March 2, 2015

Scan reveals 1,000 year old mummy in golden statue of Buddha

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/27/asia/mummified-monk-statue/index.html

A golden statue of a sitting Buddha, smuggled from a temple in China to a market in the Netherlands, revealed an extraordinary secret -- a 1,000-year-old mummified monk.

Researchers discovered the mummy, encased in a cavity in the statue when a private buyer brought it to the Drents Museum in the Netherlands for restoration.

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The mummy was found sitting on a bundle of cloth covered in Chinese inscriptions, revealing its identity as a Buddhist monk called Liuquan who may have practiced "self-mummification" to prepare for life after death.


(Part of the process for "self-mummification" is to drink and eat poisonous things that will stop bugs from eating the body after it is dead. Apparently it didn't work for a lot of people)

March 2, 2015

I don't know if this has been posted. Why the right hates history and the Oklahoma bill

that proves how serious they are.

I've posted 2 links. One one the general position of conservatives wanting people to stay stupid AS REGARDS HISTORY and the first one about an actual bill in Oklahoma that is actively trying to do that.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/20/opinion/sutter-oklahoma-ap-history/

By John D. Sutter

"An education committee in my home state -- a place with plenty of historical blemishes and oodles of modern-day screw-ups -- actually approved a bill that would rewrite advanced placement U.S. History classes, potentially eliminating them. The cause? They paint America in too negative a light."

Here are the words of Dan Fisher, republican state senate:

"In essence, we have a new emphasis on what is bad about America," Fisher said in a committee hearing, according to a CNN report. "The new framework (that has been in effect in the 2014-15 school year) trades an emphasis on America's founding principles of constitutional government in favor of robust analyses of gender and racial oppression and class ethnicity and the lives of marginalized people, where the emphasis on instruction is of America as a nation of oppressors and exploiters."

Fisher's bill, as it was proposed, bars state money from going to AP U.S. history courses, according to CNN. It also requires the replacement class to cover a number of "founding documents of the United States that contributed to the foundation or maintenance of the representative form of limited government, the free-market economic system and American exceptionalism."

Oh, and speeches by Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.


http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/20/opinion/sutter-oklahoma-ap-history/

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WHY THE RIGHT HATES HISTORY


Sure, the war on education helps Republican lawmakers destroy unions and slash government spending, but it’s our history of progressive change that makes Conservatives hate accurate depictions of our past.

Just think about Social Security, The New Deal, freeing the slaves, or child labor laws… all represent great turning points in our nation that progressives made possible. The fact is, our entire history – from our revolution to healthcare reform – is filled with progressive accomplishments, and it’s hard to sell the Conservative brand to people who know that history.

Many of the today’s biggest political issues, like our privacy rights, would not even be up for debate today had it not been for the attack on education. If more Americans had had a strong understanding of our history, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney would have never been able to pull off the Patriot Act. And, we wouldn’t be discussing the Orwellian government spy agencies like the NSA in this day and age.




http://www.salon.com/2015/02/26/why_the_right_hates_american_history_partner/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

February 28, 2015

If you want to help HH and other Buddhists try and stop the NKT protests...

There are FB pages that post things that you can do. Like write letters, organize groups to block them when they protest, respond to their crazy videos etc.

These people do not just protest. They have several websites. They post lying videos and there is even one monk who changes from his robes into a suit and acts like a journalist interviewing NKT members.


New Kadampa survivors activists

https://www.facebook.com/NewKadampaSurvivorActvists

This is Exposing the New Kadampa Tradition

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1553521334914117/1554469664819284/?notif_t=group_activity

We need to talk about Shugden

https://www.facebook.com/linda.ciardiello/about

At one of their sites: http://internationalshugdencommunity.com/
they write such lies it is just unbelievable. For example one article on HH supposedly explains how he became a Lama. They say that after the 13th Dalai Lama died the Tibetan buddhists started looking for a "suitable child" They said he didn't recognize any of the 13th Dalai Lama's religious possessions and even said something like, "No, get that away from me"

February 27, 2015

So what does it mean when some GOP declares Obamacare a failure and all the R's cheer?

It is obvious to a 2 year old that they wanted that to happen right? So how on earth can anyone say they care about their country?

It also means that they absolutely care more about politics, money and winning more than they care about the welfare of the American people and especially American children





(They don't love America)

February 26, 2015

WARNING GRAPHIC!!!! In the poorest parts of Africa people are infected with a flea that becomes

a worm that burrows down into their skin and eats the tissue of the feet and hands.

I have never seen such suffering of a group of people. I have posted a video that shows them digging out these jiggers. The poor man has actual holes in his feet and has lost tissue and toenails.

I am writing about this because there is a website where you can donate money to their cause. I read the comments and the doctor in charge is asking people to help.

I know there are so many good people here at DU and there has to be some donations from here.

Here is the website that explains what they are doing and where you can donate if you want.


http://www.killthejigger.org/

And here is a video of them digging out the jiggers on one man's feet.

February 14, 2015

Besides Recovery International I have been getting a lot of help

from Buddhist teachings. They are so practical and the goal is happiness and we do it by being kind but also to stop wanting things. Because when we want something we are not that peaceful and when we get it it only lasts a short while.

So the talks go in depth into what Buddha said about how to be happy.

You do not have to be Buddhist to learn from Buddhist teachings!!

I hope this helps someone.

You are all great!

February 14, 2015

Considering the new information about the lack of adequate anti-depression

medications not being very successful I wanted to share two things.

First, many years ago I had horrible scary thoughts that wouldn't go away, panic attacks, and depression. I had been treated unsuccessfully with Elavil and drugs like that.

Finally a doctor put me on Nardil which is an MAO inhibitor, (there are safer ones now that they tell you about at the link) Anyway it was miraculous. It took about 6 weeks but I woke up one day and the world was brighter, I was interested in things, I read the newspaper from cover to cover, (I am bipolar so it kind of shot me too far up but that was finally dealt with. I have heard about people coming out of depression and colors looks brighter and that was true for me.

So if anyone is treatment resistant maybe you can get information and give it to your doctor, (I wouldn't wait for the doctor - too many don't care enough)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoamine_oxidase_inhibitor