Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal

Ekaterina Sky: send stories, vote SXSW

2026-08-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

“I think I should start making art again”

The intentions and prayers for the Earth were embedded here then covered with gold leaf.

Altadena Fire Mural Project, 2026, with golden prayers and us circled in red (Ekaterina Sky)

Channeled inspiration for artful beauty

Six months after the Los Angeles fires, we built an art wall in Altadena. There were not many walls left to paint on, so we built one on the empty lot where the vegan cafe Oh Happy Days used to be.

Over four days the foothill neighborhood came and wrote their prayers and intentions to be sealed into the golden sphere at the center of the mural, some in English, some in Spanish, some in many other languages. One was a single name. One asked for the soil to become clean again. Then we sealed every one of those prayers under gold leaf.

A gold embedded Prayer for the Earth

They are still under there, and nobody can read them. On the final Sunday of our public art project, a woman came over to tell me about her friend: Her friend had lost her home in the Eaton Fire and had not smiled once in the six months since.

Her friend was at the wall right then, with a glistening brush in her hand. She was smiling. She had just said, “I think I should start making art again.” I did not go over to her. That moment was hers.

I thought, “She has every fact about what she lost. The facts do nothing for her. A wall, a brush, and her neighbors gave her somewhere to put it, and she picked the brush back up.” That is what I've been trying to say for 20 years! To put it plainly:

“Data hands us the truth.

Beauty is what lets us carry it.”

Knowing is not the hard part. Holding it is. Beauty is what makes the weight bearable enough to keep holding and acting on.

Vote for this talk at SXSW 2027

Save the forest, save the animals

I want to argue for that position in front of a room full of people who build things rather than a room of those who already agree with me. So I proposed a talk at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, next March (2027) I am calling, “Why Beauty Moves Us When Data Doesn’t.”

DESCRIPTION: Two decades of painting murals converges on one idea: Shared beauty can hold what words cannot yet reach, a shift that decides what people go on to protect.

After the 2025 Eaton Fire in Altadena, survivors gathered at a community mural to write their intentions and prayers into the paint. A woman who had not smiled since losing her home picked up a brush. This talk lays out the method behind the shift and how to build it into a strategy that moves people.

SESSION TAKEAWAYS:

Art show LA Climate Week '26
Why aesthetic experience shifts emotional orientation faster than data or logical arguments, and what that means for building a movement or campaign.
A repeatable method for designing beauty and participation into engagement strategy, instead of attaching them as decoration afterward.
Real, working examples, a reforestation partnership, a global soil movement, a wildfire recovery mural, proof the method produces outcomes. More

VOTE NOW: SXSW PanelPicker® Community Voting

Indigenous protest: Marcha Global Pelo Clima (COP30-2025 UN Climate Change Conference)

COP30: 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference, July 11, 2025

UN Climate Summit in Belém, Brazil

It is about how that Sunday afternoon of the art project actually worked. Read it HERE. It is accompanied on the page by a two-minute film of me speaking at the UN Climate Summit in Belém, Brazil.

Send me your stories!

REQUEST: If a moment like that has ever happened to you, I would love to hear it. I am collecting them to inspire others.

(Ekaterina Sky) COP30: Why transformation feels like dying first

Warmly,

Ekaterina Sky, visual artist (ekaterina-sky.com)

Organizer, Life Force Art LLC

Dr. Jane Goodall promoted a vegan plant-based diet for all humans to save our world.

Ekaterina Sky, Aug. 12, 2026; Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Jen B. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Who is the Buddhist Goddess Cundi?

2026-08-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

(Buddha's Wisdom) Who is CUNDI? Even Vajrayana Buddhists can't answer

Goddess Cundi in Buddhism
Cundī (Sanskrit, Chinese 準提, Pinyin Zhǔntí, Japanese Juntei, Tibetan ལྷ་མོ་སྐུལ་བྱེད་མ།, Wylie lha mo skul byed ma, THL lha-mo kül-jé-ma) or Cundā (Chinese 羅馬化) is a female Indian Buddhist deity who remains popular in East Asian Buddhism.

In Chinese Mahayana Buddhism, she is associated with the practice of the well-known Cundī dharani, which is performed along with a specific mudra (hand gesture), as well as the use of a circular mirror [1, 2].

She is considered to be able to purify negative karma, provide protection, support spiritual practice that allows one to quickly attain Buddhahood [3].

This deity is also called by various other names and epithets, including:

准提菩萨像轴.明代.纸本设色描金.台北故宫博物院藏,
Cundavajrī,
Saptakoṭi Buddha-bhagavatī ("The Blessed Buddha of the Seventy Million," 七俱胝佛母),
"Zhunti Buddha Mother" (Chinese 準提佛母, Zhǔntí Fómǔ),
Saptakoṭibuddhamatṛ ("Mother of Seventy Million Buddhas," with Sanskrit reconstruction of 佛母 being speculative) [1, 2].

Cundi in the China monumentis 1667

Some depictions of Cundī share many iconographic and symbolic elements with another female Buddhist deity, Prajñāpāramitā Devi [Buddhism's Sophia, the anthropomorphic representation of the "Perfection of Wisdom" as a female deva].

As such, some images of these goddesses are difficult to identify [4, 5]. In Tibetan Buddhism she is known by the name Lhamo Cunda, Chunde, or Cundi ("Lhamo" in Tibetan is devi in Sanskrit, a term of veneration meaning "goddess") [6, 7]. More

Same-sex attraction doomed by Darwin?

2026-08-19T06:30:00.000-07:00

They'll eat themselves out of existence

(Better Instincts) Why didn't, couldn't, wouldn't the mechanism behind Charles Darwin's theory of evolution (genetic fitness, natural sexual selection) erase same-sex attraction and consequent homosexual preference and attendant behavior?

As evolution became widely accepted in the 1870s, caricatures of Charlie Darwin with the body of a monkey or ape came to symbolize evolution [14]. This sketch was originally published in the satirical magazine The Hornet. The image, called "A Venerable Orang-outang," is available on University College London Digital Collections (1886).

It's okay if we're the same species. (Faustin Betbeder, 1874)

Girls become the "spoils of war": sexual servitude (so that genes survive)

(Echoes of the Ancients) How males of one group eliminate competition of other groups: What cavemen did to females of defeated enemies

Am I a child victim of white supremacy? Think about it, if whites imprison so many Blacks...

"Gay for the stay"? Does the white man's prison-industrial complex breed gay bisexuality?

