying for climate peace in the midst of chaos is not helping Thailand, which is currently drowning in unseasonably backlogged rains. Due to chaotic climate change -- exacerbated by the US and China, solar irregularities, and the general warming of the solar system (according to some) -- there is too much rain in some places and too little in others. Parts of Africa have drought -- so we attack them. We use drones, and it does not appear in the news often enough to notice.

A man rows a boat past a giant reclining Buddha statue submerged by a flood in Ayutthaya, Thailand (framework.latimes.com).

Climatological changes spur social changes since the "Arab Spring," "American Fall," and growing occupation movements around the world have food insecurity as their primary cause. That insecurity is not due to low yields yet. That will come. Now it is all about rampant speculation, commodities trading, driving up prices to cash out. The bankers and war profiteers actually affect the planet down to the soil. Rain, human tragedy, drought followed by flooding, it is almost as if a butterfly at Monsanto, Inc. test farm caused a monsoon/cyclone over Bangkok. We really are more connected than we (as non-mystics) ever realize.

Drowning in Bangkok...before the storm (Reuters/Seattle.ibtimes.com)

Worst flooding in decades threatens Bangkok
Los Angeles Times

Bangkok residents are facing the worst monsoon flooding in decades could hit Thailand's capital. Authorities have been warning for days that water overflow from the north could combine with more rain and high tides to inundate the low-lying metropolis, which is home to 9 million people.

• PHOTOS: Thailand floods

More than 280 people have been killed since a series of tropical storms began hitting the country in late July. “Bangkok may face some problems in areas that are on the outer sides of the irrigation dikes… but inner Bangkok has extremely high defenses,” she told reporters, according to Reuters. More

• Contributing to the Gross National Happiness in Buddhist Bhutan

Shaolin Temple Secret: Dragon Herbs

Ron Teaguarden (DragonHerbs.com), Wisdom Quarterly edit


American herbalist Ron Teaguarden and Buddhist monks strolling at the Shaolin Temple.

Inside the Shaolin Temple’s Herbal Tradition

Last summer (2010) master herbalist Ron Teaguarden spent some quality time in China. He took this trip to identify, qualify, and purchase herbs in person for our "Dragon Herbs" products. We meet up with growers, collectors, processors, scientists, teachers, masters, and experts that make tonic herbalism so remarkably great.

He also got to meet up with the great China crew. These are things done every year. But this trip had a wonderful, special bonus. I took a truly exotic excursion to the mystical Song Shan Mountains, Henan Provence, China’s heartland, and visited the world famous, 1,500-year-old Shaolin Temple.

Monk Wang Hui and Ron at the Reishi mural in the Shaolin Temple inner sanctum

Many people know that the Shaolin Temple is the iconic birthplace and incubator of kung fu. Shaolin kung fu is extreme, extraordinary, and steeped in spiritual practices.

Indeed, kung fu is a fundamental part of the Buddhist monks’ daily routine. It is a path to enlightenment. As a result, the Shaolin monks who practice kung fu are known as “warrior monks.”

There are also monks at the Shaolin Temple who do not practice kung fu. They focus on Buddhist meditation or the healing arts.

They are therefore known as “meditating monks” and “healing monks.” As awesome and popular as this kung fu legacy is, the Shaolin Temple has an even greater historic legacy: It is the temple where Zen Buddhism was first conceived and where it developed into one of the most famous and important spiritual practices in the world.

These days, in the west in particular, people think of Zen as a Japanese path. But the Japanese were not the originators of Zen. For centuries before Zen was adapted into Japanese Zen Buddhism, it was practiced and developed in China.

In China, the practice is “Chan” (禪). Zen is simply the Japanese pronunciation of the foreign Chinese word Chan. [The original Indian-Buddhist word is jhana, from the ancient Sanskrit word dhyana.] Actually, Chan Buddhism spread first from China to Vietnam (Thien), then to Korea (Seon), and then on to Japan (Zen). From Japan, it has spread throughout the world. More

Free Liquid Meditation ("Zazen Formula")

ZazenSleep.com

Imagine if there were a way to instantly relax, let go, and meditate. Melatonin might help. Lots of sleep beforehand, not eating, and a healthy amount of exercise is also a good combination. But sometimes renewing herbs can act as an instant tonic for stressed out meditators. There is no need to buy a product. Concoct your own. (We recommend an unrelated US company, Ron Teaguarden's Dragon Herbs). It's easy (with a free consultation). But for the less adventurous, Zazen Formula* unites age-old tradition with modern science. Zazen has created a proprietary formula that includes herbal sleep enhancers, Reishi mushroom extract, jujube extract, valerian extract, GABA (gamma aminobutyric acid), ginkgo biloba, ashwagandha, hops extract, passion flower extract, L-theanine, B-complex vitamins, calcium, magnesium citrate, and a combination of cell-protecting anti-oxidants and anti-aging compounds that have been recognized for their natural health optimizing, stress resistance, and rest-promoting properties. More


*Zazen Sleep Formula is an herbal supplement with vitamins and minerals that can be used for occasional sleeplessness. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

