Halloween, the Happiest Time of Year!

Wisdom Quarterly (Editors)

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.

Halloween (Samhain) witch, angel, she-devil

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)

Family Guy: Sugar is the cause of fast aging, rotting, and mental instability as Stewie Duck and Pink Brian find (tv.ign.com).

Foreclosure firm mocks evicted at Halloween party
Lindsay Lohan spends Halloween at county morgue
The famous [Hindu] "Trinity" concept not in Bible
Haunted Magic Castle burns on Halloween
Fire officials are trying assess the damage after a greater-alarm fire ripped through the famed Magic Castle in the Hollywood Hills on Monday. Fire crews said the blaze was contained largely to the attic and walls of the historic venue but that there might be significant water damage. There is no immediate cause for the blaze...

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).

Stories of the Departed (Petavatthu)

Wisdom Quarterly

Ancient round of existences (Sanskrit, samsara) we cycle through endlessly due to ignorance and craving, the Wheel of Rebirth and Death (Hanciong/Flickr).

Stories of the Departed
Spooks, creeps, haints, poltergeists, monsters, ghosts... in Buddhism? The Petavatthu is a collection of ancient Buddhist scriptures in the form of ghost stories. It is located in the Khuddaka Nikaya. Composed of 51 verse narratives, it specifically describes how the effects of unprofitable karma can, when and if they ripen, lead to rebirth in the unhappy realm of "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.

Hungry Ghost (Sanskrit, preta) scroll, Kyoto (Wikimedia commons)

• Famines combine the Realm of Humans and Hungry Ghosts

"Day of the Dead" (Dia De Los Muertos)

Wisdom Quarterly, HollywoodForever.com

(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.

"Death By Medicine" (documentary)

Ashley Wells and CC Liu (Wisdom Quarterly)

(GaryNullTV) Death by Medicine explores America's medical paradigm, the current health crisis, and a healthier, more holistic system. Based on Gary Null's groundbreaking based on hard science the medical industry claims as its backing while ignoring finding or not actually testing its interventions and drugs.*

Western Medicine Doesn't Kill, Does It?
Wisdom Quarterly (ANALYSIS)
Iatrogenic injuries (those caused by the practice of medicine) is becoming the leading cause of death in the US. This means that doctors, hospitals, insurance agents, PPOs, and the general corporate culture actually kills more Americans than any other cause of death.

Few, for example, die of cancer nowadays. But the death rates for those undergoing invasive cancer "treatments" are sky high.

Of course, it is not interested in "curing" anyone, just creating a symptom-control income stream. And it has been very successful at doing that. Corporate greed trumps medicinal need.

Since no one knows the word "iatrogenic," no one likes to think Western (allopathic) medicine does more to harm us than help us. Sure, bones can be set well, but every pharmaceutical is a poison by definition (the biblical practice of "sorcery," pharmakos, which got Sodom and Gomorrah in big trouble with the judgy and angry space Gods). That is why they have to be tested for safety, which is more important than effectiveness.

And of all those that are found to be safe enough and rubber stamped by the industry-controlled FDA, a wolf guarding the hen house situation, there are still catastrophes: Massive lawsuits cause the pulling of wonder drugs from the market when they are found to have side effects that were hidden, under reported, or unforeseen.

Neither abuse nor accidents are not the worst of it. Most pharmaceutical kill when used as directed.

But those lawsuits aren't massive enough to cut into profits. They are externalities (costs unloaded onto society) accounted for by lawyers and well paid researchers. The statistics from inconvenient lawsuits amount to more deaths than result from US wars (troops only, never counting the civilians the troops are there killing).

This, too, has been taken care of by lobbying for legislation to make sure cases do not go to trial but to arbitration. And even if they do go before a jury and win, the judge simply removes the punitive judgments in accordance with law. It's the "magic of the marketplace" when corporations buy and sell politicians, judges, and elections.

"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power," is a famous quote attributed to Italian fascist Mussolini (publiceye.org). The pharmaceutical-industrial complex wins again.

