Flower of the Day: 09/04/14

“At some point along your journey, you will need to turn within. In the beginning, you will face many challenges, just as you did when you first made the move to go out into the world. The main challenge during this phase is dealing with loneliness. This can be quite challenging. Still, just like Siddhartha Gautama got frustrated with life in the palace with all of his wealth and left everything behind, when you become frustrated enough with the world, you will find that you are already moving towards the truth.”

Sri Prem Baba

Via Quebrando o Tabu FB:

Via Daily Dharma:

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Stinking Bones | September 3, 2014

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To stop the mind and contemplate stillness is a sickness, not Chan meditation. Constant sitting restricts the body—how could it help towards discovering truth? Listen to my verse:

You can sit without lying down from the moment you're born,
But when you die, you'll lie down, never again to sit.
How could you build a solid practice
On a set of stinking bones?! 

- Master Huineng, "Direct and Gradual"

Flower of the Day: 09/03/14

“Every time you create one thing to run away from another, sooner or later what you created will have to undergo some form of transformation. If you generated wealth to flee from poverty, you might need to lose this wealth to free yourself from the fear of being poor, so that you may become truly rich. True wealth comes from trust and plenitude – not from fear. When this transformation knocks on your door, you will start being tested greatly, until you succeed in developing the virtue of trust and move towards surrender.”

Sri Prem Baba

Read the complete satsang from Jun 17, 2011 >>

Via Begin with Yes / FB:

If there was ever a time when the world needed the light of good, kind, compassionate, and loving people, it’s right this very moment. Those around you need your comforting touch, your kind smile of understanding, and your willingness to share what you have with those who have less. The world needs your compassion, your kindness and even your hope. Now is not the time to hold back. Tell the people you love that you love them and do whatever you can to make the world a little less hostile and a little kinder. It’s not just the least we can do; it’s probably all we can do. 

- Paul Boynton "Begin with Yes"

(Photo credit Tod Stevenson)

https://www.facebook.com/beginwithyes/photos/a.328446556646.154561.328440176646/10152438955071647/?type=1&theater

Via Daily Dharma

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The Urgency of Kindness | September 2, 2014

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Compassion exists only to the extent that we invest it with the energy of our own lives—'altruism gene' be damned.

 

- Curtis White, "The Science Delusion"

 

Flower of the Day: 09/02/14

“You can try to understand love through theories, and you can even create your own theories about it. But you will only know what love is by loving, by allowing yourself to experience love. If you try to use your mind to understand love on an intellectual level, you may even acquire some knowledge, but it will be nothing more than a bunch of thoughts. Knowledge serves to place you on the path, but at some point you need to give up knowledge in order to create space to experience love. The goal of knowledge is to serve as a bridge to wisdom; when it is not serving this goal, it starts to poison you.”

- Sri Prem Baba

Flower of the Day: 09/01/14

“As you progress in the process of purifying and transforming the lower self, you naturally begin to transcend the idea of ‘me’. Transcending means being above or going beyond: it is when you start to identify with the spiritual self. But you won’t be able to do this if you are still trying to avoid dealing with your lower self.”

- Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

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Shine Through | September 1, 2014

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At all times, in all places, be it desires, senses, gain, loss, right, wrong, visions of Buddha or of dharma, in all things shine through with your whole body. 

 

-Hakuin, “My Bad”

 

Via Trust Your Journey / FB:

Via Daily Dharma

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Always Free | August 31, 2014

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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”

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

Via Daily Dharma

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Dharmic Darwinism | August 30, 2014

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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

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/

Via JMG: Religion Maps

Via Pew Research:

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.

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.

More maps are at the link.

Labels: maps, Pew Research, religion

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Donations Pour In For Daniel Pierce

Early yesterday morning I posted the video of 20 year-old Georgia resident Daniel Pierce, who recorded his family as they verbally and physically abused him for being gay. Since then the clip has gone wildly viral with over 2 million views. The story has been picked up by the national press, fueling donations that stand at over $52K at this writing.

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.

 

Labels: Ali Forney Center, coming out, LGBT youth

Reposted From Joe Jervis

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

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Far from Dharma | August 29, 2014

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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”