Primary Day in Brasil!
Sunday, October 4, 2026
Via GBF \\ "What We Turn Toward: Reclaiming Our Joy" with Tom Moon
he latest dharma talk is now available on the GBF website and podcast:
What We Turn Toward: Reclaiming Our Joy
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Tom Moon addresses the challenge we face of staying grounded, peaceful, and resilient when our world feels overwhelmed by political turmoil, cruelty, and constant outrage.
How? By inviting us to reframe our spiritual focus: true liberation doesn't come from trying to suppress negative emotions or forcing empty, feel-good affirmations, but from intentionally cultivating what is wholesome. Tom draws on Buddhist history, Mary Oliver's poetry, and his own experience recovering from a stroke to remind us that while evil and suffering are real, our brains are also hardwired with a "negativity bias"—acting like velcro for bad experiences and teflon for good ones.
Additionally, when we fall into "survivor guilt" by believing that experiencing happiness during hard times is selfish or disloyal, we actually drain ourselves of the vitality needed to resist harm and care for others.
Tom offers several key insights and practices to help us counteract this bias and incline our minds toward genuine light and joy:
- Reframing Liberation: We learn that we aren't freed simply by turning away from greed, hatred, and delusion, but by actively cultivating wisdom, compassion, and love.
- Overcoming "Survivor Guilt": We recognize that letting ourselves experience happiness isn't an act of disloyalty to those who suffer, but a vital spiritual duty that preserves our well-being and capacity to serve.
- Taking in the Good: Guided by Rick Hanson's practice, we learn to linger on positive moments—such as the warmth of loved ones or supportive community—for at least 20 seconds so those feelings can truly register in our nervous system.
- Directing the Heart: We remember that we become whatever we focus on; by intentionally turning toward kindness, truth, and present-moment awareness, we anchor ourselves in an underlying stillness that outer turmoil cannot destroy.
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Enjoy 900+ free recorded dharma talks at https://gaybuddhist.org/
Via White Crane Institute \\ JAN MORRIS
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| This Day in Gay History | |||
1926 -
JAN MORRIS, transgender British historian and travel writer, Morris was born on this date (d: 2020) in Clevedon, Somerset, England, and later educated at Lancing College, West Sussex. She was Welsh by heritage and adoption and was known particularly for the Pax Britannica trilogy, a history of the British Empire, and for portraits of cities, notably Oxford, Venice, Trieste and New York City. She also wrote about Spanish history and culture.
Born male, James Morris had sex reassignment in Morocco in 1972 and adopted the name Jan. She wrote of her quest for personal identity in her book Conundrum. She has maintained her marriage to Elizabeth Tuckniss since 1949. They had five children, including the poet and musician Twm Morys, but one is now deceased.
Morris served in WWII in British Intelligence and later wrote for The Times. Morris scored a notable scoop in 1953 by accompanying the British expedition which was first to scale Mount Everest. Reporting from Cyprus on the Suez Canal for The Manchester Guardian in 1956, Morris produced the first “irrefutable proof" of collusion between France and Israel in the invasion of Egyptian territory, interviewing French Air Force pilots who confirmed they had been in action in support of Israeli forces.
Morris died on November 20, 2020 at Ysbyty Bryn Beryl (Bryn Beryl Hospital) in Pwllheli in North Wales, at the age of 94, survived by Elizabeth and their four children. Her death was announced by her son Twm. Her wife Elizabeth died at age 99 on June 17, 2024.
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Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute
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Via Daily Dharma: Mindful Steps
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Via Daily Dharma: Greater Empathy
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