In traditional Buddhist teachings, contemplating about death is an integral part of meditation. Below: Body of a courtesan in nine stages of decomposition. Ink and color on silk, circa 1870s. In Buddhism, overcoming sexual desire is a necessary step towards achieving enlightenment. Not only men, women too were asked to meditate on the repulsive aspects of their own body. However, the visual depiction of this theme is a specifically Japanese adaptation....
Potted plants have been a part of households for thousands of years. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans all kept houseplants in theirsprawling estates. Exotic varieties such as nasturtiums and sunflowerswere shippedfrom the New World to Europe and gifted to monarchs. Flowers and most houseplants wilted. Only two particularlyhardy plantsmanaged to survive the dismal environment of a Victorian homethe Kentia palm and the aspidistra. A bride and her guests surrounded by potted aspidistra and Kentai palms....
I said, and I quote, You know what I want for Mothers Day? I want to be LEFT ALONE. I hadnt had a moment alone in weeks. I needed a break. And you do, too. Thats why you should take a day off from parenting. And with Mothers Day coming up, you have your perfect excuse. You dont want flowers or jewelry with your kids initials engraved onto it this year....
Theres, of course, thefinancial aspect. Theres also how the change might impact your kid (thoughthis is subjective). And then there is this question. Do youwantto stay home with your kids? There are certainly people who can answer this question without hesitation. YES THIS IS MY LIFES PURPOSE, you might declare. Or, Stay home with my kids? Oh God, 100% no. you’re able to stop reading this right now, and go do you....
Oh, andGame of Thrones.Yeah. However, you have a few options you might use to fight back the spoilers. Put a pause on your obsessive fan communities ThatGame of Thronessubreddit you read every day? The hugeStar WarsFacebook group thats always blowing up your news feed? Your Discord channel for all thingsAvengers? you could always rejoin later. Its a cruel world out there. Heres a spoiler for you: People who do that are jerks....
But they cant live there at all times, because there is no food up there. Once winter arrives, the Ibex retreats to the safety of their homes in the clouds. So the Ibex has to seek outnatural salt licks. Dam walls are anotherprecious sourceof salts and minerals. Up totwenty percentof hardened concrete is composed of ettringite. Only the Alpine Ibex can exploit this resource. Photo credit: Adriano Migliorati Photo credit:Andreas Kay/Flickr...
This article was first published on 2/9/2015. Thats right, measles. At the time of this writing, an outbreak has hit at least14 states. Here are the best ways to stay safe if the infamous virus moves in to your neighborhood. Youre more at risk if you live in a pocket of low vaccine coverage. Not all schools have or will share this data, though. Unscientifically, you could consider yourself in a hotbed of anti-vaxxers if youlive near a Whole Foods....
The phrase enthusiastic consent has finally entered the mainstream lexicon. The idea behind enthusiastic consent is that youre, well,enthusiasticabout it. Youre not just agreeing to do it because you feel pressured to in some way; youre genuinely excited. People are becoming more aware that enthusiastic consent is an essential part of a happy and healthy sex life. Heres what you gotta know to get (and give) enthusiastic consent. (Ive also heard this referred to as will, wont and would....
If the bees were not told, all sorts of calamities were thought to happen. This peculiar custom is known as telling the bees. Humans have always had a special connection with bees. In medieval Europe, bees werehighly prizedfor their honey and wax. Candles made from beeswax burned brighter, longer and cleaner than other wax candles. It was considered rude, for example, to quarrel in front of bees. Telling the bees was widely reported from all around England, and also from many places across Europe....
The worst thing about letting my daughter watch a few shows is having to turn off those shows. Its not so bad now that shes 6, but at around 3, it was intense. Id brace myself every time Id enterthe zonethat space between her eyeballs and the television. Shed nod her head and then motion for me to step out of the way. When the time was up, Id grab the remote....
TheLuna missionsbegan in 1958, before the Apollo program was even conceived. Its mission was to send a series of robotic spacecraft to the mooneither an orbiter or a lander. The ultimate goal was to bring lunar sample back to earth. The Luna programme suffered several failures early in the mission. Many of their launches never even reached earth orbit. Others reached orbit, but then refused to leave. A couple of them managed to get all the way to the moon only to fly past it....
Ah, simpler times. Nowadays, if I were going to get high, Id plop myself right in front of my computer. Otherwise, heres what Id hit up aftertaking a hit. Electric Sheep This must-have screensaver gives you a constantly rotating series of randomized animations. Even if you arent high, youll think your rig is tripping balls. (The associatedsubredditis a good resource for finding them, too.) Rez Infinite Try giving this game a shot when youre high....
Does your kid ask for the same thing at every meal? Does she refuse to eat if her fruit is touching her chicken nugget? Maybe it would help to understand why children are reluctant to eat new things. If we left our picky eaters to survive in the wild, they would bemore likely to avoid poisoning. Expect children to go througha slow, iterative process before fully accepting a new food....
