When you need a distraction, RAVE! (video)

Caitlyn Trudnich (kroq.cbslocal.com); Dev, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

(Tove Lo) "Habits (Stay High)" She's Not on Drugs, just in love. See Sunset Strip Music Festival

Summer concerts, Los Angeles (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images/kroq.cbslocal.com)

Sigh. Coachella, Outside Lands, and HARD Summer have officially come and gone.  We’ve hung up our flower headbands and put away our wellies.  But don’t worry, there are still plenty of awesome music festivals coming up in a nearby location. From indie rock, to hip hop, to EDM, these upcoming events have something for every type of music-lover.

DIY Fest, Pomona

What's so "spiritual" about a concert? It's a communal experience with matching physical moves to a single cue, dancing to the beat. That's a way of peacefully nonverbally communicating, NVC, it's fun, it's a distraction, it can even be a celebration. We get out of our left brains and into our bodies. Then there are the lights, the stars, the other people coming together for a single purpose. It doesn't have to be a spiritual experience, but it can be!

• Dead Kennedys' singer Jello Biafra
• Unlocking The Truth to play Hollywood! (Coachella)
• Sweden's Lykke Li in L.A. ("Get Some")

Together Pangea

Echo Park Rising – August 15th-17th

Now in its fourth year, Echo Park Rising is a FREE festival, combining live music, art, food, and activities celebrating the eclectic neighborhood that is Echo Park.  Live performances from over 200 of LA’s best up-and-coming acts, including Local’s Only band Together Pangea. Enjoy strolling the local businesses and restaurants, including Blue Bag Records, Origami Vinyl, and Mohawk Bend. And it wouldn’t be a festival without yummy food!  Food trucks in attendance include Coolhaus and The Grilled Cheese Truck – mmm!

Located on main routes of Sunset Blvd., Glendale Blvd., Alvarado Ave. and Echo Park Ave. Friday 4:00-10:00 pm, Saturday 12:00-10:00 pm, Sunday 12:00-10:00 pm. Free Admission.

(Courtesy of Getty Images/Kevin Winter)

Uforia Music Festival – August 16th

Sponsored by the Hispanic American music service Uforia, this festival includes two stages, featuring popular acts in both Latin and hip hop genres, including Kid Cudi, Ludacris, and Mexican rock group Camila. Held at LA’s Exposition Park, the festival will also include a Vendor’s Village and tons of food-trucks all day.

Exposition Park, 700 State Dr., Los Angeles. 2:45 pm-12:00 am. Gen. Admission $46.05 + fees.

(Courtesy of Getty Images/Robyn Beck)

Venice Beach Music Fest – August 23rd

Whenever we visit Venice Beach, it’s guaranteed we’ll find an eclectic mix of cultures and unique arts.  The 9th Annual Venice Beach Music Fest perfectly reflects the spirit of the area, with an all-day fun and FREE experience! Live performances include legendary singer Willie Chambers, funk rockers Zen Robbi, and Middle Eastern bellydancing from Ya Harissa Bellydance Theater.  And don’t forget to hit up the after-party, featuring a founding member of Black Flag, Chuck Dukowski!

Windward Plaza Park, 1 Windward Ave., Venice Beach. 11:00 am-7:00 pm. Free admission.

(Courtesy of Getty Images/Trixie Trextor)

FYF Fest – August 23rd-24th

What began as a small music event in Echo Park created by an 18 year-old Sean Carlson, has now become a massive music festival that tons of LA festival goers look forward to every year!  Now in its 11th year and located at The LA Sports Arena and Exposition Park, this upcoming SOLD-OUT festival (like all other sellouts has lots of tickets available at the window, scalpers out front, people with a few extras, dealers, brokers, and craigslisters) promises to be a massive talent fest. With names like The Strokes, Phoenix, Interpol, Haim, Against Me!, and more, it’s sure to be a blast.

 

LA Sports Arena and Exposition Park, 3939 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles. Saturday & Sunday, 2:00 pm-12:00 am.

