Sunday, August 31, 2014

Via Trust Your Journey / FB:


Via Daily Dharma


Always Free | August 31, 2014

The two things that you are always free to do—despite your circumstances—are to be present and to be willing to love. 
-Jack Kornfield, “Set the Compass of Your Heart”

Flower of the Day: 08/31/14

"I went driving once on a rainy day and it ended up hailing, so my car got all scratched up. But who decided to take the car out on this rainy day? I did. Therefore, it is my responsibility alone. I never get tired of saying that you are not a helpless victim of the harmful influences of outer space. I know it is hard to hear this, and you can even get angry with me, but I have to tell the truth: you are where you put yourself."
Sri Prem Baba

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Via Daily Dharma


Dharmic Darwinism | August 30, 2014

The Buddha intuited some type of evolutionary process that creates our bodies, and his essential point is that they are neither formed nor owned by us. We now have evidence that our bodies arise from the forces and elements that make up the entire universe, through a complex chain of interdependent events. Internalizing this understanding can help liberate us from the powerful sense of ownership and attachment we have to the body. 
 
-Wes Nisker, “Evolution’s Body”
 

Flower of the Day: 08/30/14

"Your entire day can become a sadhana, a spiritual practice, when everything you do transforms into selfless service. Each minute of action is turned into a prayer, and as such your life becomes yoga. Presence must permeate your actions, which is only possible when you are whole in your actions. In this way, your actions will become a puja, an offering to the Divine. Little by little, you will go beyond your self-interest and egotistical motives, and will surrender yourself to service."
- Sri Prem Baba

Friday, August 29, 2014

Via LGBTQ Nation: A gay dad’s open letter to the homophobic parents who threw away their gay son

Another young person has been thrown out of his home for coming out as gay.

I have written about this on a number of occasions covering such events in the United States, Nigeria and Uganda.

This time the event was recorded. Trying to imagine the evil some people can impart on their children is no longer necessary. Now we can hear them in their own self righteous voices

It started when the family called 20-year-old Daniel Pierce to an “intervention.” He left his phone recorder going during the confrontation and was later posted online as “How not to react when your child tells you he is gay.” It has now gone viral.

In the video, Daniel explains to what sounds like his mother, step-mother and father that he is gay. The choices this set of parents makes as a reaction are almost as bad as they possibly could be.

His mother makes a statement at the outset that becomes increasingly shocking as the video proceeds and the parenting adults collectively verbally attack and physically abuse the young man.

The mother’s statement is: “I have known since you were a young boy that you were gay.” If there was ever clear pointed evidence that Daniel was “born that way,” her comment would be it.

She knows who her child is, yet due to her own personal agenda she pretends he is making a choice and coldly rejects him as a result.

http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2014/08/a-gay-dads-open-letter-to-the-homophobic-parents-who-threw-their-gay-son-away/

Via JMG: Religion Maps


Via Pew Research:
Earlier this summer, on World Population Day, we explained that half of the world’s population lives in just six countries. In many cases, the world’s major religious groups are even more concentrated, with half or more of their followers living in one or a handful of countries. For several years, demographers at the Pew Research Center have been studying the demographic characteristics of eight groups: Buddhists, Christians, adherents of folk religions, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, the religiously unaffiliated and followers of other religions. While Christians and Muslims are more widely distributed around the world, the other groups have a majority of their populations in just one or two nations, according to 2010 estimates from our Global Religious Landscape report.

While there continues to be much attention paid to the growth of the religiously unaffiliated population in Europe and North America, more than half (62%) of the world’s 1.1 billion unaffiliated people live in one Asian country: China. China also is home to 50% of the world’s 488 million Buddhists and 73% of the 405 million global adherents of folk religions. Since China is the world’s most populous nation, it may not be altogether unexpected that it has a lot of people in a variety of categories. While China accounts for 19% of the world’s overall population, it is home to majorities of all Buddhists, unaffiliated people and adherents of folk religions.
More maps are at the link.


Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Donations Pour In For Daniel Pierce


Early yesterday morning I posted the video of 20 year-old Georgia resident Daniel Pierce, who recorded his family as they verbally and physically abused him for being gay. Since then the clip has gone wildly viral with over 2 million views. The story has been picked up by the national press, fueling donations that stand at over $52K at this writing.
Pierce confirmed the video's details to the Huffington Post on Thursday, adding that he initially came out to his parents in October. But when his father, stepmother and grandparents attempted to stage a "delayed intervention" on Wednesday, things quickly went awry, which resulted in Pierce being attacked, disowned and thrown out of his house. "You're full of shit," Pierce's stepmother can be heard saying in the video. "You told me on the phone that you made that choice. You know you wasn't born that way. You know damn good and well you made that choice. You know that [your father] has done everything he can to raise you. ... He didn't need to blame himself." "Their reaction was pretty much expected [once] I chose to leave instead of pray because they have always been very vocal about not supporting the gay lifestyle," Pierce told the Huffington Post. "My [stepmother's] reaction was the most surprising and hurtful." Sadly, Pierce's story is not unique. While Pierce has confirmed that he is now safely staying with supportive friends and family members, there are many LGBT youths in America who face even more unfortunate circumstances. A 2012 study by UCLA's Williams Institute found that around 40% of homeless youths identify as LGBT, many of them having been rejected or abused by their family members over their gender or sexual orientation.
While Pierce appears to be in safe hands now, countless other LGBT youth remain in peril. Please consider supporting the Ali Forney Center or a similar organization near you.
 
Reposted From Joe Jervis

Flower of the Day: 08/29/14

"When you can look into the eyes of each member of your family constellation and sincerely thank them for everything, you will be ready to forget that you were ever born. This means that you will be ready to go beyond your personality and beyond human consciousness, and thus anchor divine consciousness. You will finally be able to remember your true identity, which is beyond your story, your body and your name."
Sri Prem Baba

Far from Dharma | August 29, 2014

At this moment in human history, the unrestrained extraction and burning of fossil fuels has brought us, in the industrialized nations, to the point where we are contaminating and pillaging the Earth to such an extreme that we are endangering all life on this planet. Nothing could be further from the intention and practice of dharma.
 
-Ven. Santussika Bhikkhuni, “Dharma in Action”
 

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Via The Bilerico Project / FB:



PREACH. Holy double standards, Batman!

Here's why we shouldn't tolerate double standards for PDAs:

http://www.bilerico.com/2014/05/on_the_michael_sam_kiss_and_getting_a_room.php

Via The Bilerico Project / FB:




https://www.facebook.com/BilericoProject/photos/a.10151664296722855.1073741826.9288107854/10152674597032855/?type=1&theater

How not to react when your child tells you that he's gay





Fortunately, this mentality is slowly diminishing, but this video is proof it exists -- and in too many homes, as we know 40 percent of homeless runaways are LGBT kids, and 1.6 and 2.8 million youths run away each year.

Dan Savage writes:
That was hard to listen to. Jesus. Fucking. Christ. My heart breaks for that poor, brave, tough kid. What the fuck is wrong with these people?
We could have a fundraiser up and running for this poor kid by morning—if we knew who he was and where he was.
Please remember, if you are an LGBT child or teen in need of help, the National Runaway Switchboard at 1-800-RUNAWAY can help you. The Ali Forney Center has a local and national LGBT youth online resource guide

Hat tip: Joe Jervis

Via Daily Dharma


Forget Language | August 28, 2014

If you use a trap to catch fish, once you succeed you can forget the trap. And if you use language to find meaning, once you find it you can forget the language. 
 
-Bodhidharma, "The Snaggletoothed Barbarian"
 

Flower of the Day: 08/28/14

"Being alive is a miracle. If you are alive, it is only through the grace of God. If you can blink your eyes, it's through God’s grace. It is impossible to know when you are going to pass away, which is why it is so important to know what to do with the time you have been given. Perhaps the best use of your time may be to even meditate on immortality, since in the end the myth of death imprisons your mind. The truth is that when your body no longer serves you, you need to change bodies, but the one who inhabits the body never dies."

- Sri Prem Baba

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Via Daily Dharma


We End Liberated | August 27, 2014

There is no permanent Hell, there is no permanent Heaven. Therefore, the suffering that we sense during this transition of life is not a permanent condition that we need to be afraid of. It's not where we're going to end up. We end liberated from the suffering either by death, or in life, by waking up to the nature of our situation and not clinging and grasping, screaming and being angry, resentful, irritable or insulted by our existence. 
 
