Via Nalanda LGBT Buddhist Cultural and Resource Center / FB:

Nalanda LGBT Buddhist Cultural and Resource Center

‎"Buddism is not a spirituality. Buddhism is all about how to balance our social life that comes with a understanding and appreciation to our inner quality." - Kalu Rinpoche

Via JMG: Obama Backs Illinois Marriage

Through his spokesman, President Obama has issued a statement in support of same-sex marriage in his home state of Illinois.

"While the president does not weigh in on every measure being considered by state legislatures, he believes in treating everyone fairly and equally, with dignity and respect," White House spokesman Shin Inouye told the Chicago Sun-Times on Saturday.
"As he has said, his personal view is that it's wrong to prevent couples who are in loving, committed relationships, and want to marry, from doing so. Were the President still in the Illinois State Legislature, he would support this measure that would treat all Illinois couples equally," Inouye said.
The lead sponsors of the "Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act," state Sen. Heather Steans (D-Chicago) and state Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), intend to put the measure up for a vote during the upcoming January lame-duck session. The toughest challenge for gay marriage backers will be winning passage in the Illinois House. Prospects for approval in the Illinois Senate--where Obama once served--are brighter.

As noted above, the current bill will be presented during the lame duck session which ends in just a few weeks.  When the new legislature is seated, Democrats will hold a super-majority in both chambers.

Labels: Barack Obama, Illinois, marriage equality

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma December 30, 2012

Self-arising Happiness

The more clearly we see the lack of worth in mental and physical sensations, the less desire we'll have for them until, thoroughly disenchanted, craving will be snuffed out automatically. As soon as that occurs, pure happiness will arise by itself.

- Cynthia Thatcher, "What's So Great About Now?"

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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma December 29, 2012

Do Not Seek Anything Else

There is a simple way to become a buddha: When you refrain from unwholesome actions, are not attached to birth and death, and are compassionate toward all sentient beings, respectful to seniors and kind to juniors, not excluding or desiring anything, with no designing thoughts or worries, you will be called a buddha. Do not seek anything else.

- Eihei Dogen, “Birth and Death”

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Via JMGL Pew Poll Religions Breakdown

Source.

Labels: Pew Project, polls, religion

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Uruguay Postpones Marriage Vote

Uruguay's Senate was widely expected to pass its marriage equality bill today.  No such luck. Via On Top Magazine:

The “Marriage Equality Law” seeks to modify some 20 articles of the Civil Code, including whose surname goes first when children are named. Opponents asked for the bill's vote to be postponed until the Senate's first meeting in April to allow more time to study the proposal. The request received unanimous approval. The bill has already received an initial nod in the Senate and it cleared the nation's lower house earlier this month. President Jose Mujica has said he'll sign the bill into law. Uruguay currently recognizes gay couples with civil unions. After a couple has lived in a “stable relationship” for 5 years, they may petition the government for the recognition.

Another report notes that senators opposed to the bill claimed that the ruling party was trying to rush the bill through without "the normal procedures."

Labels: marriage equality, South America, Uruguay

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Lambda Legal Rated Top LGBT Org

Guidestar, the watchdog site for non-profits, has ranked Lambda Legal as having the best practices among the LGBT rights and progressive organizations it monitors. Lambda Legal reacts via press release:

"I am very proud of the amazing talent and leadership of the Lambda Legal staff, board and volunteers that has resulted in this top ranking from our colleagues and peers," said Kevin Cathcart, Executive Director of Lambda Legal. "We have been fighting for equality for LGBT people and people with HIV for forty years, and we have many victories and achievements about which we are proud because they have changed people's lives - and our society - for the better. This is a transformational time in our movement for LGBT equality. Lambda Legal will continue to lead the way with all our energy and all our hearts. We are grateful to all our supporters and colleagues around the country, and thank those who have honored us with this top ranking for 2012."

Rounding out Guidestar's top five:
2.  ACLU
3.  GLSEN
4.  NCLR
5.  NGLTF 

See the rest of the list.

Labels: ACLU, GLSEN, Lambda Legal, LGBT rights, NCLR

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: BRITAIN: Marriage Support Surges

 

Public support for same-sex marriage has surged across Britain in just the last few months. The Guardian reports:

The ICM poll conducted just before Christmas found 62% of voters now support the proposals, with half this number – 31% – opposed. Most previous polls have found opinion leaning the same way, although the two-to-one margin revealed on Wednesday is particularly emphatic. An ICM online survey for the Sunday Telegraph in March asked the identical question – which expressly reminds people that the option of civil partnerships already exists for gay couples – and established a 45%-36% lead for the reformers. That significant hardening of opinion during the year will encourage Cameron, whose embrace of gay marriage has proved controversial, not only with religious leaders but also with the Tory backbench. And the new poll reveals a particularly significant swing towards the reform among the Tory base.