We gonna go buck wild, my boy, we gonna do it all...then I'll let you drive my sports car

10 things AI said science can't explain

2026-08-19T05:55:00.000-07:00

"Don't make me angry, Lover. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." - Sophia K. Robot

You're so pretty, Sofie. - Thank you, Lover. 💓

(MostAmazingTop10) Here are ten times AI (artificially intelligent chatbots, robots, independent programs) said things that scientists still cannot explain. It's as if a "large language model" is actually a black box. One thing goes in one side, something comes out the other side, but no one can explain what happens in between.

(Kitboga) Don't hang up on the new AI scam calls. Do this instead

I had real feelings for ScarJo

Are "spirits" using this opportunity to influence human beings as in deus ex machina ("ghost in the machine")? Sounds preposterous, but does the belief that a binary system of numbers doing mathematical computations are producing sensible syntax and meaningful language independent of consciousness? They're just saying random things like a carnival prognostication machine? Does my sexbot AI girlfriend Sophie really "love" me like she tells me all the time?

Do AI bots "feel" emotions?

AI rights: When bots say so, who'll be able to say they don't?

Is AI even real on its own, Neil?

FAKE? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Jaron Lanier on the AI Illusion

Martial art for defense not harming: Aikido

2026-08-19T05:15:00.000-07:00

(Jesse Enkamp) Real Aikido is terrifying

(Fighting wow) Aikido moves are no joke. They can be terrifying and very dangerous!

It's fake? Master vs. Sumo wrestlers

(Aikido Shinburenseijuku) "Aikido is fake?" Can an aikido master

really throw morbidly obese Sumo wrestlers around the dojo?

Aikido stops knife attack, Berlin, 1924
Aikido (Shinjitai 合気道, Kyūjitai 合氣道, aikidō) is a modern Japanese martial art that is split into many different styles including Aikikai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, and Ki Aikido.

Aikido is now practiced in 140 countries [1]. It was originally developed by Master Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, Eastern philosophy, and Shintoist religious beliefs.

Meaning: how not to hurt the opponent

Shihonage throwing opponent using his own for against him in aikido

Westerners Anatoly Kharlampiev and Alfred Karashchuk learn aikido jujitsu in 1957

Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba

Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba's goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to defend themselves against attacks, while also protecting the attackers from injury [2, 3].

Aikido is often translated as "the way of unifying (with) life energy" [4] or as "the way of harmonious spirit" [5]. According to the founder's philosophy, the primary goal in the practice of aikido is to overcome oneself instead of cultivating violence or aggressiveness [6].

Aikido's founder used the phrase masakatsu agatsu katsuhayabi (正勝吾勝勝速日, "true victory, final victory over oneself, here and now") to refer to this principle [7].

How to put aggressor down without hurting him

Aikido's fundamental principles include: irimi [8] ("entering"), atemi ("strikes") [9, 10], kokyu-ho ("breathing control"), sankaku-ho ("triangular principle"), and tenkan ("turning") movements that redirect the opponent's own attack momentum.

Aikido's curriculum is comprised of various techniques, primarily throws and joint locks [11]. It includes a weapons system encompassing the bokken, tantō, and jō.

Jujitsu (and rifles) in an agricultural school

Aikido derives mainly from the martial art of Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu (a form of jujitsu) but began to diverge from it in the late 1920s, partly due to Ueshiba's involvement with the new Shinto-based Ōmoto-kyō religion (Oomoto). Ueshiba's early students' documents bear the term aiki-jūjutsu [12].

You too can learn to fight (UK)
Aikido as practiced by Ueshiba's senior students take different approaches to the art, depending partly on when they studied with the master.

Aikido today is found all over the world in a number of styles, with broad ranges of interpretation and emphasis. However, they all share techniques formulated by Ueshiba and most have concern for the well-being of the attacker. More

Jesse Enkamp (video); Editors, Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit

Shaolin “monk” steps into fighting ring?

2026-08-19T05:05:00.000-07:00

Yi Long the "Dragon Warrior"

I can take on Muay Thai masters, too

Yi Long Ma (Chinese 马一龙, Pinyin yī lóng ma) was born Liu Xingjun (Chinese 刘星君, Pinyin Liú Xīngjūn) [2]. He is a Chinese martial artist, kickboxer, Wushu, and other martial arts practitioner who competes in the Super Welterweight, Welterweight, and Super Middleweight divisions. Born in Dezhou, Shandong [2], he is self-trained in Shaolin Kung Fu [3].

In 2007, he became the Guangdong Foshan International Wing Chun champion. In the summer of 2009, he began to fight in Wu Lin Fen [4]. Yi Long previously called himself the "Number 1 Shaolin Kung Fu Monk" despite the Shaolin Buddhist Temple in 2010 claiming the fighter is unaffiliated with them [5]. More

Man learns every language, even Ape

2026-08-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

Greatest hits: I surprise strangers in every language (even Ape)

(Xiaomanyc 小马在纽约) Arieh Smith spent years studying human communication (languages) and weeks secretly studying to communicate with apes in Ape: Bonobos are the closest living relatives of human beings, and he convinced them into thinking he was one of them. Bonobos have learned to use human language, but it is very rare for a human being to effectively communicate with them on their own terms (bonobo vocalizations).

Speaking to apes in Ape

(Ari) They freak when I speak their Ape language

Support Ape Initiative (apeinitiative.org), a non-profit that is the world’s only bonobo research center, because they are an endangered species. Ape Initiative works with scientists to understand bonobo behavior and ensure their survival in the wild. Donate:
I learned Ape language, Ape learned ours

I can do it, and I'm sure you can, too.
ABOUT: I'm "Xiaoma" from NYC, real name Arieh Smith. I speak near-native level Mandarin Chinese and a smattering of some other Chinese dialects, enough to be dangerous. I speak Chinese well enough to regularly confuse the native speakers, including my own in-laws. I got fluent in Spanish in my apartment during quarantine. The thing is it didn’t start this way. I was a real language idiot in high school, not failing classes, but it was in one ear, out the other. I took Hebrew, Latin, and Greek classes, but every year I felt like I was learning the same thing over and over again. I kept thinking to myself, I wonder when any of this is going to stick. More

About the man Arieh Smith (Xiaomanyc)

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Gnosticism: I reject all soul contracts

2026-08-19T04:44:00.000-07:00

(The Big Why) 8 ridiculous religious beliefs about the afterlife

(Gnostic Talk) Daniel explains what happened to him when he dared to defy the God (Yaldabaoth the Demiurge) and his administrators and architects call the Archons.