• Beauty
• Balanced Life
• Brain and Mind Tonics
• Breathing
• Cleansing and Detoxifying
• Stress Solutions
• Baby Boomer Issues

Building the World's Largest Buddha (Bhutan)

Wisdom Quarterly
(michaelfoleyphotography/flickr.com)

The largest Buddha in antiquity was perhaps in Afghanistan, at Bamiyan. It was destroyed by Taliban vandals. Other enormous statues of the Buddha, possibly larger and in the supine position, were also discovered in Afghanistan. Ancient artisans of the area (Central Asia), where Siddhartha may have grown up far from Nepal, often portray the Buddha-to-come, Maitreya, rather than the historical Buddha Gautama welcoming him with great monuments. Maitreya is a favorite of Vajrayana and Mahayana Buddhism. The new Bhutanese Buddha in the capital of Thimphu rivals the great rock-hewn statue at Leshan, Sichuan, China and other enormous statuary.

(lisajanenapoli)

This is a tiny glimpse of what is purported to be the world's largest Buddha, high above Thimphu Valley, Bhutan -- which until recently was the last Himalayan Buddhist kingdom (before the king unilaterally converted to democracy), from the author of Radio Shangri-La: What I Learned in Bhutan, the Happiest Kingdom on Earth.

• Forced labor in Burma -- death sentence
  
• China says it is drawing up human rights plan
• AP Exclusive: Nike faces new worker abuse claims
• Venezuela: prison uprising ends after 27 days
• Mexico nabs chief hitman for Knights Templar gang
• Mexico suspends search for 7 missing US tourists
• Mexico suspends search for missing US tourists
• Campaign launched to heal paralyzed lion in Brazil
• Plane crashes, explodes in Brazil, kills 16
• DSK's French accuser speaks out in TV interview
• Venezuela's Chavez expects chemo or radiation

(Lisa Napoli)

Faith in Action: UFO and spiritual headlines

"Live and Let Live" - 2011 Jainism convention in Houston

Prayers for Compassion

Urgyen Samten Ling Gonpa -- the Tibetan Buddhist Temple at 740 S. 300 West, Salt Lake City -- will continue its annual Prayers for Compassion through Sunday at 2:00 p.m., according to the Salt Lake City Tribune. Participants can engage in continuous recitation of prayers and mantras. Individuals can join in anytime during the day or night.

Feast day

Holy Apostles Orthodox Church, 280 W. Center St., Orem, will celebrate its parish feast day with a potluck after the 10 a.m. liturgy serviceSaturday. The next reader service will be Sunday at 10 a.m.

Dalai Lama’s birthday

The Utah Tibetan Association will mark the Dalai Lama’s 76th birthday on Sunday from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Indian Walk-in Center, 120 W. 1300 South, Salt Lake City.

Rumi Poetry

The Rumi Poetry Club will present "The Empty Flute," a series of talks on [Sufi] Rumi’s poetic vision and life philosophy, Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Anderson-Foothill Library, 1135 S. 2100 East, Salt Lake City.

• Faith in Action: Buddhist, Hindu prayers, Bible school, more
• Fresno, California Buddhist Festival will honor ancestors

Solution to the people in Nepal camps

KuenselOnline.com, July 2, 2011

A group of nine countries, led by the US have offered a solution to tragedy: resettlement in third countries for ethnically-Nepalese Bhutanese held in refugee camps in Nepal. The countries are the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, the UK, and Sweden. A total of 45,686 [Bhutanese] people have been resettled in the US and other countries until the end of May this year. “The Bhutanese people and the government are extremely grateful to the host countries for having offered a choice to the unfortunate inhabitants of the camps,” said Lyonchhoen Jigmi Y Thinley...

• Refugees warn of Bhutan's new tide of ethnic expulsions
• Nepal NGOs anticipate wider role after refugee involvement
• Buddhist monks to sing for Chinese Communist Party’s 90th
• L.A. locals discuss abductions by aliens at MUFON meetings
• FOX questions "Motherships over London" videos
• Huge triangle UFO seen over Kentucky (photos)
• CIA killed JFK over UFO inquiry - John Alexander
• Abusive relationships don't go away on their own
• Weirdest theories about the Loch Ness Monster
• GhostTheory.com debunks New Orleans Bigfoot
• New bird species confirmed in eastern Nepal
• The Real Mahatma Gandhi:
  Questioning the moral heroism of India’s most revered figure
  
  (Christopher Hitchens) JOSEPH LELYVELD SUBTLY tips his hand in his title. The word Mahatma is not Mohandas' first name, but an honorific Sanskrit title meaning “Great Soul.” It achieved currency in the West by association with Madame Blavatsky’s somewhat risible “Theosophy” movement, forerunner of many American and European tendencies to be found in writers, as discrepant as Annie Besant and T. S. Eliot, who nurture themselves on the supposedly holy character of the subcontinent.

China's "Father Nature" and California's Yeti

Shen Nung, Viharnra Sien (วิหารเซียน), Chinese-Thai community, Thailand (Clay Irving)

The sign next to the statute reads: "Shen Nung - The First Farmer and Founder of Natural Mad" (Med/Ag, medicine and agriculture?)

