This is a post about faith, you can go if you want, but I hope you will stay, for there may be an "inconspicuous" benefit here for you. As many of you know, I am a follower of the 13th Century Japanese priest known today as Nichiren Daishonin. I chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo (Daimoku) twice a day to the heavenly deities which are written on our object of devotion which is not a statue of a Buddha, (*please watch video at the end for an explanation of why we don't have a Buddha statue on our altar), our object of devotion is the Gohonzon, which was written in both kanji and Sanskrit characters, and includes, to name a few, the gods of the Sun (Nitten) and Moon (Gatten) who represent the infinite, unlimited and eternal realm in the sky without distinction of daytime and nighttime.
Other heavenly deities written in sumi ink by the Daishonin on our Gohonzon are the Wheel-turning Kings (Tenrinjōō) and Dragon Kings (Dai-ryū-ō), who represent the infinite, unlimited and eternal world on the land and in the ocean.
Then there is Devadatta, the original Buddha's (Shakyamuni's) cousin who was jealous of him and even tried to have him killed, but the original Buddha was "inconspiciously" protected, and Devadatta, was saved by the Lotus Sutra, as we all are when we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, just once.
There are other deities who represent the infinite, unlimited and eternal world of the spiritual realm, and all express the Law of the universe, which we call the Mystic Law.
For a complete (and difficult to read) breakdown of the deities on the Gohonzon, read "Who's Who on the Gohonzon?" written by Rev. Ryuei Michael McCormick. He offers a complete list, but in a nutshell, as described by the friendly people at Buddhability.com, "On the Gohonzon, Nichiren uses Chinese and Sanskrit characters to depict the Lotus Sutra’s Ceremony in the Air. Down the center are the Chinese characters for Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, representing the treasure tower, the ceremony’s centerpiece, which symbolizes the world of Buddhahood."
The Gohonzon expresses the reality that all people, without
exception, can reveal their inherent Buddhahood by chanting
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
So why am I writing this on a hot August 10th day here in Dallas Texas? Because, in staying true to Esoteric Daily, on this day in 1276, Nichiren writes a letter to a lay priest in which he clarifies the relationship between prayer and its resulting benefit. "'Conspicuous prayer' means prayer offered with a clear objective or purpose. 'Inconspicuous prayer' means prayer offered without a pressing need... but will become evident over the course of time, such as the gradual purification of one's life.'"
And I am here to tell you folks, after 59 years of a spiritual journey that took me from Christianity, to Hippy Buddhism, and subsequently, Paganism, my journey has finally landed here, and so I want to share this practice with you. It is The Secret on steroids, the Alchemist solution to the heavenly body, and the Shift in Vibrations as seen on Gaia TV. Save time, chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and elevated your life in a spiritual awaking you will thank me for later. Your, 'inconspicuous' benefit for this August 10th.
Enjoy the following video explaining why you won't see a golden Buddha on my altar.
Okay, August 9th, today it is 8-9-2024. Reduced for numerological purposes, today's number is 7 (8+9+2+2+4=25=2+5=7). In Numerology, the 7 is Truth, Wisdom, and according to Numerology.com, "...knows that the real gold is buried deeper than the surface level stuff."
This is where we begin today's journey, for it seems to be a good day for the will of the people over the aggressors, sometimes known as the 1%'ers in today's vernacular.
On a steamy August 9th, in 1792, the French Legislative Assembly calls for revolution and the removal of King Louis XVI, who's regime is categorized in most historical accounts as a regime of corruption, excess, and devoid of care for his subjects; as well as, how can we forget his wife Marie Antoinette, of "Let them eat cake" fame. So the people united, won one.
In Great Britain on another steamy August 9, the Elementary Education Act giving free education to every child between the ages of 5 and 13 was past; yes, at the expense of the wealthy tax payer.