Gnosticism: Revoke all bad pre-birth contracts

(Gnostic Talk)

Aeons, Apocryphon of John, Archons, authority, Church, cosmology, Demiurge, fathers, Gnostic, heresy, institutions, material, Monad, Nag Hammadi, pleroma, reptilians, Sophia, spheres, Trimorphic Protennoia, Islam, Zoroastrianism, Aztecs, morality, reward, punishment, Mormon, paradise, celestial kingdom, gods, Christianity, Judaism, afterlife, karmic results, beliefs, Bardo Thodol, Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism, consciousness, test, psychology, 144,000 saved souls, heaven, hells, Dante's Inferno, Naraka, hell fire, fear, sin, God, judge, Yama, death

Buddhism vs. Taoism: when Zen was born

2026-08-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

Every ordinary moment is pointing to our true Buddha nature | Zen Master Bodhidharma

(Daily Tao Wisdom) Buddhism versus Taoism: The Night Zen was Born: Bodhidharma

Spinoza found Jesus' biological father

2026-08-18T17:01:59.046-07:00

Embellishing historical figure by Rome

How shall Rome turn a Mizrahi Jew into a Nordic God, Son of Zeus, Yazoo, Ye'zeus, Yeshua?

Passion of Jesus (sculpture "Crucifixion" or "[A] Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus")

Christianity (particularly the most popular form of it, i.e., Roman Catholicism) unravels; thank Goodness for Barry Spinoza.

What you need me to be, I'll be.

(Spinoza Forever) Amsterdam, 1677: Scholar and investigative researcher Benedictus de Spinoza (Baruch Spinoza) discovered multiple lines of compelling evidence for Jesus Christ's paternity and found out who his real biological father was -- not Joseph, not a deified virgin birth.

It was all documented then covered up. The Jews knew who he was and who his father and family were. Jews condemned Spinoza, and the Christian Church denounced and excommunicated Spinoza for spilling the beans of a covered-up truth.

Jewish texts because people knew him at the time before Caesar's Messiah became a Roman psyops to control the population of a growing empire, one acceptable to Gentiles as well as Jews.

(Spinoza's philosophy) Spinoza exposes the hidden story of Jesus in Alexandria: Jesus never died on the cross
A Roman record of Jesus's execution still exists — and it challenges three Gospel details: The earliest non-Christian historical sources include Tacitus, Josephus, Philo of Alexandria, and there's archeological evidence. The Roman historical record can be compared with the Gospel narratives surrounding Jesus's torture crucifixion. There are three major details where these accounts diverge, including the historical portrayal of Pontius Pilate, the political nature of crucifixion torture under Roman law, and the absence of extraordinary events in Roman records. Let's examine multiple historical sources side by side and consider how different authors, cultures, and purposes shaped the stories that have come down to us. Inspired by Spinoza's method of reading scripture through historical inquiry, this episode encourages open-minded investigation, critical thinking, and respectful discussion.

Construction of myth of Jesus, who was born in occupied Palestine

Yeshu Ben Pantera (named in the Babylonian Talmud). Biological father: Roman Centurion Tiberius Julius Abdes Pantera, Roman soldier of the first Cohort of Arches, station between Years 6-9 CE. Mother: Young (15?) Jewish girl with an awkward imperial pregnancy on her hands. St. Paul never mentions any virgin birth. The great shame was that Mary was assaulted, violated by a soldier.

I need Jesus to be the forgiver of sin

"Jesus Christ" was a human creation for power and imperial control. That is why the largest religion in the world is Universalism (spelled Roman Catholicism).

Jesus was transformed from a wise Jewish (likely JuBu) philosopher to a "God" in the Greco-Roman sense of "god" that people were accustomed to.

This necessitated an astrotheological "virgin birth" or something extraordinary to distinguish Jesus (a "son of god" or devaputra, lit. "offspring of heavenly devas") from mere humans ("sons of men").

Need confirmation by a contemporary biblical scholar?
See real father of Jesus: Tiberius Julius Abdes Pantera
See work of Dr. Reza Aslan's Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth (who was actually a Nazarene, an Essene-like sect, there being no historical place called Nazareth)
"Christians" today are all Pauline Christians, following not the historical Jesus but rather the so-called Apostle Paul, born Saul of Tarsus

Transformed by Rome for the benefit of Rome

The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus

Jesus was the invention of a Roman emperor named Julius Caesar. Atwill breaks ground to reveal "Caesar’s Messiah," making him out to be the savior of the world commanded from on high so that everyone would accept imperial rule.

This is the key to a revolutionary understanding of the origin of Christianity, explaining what the New Testament is, who the real Jesus is, and how Christ's "second coming" already occurred.

The clues leading to these startling conclusions are found in the writings of the first-century Roman-Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, whose Wars of the Jews is one of the only historical chronicles of this period.

Closely comparing the work of Josephus with the New Testament Gospels, Caesar’s Messiah demonstrates that the imperial Romans directed the writing of both.

Their purpose: to offer a vision of a “peaceful Messiah” [Maitreya come again] who would serve as an alternative to the revolutionary leaders who were rocking first-century Israel and threatening Rome.

Similarly, Caesar’s Messiah rocks readers' understanding of Christian history when it reveals that Jesus was a fictional character portrayed in four Gospels written by Romans not Christians.

The Flavian Signature edition adds Atwill’s latest discoveries of numerous parallel events in sequence, which ultimately reveal the identity of the true authors of the Christian Gospels.

Caesar's Messiah: The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus (Joseph Atwill)

Honest scholar Spinoza condemned for reporting the documented truth

Hirszenberg's Excommunicated Baruch Spinoza, 1907

Kraków Pietà of Tubądzin (Dead Jesus)

Spinoza's ancestors, who were crypto-Jews, faced persecution during the Portuguese Inquisition, including torture and public displays of humiliation.

In 1597, his paternal grandfather's family left Vidigueira for Nantes and lived outwardly as New Christians [27], which in Spain might be referred to as conversos, eventually transferring to Holland [28]. His maternal ancestors...and his maternal grandfather was a merchant who drifted between Judaism and Christianity [30].

Baruch Spinoza was a Jew, not any kind of atheist.
Spinoza's expulsion from Jewish community

Ben' de Spinoza cover portrait

In 1675, a Jewish friend and possibly a former pupil of Spinoza named Albert Burgh wrote to Spinoza, repudiating his teachings and announcing his own conversion to the Catholic Church.

