Via PAPO RETO / FB:

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day 04/11/2015

“Quando você se torna 100% responsável por tudo o que acontece na sua vida, você erradica do seu sistema um dos mais profundos vícios: o vitimismo. E Um dos principais produtos da ideia da vítima é a ingratidão. Estando tomado por ela, você não consegue enxergar as oportunidades que a vida oferece; tudo é visto pelo lado negativo e se torna motivo para reclamação. A vítima é incapaz de agradecer. E é da ingratidão que nascem os pactos de vingança e os jogos de acusação. Essa é uma das raízes da guerra.”

“Cuando te vuelves 100% responsable por todo lo que sucede en tu vida, erradicas de tu sistema uno de los vicios más profundos: el victimismo. Y uno de los principales productos de la idea de la víctima es la ingratitud. Al estar tomado por ella, no puedes ver realmente las oportunidades que la vida ofrece; todo es visto por el lado negativo y se convierte en motivo de reclamo. La víctima es incapaz de agradecer. Y es de la ingratitud que nacen los pactos de venganza y los juegos de acusación. Esta es una de las raíces de la guerra.”

“When we become 100% responsible for everything that happens in our lives, we eradicate one of the deepest vicesfrom our systems: victimhood. A leading consequence of the idea of victimhood is ingratitude. When we are taken over by the victim, we are unable to see all the opportunities life has to offer. Everything is looked atpessimistically and in turn becomes a reason to complain. The victim is incapable of having gratitude, and this lack of gratitude gives birth to pacts of revenge and games of accusation. This is one of the root causes of warfare.”

Satsang completo no link a seguir:
http://www.sriprembaba.org/pt-br/satsang/120914

Via FB:

Via Michelangelo Signorile/ Huffington: How Houston Was Lost: Prop 8 Redux as LGBT Rights Are Put on the Ballot

Political strategists warned LGBT activists in the days ahead of the vote: There was little Spanish-language outreach, no big ad buy in Spanish-language media -- in a city that is 44% Hispanic -- countering the lies of the opposition, who'd certainly been doing their own outreach. Monica Roberts, a long-time African-American transgender activist, warned of little outreach in the black community, which makes up 24% of the city. There was little emphasis by the LGBT rights coalition on the terrible economic impact that a "no" vote to equality would have on the city -- something else that political strategists warned was lacking in their campaign as well. And no ads by LGBT rights proponents held the equal punch that the nasty hate ads embodied. Instead, they overwhelmingly ran nicey-nice ads about good neighbors and equality and human dignity. 

And so, it wasn't a shock, really, that the vote wasn't even close last night. LGBT rights were clobbered, hammered, devastated in the city of Houston by voters, as the Houston Equal Right Ordinance (HERO) was repealed. 

Make no mistake, though HERO protected 15 classes of people against discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations -- groups from African-Americans and women to veterans and disabled people -- the ordinance was always cast as a gay rights measure. That's because it included LGBT people and was spearheaded by Mayor Annise Parker, a lesbian who signed it into law in 2014, and anti-gay opponents, who've always demonized Parker in ugly ways, latched on to that. And in recent months those opponents recast HERO specifically as "The Bathroom Ordinance," via television ads, narrowly focusing on transgender equality and the right of transgender women to use a public rest room, but preying on public fears and misinformation.

That recasting -- that control of the message on a budget that dwarfed that spent by gay groups -- was so effective that, as so many in Houston and outside reporters have told us, many average people interviewed on the street thought the ordinance was all about allowing "men" to use women's rest rooms.

LGBT activists argued until they were blue in the face that every other major city in Texas had such a broad ordinance, as did 200 other large cities across America -- and Houston is the fourth largest city in the U.S. -- but that argument held no weight against the lies of the "bathroom" ads. The opposition ran a hideous but enormously effective attack campaign warning people that their daughters would be molested by men dressing as women in public rest rooms. 

LGBT rights groups were led later in the campaign by the Washington-based Human Rights Campaign, whose president, Chad Griffin, told Dominic Holden of Buzzfeed that this was the group's biggest foray into a local ordinance, with 34 staffers on the ground. The coalition HRC led, Houston Unites, which also included the ACLU of Texas, with all of its money and star power, never effectively hit back against the lies with a powerful, biting rejoinder exposing the haters. They didn't even respond in a clear way to the bathroom lie itself, running only one ad to counter it.