• *The information in "Death By Medicine" is detailed in Gary Null Ph.D.'s book with statistical evidence of hundreds of thousands of injuries and deaths due to conventional medicine. How does the money-making system work? The pharmaceutical industry, associations, drug reps, medical schools, medical journals, and the absence of real medical science are all implicated in the scheme to grow rich in spite of millions of injuries and deaths. The lack of oversight by so-called regulatory agencies, private insurance firms, and lobbying influence on our legislators and representatives ensure the system stays in place no matter how much harm is done when treatments are more deadly than diseases. The Western medical system is broken beyond repair. We need a new medical paradigm.
• The Moral Majority becomes the Tea Party
• Mussolini, a misunderstood monster?

Medical Holocaust? Keep it quiet.

Heartbreak to Happiness

Aurora Winter, Wisdom Quarterly

Joy and Sorrow

Then a woman said, "Speak to us of joy and sorrow."
And he answered: Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful, look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
Some of you say, "Joy is greater than sorrow,"
and others say, "Nay, sorrow is the greater."
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
- KAHLIL GIBRAN

1. TRAGEDY

Pummeled by a waterfall of grief
so intense and powerful,
it takes all my strength and concentration
to simply remain standing under the assaulting deluge.
Or I surrender -- and I’m swept away.

Premonition
(18 DAYS PRIOR TO HIS DEATH)
I dream that I’m walking toward a door. An ordinary door in an ordinary room. I open the door, continuing on my way. Immediately, I regret that innocent step, for the door opens into a black void. There is no floor. No ceiling. No walls. Just emptiness stretching on forever and a wind that howls its loneliness and whips my hair into my stinging eyes. Desperate, I try to scramble backward to safety, but it’s too late. Relentless, gravity claims me. I plummet into dark emptiness.

The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next.
-URSULA K. LEGUIN

Tragedy (DAY 1)
The nurse plagues me with questions. “What’s his name? Where do you live?” I want to scream at her, Don’t you know my husband’s not breathing? I don’t belong here! I belong at my husband’s side! I race toward Emergency, toward closed doors. The fireman who administered CPR in the ambulance exits. He sees the question on my face. “I’m sorry.”

And then I know he’s dead. My husband is dead. The fireman envelops me, comforts me with a hug. I feel heat and sweat and caring. He tried so hard to revive him. And failed. Everything is a blur. The air is thick like water. Everything is muffled. Everything is in slow motion. David lies on a hospital bed in a room alone. He could be sleeping. His body is still warm.

I bawl and wail my grief, words tumbling out, a torrent of things I need to say. I nestle my head against his chest, like I did when we were sleeping. I feel soothed, I feel heard. He is still here. He is lingering in the air, lingering in the warmth of his body. I pour my heart out to him, I tell him how much I love him. Hours later, I grow quiet. Finally, I lift my head from his chest, where it had lain safe and sheltered in love every night for ten years. More

• From Heartbreak to Happiness is a book by life coach, author, and speaker Aurora Winter, endorsed by New York Times best-selling author Dr. Wayne Dyer. Her gifts of recovery are dedicated to the world's peace and prosperity.

• AUDIO: Winer Meditation
  
• VIDEO: Grief Coach Academy
  
• Next event: PowerofHappinessEvents.com
• GriefCoachAcademy.com
• Home study course: GriefCoachU.com
• 12021 Wilshire Blvd. #288, LA, CA 90025
• Also: MP3 (CD), transcript, welcome video, TV interview
• 15 steps to whole (healmybrokenheart.com)
  

URGENT ACTION: No to State Lynchings

Execution? Not in our name! Supreme Court stay rumored.
Democracy Now! Live Special 3:00-5:00 pm, Wednesday

Watch live from Democracy Now: On location in Georgia covering the legal lynching

There is a last ditch effort to ask Pres. Obama or Attorney General Holder to take action regarding the execution of Troy Anthony Davis.

This is a call to community radio stations to please ask listeners to go to the Answer Coalition website at answercoalition.org to send a letter to President Obama and Attorney General Holder requesting action.

• A Tale of Two Executions
  

Troy Davis execution in Georgia stirs rush for last minute clemency (Image: guardian.co.uk)

It is not only the execution of an innocent black man but the lynching of a guilty white supremacist (Lawrence Brewer) taking place today. No to the death "penalty" for anyone. It does not work to prevent murder but exacerbates it. In every state in the world, the banning of the death penalty has not increased murder rates. Few police states in the world continue this barbaric practice, which is even opposed by former FBI Director Sessions. Among them Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, Pakistan, and the US are responsible for 90 percent of state murders. Brewer is being used to sell the death penalty, which disproportionately targets and is implemented against ethnic minorities in an openly naked racist way in the US.