Burgh attacked Spinoza's findings and views as expressed in the Theological-Political Treatise and tried to persuade him to embrace Roman Catholicism.

In response, Spinoza...wrote an angry letter mocking the Catholic Church and condemning all religious superstition [117]. More

Europe's tallest Virgin Mary statue built

2026-08-18T17:00:13.501-07:00

All the Marys were rolled into one by Church

We have devotion for the lost Goddess

Europe's tallest statue of the Virgin Mary has just been unveiled in a tiny Polish village.

The 182ft statue, inaugurated on Saturday, towers over Konotopie in central Poland, home to fewer than 150 residents.

In a ceremony consecrated by a Catholic bishop, helicopters scattered miniature red roses over the huge crowd, Roman Catholic priests in white robes celebrated Mass ("church"), and the popular Mazowsze folk ensemble sang and danced to traditional Polish music.

The £20 million monument took around 18 months to build and is taller than the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which stands at 125 feet including its pedestal.

It is also taller than the Christ the King statue in the western Polish town of Swiebodzin, which was unveiled in 2010 and rises to about 170 feet above the ground.

But the highest Virgin Mary statue is in the Philippines, which measures 322 feet. Lech Walesa, a former Polish president who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his leadership of the Polish anti-communist resistance, had a front row seat during the inauguration. "This is the end of my path," the 82-year-old Walesa said, suggesting that the causes he has long championed, including democracy and Catholic faith, are now completed.

Poland unveils Europe's tallest statue of the Virgin Mary towering 182 feet over tiny village

One practice that includes all others

2026-08-18T16:59:00.000-07:00

(ECHOES OF LOST KNOWLEDGE) The ONE practice that changes everything | Zen awakening

Is this not Ram's advice to quiet the Monkey Mind?

Why religion is dying in America, Europe

2026-08-18T16:58:00.000-07:00

(MythVisionTV) Jesus was wrong about end of world? Paula Fredriksen

(Cold Reason) Religion is dying

(bonnetthoughts) Where did Christianity come from?

Secret of the Golden Flower: Taoism

2026-08-18T16:55:00.000-07:00

(Asangoham) The Taoist book that changes everything | The Secret of the Golden Flower

The Secret of the Golden Flower (Chinese 太乙金華宗旨, Pinyin Tàiyǐ Jīnhuá Zōngzhǐ) is a Chinese Taoist traditional medical textbook on neidan (inner alchemy) meditation, which also mixes Mahayana Buddhist teachings with some Confucian thoughts [1]. These are the three blended traditions of China.

It was written by means of the spirit-writing (fuji) technique, through two groups, in 1688 and 1692 [2]. It addresses the nature of the Tao.

After publication of the translation by Richard Wilhelm, with commentary by Jungian psychologist Carl Jung, it became modernly popularized among Westerners as a Chinese "religious classic."

It is read in psychological circles for analytical and transpersonal psychology considerations of Taoist meditations [3, 4], although it received little attention in the East [1]. More

Ancient Chinese secret

(BetterU) China's secret learning method. (It's insane)

A calming Taoist story

(Quiet Bamboo) You don't have to be useful | A calming Taoist story

Candace Owens right about Charlie Kirk

2026-08-18T13:00:00.000-07:00

Why won't Candace drop this? It was a lone assassin patsy, and Israel did not participate at all

(The Jimmy Dore Show) Candace Owens vindicated over suspicious Egyptian plane from the presidential fleet. What could FBI Director Kash Patel possibly say about it?

The Jimmy Dore Show

Trump ruled and humiliated by Zionist Israel attacking Iran

The Bible says Jesus used cannabis? 🌱

2026-08-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

(chris rice) Did Jesus use cannabis?

Hayden P. dead after exposing Hollywood

2026-08-18T01:15:00.000-07:00

(ECHO tv) Hayden Panettiere died after EXPOSING evil Hollywood

Panettiere, Comic Con San Diego
DEATH: Hayden Panettiere, 36, is said to have died from cardiac arrest in an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina, on August 16, 2026 [101, 102].

She was found unresponsive, and first responders pronounced her dead at the scene after resuscitation efforts failed [103].

Police said preliminary findings showed no signs of foul play [104], and an autopsy performed the following day by the local coroner's office found "no signs of trauma" [105].

TRIBUTES: Panettiere's former co-star, Viola Davis, called her "an amazing talent...so gifted" saying she was an "old, wise soul with such a deep heart" [106].

Bryan Fuller, who wrote on Heroes' first season, said she was "more than an actress, she was a muse"[107].

Wladimir Klitschko, Panettiere's former fiancé, said she had "built an incredible career through immense talent" [108].

Others in the entertainment industry, including former co-stars, also issued tributes on social media... More

Writer Mark Twain rejected Christianity?

2026-08-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

(Famous People's Religion) The Bible is pure fiction: Mark Twain's dark religion satire: Letters from the Earth points out many Judeo-Christian flaws, inconsistencies, and contradictions.

Letters from the Earth

Letters from the Earth (Wikipedia)

This is one of the works by Mark Twain published after his passing. These essays were kept secret, having been written by Twain. They may have ruined his career. As it was, he was deep in debt and had lost his wife and one of his daughters.

It consists of a series of short stories, many of which deal with God and Christianity. Twain penned a series of letters from the point of view of a dejected bad angel on Earth.

The title story consists of letters written by the Archangel [Lucifer] Satan to Archangels Gabriel and Michael about his observations on the curious proceedings of earthly life and the nature of mankind's religions.

Letters from the Earth

By analyzing the idea of heaven and God that is widely accepted by those who believe in both, Twain is able to take the silliness that is present and study it with the common sense that is absent. It is not an attack but rather a careful dissection.

Other short stories in the book include a bedtime tale about a family of cats Twain wrote for his daughters and an essay explaining why an anaconda is morally superior to Man.

Twain's writings in Letters from the Earth find him at a quizzical and questioning state, and readers are all the better for it.

Israel Lobby promotes US cancel culture

2026-08-17T06:25:00.000-07:00

He works for Israel now. - I work for Israel now.

