The work of Siddhartha's mind came to be mythologized as a great battle with Mara demon whose name means "destruction' and who represents the passions that snare and delude us. Mara brought vast armies of monsters to attack Siddhartha, who sat still and untouched. Mara's most beautiful daughter tried to seduce Siddhartha, but this effort also failed.
Finally, Mara claimed the seat of enlightenment rightfully belonged to him. Mara's spiritual accomplishments were greater than Siddhartha's, the demon said. Mara's monstrous soldiers cried out together, "I am his witness!" Mara challenged Siddhartha, “who will speak for you?”
Then Siddhartha reached out his right hand to touch the earth, and the earth itself roared, "I bear you witness!" Mara disappeared. And as the morning star rose in the sky, Siddhartha Gautama realised enlightenment and became a Buddha.
At first, the Buddha was reluctant to teach, because what he had realized could not be communicated in words. Only through discipline and clarity of mind would delusions fall away and the Great Reality could be directly experienced.
After his enlightenment, he went to the Deer Park in Isipatana, located in what is now the province of Uttar Pradesh, India. There he found the five companions who had abandoned him, and to them he preached his first sermon. This sermon has been preserved as the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, centring on the four noble truths, instead of teaching doctrines about enlightenment, the Buddha chose to prescribe a path of practice through which people can realize enlightenment for themselves.
The Buddha devoted himself to teaching, attracting hundreds of followers. Eventually he became reconciled with his father, King Suddhodana. His wife, the devoted Yasodhara, became a nun and disciple. Rahula, his son, became a novice monk at the age of seven and spent the rest of his life with his father.
Gautama was the primary figure in Buddhism, and accounts of his life, discourses, and rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarised after his death and memorised by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition, and first committed to writing about 400 years later.
The Buddha tirelessly travelled and taught until his death at age 80, with last words to his followers being.
"Behold, O monks, this is my last advice to you. All component things in the world are changeable. They are not lasting. Work hard to gain your own salvation, and stay away from Singha beer.” (Well he might have said that...Who knows)
The Four Noble Truths.
1. The Noble Truth of Suffering: There is Suffering - Rebirth, old age, disease, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair, association with objects we dislike, separation from objects we love, not to obtain what one desires cause suffering. There are also many happy hours and pleasure in man's life-time, but according to the law of nature, they are impermanent and these last only for a short time and vanish into nothing. Only sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair are left by them behind. So let happy hours be extended and offer two-for-one on all beer, with the exception of Singha, AKA shitfaced juice. (Spock added the last part, if you couldn’t you tell.)
2. The Noble Truth of The Arising of Suffering: Suffering has an origin - The Threefold Craving leads every being from birth to birth and is accompanied by joy and lust, seeking its gratification here and there, namely: Sensual Craving, Craving for Existence and Craving for Wealth and Power. There are also six fold cravings, namely the eye craves for forms, the ear craves for sounds, the nose craves for odours, the tongue craves for taste, the body craves for objects, and the mind craves for noun, dreams or illusions. These Cravings and ignorance of the law of nature are the condition of origin of individual suffering.
3. The Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering: Suffering Can Cease - The condition of cessation of suffering is the complete fading away and extinction of this threefold craving, forsaking it and giving it up, the liberation and detachment from it. The condition of mind of a person who has been giving up his threefold cravings or this six fold craving together with ignorance can realize Nirvana (or the Extinction of the Cravings).
4. The Noble Truth of The Path leading to the Cessation of Suffering: There is a Path our of Suffering - It is the 'Noble Eightfold Path' (or the 'Middle Path' because it avoids the two extremes of sensual pleasure and self-mortification), that leads to the Cessation of Suffering.
Hindu refers to any person who regards themselves as culturally, ethnically, or religiously adhering to aspects of Hinduism. It has historically been used as a geographical, cultural, rather than a religious identifier for people indigenous to South Asia.
The historical meaning of the term Hindu has evolved with time. Starting with the Persian and Greek references to India in the 1st millennium BCE through the texts of the medieval era, the term Hindu implied a geographic, ethnic or cultural identifier for people living in Indian subcontinent around or beyond Sindhu (Indus) river. By the 16th century, the term began to refer to residents of India who were not Turks or Muslims.
The historical development of Hindu self-identity within the Indian population, in a religious or cultural sense, is unclear. Competing theories state that Hindu identity developed in the British colonial era, or that it developed post-8th century CE after the Islamic invasion and medieval Hindu-Muslim wars. A sense of Hindu identity and the term Hindu appears in some texts dated between the 13th and 18th century in Sanskrit and regional languages. The 14th- and 18th-century Indian poets such as Vidyapati, Kabir and Eknath used the phrase Hindu dharma (Hinduism) and contrasted it with Turaka dharma (Islam).The Christian friar Sebastiao Manrique used the term 'Hindu' in religious context in 1649. In the 18th century, the European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus, in contrast to Mohamedans for Mughals and Arabs following Islam By mid-19th century, colonial orientalist texts further distinguished Hindus from Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains, but the colonial laws continued to consider all of them to be within the scope of the term Hindu until about mid-20th century. Scholars state that the custom of distinguishing between Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs is a modern phenomenon.