• Abolish the Death Penalty (Amnesty Int'l)
  

People can also call the White House switchboard at 1-202-456-1111 or go to whitehouse.gov and click CONTACT US in the upper right hand corner.


(AmnestyUSA) AmnestyUSA.org/Troy Davis is at risk of execution even though his innocence is likely. Part One "The Investigation" gives a thorough explanation of the case and the many problems with the investigation. With appeals exhausted, Davis' fate is in the hands of Georgia's Board of Pardons and Paroles. Once an execution date is scheduled, there is an option of permanently preventing his execution.

NCADP, Friend, Fellow Abolitionist Message
We at the National Committee to Abolish the Death Penalty have been working around the clock, and many creative actions are under way. Below is the alert we sent yesterday -- if you have not taken the actions within, please do so now. In DC, we'll be gathering at 6pm at Vernon Square, across from the DC Convention Center where the Congressional Black Caucus is holding its annual convention in order to involve as many of those leaders as possible.

Yesterday, Troy sent the following message:

"The struggle for justice does not end with me. This struggle is for all the Troy Davis' who came before me. I'm in good spirits and I'm prayerful and at peace. But I will not stop fighting until I've taken my last breath. Georgia is prepared to snuff out the life of an innocent man."



So Keep Hope Alive!
In a bit of good news, last night's scheduled execution in Texas was stayed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

This is an odd juxtaposition of two executions scheduled for exactly the same time this evening. At 7:00 pm EDT in Georgia, racism plays a part in the execution of Troy Davis. At 6:00 pm CDT in Texas, Lawrence Brewer is to be executed for his participation in the infamous racist hate crime dragging murder of James Byrd in Jasper, TX in 1998.

Please join NCADP in opposing the executions of both men. We stand against all executions without reservation. Keep in your thoughts and prayers the families of James Byrd and [Security Guard] MacPhail, the families of the men being executed and those men, all those whose jobs require their [karmically abysmal] participation in this process, and all those working to stop the executions.

• Please do something today to stand visibly in opposition to the death penalty: ncadp.org

Troy Davis vigils today in SoCal:

• Pasadena: 275 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena, CA 91105 (Central Park) - 3:00 pm
• Los Angeles: 2439 Silver Ridge Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90039 - 8:00 pm
• Inman Attorney appeals death sentence before SC Supreme Court
• Man on death row for killing SC student appeals‎
• Davis death sentence shakes US justice system
• VIDEO: Troy Davis was at the scene but did not kill anyone
• Davis' case puts Georgia on death-penalty map once again‎
• In-Depth: Troy Davis denied clemency in Georgia‎ LA Times

Longevity Secrets Revealed (alchemy)

Author Jay Weidner edited by Wisdom Quarterly
(thekundaliniprocess)

"Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't."
- Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain)

The purpose of The Book of Aquarius is to release a secret. It has been kept hidden for the last 12,000 years. What is that secret? The Elixir of Life, Fountain of Youth, Amrita, Soma, Ambrosia, Nectar of Immortality, or "Philosophers' Stone" [rarefied salts distilled from dew that are not grounded] are real! These are simply different names for the same thing.

Throughout history this secret has been used by a very few to extend their lives hundreds of years in perfect health. With access to unlimited wealth, they also enjoy many other miraculous benefits. Some kept the secret because they understood that the time was not right for the secret to be free for all people. But most jealously kept the secret out of ignorance, egotism, and corruption.

The secret of youth and vitality, its history and the history of the human race up to this day, is a strange story. The story is full of secret societies, hooded cloaks, and mystical symbols. Such theatrics are childish and shallow. It is pointless to look for the light in the shadows.

The Philosophers' Stone operates and is made by entirely natural and scientific means. Truth is always simple, beautiful, and easy to understand.

Part II (Jay Weidner interview revealing secret)

The Philosophers' Stone is real. It can be made at home! The Stone makes the old young, heals all forms of aging and disease, extends life, turns any metal into gold, and more as one soon learns. This is not a "myth" or a metaphor; it is a fact.