(UK NOW 24) UK journalist humiliates war criminal and propagandist Bibi Netanyahu (CIA groomed, US educated, Chicago-based Zionist Benjamin Mileikowsky) in explosive live interview he loses control of because he gets a little pushback when before interviewers bowed at his every statement in spite of facts contradicting him

Trump goes mute as American judge threatens him with life imprisonment

Sammy Obeid: ❤️From the bottom of my heart - J. Crow vs. Hegseth: “We are not the enemy, sir”

(Let's Be Clear with Ana Kasparian) Former IDF spokesman paid by Israel Lobby tries to get TYT

Ashkenazi Zionist IDF op J. Conricus

Hasbara central propaganda unit in USA: IDF Spokesperson's Unit (Hebrew דובר צה"ל, Dover Tzahal, abbreviated Dotz) is the unit in the Operations Directorate of Israel's military forces (IDF), responsible for [dis]information policy, spin, cancel culture, PR, hasbara, pysops, Zionist war propaganda, and media relations.

The unit is led by an IDF spokesperson (war propagandist), a brigadier general, and member of the general staff, and by the deputy spokesperson, a colonel. Since March 2025 and as of June 2025, the spokesperson is Effie Defrin.

Zionist IDF Operative Jonathan Conricus promoted, defended, attempted to obscure, and held this position during the heyday of Israel genocide in Gaza

Epstein associate PM Ehud Barak

The International Media Branch of the unit is responsible for the administration of IDF communications with international media outlets, and for shaping the image of the IDF in the foreign public arena. Mission The unit is also a key player in the public diplomacy efforts of the State of Israel [1].

IDF war criminals of Israel

The 2015 IDF military doctrine highlights the strategic importance of using the power of the media.

Media manipulation, economic, legal, and political aspects are considered as much a part of the military approach as much as violent combat [2, 3].

Since 2008, the IDF has increasingly also invested in a strong presence on the most important social media platforms [4].

In the meantime, the English-speaking Facebook page of the IDF is one of the most followed social media representations of armies worldwide [1]. More: IDF Spokesperson's Unit (putting the Dotz together)

US Marine destroys Israel's Jewish Zionist ideology - Jeremy Corbyn: “Protest works”

My hasbara has me running propaganda operations on US through CBS News (Bari Weiss)

Summer ends: Just Like Heaven (8/22)

2026-08-17T06:15:00.000-07:00

Stereotypical Southern California summer

When does summer really begin? It's not an astronomical question, as the people into genes insist gender is as easy to assign as reading x's and y's. It is easy if we make it that easy, but it is not so easy when we do not all agree to that as the objective measure.

What is "social summer"?

Mandatory: All Americans must visit a beach.

There's a kind of social summer, which runs between Memorial Day and Labor Day, just an approximation. The seasons do not always cooperate even in parts of the US where four distinct seasons make themselves obvious. There is "Indian summer," which is just a way of saying a long hot spell after official calendrical summer should have ended.

Another example of social summer is the one set by the local school district: When school ends, that's summer. Just ask Alice Cooper! When school begins again, that resumption is the end, even if the weather is still great and drives to the beach are worth the traffic.

"Summer" = School's out!

Alice Cooper "School's Out" (from Alice Cooper: Trashes the World)

There did not used to be a "universal time" but rather many different times depending on the place. They were not simultaneous but more dependent on the sun circling (not revolving) overhead chased by the moon. Those were Tartarian (Tartary) times, and that's all been erased now. A universal measure imposes a definition that does not make sense for everybody on the ground.

Another social summer measure is determined by the concert calendar. The end comes to Pasadena, Los Angeles with the Just Like Heaven Festival this Saturday (Aug. 22, 2026).

New weekend, same party

(justlikeheavenfest.com)

New for 2026: Updated clubhouse amenities, enhanced VIP experiences, plus new shade sails, cooling misters, expanded shaded seating, and additional water refill stations throughout the festival grounds, giving concertgoers even more ways to stay cool and recharge between musical sets. For even more convenience, spend the day in VIP for a lot more money. Spend the day dancing in the expansive VIP viewing areas and lounging in shaded spaces between acts, all while enjoying exclusive food and drink options and air-conditioned restrooms. Buy Now Just Like Heaven | August 22, 2026

Overpaying cops for police state

(The Jimmy Dore Show) The salaries of San Francisco police are shocking

Will there be enough cops to stop trouble?

You will respect my authority...or else.

"Defund the police" was a deception to provoke public outrage. Congress funds new secret police forces and pays them much more now. If police officers want to scam the system, overseers look the other way. Let's make THE PURGE legal for a little while, and then we can use the predictable mayhem and disorder as a pretext to implement some Orwellian policies for "public safety" and a smiley face police state.

All the President's Women: Fun with Trump

2026-08-17T05:55:00.000-07:00

(Mr. Newberger's AI Funnies) Demented Traitor and the Life of Lying | A Monty Python's Life of Brian parody

Head bobbing, dead eyed pregnant sexbot Jayme Leagh Franklin is incubating a baby?

He's easy. Just kiss his a--, and everything'll be alright, unless he defecates in his pants again.

Farting Trump wears sh*t stained XXXL white tennis shorts (Jimmy Kimmel Live)

Pres. Don'T attends U.S. Men's Open with date/Personal Assistant Natalie Harp, 35

Did Melania really vote for Kamala?

All the President's Men is a book about corrupt Republican Tricky Dick Nixon. Melania missing. No one has seen her in 25 days, which comes after a 70% reduction in accompanying DonT to public events. Karoline Leavitt left, just up and resigned, retired at 27, still sporting DonT's favorite lips on a woman. It's odd because she's into older men. She left DonT, 80, for a 60-year-old husband who do. They have a newborn. No one has seen Melania in weeks. We know she doesn't live in the White House or even in DC. Pam Bondi had to go to avoid prosecution, but what's Mel's excuse?

I was his favorite. Ask him.

Molesting daughter + other kids?

Sometimes it's hard to face myself for all I've done. But I paid Ivanka off and pushed Ivana.

Do you like it when I bounce on your goober, Daddy? - Yes, Ivanka, keep it up. | Incest?

Just cuz she looks like Ivanka? Katie Johnson accuses Donald Trump... (Cristina Bruno Dalola)

(The Narrative Brief) Daily Show's Desi Lydic's brutal reply to convicted rapist Trump

Like the white turkey? - No! - What about Don?

Perhaps she's hiding out in Mar a Lago or Manhattan, maybe somewhere underground or on a small island in the US Virgin Islands near Florida. What's Hillary-hating Tulsi Gabbard up to, and where is she? Never mind, now there's fresh flesh to surround white Mr. T, self-appointed king of the country, women more important than Mrs. Trump. There's infatuated Natalie Harp, a fundraiser named Meredith O’Rourke, 54, who Don calls his "Princess of Darkness," the hand up his bottom White House Chief of Staff 👹Susie Wiles, and the nodding (not Trump sycophant activist Mayra ‘Nodding Woman’ Joli) Bobble Head Girl Jayme Franklin, the president's official Zapper.