The first problem of course -- and some in the coalition, on the defensive, are relying on this as their post-loss spin -- is that equal rights should not be on the ballot. That was something forced by the Texas Supreme Court-- all elected right-wing Republicans -- after opponents of HERO took it to court when they didn't get enough signatures to get it on the ballot. It was a horrifying example of judicial fascism, like something out of Iran.

That said, similar efforts to repeal ordinances, both state and local, can be put on the ballot in many other places in even easier ways. LGBT activists have been successful -- or perhaps lucky -- in a few recent attempts in the past. But the Houston win by anti-LGBT forces puts the wind at their sails. 

They will take these ads -- including the one depicting a man following a little girl into a bathroom stall -- on the road, and maybe even try to use them in a push at a federal law, just in time to use it to drive religious conservatives to the polls in a presidential election year. The so-called First Amendment Defense Act was introduced in Congress this year by Republicans specifically to allow for religious exemptions to LGBT rights, and you better believe Republicans in Congress and around country are looking at the effectiveness of the Houston anti-LGBT campaign. 

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council in fact heralded the Houston vote as a win for religious freedom: ""Houstonians' religious freedom, freedom of speech, and the right to petition their government have won the day, but much more work remains to be done to safeguard these freedoms across the nation."

So, we had better break out of victory blindness -- that hazy, heady whirl people are experiencing after one man on the Supreme Court sided with us (while he sides with the right on issues of equality for other groups), making us believe we've arrived when in fact we're still hated by enough people for this to happen. We've got to stop making the same mistakes over and over again. What happened last night is reminiscent of the battle over Proposition 8 in California. 

The anti-gay side focused on harm to children, activating irrational fear deep inside people's brains regarding homosexuals. There was no counterpunch, as in Houston, where ads did not powerfully take on the hate mongers. And there was no outreach to specific communities of color that the opponents were hitting with distorted hate messages.

So Houston was very much Prop 8 redux. LGBT rights activists spent 3 million to 4 million dollars -- while opponents spent about a million dollars -- bringing in people like Sally Field to make appeals, and using other Hollywood celebrities in ads. They got President Obama and Hillary Clinton to speak out, and thought that was going to clinch it. It had the feel to many of a top-down, elite campaign -- outsiders swooping in to tell Houston what is good for it -- instead of being deeply embedded on the ground, in the communities that were voting, including in their media, where the opposition surely was doing their dirty work. There's only so much Sally Field can do, though we all love her and thank her for the help. Right now we need new leadership, and a better plan, or we're doomed to see this again.

Follow Michelangelo Signorile on Twitter: www.twitter.com/msignorile

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LGBT VOICES LGBT VOICES Politics Houston Annise Parker Heroes Houston Equal Rights Ordinance Civil Rights Hrc Civil Rights Marriage Equality Media Michelangelo Signorile

Today's Daily Dharma: Power of Conviction

Power of Conviction

You have to work at your sense of conviction. ... Like someone lost in the forest, if you're not really convinced that there's a way out, you give up very easily. You run into a thicket here, a steep cliff there, and it just seems way too much. But if you're convinced there's got to be a way out, you've heard of other people who've made their way out, you think, "It's got to be in here someplace." You keep looking, looking, looking. And finally you see how the other people made their way out: "Oh. That was the path they took."

—Thanissaro Bhikkhu, "Power of Conviction"

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Evangelicalism, You Have Traumatized Me.

 

The past couple of weeks, I've been having many difficult emotions coming to the surface. They have been repressed for years, only surfacing at times. I did not know where they were coming from and in the past, the only way I would deal with them was through drinking, so that I could temporarily escape them. I have been angry. I have been having a hard time sleeping. I have indigestion. I have a lot on my mind. I have much to say, but I don't know quite how to say it, but I will try anyway. Please listen to me, even if it is hard to hear, even if you want to turn away, because maybe it will save you before it is too late. So here it goes:

Evangelicalism, you have traumatized me.

I grew up in your faith and culture. You appeared to represent God the best. You spoke about God's unconditional love for us. You claimed that you did so many good things in our world. Your gospel promised to give us eternal life, and make things all shiny and new, little by little. You would improve families and communities. Churches would grow, producing beautiful praise and worship songs. Your children would be safe, saying the sinner's prayer at VBS and rededicating themselves at Bible camp every summer. But, what did your gospel look like for me?

