When
we engage seriously with the Buddhist tradition we learn other ways of
construing the world, other stories we can tell about the way things
are, and these can be cogent, coherent, and compelling in their own way.
This is not to argue for a naive acceptance of Buddhist epistemology
and cosmology. But we won't see what Buddhism has to offer if, at the
outset, we twist it out of shape to make it conform to contemporary
norms.
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Noticing
the space around people and things provides a different way of looking
at them, and developing this spacious view is a way of opening oneself.
When one has a spacious mind, there is room for everything. When one has
a narrow mind, there is room for only a few things.
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Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) said he authored the measure to address the changes in family structure in California, including situations in which same-sex couples have a child with an opposite-sex biological parent. The law will allow the courts to recognize three or more legal parents so that custody and financial responsibility can be shared by all those involved in raising a child, Leno said. "Courts need the ability to recognize these changes so children are supported by the adults that play a central role in loving and caring for them," Leno said. "It is critical that judges have the ability to recognize the roles of all parents so that no child has to endure separation from one of the adults he or she has always known as a parent."Anti-gay groups, of course, are furious about the bill.
Forgiveness
is really not about someone’s harmful behavior; it’s about our own
relationship with our past. When we begin the work of forgiveness, it is
primarily a practice for ourselves.
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On
the spiritual path, there's nothing to get, and everything to get rid
of. Obviously, the first thing to let go of is trying to 'get' love, and
instead to give it. That's the secret of the spiritual path. How can we
give ourselves? By not holding back. By not wanting for ourselves. If
we want to be loved, we are looking for a support system. If we want to
love, we are looking for spiritual growth.
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The uniforms were created by German designer Willy Bogner, in cooperation with Adidas and the shoe company Sioux. Bogner claims they were an homage to the aesthetics of the 1972 Munich Summer Games and said he wanted to create a "celebratory design, inspired by the great atmosphere of the times." It conveniently comes in the wake of Munich's announcement that it will bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics, which, if it is successful, would make it the first city ever to have hosted both the winter and summer games.The German Olympic Sports Confederation insists that the design was finalized "before the Russian protests had even begun." (Tipped by JMG reader Elroy)
But other commentators have seen a more explicitly political message in the uniforms. On Twitter, German users interpreted the uniforms "as a rainbow pattern" and as a "clear political statement." "Looks great, like a gay and lesbian pride parade," wrote one user. "Extremely hideous -- but a well-intentioned move supporting the rights of gays and lesbians," wrote another. The official description, which claims the outfits "were created using colors and materials specially tailored to the conditions in Sochi" seemed to, in ambiguous fashion, support that interpretation.
Letting
go of fixation is effectively a process of learning to be free, because
every time we let go of something, we become free of it. Whatever we
fixate upon limits us because fixation makes us dependent upon something
other than ourselves. Each time we let go of something, we experience
another level of freedom.
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Vipassana
teaches the art of dying: how to die peacefully, harmoniously. And one
learns the art of dying by learning the art of living: how to become
master of the present moment.
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"'I think it's absolutely embarrassing that there's countries and there's people who are that intolerant and that ignorant," he said Monday, one of the few athletes willing to take a stand on the subject at the U.S. Olympic media summit featuring Sochi hopefuls. 'But it's not the first time," Miller said. "We've been dealing with human-rights issues probably since there were humans." At 35 and with five Olympic medals to his credit, Miller is trying for his fifth Winter Games. He has, over the years, built a reputation as an unconventional firebrand, unafraid to state his opinion on sports, skiing or society in general. He said the Russian law puts athletes in an awkward position. "I think it's unfortunate when they get stuffed together because there are politics in sports and athletics," Miller said. "They always are intertwined, even though people try to keep them separate or try to act like they're separate. Asking an athlete to go somewhere and compete and be a representative of a philosophy and ... then tell them they can't express their views or they can't say what they believe, I think is pretty hypocritical or unfair."
When
you analyze it, the motivation to 'just feel good right now' is really
just indulging our desires. The motivation to immediately gratify desire
is what has driven most of our actions throughout our beginningless
sojourn in samsara—all it has accomplished is to perpetuate our
confusion, pain, and habitual inability to pull ourselves out of this
mess. This is precisely the problem that Buddhism was invented to solve.
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