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Monthly Archives: May 2016

Hungry Ghosts

Hungry GhostsAlice in Wonderland stories

One notable aspect of Buddhism is the unusual role played by strange creatures called Hungry Ghosts. These are phantom-like creatures, only half-alive, who are constantly tormented by an intense hunger. Their bodies are so starved that their arms and legs have shriveled down to mere skin and bone. But they can’t eat anything, because their mouths are the size of a pin hole, and their necks are extremely long and thin. The only part of their bodies that isn’t thin is the huge bloated belly. But this belly is always empty, and because it is so big, it produces intense hunger pains.

Buddhists believe that a very greedy man will be punished in his next incarnation by being reborn as a Hungry Ghost. This punishment can result from various kinds of greed, such as a gluttonous appetite for expensive food and drink, or an obsessive lust for money and power, or a hedonistic quest for sensual pleasures. Harmful emotions such as anger and hate can also cause a person to be reborn as a Hungry Ghost. But in Buddhism no punishment lasts forever, and after a Hungry Ghost has endured enough suffering, it will be reborn into another life form.

Hungry Ghosts live in a kind of shadow world that is sometimes described as a hidden reality. Because they live in this hidden realm, they normally can’t be seen by humans. However, some sources say that they can become momentarily visible under certain circumstances. They have supposedly been seen trying to nibble on corpses, or wandering around in deserts and waste places.

Note: Beliefs about Hungry Ghosts vary slightly from one region to another. Also, imaginary beings that resemble Hungry Ghosts can be found in several other religions besides Buddhism.

 
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Posted by on May 19, 2016 in ghosts

 

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On Death

The pale, the cold, and the moony smile
Which the meteor beam of a starless night
Sheds on a lonely and sea-girt isle,
Ere the dawning of morn’s undoubted light,
Is the flame of life so fickle and wan
That flits round our steps till their strength is gone.

O man! hold thee on in courage of soul
Through the stormy shades of thy worldly way,
And the billows of cloud that around thee roll
Shall sleep in the light of a wondrous day,
Where Hell and Heaven shall leave thee free
To the universe of destiny.

This world is the nurse of all we know,
This world is the mother of all we feel,
And the coming of death is a fearful blow
To a brain unencompassed with nerves of steel;
When all that we know, or feel, or see,
Shall pass like an unreal mystery.

The secret things of the grave are there,
Where all but this frame must surely be,
Though the fine-wrought eye and the wondrous ear
No longer will live to hear or to see
All that is great and all that is strange
In the boundless realm of unending change.

Who telleth a tale of unspeaking death?
Who lifteth the veil of what is to come?
Who painteth the shadows that are beneath
The wide-winding caves of the peopled tomb?
Or uniteth the hopes of what shall be
With the fears and the love for that which we see?

By Percy Bysshe Shelley

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Posted by on May 18, 2016 in death, poems

 

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I heard a thousand blended notes

I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.

Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And ’tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopped and played,
Their thoughts I cannot measure:–
But the least motion which they made
It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

The budding twigs spread out their fan,
To catch the breezy air;
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there.

If this belief from heaven be sent,
If such be Nature’s holy plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?

By William Wordsworth

 
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Posted by on May 18, 2016 in poems

 

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Erdogan Burgers – Beefed up Security

Alice in Wonderland storiesThe German manager of a burger bar in Cologne will start selling “Erdogan-Burgers” again, despite closing for three days because of threats, he told the BBC.

Joerg Tiemann said his Urban Burgery sold the burgers garnished with goat’s cheese as a “satirical answer” to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He has now installed security cameras. BEEFED UP SECURITY.

erdogan burgers

 
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Posted by on May 11, 2016 in erdogan, funny story

 

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An Irexit: the opportunities for Ireland outside the EU.

Alice in Wonderland storiesIreland should signal to the World that it ill follow the UK if it leaves the EU. We can use the opportunity at th every least to negotiate a better deal on Debt, on Fishing, on Taxation, on Immigration, and on our Energy Policy.

Ireland needs free trade with China, Japan, India and the USA, and is prevented from having free trade through EU membership.