I grew up in your Church as a gay child. What was preached to me from your pulpit? You told me that I was an abomination, a wicked and deviant homosexual. No, you did not know that you were speaking to me, but I heard you loud and clear. Yes, you did offer me a solution to be acceptable to God, but what did that solution look like? It looked like this: I could invite Jesus into my life (this was the easy part) and I could turn from my sins. As a gay person, that meant that I could in no way identify with being gay. Sure, I could admit to "same sex attraction" as a struggle, with tears, but I could not claim that as part of my identity. You told me that I would have to either force myself into marrying the opposite sex, after much counseling (which has never been proven to work) if I wanted to find companionship. If I did not want that option, then I was to remain companionless for the rest of my life. This was my cross to bear.

​When you gave me my cross to bear, you did it so nonchalantly- "This is your thorn in your flesh. We all have our own struggles with sin. You can do this. God will be there for you and so will we. We will be by your side, fulfilling your need for companionship. Now, cheer up and put a smile on your face and go on and serve the Lord with joy and gladness!" So while the rest of those in your Church had the hope of finding love, forming a family, and finding a lifetime of companionship, we did not have that hope. In fact, those desires in themselves were evil for us, if not imagined with the opposite sex.

So with that, you stripped away our hope for a future. Sure, many of us did it for a season, just as many of your straight members will remain single for a season. But, as spring turned to summer, and summer turned to fall, and the last of the leaves had fallen, what we were left with was a chilly isolation. You see, college friends are great! They have free time to hang out, partially filling that need for companionship. But, as our friends start to marry and have families of their own, they didn't have as much time for us. And that's ok. That's normal. They should be spending time with their families. But, what happens to us? What happens to us as we grow sick and old? Who will stay beside us, day after day, hour after hour, sleepless night after sleepless night as we lay in our sickbed, and eventually our deathbed? Who will hold our hand, kiss our face, sing to us, share sweet memories with us, and calm our fears? Will you do that?

Evangelicalism, you have traumatized us.

You see, when a tragic disease hit our community, you did not lift a finger. That is what you do, you tie up heavy burdens, but you will not lift a damn finger to help. Instead, you would swiftly lift up your finger with ease to point and judge. This is what you said, "God is judging them, and they have received within themselves their due penalty for their sin." You would also wield your power to lobby and to keep the government from helping us, when we needed it the most, leaving our sick, hurting, and dying community to fend for itself. Where were you during this time to show the love and mercy of God to our community? You were to busy being righteous, I guess. You did not want to be made unclean by us. And so, many of us would die, separated from Church and family.

Evangelicalism, sadly it becomes much worse. You would drive us to depression- driven by shame, to addiction- driven by hopelessness, to depression, driven to suicide- by despair. You ignored the transgender community as well, as around 41% of them would attempt suicide, trying to escape the pain of a strict binary that didn't fit their reality. You told them that they were confused and a threat to your Church and society. You told them that God and the Church could in no way accept them unless they fit a mold that you had formed for them, while ignoring the pain and trauma that your brothers and sisters must endure to force themselves to comply with that mold. Your queer children would be kicked out of their homes and bullied at school. Still you weren't there. You were too busy singing beautiful, empty songs of lip service to your god.

Evangelicalism, you have traumatized all of us.

You have given us a Janus-faced god- a god of love, and a god of endless wrath. If we get him right and if we say the right prayer, and if we repent enough, he will clothe our wretched selves with his own righteousness so that he can stand to look upon us. But if we don't get it right, it will be eternal wrath, with fire and brimstone, where we will suffer and scream out in terror for all eternity with no relief. ISIS would be more gentle and merciful than your god. You would use fear to convert your kids to this god who loves them so much, if they will just let him in. You would also give us a purity culture, where your girls were only valuable if they made it up to the altar as pure, spotless brides (even better if they saved their first kiss for that altar). Your women would feel like worthless rags with one slip-up, while your men would be excused and easily forgiven. You would forever make us wonder if we were ever worthy enough. You would tell us that Christ is our righteousness, but boy, we had better be doing our part. We would always wonder if God really loved us, even while we told the world that God really loved them.

Evangelicalism, you have made your people defend a book, but not the marginalized in front of them. You have blinded them with your judgements. You have made them so hungry for power, that they want nothing to do with the powerless. You have turned them into the oppressors. You have made it all about the next life, while ignoring this one. Your people pray, sing, maintain their holiness, but what they don't see is that this is turning them into white-washed tombs. They don't realize that righteousness is justice. Holiness is defending the powerless and taking care of the least of these. You have made it all about themselves.

