A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma
Tricycle Daily Dharma July 16, 2012
Clear Compassion
One
of the things that most nourishes true compassion is clarity—when we
know what we are thinking and know what we are feeling. This clarity
differentiates compassion from shallow martyrdom, when we are only
thinking of others and we are never caring about ourselves.
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- Sharon Salzberg, "A Quiver of the Heart"
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma July 15, 2012
Enlivening the Ordinary
Through
art, a painter can make the ordinary come alive. As Zen students, we
try to bring this kind of relevance into each moment of our lives, into
this one moment that contains all moments. In this way, we allow the
ordinary to enliven us. Sometimes this is successful, sometimes not, but
the work itself goes on. Persistence is one of the major virtues in
both the artist and the unenlightened.
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- Gary Thorp, "The Dust Beyond the Cushion"
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma July 14, 2012
Happy Birthday, Pema Chödrön!
The ground of renunciation is realizing that we already have exactly what we need, that what we have already is good.
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- Pema Chödrön, "Renunciation: Like a Raven in the Wind"
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma July 12, 2012
Memento Mori
To acknowledge that you are dying is to recognize that you are alive.
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- Dean Rolston, "Memento Mori: Notes on Buddhism and AIDS"
Via JMG:
60 House Democrats Fail To Sign On To Court Challenge To Overturn DOMA
Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed:
One third of House Democrats broke with their leaders today and kept their names off a brief urging a federal appeals court to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act, which limits federal recognition of marriages to those between one man and one woman. The majority of Democrats joined House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's argument, which her office described in a news release as "the Democratic Members' brief," but the break among Democrats offers a glimpse at remaining divisions inside the party. Pelosi, joined by Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and 130 other House Democrats, told the federal appeals court in California that they believe Karen Golinski should succeed in her lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of DOMA's federal definition of "marriage" and "spouse."Does your rep appear above?
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Via Gay Politics Report
- Barney Frank weds
- Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., married Jim Ready on Saturday in a ceremony attended by about 300 friends and family members, becoming the first married, openly gay member of Congress in U.S. history. Frank, who will leave Congress after this year, said he wanted to marry while he was still in office in order to set an example. “The kids that are going to see us, and feel strong enough to be able to come out and be who they are. That gives me more encouragement that I’m doing the right thing,” Frank said. The New York Times (tiered subscription model)
Via AmericaBlogGay:
How would Sup Ct justice John Roberts rule on gay marriage?
Richard
Socarides in the New Yorker:
Some theorize that Roberts tried to depoliticize the Court with his
health-care ruling in order to gain some credibility before even more
conservative decisions to come, like overturning affirmative action.
Anything is possible, but that is not likely to be the outcome in these
gay-rights cases, where Justice Kennedy will probably not be with
conservatives....
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma
Tricycle Daily Dharma July 10, 2012
Living a Life of Practice
We
need to revive appreciation for the traditional model of a practitioner
who lives a life of simplicity and humility, sincerity and endeavor,
kindness and compassion. We must choose teachers with these qualities,
cultivate these qualities in ourselves, and guide our students in
developing them.
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- Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron, "Shopping the Dharma"
Monday, July 9, 2012
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma July 9, 2012
In It Together
Hang
out with people who are capable of making a commitment to you and your
life, and who require that you make a commitment to theirs. Hang out
with people who care about you, with people who need you to develop and
who say so. Make such a commitment and don’t break that bond until you
and all beings are perfect.
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- Reb Anderson, "In It Together"
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma
Tricycle Daily Dharma July 8, 2012
The Principles of Zazen
Cast
aside all involvements and cease all affairs. Do not think good or bad.
Do not administer pros and cons. Cease all the movements of the
conscious mind, the gauging of all thoughts and views. Have no designs
on becoming a buddha. Zazen has nothing whatever to do with sitting or
lying down.
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- Zen Master Dogen, "The Principles of Zazen"
Friday, July 6, 2012
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma
Tricycle Daily Dharma July 5, 2012
Cutting the Heads Off Our Ideas
Whether
we’re looking inside our outside ourselves, we need to cut off the head
of whatever we meet, and abandon the views and ideas we have about
things, including our ideas about Buddhism and Buddhist teachings.
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- Thich Nhat Hanh, "Simply Stop"
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma July 4, 2012
Happy Interdependence Day
As
we open and empty ourselves, we come to experience an
interconnectedness, the realization that all things are joined and
conditioned in an interdependent arising. Each experience and event
contains all others.
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- Jack Kornfield, "No Self or True Self?"
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Via JMG: State Department Launches Donation Campaign For International LGBT Rights
The U.S. State Department has launched an unprecedented donation campaign in support of international LGBT rights. Via press release:
The U.S. Department of State has launched a text donation campaign that allows Americans to donate to the mGive International Response Equality Fund. Donations will help to further programs and initiatives aimed at advancing human rights, fostering equality, advocacy, protection and dialogue to ensure human rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) persons around the world. To help, anyone can donate $10 by texting the word PRIDE to 80000.The new campaign is being heralded today on the official website of the State Department under the heading "Global Equality Fund." Learn more about the mGive campaign here.
The Global Equality Fund supports programs that advance the human rights of LBGT persons around the world. The Fund was launched by U.S Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Human Rights Day in December 2011 in Geneva, Switzerland, where she reaffirmed, “Human rights are gay rights and gay rights are human rights.” The Fund is supported by the U.S. government. While providing tangible assistance to LGBT civil society groups around the world, the Fund also serves to underscore the U.S. State Department’s commitment to ensuring LGBT people worldwide are able to exercise their human rights with dignity.
Via JMG: Anderson Cooper Officially Comes Out
Andrew Sullivan gets the much-coveted (if unsurprising) quote via an email from Cooper.
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. I have always been very open and honest about this part of my life with my friends, my family, and my colleagues. In a perfect world, I don't think it's anyone else's business, but I do think there is value in standing up and being counted. I’m not an activist, but I am a human being and I don't give that up by being a journalist. [snip] I love, and I am loved.Cooper's full statement to Sullivan is several hundred words long. I encourage you to read the entire thing.Top image via Buzzfeed.
In my opinion, the ability to love another person is one of God’s greatest gifts, and I thank God every day for enabling me to give and share love with the people in my life. I appreciate your asking me to weigh in on this, and I would be happy for you to share my thoughts with your readers. I still consider myself a reserved person and I hope this doesn’t mean an end to a small amount of personal space. But I do think visibility is important, more important than preserving my reporter’s shield of privacy.
Via JMG: BRUSSELS: Anti-LGBT Lobby Linked To American Conservative Groups
The EU Observer reports that the anti-gay lobby in Brussels, the de facto capital of the European Union, has financial links to anti-gay conservative groups in the United States.
One such lobby group is European Dignity Watch, founded in 2010, advocating "life, the family and fundamental freedoms." According to the EU transparency register, it has an annual budget of €80,816 - all in the form of anonymous donations. It rallies against abortion, euthanasia, but most ardently against gay rights. It accuses the European Parliament of pressuring member states into legalising same-sex marriage, and the European Commission of bias for hosting a pro-gay photo exhibition.Among those suspected of secretly funding European anti-gay groups is the Heritage Foundation, the DC-based conservative think tank founded in 1973 by Joseph Coors. The anti-gay groups cited in the EU Observer's article vehemently deny that they are paid by American organizations.
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