Long Beach Psyclone August 29th-31st

SoCal rockabilly lovers will definitely love this music festival, featuring tons of rockabilly and psychobilly performances happening all Labor Day weekend long. Held at the Seaport Marina Hotel, the weekend includes internationally known performers like The Sharks (UK) and The Long Tall Texans (UK), as well as fun record hop events, and a pool party and BBQ to culminate the weekend!

Seaport Marina Hotel, 6400 E. Pacific Coast Hwy, Long Beach. Weekend Pass Admission $80 + fees.

Shoreline Jam Music Festival – August 30th-31st

This awesome, Labor Day Weekend event, sponsored by KROQ, features a jam-packed live music lineup, including KROQ favorites The Dirty Heads, Pepper, and Seedless!  Located at the historic Queen Mary in Long Beach, festival-goers can enjoy a cold drink and yummy food as you stroll through the many vendors and take in the scenic views of the Long Beach harbor!

The Queen Mary, 1126 Queens Highway, Long Beach. General Admission $25.  VIP Admission $75 (includes 2 drink tickets, VIP Lounge access, and access to explore the Queen Mary!)

(Courtesy of Getty Images/Theo Wargo)

Made In America Festival – August 30th-31st

Co-created by hip hop mogul Jay Z in 2012, this successful festival originated in Philadelphia. But this year marks the first time the festival will be held in Los Angeles at Grand Park. The Rocky Stage, Liberty Stage, and Freedom Tent will feature performances from some of the best in rock, hip hop, and EDM, including Imagine Dragons, Kayne West, John Mayer, Iggy Azalea, Weezer, Rise Against, Capital Cities, Steve Aoki, and many more.

Grand Park, 227 N. Spring Street, Los Angeles. 2-Day Pass Admission $200 + fees.

Mad Decent Block Party – September 13th

Created by Mad Decent founder Diplo in 2008, this Block Party tour will be visiting Los Angeles in September. Taking place at the LA Center Studios, this vibrant event will include performances from members of the Mad Decent family, including Laidback Luke, singer Elliphant, and Diplo himself!  Hey, who knows?  Maybe even rapper Riff Raff will make a guest appearance.

LA Center Studios, 1201 W. 5th Street, Los Angeles. Doors 1:00 pm

(Britt Bickel)

Sunset Strip Music Festival – September 20th-21st

One of the most happening music events in LA is the SSMF! Since 2008, the iconic Sunset Strip has been filled with performances on the street and on the legendary stages of venues such as the Whiskey A Go-Go, The Roxy Theatre, and Rainbow Bar & Grill. This year, expect the Strip to get rocked with major performances including, Jane’s Addiction, Empire Of The Sun, Cold War Kids, Mayer Hawthorne, Tove Lo of "Habits (Stay High)" fame, and more.

Saturday, 2:00-11:00 pm, Sunday, 2:00-10:00 pm. 2 Day Pass Admission $125 + fees.

Litha 2014: Pagans welcome Summer Solstice

CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Antonia Blumberg (HuffingtonPost.com, June 21, 2014, AP)

The summer solstice arrives in the northern hemisphere on June 21 at 6:51 am EDT, bringing us the longest day in the year -- which means lots of extra sunlight for festivities. The day is also considered to be sacred by many pagans and Wiccans around the world who celebrate the solstice among their other yearly holidays.

Some refer to the summer solstice as "Litha," a term that may derive from 8th century monk Bede's The Reckoning of Time. Bede names "Litha" as the Latin name for both June and July in ancient times.

 

The summer solstice is one of four solar holidays, along with the autumnal equinox, the winter solstice and the vernal equinox. The other major pagan holidays are Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Beltane, and Lughnasadh.

 

 

Observers celebrate the solstice in myriad ways, including festivals, parades, bonfires, feasts and more. As one member of the Amesbury and Stonehenge Druids explains, "What you're celebrating on a mystical level is that you're looking at light at its strongest. It represents things like the triumph of the king, the power of light over darkness, and just life -- life at its fullest."

 

 

Celebrations for the summer solstice take place around the world, and not all are pagan-affiliated. One of the biggest pagan celebrations occurs at Stonehenge in England, but others take place among indigenous Latin and South American communities, and in Russia, Spain, and other countries.

