The DOs and DON'Ts of PRAYER

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Tricycle Daily Dharma January 8, 2014

The Self’s Misconception

In Pali, the language of the oldest written Buddhist teachings, the belief in some core notion of self is called sakkaya-ditthi; this is sometimes translated as ‘personality belief.’ It’s said to be the most dangerous of all the defilements, more dangerous than greed or even hatred, because these are rooted in this mistaken belief. This wrong view of self is central to how we go about in the world, and all kinds of unskillful actions come out of it. The aim of the practice, central to everything we’re doing, is to free the mind from this misconception.

- Joseph Goldstein, “Everyday Meditation”

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Probably Gay, the Homophobia Song - Katie Goodman's Broad Comedy

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"The man who conquers himself is superior to him who conquers a thousand men in battle." - Buddha

 

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Tricycle Daily Dharma January 7, 2014

Dualistic Divisions

We divide our world into me/you, friend/enemy, desirable/ undesirable, fulfilling/frustrating, and so on. It’s a natural process, but a very arbitrary, utterly subjective one. Somehow we’re able to ignore this last fact. We’re in dualistic division mode, and we act on that; all sorts of emotions come into play, and we act on them. We reinforce the tendencies—Buddhists might say, we create or compound karma—that make the illusion thicker, stickier, more solid. And the further we are from truth, the more elusive happiness becomes.

- Pamela Gayle White, “The Pursuit of Happiness”

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JMG Editorial Of The Day

From the editors of the Salt Lake Tribune:

Same-sex attraction, far from being unnatural, has been around since the dawn of time, and in recent decades mainstream America has come to accept it as something other than deviant. The American Psychiatric Association has considered homosexuality a normal sexual variation, not a mental disorder, since 1973. The Supreme Court in 2003 made same-sex sexual activity legal in every state, and then last June the court took that step of saying same-sex couples have a due-process right to marry. Younger people by and large take a more libertarian view of same-sex relationships, and that is what has fueled the nation’s shift since Utah passed its ban in 2004.
There are 32 states with laws still in effect banning gay marriage, but only one state has passed such a law since 2006. Since that time seven state legislatures have passed laws to allow same-sex marriage, and three more states did so through popular vote. Court decisions have struck down the laws in another seven states, including Utah. One of those states is California, where state officials stopped defending their same-sex marriage ban when it became obvious where the future lies. Utah’s ban passed with 66 percent of voters approving it, but it’s a legitimate question whether it would pass today if another election were held. Even the LDS Church has gone from actively participating in the marriage wars to simply explaining its own beliefs and practices.
The tide has turned. It’s time for Utah to turn with it.

(Tipped by JMG reader Matthew)

Labels: marriage equality, Salt Lake City, Utah

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: The Friendly Atheist Reviews Linda Harvey

Last week Linda Harvey screamed that Amazon didn't pull her book because it advocates the torture and brainwashing of LGBT children, SHE pulled it herself because of nasty reviews spurred by evil gay bloggers.  The Friendly Atheist has read Harvey's book and today posted a review. An excerpt:

Harvey says that “hundreds” of organizations in the U.S. can help gay people work through their feelings and turn straight, and that plenty of “converted homosexuals” will tell you that it really works. Never mind that the most prominent ex-gay organization Exodus International shut its doors and its president said homosexuality is unchangeable — Harvey says he’s not a good representative of the ex-gay movement because “there seems to be a lot of confusion going on in his life.” If you insist…
Later, she defends parents who kick their gay children out of their homes. She suggests that children whose parents don’t try to shield them from homosexuality will commit suicide. She says that it’s the responsibility of churches to try to warn people about homosexuality. She suggests that gay teenagers are the victims of broken homes or sexual abuse. She waxes poetic on Sodom and Gomorrah. And finally, she says that God is the answer to a troubled life of homosexuality.

Hit the link and read the full review.

 

Labels: Amazon, assholery, bigotry, brainwashing, crackpots, evil, ex-gay, hate groups, LGBT youth, Linda Harvey, religion, torture

Reposted from Joe Jervis

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Tricycle Daily Dharma January 6, 2014

The Four Reminders

We all know that we’re going to die, but we don’t know it in our guts. If we did, we would practice as if our hair were on fire. One way to swallow the bitter truth of mortality and impermanence—and get it into our guts—is to chew on the four reminders.

- Andrew Holecek, “The Supreme Contemplation”

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Via JMG: The Man Who Invented San Francisco

The Days Of Anna Madrigal, the ninth and final installment of Armistead Maupin's legendary Tales Of The City series, will be published later this month. Yesterday the Guardian heaped praise upon Maupin. An excerpt:

Quentin Crisp once introduced him with the boast: "This is Mr Maupin. He invented San Francisco." More importantly, Maupin virtually invented the mainstreaming of gay life and helped the world see that "the gay experience" was nothing lesser or greater than human experience. Maupin came to a realisation of his homosexuality relatively late. He was 30 when he came out, the same year he began writing. Taking stock of himself the way he would one of his characters, he once observed: "He had kept his heart (and his libido) under wraps for most of his life, only to discover that the thing he feared the most had actually become a source of great comfort and inspiration." At the time he began writing, he saw gay fiction as both bleak and myopic. This was an era when Truman Capote still equated his homosexuality with his alcoholism and a climate in which Gore Vidal could claim: "There were homosexual acts, but not homosexual people." Maupin, however, had discovered a joyful fraternity and welcoming community in the bath houses and nightclubs of the city and decided, as he put it, to "[allow] a little air into the situation by actually placing gay people in the context of the world at large".

