The Chinese Taoism believe that Heaven and Earth gave birth to Humanity. Change of the energy of Heaven and Earth will also reflected in the human circumstances. The Chinese Fengshui (风水）study have lend us the knowledge of Threes Cycles and Nine Periods. According to this theory which as went back for thousands of years in practices, we are at about to enter the last Period (the Ninth phrase 离卦) of a Sequence that started on 1864, as each Period is about twenty years in manifesting the archetype of one of the Nine Flying Stars. You can gain some of the understanding by reading the article Things to know about Period 9 (九运, Jiu Yun) in Fengshui (风水). But one thing is the energy of the Period Nine Fire is going to be very different from Period Eight of Earth Energy.
As the season changes, we also noticed many important people has recently passed away. First was Chinese Prime Minister Li KeQiang had suddenly left us because of heart attack. Then two days ago, investment sage Charlie Munger passed away at 99 years old, and then yesterday, former US secretary of state, national security adviser and long term U.S diplomat, Henry Kissinger Passed Away at 100 Years Old. These are very important people who have far reaching impact to the world affairs. Their pass away may be signalling of the ending of Period Eight that started 1984, according to the theory of Three Cycles of Nine Periods.
With so much social political conflict domestically and internationally everywhere, no one can totally avoid the criticism and argements. Buddhism believe our personal life circumstance is the reflection of deeds of past life, and the future life will be reflect this life’s deeds. And we produces our karma by action, speech and mental perceptions. 欲知前世因，今生受者是，欲知后世果，今生作者是. There is an metaphysical principle in operation, including each of our destiny and karma. As the The Buddha Speaks The Sutra OnCause And Effect In The Three Periods Of Time says:
Wealth and dignity come from one's destiny From causes planted in lives in the past. People who hold to this simple principle Will reap good fortune in lives in the future.
Same is taught in the Sutra of Infinite Life: 《无量寿经》云： [人在世间，爱欲之中，独生独死，独去独来。当行至趣，苦乐之地，身自当之，无有代者。].
Great Master Chin-Liang stated in his commentary of Avatamsaka (Flower Adornment) Sutra (P63) that” one who has not yet severed one’s afflictions or become awakened, find his or her extensive knowledge leads to erroneous viewpoints. It is essential to be balanced in both cultivation and understanding. A dharma lecturer who does not cultivate often will have erroneous thoughts and viewpoints and will therefore mislead others. This person uses his or her own viewpoint which distort the Buddha’s teachings into worldly viewpoints. ” Knowledge and enlightenment is two different thing. Here are some excerpts from Kodo Sawaki (1880-1965)’s Book To You may shed you some insights into the confusions.
I must admit I am guilty of that criticism quoted above myself in the first place. I am an Buddhism aspirant, who knows very little about Buddhism theories before 2016, but the confidence in the Chan Masters from my hometown helped me gain certain degree of clarity to maintain my stability and further learn to keep myself afloat at a time when the tsunami of discords and confusion almost engulf us. But I have not been enlightened yet, and I have told you guys I am at the kindergarten level in regard to my understanding of Buddhism. So please pardon me if I have say anything inappropriate or my unconscious wrong viewpoints have somehow negatively affect you. But one thing I am very sure is the invaluable wisdom Buddha had sparked the light in me.
I am also very grateful for all the supports from many teachers and fellow Buddhism practitioners who worked so hard behind the scene to do their best in guiding me under such an circumstances, as well as numerous fellow volunteers who donate their energy and assistance to make this blog happen. Without government subsides, many Buddhist temples are working under very tight buget, unable to provide more programs to help coping the difficulites we are in. I suggest you at least donate to the temples I quoted on my websites if you feel you benefits from my writing since the very start years ago. And I thank you in advance and congratulate you for taking your part towards upgrade our collective wisdom of civilization.
As the world around us increases in technological complexity, our understanding of it diminishes. Computation brings hunanity more darkness than enligtenment: a goblin horde of digital superstituions, invented and unleashed in just half a century. Underlying this trend is a single idea: the belief that our existence is understadable through computation, and more data is enough to help us build a better world. In reality, we are lost in a sea of information, increasingly divided by fundamentalism, simplitic narrative, conspiracy theories, and post-factual politics. From rogue financial systems to shopping algorithms, from artificial intelligence ot state secrecy, we no longer understand how our world is governmed or presented to us. The media is filled with unverifiable speculations, much of it generated by anonymous software, while companies dominate their employees through surveilance and the theat of automation. Meanwhile, those in power use our lack of understanding to further their own interests. Despite the apparent accessibility of information, we are living in a New Dark Age – fearlessly author, theorist, artist and technical visionary, James Bridle, aruges that technology as an open question and urgent problem, nevertheless needs to be confronted in order to think the present and free the future from false algorithmi certainities. Technology is not the answer. Nor is it a solution.
With all that in mind, I certainly do not want to further misled you or adding more bad karma to myself. I have a lot of repentance to make and I need time to practice and gain personal insight on Buddha’s teachings myself. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single first step. And with so much resources online, in bookstores available to the western public, and even more auspiciously, more and more Buddhist Masters arriving to the West, we all are blessed with great conditions to find out our own spiritual path and become wiser. With Period Nine coming, I Wish You All the Best on Your New Endeavor to Ignite Your Fire of Wisdom! We all can Beginning Anew! Just remember that our Collective Awakening and Purification takes a Process!
Just realize the praying to Marici can provide maximum physical protection, financial protection and during any disaster. Please watch and practice ASAP for our peace of mind in this chaotic world. Here is the sutra in Chinese: 佛说《摩利支天菩萨陀罗尼经》・Here is Sangha community praying for Devi Marici in Sanskrit: 摩利支天心咒 (六臂Six-armed Devi Marici ) 法王僧團唱誦.
Reverend QingYang explain in succinct way the ritual of practicing Devi Marici’ methods. 清揚法師 分享摩利支天菩薩法門汉传佛教的修持方法及實例. 节目听众问請問法師大德：字幕裡顯示的音譯是：
Trafficking in persons is modern-day slavery, involving victims who are forced, defrauded, or coerced into labor or sexual exploitation. The International Labor Organization (ILO), the UN agency charged with addressing labor standards, employment, and social protection issues, estimated in 2022 that 27.6 million people worldwide were victims of forced labor, bonded labor, forced child labor, sexual servitude, and involuntary servitude, according to the report from The World Fact Book.
The lack of a common definition of “missing child,” and a common response to the issue, results in few reliable statistics on the scope of the problem around the world. Even with this challenge, the conservative number of global children missing statistics from International Center for Missing and Exploited Children is shockingly sky rocking. United States for instance, based on a 2011 report, a child goes missing every 40 seconds in America – that comes to 765,000 children a year. Worldwide, almost 20% of all trafficking victims are children. However, in some parts of Africa and the Mekong region, children are the majority (up to 100% in parts of West Africa).