-Allen Ginsberg, "Negative Capability: Kerouac's Buddhist Ethic"
 

Flower of the Day: 08/27/14

"At some point in time, one must learn how not to identify with one’s lower nature, specifically with the games of lust, pride and revenge to name a few. But, in order not to get identified with these games, one must first recognize and identify them. This is the first stage of the awakening process. This identification or recognition is only possible through focused self-observation."

- Sri Prem Baba

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Via JMG: Ecuador Recognizes LGBT Relationships


Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa has announced that LGBT citizens will be able to register their relationships with the federal government.
"The LGBT community have the constitutional right to register on their union," Correa said during his weekly report. Previously, the Ecuadoran Civil Registry did not recognize these unions because they had no legal status according to law, however Correa said that from now on this right has to be respected and if denied, the authorities will take action on the matter. However, Correa said that although he supports these unions, he don't support gay marriage, which according to him corresponds to the union between a man and a woman. But he said he is committed to guarantee the rights of all Ecuadorans. Correa, a Catholic leftist, has expressed his opposition to same-sex marriage and adoption of children by gay couples in previous occasions. The Ecuadoran Constitution grants equal rights to "cohabitation partnerships" regardless if they are civil or Catholic marriages, so the LGBT community gains more legal recognition with this legislation.
Same-sex marriage and adoption by gay couples or individuals remains banned in the national constitution.


Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: AP Reports On Seventh Circuit


Via the Associated Press:
Federal appeals judges bristled Tuesday at arguments defending gay marriage bans in Indiana and Wisconsin, with one Republican appointee comparing them to now-defunct laws that once outlawed weddings between blacks and whites. Judge Richard Posner, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, was dismissive when Wisconsin Assistant Attorney General Timothy Samuelson repeatedly pointed to 'tradition' as the underlying justification for barring gay marriage. "It was tradition to not allow blacks and whites to marry — a tradition that got swept away," Posner said. Prohibition of same sex marriage, he said, is "a tradition of hate ... and savage discrimination."

Posner frequently cut off Indiana Solicitor General Thomas Fischer, just moments into his presentation and chided him to answer his questions. At one point, Posner ran through a list of psychological strains of unmarried same-sex couples, including having to struggle to grasp why their schoolmates' parents were married and theirs weren't. "What horrible stuff," Posner said. What benefits to society in barring gay marriage, he asked, "outweighs that kind of damage to children?" The answer has to do with "procreation," Fisher answered. "All this is a reflection of biology," Fisher said. "Men and women make babies, same-sex couples do not... we have to have a mechanism to regulate that, and marriage is that mechanism."

The ACLU and Lambda Legal have essentially reiterated their equal protection arguments in appeals court filings, arguing that the bans deny gay couples state and federal legal protections and benefits that married straight couples enjoy. "The freedom to marry is a core aspect of personal liberty for all Americans," the ACLU said in its briefs. There was some levity during the hearing. As Samuelson struggled to offer a specific reason for how gay marriage bans benefit society, he suddenly noted a yellow courtroom light signaling his allotted time was up. "It won't save you," Williams told him, prompting laughter in court. Samuleson smiled, saying "it was worth a try."


Reposted from Joe Jervis

Flower of the Day: 08/26/14

"True service is a fragrance of the Being. It is a light that emanates from your understanding. At a certain stage of the journey, you are able to practice service as an intelligent austerity, which is a spiritual practice that purifies selfishness. You choose to create some friction in order to provoke your ‘no's’ towards love. Since it is a choice, I call it an ‘intelligent’ austerity because it is born out of your intelligence and comprehension. It is bitter medicine, but it works, so you decide to try it out."

- Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma


Give It Away | August 26, 2014

Happiness is not happiness unless it is shared. For happiness is the one thing in all the world that comes to us only at the moment we give it, and is likewise increased by being given away. 
 
-Clark Strand, "The Wisdom of Frogs"
 

Monday, August 25, 2014

Via Daily Dharma


Derived from Mind | August 25, 2014

It is the various mental constructions that we hold, and hold dear, that appear as time and space, extension and duration. These—and all of the material world—derive from consciousness, which ladles out time and space from a timeless, spaceless sea. 
 
