Buddhism asks us to go beyond the self, not to perfect the self.
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Anxiety,
heartbreak, and tenderness mark the in-between state. It's the kind of
place we usually want to avoid. The challenge is to stay in the middle
rather than buy into struggle and complaint. The challenge is to let it
soften us rather than make us more rigid and afraid.
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This morning, the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee voted 15-7 to advance the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) with support from Republican Sens. Mark Kirk (IL), Orrin Hatch (UT), and Lisa Murkowski (AK). The bill, now headed for the Senate floor, is considered instrumental in preventing workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, and mending the “broken bargain” of unequal treatment of LGBT workers under the law.UPDATE: The ACLU cheers via press release:
Coming on the heels of the landmark Supreme Court marriage rulings, today's strong, bipartisan vote in favor of expanding workplace non-discrimination protections to include those who are LGBT is yet another sign that the tide has turned," said Ian Thompson, American Civil Liberties Union legislative representative. "Advocates have been working for nearly 40 years to pass these basic protections to ensure that all American workers, who stand side-by-side in the workplace and contribute with equal measure in their jobs, will stand on the same equal footing under the law. In 2013, it is completely unacceptable to force individuals to hide who they are out of fear of losing their livelihood.
The solution does not lie in ‘returning to nature.’ We cannot return to nature, because we have never left it.
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We
need to give up something. We can’t have it all. We can’t try to layer
wisdom on top of confusion. The spiritual path is about what we give up,
not what we get.
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The sci-fi action movie “Ender’s Game” isn’t out until Nov. 1, but it’s already the target of an organized boycott. The group Geeks Out has launched an online protest and is asking people to “Skip Ender’s Game” because of anti-gay marriage comments made by Orson Scott Card, author of the 1985 book upon which the Lionsgate film is based. "Do not buy a ticket at the theater, do not purchase the DVD, do not watch it on-demand. Ignore all merchandise and toys," the site implores. “By pledging to Skip Ender’s Game, we can send a clear and serious message to Card and those that do business with his brand of anti-gay activism -- whatever he’s selling, we’re not buying."The boycott and petition site is here. (Tipped by JMG reader Neil)
Technology’s
value is the value we give it as a society and as individuals, in
millions of large and small decisions that are made every day. It
reshapes our world into something that can seem unfamiliar and even
strange. But we are still in human territory—territory we can navigate
with human wisdom and insight, should we choose to do so.
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We
reassure ourselves that the changes we’ve made in Buddhism are all for
the best—that Buddhism has always adapted itself to every culture it
enters, and we can trust it to adapt wisely to the West. But this treats
Buddhism as if it were a conscious agent—a wise amoebic force that
knows how to adapt to its environment in order to survive. Actually,
Buddhism isn’t an agent, and it doesn’t adapt. It gets adapted—sometimes
by people who know what they’re doing, sometimes by people who don’t.
Just because a particular adaptation survives and prevails doesn’t mean
that it’s genuine dharma. It may simply appeal to the desires and fears
of its target audience.
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“My message is that lovemaking is good,” Dr. David Weeks told the British Psychological Society. Former head of old age psychology at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Weeks said he spent a decade prying into the private lives of thousands of men and women of all ages. Weeks found that sexual pleasure is a “crucial factor” in preserving youth.
How? Lovemaking releases the human growth hormone, which helps keep the skin elastic and thus less likely to wrinkle, he said. Sex also released endorphins, which are the body’s feel-good chemicals and natural painkillers that ease anxiety and make it easier to sleep, Weeks added. Nookie boosts blood circulation, which is good for that heart and gives skin that healthy glow, the good doctor said. Finally, sex burns fat and releases other chemicals that bolster the immune system, he said.
Presence
has no measurable product except positive feelings, feelings of
support, intimacy, and happiness. When we stop being busy and productive
and switch to just being still and aware, we ourselves will also feel
support, intimacy, and happiness, even if no one else is around.
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A
sense of dissatisfaction is regarded as an essential prerequisite for
progress on the Buddhist path. Far from seeking to become somehow
'nonjudgmental,' the meditator is instructed to judge all the objects of
ordinary experience as scarred by three marks: impermanence, suffering,
and no self.
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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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