In 1936 on August 9th, Jess Owens becomes the first Olympian to win four medals. Of course, this was a win for all the friendly people of the world, for the 1936 Summer Olympics were held in Berlin by Adolf Hitler who had portrayed them as the "Aryan superiority Olympics." Hitler was so pissed that he refused to shake the hand of the first African-American champion superstar.
In 1942 on August 9th, Mohandas K. Gandhi was arrested by the British after starting the "Quit India" movement, which used methods of non-violent resistance to demand freedom from British rule.
Unfortunately, there is a Yang to every Yin, and so also on a hot August 9 in Nagasaki, Japan, the US drops a second bomb on Japan ending World War II. And as in all wars, there were no real winners or losers, just murder in the name of Gods and Greed. My grandfather, a racist who wouldn't allow a Japanese made car in his driveway until he died, and who served in Okinawa where he was pelted from a grenade, once told me, "We won that war in Okinawa, there was no needs for the death bombs. Hope it never happens again." To which I now say: Are you listening Russia!
In 1964 on August 9, a Democratic (for those of you who say I don't pick on the donkeys enough) President named Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) orders custom-made pants directly from the company's president. In the recorded call from the White House phone, LBJ is recorded as saying, "Now, another thing, the crotch, down where your nuts hang, is always a little too tight. So when you make 'em up, give me an inch that I can let out there, uh, because they cut me. They're just like ridin' a wire fence."
Okay.
I can't end on that, so let's end on a bright note: On a hot August afternoon in 1930, Betty Boop makes her debut in Max Fleischer's animated Dizzy Dishes; of course, a few years later in 1934, Walt Disney presents his first animation film, snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. And so we're back at the number 7.
OH gosh, I almost forgot, Early this morning, on August 9th, 2024, there was another win for the people, more precisely, woman, for voters in Ohio reject the Abortion Ban vote on the ballet in Ohio, placed there by the Conservative-Nationalist who I hope take this as a sign to join the human race.
Okay, it is August 5th, and esoterically speaking, a pretty typical day for those of us with eyes to see. Of course, Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her Hollywood bungalow on this day in 1962. You've heard the stories, how she had an affair with the Kennedy brothers, and the younger brother, Bobby Kennedy, who was the Attorney General and in Los Angeles on the night she died, was recorded asking, "Is it done?" on the night she died.
I don't know if he killed her or not, but if you look at pictures of the scene, it's definitely staged with pills thrown over the floor. Not something an overdose victim usually does. They usually drink a shitload of alcohol, and then pop the pills, and drown on their own vomit. Don't ask me how I know, I know.
Then there is the fact that Marylin had embarrassed President Kennedy a few months earlier, on May 19, when she sang "Happy Birthday Mr. President," in her heavily cleavaged voice, which, made Jackie, the president wife, turn red.
I'll leave it there because I gave up on conspiracies because it was stunting my spiritual growth; but, well, President Kennedy and Jacqueline posed for the following public domain photo on the same day Marilyn was found dead, which seems like a pretty good alibi if you needed. I'm just saying.
On another hot August 4th in 1864, Admiral David Farragut gave his command, "Damn the Torpedoes." These words have earned him a place in history, as well as all future books of quotations. Farragut was a southerner born gentleman from Tennessee who chose to fight for the North. On the morning of August 4th, Farragut lead his fleet into the strong Confederate area off the Alabama coast, and immediately the enemy opened fire and all hell broke loose. The Confederates had laced the channel with mines (then called torpedoes), and the leading Yankee warship blew up and sank with all hands. Near panic and uncertain whether to attack or retreat, Farragut refused to turn back and screamed, "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead."
The famous victory effectively closed the last Confederate port still in use, and made a major contribution to the North's victory.
Another, less popular statement made by Farragut, was to a group of officers before the battle, where Farragut said, "What matters it, General, whether you and I are killed or not?” He raised his glass to room. “We came here to
die. It is our business and it must happen sooner or later. We must
fight this thing out until there is no more than one man left and that
man must be a Union man.”
Wow, makes me proud to have been a Navy man myself.