-Steve Hagen, "Time and Now"
 

Flower of the Day: 08/25/14

"Death is a myth that imprisons us, and what sustains this myth is forgetting about the spiritual reality. Death needs to be understood, as it is this myth that chains the soul to the body. At the time of your death, all of your unresolved fears and issues visit you, and this drags your awareness back to those places. Then, when you reincarnate, you are stuck at the same point."

- Sri Prem Baba

Sunday, August 24, 2014

"Sometimes one’s addiction to blaming the other is so deeply ingrained that one doesn't even realize when one is accusing someone – it happens automatically. But if accusations exist, then so do comparisons and judgments, and this is what opens the doors to hell. With this, one awakens one’s lower nature and ends up losing all of the silence and love one has already gained."
- Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma


The Single Thing | August 24, 2014

I don’t envision a single thing that, when developed and cultivated, brings about such happiness as the mind. The mind, when developed and cultivated, brings about happiness.

-The Buddha, "The Single Thing"
 

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Flower of the Day: 08/23/14

"I perceive the acute stages of mental disorder as spiritual emergencies. The soul is expanding faster than the body can keep up with. The energy centers are spinning at a frequency that is defined by the soul, but the body carrying all of its marks and scars cannot handle this movement. In other words, the soul is expanding, but the body is still committed to destroying itself and this creates an internal tug of war between opposing forces. This is the origin of suffering: two forces moving in the opposite direction inside of us."

- Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma


A Spiritual Life All Our Own | August 23, 2014

We should never lose sight of the fact that, however difficult the going may be at times, the living of the spiritual life is ultimately our own responsibility. It should never be abdicated to another, however venerable.
 
-John Snelling, “Beware the Charismatic Guru”
 

Friday, August 22, 2014

Via Dialy Dharma:


What We Need | August 22, 2014

Restraint means protecting the integrity of our mind so that we’re less likely to depart from our discipline; this way we avoid errors such as greed. So, not only should we not take more than we need but also always practice consideration in making sure that everyone has what they need. 
 
-Venerable Yifa, "Thought for Food"
 

Flower of the Day: 08/22/14

“Paying attention to synchronicities is very important because they are the voice of your intuition or the voice of God coming from within. However, I see that many of you are unable to perceive these signs as you are attached to a particular outcome for situations, filled with expectations. This is a limitation because you predetermine a way for things to happen and hope that life will fit into your plan. But life brings infinite possibilities, and it may offer something that is beyond your own plans.”

- Sri Prem Baba

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Via Daily Dharma


When We Trust | August 21, 2014

When we trust with our open heart, whatever occurs, at that very moment that it occurs, can be perceived as fresh and unstained by the clouds of hope and fear. 
 
-Dr. Jeremy Hayward, "First Thought"
 

Flower of the Day: 08/21/14

“When you de-identify from your past, it will no longer exercise power over you. The past is still the past, but you’re no longer identified with it. It may even be a source of inspiration and understanding that you can use when necessary, but it stops draining your energy and awareness. The past no longer steals away your presence. However, this is only possible when you are in harmony with your past.”

Sri Prem Baba

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

BKS Iyengar

Via Daily Dharma


A Whisper of Psychic Release | August 20, 2014

The most fascinating and perhaps most significant of all interfaces is the one that separates yet connects the ridiculous and the sublime. The surprisingly narrow borderline between things holy and things profane, between prayer and laughter, between a Leonardo chalice and Warhol soup can, between the Clear Light and the joke, provides a zone of meaning as exhilarating as it is heretical: a whisper of psychic release so acutely yet weirdly portentous it just might offer a clue to the mystery of being. 
 
-Tom Robbins, "Now Showing: Satori"
 

Flower of the Day: 08/20/14

It is necessary to learn how to trust the commands that come from the heart. The spiritual master teaches you and guides you through his or her own intuition, but you will only learn if you are able to hear your heart; if you are able to discern. Discernment is an attribute of the Being, for it is a manifestation of your creative intelligence.”

- Sri Prem Baba

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Flower of the Day: 08/19/14

“The fear of scarcity emerges in relation to money, but also in relation to feelings. When you are controlled by a fear of scarcity, you need to wield power over others in order to feel secure. This fear breaks your connection with the source and you feel powerless. So the only way you get power is through robbing other people’s energy by making them feel inferior, guilty, incompetent, or wrong. In other words, making them feel fearful as well. This lowers the other person’s awareness to the same level as your own, and you feel stronger. But the price you pay is very high, because this creates karma that will pursue you indefinitely.”

