The Dharma, sutras, and commentarial interpretations of interest to American Buddhists of all traditions with news that not only informs but transforms. Emphasis on meditation, enlightenment, karma, social evolution, and nonharming.
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Speaking at a surprise gig in London last night (May 24, 2025), [Irish Gaelic outlaw rappers] Kneecap claimed that the terror[ism] charge against one of their members is part of a “witch-hunt” intended to stop them from playing at Glastonbury.
Yesterday, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, 27, who performs under the name Mo Chara, was charged with a terror offence [terrorism offense] after allegedly waving the flag of Hezbollah onstage at a gig last November.
Hezbollah is a proscribed group in the UK, meaning it is illegal to “invite support” for them.
Don't say, "F*CK ISRAEL!"
Whatever you say, don't say "Fuck Israel" -- or you'll get in BIG trouble.
After denying the charge and promising to fight it in court, the band announced a surprise gig at the 100 Club in London, which they said sold out in 90 seconds.
The poster for the gig featured a recent quote from former [punk rock legend] Sex Pistols singer Johnny Rotten, who suggested the band “need a bloody good kneecapping.”
Ó hAnnaidh took the stage with duct tape over his mouth, before saying, “There’s a reason why what’s happened to me, happened before Glastonbury. There’s a reason they’re trying to f*cking stop me speaking at Glastonbury in front of the UK.”
His bandmate, Naoise Ó Cairealláin, said, “This is our first gig back after [Coachella]. They want to stop what we’re doing, because they want us to stop protesting. There are 60,000-plus dead in Gaza right now. That’s the real story; it’s not about us.”
Kneecap were first investigated by counter-terrorism police after footage emerged that appeared to show one of the members saying, “The only good Tory [traditionalist conservative] is a dead Tory. Kill your local M.P. [British member of parliament.]” This led to a wave of condemnations... More
Monty Python's Flying Circus competitive mass spectacle sport of Novel Writing (The Final Rip Off)
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A century of spelling keeps going strong
A field of 243 top young spellers will converge on National Harbor, Maryland, from [today] May 27 to May 29, 2025, to compete in a historic Scripps National Spelling Bee.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the iconic American competition, which was first held on June 17, 1925, with just nine participants.
“Reaching 100 years is more than a milestone — it’s a testament to the enduring power of words, learning and the human spirit,” said Corrie Loeffler, executive director of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
“For a century, this competition has brought people together through eras of profound change — from world wars to the digital age — and still, the Bee continues to inspire excellence, curiosity, and connection. It’s a living piece of American history, and we’re honored to celebrate its legacy.”
This year’s 243 national qualifiers advanced through local and regional bees that took place through the end of March. All rounds of this year’s national competition — preliminaries, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals — will take place at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, Maryland.
Highlights of 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee field
Yes, well, it comes as no surprise really. *Yawn*
The spellers range in age from 8 to 14.
Only 53 spellers return from the 2024 field, and 178 spellers – 73% – are competing in their first Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Only one 2024 finalist advanced to the 2025 national competition: Faizan Zaki, who finished second last year behind Bruhat Soma, following his record-breaking spell-off.
Tarini Nandakumar is competing in her fifth consecutive Scripps National Spelling Bee. She was a finalist and finished ninth in 2023.
Navtaj Singh, Micah Sterling and Avinav Prem Anand are competing in their fourth straight national competition. Harini Murali is in her fourth Bee overall, as is Zaki.
There are spellers from all 50 states and the [ruling imperial seat of power known as the] District of Columbia [Columbia being the original name of "America," after the titular goddess who was buried and erased from U.S. history, as if Amerigo Vespucci gave the Americas their name].
Texas has the largest representation with 22 national competitors. California is next with 20, followed by Ohio with 15, and Illinois with 13. Florida and New York have 12 each.
There are 13 competitors from outside the 50 United States, representing the Bahamas, Canada, Germany, Ghana, Guam, Kuwait, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. More
Celebrating a 100-year tradition...
