We
all know anger from experience, but when we are asked to pause and
consider, ‘What is this anger?’ it’s not always so easy to see what it
is. Yet when we approach our feelings of anger with awareness, with
mindfulness, it becomes a productive part of our practice. We find,
after all, that anger has something to teach us.
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You
don’t have to be afraid of pain. If it’s going to be there, you can let
it be there—but don’t let the mind be in pain with it.
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Laos has held its first-ever LGBT Pride event with the support of the U.S. Embassy. More than 100 people attended the event, which took place on the sports field of the U.S. Embassy. The guests of honor were U.S. Ambassador Karen Stewart and Dr. Bounpheng Philavong, Director of the Center for HIV/AIDS/STI (CHAS) at the Lao Ministry of Health. During their remarks, both Dr. Bounpheng and Ambassador Stewart congratulated the event organizers for taking an important first step to achieving full acceptance of LGBT people in Lao society.The theme was "Proud To Be Us."
"The message we want to send is that no matter what you look like or where you come from or what your sexual orientation is, every single one of you is a person with value and should be treated with dignity and respect," Ambassador Stewart told the crowd to loud applause. The event drew performers and participation from a number of organizatons that provide outreach and services to Laos' LGBT community, including the Purple Sky Network, Lao Positive Health Association (Lao PHA), Population Services International (PSI), the Burnet Institute, Family Health International (FHI), the Vientiane Youth Center for Health and Development, and UNFPA.
Dharma
is not about credentials. It’s not about how many practices you’ve
done, or how peaceful you can make your mind. It’s not about being in a
community where you feel safe or enjoying the cachet of being a
'Buddhist.' It’s not even about accumulating teachings, empowerments, or
'spiritual accomplishments.' It’s about how naked you’re willing to be
with your own life, and how much you’re willing to let go of your masks
and your armor and live as a completely exposed, undefended, and open
human person.
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Silence
doesn’t mean not talking and not doing things; it means that you are
not disturbed inside. If you’re truly silent, then no matter what
situation you find yourself in you can enjoy the silence.
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It
is because of pain and suffering that we first want to practice. And
it’s because of pain and suffering that we attain enlightenment. Regard
suffering as a teacher, and an inspiration.
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Much
of the language around sexuality has to do with fire: 'in the heat of
passion'; 'a burning desire'; 'she has a new flame.' This is the fire of
creation. It’s not just my sacred energy I need to be in touch with and aware of, it is the fire of all creation from moment to moment to moment.
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Unfortunately,
we can easily confuse nonattachment with avoidance of attachment.
Avoidance of attachment, however, is not freedom from attachment. It’s
another form of clinging—clinging to the denial of your human attachment
needs, out of distrust that love is reliable.
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“I have three precious things
which I hold fast and prize. The first is gentleness; the second is
frugality; the third is humility, which keeps me from putting myself
before others. Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be
liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a
leader among men.”
When we question ego-mind directly, it is exposed for what it is: the absence of everything we believe it to be.
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It was June 27th, 1969.
Your
thoughts, your words, and your deeds all create karma. And so through
practice, you learn how to create better karma, and then everything
about your life changes.
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Buddha
is revealed through mountains, valleys, trees, and grasses, through a
multitude of phenomena. The heart that can be revered in whatever form
we see, in whatever direction we look, this is the true heart of
Buddhism, this is Buddha life.
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In what is being touted as a world-first, the province of Quebec has launched an official registry
to track acts of homophobia. With funding from the Quebec Justice
Department, the campaign is being administered by Montreal's gay
helpline, Gai Écoute. Gai Écoute’s anonymous and confidential Registre des actes homophobes will document complaints ranging from name-calling in schools to psychological harassment at work and physical assaults against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people. The registry will not be used as a tool for a new homophobia police, McCutcheon said. “We will refer people (who fill out the registry’s forms) to existing resources, like youth protection officials, the human rights commission and the police,” he said. “We do not plan to intervene directly.” Based on the number and type of calls Gai Écoute gets, McCutcheon said he expects there might be hundreds of complaint-worthy cases for the registry. “We notice it especially in calls from outside of Montreal, in smaller communities. Sometimes it’s a student who got mocked at school or a teenager with parents threatening to throw the young person out."After two years, Gai Écoute will analyze its data and make recommendations to the provincial government. Quebec's anti-gay groups are, predictably, screaming.
Georges Buscemi, President of the Montreal-based pro-life and pro-family group Campagne Quebec Vie, told LifeSiteNews he saw the registry as a “means to instill a climate of oppression and fear to anyone who disagrees with any of the opinions of the homosexualist movement in Quebec.” “Anyone who might believe that a homosexual act is unacceptable at a moral level” is being sent a warning “that they will end up on a list,” he said. “A list to be used for a future purpose which in my opinion is to punish.” Buscemi gave examples of possible reprisals being the loss of charitable status for churches or teaching positions for professors. “It’s the beginning of a soft persecution,” he said. “It is really about inciting a climate of fear using the media, especially with the presence of the police. Any criticism will be interpreted as homophobia and eventually down the road there will be consequences.”
