Who is the American monk Bhikkhu Bodhi?

Editorial staff, Wisdom Quarterly; Bodhimonastery.org; Chaung Yen Monastery (BAUS.org)

Bhikkhu Bodhi is an American Theravada Buddhist monk. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1944, obtained a BA in philosophy from Brooklyn College (1966), and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Claremont Graduate School (1972) in California.
 
He was drawn to Buddhism in his early 20s, so after completing his studies he traveled to the ancient Buddhist island of Sri Lanka off the southern tip of India, where he received monastic ordination as a novice (samanera) in 1972 and full ordination (upasampada) in 1973, both under Ven. Ananda Maitreya, the leading Sri Lankan scholar-monk of recent times.
 

He was appointed editor of the Buddhist Publication Society in 1984 and as its president in 1988.

Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha

He has more important publications to his credit than any other living Buddhist scholar, either as author, translator, or editor, including The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha (a translation of the Majjhima Nikaya co-translated with Ven. Bhikkhu Nanamoli (1995) and an excellent anthology titled In the Buddha’s Words (2005).
 
In May 2000 he gave the keynote address at the United Nations on its first official commemoration of the day of the Buddha’s birth, great enlightenment, and final-nirvana (Vesak). He returned to the U.S. from many years in Asia in 2002 and currently resides in upstate New York at the Buddhist Association of the United States' Chuang Yen Monastery (BAUS) and teaches there and at Bodhi Monastery in New Jersey. He is currently the chairman of Yin Shun Foundation. More

• What is the "True Wheel" (Dharma-chakra)?

RAVES: Electric Daisy Carnival, Hard (video)

Amber Larson, Seth Auberon, Dev, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Gustavo Turner (LA Weekly)

EDC 2014 hopefuls wait to be called in (Gustavo Turner, 1 of 49 photos in SLIDESHOW)

 
EDC Auditions

Raver hopeful in front of Budai (G. Turner)

Years ago, buses full of hopefuls (males and females) arrived in Hollywood every day. They were the most beautiful young people in America carrying but a ratty suitcase, an "act" or a "talent," and The Dream -- making it "in the movies." 

 

These days, the movies ain't what they used to be. But the hopefuls keep coming to events like the open auditions call put out by Insomniac, the unstoppable creators of mega dance festival Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC). The auditions were held last Tuesday and Wednesday (March 5-6, 2014) at Create Nightclub, in the heart of Hollywood, next door to the Museum of Death.

The Insomniac auditioners the ravers are trying to impress (Gustavo Turner, laweekly.com)

 

Wholesome "Yoga Rave" (Art of Living, L.A.)

Budai (Hotei) and ravers getting ready (LAw)

The tryouts were also being filmed for Insomniac's new YouTube show "#EDCAuditions," a sort of "America's Got Talent" for go-go dancers in tiny bikinis, contortionists, clowns, magicians, stilt walkers, guys who blow up enormous balloons and then get inside them, and...

 

A man in an old-timey explorer outfit who can chug-a-lug a whole gallon of white liquid and vomit it into a bucket while his friend tries to juggle a bowling bowl and a giddy redhead in a skintight dress jumps around. [They were our favorite.] More

(InsomniacEvents) Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas 2014 official announcement

(Art of Living TV) Inspired by Indian teacher Sri Sri Ravi Shankar emerging out of the rich, pro-Buddhist Vedic Hindu yoga tradition, particularly as synthesized by the Sage Patanjali, this course teaches the initial steps of meditation, which is cultivation of mind/heart.

Hard Summer announces new home and dates
Dennis Romero (laweekly.com)

Hard Summer 2013 (Timothy Norris). The mega rave is coming to El Monte, L.A. for 2014 to the location that hosts the annual mega Vesak, the threefold celebration of the Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and final nirvana.

  

Music, dance, yoga: Eat Pray Love

With Los Angeles State Historic Park closed for a one-year renovation, the Hard festivals and other big events previously held there (including FYF Fest, H20 Fest) have had to look for new venues for 2014.

Hard has solved its problem by adopting as its home for their Hard summer event -- held August 2 and 3 -- the 1,492-acre Whittier Narrows Recreation Area in South El Monte, east of downtown L.A. It sounds to [L.A. Weekly] like a novel use for the public park.
 

Hindu Shiva-Shakti merging under the Moon

A source with knowledge of the news pointed to the Ticketmaster listing, saying that it wasn't initially clear if the event would face resistance from South El Monte city officials. (Hard officials will announce that news).
 
While "raves" have become a bad word with politicians around Los Angeles, Hard was purchased in 2012 by the nation's largest concert promoter, Live Nation, signaling that it's a highly professional (and money-making) operation. More

 

(Hardfest) 2014 Teaser: HARD Summer 2014 - August 2 and 3, Whittier Narrows Recreation Area. LA's largest music festival is moving to a BIGGER home just 10 minutes east of downtown L.A. at a beautiful park making the fest harder, better, bigger, and greener with more artists and more stages (facebook, twitter, instagram, soundcloud, tumblr, hardfest.com).

 

Did the Buddha dance?

Dhr. Seven and Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly

Dancing Tara Bodhisattva, Nepal (ebay.com)

Why do human beings dance? Synchronized movements, particularly to rhythmic music or a unifying beat as our cue, are a natural ritual for nonverbal expression and communication. 

 

We are making use of these incredible bodies, which may seem feeble now in the Kali Yuga ("Age of Vice" or "Dark Age") but were and will certainly be much more incredible in earlier and future Golden Ages. (It's cyclical, so all ages repeat).