Fewer victims of trafficking in persons are being identified even as the COVID-19 pandemic and other crises are increasing vulnerabilities to exploitation, according to the latest Global Report on Trafficking in Persons launched today by UNODC (United Nation Office of Drug and Crime ). Based on data gathered from 155 countries, UNODC offers the first global assessment of the scope of human trafficking.
The global market for organ transplantation estimated to reach $68.5 billion by 2029, expanding at a CAGR of 9.2% over the forecast period, driven by increasing incidences of organ failures, and rising demand for transplant products such as tissue products, immunosuppressants, and organ preservation solutions. For example, One source states that the amount of kidney transplants able to be administered in a year within the US is about 20,000, far less than the 100,000 a year that would be needed in order to meet the demand. Argument were made about whether A Legal Organ Market: Should it Exist?
Buddhism does believe that if a person clings to his body, then he cannot be moved before the last breath to avoid adding to their suffering or affecting their ascension to the pure land or rebirth in a good realm of existence. If a person made a vow to donate his organs or was very compassionate, once death is properly determined, removing his organs to save another won’t cause him any harm or vexation and anger. Master Sheng Yen talked about this topic, the main issue is when the organ was removed from the person, because western medical standard in determine the time of death may not be the true death when all consciousness left the body. So removing organs before the consciousness left the body can be very cruel and caused great pain and hurt the dying person greatly. That can said to be equivalent to killing even though this person is dying. Buddhist perspective on organ donation (GDD-361) DVD
Organ availability for transplantation has become an increasingly complex and difficult question in health economics and ethical practice. Advances in technology have seen prolonged life expectancy, and the global push for organs creates an ever-expanding gap between supply and demand, and a significant cost in bridging that gap. This article will examine the ethical implications for the nursing profession in regard to the procurement of organs from an impoverished seller’s market, also known as ‘Transplant Tourism’. This ethical dilemma concerns itself with resource allocation, informed consent and the concepts of egalitarianism and libertarianism. Transplant Tourism is an unacceptable trespass against human dignity and rights from both a nursing and collective viewpoint. Currently, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council, the Royal college of Nursing Australia, The Royal College of Nursing (UK) and the American Nurses Association do not have position statements on transplant tourism, and this diminishes us as a force for change. It diminishes our role as advocates for the most marginalised in our world to have access to care and to choice and excludes us from a very contemporary real debate about the mismatch of organ demand and supply in our own communities. As a profession, we must have a voice in health policy and human rights, and according to our Code of Ethics in Australia and around the world, act to promote and protect the fundamental human right to healthcare and dignity.
The butterfly effect of globalization has become a daily reality put right on your face – no longer is something just playing on the background. Someone in the far away country do something unknowingly to the public, the impact and be felt right away with the aids of high tech connectivities, camera and media control, making it extremely easy to sway the sentiments of the public. But how much is the truth of those message is a total different matter. The public mostly does not have the resources, nor capacities to distinguish what is real and what is rumor or purposely manipulation for the public attention/opinion.
“Smart Cities Exposed: The Convenience Trap That Could Enslave Us!” The technology can easily monitor your activities. Many children missing under day care. The prison is no longer needed, you can be easily lock up in your own home the magnetic field of satellites and network monitors.
We live in a world of great uncertainty. Life is fragile. The first of Four Noble Truth Buddha taught us is Dukkha. 佛陀教导我们，「缘起」是宇宙人生一切万法生灭变异的定律，佛陀因证悟「缘起」而成佛，但因缘起深奥难解，为使尚未起信的众生免于畏怯，所以佛陀在初转法轮时，特以「四圣谛」来说明众生生死流转以及解脱之道的缘起道理，进而激发众生厌苦修道的决心。因此，「缘起」是佛陀自证成佛的「自受用」，「四圣谛」则是「他受用」之始。《地藏经》则是在佛陀80 岁时才讲的法门，佛陀讲完《地藏经》后三个月就涅磐了。
Suffering or Pain (Dukkha-dukkha). Ordinary suffering, as defined by the English word, is one form of dukkha. This includes physical, emotional and mental pain.
Impermanence or Change (Viparinama-dukkha). Anything that is not permanent, that is subject to change, is dukkha. Thus, happiness is dukkha, because it is not permanent. Great success, which fades with the passing of time, is dukkha. Even the purest state of bliss experienced in spiritual practice is dukkha. This doesn’t mean that happiness, success, and bliss are bad, or that it’s wrong to enjoy them. If you feel happy, then enjoy feeling happy. Just don’t cling to it.
Conditioned States (Samkhara-dukkha). To be conditioned is to be dependent on or affected by something else. According to the teaching of dependent origination, all phenomena are conditioned. Everything affects everything else. This is the most difficult part of the teachings on dukkha to understand, but it is critical to understanding Buddhism.
Buddha taught us that Hardship and Good Luck both can be opportunity to foster our spiritual growth and awaken to the truth of reality. If you stuck in the mindset of Dukka, according to the 12-links of dependent arising, this emotion and perception will become our next life’s retribution because that is what we keep on programming our mind. We should make us of the high tech to learn things of worthy as much as possible and discard the garbages.
The book Without Buddha I Could Not be a Christian Paperback – February 1, 2013, narrates how esteemed theologian, Paul F. Knitter overcame a crisis of faith by looking to Buddhism for inspiration. From prayer to how Christianity views life after death, Knitter argues that a Buddhist standpoint can encourage a more person-centred conception of Christianity, where individual religious experience comes first, and liturgy and tradition second. Moving and revolutionary, this book will inspire Christians everywhere.
I want to introduce you Standardized Version of Śūraṅgama Dhāraṇī – 2小時首楞嚴咒（統一梵文版）2-hour Sanskrit Shurangama Mantra (Original Chanter) for Meditation 대불정능엄신주 산스크리트 화. It is the mantra from the Shurangama Sutra. (you can turn on transcript from the bottom of the program) 世界最強，最有效，最有力量的咒經，楞嚴咒，吾等弟子持誦奉行，終生不悔，感恩各位師父！隨喜功德，普皆迴向，祈願人心安住，身體健康，社會安定，阿彌陀佛！中文早課版【大佛頂首楞嚴咒】[注音]易背诵 | 共七遍 1h | Shurangama Mantra | （台灣靈巖山寺唱頌）-不思議BSYi
Translated under the imperial decree by His Holiness Amogha Vajra, Royal-titled Daiguangzhi, Tripitaka Master of the Royal Religious Bureau of Daxingshansi, T’ang Dynasty
Extracted from Jun-zi-zhi, Stone Scriptures of Fangshan, inscribed during Liao Dynasty Da-an 10th year.
Compiled by His Holiness Xinglin, Royal-titled Purple-robed, Surpass Enlightenment Tripitaka Master in Propagating Esoteric Buddhism of the Royal Religious Bureau of the Great An-guo-si, Capital City of the Great T’ang, T’ang Dynasty
Reconstructed to ancient Sanskrit pronunciation with romanised Sanskrit – a joint project by Venerable Ᾱcārya Hong Bok, Venerable Shi Yan Du and Bodhisattva-preceptee Upāsaka Guo Bin, in early 2016.