2025: 100 YEARS OF THE BEE
(Scripps National Spelling Bee) 2025 - For a century, the Scripps National Spelling Bee has been much more than a competition. It has become a symbol of perseverance, intellect, and community. From its humble beginnings to becoming a cornerstone of American culture, the Bee has empowered millions of students, fostered lifelong friendships, and united communities in the love of language and learning. Through the words we spell, we tell stories — stories of personal triumph, academic achievement, and the diverse fabric of the American experience. As we honor this incredible milestone, we celebrate not just 100 years of history but 100 years of making an impact on generations of learners and the communities they inspire. Join us in commemorating this momentous occasion, as we reflect on the past, celebrate the present, and look forward to an even brighter future.
What is spelling but memory? Memory, like most things, is due to karma: Ananda
Ananda recounting all the suttas, beginning each with, "Thus have I heard." (First Council)
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This is the Middle Way avoiding extremes
Among all the disciples of the Buddha, foremost in memorization was his personal assistant [and possibly one of his sons with a dancing girl named Mriga, according to some traditions, which would make him Ven. Rahula's half-brother] Venerable Ananda.
[It makes sense that Ananda would also be the Buddha's son but that this would have been suppressed or discarded in most traditions. One shining piece of evidence is when Ven. Rahula (whom the Buddha had ordained at age 7) was 18, he was getting very frisky and overwhelmed by sensual craving, presumably due to hormones at that age and the luxurious life he had left behind in the palace in his former kingdom of Kapilavatthu. He was walking with the Buddha and Ananda, if memory serves, making comments about how at that moment there were in the world only three people with the past karma to become "world monarchs" (cakkavati or chakravartin rulers).
Ven. Rahula, the Buddha, and Ven. Ananda
Prince Siddhartha had turned his back on that possibility, forecast by soothsayers when he was a child, much to his father King Suddhodana's delight. Ananda was already a monk for a long time. And there was him. If Rahula disrobed, returned to the palace, and let nature take its course, he could become king of this world. Such talk worried the Buddha, who instructed a monk that -- after 11 years in the robe learning the basics -- Ven. Rahula was now ready to intensively put the Teachings into practice. He did and thereby attained arahantship. If the other person there was Ananda, it would be among these three close relatives that the karma existed to attain to the status of a world-monarch.] Was Ananda the Buddha's son?
Ananda lived one kappa = 120 years
It is only because of Ananda that we have "Buddhism" as we do. When the Buddha passed into final nirvana, having established the Sangha (the Buddhist Monastic Community) and left in place the Noble Sangha (the community of enlightened disciples in any of the four stages of awakening), Ven. Maha Kassapa took it upon himself to begin a religion. He did this by calling together the First Buddhist Council of fully enlightened disciples (theras and, presumably, theris). The texts say 500 arahants (fully enlightened beings) attended, but this number simply means "a large number." It was almost 499, as it were, because Ananda was the most important person to be invited, but he did not qualify to attend. He was needed to recount the suttas (sutras, sermons, narrated teachings, the Buddha's "discourses").
Another monk was put in charge of the Vinaya (Monastic Disciplinary Code rules). But Ananda was only a stream enterer at the first stage of awakening. So he made a strenuous effort to put into practice all that he knew, had heard directly from the Buddha, and committed to memory. It was no use. He failed. This path cannot be accomplished simply by a "sense of urgency" (samvega), which is important to recognize the meaning of the Buddha's last words to be a lamp unto oneself and work out one's own salvation with diligence (to mindfully put into practice the theory of the Teaching in so consistent a manner that one makes an end of all suffering in no long time). Because he tried so hard, Ananda failed. He had slacked off for years, so he never attained arahantship, full realization.
Now the opposite problem was impeding him -- to much efforting, too much strain, too much craving and grasping. He needed santosha ("contentment") to ease his mind so it could blossom. The night before the Council was to meet, he practiced intensive meditation deep into the night. Finally, he recognized his failure with frustration and exhaustion, so he gave up and decided to go to sleep.
Laying off the pressure (surrendering, giving up, letting go of craving it and needing it), he began to lie down. He was going from the extreme of too much to the other extreme of too little, at one moment achieving balance between the two, the Middle Way that avoids extremes of austerity and luxury. He became the only disciple to achieve awakening outside of one of the "four bodily positions" (lying down, sitting, standing, or walking). He attained, because he let go, between sitting and lying down.