Sri Prem Baba

Flower of the Day: 08/18/14

“I have been speaking about the importance of kindness and friendship during our groups. The sangha, a community of spiritual seekers, is one of the sacred jewels of the path to enlightenment: it is the body of the master teacher. So the health of the master’s body depends on the friendships of his or her students and their ability to work together in harmony.”

Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma


No Boundaries | August 19, 2014

Pain and joy, love of life, and fear of death know no boundaries of us and them. We can all wake up to realize that our happiness depends on the happiness of our neighbors and vice versa, and our real safety is in togetherness, not intractable conflict. 
 
-Stephen Fulder, "Do We Really 'Have No Choice'?"

Monday, August 18, 2014

Via Daily Dharma


Good at Heart | August 18, 2014

As long as we have fire when we need it, water when we need it, warm food on the table, tasty curry, what else do we need? Happiness is to be good at heart. 
 
- Madeline Drexler, “The Happiness Metric”
 

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Flower of the Day: 08/17/14

“Choice is a power through which we can move in this world, however sometimes an apparent paradox occurs. In certain situations you discover that despite your choices, things happen the way they were supposed to. It’s as though there was already a plan mapped out. So work towards making conscious choices, but don’t blame yourself when that is not possible. Remember that even a wrong choice is right because it helps you to increase your capacity to discern. It can also teach you to see the brightness of the right path until there comes a time when you no longer doubt. The ‘wrong’ path is usually unlit and you receive clear signals not to take it, while the right path has a luminosity that inspires you.”

Sri Prem Baba

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Flower of the Day: 08/16/14

"The conditioned mind is under the spell of the cosmic illusion that restricts one’s ability to love and makes one a prisoner of suffering. The conditioned mind is a prisoner of its own prejudices and beliefs. This generates anguish, because one’s essence is in search of freedom. The key that opens this prison door is love."

Sri Prem Baba

Transcend What? | August 16, 2014

Buddhist training isn't a method for transcending our basic nature--our nature isn't the trap. Aversion and grasping together are the trap, and nondiscrimination the way out. 
 
- Sallie Tisdale, “The Buddhist Sex Quandary”
 
"The real self is dangerous: dangerous for the established church, dangerous for the state, dangerous for the crowd, dangerous for the tradition, because once a man knows his real self, he becomes an individual. He belongs no more to the mob psychology; he will not be superstitious, and he cannot be exploited. and he cannot be led like cattle, he cannot be ordered and commanded. Integrated persons become individuals, and the society wants you to be non-individuals.

Instead he will live according to his light; he will live from his own inwardness. His life will have tremendous beauty, integrity."

~Osho

Friday, August 15, 2014

Flower of the Day: 08/15/14

“If you find yourself stuck at a certain point, suffering and controlling, this means that you are under the dominion of a force called ‘obstinacy’. Obstinacy is a distortion of willpower. In other words, it is willpower that is being used by fear and hatred. There is an insistence on accomplishing what the ego determines. So, I invite you to relax and surrender to the guidance of the mystery. Maybe you’ll have a nice surprise.”
 
Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma


The Reality of Freedom | August 15, 2014

Instead of creatively realizing their freedom, many choose the unreflective conformism dictated by television, indulgence in mass-consumerism, or numbing their feelings of alienation and anguish with drugs. In theory, freedom may be held in high regard; in practice it is experienced as a dizzying loss of meaning and direction. 
 
Stephen Batchelor, “Buddhism Without Beliefs”
 

Where The Bears Are - Season 3: Episode 2 BEARS IN THE HOUSE


Thursday, August 14, 2014

Anthony Bourdain for HRC's Americans For Marriage Equality


Via JMG: American Bar Association Resolution: LGBT Rights Are Basic Human Rights


 
Here's the resolution in full:
RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association recognizes that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people have a human right to be free from discrimination, threats and violence based on their LGBT status and condemns all laws, regulations and rules or practices that discriminate on the basis that an individual is a LGBT person;

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges the governments of countries where such discriminatory laws, regulations, and practices exist to repeal them with all deliberate speed and ensure the safety and equal protection under the law of all LGBT people;

