Always Free | August 31, 2014
The two things that you are always free to do—despite your circumstances—are to be present and to be willing to love.
-Jack Kornfield, “Set the Compass of Your Heart”
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Flower of the Day: 08/31/14
"I
went driving once on a rainy day and it ended up hailing, so my car got
all scratched up. But who decided to take the car out on this rainy
day? I did. Therefore, it is my responsibility alone. I never get tired
of saying that you are not a helpless victim of the harmful influences
of outer space. I know it is hard to hear this, and you can even get
angry with me, but I have to tell the truth: you are where you put
yourself."
Sri Prem Baba
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Via Daily Dharma
Dharmic Darwinism | August 30, 2014
The Buddha intuited some type of
evolutionary process that creates our bodies, and his essential point is
that they are neither formed nor owned by us. We now have evidence that
our bodies arise from the forces and elements that make up the entire
universe, through a complex chain of interdependent events.
Internalizing this understanding can help liberate us from the powerful
sense of ownership and attachment we have to the body.
-Wes Nisker, “Evolution’s Body”
Flower of the Day: 08/30/14
"Your entire day can become a sadhana,
a spiritual practice, when everything you do transforms into selfless
service. Each minute of action is turned into a prayer, and as such your
life becomes yoga. Presence must permeate your actions, which is only
possible when you are whole in your actions. In this way, your actions
will become a puja, an offering to the Divine. Little by
little, you will go beyond your self-interest and egotistical motives,
and will surrender yourself to service."
- Sri Prem Baba
Friday, August 29, 2014
Via LGBTQ Nation: A gay dad’s open letter to the homophobic parents who threw away their gay son
Another young person has been thrown out of his home for coming out as gay.
I have written about this on a number of occasions covering such events in the United States, Nigeria and Uganda.
This time the event was recorded. Trying to imagine the evil some people can impart on their children is no longer necessary. Now we can hear them in their own self righteous voices
It started when the family called 20-year-old Daniel Pierce to an “intervention.” He left his phone recorder going during the confrontation and was later posted online as “How not to react when your child tells you he is gay.” It has now gone viral.
In the video, Daniel explains to what sounds like his mother, step-mother and father that he is gay. The choices this set of parents makes as a reaction are almost as bad as they possibly could be.
His mother makes a statement at the outset that becomes increasingly shocking as the video proceeds and the parenting adults collectively verbally attack and physically abuse the young man.
The mother’s statement is: “I have known since you were a young boy that you were gay.” If there was ever clear pointed evidence that Daniel was “born that way,” her comment would be it.
She knows who her child is, yet due to her own personal agenda she pretends he is making a choice and coldly rejects him as a result.
http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2014/08/a-gay-dads-open-letter-to-the-homophobic-parents-who-threw-their-gay-son-away/
I have written about this on a number of occasions covering such events in the United States, Nigeria and Uganda.
This time the event was recorded. Trying to imagine the evil some people can impart on their children is no longer necessary. Now we can hear them in their own self righteous voices
It started when the family called 20-year-old Daniel Pierce to an “intervention.” He left his phone recorder going during the confrontation and was later posted online as “How not to react when your child tells you he is gay.” It has now gone viral.
In the video, Daniel explains to what sounds like his mother, step-mother and father that he is gay. The choices this set of parents makes as a reaction are almost as bad as they possibly could be.
His mother makes a statement at the outset that becomes increasingly shocking as the video proceeds and the parenting adults collectively verbally attack and physically abuse the young man.
The mother’s statement is: “I have known since you were a young boy that you were gay.” If there was ever clear pointed evidence that Daniel was “born that way,” her comment would be it.
She knows who her child is, yet due to her own personal agenda she pretends he is making a choice and coldly rejects him as a result.
http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2014/08/a-gay-dads-open-letter-to-the-homophobic-parents-who-threw-their-gay-son-away/
Via JMG: Religion Maps
Earlier this summer, on World Population Day, we explained that half of the world’s population lives in just six countries. In many cases, the world’s major religious groups are even more concentrated, with half or more of their followers living in one or a handful of countries. For several years, demographers at the Pew Research Center have been studying the demographic characteristics of eight groups: Buddhists, Christians, adherents of folk religions, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, the religiously unaffiliated and followers of other religions. While Christians and Muslims are more widely distributed around the world, the other groups have a majority of their populations in just one or two nations, according to 2010 estimates from our Global Religious Landscape report.More maps are at the link.