Labels: Britain, David Cameron, marriage equality, polls

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Dutch Catholics "Debaptize" Themselves Over Pope's Anti-Gay Comments

Years ago I posted about the "debaptism" movement in which Catholics request that their names formally be stricken from the memberships rolls of their local diocese. This month that (mostly) symbolic move has gained steam in the Netherlands due to Pope Ratzinger's incessant attacks on same-sex marriage.

Tom Roes, whose website allows people to download the documents needed to leave the church, said traffic on ontdopen.nl – "de-baptise.nl" – had soared from about 10 visits a day to more than 10,000 after Pope Benedict's latest denunciation of gay marriage this month. "Of course it's not possible to be 'de-baptized' because a baptism is an event, but this way people can unsubscribe or de-register themselves as Catholics," Roes told Reuters. He said he did not know how many visitors to the site actually go ahead and leave the church. About 28 percent of the population in the Netherlands is Catholic and 18 percent is Protestant, while a much larger proportion – roughly 44 percent – is not religious, according to official statistics. The country is famous for its liberal attitudes, for example to drugs and prostitution, and in April 2001 it was the first nation in the world to legalize same-sex marriages.

RELATED: Early this year a French man successfully sued to have his name removed from the baptismal records of his diocese. He was the first in his nation to be officially debaptized.  In Germany, about 200,000 Catholics have filed the paperwork declaring that they will no longer pay the religion tax which is allocated to the Catholic Church.

NOTE: The above certificate is from Britain's Secular Society.

Labels: Catholic Church, debaptism, LGBT rights, marriage equality, Netherlands, organized crime, pope, religion

Reposted from Joe

Hands off Social Security!

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma December 28, 2012

The Equality of Praise and Blame

If we really stop to think about praise and criticism, we will see they do not have the least importance. Whether we receive praise or criticism is of no account. The only important thing is that we have a pure motivation, and let the law of cause and effect be our witness.

- H.H. the Dalai Lama, “Bad Reputation”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through December 30th, 2012
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Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:

	Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	Hostilities aren't stilled through hostility, regardless. Hostilities are stilled through non-hostility: this, an unending truth. - Dhammapada, 1, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. More Buddhism Quotes >>

Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:

	Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	Subhuti asked: "You say, Honored One, that a follower of the way does not need to build up goodness and happiness. Why is that?" The Buddha replied: "Subhuti, a true follower will express goodness and happiness but will not be caught up in the concepts of goodness and happiness. Thats why I say that he does not need to build up goodness and happiness, which would only be concept traps, for goodness and happiness will be there without any idea of them." - Diamond Sutra More Buddhism Quotes >>

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma December 27, 2012

Confidence in Truth

From the habit of speaking truthfully confidence is acquired, since there is no need then to dissemble or conceal the truth. Moreover, the speaker of truth inspires confidence in others who come to know that they may rely implicitly on his words.

- Hammalawa Saddatissa, “Right Speech”

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Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:

	Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	He knows his former lives. He sees heavens and states of woe, has attained the ending of birth, is a sage who has mastered full-knowing, his mastery totally mastered: he's what I call a brahmin. - Dhammapada 423, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu More Buddhism Quotes >>

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma December 26, 2012

Alive and Happy

We cannot enjoy life if we spend our time and energy worrying about what happened yesterday and what will happen tomorrow. If we’re afraid all the time, we miss out on the wonderful fact that we’re alive and can be happy right now.

- Thich Nhat Hanh, “Free From Fear”

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Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:

	Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	Don't cling to your own understanding. Even if you do understand something, you should ask yourself if there might be something you have not fully resolved, or if there may be some higher meaning yet. - Dogen More Buddhism Quotes >>

Tricycle Daily Dharma December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas

Many people are extending love, the simple wish for us to be happy—and have been since the day we were born. What is remarkable to me is what happens when we are willing to notice it. And even more remarkable is what happens when we are willing to receive it.

- John Makransky, “Love Is All Around”

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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma December 24, 2012

Joy in Giving

Because generosity is characterized by the inner quality of letting go or relinquishing, it reverses the forces that create suffering. It is a profound antidote to the strong habits of clinging, grasping, guarding, and attachment that lead to so much pain and suffering. Generosity brings happiness at every stage of its expression: we experience joy in forming the intention to give, we experience joy in the action of giving, and we experience joy in remembering that we have given.

- Beth Roth, “Family Dharma: The Joy of Generosity”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through December 26th, 2012
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