Sunday, June 29, 2014
Flower of the Day: 06/29/14
“It
is important for us to take concrete actions towards helping to
de-pollute our waters, especially through the awareness of where our
trash goes. This is one of the main issues in the world today. However,
what’s even more important is being aware of our relationship to the
feminine. How is your relationship with your mother? De-polluting starts
from the inside out by detoxifying our hatred. So, see how you are
relating to women in general. Ask yourself if you are already able to
give of yourself, to be a friend and to give thanks. See if you are able
to root for the other’s happiness, or if instead you still act out of
envy, jealousy and competition.”
Sri Prem Baba
Via Daily Dharma
We Need to Act | June 29, 2014
Meditation does not matter that much if
it has no effect on the rest of our life. Likewise, we could be filled
with empty words that do not lead to any change whatsoever in our life
or our relationship with others. We need to act on our understanding and
our awareness.
—Judy Lief, “Is Meditation Enough?”
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Flower of the Day: 06/28/14
“Some
people believe that they need to use effort to quiet down their minds,
but this effort will only further agitate the mind. It is not necessary
to do anything other than increase one’s perception by being whole in
action and fully present. Then, when the thoughts come, they will simply
pop like bubbles in the air. If one is able to develop presence, then
the situation or place one finds oneself in doesn’t matter: nothing will
shake one’s serenity.”
Sri Prem Baba
Via Daily Dharma
Understand Your Mind | June 28, 2014
Just understand your mind; how it
works, how attachment and desire arise, how ignorance arises, and where
emotions come from. It is sufficient to know the nature of all that;
that alone can bring you happiness and peace. Thus, your life can change
completely; everything turns upside down. What you once interpreted as
horrible can become beautiful.
—Lama Yeshe, “Your Mind is Your Religion”
Friday, June 27, 2014
Via Daily Dharma
Back to the Fundamentals | June 26, 2014
People are looking for liberation from
their fears, worries, and anxieties; that is, for freedom from the bonds
of birth, old age, sickness, and death. Even in our times—where mankind
has developed this amazing modern civilization with scientific
wonders—people still continue to lead their lives trying to figure out
solutions to these fundamental matters.
—Harada Sekkei Roshi, "Zen Basics"
Flower of the Day: 06/27/14
“The
ABC of Spirituality work of healing the personality and purifying the
lower self is vital, but it is still not the most important phase in the
evolutionary process. The most important part begins when you make
progress in this initial phase of purification and are able to integrate
some imprints from the past. Only by progressing in your purification
can you honestly surrender yourself to the Supreme. At that point you
are no longer bargaining, giving only to receive. Instead, you are now
ready to place every molecule of your body at service of the divine
will.
Sri Prem Baba
Via Daily Dharma
Leave Room for Mystery | June 27, 2014
Faith must ripen through uncertainty
and doubt. It must open us to something larger than our concepts, for
these arise from within the limits of the self. Faith must, in the end,
leave room for mystery.
—Andrew Cooper, “The Transcendent Imperative”
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Rice: LGBT rights among the most challenging global human rights issues
AP
Susan Rice
WASHINGTON — With anti-gay laws taking root in nearly 80 countries, White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice on Tuesday cast the protection of gays from global discrimination, abuse and even death as one of the most challenging international human rights issue facing the United States.
Rice told a White House forum of gay rights advocates that President Barack Obama has directed that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote the rights of LGBT men and women around the world.
She urged religious, human rights and HIV health care advocates to form a united front to halt global discrimination against the LGBT community.
“To achieve lasting global change, we need everyone’s shoulder at the wheel,” she said. “With more voices to enrich and amplify the message — the message that gay rights are straight-up human rights — we can open more minds.”
Make the jump here to read the full article
Via Daily Dharma
Make the Most of It | June 24, 2014
If you think of the number of people in
the world, what percentage of them really devote any substantial amount
of time to spiritual practice? What percentage of them are even
inclined to do so? And the fact that we are willing and interested in
this kind of an approach to life is very rare. And so we are encouraged
to make the most of it.
—Ken McLeod, "37 Practices of the Bodhisattva, Verse 1"
Flower of the Day: 06/24/14
“Our
planet is going through a 'dark night.' Some people are already able to
receive rays of light from the central sun, which is the divine self,
but others are going mad. Some people are killing themselves because
they are unable to bear coming in touch with their own shadow. They
don’t know that this experience is only a transition and a passage.
Spiritual knowledge is the blessing that allows one to make this
crossing with tranquility.”
Sri Prem Baba
Via Daily Dharma
Ethics from the Heart | June 25, 2014
For the Zen Buddhist, an ethical
precept is a question to be held up to the light of circumstance, an
inquiry rather than an answer. And the nature of this inquiry is not so
much the dubious enterprise of trying to figure out the right thing to
do as it is an offering of an unaided heart. After all, it’s from this
heart of ours that the precepts themselves once arose. At the threshold
of choice, the Zen Buddhist trusts this ancient heart above all other
authority.
—Lin Jensen, "An Ear to the Ground"
Flower of the Day: 06/25/14
“Gratitude
is a powerful virtue of the soul. When one is able to materialize
gratitude through an expression of thanks, this gratitude becomes
medicine for the one receiving it. Oftentimes, the simple action of
giving thanks to someone is enough to take that person out of the pits.”
Sri Prem Baba
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