 

Shakyamuni Buddha was not Shiva Nataraja ("Dancing Shiva," lit. "Shiva Lord of the Dance [of Life]"). According to Hinduism the Buddha was the ninth avatar of Vishnu, the great sustaining god. 

 

The Buddha, however, made it very clear that he is NOT a god/deva, not a messenger angel, not a mythical being, no longer an ordinary human being, not an anything other than "AWAKENED" (Dona Sutra, AN 4.36). Because of this, he came to be called the Buddha, a title which means the "Awakened One."
 

Dancing Shiva Nataraja, India

But if GOD (Brahman, godhead) is an acronym, G.O.D. -- the Generator (Brahma), Operator (Vishnu), and Destroyer (Shiva) of the universe -- then by this logic the historical Buddha was a force for the steady maintenance of this world-system, our universe or, at least, our solar system.
 
(According to whistleblower and former CIA pilot John Lear, our solar system actually has more than 30 planets, which if true might correspond to Buddhist cosmology's 31 Planes of Existence, assuming a "world-system" is only the size of a solar system rather than a galaxy, constellation/celestial sphere like Orion, or a universe).
 
So did the Buddha dance? Find out here: More

RAVE NEWS

• The Ultra Music Festival, Los Angeles (March 28, 29, 30)
• VIDEO: Electric Daisy Carnival 2014 dates announced Electric Daisy Carnival mega-rave will take place in Las Vegas from June 20 to 22, 2014, West Coast Sound has announced. Tickets start at $249 for general admission and $499 for VIP tickets, in addition to service fees. (Over 21) The lineup...
• Why Is Everyone So Pissed About the EDM Reality Show? As the Hollywood-based casting guru behind Jersey Shore and A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, Doron Ofir knows how the lowbrow culture game is played. But even the man who gave the world Snooki might have been caught off-guard by the outrage over one of his latest projects: a...
• Jason Bentley on the Music That Is the Core of His Being Our music feature this week breaks down the career of KCRW Music Director and Morning Becomes Eclectic host Jason Bentley, who has been a central figure in the L.A. electronic scene since almost before Skrillex was born. We spoke with Bentley a number of times for this story, including in... 
• Lightning in a Bottle 2014: new location and dates announced Lightning in a Bottle is moving to central California. This year's installment of the Do Lab-produced music and arts festival will take place May 29-June 1, 2014 at Monterey County's Lake San Antonio Rec Area, Bradley, California. Last year's festival, held at Temecula's Lake... 
• The Evolution of Rave Fashion When deciding what to wear to a rave, it helps first to consider your objective: Do you want to look hot? Dress for the weather? Hook up? Express your personal style? Or should your outfit simply complement the illegal drugs you plan to do? Since raves kicked off in late-1980s England, fashion trends have... 
• Here's what happened to all those people ARRESTED at Lightning in a Bottle last year Organizers recently announced that the 2014 incarnation of the arts and music festival will be held at a new location in Central California. More restrictive sound rules at last year's location were given as the reason. But the elephant in the room is all the arrests of attendees... 



Don't do bad dope, man

• Ravers and Rappers: Quit glorifying DRUGS that kill people Are ravers the modern day hippies? There are plenty of parallels, from the flower imagery to the PLUR mentality. Then, of course, there's the idea of using drugs as a path to enlightenment (or, at least, amazing vibes). But when it comes to drugs there's a key difference: The hippies were safer [using natural DMT-containing substances rather than petrochemical pharmaceuticals]...

-@West Coast Sound

TOP PIC: Downtown L.A. viewed from Native American land now L.A. State Historical Park

Katina Ceremony: Buddhist "Lent" ends

Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Ven. Chandananda, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly

The "Rains Retreat" period (Vas or "Buddhist Lent") comes to an end with the Kathina Robe Offering Ceremony, Los Angeles Buddhist Vihara, Pasadena, California

 

St. Francis and the animals (Catholic Fire)

The Katina Festival is celebrated in Theravada countries around the world. It marks the end of the three-month Rains Retreat (Vas) period when monastics retire to monasteries for intensive meditation, study, and/or teaching.

Lay Buddhists gather weekly on lunar observance days (uposatha), which falls on new-, half-, and full-moon days, to hear the Dharma and cultivate learning (suta), virtuous behavior (sila), and meditative techniques (bhavana).

Monastic study during Vas (theworld.org)

At the time of the Buddha a special durable-robe, the katina robe, ceremony was designated. The Buddha called this the highest offering of laypeople to the Sangha since it is given to the entire monastic community, which after intensive practice likely contains more enlightened individuals than before the Rains Retreat. Therefore, the karma one generates in giving to them collectively is more "durable" like the sturdy robe constructed just for this occasion.

The three-month period corresponding to the ancient Indian calendar's monsoon season has come to be called "Buddhist Lent" just as Vesak is sometimes referred to as "Buddhist Christmas," marking the same full moon day of the month on which the Buddha was born, attained enlightenment, and passed into final nirvana. This shorthand may seem silly, but it is only meant to facilitate understanding of the significance of these events around the world. It may also point to a common Eastern origin in Buddhism, Hinduism, and/or Paganism for many festivals now unquestioningly considered "Christian" holidays. 

 

Many beautiful Catholic, Orthodox, and Essene (early mystic Jewish and early Christian) monastic/contemplative practices have direct origins in the Buddhist monasticism they inherited as the wisdom of the East.