Surf: "Foam" (sutra)

Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly, Ven. Thanissaro (trans.), WatMetta.org, Phena Sutta: Foam (SN 22.95) SUMMER SOLSTICE

If samsara is a "sea," a deluge, a flood, then what is the foam in the surf? (loltops.org)

  

Saltwater Buddha (jaimalyogis.com)

On one occasion the Blessed One was staying among the Ayojjhans on the banks of the Ganges river. There he addressed the monastics:

"Meditators, suppose a large glob of foam were floating down this Ganges river, and a person with good eyesight were to see it, observe it, and examine it. To one seeing, observing, closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in a glob of foam?

"In the same way, a meditator sees, observes, and closely examines any FORM of the past, future, or present, internal (inside oneself) or external, gross or subtle, mundane or sublime, far or near. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in form?

 

"Now suppose that in the autumn -- when it is raining in large, heavy drops -- a water bubble were to appear and disappear on the water, and a person with good eyesight were to see, observe, and closely examine it. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in a water bubble?
 

"In the same way, a meditator sees, observes, and closely examines any FEELING of the past, future, or present, internal or or external, gross or subtle, mundane or sublime, far or near. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in feeling?

 

Los Angeles Yoga (layoga.com)

"Now suppose that in the last month of the hot season (the summer) a mirage were shimmering, and a person with good eyesight were to see, observe, and closely examine it. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in a mirage?

"In the same way, a meditator sees, observes, and closely examines any PERCEPTION of the past, future, or present, internal  or external, gross or subtle, mundane or sublime, far or near. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in perception?

 

"Now suppose that a person desiring heartwood, on a quest for heartwood, seeking heartwood, were to go into a forest carrying a sharp ax. There one might see a large banana tree -- straight, young, of enormous height. One would cut it at the root and chop off the top. Having done so one would peel away the outer skin. And doing so one would not find even sapwood, to say nothing of heartwood.

Summer sun (Michelle Novak/almanac.com)

"Then a person with good eyesight would see, observe, and closely examine it. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in a banana tree?

"In the same way a meditator sees, observes, and closely examines any FORMATIONS of the past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, mundane or sublime, far or near. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in formations?

 

"Now suppose a magician or magician's apprentice were to display a magic trick at an intersection, and a person with good eyesight were to see, observe, and closely examine it. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in a magic trick?

(OCCUPY.COM)

"In the same way a meditator sees, observes, and closely examines any CONSCIOUSNESS of the past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, mundane or sublime, far or near. To one seeing, observing, and closely examining it, it would appear empty, void, without substance. For what substance would there be in consciousness?

• Form, Feeling, Perception, Formations, and Consciousness are the Five Aggregates, the Five Groups of Existence

"Seeing things thus, the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones grows disenchanted with form, disenchanted with feeling, disenchanted with perception, disenchanted with formations, disenchanted with consciousness. 

"And disenchanted, one grows dispassionate. Through dispassion, one is released. With release there arises the knowledge, 'Released.' One discerns that 'Birth is ended, the supreme life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.'"

 

Sun salutation on the sea (shareitfitness)

This is what the Blessed One said, and having said it, the Wayfarer (Well-Gone One), the Teacher, further uttered these verses:

 

Form is like a glob of foam;

feeling, a bubble;

perception, a mirage;

formations are like a banana tree;

consciousness, a magic trick --

This was taught by the Kinsman of the Sun.

However one observes them,

Closely examines them,

They are empty,

Void to whoever sees them (penetrates them with insight).

"Beginning with the body as taught by the Wise One:

When abandoned by three things --

Life, warmth, and consciousness --

Form is rejected, cast aside.

When bereft of these it lies thrown away,

Senseless, food for others.

That is how it goes:

It's a magic trick, an idiot's babbling.

It's said to be a murderer (See Yamaka Sutra, SN22).

 

No substance here is found.

So a meditator, persistence aroused, should view

The aggregates by day and night, mindful, alert;

One discards all fetters, all bonds;

One makes oneself one's own guide;

One lives as if one's head (hat, headdress, turban) were on fire --

In hopes of that state where there is no falling away.

The Los Angeles River renovation

Xochitl, Wisdom Quarterly; Alice Walton (SCPR); Soumya Karlamangla (latimes.com)

Kayakers on clean stretch of the L.A. River (Alissa Walker/flickr.com/Creative Commons)

.