So how is this all esoteric? I don't know, you tell me, but, it is August 5, and the 5th card of the Major Arcana is The Hierophant, which is the interpreter of sacred mysteries, so maybe we should ask him? Also, the 5th Hexagram of the I Ching is "Waiting," so let's wait and see if he responds anytime soon?
And while we do that, let me close by saying that on another hot August 5th in 1921, a newspaper cartoon by Rollin Kirby becomes the first cartoon ever awarded a Pulitzer Prize. The cartoon was titled, "On the Road to Moscow," which is a cartoon that depicts the Grim Reaper leading a line of Soviets, suffering under the 1921 famine brought on by a drought, but exasperated by the stubborn government policies which protected the rich over the needs of the poor. Funny, but with Vladimir Putin's senseless war against Ukraine, it's a timely cartoon for today, a hundred years later.
It's August 3rd and on this day in history, Christopher Columbus sets sail to begin the rape and pillaging of the Americas, and boy were the heavenly deities pissed, for as Columbus was departing his last port of call before reaching the Americas, the Canary Islands, a volcano erupted. Seeing the eruption in their wake, Columbus wrote in his secret log that he had a bad feeling. Boy was he right!
Then, on August 3rd in 1610, another lost sailor strikes gold, this time it was Captain Henry Hudson in search of the fabled Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans; and just as Columbus erupting volcano was a bad sign for a captain, Captain Hudson had pushed his men so hard that they mutinied and put him on a canoe to nowhere with his teenage son. Hudson and his son were never seen or heard of again. But he got his name on the inland sea waters they found.
All good things come in three, right? Well, on this 3rd day of the 8th month, in the year 1958, the USS Nautilus accomplishes the first undersea voyage to the North Pole. The world's first nuclear submarine reached the top of the world. Sixty years later, the USS Nautilus can be visited in a museum in Connecticut, but the nuclear reactor which has been cut out of her belly now resides in a Low-Level Burial Grounds site in Washington State. It is one of four such sites, there is one in Washington State, Texas, Utah, and South Carolina. The shit stored there will be sitting there until hell freezes over, and then another billion years. That's progress.
A Nuclear Waste Site Near You.
Finally, on August 3rd in Japan, they hold an annual harvest festival called Aomori Nebuta. Its reason is simply to stay awake! In old days it was to allow them to stay awake long enough to work the harvest; today, however, it is "Stay Awake" metaphorically. And a good thing for all of us to do on this hot August 3rd wherever you are, for it's hot everywhere. NOTHING to be alarmed about. Keep reading. As the Nationalist keep telling you, it's cyclical.
August, the eighth month of the current Gregorian calendar and the third month of Summer's rule, derives its name from Augustus Caesar. August was originally named Sextilis, which means the sixth month, but Augustus Caesar saw July was named after Julius Caesar, and so decided to have month named after him. A little known fact, is that August used to have 30 days in it, but out of jealousy, Augustus changed it to 31 days so his month would have more days in it than Julius Caesar's month had. What a guy.
The
Traditional birthstone amulets of August are the peridot and the
sardonyx and the gladioulus and the poppy are the month's traditional
flowers.
August is shared by the astrological signs of Leo the Lion and Virgo the Virgin, and is sacred to the following Pagan deities:
Ceres, Demeter, John Barleycorn, Lugh and all goddesses who preside over agriculture.
During
the month of August, the Great Solar Wheel of the Year is turned to
Lammas, one of the four Grand Sabbats celebrated each year by Wiccans
and modern Witches throughout the world.
August 1st, is known for the Lammas
(loaf-mass) festival. This is the celebration
of bread loaves baked from the first grain of harvest. Pagans of old celebrated Lammas by weaving corn dollies and
offering the first loaves to their goddess and god.
The Celtic holly month Tinne ends on August 4th, to be followed by Coll, the hazel month. This is a time of gathering fruitfulness and joy in one's life. Its sacred color is brown, and its ruling being is the Irish demigod, Fionn MacCumhaill (often anglicized as Finn McCool).
