Via The Essential \\ The Pope's pointed final message to the world

 

Monday April 21 2025 The Essential Lunchtime edition The Pope's pointed final message to the world by Kieran Davey

Pope Francis was one of the most popular popes of recent times (Photo: Vatican Media/Reuters) Welcome to Monday’s The Essential from The i Paper.   Tributes have poured in after the death of Pope Francis this morning at the age of 88. The 266th leader of the Catholic Church spent more than a decade as Pope, after his election on 13 March 2013. King Charles said he and the Queen were “most deeply saddened” while Sir Keir Starmer described the pontiff as “a Pope for the poor, the downtrodden and the forgotten”.   Today we remember the Pope's final pointed message to the world, hours after meeting US Vice President JD Vance. And in a look back over his life, Catherine Pepinster recalls how Pope Francis both delighted and challenged Catholics across the world.   Discussions over who will succeed the pontiff have been ongoing for some time, according to Vatican experts. Here is our guide to who could be the next Pope, and how they will be chosen. Pope Francis's death was announced by Cardinal Kevin Farrell in a statement released by the Vatican (Photo: Buda Mendes/Getty)

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right View: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering

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RIGHT VIEW Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering What is the origin of suffering? It is craving, which brings renewal of being, is accompanied by delight and lust, and delights in this and that—that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for being, and craving for non-being. (MN 9) When one does not know and see mental objects as they actually are, then one is attached to thoughts. When one is attached, one becomes infatuated, and one’s craving increases. One’s bodily and mental troubles increase, and one experiences bodily and mental suffering. (MN 149)

Reflection Of the six kinds of objects that make up our experience, mental objects are the most challenging to work with. The feeling tones that arise with sensory objects give rise to craving, as we delight in the pleasure and are averse to the pain, but thoughts come with the added challenge of rich content. We can’t help but get drawn into the story and entangled in the plot, at which point our mental troubles usually increase. Daily Practice Practice regarding the mental objects coursing through your mind as thoughts and thoughts only. See if you can focus on their arising and passing away as a series of events occurring in the mind, without getting drawn into the content of the thoughts. Never mind, in other words, what the thought is about, but regard it simply as a passing mental phenomenon to be treated much like the passing physical sensations of the body.  Tomorrow: Cultivating Compassion One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering  Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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Via Daily Dharma: Giving in to Anger

 

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Giving in to Anger When you give in to aversion and anger, it’s as though, having decided to kill someone by throwing him into a river, you wrap your arms around his neck, jump into the water with him, and you both drown. Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, “Putting Down the Arrow” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Via White Crane Institute \\ The first “SIP-IN”

 

Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture since 1989
This Day in Gay History
April 21

The Sip-in at Julius's 1966 - The first “SIP-IN” held at Julius’s bar in Greenwich Village. The MATTACHINE SOCIETY in hopes of overturning the State Liquor Authority's regulations against serving homosexuals in bars staged a direct action they called “a sip-in” inspired by the Black civil rights movement successes in lunch bars and transportation. While there was no law on the books against such a thing, the SLA often penalized bars that served homosexuals on the grounds that their gatherings were "disorderly." Bartenders ordered patrons to sit facing away from other customers to prevent cruising, denied them drinks, or just kicked them out as precautionary moves under the SLA's watch. At the same time, bars frequented by gays were often targeted by police in entrapment schemes. By 1965, influenced by Frank Kameny’s addresses in the early 1960s, Dick Leitch, the president of the New York Mattachine Society, advocated direct action, and the group staged the first public homosexual demonstrations and picket lines in the 1960s. Frank Kameny, founder of Mattachine Washington in 1961, had advocated militant action reminiscent of the black civil rights campaign, whilst also arguing for the morality of homosexuality. The State Liquor Authority of New York State did not allow homosexuals to be served in licensed bars in the state under penalty of revocation of the bar's license to operate. This denial of public accommodation had been confirmed by a court decision in the early 1940's. A legal study, commissioned by Mattachine New York on the city’s alcohol beverage law concluded that there was no law that prohibited homosexuals gathering in bars but that there was a law that prohibited disorderly behavior in bars, which the SLA had been interpreting as homosexual behavior. Leitsch, then, announced to the press that three members of Mattachine New York would turn up at a restaurant on the lower east side, announce their homosexuality and upon refusal of service make a complaint to the SLA. This came to be known as the ‘Sip In’ and only succeeded at the third attempt in the Julius Bar in Greenwich Village. The ‘Sip In’, though, did gain extensive media attention and the resultant legal action against the SLA eventually prevented them from revoking licenses on the basis of homosexual solicitation in 1967. In the years before 1969 the organization also was effective in getting New York City to change its policy of police entrapment of gay men, and to rescind its hiring practices designed to screen out Gay people. There is a delightful  article on this early demonstration in the New York Times here: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/21/nyregion/before-the-stonewall-riots-there-was-the-sip-in.html?_r=0

