Friday, October 5, 2012

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma October 5, 2012

The Genuine Path of Awakening

It is important that we know what awakening is not, so that we no longer chase the by-products of awakening. We must give up the pursuit of positive emotional states through spiritual practice. The path of awakening is not about positive emotions. On the contrary, enlightenment may not be easy or positive at all.
- Adyashanti, "Bliss is a By-Product"
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Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:


Daily Buddhist Wisdom






Although a suspicious mind is bad, still it is wrong to cling to what you shouldn't believe in, or to fail to ask about a truth you should seek.
- Dogen

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma October 2, 2012

The Gift of the Present Moment

Paying attention provides the gift of noticing, and the gift of connecting. It provides the gift of seeing a little bit of ourselves in others, and of realizing that we’re not so awfully alone. It allows us to let go of the burden of so much of what we habitually carry with us, and receive the gift of the present moment.
- Sharon Salzberg, "A More Complete Attention"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through October 4th, 2012
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Monday, October 1, 2012

Via JMG: CA Gov. Jerry Brown Signs Bill Banning "Ex-Gay" Therapy For Minors


Last night California Gov. Jerry Brown finally signed the bill that bans "ex-gay therapy" for children under the age of 18.
The bill, SB1172 by Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance (Los Angeles County), bars mental health practitioners from performing so-called reparative therapy, which professional psychological organizations have said may cause harm. Gay rights groups have labeled them dangerous and abusive. "This bill bans non-scientific 'therapies' that have driven young people to depression and suicide. These practices have no basis in science or medicine and they will now be relegated to the dustbin of quackery," Brown said in a statement to The Chronicle.Brown approved the ban after the public release of two other lists of bills signed and vetoed earlier Saturday. Lieu's bill is expected to appear on a new list to be released Sunday.
REACTIONS

National Center for Lesbian Rights: "Governor Brown has sent a powerful message of affirmation and support to LGBT youth and their families. This law will ensure that state-licensed therapists can no longer abuse their power to harm LGBT youth and propagate the dangerous and deadly lie that sexual orientation is an illness or disorder that can be 'cured.'"

Equality California: "Governor Brown today reaffirmed what medical and mental health organizations have made clear: Efforts to change minors' sexual orientation are not therapy, they are the relics of prejudice and abuse that have inflicted untold harm on young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Californians. We thank Senator Ted Lieu and Governor Brown for their efforts in making California a leader in banning this deceptive and harmful practice."

Truth Wins Out: "This is a historic day that protects LGBT youth from child abuse disguised as genuine therapy. We thank Gov. Brown for signing legislation that can serve as a model for similar bills across the nation.”

Human Rights Campaign: "We're grateful to Governor Brown for standing with California's children. LGBT youth will now be protected from a practice that has not only been debunked as junk science, but has been proven to have drastically negative effects on their well-being. We commend Governor Brown for putting children first, and call on all states to take California’s lead on this issue. We will continue our fight against this kind of child abuse, which has been deemed harmful to children by all major mental health, medical, and child welfare organizations."

Courage Campaign: "Governor Brown has shown courage for enacting the first law in the nation to ban 'conversion therapy' for gay people. The Governor's action will protect thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth of California. This law will save lives here and across the nation by ending the torture of young people through the quackery that suggests that gay people can decide somehow not to be gay, which is akin to white people deciding not to be white. Once again, California is a model for the nation."


Reposted from Joe

New Site: No Homophobes


No Homophobes provides live tracking of the above words and expressions on Twitter.


Reposted from Joe

JMG Quote Of The Day - Chris Kluwe


"Which version of 'traditional marriage' would you like to use Mr. Balling? Should we go back to ancient Israel and practice polygamy, with a woman’s only right that to own her own tent? Or should we use the ancient Greek definition of marriage, one more concerned with inheritance than love or procreation, one that would force a woman to divorce her current husband and marry a sibling if that was required to continue the family? Should we force a brother to marry his dead sibling’s wife? Or perhaps we should make arranged marriages with child brides, that’s certainly traditional enough. Wait, I know, let’s go with the one where you have to pay three goats and a cow in order to ensure the woman is yours to keep forever, and you can stone her to death if she cheats on you. That one sounds terrific!" - Minnesota Viking kicker Chris Kluwe, writing in response to an op-ed column published by the Star-Tribune.


Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma October 1, 2012

Nothing Else

If we have ambitions—even if our aim is enlightenment—then there is no meditation, because we are thinking about it, craving it, fantasizing, imagining things. That is not meditation. This is why an important characteristic of shamatha meditation is to let go of any goal and simply sit for the sake of sitting. We breathe in and out, and we just watch that. Nothing else.
- Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, "Do Nothing"
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Sunday, September 30, 2012

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 29, 2012

The Source Within Us

When we use our attention to touch and open the deeper truth in a person, we not only catalyze the experience of love, we become love. The source of love is revealed to be within us; we no longer have to go looking for it somewhere outside.
- Nicole Daedone, "Love Becomes Her"
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma September 30, 2012

The Fabric of the Self

When we turn our attention to our bodies, feelings, perceptions, impulses, and consciousness, we find that we are woven of the quixotic threads of ongoing stories. For only such a self can create and be created. A fixed, intractable one is as good as dead.
- Stephen Batchelor, "A Democracy of the Imagination"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through October 2nd, 2012
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