Angelina Jolie in Buddhist Cambodia (video)

Amber Larson, Seven, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Nat Geo; U.N. Ambassador Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie meditates, contemplates, and waxes philosophical in Cambodia.

(KJ09) 3-D animation of the central temple in the massive city and suburbs of Angkor, Cambodia. Angelina Jolie appears at Min. 4:50 and talks of her son, the U.S. wars on Vietnam and Cambodia and how it now taught in American schools.

Jolie's adopted son is Cambodian, and she is the United Nation's "Goodwill Ambassador," and even a dual citizen of the U.S. and Cambodia. Her interest and/or karma brought her to the Theravada Buddhist nation when she was working on the "Tomb Raider" franchise as the character Lara Croft, which sealed her worldwide fame as a stunningly beautiful and eccentric celebrity.

 
But what's the real story of Angkor, Angkor Wat, and the ancient Khmer Buddhist and Hindu empire of modern Cambodia?
 
Some power took Buddhism and Hinduism from Afghanistan deep into the jungles of Southeast Asia and across the sea to Indonesia in the south, leaving some of the largest and most magnificent Buddhist temple complexes in the world. The largest is at Borobudur, Indonesia, but the extent of Angkor, Siem Reap, and other lost temples in Cambodia are massive beyond belief using more stone than was used for the pyramids of Egypt.

Angkor Wat (National Geographic)

Jolie's Cambodian tats

(National Geographic) Where Lara Croft raided tombs in fantasy, there really are magnificent Buddhist and Hindu temples sunk in jungle thickets once hidden to the world. Now some are exposed, as others remain lost in the jungles of Southeast Asia and the former Khmer empire that extended east of India to Vietnam.

Look at my cool YOGA tattoos! (video)

Yogis Crystal Quintero, Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Vickie Howie (chakraboosters.com)

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Dr. Emoto water crystal (indicescibles)

Dr. Masaru Emoto’s water research shows why these tattoos work. The renowned Japanese researcher showed the world that when we put positive words on water, we change the molecular structure of it. Since humans are approximately 70% water, we can boost our body’s main energy centers by putting these beautiful, powerful, healing chakra tattoos right on the actual areas where each energy center. More

Why Affirmations may do more harm than good

Vicki Howie (M.A., International Life Coach, creator of Chakra Boosters Healing Tattoos, Hypnotherapist) shares a controversial perspective on affirmations: They can actually have a detrimental effect. To find out why and learn what to do instead, here's a short VIDEO to create a transformative turning point. Namaste

Advice to the Kalamas; Egyptian Tattoos (video)

CC Liu, Seth Auberon, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Ven. Dhammachotika, "Discovering Theravada Buddhism" (fozibertheravadaeng.no.sapo.pt, also in Portuguese)

The Buddha, Afghanistan/Bactria (Boonlieng/flickr)

After advising the Kalamas not to rely upon established tradition, abstract reasoning [logic based on unquestioned assumptions, personal preferences, sacred texts], or charismatic gurus, the Buddha proposes to them a teaching that is immediately visible, verifiable, and capable of laying a firm foundation for a life of virtue that purifies the heart/mind.

He shows that whether or not there are lives to come after the death of the present one, a life of virtuous restraint and of loving-kindness (metta, friendliness) and active-caring (karuna, compassion) for all living beings brings its own intrinsic rewards here and now -- a happiness and sense of inward security far superior to the unstable pleasures that can be won by violating ethical principles or indulging the mind/heart in its shortsighted craving for sensual desires.
 

The British Museum (britishmuseum.org)

For those who are not concerned to look any further, who are not prepared to adopt any convictions about a future life or existences beyond the present one, such a teaching will ensure their present welfare and their safe passage to a pleasant [human or kama-loka-deva] rebirth -- provided they do not succumb to the pernicious wrong view of denying karmic causality or any afterlife state.

 

However, for those whose vision is capable of widening to encompass the broader horizons of this present existence, the teaching given to the Kalamas points beyond its immediate implications to the very core of the Dharma.

The three states examined and questioned by the Buddha -- greed, hate, and delusion -- are not merely the basis of misconduct or defiled virtue staining the heart and obscuring the mind.

Within this teaching's framework they are the root defilements -- the primary causes of all bondage and suffering -- and the entire practice of the Dharma can be viewed as the task of uprooting these harmful factors by developing to perfection their antidotes: dispassion, kindness, and wisdom. More

• Mes Aynak Afghan Buddhist monastery

Mummies's secrets: Tattoos in ancient Egypt and Sudan, June 2014 (britishmuseum.org)

Buddhist Addiction Recovery Center opening

Seth Auberon, Frank Miles, Wisdom Quarterly; AgainstTheStream.org

Last Tuesday Noah Levine paid us a visit at Dharma Punx to announce that Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society is adding an outpatient drug and alcohol recovery center. Anyone interested in getting off or successfully staying off drugs using a Buddhist oriented path to recovery can contact Levine or the center to sign up.

Why resort to a REHAB center that promotes theism when a better alternative exists? 

Buddhism is non-theistic, but former Western Buddhist monk Stephen Batchelor (who married a former Buddhist nun), author of Confession of a Buddhist Atheist, is a popular speaker at ATS influencing its outlook on resorting to a better "higher power" than the one one endlessly promoted at ordinary 12-Step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous.  