|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8| Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute "With the increasing commodification of gay news, views, and culture by powerful corporate interests, having a strong independent voice in our community is all the more important. White Crane is one of the last brave standouts in this bland new world... a triumph over the looming mediocrity of the mainstream Gay world." - Mark Thompson Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture since 1989! www.whitecraneinstitute.org |8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|

Two Easter Poems from Gay Buddhist Fellowship - San Francisco

 

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Body and the First Jhāna

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RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Body A person goes to the forest or to the root of a tree or to an empty place and sits down. Having crossed the legs, one sets the body erect. One establishes the presence of mindfulness. (MN 10) One is aware: “Ardent, fully aware, mindful, I am content.” (SN 47.10)   When standing, one is aware: “I am standing”… One is just aware, just mindful, “there is body.” And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection Mindfulness can be practiced in any position. Sitting and walking are the most familiar positions, but you can also practice standing or lying down. It is simply a matter of “establishing the presence of mindfulness” in the same way you do in sitting practice. Notice the same emphasis on being just aware, just mindful of the bodily sensations without mental elaboration. Can you stand to practice without clinging to anything in the world? Daily Practice When you find yourself having to stand in place for any length of time, such as waiting in line or watching an event, take the opportunity to practice mindfulness. Turn your attention inward, to the flow of your direct experience, and notice, for example, all the micro-adjustments made by your body to maintain balance. This in itself can become a compelling practice, as you notice how much is going on that you normally overlook. RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the First Phase of Absorption (1st Jhāna) Having abandoned the five hindrances, imperfections of the mind that weaken wisdom, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, one enters and abides in the first phase of absorption, which is accompanied by applied thought and sustained thought, with joy and the pleasure born of seclusion. (MN 4) Reflection Absorption practice begins by finding the sweet spot in the center of the mind, the place where there is neither too much energy (restlessness) nor too little (sluggishness), neither wanting (sense desire) nor non-wanting (ill will) something or anything. When these hindrances, along with doubt, are abandoned temporarily, the mind naturally settles down into a state of tranquil alertness and equanimity. Daily Practice Sit quietly and comfortably in a peaceful place and allow everything swirling around in your mind and body to gradually settle down. Like dust settling in the air or particulates settling in water, there is nothing to force or make happen. Patience will be rewarded by the experience of deeper and deeper modes of peacefulness, clarity, and stability of mind. Don’t try to measure anything; just let it all be what it is. Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and Abiding in the Second Jhāna Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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Via Daily Dharma: Let Go of Ideas

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Let Go of Ideas As soon as you notice you are attached to an idea, discard it. Notice, but don’t hold on. Don’t make it an intellectual pursuit. Steal the notion with your breath. The breath will help you see that you are Buddha already, that Christ is not separate from you. Matthias Esho Birk, “Immature Practice Imitates, Mature Practice Steals” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Naked Reality By Vicki Mackenzie Learn how Buddhist practice shaped Marina Abramovic’s performance art. Read more » Tricycle’s Buddhism & Ecology Summit April 22–24, 2025 Join us from April 22–24, 2025, for Tricycle’s Buddhism & Ecology Summit: Experiencing Interconnectedness in the Natural World, a series of conversations with Buddhist teachers, writers, and environmental activists. This is a donation-based event sponsored by The BESS Family Foundation. Sign up »