The goddess-calendar month of Kerea runs until August 8, to be followed by the month of Hesperis.
According to Nigel Pennick's book, "The Pagan Book of Days," the birthstone of August is the sardonyx, whose adage goes:
Wear a Sardonyx or for thee
No conjugal felicity.
Those August born without this stone
'Tis said must live unloved, alone.
August is also a wonderful month for stargazing! It’s the month of the Perseid meteor shower,
which is one of the most prolific showers and reaches its peak viewing around August 11 through the 13. You can still see the Perseids even if
they’re not at their peak. The shower lasts from about July 23 to August
22, so be sure to keep an eye out, especially during the
August new moon.
In many cultures, August is known as the month of the Honey Moon. This is because it is the time of year when honey is harvested from beehives. And if you are the superstitious type, plan your honeymoon to fall on this month as well. Or maybe not, other traditions think it might be a curse, hmmm, my first marriage was on an August 4 and lasted, five weeks.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival which, according to lunar calendar, is celebrated in August, Chinese worship the Moon Goddess named Chang'e. The legend goes that Chang'e was a beautiful woman, when out of nowhere, ten suns had risen together into the skies and scorched the Earth, thus
causing hardship for the people. Chang'e husband, Hou Yi, was a legendary archer and so he shot down nine of the suns, leaving only the one. For his success, he was rewarded with two portions of the elixir
of immortality, which he planned to take with Chang'e after an important hunt. And so Chang'e was left alone while he was hunting when a man broke into the house and tried to force her to give him the elixir. Chang'e took both portions herself rather than giving them up to the intruder. Then, Chang'e flew upward past the heavens, choosing the Moon
to be her immortal residence as she loved her husband and wished to live
near him.
When Hou Yi discovered what had happened, he felt responsible for
Chang'e, so he displayed the fruits and cakes that his wife had enjoyed,
then killed himself. In other version, Chang'e is a Bodhisattva, like me, I like that one best.
Finally, no matter which gods and goddesses are at your alter when you pray, August is a name that's often associated with strength, wisdom, and leadership.
As such, it's a name that carries a great deal of spiritual importance
for those of us with eyes to see; in other words, August is
connected to the concept of spiritual growth and development.
And
finally, on this day in 1942, the Jewish diarist, Anne Frank, made her last entry. In which she said:
"I
keep trying to find a way to become what I'd like to be and what I
could be if...if only there were no other people in the world."
On July 31st, 1485, Sir Thomas Malory published his masterpiece, Morte d'Arthur. The legend of King Arthur.
For those of us in the esoteric know, King Arthur was the Egyptian story of Osiris. Did Malory plagiarize? I doubt it, but he did tap into the collective consciousness of the gods, which is a beautiful thing. As Graham Hancock and others have pointed out:
Osiris's sister Isis was a magician
Arthur's sister Morgan Le Fey was a sorceress
Arthur was murdered by his nephew Mordered
Osiris was murdered by his brother Seth
When Osiris was murdered, his casket was throne into the Nile
When Arthur died, he was placed in a boat that drifted away
The Fisher King's death revolves around fertility rituals
Osiris's death and resurrection involves fertility
The Fisher King is maimed in the thigh, which represents the phallus
Osiris's phallus was important in his myth
Arthur's name actually stems from Osiris: Arthur comes from Asur, also known as Attis, or Adonis. Adonis is also Osiris!...
That's his book, regarding the guy:
Sir Thomas Malory wrote his book from a prison cell where he spent time in and out for crimes such as robbery, attempted murder, rape... Yes, rape! Who did he rape? Well, he raped Joan Smith of Coventry. These charges were originally on a May 23, 1450, when he was 23. He was arrested, but then escaped by swimming across the prison moat -- like we all haven't done this in a dream. While out of jail he goes back to the home of Joan Smith and rapes her again on August 6, 1450, and also, by the way, robs her husband while he's at it.