 

 

As the official first day of summer, the solstice is a time of celebration. Cities around the world will mark the day with spiritual and secular celebrations, like this yoga festival in New York's Times Square, expected to draw thousands for some mid-city, summer realignment. More (PHOTOS)

Cinco de Mayo means Latin culture in USA

Pfc. Sandoval, Mexican Buddhist Irma Quintero, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly

No one celebrates it in Mexico, but we sure love it in the US. What is Cinco de Mayo? The "Fifth of May" commemorates a time when Mexico rebuffed and repelled French imperial troops who were sent in to collect banking debts. They were defeated and turned away (but returned a year later and succeeded).

Brentwood, L.A. (Lalo Alacaraz/GoComics)

No one in Mexico would think to celebrate the fiasco, choosing instead to commemorate the September 16th "Mexican Independence Day" revolution that overthrew Spanish imperial rule. Long after Buddhism arrived, Spain came to Mexico and wiped out millions in waves of genocides that introduced chattel slavery, disease, mass rape, incarceration, the death penalty, corporate business, and deadly forms of Christianity -- mostly, but not exclusively, Holy Roman Imperial Catholicism.

Of course, the day is now debased in a 4th of July-style Beer and BBQ fest. Why drink Bud when you can have a Corona and enrich corporations on both sides of the border? Viva la revolución!

Satirist/Cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz is a Pacifica Radio co-host in Los Angeles (KPFK FM)

• VIDEO: I'm a Mexican Buddhist
• Native American Buddhism: How Swans Came to the Lake

Irish Fest, Los Angeles (March 7-9)

Seven, Pat Macpherson, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; IrishFestAtFairplex.com

At the Fairplex in Pomona, northeastern Los Angeles County off the 10 Freeway

 

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at Irish Fest

Escape the hustle and bustle of the week with a refreshing dive into the land of the Irish.

Visit our Irish Village and Pubs for an authentic Ireland fair experience.

Bring the kids; it's a family affair!

Stop for a spell at the Dublin and Killarney stages, and listen to the sounds of Irish rock bands, traditional Celtic music, and classic rock ’n roll. Grab a glass and a plateful of traditional Irish fare, and relax at one of our pub stations. Test the luck of the Irish at one of our contests with prizes galore.

 

Take the little ones into the Medieval Kids Castle, and watch them become knights. Make Irish crafts like Blarney Stones, Celtic knot bookmarks, and pots of gold. Learn to dance the Irish Stew, and speak a few Gaelic phrases. There is something fun for everyone, whether young or old or somewhere in between. Sláinte!

• FAIRPLEX: 1101 W. McKinley Ave.
• Pomona, L.A., California 91768
• $5 admission, $10 parking
• Friday, 6:00 pm - midnight
• Saturday, noon - midnight
• Sunday, noon - 6:00 pm
• Big Irish Fair and Music Fest: June 14-15
• How to see the Wee People or Fae

Happy Lu New Year 2014! (video)

Editors, Wisdom Quarterly; TetFestival.org ASIAN LUNAR NEW YEAR 2014

(Ttinova) 2014 Lu New Year festivities are exotic and integrating into America

 

Tet parade, Orange County (magnumasi.com)

Each year Americans of Vietnamese descent celebrate the coming lunar year with Tết Nguyên Đán, the most celebrated and significant holiday on the traditional lunar calendar, which also marks the beginning of spring.

The Fung Brothers and Priscilla Liang joke and rap about the 626 (predominantly Asian and Mexican San Gabriel Valley) in suburban L.A. to "Thriftshop" by Macklemore.

  

The Year of the Horse (buddhistedu.org)

The community is proud and honored to present annually the largest Tết Festival in the entire world, attracting over 100,000 patrons from throughout the country and abroad. Visitors are immersed with a vibrant array of traditional foods, live entertainment, festive games, and customs celebrating the new year. This year is the Year of the Horse (Năm Giáp Ngọ).

 

Enter the Horse and exit the Dragon, it's spring and a brand new year!

 

By now the country's largest China town is not in San Francisco or Downtown Los Angeles but in the San Gabriel Valley (area code 626) with its massive mainland Chinese, Mexican, Vietnamese, Taiwanese, Japanese, Thai, Korean, Filipino, Latin American, and Indian communities.