Why judge this book or this forbidden information before reading it? Thought of as airy fairy material written in leather bound tomes using confusing mystical language, the alchemy in this book is real. Its pages are filled with words that make sentences and sense. This book makes more sense than anything one has ever read.

Why? The age of secrets is over. Weidner is writing this periodically updated book in common English. So there is no need for mystical language or metaphor. This book contains no hidden meaning or codes. Instead, everything is stated plainly and directly, in the shortest and simplest language necessary to convey the meaning. READ

Chp 1: Introduction

Chp 2: Foreword

Chps 3-18 cover the theory of alchemy.

Chps 19-30 cover the practical instructions for making the Stone.

Chps 31-33 cover further information on the Stone.

Chps 34-49 cover the history of the Stone.

Chps 50-51 cover some more philosophical topics.

Chp 52: Alchemists' Prophecy

Chp 53: Afterword

Chp 54: Request for help with distribution

Chp 55: List of answers to FAQ

Chp 56: Bibliography

Contents

1. The Book of Aquarius - 2. Foreword - 3. What is Alchemy? - 4. How Does It Work? - 5. The Powers of the Stone - 6. Disbelief - 7. Interpretations - 8. Obscurity - 9. The Secret - 10. Yin-Yang - 11. Cycles of Nature - 12. Metallic Generation - 13. The Emerald Tablet - 14. What Is It Made From? - 15. The Time - 16. The Heat - 17. Different Methods - 18. Understanding the Writings - 19. Overview - 20. Apparatus - 21. First Part - 22. Second Part - 23. Black Stage - 24. White Stage - 25. Fermentation - 26. Contradictions - 27. Red Stage - 28. Multiplication - 29. Projection - 30. Appearance - 31. Everburning Lamps - 32. Takwin - 33. Religious References - 34. Prehistory - 35. History of the Stone - 36. Quotes on History - 37. Timeline - 38. Nicolas Flamel - 39. Paracelsus - 40. Rosicrucians - 41. Francis Bacon - 42. Robert Boyle - 43. James Price - 44. Fulcanelli - 45. Where Did They Go? - 46. Shambhala - 47. UFOs - 48. New World Order - 49. Mythology - 50. Frequency and Planes - 51. Universes in Universes - 52. The Alchemists' Prophecy - 53. Afterword - 54. Help - 55. Questions and Answers - 56. Bibliography

• Confused? Ask the author a question on the Forum.
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"Wise Reflection" is the way to Freedom

Buddhist Publication Society

Wise Reflection: The Importance of Yoniso Manasikara in Meditation (BPS Wheel 463)

What is "wise reflection" (yoniso manasikara) and why encourage readers to use their own thought processes for the growth of wisdom in meditation practice?

The majority of experienced Buddhist meditators Steven Weissman met during 30 years of meditation and 18 years of teaching were unfamiliar with formal reflective meditation. I hope to correct this lack of understanding.

The Buddha stressed the importance of wise reflection. In an important sutra on the topic (MN 2), he says:

“I say that the getting rid of anxieties and troubles ^[1] is possible for one who knows and sees, not for one who does not know and see. What must one know and see in order to get rid of anxieties and troubles? Wise reflection and unwise reflection. For one who reflects unwisely, there arise anxieties and troubles that have not yet arisen. And those that have already arisen increase. But for one who reflects wisely, anxieties and troubles that have not yet arisen do not arise. And those already arisen disappear.”

What is yoniso manasikara (wise reflection)? One might call it systematic attention, careful attention, reasoned attention, having thorough method in one’s thought, proper consideration, wise consideration, critical reflection, analytical reflection, or thinking in terms of causal relations or by way of problem solving. It is a significant factor leading to the arising of insight or wisdom.

What causes our mental suffering? Simply stated, wrong thinking produces mental suffering (dukkha).^[2] Right thinking ends suffering. So it is important to use formal reflective meditation in order to develop right thinking. More

CONTENTS

Abbreviations

Introduction

Part 1. Meditation and Concentration

Does concentration automatically lead to wisdom?

Is wise reflection a requisite for enlightenment?