Of course, now we see how he was arrested for rape, the charges were filed by her husband as property damages to his wife.
Look how far we've come.
In 1703, on another hot July 31, another English writer gets into trouble, this time it is author Daniel Defoe, who is put in the pillory for seditious libel due to the the publication of his pamphlet "The Shortest Way with Dissenters."
The pamphlet was an attack on High Churchmen and other conservatives of the day. Defoe called them out on their "occasional conformity" and "hypocrisies." Sound familiar? Seems to be the problem with many world leaders today.
Defoe was sentences to public humiliation in a pillory (a wooden framework with holes for the head and hands, in which an offender was imprisoned and exposed to the public). According to legend, the publication of his poem Hymn to the Pillory
caused his audience at the pillory to throw flowers instead of the
customary harmful and noxious objects and to drink to his health.
Spent summers in a well
Watching pale moons disappear alone
And crucifixion seems noble
When paradise is hell, atone
I think we're far from home
And now you're free, let go
Jump into white unknowns
But I can't shake it, I can feel it in my bones
I shut my eyes, our hands let go
Spent winters locked away
The snow would swallow everything and drown
A pendulum hangs over me
Forever swinging violently, come down
Please come down on me
And now you're free, let go
Jump into white unknowns
But I can't shake it, I can feel it in my bones
I shut my eyes, our hands let go
I think we're far from home
Madame Blavatsky
Finally, July 31, 1831, Madame Blavatsky was born in the Ukraine. She was a writer who after a visit to Tibet, had the mission of spreading "Spiritualism" through the world. Like her or not, historically, she is more popular than any of the Popes from her time. I'm just saying.
I love to talk Angels. For, they are everywhere. Mine spoke to me once when I was 24 years of age. I was in a car accident and just before my 1963 VW bug was smashed by a hot rod tank, I felt arms around me and a voice that spoke into my left ear: "It's going to be alright."
I imagine the next time I hear that voice I'll meet her, for she has remained silently in the background since.
So, let's talk Angels.
Peace
on earth and goodwill to all... yes, easier said than done, that is,
until you add in the one ingredient that could accomplish such a
thing? Angels.
Why
Angels? you ask! Well, they are the one common spiritual thing in us
all. That's right, from Jews, to Muslims, to Pagans, to Buddhist, to Erudite
Scholars, we all recognize the
angels.
The
Jews seem to have the oldest writings on angels written around
three-thousand years ago with the three angels that visited Abraham in
in Genesis 18: 1-5. Who were these masked crusaders? I'm not sure, but
it is funny that Abraham is the father of not only the Jewish faith, but
the Christian and Muslim faiths. Hmmmm, can you say Hedge-Your-Bets
boys-and-girls? But I digress, this is a loving, Esoteric Daily post
for world peace.
In
the New Testament there are two angels named, Gabriel, who announces to
Mary that she will bear a son who will be the promised Messiah (Luke 1:
26 - 38), and Michael, who fights against the Devil (Jude 9; Revelation
12:7). Both angels had already been named in the Jewish book.
Then
there are the Islamist who's Quran is said to have been transmitted by
Gabriel (Jibril) in chapter 2 verse 97. Yes, the same angel who
announced to Mary that she would bear the Messiah, met up with Mohammad
in the desert to give him the Quran.
Although,
less obvious, there are angels in Zoroastrianism/Hinduism symbol with
its spread wings, and of course with the New Age/Paganism, we see angels
in mind, body, and spirit of us all. Plato
believed that between human beings and the gods were intermediate
beings called 'daimons' who could inspire human thoughts and actions.
So
you see, angels are as common all spiritual life, no matter the belief system. So, let's stop fighting and listen to them. As I say whenever possible, "We are all in this together, so act like it!"
Come on: all angels are naked! Gosh, get your mind out of the gutter.
July 29th is the first day of the runic half-month of Thorn. Nothern traditon honors the god known to the Anglo-Saxons as Thunor and to the Norse as Thor.