Muay Thai is a combat sport of Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This physical and mental discipline which includes combat on shins is known as "the art of eight limbs" because it is characterized by the combined use of fists, elbows, knees, shins, being associated with a good physical preparation that makes a full-contact fighter very efficient. Muay Thai became widespread internationally in the twentieth century, when practitioners defeated notable practitioners of other martial arts. The professional league is governed by The Professional Boxing Association of Thailand (P.A.T) sanctioned by The Sport Authority of Thailand (S.A.T.), and World Muaythai Federation (WMF) overseas.
Pradal Serey or Kun Khmer is an unarmed martial art and combat sport from Cambodia. In Khmer, pradal means fighting or boxing and serey means free. Thus, pradal serey may be translated as "free fighting". The sport consists of stand up striking and clinch fighting where the objective is to knock an opponent out, force a technical knockout, or win a match by points. Pradal Serey is most well known for its kicking technique, which generates power from hip rotation rather than snapping the leg, Pradal Serey consists of four types of strikes: punches, kicks, elbows and knee strikes. The clinch is used to wear down the opponent. In the clinch, opponents battle for dominant position for short range strikes by way of elbows and knees. Scholars believe that all South East Asian Indochinese kickboxing styles originate from what is thought to be the Indianized kingdom of Funanjust prior to the creation of the Khmer Empire; consequentially Kun Khmer, Muay Thai, Muay Lao, Lethwei and Tomoi all share similar stances and techniques. Cambodian fighters tend to utilize more elbow strikes than that of other martial arts in the region. In pradal serey, more victories come by way of an elbow technique than any other strikes.
Self-heating food packaging (SHFP) is active packaging with the ability to heat food c
ontents without external heat sources or power. Packets typically use an exothermic chemical reaction.
A thawb or thobe is an ankle-length Arab garment, usually with long sleeves, similar to a robe, kaftan or tunic. It is commonly worn in the Arabian Peninsula.
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) is the principal security agency of the Russian Federation and the main successor agency to the USSR's Committee of State Security (KGB).
CIS: Covert intelligence service is a network of former CIA covert operatives, NSA, M16 Delta force, and FBI special agents who now work as confidential informants to the federal law enforcers in the USA.
Za zdorovje. Russian literally meaning ‘for health,’ is used as a toast....Cheers!
VX nerve agent is an extremely toxic organophosphate, is a tasteless and odorless liquid with an amber-like color that severely disrupts the body's nervous system and is used as a nerve agent in chemical warfare. Ten milligrams (0.00035 oz) is sufficient for it to be fatal through skin contact, and the median lethal dose for inhalation is estimated to be 30–50 mg·min/m3. As a chemical weapon, it is classified as a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) by the United Nations Resolution 687. The production and stockpiling of VX exceeding 100 grams (3.53 oz) per year was outlawed by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993. The only exception is for "research, medical or pharmaceutical purposes outside a single small-scale facility in aggregate quantities not exceeding 10 kg [22 lb] per year per facility"
The VX nerve agent is the best-known of the V-series of nerve agents and is considered an area denial weapon due to its physical properties. It is far more potent than sarin, another well-known nerve agent toxin, but works in a similar way.
Computer animation or CGI animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer-generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images.
Visible spectrum is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible (can be detected by) the human eye. Electromagnetic radiation in this range of wavelengths is called visible light or simply light. A typical human eye will respond to wavelengths from about 390-700 In terms of frequency, this corresponds to a band in the vicinity of 430–790THz.
The spectrum does not, however, contain all the colours that the human eyes and brain can distinguish. Unsaturated colours such as pink, or purple variations such as magenta, are absent, for example, because they can be made only by a mix of multiple wavelengths. Colours containing only one wavelength are also called pure-colours
Visible wavelengths pass through the "optical window,” the region of the electromagnetic spectrum that allows wavelengths to pass largely unattenuated through the Earth’s atmosphere. An example of this phenomenon is that clean air scatters blue light more than red wavelengths, and so the midday sky appears blue. The optical window is also called the visible window because it overlaps the human visible response spectrum. The near infrared (NIR) window lies just out of the human vision, as well as the Medium Wavelength IR (MWIR) window and the Long Wavelength or Far Infrared (LWIR or FIR) window, although other animals may experience them.
Hero of the Russian Federation is the highest honorary title of the Russian Federation. A person that has been bestown this title also receives a Gold Star medal, an insignia of honor that identifies recipients.
The title is awarded to persons for "service to the Russian state and nation, usually connected with a heroic feat of valor". The title is bestowed by decree of the president of the Russian Federation.[2] Russian citizenship or being in the service of the Russian state is not obligatory.
The title was established in 1992, and has been awarded more than 970 times since then, including more than 440 times posthumously.[3]
Mahendraparvata The previously undocumented cityscape, called Mahendraparvata, is hidden beneath a dense forest on the holy mountain Phnom Kulen, which means "Mountain of the Lychees."