The EU accounted for €5,151 million or 53 percent of total goods exports of which €1,496 million went to Belgium and €1,153 million to Great Britain. The US was the main non-EU destination accounting for €2,329 million or 24 percent of total exports.

If Britain leaves the EU most of our trade would lie outside the EU and this is the market set to grow most.
Leaving the EU would restore our Democracy, as a fundamental principle of democracy is that one government and Parliament cannot bind another. Greek voters learned they can no longer change economic policy, however bad the existing one may be.

The argument of Pooled Sovereignty making us stronger is nonsense as our politicians are in denial about how much power we have thrown away.

The Irish voice at the table of 28 is not heard or heeded. The EU is not a mutual benefit Trade Club. It is on a reckless ride to Political Union, based on Socialism and Stagnation.

The Single European Currency has been a disaster, and has been at the root of Ireland’s economic collapse of 2008. Being in the EU exposes us to the political tension in Eastern Europe and to the risk of energy security arising from withdrawal of access to Russian Gas.

The EU has no intention of allowing us to set our own tax rates as evidenced by the Google Tax debacle.
Irish Farmers and Fishermen would be much better off outside the EU.

HANS VON HORN

Brexit

 
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Posted by on May 11, 2016 in irexit

 

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Alice Through the Looking Glass

Alice Through the Looking Glass

Here is the new movie trailer

Three Alice in Wonderland stories

Alice in Wonderland storiesAlice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland storiesAlice Through the Looking Glass

Alice in Wonderland storiesAlice in Wonderland Christmas

 

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Victory Day Parade on Red Square 2016

Victory Day Parade on Red Square 2016

 
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Posted by on May 9, 2016 in Russia

 

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Aliens Have Landed!

Aliens landed in Ballykilduff,

Aliens landed; that is a fact,

In the dark of the night it happened, it did,

At the end of my garden they landed, then hid.

 

Breda, dear Breda, wake up, will you please?

Something is happening; I am all in a tizz!

Leave me alone, she answered, I’m beat,

With those words on her lips she fell fast asleep.

 

Donning my gown and slippers I left,

Her sleeping soundly as into the kitchen I crept,

Taking hold of light; the torch, my best friend,

Into the garden I stealthily went.

 

Along the path, man and light progressed,

Over the fence, into the field with its guests,

Pointing my torch at some little green men,

I saw aliens a plenty around a spaceship broken.

 

What are they doing? I said far too loud,

Signalling my place, my location – and how,

Pointing their guns, the aliens zapped me with rays,

Blue, yellow and green, orange and grey.

 

Thinking my time was finished, all gone,

I fell to the ground, awaiting the anon,

Sorry about that, one of them said, helping me up

We thought you were a cow, wanting to eat us all up

 

What are you doing? I asked, with curious eyes,

Seeing them cutting the grass, taking it inside,

We are refuelling our spaceship, he told me quite proud,

We get one light year per armful, he said out aloud.

 

That’s amazing, I said, can I go see inside?

Sorry, he answered, it’s too small for your like,

Laughing, I asked if there was anything they need,

Yes, he told me forthrightly, can we have some tea?

 

Tea? I asked, you drink tea way up there,

In outer space, with its atmosphere rare?

No, silly, he replied, it’s to pour down our boots,

We never travel with them empty, forsooth.

 

You pour tea down your boots? I laughed out loud,

What does it do, make you fly like a bird?

It does, he told me, how did you know that?

Was your mother or father an alien, or even the cat?

 

Just then I heard something, someone calling to me,

Gerrard, wake up, its morning; here is your tea,

Opening my eyes, I saw Breda my wife,

Offering the cup of plenty, tea of my life.

 

Where are my boots? I asked, still half sleep,

I want them, I need them; oh where are they please?

They are under the bed, here, she said, offering them to me,

Why do you want them before drinking your tea?

 

Accepting my boots, I poured in the tea,

What on earth are you doing? she asked warily,

I don’t go anywhere, I told her, without filling them first,

Can I have another cup, I asked, because I sure have a thirst.

 

The moral of my story is this:

Don’t go anyway to Ballykilduff, give it a miss,

Things are happening in spaceships; it’s true,

Aliens aplenty are waiting for YOU.

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