Shen Nung (also Shennong) is also known as the Emperor of the Five Grains and the Father of Chinese (Herbal) Medicine. He was a ruler of China and cultural hero who is reputed to have lived 5,000 years ago. He taught the ancient Chinese people the practices of agriculture. Appropriately, his name means "the Divine Farmer." The demigod (human-deva hybrid) Shen Nung taught his people how to cultivate grain as food so they could avoid killing animals and living like ogres, who lust for blood. By choosing plants -- as if to say "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole Earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it; they will be yours for food" (Gen. 1:29) -- they were able to increase their population, sophistication, and domesticated civilization. China was once one of the great realms on par with ancient Egypt, Sumer, and the Indus Valley civilizations. All of them were rooted in the teaching and help of devas according to their history and lore.

This proves there is no "Bigfoot," but it does not explain the ancient lore from India (yaksha) to China (yeren) to Indonesia (orang pendek) to Siberia (Mountain Man) to Bhutan (yeti)

Our Yosemite-Yeti Expedition
Pat Macpherson (Wisdom Quarterly)
Team WQ spent an extended Father's Day weekend on safari in the northern highlands of Yosemite National Park and the desolate desert lowlands (where they are also sometimes spotted) of Mono Lake.

They aren't far apart as the crow flies, but there is a steep altitude drop off from one to the other. The Tenaya Lake region is an alpine granite wonderland.

We were headed for Cloud's Rest. And while it seemed clear that Earthbound-devas (bhumi-devas or woodland fairies) were all about, we could locate no trace of Sasquatch, the abominable California yeti (yakshi) of indigenous Californian and Buddhist lore.

The most famous yeti or yakkha in Buddhism is Alavaka (as recorded in the "Inspired Utterances," Ud. VI, 1). His description makes it clear that while he might have been a cross bred cannibal, he was powerful, intelligent, and possessed supernormal abilities.

Our "sightings" of flora and fauna were just black bears, massive redwood trees, and a certain father's prank.

We did see how the Native Americans lived, particularly the local Paiute, who now have their own museum exhibit at Mono Lake and a strange relationship with brine-shrimp-flies.

• Bigfoot appeared after experiments to cross ape, human
• The most famous Buddhist Bigfoot: Yakkha Alavaka
• VIDEO: Police capture Bigfoot on dash cam (Discovery)
• Indonesian yeti (orang pendek) spotted in the jungle
• Bigfoot saved from drowning in icy Siberian river
• Cryptozoologists embark on hunt for Indonesian yeti
• Sasquatch Music Festival 2011
  

Bhutan's Queen Mother on Elvis, Buddhism

Margherita Stancati (Wall Street Journal, online.wsj.com)

Bhutanese author and conservationist the Queen Mother, Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck, keeps a grip on the secluded nation's rich traditions while embracing the future.

Bhutan, the tiny, secluded Himalayan Buddhist country nestled between China and India, has long been known as the "Forbidden Kingdom."

First-time visitors could be forgiven for thinking that Bhutan's roughly 700,000 people, including its royals, were living in a time warp. After all, the Internet arrived here before television -- and that was in the late 1990s.

Men typically wear medieval-looking robes, known as gho, and women don a kira, the female equivalent. In their free time, the country's elite regularly gather for archery tournaments, Bhutan's national and widely practiced sport.

So outsiders would be justified to expect the members of its much-revered royal family to be as inaccessible as the country may appear. Meet Queen Mother Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck, and you'll soon realize you couldn't be further from the truth.

True, Queen Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck is a real conservationist when it comes to her country's Himalayan culture and Buddhist heritage. But she is also well-traveled, a literary enthusiast and loves Elvis Presley.

Queen Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck is one of four sisters who married Jigme Singye Wangchuck, Bhutan's former king, who abdicated in favor of his eldest son a few years ago.

Today, the queen mother, a youthful 55-year old, embodies her country's efforts to reap the benefits of modernity while protecting its traditions.

Queen Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck, who was schooled in India's region of Darjeeling, is the patron of Thimphu's Mountain Echoes literary festival that brings together Indian and Bhutanese writers.

An accomplished author herself, in Treasures of the Thunder Dragon: A Portrait of Bhutan she retraces the country's recent history... More

Kingdom in the Himalayas

The World (PRI, April 13, 2011)

Thimphu Memorial Chorten (flickr image: Bhutan 360)

This landlocked former monarchy, the last Buddhist kingdom in the Himalayas, banned smoking (increasing felony sentences for smuggling tobacco to three years in prison), has a national dress code, and still practices archery (the national sport) because young Siddhartha, who became the Buddha, practiced this art. The country is Bhutan. The World's Mary Kay Magistad visited Thimphu, Bhutan's capital, to lodge a report.

• Listen/Download MP3

The country is tough on tobacco. There is a ban on smoking in public places, and it is illegal to import or grow tobacco. Anyone caught smuggling it in could face a three-year term. As The World’s Mary Kay Magistad reports, many Bhutanese are wondering if the government is going too far. After all, the Gross National Happiness could be affected. Glimpses of Bhutan