Thinking can be meditating

Wise reflection in the Satipatthana Sutta

How can we end dukkha?

It is all right to think in meditation

Does experience automatically lead to wisdom?

Four types of thoroughbred horses

Moral shame and moral dread

Yoniso manasikara—wise reflection

Part 2. Wise Reflection Meditations

Eating and our relationship to food

Compassion and loving-kindness

D/D (defusing and diffusing)

Waking up in the morning

How fortunate we are

Generosity

Dukkha

Impermanence

Death

Actions and their results

Balancing compassion and equanimity

The five daily recollections

The Four Noble Truths

The eight worldly dhammas

The ten perfections

Conclusion

About the author

Heavy Metal Buddhism?

Wisdom Quarterly

Buddhist/comedian Jim Carrey loved Cannibal Corpse so much that he asked them to perform their megahit "Hammer Smashed Face" in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

My girlfriend and I were miserable in samsara. She was at the University of Hawaii and more miserable than I, asking: "When will the suffering end?" "We'll go East in search of enlightenment," I would answer. "You better finish school first and body surf more. Or we can go to a concert?"



In the meantime, we soothed ourselves with the idea of starting a wholesome grindcore band. I look Tibetan (like Gomo Tulku), and she is Scandinavian (like Alissa White-Gluz), and we were vegans. (I still am).



With our crazy mops, we were either going to be called Zen Zero or Decorticated Disenchanted Strands (DDS), because we wanted to cut our long sun kissed hair down to the skin with revulsion or grow very long yogi dreadlocks like the guys in Carcass (see below).

What I had in mind for Zen Zero/DDS (The Agonist)

Devi and dragon (angel and titan), we would jointly sing the lyrics she wrote in a special notebook in class along the lines of Carcass (classic British vegan grindcore) coroner jargon, girl bands, Cannibal Corpse (a comedic, carnivorous American band made famous by their appearance in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective), Cradle of Filth (dark British death metal), Dimmu Borgir (reptilian Norwegian black metal and our first concert experience), Deicide (darker American metal), Kittie, Dead Kennedys (San Francisco punk rock), and smaller wannabee bands of ALL kinds in Los Angeles.



If Carcass and other vegans could sing that meat eating is as gross as cannibalism with no one noticing, surely we could certainly extol the Dharma without anyone caring. And we'd feel good about it.



There's a way to rage at the universe with themes of disgust, dukkha, mindfulness of death, craving for liberation from samsara, and corporeality in general. Dress Goth, date around, and have music soothe the savage breast.



Sometimes renunciation grows to a fever pitch and becomes aversion (dosa) wanting nothing more than magical powers (abhinna) and enlightening everyone that things are empty and repulsive.

Female death metal singing lessons (Angela Gossow)

Carcass taught us that things "reek of putrefaction" in a "jigsaw quandary," and it seemed so Buddhist/tantric/yogic to cover their song "Carneous Cacoffiny." That's a song from their hyperintelligent album/medical tome "Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious." We had a really good sense of humor back then. I guess I was a bad influence on her. But she won complete freedom, so it all worked out. And they were her lyrics after all.

CARCASS: Sometimes it's fun to scream Zen-style.

Carneous Cacoffiny

Carcass

...Striking up my discordant underture

A carnal cacophony perversely penned

Transposed...and decomposed...



But don't hold your breath

As you wait for your god or the void

Or the abyss of nothingness



Your usefulness isn't through

Your productivity I resume...



My sordid, soiled handicrafts

Will be your afterlife's handicap....



My corrupt crescendos...

Will leave you out on a limbo...

Your disposition I unleash...

You will rest in my piece...



With deadly dynamics

You're dead, buried, and barred

Your remains dampened and fingered

Your mortal coil is barbed



The death-bells are peeling

Ringing out as you flake

Shrieking out their recitals

A celebration of your wake...