You still have some honest, good people within your religion, but you must release them from your bondage. You must give them the freedom to be messy, to question, to love, to do justice, to give mercy, to be kind and gentle. You must step aside and let them see Jesus, and to be Jesus.

Evangelicalism, you have traumatized us enough. Maybe you are the one who is traumatized. It is time to examine your fruit. It is time to heal, so that you may bring healing.


"By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."
-Matthew 7:16-20, NIV

 
"Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law."
-Romans 13:10, NIV

 
"Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
-Matthew 22:37-40, NIV

 

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Gay Activist Jimmy LaSalvia: "Why I Left the GOP (And You Should Too)"

Via Mentors Channel / FB:

Today's Daily Dharma: Our Devotion to Transformation

Our Devotion to Transformation

Poetry is leading us. It never cares how we will be held by lovers or drive fast or look good in the moment; but about how completely we are committed to movement both inner and outer; and devoted to transformation and to change.

—Alice Walker, "Every Revolution Needs Fresh Poems"

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Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day 03/11/2015

“Ninguém quer a guerra e a miséria, mas por que ainda existe tanta guerra e tanta miséria no mundo? Porque neste planeta, de forma geral, ainda existe muito prazer no sofrimento. Até pouco tempo atrás, as pessoas facilmente se matavam e vibravam ao ver o sangue derramando. Essa memória ainda está muito presente nas nossas células. Então, para que possamos transformar o mundo e criar uma cultura de paz, precisamos tomar consciência desse prazer e cortar os nós do apego ao sofrimento.”

“Nadie quiere guerra y miseria, pero ¿por qué todavía existe tanta guerra y tanta miseria en el mundo? Porque en este planeta, de forma general, todavía existe mucho placer en el sufrimiento. Hasta hace poco, las personas fácilmente se mataban y vibraban al ver la sangre derramando. Esta memoria todavía está muy presente en nuestras células. Entonces, para que podamos transformar el mundo y crear una cultura de paz, necesitamos tomar consciencia de este placer y cortar los nudos de apego al sufrimiento.”

"No one wants war or misery, but why is there still so much of both in the world? They exist because people still feel so much pleasure in suffering. Not that long ago, people would all too easily kill one another, and even cheer over bloodshed. This memory is still present in our cells. In order for us to transform the world and create a culture of peace, we must become aware of this pleasure and cut away our knots of attachment to suffering."

Satsang completo:
http://www.sriprembaba.org/pt-br/satsang/040914

Via I fucking love Chaos Magick / FB:

Via Fantástico: Pesquisa inédita traça o perfil do jovem brasileiro da Geração Y

Edição do dia 01/11/2015

01/11/2015 21h42 - Atualizado em 01/11/2015 22h42

Pesquisa inédita traça o perfil do jovem brasileiro da Geração Y

Jovens, que nasceram cercados por internet e conectados o tempo inteiro, cresceram. Eles têm entre 18 e 34 anos e são o futuro do Brasil.

Os jovens, que nasceram cercados por internet e conectados o tempo inteiro, cresceram. Eles têm entre 18 e 34 anos e são o futuro do Brasil. Na reportagem especial desse domingo (1) o Fantástico mostra um perfil da chamada Geração Y. A apresentadora Poliana Abritta foi a Fortaleza, Rio de Janeiro e São Paulo para contar a história do Fernando, da Tatiana e do Lucas. Juntos, os três ajudam a contar a história dessa galera que tem um perfil tão diferente das gerações anteriores.

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Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day 02/11/2015

“Quando toma consciência do prazer que sustenta uma situação negativa que se repete em sua vida, você começa a ver que existe um pacto de vingança por trás dela. E como desfazer esse pacto com o mal? Conhecendo o contrato e admitindo que o assinou.Enquanto não fizer isso e não tiver coragem de rasgar o contrato, você estará à mercê dessas forças negativas que sabotam sua felicidade. E quando você decide rasgar o contrato, a outra parte reclama, pois ela se alimentava do seu pagamento - sua energia vital, alegria e liberdade. Nessa hora é preciso ter bons advogados e seguranças, ou seja, firmeza na oração e na prática espiritual diária.”

