Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma January 15, 2013
The Ultimate Reflection
The
Buddha exhorted his disciples to reflect on death a lot—to use it as
the ultimate prompt to practice now, in this moment; to practice every
day. To stoke the fire before it’s too late. To prepare ourselves to
make skillful choices in the moment when we leave this body. The same
things that impede meditation are those that cloud our view at death:
pain and emotional distraction. The better we master these fetters in
life, the better chance we have of forgoing them at death.
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- Mary Talbot, "How Buddhists Can Prepare to Die"
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Monday, January 14, 2013
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma January 14, 2013
Adversity's Blessing
When
empathy spontaneously arises, we sense the power of love as a blessing
revealed by adversity. How embarrassing it is to see how preoccupied we
have been with our own petty concerns! Seeing how affection stirs people
to acts of selflessness inspires us to extend ourselves as well. With
loving kindness we see the needs of others and respond.
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- Judith L. Lief, "Welcome to the Real World"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 15th, 2013
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January 14, 2013
Adversity's Blessing
When
empathy spontaneously arises, we sense the power of love as a blessing
revealed by adversity. How embarrassing it is to see how preoccupied we
have been with our own petty concerns! Seeing how affection stirs people
to acts of selflessness inspires us to extend ourselves as well. With
loving kindness we see the needs of others and respond.
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- Judith L. Lief, "Welcome to the Real World"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 15th, 2013
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member
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Sunday, January 13, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma January 13, 2013
Knowing When to Speak
Saying
things you shouldn’t say or speaking much more than is necessary brings
a lot of agitation to the mind. The other extreme, complete silence, or
not speaking up when it is useful or necessary, is also problematic.
Applying right speech is difficult in the beginning; it takes practice.
But if you practice every time you talk to someone, the mind will learn
how to be aware, to understand what it should or should not say, and to
know when it is necessary to talk.
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- Sayadaw U Tejaniya, "The Wise Investigator"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 14th, 2013
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Saturday, January 12, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma January 12, 2013
Compassionate Action
When
we are energized with anger we often do things that worsen our
situation. Being compassionate does not mean being passive. We can
actively work to counteract injustice and harm, but we do so with
compassion, not self-righteous anger. With compassion, our positive
efforts can be sustained for a long time and will be effective.
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- Thubten Chodron, "Working with Anger"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 13th, 2013
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Friday, January 11, 2013
Via JMG: Buzzfeed Interviews Edith Windsor
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma January 11, 2013
Facing Fear
To
willingly reside in our distress, no longer resisting what is, is the
real key to transformation. As painful as it may be to face our deepest
fears, we do reach the point where it's more painful not to face them. This is a pivotal point in the practice life.
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- Ezra Bayda, "Bursting the Bubble of Fear"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 12th, 2013
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Thursday, January 10, 2013
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via The Advocate: Fighting Back in Brazil
Fighting Back in Brazil
January 10 2013 4:00 AM ET
Transgender Europe’s Trans Murder Monitoring project in November revealed that among the 265 murders of trans people reported globally in the preceding 12 months, 126 of them were in Brazil, the largest number of any country. It was the only country with triple digits (notoriously biased Pakistan had five reported killings, for example), and according to the monitoring project, it’s only getting worse. In 2008, 57 trans killings were reported in Brazil.
A well-publicized 2011 report from the gay rights organization Grupo Gay da Bahía found attacks and murders on the rise; LGBT people were being bashed once every 36 hours. And last fall at least 15 gay activists in Curitiba, a prominent southern city, received death threats.
“You are going to die, you, your husband, and your son. Your mother is a dyke,” was the phone message left for Toni Reis, president of the Brazilian Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transvestite, and Transsexual Association.
But unlike those in Jamaica, Russia, or Uganda, officials in Brazil are working to curb homophobic violence. After Reis and the other activists reported the disturbing phone calls and emails, the Human Rights Secretariat of Brazil sent several of its people to Curitiba to interview those threatened. The national officials met with local law enforcement, which set up a special committee to investigate the threats (no one’s been arrested yet). Meanwhile, the federal government operates a 24-hour national telephone service for LGBT people to report violence and discrimination, and the federal government is forming “pacts” with the 27 state governments to stem homophobia, which Reis says derives from Christian sources.
“Religious intolerance among some evangelical groups against LGBT people is increasing,” he says, adding that many church leaders actively lobby politicians against gay rights.