He sat right up and experienced the paths-and-fruits of self-realization (magga-phala). He was welcomed into the Council by the other fully enlightened beings and recited all the discourses he had heard over the preceding 25 years as the Buddha's chief assistant. This is why all sutras begin not with "once upon a time" but rather "thus have I heard" (Evam me sutam).
Buddhist tradition maintains that the disciple Ānanda used the formula for the first time, as a form of personal testimony... [to say that he himself was attesting that this is what the Buddha had said]. Scholars may rightly doubt that this could be true for all sutras, certainly not applying to later apocryphal Mahayana inventions, which have become some of the most famous "sutras" [sutured together sermons with a single throughline or thread] of all, namely, The Heart Sutra, The Diamond Sutra, The Lotus Sutra... More
Nevertheless, it is undisputed that Ananda had a tremendous memory like a spelling bee champion. And one is forced to wondered what it is about India (ancient Maha Bharat, Jambudvipa, Asoka's Empire) that produces to many remarkable memory banks in little boys and girls of Indian origin.
Is it Goddess Saraswati's doing?
Is it the clean vegetarian (ahimsa) diet?
Is it past study of the Vedas (in previous lives) as Brahmins memorizing countless slokas?
Is it genetically handed down?
Is it training and the way the Indian system chose to educate its children?
Is it rich minerals in the soil coming down from the Himalayas nourishing the babies?
Is it Hinduism (or Islam or Jainism or Sikhism)?
Is it yogic magic?
Is it British colonial rule, forcing everyone into a Western model of learning and punishment and stealing Indian and Islamic innovations (in mathematics and sciences, like the invention of "zero" and the Ayurveda or "health sciences") and calling them British?
No, it's not likely this last one, but possibly any of the previous ones.
The Buddha praises Ananda
“The foremost of my monastic disciples who are very learned is Ānanda… with a good memory is Ānanda. ...with an extensive range is Ānanda. ...[foremost] in retention [memory] is Ānanda. ...[foremost] as a personal attendant is Ānanda.” Source: AN 1.219–234: Catuttha Vagga—Ven. Sujato (trans)
Scripps National Spelling Bee; Monty Python; Ven. Sujata (suttacentral.net); memory and the story of Ananda explained by Dhr. Seven; Ashley Wells, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
There used to be Indigo and Crystal children being born into the world, communicating telepathically with one another like some extraterrestrial race of Lyrans or Pleiadeans. Gregg Braden was aware of them and mentioned it in his breakthrough book, The Isaiah Effect. In those days, those sorts of children were referred to as Indigo. The next generation of prodigies or children with preternatural powers (that used to be inherent in nearly all humans) were Crystal children. What they would be today in the Age of Autism, Dumbing Down, and Idiocracy is anyone's guess: adamantine diamond Vajra?
Landon Castillo accepted into Mensa with Einstein-
ian IQ at the tender age of 8, reports ABC7 News.
Is this genius child part Latino (Hispanic, Mexican) from his father and part Asian (not B-sian, but Chinese perhaps), living just outside Los Angeles County in Chino Hills? This would explain coverage of this story in the Asian press:
THIS JUST IN (May 27, 2025): The youngest person to join Mensa is just over 2-years-old. The "extraordinarily gifted" boy from the United Kingdom (England) spoke his first word at the age of seven months. At the age of 2-years-and-182-days, Joseph Harris-Birtill, born on Nov. 23, 2021, has officially been accepted into the group, setting a new record for the youngest male Mensa member. Mensa is an exclusive [honor] society for those with very high intelligence quotients (IQs). One must have an IQ of at least 132 and be in the Top 2 percent to be eligible for the elite club, according to The NY Post. Joey's extremely proud parents, Rose and David Harris-Birtill, hope he will look back on this accomplishment with pride when he gets older [and that the other boys won't bully and beat him too badly as he longs to fit in with the knuckle draggers]. More:2-year-old UK boy Joseph Harris-Birtill becomes youngest member of prestigious high-IQ society Mensa
Joey has surpassed Isla McNabb, who was 2 years and 195 days old in 2023 when she was crowned the youngest-ever female Mensa member.