In ancient China, dhāraṇī-s were transliterated from Sanskrit based on the Chinese spoken at the time, i.e. during the Tang and Song periods. When these dhāraṇī-s are read using modern-day spoken Mandarin (Putong hua), the sound produced is different from the original intended sound due to the fact that modern-day spoken Mandarin is derived from the Northern Chinese dialect spoken in the imperial courts of the Qing Dynasty and not from ancient Chinese of the Tang and Song periods. The outcome would have been inconsistent with the objective of transliteration and is not in accord with Great Master Xuan Zhuang’s guidelines on translation。
The Hamas and Israel crashes brought our attention to a part of the world many of us may only hear the name but knows very little about. I have to admit that I was too arrogant as an intellectual to express opinion when I did not even notice the name of Pakistan and Palestine are two different countries in that part of the world just a week ago. But my heart is with the refugees and people who died and suffered because of religious and political conflicts.
At that time, the division bodies of Earth Store Bodhisattva began gathering in the palace of the Trayastrimsha Heaven from billions of inexpressible, inconceivable, immeasurable, ineffable, limitless asamkhyeyas of worlds. [……] the World Honored One stretched forth his golden-colored arm and rubbed the crowns of all the division bodies of Earth Store Bodhisattva Mahasattva gathered from billions of inexpressible, inconceivable, immeasurable, ineffable, limitless asamkhyeyas of worlds, and said, “I teach and transform obstinate beings such as these within the evil worlds of the Five Turbidities, causing their minds to be regulated and subdued so that they renounce the deviant and return to the proper. But one or two out of ten still cling to their bad habits. For them I again divide into thousands of billions of bodies and use numerous additional expedient means. Those with keen roots will listen and immediately believe. Those with good rewards will respond to exhortation and strive to succeed. Those who are dim and dull will only return after being taught for a long time. Those whose karma is heavy will fail to show any respect.
“My division bodies take across and liberate all those different kinds of beings. I may appear in a male body. I may appear in a female body. I may appear in the body of a god or dragon. I may appear in the body of a spirit or ghost. I may appear as a mountain, a forest, a stream, a spring, a river, a lake, a fountain, or a well in order to benefit people. I use all these ways to save beings. I may appear in the body of God Shakra. I may appear in the body of Lord Brahma. I may appear in the body of a Wheel-Turning King. I may appear in the body of a lay person. I may appear in the body of a national leader. I may appear in the body of a prime minister. I may appear in the body of an official. I may appear in the body of a Bhikshu, a Bhikshuni, an Upasaka, an Upasika, and so forth up to the body of a Hearer, an Arhat, a Pratyekabuddha, or a Bodhisattva in order to teach and rescue beings. It is not that I appear to them only in the body of a Buddha.
“Reflect on how I have toiled for repeated eons and endured acute suffering to take across and free stubborn beings who resist being taught and continue to suffer for their offenses. Those not yet subdued undergo retributions according to their karma. If they fall into the evil destinies and are enduring tremendous suffering, then you should remember the gravity of this entrustment I am now making to you here in the palace of the Trayastrimsha Heaven. Find ways to liberate all beings in the Saha world from now until the time when Maitreya comes into the world. Help them escape suffering forever, encounter Buddhas, and receive predictions.”
At that time, all the division bodies of Earth Store Bodhisattva that came from all those worlds merged into a single form. Then he wept and said to the Buddha, “Throughout long eons I have been receiving the Buddha’s guidance and from that have developed inconceivable spiritual power and great wisdom. My division bodies fill worlds as many as grains of sand in millions of billions of Ganges Rivers. In each of those worlds, I transform myself into millions of billions of bodies. Each body rescues millions of billions of people, helping them to return respectfully to the Triple Jewel, escape birth and death forever, and reach the bliss of Nirvana. Even if their good deeds within the Buddhadharma amount to as little as a strand of hair, a drop of water, a grain of sand, a mote of dust, or the tip of a hair, I will gradually take them across, liberate them, and help them gain great benefit. I only hope that the World Honored One will not be worried about beings of the future who have bad karma.”
In that way he addressed the Buddha three times: “I only hope that the World Honored One will not be worried about beings of the future who have bad karma.”
At that time, the Buddha praised Earth Store Bodhisattva and said, “Excellent! Excellent! I will help you in this work you so willingly undertake. When the vast vows that you keep making throughout so many eons are fulfilled and all those beings have been saved, then you will be certified as having attained Bodhi.” (End of Chapter Two)
Please take note that we can pray to Earth Store Bodhisattva to guide us to the Amituofo Buddha’s Pure Land in our afterlife. And for those whose lives have ended, we can also work on blessings powerful enough to rescue them, especially throughout the 49 days after their death. Earth Store Sutra will teach you how-to. And do remember to transfer the merits of your work to them.
Namo Avalokiteshvaraya! The Bodhisattva of great compassion, is the most well-known of all the Bodhisattvas in the Buddhist tradition. In Plum Village, her name is invoked as a prayer, continuously repeated for twenty minutes, in order to awaken the energy of compassion in us all and transmit it to all living beings. When the monastics chant the name Avalokiteshvaraya, for the first time, they go back to themselves to touch the suffering inside of them. And when they chant the name for the second time they become aware of the suffering of the people around them. And when they chant it for the third time, they get in touch with the suffering of the whole world, embracing it tenderly with the energy of compassion.
The recent “conflict” between Palestine and Israel explained in under ten minutes by Double Down News. The audience commented: “I don’t condone the violence against the Israeli people by Hamas. Equally, I don’t condone the violence against the Palestinians by the Israeli govt. Yet the violence perpetrated by Hamas was condemned the world over by political leaders, whilst the violence perpetrated against the Palestinians day in day out year in year out is largely ignored: where’s the justice in that?” It seemed to be an continuation of an on-going struggles that lasted for decades, if not millenus. This year, Israel celebrated the 75th anniversary of its founding in 1948. This program explain how Israel was created. We have an very complex issue hangover from World War II and the era of British Empire, further deteriorated by American Empire.
While we condemned the violence to the innocent civilian, according to Journalist Ben Norton who had been looking over the issue in the last ten years, international law clearly showed that Palestinians have a legal right to armed resistance against Israeli colonialism. Just as South Africans did against apartheid. Gaza suffers under an illegal Israeli blockade that even a former British prime minister recognized to be a “prison camp”.
President CLINTON CALLS FOR PEACE BETWEEN PALESTINIANS AND ISRAELIS. November 4 1995 marked a very tragic turning point in the The Oslo Accord, a framework that would lead to the resolution of the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The assassination of Israeli Prime MinisterYitzhak Rabin was the culmination of an anti-violence rally in support of the Oslo peace process. Rabin was disparaged personally by right-wing conservatives and Likud leaders who perceived the peace process as an attempt to forfeit the occupied territories and a capitulation to Israel’s enemies.