Each day has a Yin and Yang, now I won't go into the definition of each, you know, light/dark, feminine/male, but know they are there. What I will say is that Yin and Yang are a duality of energy that provides balance and harmony. Yin energy holds the more dynamic yang
energy in check, and yang energy keeps yin energy from slipping into
stagnation. Each force dominates and is then replaced by the opposing
force in an infinite struggle for harmony. Yin Yang energy is apparent
in the world around us, appearing as opposites like night and day, hot and
cold, summer and winter, bla, bla, bla....
And to keep the blog in a quick read, I usually go for one or the other. Today, it was hard, on one side, on July 28 in 1794, we have Maximilien Roberspierre, a compulsively neat guy, righteous, and not one to drink alcohol or chase woman, and the most feared man in France as head of the Committee for Public Safety where he became the executioner during the French Revolution for sending men and woman to the guillotine like drops of wax from a candle. He called himself "a slave of freedom," in fact he was a mean and vindictive tyrant, who sent his political enemies to the guillotine more often than enemies of the state.
On the morning of July 28 he was seized by French troops and shot in the lower jaw. Later that day he was sentenced to death, and around 8pm that evening he was taken to the guillotine where the wrap was pulled off his face and his lower jaw fell open and blood poured from the gaping wound. A witness said he "let out a groan like a dying tiger." The blade severed his head from his body, and in a case of instant karma, justice was served.
A few years later on July 28 in 1835, again in France, Giuseppe Marco Fieschi had an idea to assassinate King Louis Philippe. He bound 20 guns together and fired the contraption at the king from an upper-story window. One of the bullets killed the king's horse, another grazed the king's forehead, but the king and his family were unscathed. Fieschi wasn't so lucky, one of the guns backfired and nearly killed him, but didn't, the doctors saved his life so he could experience the same guillotine that Roberspierre had knelt for forty-one years earlier.
So, that's the very masculine "Yang" of a July 28, then here are my "Yin" findings for this day:
First, on a hot July 28 in the year 1278, my favorite Buddhist reformist priest, Nichiren Daishonin, writes a letter to a lay nun which informs her that all the previous Buddhist teachings that said a woman had to reincarnate as a man before she could attain enlightenment, were bullshit (my words, not his), and that in fact, woman and men both were equal in attaining enlightenment.
Nichiren's letter seems to have set a very mystic finding for a July 28 for in 1893 on a not-so-hot July 28 in New Zealand, a massive women's suffrage
petition with over 30,000 signatures was delivered to parliament demanding a woman's right to vote; of course, this would result in New Zealand being the fist developed country to allow woman to vote in September of that same year!
Speaking of Empowering Woman, on a hot July 28, in the year 1903, Mary Harris Jones leads a protest march to the home of President Theodore Roosevelt to call attention to the abusive corporate practice of using children as laborers: "Hear the wail of the children..." she yelled from her bullhorn, "...children who never have a chance to go to school, but work ten to eleven hours a day in a textile mill!"
The woman of whom I speak is none other than Mother Jones, who went on fighting for the working class and changing the practices of Corporate Profiteers who still cringe when they hear her name.
Talking about July 28, let's not forget that it was on a pleasant July 28th, in 1929, in Southampton New York, that Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was born. The most gracious wife of a world leader to date in the 20th century.
Finally, remember to relax on this hot July 28, for if you are reading this post in 2023, you might be experiencing a little more mental fatigue than normal, for Jupiter stations retrograde in Aries today; which means Jupiter appears to be moving backwards in its orbit. This will make things fuzzy for few days, but then you'll adjust. This happens every nine months. It's no big deal. It's just a time to confront those parts of ourselves we have been neglecting, like, oh, I don't know,
On a hot July 26 in 1826, the Spanish
Inquisition had committed its last murder in the name of God. The
secular arm of the church, i.e., the Conservative/Closed Minded/God
Party of the day carried out the dirty deed done dirt cheap for the church since the church
didn’t believe in murder. That's the "godly" way of doing things, and if you don’t see something wrong with this,
my friend, you are not a kind, spiritual, loving person.
