Flower of the Day: 07/13/14

“It is important to differentiate between vertical and horizontal religions. Vertical religion is spirituality, the path towards enlightenment. It represents the deepest meaning of the word ‘religion,’ which is the reconnection of the individual soul with the Absolute. This union is only possible when one is able to follow the orders given by one’s own heart. Horizontal religion is a creation of the human mind in order to meet a social need. In this sense, I do not work with religion. I never say do this or that. I simply suggest that you become silent, receptive and increase your perception enough to notice the commandment that comes from within.”

Sri Prem Baba

Flower of the Day: 07/12/14

“Misunderstanding the true nature of the master teacher is a great obstacle. The master is not a human nor a body – this is but a limited understanding of spiritual reality. The spiritual master is life itself, your true self. By surrendering to the guidance of a master, you surrender to the flow of life and to the truth of who you are. You surrender to the heart.”

Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

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Awareness Breaks the Spell | July 12, 2014

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Seeing attachment, aversion, expectation, and disappointment as they arise allows the mind to understand and to disengage from them. Awareness breaks the spell; the mind is no longer enchanted when we see the defilement for what it is. When a defilement has no hold on the mind, suffering ceases.

 

—Steve Armstrong, “Got Attitude?”

 

Via Daily Dharma

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On the Cushion | July 11, 2014

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Our practice is to meet life exactly as it is and to notice whatever fear, anger, or doubt gets in the way of direct intimate contact with this moment, bringing attention to that as well. Rather than changing something or seeking to get somewhere we imagine we should be, practice is about seeing clearly exactly how things really are and how we relate to them.

 

—Douglas Phillips, "Q&A with Douglas Phillips"

 

Via JMG: Michael Sam For Out Magazine

Labels: gay athletes, Michael Sam, Out Magazine

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: ARGENTINA: Gay Activists To Stage Kiss-In During Visit By Vladimir Putin

 

The kiss-in will take place today outside the Russian embassy. Source.

Labels: activism, Argentina, Russia, Vladimir Putin

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Updated Marriage Map

 

 

I think the reason that Nebraska  and Mississippi are lacking the ticking clock is because the lawsuits there only ask for recognition of out-of-state marriages. According to the linked recaps at Freedom To Marry, both those cases have been dismissed but the plaintiffs plan to appeal. I'm sure some of you folks can fill us in. Is anybody else starting to lose track of all this? It's a good thing, right? I really do like this guy's maps.

Labels: Colorado, maps, marriage equality

Ewposted from Joe Jervis

Flower of the Day: 07/10/14

“Laziness is a psychological matrix created by blocked feelings and repressed energy. Laziness can manifest in the form of paralysis, or even as compulsive action. But in this case, the compulsion to do is a distraction that prevents you from doing what really needs to be done. There is something stopping you from accomplishing precisely that which is most important to you. So you are overcome with guilt about not doing what your consciousness demands. When this happens, it is important to open yourself up to understanding what is paralyzing you. In this way you begin a healing work that will lead you to confront the points of blockage that are robbing you of your energy and willpower.”

Sri Prem Baba

Via Daiy Dharma

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Liberation through Insight | July 10, 2014

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The whole point of Buddha-dharma is that liberation comes not by believing in the right set of tenets or of dogmatic assertions, or even necessarily by behaving in the right way. It’s insight, it’s wisdom, it’s knowing the nature of reality. It is only truth that will make us free.

 

—B. Alan Wallace, "What is True Happiness?"

 

Nothing Lasts Forever (1984)

Flower of the Day: 07/09/14

“Anxiety, sadness, depression and a constant anguish are all symptoms of that aspect of pride known as perfectionism. This is an aspect of the idealized self that is addicted to self-criticism and is always condemning and judging. The idealized self is a cruel tyrant who does not accept mistakes. We have to be the best of the best; the most precious stone. Thus, we begin to compulsively do things, and put pressure on ourselves demanding all sorts of things, as a constant form of self-punishment. This prevents us from relaxing enough to notice that we are already a diamond. We already are the most precious stone there is, and it is precisely this compulsion to prove something to the world that prevents us from truly shining.”

Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

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Complete Engagement | July 8, 2014

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Only one thing
made him happy
and now that
it was gone
everything
made him happy.

 

—Leonard Cohen, "Leonard Koan"

 

Flower of the Day: 07/08/14

“Do not feed your sadness – this is unnecessary suffering created by the victim trying to sneak in through the back door. True pain doesn’t last long. You get in touch with it, and soon after it passes. Oftentimes, sadness is a messenger that prepares you for getting in touch with the deep-rooted pain that leads to your healing. This is a healthy sadness, while an unhealthy sadness is always linked to an accusation. It is born out of anger; and although anger’s role in the divine game is to take you somewhere, anger can also be a major distraction. In most cases, anger is merely an escape from this sadness that could get you in touch with the primordial pain.”

Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

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Complete Engagement | July 8, 2014

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Ultimately, from the point of view of the dharma—at least, my understanding of it—cultivating your mind through meditation is also social radicalism. Because if the goal is to produce more people who are manifesting the attributes of enlightenment—namely, wisdom and compassion—then that, by necessity, is a transformation of the social situation as well.

 

—Richard Reoch, "The Path of Complete Engagement"

 

The Official Trailer for Campaign of Hate: Russia and Gay Propaganda

Via JMG: Russian Priest: The World Cup Is A Homosexual Abomination Because Shoes

Via the Moscow Times:

While thousands of Russian fans were left devastated by their team's early exit from the World Cup tournament, one Orthodox priest has openly rejoiced at their failure, denouncing the contest as a "homosexual abomination." Priest Alexander Shumsky seems to have taken particular exception to the brightly colored footwear on display in Brazil, writing in his column on Christian website Russian People's Line that players who wear green, yellow, pink or blue shoes helped promote the "gay rainbow." "Wearing pink or blue shoes, [the players] might as well wear women's panties or a bra," Shumsky wrote, adding that he was also offended by the "unthinkable" hairstyles of some of the players in Brazil.

(Tipped by JMG reader Kevin)

 

Labels: crazy people, religion, Russia, World Cup

Reposted from Joe Jervis

George Takei: Why I love a country that once betrayed me

Publicado em 04/07/2014

 

When he was a child, George Takei and his family were forced into an internment camp for Japanese-Americans, as a "security" measure during World War II. 70 years later, Takei looks back at how the camp shaped his surprising, personal definition of patriotism and democracy.

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Via Daily Dharma

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Thinking Like a Mountain | July 7, 2014

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How do you watch a mountain? Nothing’s going to happen in any time frame that you can consider—except the light changes on it. And so that was my mountain watching. The changing light on the mountain was like the changing thoughts in my mind, just these little shifting shadows, that’s all that it is.

 

—Gary Snyder, “Thinking Like a Mountain”

 

Via Daily Dharma

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The Everyday Sublime | July 6, 2014

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To experience the everyday sublime one needs to dismantle piece by piece the perceptual conditioning that insists on seeing oneself and the world as essentially comfortable, permanent, solid, and mine. It means to embrace suffering and conflict, rather than to shy away from them, to cultivate the radical attention (yonisomanasikara) that contemplates the tragic, changing, empty, and impersonal dimensions of life, rather than succumbing to fantasies of self-glorification or self-loathing.

 

—Stephen Batchelor, “The Everyday Sublime”