While there continues to be much attention paid to the growth of the religiously unaffiliated population in Europe and North America, more than half (62%) of the world’s 1.1 billion unaffiliated people live in one Asian country: China. China also is home to 50% of the world’s 488 million Buddhists and 73% of the 405 million global adherents of folk religions. Since China is the world’s most populous nation, it may not be altogether unexpected that it has a lot of people in a variety of categories. While China accounts for 19% of the world’s overall population, it is home to majorities of all Buddhists, unaffiliated people and adherents of folk religions.
Via JMG: Donations Pour In For Daniel Pierce
Pierce confirmed the video's details to the Huffington Post on Thursday, adding that he initially came out to his parents in October. But when his father, stepmother and grandparents attempted to stage a "delayed intervention" on Wednesday, things quickly went awry, which resulted in Pierce being attacked, disowned and thrown out of his house. "You're full of shit," Pierce's stepmother can be heard saying in the video. "You told me on the phone that you made that choice. You know you wasn't born that way. You know damn good and well you made that choice. You know that [your father] has done everything he can to raise you. ... He didn't need to blame himself." "Their reaction was pretty much expected [once] I chose to leave instead of pray because they have always been very vocal about not supporting the gay lifestyle," Pierce told the Huffington Post. "My [stepmother's] reaction was the most surprising and hurtful." Sadly, Pierce's story is not unique. While Pierce has confirmed that he is now safely staying with supportive friends and family members, there are many LGBT youths in America who face even more unfortunate circumstances. A 2012 study by UCLA's Williams Institute found that around 40% of homeless youths identify as LGBT, many of them having been rejected or abused by their family members over their gender or sexual orientation.While Pierce appears to be in safe hands now, countless other LGBT youth remain in peril. Please consider supporting the Ali Forney Center or a similar organization near you.
Flower of the Day: 08/29/14
"When
you can look into the eyes of each member of your family constellation
and sincerely thank them for everything, you will be ready to forget
that you were ever born. This means that you will be ready to go beyond
your personality and beyond human consciousness, and thus anchor divine
consciousness. You will finally be able to remember your true identity,
which is beyond your story, your body and your name."
Sri Prem Baba
Far from Dharma | August 29, 2014
At this moment in human history, the
unrestrained extraction and burning of fossil fuels has brought us, in
the industrialized nations, to the point where we are contaminating and
pillaging the Earth to such an extreme that we are endangering all life
on this planet. Nothing could be further from the intention and practice
of dharma.
-Ven. Santussika Bhikkhuni, “Dharma in Action”
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Via The Bilerico Project / FB:
PREACH. Holy double standards, Batman!
Here's why we shouldn't tolerate double standards for PDAs:
http://www.bilerico.com/
How not to react when your child tells you that he's gay
Fortunately, this mentality is slowly diminishing, but this video is proof it exists -- and in too many homes, as we know 40 percent of homeless runaways are LGBT kids, and 1.6 and 2.8 million youths run away each year.
Dan Savage writes:
That was hard to listen to. Jesus. Fucking. Christ. My heart breaks for that poor, brave, tough kid. What the fuck is wrong with these people?We could have a fundraiser up and running for this poor kid by morning—if we knew who he was and where he was.
Please remember, if you are an LGBT child or teen in need of help, the National Runaway Switchboard at 1-800-RUNAWAY can help you. The Ali Forney Center has a local and national LGBT youth online resource guide.
Hat tip: Joe Jervis
Via Daily Dharma
Forget Language | August 28, 2014
If you use a trap to catch fish, once
you succeed you can forget the trap. And if you use language to find
meaning, once you find it you can forget the language.
-Bodhidharma, "The Snaggletoothed Barbarian"
Flower of the Day: 08/28/14
"Being
alive is a miracle. If you are alive, it is only through the grace of
God. If you can blink your eyes, it's through God’s grace. It is
impossible to know when you are going to pass away, which is why it is
so important to know what to do with the time you have been given.