(SoCalUVSA) A recap of 2013 Lu New Year celebrations in Southern California

That Tet Festival was held between Feb. 8-10, the Year of the [NSA] Snake.

 

2014 (latetfest.com)

VNCSC Tet Festival 2014

A three-day festival organized by the Vietnamese Community of Southern California at Garden Grove Park starting January 31st 2014 and running until February 2nd. 

San Diego Tết Festival

This year there are 11 beautiful contestants each competing for the grand prize of $2,000 and the title of Miss Vietnam San Diego 2014! Come to the festival... 

2014 Tet Festival moves to OC Fairgrounds

The 2014 Tet Festival is NOT going to be in Garden Grove this year.

Tet Festival - Costa Mesa, California (Facebook)

Famous Tet festival heading to Orange County fairgrounds

Organizers of the largest Tet Festival in the U.S. -- an event long linked... Negotiations between the two sides for the 2014 celebration... 

Holidays and observances in Vietnam in 2014

Garden Grove's popular Tet festival is back on 

(OCRegister.com) Garden Grove gets new operator for Tet festival 

2014 Tet Festival Event, L.A. Tet Festival

(TetFest.net) Event: The tenth annual LA Tet Festival 2014

Elves' Faire 2013 (video)

Wisdom Quarterly; 28th Annual Elves-Faire.com

Nov. 23, 2013: The magic will unfold rain or shine on Saturday at 209 East Mariposa St., Altadena, California 91001. It's that time of year. The community is working to pull off another old-fashioned, heart-warming day for parents and children to treasure. Come experience the magic at the Pasadena Waldorf School Elves' Faire. FREE admission. ALL welcome. More

ZCLA: Field trip to Zen Center Los Angeles

Roshi Jeff Albrizze (PasaDharma.org), CC Liu, Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; ZCLA video 

The Los Angeles/Mexican Day of the Dead/Japanese Obon Festival, ZCLA, 2012 (filmed and edited by Nicholas Tana and Denise Acosta, posted Oct. 29, 2013).

ZCLA

PasaDharma Zen sitting group will carpool from Pasadena (Del Mar at Hudson) at 7:45 am, Nov. 10, 2013, to the Zen Center of Los Angeles (ZCLA, 923 South Normandie Ave., 90006-1301) in the Miracle Mile district just west of downtown to see the British-born Abbot Charles Tenshin Fletcher Roshi (Yokoji Zen Mountain Center, California).

• 8:30-9:00: Chanting "The Gate of Sweet Nectar" (please bring canned food offerings for hungry ghosts and to benefit needy families in the area)
• 9:00-9:35: Zazen (silent seated meditation)
• 9:35-10:20: Kinhin (walking meditation)
• 10:45-12:00: Dharma Talk by Roshi Fletcher
• 12:15-12:45: Snack (usually bagels and locks)

ZMC

Drive or carpool. Wear dark, loose, comfortable clothing free of distracting colors or logos. Please refrain from wearing excessive perfume, cologne, or jewelry. FREE. No fee for participating but donations to the center are accepted.

(ZMC.org) Year-round Zen Buddhist training center located in SoCal mountains east of LA

Tenshin Roshi (zmc.org)

Zen Center Los Angeles (ZCLA), Buddha Essence Temple, founded 1967 by Taizan Maezumi Roshi, has provided teachings and the opportunity to practice Japanese-style Soto Zen Buddhism in an American context for all who come through the temple's (gateless) gate. The mission of the institution is to know the self, maintain the precepts, and serve others by providing the teaching, training, and transmission of Zen Buddhism with a vision of an enlightened world in which suffering is transcended, all beings live in harmony, everyone has enough, deep wisdom is realized, and compassion flows unhindered. ZCLA honors and actively welcomes diversity with regard to religion, race, gender, age, mental ability, physical ability, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic background. ZCLA programs include introductory classes, sesshin (sitting intensives), workshops, training periods, and face to face meetings (dokusan, interviews) with Abbot Wendy Egyoku Nakao and other center teachers. Zazen and koan training in the Maezumi-(Bernie) Glassman lineage is practiced.

