Meditation is not just a rest or retreat from the turmoil of the stream or the impurity of the world. It is a way of being the stream, so that one can be at home in both the white water and the eddies. Meditation may take one out of the world, but it also puts one totally into it. |
The Friendly Atheist tells the story of the Christian bookstore who denied a patron's request to place the above Bible verse on a t-shirt.They had a t-shirt printer that was used to put verses. I asked if a printing of a Timothy 2:12 shirt was reasonable. Being Christians, they had never looked that far into the Bible, so they looked it up with their handy dandy on site Bible. When they recited the verse (A woman happened to be the reader of the Bible) they informed me of how disrespectful of their religion I was being. I was unsure of how I was being disrespectful by asking for a verse from their Holy Book.I've been known to quote Proverbs 23:2. That one doesn't go over well either.
As with many deep truths, people tend to look at the death awareness meditations and say, Yes, I know all of that. I know I'm going to die someday. I know I can't take it with me. I know my body will be dust. And as with other things—as with the law of impermanence itself-I would say we know it and we don't know it. We know it in our heads but haven't taken it into our hearts. We haven't let it penetrate the marrow of our bones. If we had, I can't help thinking we would live differently. Our whole lives would be different. The planet would be different as well. |
For the mainstream comics, that is. Bleeding Cool has the backstory.If you wish to cultivate absolute stillness and clarity of mind, right here and now, sit down and imagine yourself on a peaceful shore or by a tranquil lake. If the mind is a snow globe whirling with thoughts, images, memories, and inchoate feelings, then the winds of internal energy and self-seeking—analyzing, evaluating, pushing and pulling, based on likes and dislikes—are what keep it stirred up and the snowstorm in motion, obscuring the inner landscape. Let the snow globe of your heart and mind settle by relaxing, breathing deeply a few times, and releasing all the tension, preoccupations, and concerns you’ve been carrying—at least for the moment. Let the gentle tide of breath carry it all away like the ocean’s waves, like a waterfall washing your heart, mind, and spirit clean, pure, and bright. |
There is a saying that “the dharma has no owner; it belongs to whomever is most diligent.” Sometimes people say, “I don’t have time to devote myself to practice, I’m doing a lot of different things and I am obliged to do them.” But honestly, it’s not that one has to go to some other place and close the door and be quiet in order to practice. That’s not the only way. It’s definitely the case that we can practice at any given moment. We can always try a little more to be kind, to be compassionate and be careful about what we do and say and so forth. |
Michele Bachmann isn't satisfied with an apology from Jimmy Fallon, she wants his network to apologize too. "I think the point is," she told Fox News's America's Newsroom, "if that had been Michelle Obama who had come out on the stage, and if that song had been played for Michelle Obama, I have no doubt that NBC would have apologized to her and likely they could have fired the drummer, at least suspended him, none of that happened from NBC and this is clearly a form of bias on the part of the Hollywood entertainment elite but it’s also I think it’s sexism as well."Michele Bachmann wants your family destroyed, your partner ripped from your arms, and your gayness "fixed." In this case, I find it very fucking hard to care what anybody thinks is sexist.
The holiday season frightens me. It is the time of year our homeless kids are most likely to attempt suicide. Kids who have been cast out of their homes suffer badly during a season that celebrates and idealizes family togetherness.
NOTE FROM JOE: The Ali Forney Center rates highly per the Best Practices guidelines of Charity Navigator, which judges non-profits on how efficiently they handle their funding. Donations are tax-deductible.When we are able to fully appreciate the basic activities of eating and drinking, we discover an ancient secret, the secret of how to become content and at ease. The Zen teachings talk about the exquisite taste of plain water. Have you ever been very, very thirsty? Maybe you were on a long hike, or sick, or working without a break in the summer heat. When you were finally able to drink, even plain water, you remember how wonderful it was. Actually, each sip of liquid and each bite of food can be that fresh and delicious, once we learn again just to be present. |
"While the social science research clearly and unequivocally shows that marriage is central to the welfare of individuals and the entire social order, unwarranted changes in family structure are profoundly reshaping our post-modern society and even our global economies. [snip] Ireland has the brightest fertility outlook, with total fertility measured at 2.1 (children per woman) and Greece, following at 1.5. Italy, Portugal, and Spain all have fertility rates of 1.4 children per woman, which is a growing concern in terms of exasperating the old-age dependency ratio. Throughout the years, what we have learned, to our sorrow, is that the consequences of the decline in marriage and breakdown of the family have not only negatively affected generations of individuals on a personal level, the decline of marriage has undermined social institutions and shaken the stability and economic viability of nations." - Janet Crouse, writing on the Concerned Women blog.
Virulently anti-gay Christian groups figure prominently in the Pew Forum's ranking of spending for religious advocacy. Roll Call notes that NOM more than doubled its spending the year after the passage of Prop 8. 
