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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The Supreme Court decision this week striking down the Defense of Marriage Act means a lot of things to a lot of people. But to Edith Windsor, the plaintiff who brought the case, the landmark ruling also means she will finally get back the $638,000 in estate tax payments she had to make to the IRS and to New York State after her spouse -- Thea Spyer -- died in 2009. Windsor will also be paid interest on her refunds. Paul, Weiss, the law firm that represents her, estimates she will receive about $45,000 in interest on her federal refund and $25,000 on her New York State refund. The other good news for the 83-year-old Windsor? Her lawyers won't be getting a cut because Paul, Weiss took the case pro bono.
Fear
diminishes me, makes me no bigger than that part of me which fears.
Fearful, I am too small to contain thought, too small to hold real
compassion. Protecting myself, I will hurt others.
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"From an LGBT perspective, at this point, immigration is going to be an even playing field," said Cara Jobson, a partner in Wiley and Jobson, a San Francisco immigration law firm. The U.S. government is working to ensure that couples who qualify will be able to get the process started right away, Janet Napolitano, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said after the ruling. Same-sex couples have been flooding Jobson's office since Wednesday with requests for help applying for a green card for a foreign spouse, she said. Kirkbride and Kurzatkowska filed their papers Friday. The process includes filling out forms, getting a medical exam for the spouse applying for the green card, and showing that the foreign spouse won't be a financial burden to the U.S., Jobson said. The foreign spouse also has to prove that he or she entered the country legally.The entire process takes about three months before the green card arrives in the mail.
If
‘mindfulness’ is to create genuine change in our society, it must
involve being mindful of more than just our own need for comfort, good
health, or serenity. It must entail being mindful of the social and
economic forces that allow some to prosper while others struggle, forces
that promote and perpetuate certain behaviors and thought patterns
while discouraging or suppressing others.
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The
frustrating thing about our life is that there is no control over our
emotions. That’s why there’s no fun. The whole purpose of Buddhism is to
have fun, isn’t it? And in order to have fun you have to have control.
If someone else has control over you, that’s it: there’s no fun.
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The
key to development along the Buddhist path is repetitive routine guided
by inspirational vision. It is the insight into final freedom—the peace
and purity of a liberated mind—that uplifts us and impels us to
overcome our limits. But it is by repetition—the methodical cultivation
of wholesome practices—that we cover the distance separating us from the
goal and draw ever closer to awakening.
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| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Buddhism teaches us that desire, for all the agony and ecstasy, is no match for the truth.
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The
doctrine of karma is founded on the premise that the world is a just
place, but I am afraid unjust suffering stares us in the face. I think
we should struggle against injustice, but we have to accept that it
persists and that we shall never eliminate it.
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