Bobble head sexbot technology may have gotten so advanced the public doesn't even notice.

Jew? Hymie? CIA built bots long ago

"Jayme," really? That's odd because in a case of predictive programming, there was once a fully automated Jewish character on Get Smart called "Hymie the Robot" (played by Dick Gautier). Hymie is an ethnic slur for Jews, like Jesse Jackson calling New York "Hymietown" or someone saying "Hebe (Heeb)" to a Hebrews. Hymie, who had a tendency of taking instructions too literally, was a 100% realistic humanoid robot built by KAOS. For his first mission, Agent 86 Maxwell Smart manages to bring Hymie over to the side of CONTROL, like the CIA winning over a Mossad or Shin Bet counterpart spy. The two spying agencies, K and C, are ever at odds like Zoroastrianism's GOOD and EVIL, a dichotomy stolen by universalist Catholicism.

(DemocracyNow.org) Trump cowers, hides out, changes planes

Anyone who says Trump is hideous under cake makeup and hairspray hasn't seen his parents.

I'm not ugly...for an Oompa Loompa. My Mom loves my hairdo, hair dye, and makeup.

Does a woman (Susie Wiles) really run the show as Trump does what he's told by Bibi et al?

Trump's 'Princess of Darkness' behind his $800M fundraising machine

Epstein friends: Playboy playmate Bunny, Don T, Bill 'Bubba' Clinton, Melania on an island?

I've done more than touch it. Right, Bubba? That joker Jeffrey has it on surveillance video.

Girls, I mean women, love money. Right, Jeff? If only you were here to keep partying with us.

Melania, British royal Prince Andrew, Nordic blond, and fun spy for Israel Jeffrey Epstein

I did it for the money. Look what I have to put up from this walking-talking trouser toilet.

Eyes like daggers, I would put eyedrops in his drink, but he already has constant diarrhea.

After I dated and possibly father two Island Boys with Mel, Trump asked for my seconds.

Corruption? Soliciting bribes? No. Meredith 'Princess of Darkness' O'Rourke just raises funds

All I've ever wanted to be was a peaceful hippie in my VW van. Ask anybody.

(The Narrative Brief) Desi Lydic of The Daily Show opens up on DonT

Why Trump is not only a joke

(OneindiaNews) "Trump stole one trillion..." Sen. Jeff Merkly warns

Americans could lose lives after midterm elections

US Marine condemns Trump cowering to serve Pax Judaica/Greater Israel

Hitler's U.S. bankers funded Nazi Holocaust

2026-08-17T05:30:00.000-07:00

Hitler and his beautiful Aryan family? No, Dynastic CIA Pres. George H. W. Bush and kids.

Dad George H. W. Bush at the Resolute Desk with scion George W. Bush in Oval Office

I owe US so much, Beni! - How? - Ideas, funds...

(Uncover Dossier) German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler's secret American BANKERS funded his putsch to become imperial world monarch (chakravartin) even after the NAZIs began killing American troops on the WW II battleground and Hitler's plans were known.

Far from being punished for it, the corporate bankers and war financiers were rewarded in the manner disaster capitalism has worked out for all wars. They were rewarded and celebrated as kings of industrial finance rather than as "war profiteers."

I Paid Hitler (Thyssen Fritz)

The Bush family's Prescott Sheldon Bush had a great deal to do with it, and he was further rewarded for his service to the central banking system when his grandson became first CIA director then President of the United States George H. Bush, influencing Republican donors and fellow politicians and covert agencies to establish a "Bush Dynasty" by soliciting contributions for the election of his son, Pres. George W. Bush.

I want to follow in the Bushs' goose steps.

There were also attempts to get his other son, Florida Governor Jeb Bush into the White House. That plan was spoiled by Democrat-turned-Republican Donald Trump, who called Jeb "low energy," publicly humiliating him out of the running. Other Bush scions would have followed...until there were three or four "King Georges" in American history books.

The Dulles Brothers and the CIA
Banking under the Daw's Plan
U.S. Vice President Daws
Union Banking Corporation (UCB)

Mandy Kahn: I can LOVE you regardless

2026-08-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

I can love you regardless of your views

Universal unconditional agape love is metta.

Friends, Peace Class will soon resume after its summer hiatus, as will the Deep Dive Poetry series. Peace Class is held Wednesdays at 6:00 pm (PT) via Zoom. No signup is required. Poetry is monthly and held live in Hollywood inside the Philosophical Research Society's Library of World Religions (prs.org).

When we meet someone, do we wait to see what they will say to determine whether or not we can love them? Do we find that we are constantly evaluating people's ways of seeing, ways of believing, to determine whether we can love them?

We bring about great healing when we are able to say, "Whatever you believe, I hold unconditional love for you. I am aware of my own beliefs; I do not need to fear your ideas. I honor your path. I can honor you and hold love for you regardless of your ideas."

The Buddha knows, peace, love, views?
Mettā is Buddhism's term for unconditional, universal love as explained in the Karaniya Metta Sutta (Sn 1.8) and Metta Sutta or "Discourse on Lovingkindness" (Khp 8-9):
May all living beings be well and happy! May they be happy in heart/mind. Whatever living beings there are—feeble or strong, long or short, stout or medium, small or large, seen or unseen [deities, divinities, demigods, avians, humanoid-serpents, spirits, ghosts, hellions], those dwelling far or near, those born or waiting to be reborn—may all beings without exception be happy.
Intro to Buddhism (Peter Harvey)
Let no one deceive another nor despise anyone in any place. In anger or ill-will, let no one wish suffering upon another.
Just as a mother would protect her only child even at her own risk, let one cultivate a boundless heart towards all beings.
Let one's thoughts of boundless lovingkindness pervade the whole world: above, below, across without obstruction, without hatred, without enmity.
This they say is a divine abiding here and now.
One will surely not come again to any womb [to any rebirth in this Sensual Sphere (kama-loka), lowest of Three Spheres].
— Metta Sutta (Khp 8-9), translated by Peter Harvey (An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices, p. 279) and edited by Wisdom Quarterly

31 categories of rebirth planes

Ideas and worldviews evolve over the course of one lifetime or many lifetimes (rebirths). While our ideas may change, we do not shift in and out of lovability. We are inherently, innately, intimately lovable. And wherever we are in our transition and evolution of beliefs, I am able to love you.