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges other bar associations and attorneys in jurisdictions where there are such discriminatory laws or incidents of targeting of LGBT people to work to defend victims of anti-LGBT discrimination or conduct, and to recognize and support their colleagues who take these cases as human rights advocates; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges the United States Government, through bilateral and multilateral channels, to work to end discrimination against LGBT people and to ensure that the rights of LGBT people receive equal protection under the law.
(Tipped by JMG reader Wilson)


Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Daily Dharma


Non-Killing | August 14, 2014

From the intrinsic standpoint--one of body, of Buddha-nature--non-killing means that there is nothing being born and nothing dying. The very notions of 'birth' and 'death' are extra. Life does not divide up into things to be killed or not killed; it is just this one body, constantly changing.
 
- Bernie Glassman, “The First Precept”
 

Flower of the Day: 08/14/14

“Suffering is something that nobody wants, but no one lets go of it. This is because leaving behind suffering also means letting go of one’s defenses and control, and becoming vulnerable. Through this surrender, one begins to enjoy the wisdom of uncertainty, and becomes as light as a leaf that is taken by the wind.”
 
Sri Prem Baba
 

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Via LadoBi: Gays devem boicotar Dilma por ter engavetado lei da homofobia

Quando o jovem Kaique Augusto Batista dos Santos, 16 anos, foi encontrado morto na região central de São Paulo no sábado (11) com todos os dentes arrancados da boca, desfigurado, com um barra de ferro enfiada na perna e cuja morte foi relatada pela incompetente polícia paulista como “suicídio”, o Marcio me pediu para escrever algo sobre o assunto.

Eu tenho evitado comentar, divulgar e debater as mortes por homofobia porque, além de isso me fazer um mal tremendo, acho que não há mais o que se dizer sobre essa barbaridade. Por isso, eu procuro publicar aqui no site histórias afirmativas, como a do pastor que casou seu filho gay na igreja, da base militar americana que celebrou o primeiro casamento gay, da mãe do Lance Bass, que pregou em sua igreja sobre o amor aos homossexuais, sobre a família de gays afro americanos criando suas três crianças e por aí vai… Além de os nossos leitores gostarem disso, sinto que é uma maneira de levar esperança e amor a uma comunidade tão mal tratada e desprezada pela sociedade como são os LGBT.
Disse, portanto, ao Marcio, que não queria escrever sobre isso. Que se fosse escrever ia sair uma mensagem de ódio. Porque minha vontade ao ler a notícia era pegar um por um desses covardes homofóbicos e fazê-los, só pra começar, comer a própria merda.

Afinal, o que mais eu poderia dizer? Que a polícia brasileira é uma das corporações mais vergonhosas e incompetentes que existe no país? Que a sociedade brasileira é uma das mais coniventes com essa barbárie que está acontecendo? Que Marco Feliciano, Silas Malafaia, Jair Bolsonaro e tantos outros desses supostos cristãos mereciam ser condenados por crimes contra a humanidade? Que os gays também têm sua responsabilidade pelo que acontece, já que se mobilizam apenas para expressar seu hedonismo, quando não para expressarem preconceitos de ordem racial, social e sexual contras as bichas pretas, pobres e efeminadas? O que, afinal, eu poderia fazer para extravasar o ódio que eu sentia de uma maneira racional e eficiente, na tentativa de tentar reverter essa situação degradante e humilhante que os homossexuais, bissexuais e transexuais estão passando neste país?

Pois eis que eu tive uma ideia. Além de todos os que citei acima, quem também pode estar com as mãos sujas do sangue do Kaique é a nossa presidenta Dilma Rousseff. Não é a primeira vez que ela demonstra seu total descaso acerca dos direitos humanos. Calou-se sobre o aborto. Calou-se sobre o estatuto do nascituro, a chamada bolsa-estupro, e quando resolveu agir sobre a homofobia, jogou contra. Recentemente, com medo de perder os votos dos evangélicos e cedendo à chantagem da bancada dos falsos profetas, mais conhecida como bancada evangélica, mandou mais uma vez adiar a votação do PLC-122, que pune com rigor os crimes motivados por homofobia.