Perhaps the best use of your time may be to even meditate on
immortality, since in the end the myth of death imprisons your mind. The
truth is that when your body no longer serves you, you need to change
bodies, but the one who inhabits the body never dies."
- Sri Prem Baba
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Via Daily Dharma
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We End Liberated | August 27, 2014
There is no permanent Hell, there is no
permanent Heaven. Therefore, the suffering that we sense during this
transition of life is not a permanent condition that we need to be
afraid of. It's not where we're going to end up. We end liberated from
the suffering either by death, or in life, by waking up to the nature of
our situation and not clinging and grasping, screaming and being angry,
resentful, irritable or insulted by our existence.
-Allen Ginsberg, "Negative Capability: Kerouac's Buddhist Ethic"
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Flower of the Day: 08/27/14
"At
some point in time, one must learn how not to identify with one’s lower
nature, specifically with the games of lust, pride and revenge to name a
few. But, in order not to get identified with these games, one must
first recognize and identify them. This is the first stage of the
awakening process. This identification or recognition is only possible
through focused self-observation."
- Sri Prem Baba
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Via JMG: Ecuador Recognizes LGBT Relationships
"The LGBT community have the constitutional right to register on their union," Correa said during his weekly report. Previously, the Ecuadoran Civil Registry did not recognize these unions because they had no legal status according to law, however Correa said that from now on this right has to be respected and if denied, the authorities will take action on the matter. However, Correa said that although he supports these unions, he don't support gay marriage, which according to him corresponds to the union between a man and a woman. But he said he is committed to guarantee the rights of all Ecuadorans. Correa, a Catholic leftist, has expressed his opposition to same-sex marriage and adoption of children by gay couples in previous occasions. The Ecuadoran Constitution grants equal rights to "cohabitation partnerships" regardless if they are civil or Catholic marriages, so the LGBT community gains more legal recognition with this legislation.Same-sex marriage and adoption by gay couples or individuals remains banned in the national constitution.
Via JMG: AP Reports On Seventh Circuit
Via the Associated Press:
Federal appeals judges bristled Tuesday at arguments defending gay marriage bans in Indiana and Wisconsin, with one Republican appointee comparing them to now-defunct laws that once outlawed weddings between blacks and whites. Judge Richard Posner, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, was dismissive when Wisconsin Assistant Attorney General Timothy Samuelson repeatedly pointed to 'tradition' as the underlying justification for barring gay marriage. "It was tradition to not allow blacks and whites to marry — a tradition that got swept away," Posner said. Prohibition of same sex marriage, he said, is "a tradition of hate ... and savage discrimination."
Posner frequently cut off Indiana Solicitor General Thomas Fischer, just moments into his presentation and chided him to answer his questions. At one point, Posner ran through a list of psychological strains of unmarried same-sex couples, including having to struggle to grasp why their schoolmates' parents were married and theirs weren't. "What horrible stuff," Posner said. What benefits to society in barring gay marriage, he asked, "outweighs that kind of damage to children?" The answer has to do with "procreation," Fisher answered. "All this is a reflection of biology," Fisher said. "Men and women make babies, same-sex couples do not... we have to have a mechanism to regulate that, and marriage is that mechanism."
The ACLU and Lambda Legal have essentially reiterated their equal protection arguments in appeals court filings, arguing that the bans deny gay couples state and federal legal protections and benefits that married straight couples enjoy. "The freedom to marry is a core aspect of personal liberty for all Americans," the ACLU said in its briefs. There was some levity during the hearing. As Samuelson struggled to offer a specific reason for how gay marriage bans benefit society, he suddenly noted a yellow courtroom light signaling his allotted time was up. "It won't save you," Williams told him, prompting laughter in court. Samuleson smiled, saying "it was worth a try."
Flower of the Day: 08/26/14
"True
service is a fragrance of the Being. It is a light that emanates from
your understanding. At a certain stage of the journey, you are able to
practice service as an intelligent austerity, which is a spiritual
practice that purifies selfishness. You choose to create some friction
in order to provoke your ‘no's’ towards love. Since it is a choice, I
call it an ‘intelligent’ austerity because it is born out of your
intelligence and comprehension. It is bitter medicine, but it works, so
you decide to try it out."
- Sri Prem Baba
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