Read the full article. The book is available for pre-order on Amazon.

Labels: Armistead Maupin, gay writers, LGBT History, San Francisco

Reposted from Joe Jervis

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Tricycle Daily Dharma January 4, 2014

Language in Practice

The first three practices of the eightfold path are right view, right intention, and right speech. These make right conduct possible, and when there is right conduct, there can be meditation practice and mindfulness, which lead to wisdom, thereby reinforcing right view. So from the first, the Buddha saw that our language conditions our spirituality through our views, intentions, and uttered words, and that training in an increased awareness of this process has to be the starting point for spiritual practice.

- Zoketsu Norman Fischer, “Beyond Language”

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Tricycle Daily Dharma January 5, 2014

Walk Like A Buddha

Walking is an important form of Buddhist meditation. It can be a very deep spiritual practice. But when the Buddha walked, he walked without effort. He just enjoyed walking. He didn’t have to strain, because when you walk in the practice mindfulness, you are in touch with the all the wonders of life within you and around you. This is the best way to practice, with the appearance of nonpractice. You don’t make any effort, you don’t struggle, you just enjoy walking, but it’s very deep. ‘My practice,’ the Buddha said, ‘is the nonpractice, the attainment of nonattainment.’

- Thich Nhat Hanh, “Walk Like A Buddha”

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Tricycle Daily Dharma January 3, 2014

The Cleaning

The very distinguished abbot of a huge Zen monastery wrote this little article that said, ‘In Zen, there are only three things. First, cleaning. Second, chanting. And third, devotion. That’s all.’ Many Americans go to Zen hoping to get enlightened, but they don’t want to do the cleaning.

- Taitetsu Unno, “Even Dewdrops Fall”

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Via JMG: CALIFORNIA: Rose Bowl Parade's Gay Wedding Float Wins Award For "Color And Color Harmony"

 

Well, of course it did. During the 30 seconds that the float was onscreen during NBC's coverage, the two grooms atop the wedding cake waved, beamed, held hands, and generally seemed to be having a wonderful time. Parade host Al Roker: "A sincere shout-out to the newlyweds and the happy couples on the float." It's the end of America, people!

Labels: California, gay weddings, Rose Bowl Parade

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Carl Siciliano On Phil Robertson

 

Via Memeographs.

Labels: Ali Forney Center, Carl Siciliano, Duck Dynasty, homelessness, LGBT youth, NYC, Phil Robertson, religion

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Coulter: I Recommend Capital Punishment For Pro-Gay Television Pundits

"We know A&E is not the government. It may shock your tiny little pea brains, but free speech existed even before we had a Constitution. Free speech is generally considered a desirable goal even apart from its inclusion in the nation's founding document. Suppose TV networks were capitulating to angry Muslims by suspending people for saying they opposed Sharia law? Would that prompt any of you pusillanimous hacks to finally take a position on the state of free speech in America? Or would you demand that we stop the presses so you could roll out your little cliche about a television network not being the government? A&E didn't dare cross the gays, never anticipating that the Robertson family wouldn't back down -- and the rest of the country wouldn't, either. Even non-Christians can have only contempt for the network's utter cravenness in suspending Robertson for stating basic Christian doctrine. The first time someone stands up to a bully and the sky doesn't fall, the tyranny is over. The gay mafia was out of control, drunk with power. This time, they got their wings clipped. Christians, 1; Angry gays: minus 1,000. Cliche-spouting hack TV pundits: I recommend capital punishment." - Ann Coulter, writing for Townhall.

 

Labels: Ann Coulter, assholism, crackpots, Duck Dynasty, Phil Robertson, reality shows, religion, Tea Party, teabaggers, television, Townhall

Reposted from Joe Jervis

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Tricycle Daily Dharma January 2, 2014

Clear Seeing

One of the main pursuits of Buddhism is to bridge the gap between the way things appear and the way things are. That approach does not come just from a curiosity to investigate phenomena. It arises from the understanding that an incorrect perception of reality inevitably leads to suffering.

- Matthieu Ricard, "Why Meditate?"

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Tricycle Daily Dharma December 31, 2013

Skillful Intention

It’s all about intention. If your intention is skillful, imbued with compassion, the quality of your effort will be skillful. And you can develop skillful intention.

- Peter Doobinin, “Skillful Effort”

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Tricycle Daily Dharma December 25, 2013

Planting the Seeds of Happiness

We spend decades of our lives wanting happiness, peace, and contentment—without sowing the causes for that aspiration. Why did we not plant the seeds of the fruition we aspire to? Buddhist logic says that if you plant a lemon seed and pray for a mango fruit, logically it won’t work. But this is what we do: we wish for happiness without planting the seeds of happiness.

- Khandro Rinpoche, “Planting the Seeds of Happiness”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through December 26, 2013
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