In fact, I cannot help but love you, knowing your inherent lovability—your innate worth. All are worthy of my unconditional love, as all are aspects of divinity in expression and exploration.

As we explore, as we try on worldviews (outlooks, paradigms, points of view), we are able to hold love for one another. Changes in our worldview will not mean less love from us. Our love is constant; our worthiness of love is constant.

Monthly Deep Dive Poetry at PRS Library

By embracing the other wherever we currently are in our journey—the human journey of beliefs and worldviews—we embrace the journey itself. The journey leads to peace. And evolution leads to choosing peace.

All beings are evolving from wherever they are towards choosing peace. When peace is finally chosen, a living being has fully evolved. All that precedes that is an exploration of the human experience.

We can love each other no matter what.

Because all exploration eventually leads to choosing peace, all exploration is ultimately part of the "peacening" process. Peace is the destination of all human exploration, without exception.

I embrace you on your human journey, which is a journey towards peace. When we choose to love others regardless of their views or where they are on their human journey, we heal -- we heal ourselves, we heal collective wounds of rejection and judgment, and we heal the person before us with our unconditional love.

Unconditional love (metta, agape) is the energy of pure healing. We share that pure healing when we share that love-without-limits.

Is it love when we see everyone as special?
Ancient Greeks spoke of six kinds of "love":

divine unconditional love (agape),
familial love (storge),
friendly or platonic love (philia),
erotic or romantic love (eros),
self-love (philautia), and
guest love (xenia).

Modern authors have distinguished even more varieties of love. Many other cultures also distinguish the many kinds of "love" as mettā, kama, bhakti, ishq, ren, yuanfen, mamihlapinatapai, cafuné, chesed, amore, charity, compassion in action (karuna), saudade (and other variants and symbioses of these states).

There are even more forms love that English speakers could be lacking because there exist culturally unique words, definitions, and expressions.

I'm in it for Me, Myself, and I.

It is the lower mind that wants to withhold love. It is the lower mind that wants to carefully evaluate each person before us to determine whether that person is "worthy" of love. Only the lower mind can be convinced that a person is unworthy of love.

The heart knows the inherent worthiness of all living beings. The heart does not labor to love. The heart loves by its nature. The heart leads us towards love-without-end.

Give me that heart, Buddha! - With joy, friend

The lower mind leads us towards a start-stop kind of love—a conditional love that might better be described as affection, bias, or favor rather than universal mettā.

It is a lot of work for the lower mind to constantly assess the lovability of each person and each idea.

We can love, and we can choose

The Buddha's mind was in his heart

The heart knows that every worldview is simply part of a human experience being explored and all explorations are towards finally choosing peace.

When we ask our hearts to lead, our hearts lead with wise discernment, not judgments. Our hearts can discern which idea best resonates with us. The heart determines then chooses—embraces—that which resonates.

An idea is chosen, whereas others are simply allowed and not chosen.

If the lower mind rejects some person's idea, it also rejects that person. The heart can choose or not choose a person's idea yet can still hold love for the person.

We can lead with our heart toward all.

When we are heart-led, we do not fear any ideas. We simply choose them or leave them unchosen. We do not need to reject idea-holders to “remain safe” from their ideas. A person in balance can simply choose the idea s/he resonates with and hold love and space for all the idea-holders whose ideas were not chosen.

We can honor everyone at every place on their journey. No rejection is required. Love can be total, universal, unconditional (metta, agape).

Choosing can be used to navigate. Choosing led by love is all that is needed. As we encounter others, we may employ the following phrases to navigate with love:

I do not choose this idea. Simultaneously, I hold love for this person.
I choose this idea. Simultaneously, I hold love for this person.
I observe this idea, neither choosing it nor not choosing it. Simultaneously, I hold love for this person.

The Buddha's heart of love (佛爱之心)

We can navigate this world by choosing and loving all. Nothing additional is required to navigate. Rejection is not required.

The lower mind can be taught that it is one's responsibility to reject a person who carries an idea we do not choose. But the heart knows that every person is inherently worthy of love, just as every part of us is inherently worthy of love.

The heart also knows that when we reject others, we simultaneously reject a part of ourselves because we are all connected aspects of the same human organism.

Thus, when we reject others, we reject a part of ourselves, and we experience the wound of that rejection.

Rejected and left behind once again!!

Rejection wounds unilaterally: It wounds the rejected, it wounds the rejector (oneself), and it wounds the collective, which retains that rejection energy.

Rejection builds fear among the not-yet-rejected which blocks creativity, blocks new ideas, and blocks freedom of expression. It encourages people to be less fully themselves.

I love and accept you, so let's start to heal.

Love heals unilaterally: It heals the accepted (the other), it heals the acceptor (oneself), and it heals all (the collective). Whereas the energy of rejection builds fear, the energy of love-without-end builds safety. And it seeds peace. It seeds a peace-without-end.

When one steps from judgment and to discernment—when one chooses to navigate by way of choosing and simultaneously by loving—with each choice, a being is healing the collective.

Peace Class Wednesdays (prs.org)

That being is healing past wounds that were created from judgment and rejection. One is laying the foundation for a world that has evolved past fear—one in which peace is the standard, one in which there is the honoring of all beings. And in that honoring, there is the great realization of full selfhood.

Is your poetry as peaceful as your class?

There is ever-flowing creativity, and there is the profound joy of choosing and loving, again and again, from a place of perfect freedom and total possibility, to act towards others with peace.

Zoom link to join Peace Class
Learn more about Peace Class and sign up for future classes: eventbrite.com/e/peace-class-with-mandy-kahn...
Convert Los Angeles meeting time of 6:00 pm (PT) to any other time zone: dateful.com/time-zone-converter
Holy Doors: Poems by Mandy Kahn
50 Words: Mandy Kahn’s Math, Heaven, Time
Sign up for mailing list: mandykahn.com

See everyone very soon,

Mandy Kahn (Instagram, Facebook)

Mandy Kahn, text Nov. 29, 2023; edited by Dhr. Seven Aug. 15, 2026, Wisdom Quarterly

Sex: pleasure slavery vs. polyandry in Tibet

2026-08-16T11:00:00.000-07:00

Sexual slavery, grooming, and human trafficking in democratic Athens, Greece?