UPDATE: é importante que você clique no hyperlink acima para entender como a Dilma interferiu nessa votação. Quem orientou a bancada petista no Senado foi a ministra da relações institucionais Ideli Salvatti, que não dá um passo sem a orientação de Dilma e cuja função é administrar crises entre os poderes. Oficialmente e teoricamente, Dilma não poderia interferir nos expedientes do Congresso, mas sabemos que ela faz isso, especialmente quando tem que ceder às chantagens da bancada evangélica, que vive ameaçando de travar a pauta das votações em nome de suas bandeiras fundamentalistas.

Pois bem, dona Dilma, a comunidade LGBT pode não ser tão numerosa quanto a evangélica, mas com certeza, a meu ver, nossos votos não podem ser desprezados. Já li que a Parada Gay reuniu mais de 3 milhões em uma de suas edições. Não temos dados precisos de qual é o tamanho da comunidade LGBT no Brasil, mas creio eu que 3 milhões de votos podem ser a diferença entre uma vitória em primeiro e uma ida ao segundo turno. E que se o cenário no segundo turno for bem apertado, os gays podem sim fazer a diferença e dona Dilma cair com a cara no chão.

Então, bichas, façam o favor de não votar nessa mulher na próxima eleição. Não estou dizendo em quem vocês devem votar, mas em que vocês NÃO DEVEM VOTAR DE JEITO NENHUM. Anulem, votem em branco ou procurem saber quem foram os políticos que já fizeram algo pela comunidade LGBT e votem neles. Além disso, votem para os cargos legislativos nos candidatos que representam a comunidade LGBT. O Jean Wyllys precisa de ajuda. Sozinho o cara é massacrado naquele Congresso de machistas. O PV, por exemplo, (não, não sou partidário deles) está promovendo vários candidatos que representam os nossos direitos para a próxima eleição. Votem neles. Sejam solidários pelo menos uma vez na vida. #GAYnãovotaemDilma
Vejam, esse meu posicionamento em nada muda minha orientação política favorável aos programas sociais do governo que tiraram milhões da pobreza e que deram oportunidade a outros milhões de estudar, viajar, comprar e ter dignidade humana. Tampouco quer dizer que sou de direita, que adquiri um discurso reaça ou que virei tucano (embora, é bom ressaltar, quem assinou a lei estadual que pune a homofobia foi Alckmin e quem quebrou as patentes dos medicamentos antirretrovirais foi o Serra). Apenas estou convocando a comunidade LGBT a responder ao descaso com que o governo a tem tratado nas urnas, já que esse direito civil ainda não nos foi tomado.

E quanto a esses patéticos neonazistas tupiniquins (sim, pode haver algo mais ridículo que latino-americanos miscigenados lutarem pela superioridade ariana?), vocês que nem sequer têm a coragem de mostrar suas caras imundas em público, que só têm coragem de atacar em bando ao gay mais vulnerável que encontram na rua sozinho, eu os desafio a irem atacar na porta da The Week, onde está cheio de gays musculosos prontos para encherem suas caras de sopapos.


Quanto a vocês, bichas covardes, preconceituosas, racistas, homofóbicas e misóginas, suas mãos também estão sujas. Sua falta de engajamento político, seu descaso, sua falta de consciência coletiva também ajudaram a arrancar cada um dos 32 dentes do Kaique. Isso também tem a ver contigo. E espero que você não se dê conta apenas quando sua cara estiver desfigurada em um B.O. de “suicídio”.

http://www.ladobi.com/2014/01/gay-nao-vote-na-dilma/

Via LadoBi: “Posição de Dilma é vergonhosa”, diz ativista gay argentino

A presidente argentina Cristina Kirchner se declarou publicamente a favor do casamento igualitário. O que dizer da omissão da Dilma sobre essa questão?

É uma vergonha. A posição da Dilma é vergonhosa. Assim como mandar o exército e a Força Nacional para a rua para reprimir os protestos contra a privatização do pré-sal. A posição do PT é uma vergonha. Ontem eu me reuni com o Alckmin por pouco mais de meia hora, e durante nossa conversa eu disse para ele que é muito difícil para o público argentino entender como é que, no Brasil, tem lideranças nacionais como ele que são a favor do casamento igualitário, e a Dilma, que é mulher de esquerda e ex-presa política, é contra. Como é possível, o maior obstáculo para que a lei do casamento igualitário seja aprovada no Congresso é o PT e sua aliança com a máfia fundamentalista religiosa. A Comissão dos Direitos Humanos e Minorias (CDHM) aprovou o projeto de alteração da lei da discriminação, liberando os religiosos para agir de maneira discriminatória. Além de fundamentalistas, são burros. A lei que eles querem alterar é a lei do racismo. Não inclui a homossexualidade. Quando eles fazem essa alteração para isentar as igrejas, o que querem é permitir que se discrimine por cor, que se permita a um pastor dizer “na minha igreja não caso pessoas negras”. O PT fez um acordo político e colocou um pastor fundamentalista na presidência da CDHM. Na Argentina, Feliciano poderia até se tornar deputado, mas jamais sobreviveria como presidente dessa comissão.