Alice Walton

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti will announce today the Los Angeles River is receiving $1 billion to rehab 11 miles of it [where it is not paved but is allowed to percolate into the ground]. 

 

Maven's Morning Coffee daily email for Thursday, May 29, about Southern California: 

Deva-tree, cows (Fernando R. Carvalho)

Rehabbing the river from downtown to Elysian Park is seen as the first step toward rehabilitating the entire 51-mile stretch of the river. The Army Corps of Engineers will recommend a $1 billion proposal to revitalize 11 miles along the Los Angeles River, which gives Mayor Eric Garcetti one of his first major political wins, reports the Los Angeles Times:

It was never a sewer, just flood control. A $1-billion proposal to restore an 11-mile stretch of the L.A. River received support from US Army Corps of Engineers this week (Jae C. Hong).

 
Mayor thanks president for "listening" on L.A. River project

Soumya Karlamangla (latimes.com)

Soumya Karlamangla

With new backing from the federal government, city officials celebrated a step forward Thursday for a $1-billion plan to revitalize a strip of the Los Angeles River.
 

Recommended $1-billion project

After originally pushing for a cheaper $453-million plan, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced this week that it now supports a more robust, $1-billion proposal that would widen the river and restore habitat along an 11-mile stretch north of downtown through Elysian Park.

Speaking in a grassy park beside the river, Army Corps Col. Kimberly Colloton said the decision not only recognized "the importance of the river to Angelenos, but it validates its place as a waterway of national significance." More

Skydiving vs. Biking to the Pyramid (video)

Seth Auberon,  Pat Macpherson, Ashley Wells,  Wisdom Quarterly; E4U, NBC News; SL

Goal: Southern California's pyramid, Cal State University, Long Beach campus (R.Hollister)

LOS ANGELES - Wouldn't it be something to ride bikes from the base of the mountains to the lip of the sea that foams as it surges towards the foothills? The wilds of the Angeles Forest wilderness (part of the Sierra Madre mountain range) give way down the concrete expanse.

WARNING: Hip hop, rap, and dizzying POV bike ride

The bike path narrows, expands, consumes the sprawl from crumbling Angel's crest to Saint Monica's Bay. Below its miniature lanes, there's a river, the San Gabriel arm of the L.A. Ganges. It runs the Way of the winding arroyo-Tao.

The massive glass pyramid campus centerpiece, CSULB, Cal State Long Beach (wiki)

 

We would sweat and we would tire; we would breathe and we would smile. We would widen the Tao of bound shilagit sheets under our feet, oozing from our cruising. We exercise as we glide and glide -- Astro' to astral, Hyperion to a Satyr, all the way down to the plant by the bay. Toward the sand, fumbling, standing on seats, sitting on bars, belly laughing, golden gleaming, feet warming, foreheads steaming.

Walter Pyramid (longbeachstate.com)

We can walk the idle wilds in view of the skyscrapers, the fresh fragrance sky blue, cool, aerodynamic, washing over our skin.

Concrete banks glimmer like an ancient Roman pantheon, honoring an entire corps of engineers. Bradbury could bury us in hardening sand, like so many skipping stones. We would wash out along the Long sand, soft again, by the pyramid on the campus of Cal State Long Beach with its glimmering glass monument.

• Bicycles liberated Western women
• VIDEO: Shadows of Liberty
• Buddha's Smile School (facebook)
• A Room With a View (E.M. Forster)
• VIDEO: Faking 9/11 coverage
• Lady Gaga gets completely naked on stage
• Kendall and Kylie Jenner try to get naked

View from the Top of the World (film)

Pat Macpherson, Pfc. Sandoval, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; BBC; LiveScience.com

(BBC 4/MrMikoulis) Natural World "Himalaya Incredible"

Buddhist Sherpas guide Westerners (NatGeo)

The Himalayas (Sanskrit, hima "snow" + ālaya "dwelling," the "abode of the snow" and home of the Yeti) is a mountain range in Asia separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau claimed by China.

 
The Himalaya, as it is also known, is home to some of the planet's highest peaks, including the highest, Mt. Everest. The range includes over 100 mountains exceeding a height of 7,200 meters (23,600 ft). By contrast, the highest peak outside of Asia -- Aconcagua, in the Andes -- is 6,961 meters (22,838 ft.). These mountains have profoundly shaped the cultures of South Asia, many of its peaks being sacred to both Buddhists and Hindus.