There was another event of grand scheme went on that year, call me conspiracist, but the synchronicity is hard to deny. It turned out there was a conference in San Francisco of 500 elites from all over the world, held in September 1995, with participants including Margret Thatcher, Senior Bush, George Soros, Bill Gates, former Soviet Union Gorbachev and national security counsel Brzezinski. The topic is about how to handle increasingly rips on inequality and wealth distribution. The notorious Nipple Plan was officially brought to the center of the agenda in the conference.布热津斯基的 ”奶头乐计划“ 。Today, near thirty years later, Brzezinski’s plan had already completed ahead of time. People were giving plenty of sex, drugs, computer games, rock and roll, and Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, entertainments, to keep occupied. Many states permit the usage of Marijuana. The drug abuses is records high in the percentage of the population, both medical and entertainment. Both Democratic Party and Republican Party turned a blind eyes to the abuses of the Big Pharma and American Medical Association monopolies.
Coincidentally or non-coincidentally, Master Xuan Hua, who was a prominent spiritual leader came to America from China in the 1960s, passed away on June 1995. Master Hsuan Hua founded several institutions in the US. The Dharma Realm Buddhist Association (DRBA) is a Buddhist organization with chapters in North America, Australia and Asia. The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB) in Ukiah, California, is one of the first Chan Buddhist monasteries in America. Hsuan Hua founded Dharma Realm Buddhist University at CTTB. The Buddhist Text Translation Society works on the phonetics and translation of Buddhist scriptures since 1970, from Chinese into English, Vietnamese, Spanish, and many other languages. But the importance of Master Xuan Hua education work had not much recognized by the U.S government or the mainstream popular.
Buddha had taught “six-ways of mutual respect” as guidelines for his disciples in interacting with others. The principle actual also applicable to modern society as well.
In a world full of uncertainty brought by the globalization and inevitable conflicts of interest, in the same time with the hot wars, multilateral cold wars are also triggered, including but not limited to unrestrive warfares in technology, finance, culture, ideology and religion, education, etc, these crashes magnified the tensions of everyday life, affected millions of people, regardless if they are in the hot bullet battle fields. We observed these phenomenon in the millions of refugees from the Middle Easts of last several decades, and the recent years from Ukraine Russia War. As the nonstopped tension were provoked, the emotional ocean of the collectives fluctuated ceaselessly, sometimes like the tsunami, sometimes like Hurricane, and other times like small storms of all sorts, under the impact of the electronic connectivity and biased media bombardment all over the world, human life to the brink of mental collapses like bipolar disorder. While we condemn inexorable act of violence, such like the assassination of Sikh religious leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the governmental persecution of journalism devoted to the justice of the society, the non stopped tragedies happening in this world, such as numerous coups or color revolution in many developing countries, such as the colonialism by the west, we also have to take into consideration of the complexity of historical problems hangover.
What are the guiding principle of our reality? What can keep us at peace with whatever life throw the curb ball at us? In the vast universe, human is smaller than an ant in the football field, tiner than a drop of sand in the ocean. Realizing the insignificance of our position, we should take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and Sangha. Avalokiteshvara had compassionately offer the Universal Gate method to all humanity against fear and violence. The Lotus Sutra’s Universal Gate Chapter on AvalokitesvaraBodhisattva introduces the compassionate visage of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (Chinese: Guanyin), who has been a source of inspiration and devotion for Buddhists and non-Buddhists for centuries. This short chapter of the Lotus Sutra, chanted and memorized throughout East Asia, is believed to be a strong protection of our body and mind.
As we observe the huge social inequality, the disparages of social split in America and more and more so in China, it seems to me that any mentioning of sharing resources/wealth redistribution would triggers fear of authoritarian of socialism or communism, as the western mind hold the individual right/liberty to such lofty height of happiness and freedom, which was further over emphasized by Ann Ryan’s objectivism in the last half century, I suspect the idea of dualism had played a huge part in such mentality, causing a self-feeding of larger than life ego grandeur and selfishness.
The Eastern mind (or Eastern Traditional Philosophy) is centered on the Tao or Divinity. It is Dinvine that give that provision (生死有命，富贵在天），no matter how wealthy you are, it is Dinvine’s provision through you. If you share with others, as taught in the 《了凡四训〉，Divine will bestow you more as it use you more as a conduit, otherwise, your merit account （福报）is limited, and when it is used out, you will start to fall. So be very careful with your merit account for selfish usage, especially in those unwholesom deeds. 天命谓之性，率性谓之道，修道谓之教。 淨空法師：如何得到福報？ 佛教你三個修大福報的方法。什么都是有因果的， 福报也不例外。福報用盡，災禍必來！出現這3個徵兆，就是佛菩薩在提醒：你的福報即將耗盡【佛心福樂】 It is all about the cause(conditions) and effects in work.
Dualism is a deeply entrenched view point in the western mindset. It is closely associated with the thought of René Descartes (1641), which holds that the mind is a nonphysical—and therefore, non-spatial—substance. Descartes clearly identified the mind with consciousness and self-awareness and distinguished this from the brain as the seat of intelligence. As such Descartes is often called The Father of Dualism, due to his proposing the theory of substance dualism, or Cartesian dualism. Dualism is a theory which entails the belief that the mind and the body are two completely separate substances. René Descartes is also often credited with being the “Father of Modern Philosophy.” This title is justified due both to his break with the traditional Scholastic-Aristotelian philosophy prevalent at his time and to his development and promotion of the new, mechanistic sciences.
Dualism can be traced back to Plato and Aristotle, and also to the early Sankhya and Yoga schools of Hindu philosophy. Plato first formulated his famous Theory of Forms, distinct and immaterial substances of which the objects and other phenomena that we perceive in the world are nothing more than mere shadows.
Platonic Dualism: Splitting the Body and Soul. Plato offers the first, oldest argument that one’s physical body and soul are separate entities and that one lives on after the other has died. Dualism holds that reality or existence is divided into two parts. These two parts are often identified as the body and the soul. To dualists, the soul is a real substance that exists independent from the body. Socrates, Plato, and Augustine were all dualists who believed the soul to be immortal.
Nietzsche’s statement, “Man, in his highest, finest powers, is all nature and carries nature’s uncanny dual nature in himself” attempts to deal with the duality of humankind. His viewpoint had influence the mindset of the west for the last century: Within the natural casing of humanity lies the capability for great triumph and, in turn, great degradation.
Belief in the possibility of the soul’s existence separately from the body suffices to make one a dualist, but Aristotle rejects that belief for at least most types of soul. If Aristotle is committed to dualism, he must be committed to a weaker version of it which admits that the soul cannot exist apart from the body.
The Differences Between Plato’s And Descartes’ Views On The Concept Of God is that Descartes believes that his God is omnipotent, and Plato does not give that characteristic to any of his Deities, because he believed that Gods should not have the ability to commit bad actions as nothing that is purely good can be harmful, and ‘nothing that isn’t harmful can cause harm’.
In a more recent paper, A Defense of Dualism, John Foster hold the view that the mind and its contents are radically nonphysical, that is, that they are neither themselves physical, nor the logical product of anything physical, nor, except causally or nomologically, dependent on anything physical.