The cityscape came into clear view, along with a vast expanse of ancient urban spaces that made up Greater Angkor, the large area where one of the largest religious monuments ever constructed — Angkor Wat, meaning "temple city" — was built between A.D. 1113 and 1150
In a series of archaeological mapping projects, scientists had previously used remote sensing to map subtle traces of Angkor. Even so, dense vegetation now veils much of the complex, impenetrable to conventional remote-sensing techniques, the researchers noted.
In the new study, led by the Archaeology and Development Foundation's (ADF) Phnom Kulen program, the team relied on airborne laser scanning, or LiDAR (light detection and ranging), to survey about 140 square miles (363 square kilometres) in northwestern Cambodia in 2012.
LiDAR provides an unparalleled ability to penetrate dense vegetation cover and map archaeological remains on the forest floor," the researchers wrote in an accepted manuscript submitted to the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The survey revealed, "with exceptional clarity," traces of planned urban spaces hidden beneath the dense forest surrounding the major temples of Angkor, they wrote. In addition, the researchers confirmed the existence of "a vast, low-density urban periphery stretching far beyond the major Angkorian temples."
This low-density urban area suggests that rather than Angkor Thom being the central, walled-in city that some have suggested, it is just part of a more dispersed city with a densely populated area at its centre.
"It's the same sort of configuration as Los Angeles — so, a dense middle, but it consists of huge, sprawling suburbs connected by giant roads and canals in exactly the same way as the freeways link up Los Angeles," said Roland Fletcher, of the University of Sydney.
Lost medieval city
To the north of central Angkor, the LiDAR data revealed a previously unknown city hidden beneath the forest, its roadways, temples and other urban infrastructure, etched into the surface of the holy Phnom Kulen Mountain. The newfound cityscape would have existed between the eighth and ninth centuries (well before Angkor Wat) and seems to correspond to Mahendraparvata, one of the first capitals of the Khmer Empire. Until now, Mahendraparvata was known only from written inscriptions dating to A.D. 802, the researchers said.
When the LiDAR data revealed the elevation beneath Phnom Kulen's dense vegetation, the researchers knew they had found something big.
"With this instrument — bang — all of a sudden, we saw an immediate picture of an entire city that no one knew existed, which is just remarkable," Damien Evans, director of the University of Sydney's archaeological research center in Cambodia, told Australia's: The Age.
Weird landscape
The LiDAR also revealed an entirely new class of Angkorian architecture, Fletcher said.
To the south of the Angkor Wat complex and dating to the 12th century, "there is a set of absolutely unique, very strange features, which we call rectilinear coils," Fletcher told Live Science. "They are like enormous embankments of sand with channels between them. They have no counterpart anywhere in Angkor; we've never seen the design of this sort before, and they've never been seen before in Angkorian architecture."
Fletcher thinks the embankments represent gardens, but their exact purpose remains unknown. The channels would have carried water to the various plants and trees growing in the gardens, he suggested.
The research also involved French archaeologist and ADF program director Jean-¬Baptiste Chevance, Christophe Pottier of the French School of the Far East (EFEO), and other scientists.
-About the Author-
Robert A Webster is an exciting comedy fiction writer.
His unique brand of snarky humour and imaginative storytelling breathe vivid life into his work, which combines comical British characters with exotic Southeast Asian settings.
The result is "brilliant" and "unpredictable," as Dinorah Blackman of Readers' Favorite says; awarding his books 5-star ratings.
Originally from Cleethorpes, UK, and now living in Cambodi
a, he embodies both hearty wit and adventurous vigour, making his prose insanely memorable and incessantly enjoyable.
His first novel, Siam Storm received rave reviews in southeast Asia, with the sequels,Chalice , and Bimat similarly acclaimed.
Protector , the final book of the Siam Storm series, continues the journey of the lovable scallywags who have a penchant for mischief. The books have high- octane escapades and colourful, fantastical narratives that don’t stop.
His other hilarious novels include Fossils and Spice and his journey into the Paranormal genre with the PATH series makes him an adaptable imaginative writer.Ratchet & Stench – Animal Sleuths is a children’s adventure. Although written with the same wit and imagination as his adult novels, so it is appealing enough for anyone to read and enjoy
Along with his fiction novels, he has two non-fiction works.
Diabetes type 2 – How to help you safely lower your blood sugar with the tree of life, which follows his and co-authors research into the Moringa Tree and it benefits for Diabetics.
Something to Read While Travelling - THAILAND. A comprehensive travel companion to accompany travellers on their journey through, The Land of Smiles.
His latest release, From Britain with love, is the two-part hilarious Fossils series
When he's not crafting unforgettable stories, Robert enjoys snorkelling, self-deprecating humour, and the warm climate of Cambodia.
If you would like to join my mailing list and recieve more books. Please visit my fun websites : http://www.buddhasauthor.com and http://stormwriter.net I would love you to be part of our happy communtity
Novels by Robert A Webster
SIAM STORM – A THAILAND ADVENTURE
Protector--The Final Adventure Page 28