“Cuando tomas consciencia del placer que sustenta una situación negativa que se repite en tu vida, comienzas a ver que existe un pacto de venganza detrás de ella. ¿Y cómo deshacer este pacto con el mal? Conociendo el contrato y admitiendo que lo firmaste. Mientras no hagas esto y no tengas el coraje de romper el contrato, estarás a merced de esas fuerzas negativas que sabotean tu felicidad. Y cuando decides romper el contrato, la otra parte te reclama, porque ella se alimentaba de tu pago –tu energía vital, alegría y libertad-. En ese momento es necesario tener buenos abogados y seguridad, o sea, firmeza en la oración y en la práctica espiritual diaria.”

"When we become aware of the pleasure that sustains a repeating negative situation in our lives, we begin to see that it is fueled by a pact of revenge. And how can we undo a pact with evil? We begin by acknowledging it and admitting that we were the ones who signed the contract. Until we have the courage to tear up the contract, we will be at the mercy of these negative forces that sabotage our happiness. When we finally decide to tear up that contract, the other party complains because they were feeding off of our installment plan,payments in the form of our own vital energy, joy and freedom. At this time, it would be wise to have good'lawyers' and 'bodyguards,' which come through steadfast prayer and our daily spiritual practice."

Today's Daily Dharma: Gently Bowing

Gently Bowing

On the one hand, bowing is a simple gesture—a human offering—where we extend heartfelt respect toward another. Standing up straight, looking directly at our world, fully appreciating the profound invitation, we acknowledge the remarkable timelessness of it all and we say hello by gently bowing. We actually bow by gently lowering our head in appreciation. This gentleness has no agenda other than to softly open, fully awake to what is fully awake, completely available and exposed.

—Michael Carroll, "Gently Bowing"

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Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 30/10/2015

“Quando eu olho para uma pessoa não vejo se é homem ou mulher, muito menos penso sobre qual é o seu partido político ou a sua religião. O que eu vejo são almas. E observo se estão receptivas para receber as sementes de amor. Tenho tentado plantar semente de amor em todos, inclusive nos políticos, não importa de qual partido. Eu não me preocupo com partidos, me preocupo em encontrar caminhos para melhorar a vida das pessoas. Meu intento é acordar os valores necessários em todos os seres humanos. Pessoas boas hoje, podem se tornar más amanhã; e pessoas más hoje, podem se tornar boas amanhã.”

"Cuando miro a una persona no veo si es hombre o mujer, mucho menos pienso sobre cuál es su partido político o su religión. Lo que veo son almas. Y observo si están receptivas para recibir las semillas del amor. Intento plantar semillas de amor en todos, incluso en los políticos, no importa de que partido político. No me preocupo de los partidos, me preocupo por encontrar caminos para mejorar la vida de las personas. Mi intención es despertar los valores necesarios en todos los seres humanos. Personas buenas hoy, pueden serlo aún más mañana, y las personas malas hoy, pueden volverse buenas mañana."

“When I look at a person, I don’t judge whether they are a man or a woman, much less think about what political party or religion they are affiliated with. What I see is their soul. I observe whether or not they are receptive to receiving seeds of love. I have tried to plant seeds of love in everyone, including politicians, regardless of which party they are in. I do not care about political parties; I care about finding ways to improve people's lives. My intent is to awaken the values that are called for in all human beings. ‘Good’ people today can become ‘bad’ tomorrow; and people who are ‘bad’ today can become ‘good’ tomorrow. ”

Link para o Satsang completo:
http://www.sriprembaba.org/satsang-04-10-2015-sri-prem-baba…

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Today's Daily Dharma: Overcoming Our Fear of Death

Overcoming Our Fear of Death

If we ask ourselves questions like 'What is my death?' and 'Where do I go after I die?' we may be able to come up with some interesting ideas. But in the shadow of death, we shall need more than fascinating explanations to sustain us. Our salvation lies in sustaining holy ignorance, the open, receptive mind of bare awareness. This requires faith, courage, and determination, because when we penetrate beyond ideas about dying, we uncover what we really fear, and with good reason—our feelings about dying.

—Ken Jones, "Aging into Dying and Death"

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Today's Daily Dharma: The Fundamental Aim

The Fundamental Aim

The fundamental aim of Buddhist practice is not belief; it’s enlightenment, the awakening that takes place when illusion has been overcome.

—Trinlay Tulku Rinpoche, "The Seeds of Life"

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