So what does Buddha teaches us about Nondualism? Read the article Nondualism in Mahayana Buddhism would give you a much clearer sense.
As it is depicted in the Movie The Matrix, we are living in a web of illusions. There are two types of reality, one is the state of ultimate truth as experiences by Buddha that described in Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra. Another type is secular truth for us standard human being, we should call a spade a spade. In a era of so much confusion, disorientation and drug abuses, speaking truthfully, frankly, and directly about a topic, even to the point of bluntness or rudeness, even if the subject is coarse, impolite or unpleasant, is the only way of keeping our sanity. Yes, John 8:32 says: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” In a similar manner Buddha taught his disciples to vividly visualize the interior of a human body, with blood, coarse intestines etc, etc as a way to counter lust, or go to the graveyard to do meditation to get into your senses of the impermanence nature of life.
Contrary to what talk show host George Noory claimed that “Monumental Myths , is a veritable buffet for so-call conspiracy theorists”, when certain themes of phenomenon keep on repeating itself, you find so-called “conspiracy theory” turned out in time to be reality, and the so-called “conspiracy theorists ” are actually conspiracy analysts, who are the courageous heroic whistleblower. These “conspiracy theorists” turned out are the ones that called out the Emperor is naked!
Monumental Myths of the Modern Medical Mafia and Mainstream Media and the Multitude of Lying Liars That Manufactured Them Paperback – November 5, 2013 mentioned above is truly a eye opener. The author Ty Bollinger, wrote at the conclusion of the book, “George Orwell couldn’t have been more accurate when he said, ‘In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.’ It reminds me of an old proverb: ‘It’s hard to accept the truth when the lies were exactly what you wanted to hear.’
Ty Bollinger continues, ” I told my wife that this book was going to be the one that got me killed, so if you hear about me committing “suicide” by shooting myself in the head twice (like Investigative journalist Gary Webb purportedly did) or committing “suicide” by beating and torturing myself like Officer Terry Yeakey (Oklahoma City Policeman) allegedly did, or committing ‘suicide’ by shooting myself in the head and then wiping off the fingerprints after I’m dead (like deputy White House counsel during the first six months of the Clinton administration Vince Foster allegedly did) … don’t believe it. If I die in suspicious circumstances, then you can rest assured that ‘they’ got to me. Honestly, I’m not worried about it in the least. God is sovereignly controlling all things and I’m his kid, so He’s watching out for me”.
“God gives us the power of reason ‘for a reason,’ to discover truth. By definition, monumental myths are not true. They are contrary to reality. They turn truth on its head. they point fingers the wrong way. They’re pretexts for militarism, wars, mass killing and destruction, sickness, occupations, domestic repression, and other extremist national security state measures.
Hopefully, this book has helped you understand and appreciate why I said in the introduction that most monumental myths are not really as much of a ‘riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma’ as they are a ‘furtive foothill of foul-smelling feces wrapped in a fairytale inside a fable of fabrications and falsehoods.’ I hope that this book has inspired you to think for yourself, so that when the next false flag occurs (yes, there will be more false flags), you will not ‘blindly believe’ everything that the bimbo bobble-head bleached blonde on television tells you.”
” …. Since the invention of television, untold billions of people have been relying on a ‘television anchor’ to ‘explain the pictures.’ And even if the official explanations make no plausible sense, most folks believe them because ‘they’ told us so, and we all know that ‘they’ would never lie. As a result, scores of people, like lemmings, following one another right off the proverbial cliff. It is time to end the insanity. And this doesn’t just apply to television. it also applies to the ‘anchors’ in the ‘health’ care (which some folks refer to as ‘sickness perpetuation’) industry. ‘Well, Mr. Smith,’ the M.D. says, as he pins an X-ray to the wall. ‘See this thing?Right here? This lump? We’ll need to start chemo immediately, we’ll follow up with several rounds of radiation, and then, just in case, we might want to remove a large chunk of your brain. Then, as a preventative measure, we may need to remove an eye. If you find yourself in this position, say NO!!!!”
I have been so keenly into Buddhism because of Chan Buddhism’s history and my growing awareness of the treasured heritages that passed down from the ancient traditions in my hometown. My mind kept on going back to the great monks in the 6th-7th century who went to India at the height of Indian Buddhism development to study Buddhism and brought the many scriptures from Nalanda Temple, an acclaimed Mahavihara Buddhist monastery in the ancient India. Those scriptures became what were left of the high achievements of Indian ancient Buddhism. By adhereing to the true teaching from those scriptures, thousands upon thousands of Buddhist masters in China had demonstrated the truth to the public with the vigirous practices of Dicipline+Meditation + Wisdom. The foundamental teaching is The Five Precepts based on the The Discourse on the Ten Wholesome Ways of Action. （戒定慧三学,十善道业）. 学佛之人应 从“闻、思、修”三方面用功. 修学佛法，必须从闻、思、修入三摩地。 Very important to follow the sequence of Learn to Understand the Mechanism; Think and synthsis of the teaching; and then practices meditation and cultivate the The Bodhi Mind with the guideline of Dharma. 修行不是信仰宗教才能做，而是時時刻刻都要思考正道，不要做不利別人社會的事情，而是要做貢獻，思考怎麼貢獻社會，這才是做人的意義。
Generation of the Bodhi Mind is a critical method of Buddhist cultivation that, if not superior is as equally important as any other methods in Tipiṭaka. The Buddha Shakyamuni says: “With the mind tainted, beings are tainted; with the mind purified, beings are purified.” Whether a being is tainted or purified is closely connected with the being’s mind. Therefore, in the practice of the Buddhadharma, “to purify one’s mind” is of the first importance.
In the Shurangama Sutra, this mind is called the Supreme Mindfulness, the mind of the utmost right and perfect enlightenment or anuttarasamyaksambodhi. In short, the Bodhi Mind. Why do you have to bring forth the bohdi mind? Because if you don’t practice Bodhicitta, we will be tempted by many things on earth, and you will be bound by your own desire. All ordinary people because of the discrimination, upside down thought, our daily acitivities have been bound. Because the concept of conceptual thoughts, we are bound. We are bound by the things that we are seeing, hearing, or knowing.
What is Demon? 何谓“魔”《大智度论》中有：“问曰：何以名魔？答曰：夺慧命，坏道法功德善本，是故名为魔”。龙树菩萨说：“除诸法实相，余残一切法，尽名为魔”。因此可以这样理解：从根本上讲，凡障碍我们成佛的，一切都是魔。菩提心是成佛种子，只有在菩提心的摄持下，诸种修行才能成为无上菩提的助道因缘，因此若离菩提心便绝无成佛的可能。从这个角度说，“忘失菩提心修诸善根是为魔业”。所以华严经中的智慧教导我们恒不放逸 舍离魔业( Flower Adornment Sutra -translated by Buddhist Translation Society and with Commentary; or called Avataṃsaka-Sūtra, the Chapter of Transcendental 《华严经》五十八卷（离世间品第三十八之六）中，普贤菩萨告诫诸佛子，即使是已经发起了菩提心的菩萨，还时常会受到种种魔的障碍。普贤菩萨说： “佛子，菩萨摩诃萨，有十种魔。何等为十？“ 《华严经出世间品》所说的几种魔，需要格外警惕。
Grand Master Xuanzang ( 6 April 602 – 5 February 664) played one of the pivital role in the process of diseminating the Buddha’s teaching from India to China. He travelled through one hundred and ten countries in his 19 years journey of fifty thousand miles. 地图看玄奘西行路线. Since then, the Chan Buddhism culture has drastically changed social political landscapes of China Over the last fifteen hundred years.