Enter my funereality

My world two meters under

A curious habitat

Your muddy trench I plunder

Pass on to ethereality



Churned out under the sextant's blade

You live your life in wretchedness

And death is no escape

And death is no escape

And death is no escape

• DarkLyrics.com
• A girl's nose ring and Indian death metal

The Zen of Screaming (Melissa Cross)

A None-more-metal Dharma-Burger

TheWorstHorse

The latest entry from the ever-expanding realm of metal/Buddhism crossovers is the cover and title of the new EP by the great doom/drone band, Queen Elephantine:

The Tibetan-thangka-style art is one thing, but it doesn’t really get more metal than “Garland of Skulls,” does it?* (Queen Elphantine has dabbled in imagery from world religions and cultures, what with album titles like Surya and Kailash, and song titles like “Search for the Deathless State.” And you can download their record, Yatra (as in the Hindu term for “pilgrimage”) for free here.)

Hear the slow, dirgy, powerful track, “Potency,” from Garland of Skulls, here.

(See here for another recent — and recommended — Buddhism/metal crossover.)

• *Note: I have dibs on the band name SkülCüp.

Metal for Buddhists? Buddhism for metalheads? Who cares? It rocks.

For a while now I’ve wondered about the band Yob. (Their name refers to a classic Warner Brothers cartoon; I distinctly remember being a teenager in bands and seeing the cartoon and thinking, Good band name.)...

The last words in the shorter version of the sutra are “Gaté Gaté Paragaté Parasamgaté Bodhi Svaha!” The basic translation, as I understand it, is “gone (or ferried) with everyone to the other shore right now!”

A little more Googling about Yob and Buddhism turns up a quick reference in a Rebel Extravaganza interview with vocalist and guitarist Mike Scheidt, in which he responds to the interviewer’s question about the use of the word bardo in the song “Ball of Molten Lead” from 2004’s The Illusion of Motion LP:

I’m surprised that one jumped out at you, man! A bardo is a term used in Buddhism. A bardo is a segment of life. The Tibetan Book Of The Dead goes into it, the bardos of life… the stages of life and death. More in depth, when you get into the places where the book deals with learning how to die. We go through time periods of trying to understand and remember who we are outside of this life.

And the band has a track called “Asleep in Samsara” on 2002’s “Elaborations of Carbon.” Is all this a coincidence? And more important: does it matter?

I’m not saying that Scheidt is a Buddhist or that YOB is in some way a “Buddhist band.” (And either way, they get points for clearly not trying to cash in on Buddhism’s cultural cachet. They’re hardly hitting us over the head with the references here.) They probably wouldn’t want to be identified as a Buddhist band, even if they were. And I’m not saying they are. All I am saying is this:

1) Metal can be a lot smarter than some would ever think.

2) Buddhism can be way more metal-confluent than some would ever think. (It can also be way more punk- or hip-hop- or baseball- or business- or whatever-confluent than some would ever think, too.)

3) It’s refreshing... More

Via NPR: “Gomo Tulku, the Rapping Lama”

The Worst Horse (Music, hip-hop, Tibet)

“[T]here’s been a detour in [Lama] Gomo Tulku’s spiritual journey,” reports NPR. “He’s about to release his first rap recording.”

Now, comments on the piece, so far, don’t seem to be in the Rapping Lama’s favor. But listen and see what you think.

Of course, there’s nothing new about the Buddhism/hip-hop crossover. And like anything, the results have been all over the map. Find some gems — and otherwise — in the Horse’s archives...

• VIDEO: "Thank You Pain" (The Agonist, Alissa White-Gluz)
  
  
• VIDEO: How to piss off your girlfriend: Canadian death metal
• A death metal band in India
• Do I have potential for a (death) metal band? (girl)?‎ - Jul 13, 2011
• Give me your opinion on dating a death metal girl...‎ - Dec 1, 2009
• Would a girl rather listen to heavy death metal or French pop
• Is there anything wrong with being a girl and liking death metal...‎

Earthbound Spirits (Mary Ann Winkowski)

Earthbound Spirits Full Moon Friday (Coast to Coast, July 15, 2011)

Ghost whisperer/ghostbuster Mary Ann Winkowski explains her lifelong interaction with "earthbound spirits" (devas, the dead, demons, maras, ghosts, pretas, trolls, yakkhas, gremlins, energy vampires, portal travelers, guardians, entities, and angels).

Do you have ghosts in your house?

• When Ghosts Speak
• The Book of Illumination: A Novel from the Ghost Files
• The Ice Cradle: A Novel from the Ghost Files
• MaryAnnWinkowski.com

How to find out if your house is haunted