Via Tumblr

 

June LGBTQ+ Satsang PRIDE: A SPIRITUAL CELEBRATION

 

 

June LGBTQ+ Satsang

PRIDE: A SPIRITUAL CELEBRATION

June 12 @ 5 pm PDT | 8 pm EDT

REGISTER HERE

 

"Whatever I am, I just am, and from inside that allows me to be at home in the universe." ~ Ram Dass 

Join us for a spirited gathering to honor our queer fellowship community. This event will include meditation, social discussion time, and kirtan. We welcome you to decorate yourself and/or your Zoom background to reflect your own personal Pride style. Please feel free to bring a story, excerpt, or teaching to share with the satsang, that connects you to or reflects your queer spiritual experience.

REGISTER HERE

terça-feira, 31 de maio de 2022

 

Today´s practice, involved a bit of metta-ing about as it were. And just letting the mind go for a bit… nonjudgment,  enjoying the path we went down…  I accessed my  InsightTimer app, and it sounded the bell, and I was off to what I call the races… mind races… that is.

Breathe in, breathe out…

 

I began, during my sit, by counting breaths, 1-10, start over... and then for some reason wandered to the Bahá’í Prayer: The Remover of Difficulties. Which I hadn’t thought of for years… 

 

 

 

Hey old friend, long time no see... 

 Breathe in, breathe out…

 

The Remover of Difficulties sustained me during what I call the “the troubles”… coming out, divorce, a baby son, grad school, Ph.D. research and defense… I used to just walk about, repeating it over and over… vacillating from crazy to OK  to survival. I couldn’t deal with much, it felt like I was just hanging on by my fingernails, until I found a good bunch of Gay Zen Buddhists and a professor who mentored me through the bottoming out (pardon the metaphor). Zen guys became mentors, not unlike uncles, and really helped me steer out of the darkness and confusion I felt myself in.

 

Many Bahá’ís might use it as a sort of mantra… sometimes repeating it hundreds of times… Helen Bishop taught me to mantra it, using my knuckles… 45 times up, 45 times back. She knew she was dealing with a young man with a touch of ADD.

 

Breathe in, breathe out…

 

And then I said to myself "Self, how about, one more Remover of Difficulties just for old times sake?" And suddenly I was reminded of Melvin´s practice, that I archived on my virtual altar site:

 

 

Melvin takes his version of metta and moves through the pronouns… I have adapted to do a “I, you, “that person”, “them” all beings… sort of wheel of concentration.

 

Breathe in, breathe out…

 

So I said to myself, “Self, try it with our old friend, the Remover of Difficulties…" I mean what could happen, no one is watching... 

 

So, I began...

 

Is there any remover of difficulties save God? Say praised be God! He is God! All are his servants, and all abide by His bidding.

 

I did a second pass, this time:

 

Is there any remover of difficulties save God? Say praised be God! SHE is God! All are HER servants, and all abide by HER bidding.

 

Hmmm… that was fun… the gender thing about  English and monotheism has bothered me for a while. So, I wondered, h’bout this, and I tried:

 

Is there any remover of difficulties save God? Say praised be God! YOU are God! All are YOUR servants, and all abide by Your bidding.

 

Then…

 

Is there any remover of difficulties save God? Say praised be God! All Beings are God! All are THEIR servants, and all abide by THEIR bidding.

 

Breathe in, breathe out…

 

Then the bell rang, and I dropped back to chair. And it was over. 

 

As I write the music I am playing here, talked about a Franciscan prayer, I believe it goes something like this:

 

Oh my god

You are here

Oh my god

I am here

Oh my god

 we are here

And always, always, always, you love us!

 

 

 Be well, be safe…now, here.

Lida Rose/Will I Ever Tell You? (A YouTube Exclusive)

Via Daily Dharma: Learning Balance Prevents Burnout

 Knowing and feeling the suffering of others requires balance lest suffering overwhelm the sharer. Grief the same. It cannot be avoided. The trick is to navigate the bivalent nature of each of these states, building good from bad.

William deBuys, “Good Grief”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Intention: Cultivating Appreciative Joy

 

RIGHT INTENTION
Cultivating Appreciative Joy

Whatever you intend, whatever you plan, and whatever you have a tendency toward, that will become the basis upon which your mind is established. (SN 12.40) Develop meditation on appreciative joy, for when you develop meditation on appreciative joy, any discontent will be abandoned. (MN 62)  Appreciative joy fails when it produces amusement. (Vm 9.95)

Reflection

The emotion indicated by the term appreciative joy is a deep one and is to be distinguished from mere amusement. Noticing the success of others is not a momentary lift; you are allowing yourself to be profoundly moved by the beneficial aspects of life that do not center on yourself. Once we open to all the ways others have good things happen to them, this becomes a boundless source of our own good feelings.

Daily Practice

Cultivate appreciative joy at every opportunity. Get in the habit of noticing the good things that happen around you, not as they relate to your own gain but as they affect and benefit others. Being happy about other people being happy is a practice in itself. It is good to loosen the habit of always relating what you see to yourself and to develop an appreciation for the perspective of others. Feel the joy you experience from this.

Tomorrow: Refraining from Harsh Speech
One week from today: Cultivating Equanimity

Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media
#DhammaWheel

Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.