http://www.ladobi.com/2013/10/posicao-dilma-vergonhosa-ativista-gay-argentino/


KCRW Featured Performance

Flower of the Day: 08/13/14

“It takes steadiness to accomplish what your heart determines. This can be extremely challenging because, when you truly surrender yourself, the heart begins to purify you. Love works towards having love and only love be expressed through you. Love is enough unto itself. It purifies you until you become a pure channel of love.”
 
Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma


Faith in Buddhism | August 13, 2014

It is a great turning point in our spiritual lives when we go from an intellectual appreciation of a path to the heartfelt confidence that says, ‘Yes, it is possible to awaken. I can, too.’ A tremendous joy accompanies this confidence. When we place our hearts upon the practice, the teachings come alive. That turning point, which transforms an abstract concept of a spiritual path into our own personal path, is faith.
 
Sharon Salzberg, “How Important is Faith?”
 

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

The Life of Buddha (BBC Documentary) + Eng Sub (HQ)


BBC - THE BUDDHA'S LIFE (dublado em português)


Via JMG: Gallup: Gays Are Less Religious


 
A just released Gallup poll reveals the unshocking fact that LGBT Americans tend to be less religious than the rest of the nation.
Americans who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender are significantly less likely than non-LGBT Americans to be highly religious, and significantly more likely to be classified as not religious. The same percentage of each group is moderately religious. These results are based on more than 104,000 Gallup Daily tracking interviews conducted between Jan. 2 and July 31, 2014, including 3,242 adults who identified themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. Gallup classifies Americans as "very religious" if they say religion is an important part of their daily lives and that they attend religious services every week or almost every week. That group constituted 41% of all U.S. adults between January and July 2014. "Nonreligious" Americans (30% of U.S. adults) are those who say religion is not an important part of their daily lives and that they seldom or never attend religious services. The remaining group, 29% of Americans, are classified as "moderately religious." These people say religion is important in their lives but that they do not attend services regularly, or that religion is not important but that they still attend services. LGBT and non-LGBT individuals differ on both dimensions that make up the religiosity classification. About a quarter of LGBT individuals attend religious services regularly, contrasted with 42% of non-LGBT individuals.
More graphs and analysis are at the link.


Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: ISRAEL: "Law Of Return" Citizenship Granted To Non-Jewish Gay Spouses


Via the Times Of Israel:
In a ground-breaking interpretation of the Law of Return, the Interior Ministry decided to permit non-Jewish same-sex marriage partners of Jews living abroad to immigrate to Israel and be granted Israeli citizenship, the ministry announced on Tuesday. According to the Law of Return, any Jew has the right to apply for, and be granted, Israeli citizenship. The right is extended under the law to the applicant’s partner by marriage as well. The right, however, was previously reserved only for heterosexual couples. “The gates of Israel will from now on be open to any Jew and his family, without discrimination based on his way of life,” Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar said in a statement. In Israel itself, marriage services for Jews are controlled by the state rabbinate, which does not perform same-sex marriages; nor is there any option of civil marriage for Jews.
More from Shalom Life:
[Minister] Sa'ar said that his decision came as a result of the issue being raised in many recent immigration applications to the Interior Ministry. In the statement marking his decision, he wrote that "the point of the Law of Return is an ingathering of the Jewish people from exile, and the purpose of the 1970 amendment was to enable the family of a Jewish person to come to Israel as an equal to him, in order to encourage immigration." He continued. "I do not see any reason to distinguish between Jews who had a heterosexual marriage and Jews who had a same-sex marriage abroad, according to the law. Both meet the requirements of the Law of Return, from the perspective of 'and the sons have returned.'"


Reposted from Joe Jervis