Los Angeles toddler with an IQ of 146 accepted into Mensa
(FOX 11 Los Angeles) May 25, 2021: A local toddler (making her the youngest member ever) has been accepted into Mensa — the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world. Nashe Quest is the youngest in American Mensa. She is 2-years-old, going on three, with the IQ of 146. The average IQ in America is 100. Subscribe to FOX 11 Los Angeles: @foxla. Watch FOX 11 Los Angeles Live: foxla.com/live.
ABC7 News; Fox 11 News Los Angeles; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
Yogi casually walking in the snow like some kind of Wim Hof (Instagram)
Video shows yogi walking barefoot in Himalayan snow (TOI Trending Desk/etimes.in/5/26/25)
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He did what? I have to step up my practice!
(TOI) A viral video shows a yogi walking barefoot in the freezing, snow-covered Himalayan mountains — and what he says next leaves viewers stunned.
A video shows a yogi walking barefoot in the Himalayas. The yogi is wearing only a thin [linen] cloth. A person recording the video greets him. The yogi says he is coming from Hind Parvat.
He calmly answers questions about the cold and his lack of warm clothing. The video is gaining attention online. Viewers are impressed by his spiritual detachment [rather than the physical obsession we normally exhibit].
The video leaves viewers stunned as it shows a yogi walking barefoot in deep snow, reportedly in the Himalayas. It has gone viral on social media, leaving viewers stunned. What has caught everyone’s attention isn’t any stunt, but the yogi’s calm, peaceful walk through harsh, freezing conditions, wearing nothing but a thin white cloth.
In the video, the yogi, who appears to be in his early 30s, can be seen walking barefoot through thick snow. The person recording the video greets him respectfully, saying, “Jai Kedarnath Maharaj ji” (“Hail Kedarnath, Maharaj-ji” or “Hello, Kedarnath, great holy lord”), then warns him gently, “Aaraam se, aaraam se… kahan se aa rahe ho? (“Careful, careful…where are you coming from?”)
Without hesitation, the yogi replies, “Hind Parvat se aa raha hoon.” Surprised, the man asks again, “Hind Parvat se?” and the yogi calmly repeats, “Haan, Hind Parvat se.” As the two continue talking, the man points toward the snow-covered slopes and asks, “Upar jaa sakte hain? Saari baraf hi dikh rahi hai upar toh” (“Can we go up there? It’s all snow-covered”).
The yogi responds with a smile, “Haan, baraf hi baraf hai” (“Yes, it’s all snow”).
The most surprising moment comes when the man, clearly shocked, asks, “Aap aise baraf par nange pair ho?” (“You’re walking barefoot on this snow?”)
The yogi calmly replies, “Nange pair main thodi hoon, yeh toh shareer hai. Yeh shareer nange pair hai, main nahi hoon” (“I am not barefoot – this body is. The body is barefoot, not me”).
The man then says, “Na aapki jacket hai…” (“You’re not even wearing a jacket...”), and the yogi replies, “Kuchh nahi pehna hai” (“I haven’t worn anything special”).
Wearing only a thin dhoti, the yogi’s quiet strength and composed presence in the freezing Himalayan cold has drawn admiration and curiosity.
Many online viewers have described it as a powerful example of spiritual detachment and mind-over-body strength, the kind rarely seen in today’s fast-paced world.
While the video continues to gain attention across multiple social media platforms, it was originally shared by the yogi himself, who goes by the username @margdarshakji on Instagram.
The Times of India (TOI) could not independently verify the location, time, or authenticity of the video. Read more at:
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Times of India, May 26, 2025; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
‘Israel’s genocide in Gaza is DWARFING the Nazi Holocaust’ - If Americans Knew
We're buddies. I stroke his ego, he gives me $$$.
(Afshin Rattansi)
May 27, 2025: On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to the Founder and Executive Director of If Americans Knew Alison Weir. She discusses the purpose of her organization, which is to educate Americans on Israel’s historical and contemporary crimes against [humanity and] Palestinians, which their [American] tax dollars pay for, the mainstream media’s whitewashing of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and omission of the US’ role in Israel’s atrocities, the FBI visiting her work [to intimidate her], and the threats she faces, the smears of ‘anti-Semitism’ against those who oppose [Zionism and] Israel’s [atrocious] actions, the power of the pro-Israel lobby and AIPAC over all levels of [the US and EU] government, and much more.