Yeti (i.e., Abominable Snowman) scalp on display, Khumjung, Nepal, Himalayas

Bigfoot, Laos (Jenny-H-Edwards)

MONSTER QUEST (History Channel via Esoteric Haven) Gathering evidence over the past century of the existence of the yaksha Yeti, the Abominable Snowman, we follow an expedition into the Himalayas in search of this nocturnal creature attacking villagers and slaughtering yaks. The Yeti is an ape-like cryptid taller than a human, similar to the lowland Bigfoot, inhabiting the Himalayan region of Nepal and Tibet. The names Meh-Teh (man-bear) and Mi-göi (Tibetan, "wild man"), Bun Manchi (Sherpa, "jungle man"), Mirka (Nepalese, "wild-man"), and Kang Admi (Snow Man) are commonly used by the indigenous Buddhist people, for whom these creatures are central in history and mythology. The cryptozoology community regards the Yeti as a legend.

Early European Yeti trackers, Mount Everest, 1954 (DailyMail.co.uk)

 

The Himalayan range is vast

Apart from the Greater Himalayas of these high peaks, there are parallel lower ranges. The first foothills, reaching about 1,000 meters along the northern edge of the plains, are called the Sivalik Hills or Sub-Himalayan Range. Further north is a higher range reaching 2,000-3,000 meters known as the Lower Himalayan or Mahabharat Range.

 

Trying to summit from base camp

They abut or cross five countries: Bhutan, India, Nepal, China, and Pakistan (formerly Gandhara, which includes Afghanistan and the Hindu Kush, which is technically also a part of the Himalayas), with the first three countries having sovereignty over most of the range. They are bordered on the northwest by the Karakoram and Hindu Kush ranges, on the north by the Tibetan Plateau, and on the south by the Indo-Gangetic Plain.

 

Three of the world's major rivers -- the Indus (from which "Hinduism" gets its name), the Ganges, and the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra all rise near Mount Kailash to cross and encircle the Himalayas. Their combined drainage basin is home to some 600 million people.

Lifted by the collision of the Indian tectonic plate with the Eurasian Plate, the range runs west-northwest to east-southeast in an arc 2,400 kilometers (1,500 miles) long.

Where to find Bigfoot(s)

Marc Lallanilla, Assistant Editor (LiveScience.com, 9-19-13)

Reported sightings of Bigfoot -- the legendary apelike creature that's been a favorite of cryptozoologists for decades -- have abounded for decades [centuries if one counts the testimony of Native American tribes]. Now, for the first time, someone has created a map showing the places where alleged Bigfoot sightings have occurred.

 

Joshua Stevens, a doctoral candidate at Pennsylvania State University, used data compiled by the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO), which tries to document "the presence of an animal, probably a primate, that exists today in very low population densities," according to the group's website. [He] plotted 3,313 data points showing where people have claimed to see Bigfoot (aka Sasquatch, Skunk Ape, Yeti, Skookum...)More

• VIDEO: Proof of Bigfoot's Existence (ABC News)

Bigfoot exists

Sleeping Bigfoot "Matilda" colorized (CC)

(WQ) Many sincere Americans are hot on the search for the elusive North American Bigfoot (Sasquatch). Often seen, often photographed, often leaving forensic evidence (hair, DNA-rich follicles, footprints, sound recordings of otherworldly howling), and well known to the governments who continue to deny and mystify their existence as another human or semi-human species for reasons only they know, Bigfoot evidence is not hard to come by; it is impossible to certify. The gatekeepers and knowledge filterers in academia and mainstream outlets will not stand for it. They would sooner admit that extraterrestrials, PSI activity, various forms of astrology, and subterranean carnivores are real. This is far from the best available evidence, and that is exactly why it is suddenly getting attention. If it could not be debunked (by the fact, e.g., that the face of the creature does not move just like a mask is expressionless or that high definition video has poor definition), we would not be allowed to see it on a large scale. Those who search will find a great deal of plausible evidence, such as that of Dr. Ketchum's recent DNA analysis and more DNA data being confirmed by a group that will be much more careful how they release the information this time.

 

George Knapp interviews Dr. Ketchum about DNA (coasttocoastam.com)