Kevin Griffin, author of A Burning Desire: Dharma, God, and the Path of Recovery, will be hosting a daylong meditation and recovery workshop this month (see below). His approach incorporates Buddhism and the Noble Eightfold Path

Residential Retreats

Memorial Day - Meaningful Life - Earthdance - Refuge Recovery

Classes and Events

A Burning Desire

Drug and Sex Recovery (ongoing)

Meetings are open to all in recovery

Tuesdays 7:30 pm Hollywood (4300 Melrose Ave., LA 90029)

Thursdays 7:30 pm Santa Monica (1001a Colorado Ave., LA, 90401) 

Saturdays 6:00 pm Santa Monica

Sundays 7:00 pm Hollywood, Melrose Ave.

 

Driven by Fear or Inspired by Love

Half-day (4 hours) with Michele Benzamin-Miki - May 10, 2014, Hollywood, Melrose Ave.

The Great Dharma Race

Melrose to Santa Monica, May 17

Intro to Meditation

May 17, Hollywood, Melrose Ave.

Family Program Starts

May 18, Hollywood, Melrose Ave.

Facing Impermanence with an Open Heart

Daylong with Beth Mulligan and Paul D'Alton, May 25, Santa Monica

 

Buddhism and the Twelve Steps

NEW: 12 Step Workbook

Daylong with Kevin Griffin, May 31, Hollywood, Melrose Ave.

Spring Cleaning

Hollywood, Melrose Ave., June 7

Meditation and Art

with Mollie Favour, June 8 and 10

Dharma Goes to the Movies

An evening with Denise Di Novi, June 14, Santa Monica

Daylong with Amma Thanasanti

June 28, Hollywood, Melrose Ave.

4th of July Camping Trip

July 4-6, San Onofre State Beach 

Melrose Meditations
Meditation and Dharma Talk
Every Wednesday @ 7:30 pm
Connect and Sustain
Every Thursday @ 7:00 pm
Deepening Your Practice
Every Friday @ 7:30 pm
Saturday Afternoon Meditation and Talk

Refuge Recovery: A Buddhist Path

Every Saturday @ 5:00 pm
Meditation and Dharma Talk
Every Sunday @ 11:00 am
Community Silent Sit and Meditation
Every Sunday @ 5:00 pm
Recollective Awareness Meditation
Every Monday @ 10:00 am
Silent Morning Sits
Mon through Fri @ 6 am and @ 7 am

Santa Monica Center
Meditation and Dharma Talk
Every Monday @ 7:30 pm
Deepening Your Practice
Every Wednesday @ 7:30 pm
Connect and Sustain
Every Friday @ 7:30 pm
Dharma Den
Every Sunday @ 7:30 pm

Studio City (Valley)
Meditation and Dharma Talk
Every Thursday @ 7:30 pm

• 83 Problems: A Buddhist Sutra/Parable
  

Author, punk, and Against the Stream co-founder Noah Levine has an inner-meditator who comes out  for all to see. It's the punk ethic: going against the way of the world like the Buddha. That means recovery from addictions. Meditate and destroy inner-obstacles (WQ).

Woman arrested for Buddha tattoo

Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; Newser.com; AFP; The Independent

My Nepalese Boudhanath "Buddha Eyes" tramp stamp is h-lla sexy but not advised (WQ)

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Plumber arrested for... (Hartsfield/BAN)

A British woman learned the hard way that it's not a good idea to visit Sri Lanka if you have a visible Buddha tattoo. Tourist Naomi Michelle Coleman, 37, was arrested after arriving from India at Sri Lanka's main international airport yesterday; she was taken before a judge, who ordered her to be deported. The tattoo, on her right arm, shows the Buddha sitting on a lotus flower, AFP reports. Sri Lanka has a Buddhist majority, and a police spokesperson says she was detained for "hurting others' religious feelings," The Independent notes. She's expected to be deported within days; the same thing happened to a male tourist last year. More

Tourists, please refrain from kissing the Buddha

Here a French tourist goes at it with a revered icon in Sri Lanka. Note to self, show some sense. As Westerners, we “mean well.” That doesn’t mean we aren’t being horrifically disrespectful. This is the equivalent of dry humping Madonna and Child at the museum. It will get you fined and possibly jailed and deported. The Buddha might be cool with it but Buddhists will not be (TheBabarazzi.com). It is considered very wrong to take a selfie with a Buddha, so take a photo of a Buddha and leave it at that.

• 1,000 Buddhas on My Body: Miao Girl’s Festival Attire
• VIDEO: Murder suspect wants murder tattoo removed
• Sri Lanka may have an anti-Muslim hate problem
• What happens when a female student in a hot pink top walks through Cairo University?
• ART FOR TIBET online auction, May 12-15, 2014
• VIDEO: Images of Enlightenment: A Journey through Buddhist Art 
• Inspiring European audiences with new Buddhist play 
• NoKo's Kim Jong-Un: the dictator's cherubic childhood 
• Woman who fell down well during sex left in the hole 
• Does Swiss bunny girl ad "promotes animal sex"?