Here the seven episodes 《The Thousand-Year Path of Xuanzang Culture 》documentation gave an account of the far reaching culture changes brought by Grand Master Xuzang. There is English caption you can turn on.
Episode 1《The Thousand-Year Path of Xuanzang Culture 》with English Caption; 中文版《玄奘文化千年路》第一集【公元627年，玄奘大師遠赴印度取經，回國後全力譯經與著作，奠定了中國佛法文化的堅實基礎，其所開展的文化高度，開啟了中國輝煌璀璨的唐宋禪法，成就了中國此後千年玄奘文化之
Episode 2《The Thousand-Year Path of Xuanzang Culture 》with English Caption; 中文版《玄奘文化千年路》第二集【由於玄奘大師前往印度受學佛教根本論《瑜伽師地論》，並帶回中國翻譯出來，開顯真義，徹底釐清中土法師們的困惑，解決了中國學人長久以來的諍論。】
Episode 3《The Thousand- Year Path of Xuanzang Culture 》with English Caption; 中文版《玄奘文化千年路》第三集【玄奘西行路上遭遇許多險阻，有一次他遭遇水賊，被綑綁於祭壇上準備作為祭品，當時的玄奘大師沒有絲毫的畏懼，一心虔誠發願…..】
Episode 4《The Thousand -Year Path of Xuanzang Culture 》with English Caption; 中文版《玄奘文化千年路》第四集【玄奘大師歷盡了千辛萬苦，終於來到了心中的聖地──印度那爛陀寺，見到了欽仰已久的戒賢論師，以最恭敬的頭面接足禮來禮拜戒賢論師……】
Episode 5《The Thousand- Year Path of Xuanzang Culture 》with English Caption; 中文版《玄奘文化千年路》第五集【 為期十八天的無遮大會圓滿結束。玄奘受戒日王之請，騎乘大象遊行會場，接受大眾的禮讚。在現場的大乘人稱歎玄奘大師為「大乘天」，二乘人則讚玄奘大師為「解脫天」。 】
Episode 6《The Thousand -Year Path of Xuanzang Culture 》with English Caption; 中文版《玄奘文化千年路》第六集【公元645年，玄奘大師回到了中國長安。朝廷和外地趕來的官員，以及無數的群眾夾道歡迎，焚香散花，誦佛音聲交織不斷，連綿數十里路，盛況空前。】
Episode 7《The Thousand -Year Path of Xuanzang Culture 》with English Caption; 中文版《玄奘文化千年路》第七集【《成唯識論》是玄奘大師當年在印度時所造，帶回中國後才翻譯成中文，此乃採擷十大論師的觀點，再加上自己抉擇慧所成。】
Another series of 12 episoes of movie with amazing show of the landscapes Grand Master Xuanzang had herioically travelled on foot along the silk road. In his travelog he recorded the people and countires he met along the way to India. It is in Chinese without English caption, but the stunning scenery still amazingly mind blowing. 玄奘之路1【亂世孤旅】 ; 玄奘之路2【絕域求生】玄奘之路3【生死兄弟】玄奘之路4【亡命凌山】; 玄奘之路5【穿越草原】玄奘之路6【踏上聖土】 玄奘之路7【隨風而逝】玄奘之路8【西天取經】玄奘之路9【享譽佛國】玄奘之路10【歸心似箭】玄奘之路11【嘔心瀝血】玄奘之路12【圓滿】
More than one hundred years before Grand Master Xuanzang, another famous monk Faxian (法顯 [fà.ɕjɛ̀n]; 337 CE – c. 422 CE) traveled by foot from China to India to acquire Buddhist texts. Starting his arduous journey about age 60, he visited sacred Buddhist sites in Central, South, and Southeast Asia between 399 and 412 CE, of which 10 years were spent in India. The documentary tells the legendary story.【佛國記-法顯西行】亂世尋法-上集; 【佛國記-法顯西行】攜律東歸-下集.
It is important to note that Great Tang Records on the Western Regions wrote by Grand Master Xuanzhang rcorded many details of the culture, customs and social practices in Middle East and India, but had not one bit mentioning about tantric practices. 另外玄奘大师是公园七世纪初去的印度，在印度十几年，所见所闻详细记载在《大唐西域记》(TheGreat Tang Records on the Western Regions)里面 ，哪里信小乘，哪里修大乘，甚至还有部分弟子跟着提婆达多学习的都记载得很详细。唯独没写什么密宗，或者金刚乘。甚至都不知道男女双修这种大法。達摩祖師易筋經˙˙中的吸收˙˙日月精華˙˙以期與˙˙宇宙˙˙契合，與天地同寬。而不是所謂的男女共修，切勿誤解為慎。佛祖当年也早就预言过佛教末世的现象：邪师说法，如恒河沙。南懷瑾老師評判“密宗雙修”：說雙修可以即身成就，開悟成佛的，只是想亂搞男女關係罷了！ 当代很多宗教亂象是值得深思的，有些不法之徒打着理想信仰的旗号行苟且之事，大家都要接受科学教育，才能看清事物本质，不会被愚弄。教育很重要，不該再有這些侵犯人性尊嚴的作為。 任何建立於他人痛苦上的修行，都不應該存在，都不應該以任何名義合理化。
Likewise, Sermons by Pastor Vlad: Ancient Demons Behind The Gay Movement reminds us that we are at war against spiritual principalities that rule territories (Eph 6vs11-19). This principle apply to not only Christianity but all spiritual maturity. He said, “We are in a time today if you speak the truth, you will be deplatformed. You will be demonized. You will be silence. Or you will be call with names that no Christian ever want to carry those labels, and those names. …….we do not change the Bible to fit our culture, to be accepted by our culture, to be loved by our culture. Jesus says if everybody speaks well of you, it is not good for you. We do not want to be applauded by a culture that is under influence by the demons. And then when stood in front of God, to be rejected by Jesus because we stood with the world instead of stay with him.
The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” Genesis 9vs16. In the beginning, when humanity were spelled by the devil, we did two things in Adam. we rebel against God, and we redefine good and evil. When we rebel against God, God is no longer our authority to decide what is good for us. Every time you get rid of God, you act like you are the God. Then as God, you begin to make rules as you go. This is right, and this is wrong. And culture has been redefine good and evil since then. Israel, a nation that suppose to give birth to the Son of God who will save the world…. That nation constantly was tempted In their worship of idiots, they mixed sex with idolatry. Satan is so interested in your sexuality…..Sexuality is the most sacred and most core thing about you that you only share with your spouse. Satan doesn’t mind if we don’t worship him as long as we join him in pride to oppose God.