I'll stop there to avoid politics. Simply stated: on a hot July 26 in
1826, Cayetano Ripoll was murdered for
the grievous crime of insisting that the only necessary religious
teaching in his classroom was the keeping of the Ten Commandments. Yes,
he didn’t think kissing the Popes ring, attending mass, or condemning
the pagans worshiping the heavenly deities on an alter in their homes, a thing to teach in school.
Yes, Cayetno Ripoll was a kind, spiritual, loving person, and for that, he got killed for being heretic.
Coincidentally,
on this day in 1894, Aldous Huxley was born in England. This is important on an Esoteric Day like today because, in his book "In Brave New
World," Huxley warned of a capitalist-god government distorting truth and calling their hypocritical behavior ‘righteous indignation.’ Sound familiar? Like a group of politicians today? Hmmmm.
Conversely,
Huxley was a mystic who lived out his later life in America where he
wrote, ‘Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking
things for granted.’ To avoid that capacity in himself, Huxley tried LSD,
and he liked it! (EsotericDaily.com warning: LSD, and other psychedelic
drugs, unless micro-dosed by a professional, should be taking only a few
times in the presence of a Shaman. After a few times, it’s not healthy and can cause physical and/or spiritual death.)
In
1790 on this day the US Congress voted to locate the National Capital
on its current site on the Potomac River. The river that Richard Nixon
once swam naked in. Don't ask me how I know this, I just do.
ON a hot July 25th, in 1917, Mata Hari (Margaretha Geertruida Zelle), the archetypal seductive female spy, was sentenced to death in France for spying on Germany's behalf during World War I.
The history books pretty much say she was a slut, but, the truth is she was a complicated woman doing the best she could in a world where woman were the objects of men, which I believe she used that her advantage. You see, she had been born poor in the Netherlands, but found her way out of her subservient life by answering a newspaper ad from a Dutch military officer living in Java. Of course he was an abusive asshole and that marriage didn't work out, and so she escaped to Paris where she took the dances she had learned in Indonesia with her, and created the woman we now know as Mata Hari.
Yes, she took the world by the balls, and made a name for herself in a world where stinky, bearded men with alcohol and cigar smoke on their breath, wanted a kiss, which she gave them, and the rest is history.
Was she a spy? Yes she was, definitely, she admitted it; but, the records of fact show that she was a spy for both sides. And that, my esoteric friends, her crimes was that she played both sides against each other for her own benefit, which, if she had been a man would have made her a hero; however, since she was a woman beating men had their own game, she got hanged.
ON another hot July 25th, in 1978, Louise Brown was born. She was the first in-vitro fertilized baby ever born. Before her birth, all the other "test-tube babies" had ended it failure, something the doctors failed to tell her parents at the time, but that's another story, for another day.
Louise grew up normal, and at the age of 43 she hasn't led anyone into the gates of hell, as the churches of the day had warned, but she has led thousands of woman to the Netherlands to get in-vitro vertilization, for Holland has the best success rate in Europe.
Funny, that the same religious quakes telling woman they can't end a pregnancy of a fetus the size of a grain of salt, are also against a woman having a baby without a man's thing inside of her. Makes you wonder about their whole argument. I mean, is it really about the life of a baby, or that thing between a man's legs? That thing Mata Hari knew a thing or two about.
Speaking of which, on this day in 1984, Svetlana Savitskaya became the first person to walk in space without a thing between her legs. Yes, the first woman to dangle her thing in outer space without a thing between her legs.
Thomas à Kempis
Also, on this day in 1471, Thomas à Kempis, a humble monk who quietly spent his life in a German monastery writing The Imitation of Christ, which is a great guide to more like Jesus and less like his followers. Why is this esoteric? Well, for one, the popular text on how to be a good Christian, was published anonymously in the same birth place as Mata Hari, the Netherlands; and two, when his tomb was opened years later, scratch marks were found inside the coffin where he had been buried alive.