Israeli Minister Orit Strook’s daughter accuses Jewish parents of sexually molesting her as a child
In the fog of war, eh, things happen. So what?
(Middle East Eye) April 11, 2025: This week, Shoshana Strook, the daughter of Israeli Minister of Settlements and National Missions [Mrs.] Orit Strook posted accusations on social media against her parents regarding sexual molestation against them.
Orit: It was to toughen her up to live in this world
According to Strook's daughter, her parents sexually assaulted her when she was a child, and she has now filed a complaint with the police against both of them.
The investigation has been subject to a gag order; therefore, Israeli news outlets are prohibited from publishing further details or even mentioning that the charges are against Minister Strook.
Right-wing journalists even called Strook's daughter a "complex case" and attacked those who published the molestation charges.
Minister Orit Strook, an extremist illegal occupier "settler" from the Jewish community of Hebron in the illegally occupied West Bank, Palestine, is married to Avraham Strook. The two have 11 children [which is not too many for a patriarch following biblical injunctions but is way too many for anyone else who is not expecting an apocalypse and a war in Armageddon].
We were victims, so we victimize [our kids]
More than a decade ago, their son, Zvi, was convicted of kidnapping and abusing [homosexually violating?] a Palestinian boy, who was found wounded, naked, handcuffed, and unconscious after the attack [or gay violation]. [It would be impossible and irresponsible to speculate that the boy learned such violations from his father or mother, Minister Strook and his breeder wife.]
He's quite aggressive sometimes. I mean she. I meant she. She is a she, not a he.
The beautiful lady on the left was born as the rugged gentleman on the right: same person.
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Joan Rivers figured it out and learned the hard way that she is not allowed to out transgender homosexuals like Michael ("Michelle") Obama, the husband of former Pres. Barry Obama [no matter how overwhelming the evidence is]. Rivers was disappeared for doing so.
[This man, Michel, was Manny Macron's drama teacher when he was 15 and he was 40; he groomed him, and they decided to marry as man and wife, and s/he has since groomed Manny into power.]
Now Candace Owens is asking for trouble for saying the obvious, which French insiders already knew and laughed at Americans for caring or being surprised, that Jean Michel Trogneux (Mrs. "Brigitte" Macron [who is 24 or 32 years older than Pres. Macron] with the same name as his husband Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frederic Macron) was born a man, gay husband, teacher, and former groomer of an underage future French president, a boy named Emmanuelle Macron. Brigitte was first outed by French journalists, not American Candace Owens, who are the primary sources presenting their evidence after their investigation.
Gender's just a social construct!
It's true, but does that mean there is no biological sex or no basis for biological sexual assignment at birth? Not all people are born male or female (because some may be born hermaphroditic, asexual, or increasingly commonly as ambiguous).
Yet, the vast majority still are born with sexual difference, NOT all of which can be attributed to and explained away by "nurture" or how we raise males in our society. Therefore, there are at least three genders (male, female, and pandakaor everything else from crossing over to bisexual to ambiguous to trans to kathoey to whatever). Strangely, as much as it may upset the LGBTQIA+ community and allies, are there lesbians?
No, right? Because one would have to be a woman, and there's no such thing really as calling a person a woman, but asking a person what that person FEELS like or WANTS to be, that would mean that two very butch men could SAY they are women and instantly be elevated to the status of "lesbian" and be allowed into the exclusive all-female private club. For to exclude them would be illegal, immoral, and unconscionable sexism, right?
Recently, there was a poignant video of two gay males pulled over by a very nice policeman, asking to see the driver's license. The driver is [identifying as] a pet cat...until the officer explains the consequences of being a cat at the wheel of a moving vehicle, subject to being impounded like a common pet without tags, involuntary vaccination shots, and so on, and the car towed. The partner does not want to have to go get his submissive "pet" [bondage slave] out of impound and be fined $70. It's an amusing video short as it is left up in the air what they decide and what happens in the end.
Michael Obama: "As a Black man..." comment reveals something, but s/he is so cringe as a podcaster
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