Buddhism is beyond religion. If you think it is religion, then it is the one world religion that has no God. Buddhism emphasizes logic and reasoning. In other religions, a leap of faith maybe necessary, but in Buddhism is not required. While Buddhism is a tradition focused on spiritual liberation, it is not a theistic religion. The Buddha himself rejected the idea of a creator god. That God created Himself, cannot be true, for nothing can create itself. If He were created by another creator, He would not be self-existent. Yes, like other religions Buddhism describes a nonmaterial, spiritual reality (perhaps the realer reality) and addresses what happens after we die. Buddhism is a journey beyond religion – a deepening awareness into our own nature relying on reason and direct seeing, free from all forms of clinging – theistic, atheistic or agnostic.
As for the relationship of Buddhism and Science, Dr. Alexander Berzin gave some very good answers. BUDDHISM EMBRACES AND GOES FAR BEYOND MODERN SCIENCE. Buddhism is A Collaboration Between Science and Religion. The dialogues between Buddhist masters such as His Holiness the Dalai Lama and scientists have focused so far primarily on three areas. One is astrophysics, concerning primarily how the universe developed. Does it have a beginning? Was it created or is it part of an eternal process? Another topic is particle physics, regarding the structure of atoms and matter. The third is neurosciences, about how the brain works. These are the main areas.
Spiritual pursuit is a important demension of humanity. But be aware of the danger being misguided by fake gurus. For example, Yiguandao, used the name of Buddhism but is actually cult. 比如一贯道， 就是盗用佛教名义而成立的邪教。 佛教不会逼人进教，不会逼人发毒誓，不会逼人捐钱，不会逼人吃素等等等。 千万莫信邪教：一贯道
Here is an essay discussed about Nichiren Buddhism touches a similar issue: Nichiren’s Activist Heirs.
Nichiren was often controversial and criticized by government authorities because of his prophecies that social problems and natural disasters were based on a failure to adhere to his form of Buddhist practice. Nichiren Buddhism differs from other schools of Buddhism in focusing on this world, and in its view that it is the only correct tradition. 日莲正宗与一贯道也是佛教吗?
Today schools does not teach young people the sages books and right views like 8-fold paths. Instead, ponography is not unusual in the school. School raping is rampant. 教科書上都說 手淫對身體沒有壞處 傷害了無數青少年的身心 造成對國家民族發展 很大的阻礙/正德為何全國開設八家中醫院診所 最後剩下兩家 聽聞後 保證讓你感動掉淚! 腎氣充足的人，精力旺盛，頭腦清晰，做事效率高，行動力強! 學業事業容易成功. 佛說，正見是修行的先導。願大眾聽聞和尚巴利藏真佛經真佛法講座，能修正過去對佛法的錯知錯見，以正見將生命導向正途，迎向光明解脫的人生。 世上很多利用佛法欺騙大眾的團體 如何破邪顯正？正德開山常律老和尚為佛弟子指引學佛迷津，化解生活難題，特開放大眾請法，請把握機緣，踴躍提問。
FIGHT THE NEW DRUG, INC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, It is a non-religious and non-legislative organization that exists to provide individuals the opportunity to make an informed decision regarding pornography by raising awareness on its harmful effects using only science, facts, and personal accounts. Girlss sex trafficked by GirlsDoPorn Pt.1 || Consider Before Consuming Podcast was an interview includes frank, explicit, discussions about rape, sex trafficking, and suicide ideation that may be triggering to some. Listener discretion is advised. Jane Doe grew up in Washington state with a loving family, never expecting that she’d be victimized by one of the largest trafficking schemes to date in today’s mainstream porn industry. Twenty-one days after her 22nd birthday, she boarded a flight to San Diego that, unbeknownst to her, would change her life forever. That day, she would become one of the hundreds of young women who had been exploited between 2015 and 2019 by GirlsDoPorn (GDP), a wildly popular “amateur” porn production company that garnered well over a billion views, ranking around the 20th-most popular channel on Pornhub, and reportedly generated an estimated $17 million dollars in revenue.
You may have heard about the infamous GDP case in the last couple of years, but you may not know what exactly happened, let alone the full account of one of the trafficked women. In this exclusive interview, Jane Doe and her emotional support dog, Cozi, sit down with Podcast Host Garrett Jonsson and Fight the New Drug’s Editorial Director Keri to tell the story of how she was sex trafficked and assaulted by GDP porn producers, what it’s been like to pursue legal action against GDP with other survivors, and how she’s found healing in her own life since she was exploited. One of the comment from audience: I wish this would shown in high schools. Hypersexualization of teenagers in particular is so pervasive and most teens don’t have a clue what’s happening. Thank you Jane Doe for sharing yourself with such honesty and authenticity. Another audience feedback: I have a kind of similar story. I never wanted to be a model or famous or anything. In college an acquaintance who was an up and coming rapper asked me to be in a music video he told me it paid $3000 for 2 days. He held me hostage in a hotel room for hours, SA’d me and when it went public because he did it to over 30 girls the media and everyone framed it like we were money hungry and just wanted fame. We had no privacy, stories made up, we were humiliated. It took 6 years to finally get justice. He’s in prison now for 50+ years.
It is obvious the teaching of Buddha is invaluable tools to the healing the traumas of the modern society.
Buried in the metaphysical study, I have not been watch any movies for the last several years. However a recent commend about Movie Oppenhenimer from Palki Sharma of Vantage Media in India caught my attention. Sex scenes from the film Oppenheimer have triggered a backlash in India for using the Bhagavad Gita as a prop. The government has reportedly pulled up the censor board for approving the controversial scene. The India Informaion and Broadcasting Minister has good reason to feel upset about certain scene of the Movie. Why did the makers use the Hindu Holy Scripture in a scene involving nudity? Certain scene fits the PG-13 description. Palki Sharma is the Managing Editor and First post of Vantage Media. By breaking stereotypes, Vantage Media aims to challenge conventional wisdom and present an alternative view on global affairs, defying the norm and opening the door to new perspectives. This bring up the question that why would American glammorize profanity and put the nuikty in limelight and thus toxicate the minds of millions of people all over the world? Why would Hollywood insult ancient wisdom of holly scripture to condemn ourself? What does this speak of level of sanity on the mind of Hollywood and American culture as a whole?
Buddhism teaches that arrogance is inherent in our tendency to perceive our own value based on comparisons with others. It is a reflection of a very shallow and limited view of oneself. Impermanence is looking at reality from the point of view of time. No self is looking at reality from the point of view of space. They are two sides of reality. No self is a manifestation of impermanence and impermanence is a manifestation of no self. If things are impermanent they are without a separate self. If things are without a separate self, it means that they are impermanent. Impermanence means being transformed at every moment. This is reality. And since there is nothing unchanging, how can there be a permanent self, a separate self? When we say “self” we mean something that is always itself, unchanging day after day. But nothing is like that. Our body is impermanent, our emotions are impermanent, and our perceptions are impermanent. Our anger, our sadness, our love, our hatred and our consciousness are also impermanent.