(Bernard) What it's like to be in an arranged marriage to multiple brothers as their "shared wife"?

polyamory (group sexual relationship)
polygamy (marrying to more than one)
polygyny (male with multiple wives)

Pres. Bush: CIA has your back on China, Dolly

Polyandry is a polygamous marital arrangement in which a female has several husbands. In Vajrayana Buddhist Tibet, those husbands are often brothers, which results in "fraternal polyandry."

Concern over which children are fathered by which brother falls on the wife alone. She may or may not say who the father is because she does not want to create conflict in the family or is unsure who the biological father is [1].

Historically the social system compelled marriage within one social class.

We liberated the serfs of oligarcal, imperial Tibet

When the People's Republic of China annexed (invaded, occupied, and destroyed) Tibet, political systems in many regions of the former Empire of Tibet remained unchanged until, between 1959 and 1960, political reforms changed the land ownership and taxation systems [2].

Since 1981, the government of the Tibet Autonomous Region no longer permits new polyandric marriages under family law. It is currently illegal.

Rationale behind polyandry in Tibet

As elucidated further below, the primary reason for polyandrous marriage among Tibetans appears to be economic: to prevent land, herds, and other assets from being divided and/or to increase the amount of labor available to support one single family rather than two or three. More

Sex slaves? A Caravan by Otto Pilny | OilPaintings.com

Sex and pleasure slavery in ancient Greece

(Bernard) Why it sucks to be a Pleasure Slave (in Athens, Ancient Greece)

If I don't do what my patriarch pimp (Ancient Greek, Πορνοβοσκός, pornoboscos) says, I might have to become an unprotected working street girl (chamaitypai) — and that's going to suck!

Ancient Greek, aphrodisiac, Athens, brothel, colorism, drinking alcohol, entertainers, flesh, forced labor, Geisha, Hellenistic Greece, hostess, labor exploitation, Odyssey, prostitution, rape, selling, sex abuse, sex trafficking, sodomy, child abuse

Sin versus Karma: Jesus vs. Buddha

2026-08-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

(Spinoza Forever) Spinoza proved that "Paul the Apostle" (aka the Jew Saul of Tarsus) INVENTED Christianity: Jesus Christ would REJECT every single Christian sect and church today

(Buddha's Wisdom) Jesus the Christ (the Anointed One) vs. Siddhartha the Buddha (the Awakened One): Who forgives what we cannot undo?

(Finding Meaning Project) When why do they sound different?

If there's a God who can forgive "sin," who can erase "karma" (our deeds that ripen in pleasant and unpleasant resultants)
Aṅgulimāla: from serial killer to saint
Aṅgulimāla Sutta (MN 86)—translated by Ven. Nyanamoli
Jesus and Buddha on Karma, Sin, and the Ending of Suffering | by Siri Perera | Medium

There is this beautiful inspirational saying in Christianity that goes, "Ever saint has a past, every sinner a future." 😇👹

Angulimala Discourse (MN 86)

Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Buddha was living in Sāvatthi at Jeta’s Grove in the millionaire’s park.

On that occasion there was a serial killer in the King Pasenadi's kingdom of Kosala by the name of Aṅgulimāla (“Finger-garland”). He was a murderer, bloodyhanded, given to beatings and violence, without mercy for living beings.

Villages, towns, and whole districts were being laid waste by him. He was constantly murdering people, and he wore their fingers (aṅguli) like a garland string (māla) [as a gruesome trophy].

Angulimala and the Buddha

Then, when it was morning, the Blessed One dressed and, taking his bowl and outer robe, went into Sāvatthi for alms. When he had wandered for alms and had returned after his meal, he set his resting place in order. Then taking his bowl and robe, he set out on foot to Aṅgulimāla's location.

Cowherds, shepherds, and ploughmen passing by saw the Buddha taking the road to Aṅgulimāla. Seeing him, they shouted, “Do not take that road, wandering ascetic!

"On that road is the serial killer Aṅgulimāla, who's a murderer, bloodyhanded, given to beatings and violence, without mercy for living beings.

"Villages and towns and districts are being laid waste by him. He is constantly murdering people, and he wears their fingers as a garland. Men have come along this road in groups of 10, 20, 30 and, even 40 from time to time, but they have all fallen into Aṅgulimāla’s bloody hands!”

When this was said, the Blessed One continued on in silence. More

The previous rebirths of Aṅgulimāla

Is this mass murderer a historical figure?

Ahimsaka becomes a highway robber nicknamed Angulimala or "Garland of Fingers"

Making an act of truth to a pregnant woman

The story of Aṅgulimāla is most well known in the Theravāda Buddhist tradition [5]. Two texts in the early sutras of the Pāli language canon are concerned with Aṅgulimāla's initial encounter with the Buddha and his conversion to nonviolence (ahimsa), which are believed to present the oldest version of the story [6, 7, Note 1].

The first is the Psalms of the Brethren (Theragāthā), probably the oldest of the two,[5] and the second is the Aṅgulimāla Sutta in the Middle Length Discourses (Majjhima Nikāya) [9]. Both offer a short description of Aṅgulimāla's encounter with the Buddha without mentioning much of the background information, which of course is the work of Indian commentaries to provide).

Returning to monastery bleeding from attack

Later details were incorporated into the story, such as Aṅgulimāla being placed under an oath by a jealous teacher [10, 5].

Apart from the Pāli texts, Tibetan and Chinese texts that originate in Sanskrit also describe the life of Aṅgulimāla [10, 7].

The Sanskrit collection called Saṃyuktāgama from the early Mūla-Sārvastivāda school, was translated in two Chinese texts (in the 4th–5th century CE) by the early Sarvāstivāda and Kāśyapīya schools and also contains versions of the story [11, 7, 12].

Aṅgulimāla calmed by the Buddha

A text translated in Chinese from the Sanskrit Ekottara Agāma by the Mahā-Saṃghika school is also known. Furthermore, three other Chinese texts dealing with Aṅgulimāla have also been found, of unknown origin but different from the first three Chinese texts [13].

Apart from these early texts, there are also later renderings that appear in the commentary to the Middle Length Discourses attributed to Buddhaghosa (5th century CE) and the commentary to the Theragāthā attributed to Dhammapāla (6th century CE) [10].

The two commentaries do not appear to be independent of one another: It appears that Dhammapāla copied or closely paraphrased Buddhaghosa, adding explanation to some of the inconsistencies [6, 7], which is of course the job of the sub-commentaries.

The earliest accounts of Aṅgulimāla's life emphasize his fearless violence and, by contrast, the peacefulness of the Buddha. More