"The
fact is, I'm gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn't be any more
happy, comfortable with myself, and proud
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma
Tricycle Daily Dharma July 3, 2012
The Limited Mask of Self
Of
all the words we use to disguise the hollowness of the human condition,
none is more influential than 'myself.' It consists of a collage of
still images—name, gender, nationality, profession, enthusiasms,
relationships—that are renovated from time to time, but otherwise are
each a relic from one particular experience or another. The defining
teaching of the Buddhist tradition, that of non-self, is merely pointing
out the limitations of this reflexive view we hold of ourselves. It’s
not that the self does not exist, but that it is as cobbled-together and
transient as everything else.
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- Andrew Olendzki, "Self as Verb"
Monday, July 2, 2012
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma
Tricycle Daily Dharma July 2, 2012
Uprooting the Seeds of Anger
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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- Jules Shuzen Harris, Sensei, "Uprooting the Seeds of Anger"
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma July 1, 2012
Being Unafraid of Pain
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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- Upasika Kee Nanayon, "Tough Teachings to Ease the Mind"
Via JMG: LAOS: US Embassy Supports Nation's First-Ever LGBT Pride Celebration
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.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma June 30, 2012
True Dharma
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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- Reginald Ray, "Blazing with Wakefulness"
Friday, June 29, 2012
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma June 29, 2012
Enjoying the Silence
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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- Thich Nhat Hanh, "The Heart of the Matter"
Via AmericaBlogGay:
Anti-gay Republican tries to woos gays on health care by invoking same-sex marriage
This
is laughable:
Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC): “The Supreme Court’s precedent in this case
will far exceed health care. In short, government is now able to make
you do anything by penalizing you with a tax. If future governments
don’t like marriage it will be able to tax you if you want to get
married. That goes both ways – for traditional and gay marriage. If
future governments want to limit the...
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma June 28, 2012
Suffering's Lessons
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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- Mingyur Rinpoche, "The Easy Middle"
Via AmericaBlog Gay:
Team Obama loves the gay
New
video from the Obama campaign. Yes, it wasn't always easy getting
these accomplishments to occur, but they did occur, and won't with
Romney. The last several years we told the President that we'd better
see some significant promises kept, or else. And, in the end,
significant promises were kept - not all of them, but enough of them to
merit keeping our promise in return.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma June 27, 2012
Sex as Sacred Energy
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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- Nancy Baker, "Sexual Misconduct"
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Via AmericaBlog Gay:
Dan Savage on meth abuse, sex addiction, and gay Republicans - a simply brilliant must read
Dan
Savage writes of GOProud, a newish gay Republican organization that
recently endorsed Mitt Romney after admitting that they'd have endorsed
any GOP presidential candidate, regardless of who it was (a bizarre
admission for any group that claims to be a "gay rights group," even a
Republican one).
Dan's post is brilliant. He talks about homophobia and how it destroys
gay lives, while the...
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma
Tricycle Daily Dharma June 26, 2012
What Nonattachment Is Not
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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- John Welwood, "Human Nature, Buddha Nature"
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Via Himalaya Crafts FB:
“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.” ― Lao Tzu
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma June 24, 2012
Searching for Self
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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- Dzigar Kongtrül Rinpoche, "Searching for Self"
Via JMG: Anniversary
It was June 27th, 1969.The day that the fags, dykes, and queens of New York City finally said "Enough!" For some historical perspective, I'm once again posting the story that the New York Daily News ran about the Stonewall Riots. Note how the story drips with condescension and ridicule. We've come a long, long way in 43 years and we've still got some distance to cover, but today we should all offer up a shout, a snap, and a moment of thanks to the people who started us down this road.
HOMO NEST RAIDED - QUEEN BEES ARE STINGING MAD
-by Jerry Lisker, New York Daily News, July 6th 1969
She sat there with her legs crossed, the lashes of her mascara-coated eyes beating like the wings of a hummingbird. She was angry. She was so upset she hadn't bothered to shave. A day old stubble was beginning to push through the pancake makeup. She was a he. A queen of Christopher Street.
Last weekend the queens had turned commandos and stood bra strap to bra strap against an invasion of the helmeted Tactical Patrol Force. The elite police squad had shut down one of their private gay clubs, the Stonewall Inn at 57 Christopher St., in the heart of a three-block homosexual community in Greenwich Village. Queen Power reared its bleached blonde head in revolt. New York City experienced its first homosexual riot. "We may have lost the battle, sweets, but the war is far from over," lisped an unofficial lady-in-waiting from the court of the Queens.
"We've had all we can take from the Gestapo," the spokesman, or spokeswoman, continued. "We're putting our foot down once and for all." The foot wore a spiked heel. According to reports, the Stonewall Inn, a two-story structure with a sand painted brick and opaque glass facade, was a mecca for the homosexual element in the village who wanted nothing but a private little place where they could congregate, drink, dance and do whatever little girls do when they get together.
The thick glass shut out the outside world of the street. Inside, the Stonewall bathed in wild, bright psychedelic lights, while the patrons writhed to the sounds of a juke box on a square dance floor surrounded by booths and tables. The bar did a good business and the waiters, or waitresses, were always kept busy, as they snaked their way around the dancing customers to the booths and tables. For nearly two years, peace and tranquility reigned supreme for the Alice in Wonderland clientele.