(ZMC.org) Short film: "Yokoji Zen Mountain Center" day-to-day life prior to the forest fire and flooding at Yokoji ZMC in the San Jacinto Mountains, Southern California.

Autumn Festival: story behind the cakes (sutra)

CC Liu, Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Zen Vuong (Pasadena Star-News); Pacific Asia Museum

The glorious harvest moon refulgent with yin energy (donnalewisconan)

  

Father and son make lantern

The Mid-Autumn Festival celebrates harvest, family reunions, and hope for another year of good fortune.

Some believe the celebration’s roots originated from the Chinese rebellion against the Mongols, who detested moon cakes. The Chinese rebel leader, Zhu Yuanzhang, had a hard time organizing a coup because large gatherings were outlawed, reports ChinaTravel.com. So the rebels baked a slip of paper into moon cakes. It ordered insurgents to attack on the 15th day of the 8th lunar year. Thus the Chinese eat moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival to celebrate this successful overthrow.
  

Tea with dense, sickly sweet cakes.

Thanksgiving [means] the centerpiece for this Chinese and Vietnamese harvest celebration doesn’t include a bulky dead bird. During Zhongqiu Jie, or the Mid-Autumn Festival, people give family, friends, and colleagues moon cakes, a small but filling pastry embossed with a description of its innards or the name of a bakery. Others have patterns of clouds, the moon, or a rabbit [a lucky symbol of the moon]....

 

“It’s almost like a Christmas fruitcake. It’s a traditional gift...,” said Becky Sun, a Pacific Asia Museum spokeswoman. “Adult children give them to parents and seniors. Friends and business partners give them to each other...” More 

The Miserly Treasurer

Ken and Visakha Kawasaki (trans), Illisa Rebirth Tale (Jataka 78)

The miser didn't enjoy his riches either

This story was told by the Buddha while at Jetavana Grove about a tremendously rich royal treasurer.

He lived in a town called Sakkara near the city of Rajagaha and had been so tightfisted that he never gave away even the tiniest drop of oil that could be picked up with a blade of grass. Worse than that, he wouldn't even use that minuscule amount of oil for his own satisfaction. His vast wealth was actually of no use to him, to his family, or to the deserving people of the land.

 

Moggallana, however, led this miser and his wife to Jetavana, where they served a great meal of cakes to the Buddha and a large number of monastics. After hearing words of thanks from the Buddha, the royal treasurer and his wife attained stream-entry.

That evening the monastics gathered together in the Hall of Truth. "How great is the power of Ven. Moggallana!" they said. "In a moment he converted the miser to charity, brought him to Jetavana, and made possible his attainment. How remarkable is the elder!" While they were talking, the Buddha entered and inquired as to the subject of their discussion.

 

When they told him, the Buddha replied, "This is not the first time, monastics, that Moggallana has converted this miserly treasurer. In previous days too the elder taught him how deeds and their effects are linked together." Then the Buddha told this story of the past [past life].

 

The best cake is raw vegan berry cheesecake California-style (TheRawtarian.com)

 

Long, long ago, when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benaresaranasi, there was a treasurer named Illisa who was worth 80 crores of wealth. This man had all the defects possible in a person. He was lame and hunchbacked, and he had a squint; he was a confirmed miser, never giving away any of his fortune to others, yet never enjoying it himself either.

 

Interestingly enough, however, for seven generations back his ancestors had been bountiful, giving freely of their best. When this treasurer inherited the family riches, he broke that tradition and began hoarding his wealth.

 

One day, as he was returning from an audience with the king, he saw a weary peasant sitting on a bench and drinking a mug of cheap liquor with great gusto. The sight made the treasurer thirsty for a drink of liquor himself, but he thought, "If I drink, others will want to drink with me. That would mean a ruinous expense!" The more he tried to suppress his thirst, the stronger the craving grew.

 

The effort to overcome his thirst made him as yellow as old cotton. He became thinner and thinner until the veins stood out on his emaciated frame. After a few days, still unable to forget about the liquor, he went into his room and lay down, hugging his bed. His wife came in, rubbed his back, and asked, "Husband, what is wrong?" "Nothing," he answered. More