My thoughts on this, well, the central themes of Kempis' book was how Jesus had risen from the death. Was he that good of a Christian? Something to think about.
In closing, as stated in Michael Farquhar's book "Bad Days in History," George Washington feared the possibility of being buried alive, and so on his deathbed he said: "... do not let my body be put into the vault in less than three days after I am dead...." Similary, the composer Frederic Chopin said as he was dying, "...swear to make them cut me open, so that I won't be buried alive."
Yes, that was a thing back then and had the name: Taphephobia. Taf of fo be ah. This is why some coffins came with air pipes to the surface, and others, had above-ground bells that could be rung from below if the occupant suddenly found himself, and it was a himself back then, alive. Other people were even buried with weapons to finish the job.
If that's not esoteric for a July 25th, I don't know what is.
On
this day in 1901, William Sydney Porter is released from prison after
serving three years in jail for embezzlement from a bank in Austin,
Texas. In jail, he began writing stories to kill his time and earn
money to support his young daughter. Can you imagine how low of a time
it was for this guy? In prison? No freedom. A real major f*&k up!
Well, since Karma is as Karma does, prison made this man the writer we all became to know as O. Henry,
who, after his release moved to New York and worked for the New York
World, writing one short story after another. In 1904, his first story
collection, Cabbages and Kings, was published. His second, The Four
Million, contained one of his most beloved stories, The Gift of the
Magi.
So, boys-and-girls, if you find yourself in a prison today, don't frown,
there is a reason; and so, take a few breaths, meditate/chant, and see why
the universe has you there. It's all good! As the Buddha of the Later Days of the Law, Nichiren said, "Enjoy what there is to enjoy, suffer what there is to suffer."
Love and business and family and religion and art and patriotism are nothing but shadows of words when a man's starving!
O. Henry
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/o_henry_176169
Love and business and family and religion and art and patriotism are nothing but shadows of words when a man's starving!
O. Henry
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/o_hen
Love and business and family and religion and art and patriotism are nothing but shadows of words when a man's starving!
O. Henry
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/o_henry
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Speaking of Buddhas:
Images of the Buddha can be identified by distinctive physical
characteristics, postures and hand gestures. The unique physical
features of a Buddha are known by the Sanskrit term lakshana. The most
conspicuous are the ushnisha, a cranial bump indicating special wisdom;
the urns, a round tuft of hair between the eyebrows, indicating
supernatural vision; short curled hair,indicating the renunciation of
worldliness; and long pierced earlobes, indicating boiling (ancient
Indian royalty wore huge pierced earlobes that stretched the lobes).
The ushnisha sometimes takes the form of a flame, indicating
illumination and a gentle smile on the lips.
The Buddha may also be shown in various postures (asanas), which can be
divided into sitting, standing and reclining poses. The seated postures
indicate stillness, as in mediation; the standing postures refers
exclusively to the Buddha’s physical death (parinirvana).
Hand gestures (mudras) indicate a specific activity such as teaching,
mediating or offering reassurance to specific incidents in the life of
the historical Buddha. In this standing Buddha figure from Sri Lanka,
the Buddha’s right hand is raised, palm outwards with the thumb and
forefinger together in the gesture of discussing the Dharma (Vitoria
mudra).
In case you forgot, today is the birthday/anniversary of Simon Bolivar,
who was born in Catracas, Venezuela on July 24, 1783. His victories
over the Spaniards won independence for Bolivia, Panama, Colombia,
Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. In the Latin countries, Bolivar is
referred to as The Liberator and the George Washington of South America.
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Finally, for those of us in Texas experience the "cyclical" earth
warming -- yeah, right, it F*(king Climate Change and we all know it -- here is what O Henry had to say about Climate Denying Texans: The people of the State of Texas consist principally of men, women,
and cowboys. The weather is very good, thermometer rarely rising above
2,500 degrees in the shade and hardly ever below 212.
~~ O. Henry
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