Evangelical Protestants, especially, have pushed back against efforts by the Brazilian government to protect the nation’s LGBT people. Last year, even before the Grupo Gay da Bahía report made international headlines, liberal legislators introduced a bill to outlaw anti-LGBT bias, providing jail time for those discriminating or inciting violence against LGBT people. Conservative Christians said the legislation would make it impossible for them to preach against homosexuality, and the bill was watered down as a result of their efforts.
Even with many gay-supportive government leaders, Reis admits, “Progress is slow and impunity continues to reign.”
http://www.advocate.com/print-issue/current-issue/2013/01/10/fighting-back-brazil
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Via The Advocate: Minister With Antigay History Chosen for Inauguration Ceremony
Minister With Antigay History Chosen for Inauguration Ceremony
January 09 2013 5:50 PM ET
Pastor Louie Giglio
Pastor Louie Giglio of the Passion City Church in Atlanta, chosen to give the benediction, or closing prayer, January 21 at President Obama’s second inauguration, gave a sermon in the mid 1990s in which he said being gay is a choice and a sin that merits eternal damnation and that Christianity can help gays can become straight, ThinkProgress reports.
In the sermon, available on a Christian website, Giglio says the Bible clearly teaches that “homosexuality is not just a sexual preference, homosexuality is not gay, but homosexuality is sin,” and it is among the factors that “prevent people from entering the Kingdom of God.” He also says, “The only way out of a homosexual lifestyle, the only way out of a relationship that has been ingrained over years of time, is through the healing power of Jesus.”
When the item was posted, Giglio had yet to respond to a ThinkProgress inquiry about whether the sermon represents his current thinking. The Advocate has also asked the Presidential Inaugural Committee, which plans the ceremony, for comment on the choice of Giglio, but there has been no response so far. A “Beliefs” section on Passion City Church’s website describes the church as “conservative and evangelical,” apparently with a literal view of the Bible, as it says, “We believe in the accuracy, truth, authority and power of the Holy Scriptures as the Word of God.”
Four years ago, at Obama’s first inauguration, antigay minister Rick Warren, pastor of a California megachurch, delivered the invocation, or opening prayer. The choice of Warren was much criticized, although his prayer received some praise as a “message of unity.”
Some other news about the second inauguration was more welcome to LGBT audiences: Gay poet Richard Blanco will read one of his works there. He is the youngest inaugural poet, the first gay one, and the first Latino.
Make the jump here to read the full article
Via JMG: Marine Corps Orders On-Base Social Clubs To Accept Gay Spouses
Marine Corps Orders On-Base Social Clubs To Accept Gay Spouses
Responding to an ongoing controversy at Fort Bragg, the Marine Corps today issued a directive that on-base "spouses clubs" must admit the husbands and wives of gay service members.
It's a step that the other service branches have not yet announced as they grapple with how to accommodate same-sex couples following repeal of the don't ask, don't tell policy that barred gays and lesbians from serving openly. Underscoring the challenges, the Marines' legal advisory — obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press — refers to an ongoing controversy at the Army's Fort Bragg in North Carolina where the officers' spouses club has denied admission to a same-sex spouse.OutServe-SLDN praised the move via press release:
The Marine Corps commandant's Staff Judge Advocate, in an e-mail to legal offices throughout the corps, said the Fort Bragg events had "caused quite a stir" and cautioned, "We do not want a story like this developing in our backyard." The memo noted that spouses clubs and various other private institutions are allowed to operate on bases only if they adhere to a non-discrimination policy encompassing race, religion, gender, age, disability and national origin. "We would interpret a spouses club's decision to exclude a same-sex spouse as sexual discrimination because the exclusion was based upon the spouse's sex," the memo said.
The Marine Corps guidance issued today is a breakthrough and a clear indication that General Amos meant what he said when he promised Marines would lead the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Secretary Panetta should use his authority immediately to bring consistency across the services with regard to this issue and in doing so, a greater measure of equity to gay and lesbian service members and their families.
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma January 10, 2013
The Thought Remedy
Generosity
trusts the emptiness that runs through things, even ungenerous or
ungainly things—it links to the clarity that underlies all our madness.
Whenever my thoughts turn toward greed, acquisitiveness, or stinginess,
my shoulders tense up, and it feels as if I’m holding my breath. To find
a remedy, I don’t have to improve my thoughts, though—just be generous
with them. Then freedom seems to appear automatically.
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- John Tarrant, "The Erotic Life of Emptiness"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 11th, 2013
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