The Raid Last Friday
Last Friday the privacy of the Stonewall was invaded by police from the First Division. It was a raid. They had a warrant. After two years, police said they had been informed that liquor was being served on the premises. Since the Stonewall was without a license, the place was being closed. It was the law.
All hell broke loose when the police entered the Stonewall. The girls instinctively reached for each other. Others stood frozen, locked in an embrace of fear.
Only a handful of police were on hand for the initial landing in the homosexual beachhead. They ushered the patrons out onto Christopher Street, just off Sheridan Square. A crowd had formed in front of the Stonewall and the customers were greeted with cheers of encouragement from the gallery.
The whole proceeding took on the aura of a homosexual Academy Awards Night. The Queens pranced out to the street blowing kisses and waving to the crowd. A beauty of a specimen named Stella wailed uncontrollably while being led to the sidewalk in front of the Stonewall by a cop. She later confessed that she didn't protest the manhandling by the officer, it was just that her hair was in curlers and she was afraid her new beau might be in the crowd and spot her. She didn't want him to see her this way, she wept.
Queen Power
The crowd began to get out of hand, eye witnesses said. Then, without warning, Queen Power exploded with all the fury of a gay atomic bomb. Queens, princesses and ladies-in-waiting began hurling anything they could get their polished, manicured fingernails on. Bobby pins, compacts, curlers, lipstick tubes and other femme fatale missiles were flying in the direction of the cops. The war was on. The lilies of the valley had become carnivorous jungle plants.
Urged on by cries of "C'mon girls, lets go get'em," the defenders of Stonewall launched an attack. The cops called for assistance. To the rescue came the Tactical Patrol Force.
Flushed with the excitement of battle, a fellow called Gloria pranced around like Wonder Woman, while several Florence Nightingales administered first aid to the fallen warriors. There were some assorted scratches and bruises, but nothing serious was suffered by the honeys turned Madwoman of Chaillot.
Official reports listed four injured policemen with 13 arrests. The War of the Roses lasted about 2 hours from about midnight to 2 a.m. There was a return bout Wednesday night.
Two veterans recently recalled the battle and issued a warning to the cops. "If they close up all the gay joints in this area, there is going to be all out war."
Bruce and Nan
Both said they were refugees from Indiana and had come to New York where they could live together happily ever after. They were in their early 20's. They preferred to be called by their married names, Bruce and Nan.
"I don't like your paper," Nan lisped matter-of-factly. "It's anti-fag and pro-cop."
"I'll bet you didn't see what they did to the Stonewall. Did the pigs tell you that they smashed everything in sight? Did you ask them why they stole money out of the cash register and then smashed it with a sledge hammer? Did you ask them why it took them two years to discover that the Stonewall didn't have a liquor license."
Bruce nodded in agreement and reached over for Nan's trembling hands.
"Calm down, doll," he said. "Your face is getting all flushed."
Nan wiped her face with a tissue.
"This would have to happen right before the wedding. The reception was going to be held at the Stonewall, too," Nan said, tossing her ashen-tinted hair over her shoulder.
"What wedding?," the bystander asked.
Nan frowned with a how-could-anybody-be-so-stupid look. "Eric and Jack's wedding, of course. They're finally tying the knot. I thought they'd never get together."
Meet Shirley
"We'll have to find another place, that's all there is to it," Bruce sighed. "But every time we start a place, the cops break it up sooner or later."
"They let us operate just as long as the payoff is regular," Nan said bitterly. "I believe they closed up the Stonewall because there was some trouble with the payoff to the cops. I think that's the real reason. It's a shame. It was such a lovely place. We never bothered anybody. Why couldn't they leave us alone?"
Shirley Evans, a neighbor with two children, agrees that the Stonewall was not a rowdy place and the persons who frequented the club were never troublesome. She lives at 45 Christopher St.
"Up until the night of the police raid there was never any trouble there," she said. "The homosexuals minded their own business and never bothered a soul. There were never any fights or hollering, or anything like that. They just wanted to be left alone. I don't know what they did inside, but that's their business. I was never in there myself. It was just awful when the police came. It was like a swarm of hornets attacking a bunch of butterflies."
A reporter visited the now closed Stonewall and it indeed looked like a cyclone had struck the premises.
Police said there were over 200 people in the Stonewall when they entered with a warrant. The crowd outside was estimated at 500 to 1,000. According to police, the Stonewall had been under observation for some time. Being a private club, plain clothesmen were refused entrance to the inside when they periodically tried to check the place. "They had the tightest security in the Village," a First Division officer said, "We could never get near the place without a warrant."
Police Talk
The men of the First Division were unable to find any humor in the situation, despite the comical overtones of the raid.
"They were throwing more than lace hankies," one inspector said. "I was almost decapitated by a slab of thick glass. It was thrown like a discus and just missed my throat by inches. The beer can didn't miss, though, "it hit me right above the temple."
Police also believe the club was operated by Mafia connected owners. The police did confiscate the Stonewall's cash register as proceeds from an illegal operation. The receipts were counted and are on file at the division headquarters. The warrant was served and the establishment closed on the grounds it was an illegal membership club with no license, and no license to serve liquor.
The police are sure of one thing. They haven't heard the last from the Girls of Christopher Street.
They sure fucking haven't. Now get your ass up and get down to the parade.
Labels: gay Pride, journalism, LGBT culture, LGBT History, LGBT rights, NYC, Stonewall Rebellion, West Village
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma June 23, 2012
Creating Better Karma
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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- Myokei Caine-Barrett, Shonin, "A Right to the Dharma"
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