Nothing can exist by itself alone. It has to depend on every other thing. That is called inter-being. We think of our body as our self or belonging to our self. We think of our body as me or mine. But if you look deeply, you see that your body is also the body of your ancestors, of your parents, of your children, and of their children. So it is not a “me”; it is not a “mine.” Your body is full of everything else—limitless non-body elements—except one thing: a separate existence. Looking Deeply With the Three Dharma Seals: Impermanence, No-self, and Nirvana. The three seals are the marks to check against for any doctrines if they are in line with fundamental Buddhism teaching. In the Buddhist cosmology, the earth is not the only world, and human are not the only living beings. The 31 realms of existence are divided into three ‘worlds’ (loka); and existence in every realm is temporary. Rebirths take place in any realms according to one’s karma, wholesome and unwholesome actions. To free oneself from the cycle of birth and death, the Buddha recommends the Noble Eightfold Path. Another very intuitive diagrammatic representationof the Buddhist Universe JPG file can be download from here.
Again American’s exceptionalism tend to blindfold ourselves in cloudy head. In our current culture, talk about Jesus calls for courage. And it also calls for love and grace. The arrogrance of Christianity with its limit certainly deluded America in numerous religion/idilogious wars. The most offending thing in Christianity is the idea that Jesus is the only way to heaven. Unfortunately, American can easily come across as arrogant about the truth of Jesus, such as Evangelicals ask themselves “what would Jesus do?” and then do the opposite. According to Leeja Miller, a lawyer and researcher, How The Religious Right Ruined Everything breaked down all the ways the Religious Right and how white Christian nationalism poses an existential threat to our democracy. The religious right, the moral majority, evangelicals, and white Christian nationalists have, throughout the history of the United States, used religion to further personal greed, absolve themselves of guilt for heinous crimes, and force their morals and world view on an entire population, despite being neither particularly moral, nor the majority.
But we can squelch that impression if we listen to the other person’s views. Not arguing, just listening. We earn the right to be heard, and when our turn comes to share our views, we can couch the gospel in a lot of love and grace.
A similar case was the scandla over Netflix Cleopatra show. Egyptians are very upset about the Cleopatra documentary for black washing Cleopatra, falsifying Egyptian history and incorrectly representing Egyptians. The entire country of Egypt was pissed off. An Egyptian lawyer is even suing Netflix over this. They’re just trying to rewrite history. What is problematic is trying to meddle facts or editing real life history. This Egyptian young lady communicate well why they feel so offended. And since she went online to speak about Egyptian culture appropriation, she was heavily attacked by mutiple insults and offense of racism and religious dogmatism. In support of her righteousness, the audience offered three quotes:
Insults are the arguments employed by those who are in the wrong. — Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Be able to defend your arguments in a rational way. Otherwise, all you have is an opinion. — Marilyn vos Savant
Our ignorance of history causes us to slander our own times. — Gustave Flaubert
According to Candace owens youtube program Netflix Blackwashed Cleopatra, and Egypt Is Mad, black wash is happening a lot now. Used to be white washing is takes something the belons to black people, or it is about back people and you give it to white for treat. Now black washing is essential the same thing where you are blackifying everything. The Disney movie of Little Mermaid is another case in point.
Candace owen also mentioned the book The Rules, which put feminism into proper perspective, helpping women to have healthy relationship in the dating age. The five books series was published first in 1995, and now 2023 got an update with supplement. One of the author Sherrie Schneider was interviewed, she said, ” If you want to be happy in marriage, think about your husband’s needs like what does he want, meet with his mother more often. Too many women this days are all about themselves, they are me, me, me. ” Men are biologically programmed to like extreme sports like bunge jumping, courting was one of those games they don’t want to be deprived of the exicitment. Candace was also very fiery outspoken about Black Life Matter Movement. People this day are deluded and lied to by big medias.
Similarly, Hollywood has a very narrow view of Arabs. Why Hollywood misrepresents Muslim communities. The U.S. Department of Defense has a lot of influence over Hollywood — and that’s led to some damaging portrayals of Arab and Muslim communities. The audience feedback with the folk story “Frogs in the well” , where the elder frogs tells to the younger how cruel the outside world is while they enjoys the outside world… Another audience who was an malaysian said he agree on the point of view. “Pakistan been touted as terrorist country and that is what the media been telling all this while. One day, I got an opportunity to visit Pakistan due to work trip (it was an easy process because I’m a malaysian) . It’s an heaven on earth. Pakistan is surely an heaven on earth. The people all kind and angels. They treat me well. I went to islamabad and Karachi. Omg, surely I will visit again. Humanity exist in Islam and I observed it Pakistan. If anyone got chance to visit Pakistan, without hesitate, please visit Pakistan. Waiting for covid to end.” Accoring to this clip, another movie the Dictator is an insult to the Islam. Take the Netflix show Elite as an example, the way they portrayed a hijabi, Nadia, is disgusting and causes Islamophobia to spread even more. So the stereotyping is a reflection of our narrowness. Americans have much to learn about our Arab sisters and brothers.
All over the world, cultures reflect different dimension of human history and experience. Together the multi-culture combined into totality of human realm. There are many Near Death Experience research and reports PROOF OF THE AFTERLIFE. The Incredible REINCARNATION STORY of Sunny Ray | The Indian Rebirth Story that shocked the World | just a couple of the Reincarnation reveallations.
Buddhism told us that we have been rebirth millions and millions of times since eons. According to Buddhist teaching, all beings cycle continually through one lifetime after another before developing to the point where they can reach enlightenment. The Buddha was no different, although the stories of his past lives, known as the According to Buddhist teaching, all beings cycle continually through one lifetime after another before developing to the point where they can reach enlightenment. The Buddha was no different, although the stories of his past lives, known as the Jataka tales, indicate a pretty remarkable being. In the 547 story-poems about his past lives that are collected in the Pali canon, which includes some of the earliest Buddhist scriptures we know, the Buddha takes birth as various kinds of humans (ranging from murderers to sages to a princess), myriad animals (elephants, deer, monkeys, birds—you name it), and numerous deities and metaphysical beings (a tree sprite and the lord of gods, for starters). The tales are chock-full of wily criminals, evil seducers, and magnanimous kings.
The Jataka tales go back to the 3rd century B.C. Because of the limited literacy of the times, travelling storytellers known as Jataka bhanakas were selected and given the task of reaching the stories to every corner of the land and beyond. The Jataka Tales carried strong and inspiring messages of kindness, compassion, generosity, non-violence, self-sacrifice, charity and the need to abjure greed. The Jataka stories explain the concepts of karma and rebirth, and teach moral values. Though the Jataka Tales are more than two thousand years old, they carry a message for us even today. This is the reason for their popularity, especially as stories for children. Their interesting stories and moral teachings are a positive source of inspiration for the young people of today JATAKA TALES OF BUDDHA –1, JATAKA TALES 2A, JATAKA TALES 2B.
