A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Via JMG: NPH Has A New Book
From the Amazon description of Neil Patrick Harris' new book:
Sick of deeply personal accounts written in the first person? Seeking an exciting, interactive read that puts the “u” back in “aUtobiography”? Then look no further than Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography! In this revolutionary, Joycean experiment in light celebrity narrative, actor/personality/carbon-based-life-form Neil Patrick Harris lets you, the reader, live his life. You will be born to New Mexico. You will get your big break at an acting camp. You will get into a bizarre confrontation outside a nightclub with actor Scott Caan. Even better, at each critical juncture of your life you will choose how to proceed. You will decide whether to try out for Doogie Howser, M.D. You will decide whether to spend years struggling with your sexuality. You will decide what kind of caviar you want to eat on board Elton John’s yacht. Choose correctly and you’ll find fame, fortune, and true love. Choose incorrectly and you’ll find misery, heartbreak, and a hideous death by piranhas. All this, plus magic tricks, cocktail recipes, embarrassing pictures from your time as a child actor, and even a closing song. Yes, if you buy one book this year, congratulations on being above the American average, and make that book Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography!
Friday, September 5, 2014
Na véspera da Parada, Igreja Católica lança nota em apoio à comunidade gay
1 de maio de 2014 às 11:13
"Não podemos nos calar diante da realidade vivenciada por esta população, que é alvo do preconceito e vítima da violação sistemática de seus direitos fundamentais, tais como a saúde, a educação, o trabalho, a moradia, a cultura, entre outros", afirma, em nota, a entidade da Igreja Católica.
A comissão diz também que LGBTs "enfrentam diariamente insuportável violência verbal e física, culminando em assassinatos, que são verdadeiros crimes de ódio".
A entidade convida "pessoas de boa vontade e, em particular todos os cristãos, a refletirem sobre essa realidade profundamente injusta das pessoas LGBT e a se empenharem ativamente na sua superação, guiados pelo supremo princípio da dignidade humana".
Ainda de acordo com a nota, o posicionamento da entidade, "fiel à sua missão de anunciar e defender os valores evangélicos e civilizatórios dos direitos humanos, fundamenta-se na Constituição Pastoral Gaudium et Spes, aprovada no Concílio Vaticano II: "As alegrias e esperanças, as tristezas e angústias dos homens de hoje, sobretudo dos pobres e de todos aqueles que sofrem, são também as alegrais e as esperanças, as tristezas e as angústias dos discípulos de Cristo", diz o documento.
O diretor da Comissão Justiça e Paz da arquidiocese, Geraldo Magela Tardelli, afirmou que esta é a primeira vez que a comissão escreve "formalmente" a favor dos homossexuais. "A comissão tem uma missão, segundo D. Paulo Evaristo Ars: 'temos que dar voz aqueles que não tem voz'. Neste momento, o que estamos percebendo é que há um crescimento de violência contra homossexuais, então a gente não pode se omitir em relação a essa violação dos direitos humanos", afirmou o diretor.
Segundo ele, a realização da Parada Gay determinou a divulgação da nota. "Nós achamos que esse era o momento correto de colocar essa nota em circulação. Nós da Igreja estamos engajados na defesa dos direitos humanos e não compactuamos com nenhuma violação, independentemente da cor e da orientação sexual das pessoas", disse Tardelli.
http://www.superpride.com.br/2014/05/na-vespera-da-parada-igreja-catolica-lanca-nota-em-apoio-a-comunidade-gay.html
Via Daily Dharma
Links of a Chain | September 5, 2014
When we are young, we should look at
and reflect on old people. This is karma, isn’t it? I tried to explain
this to the Westerners, that if you discard people, you will also be
discarded. When we are old, we should think about young people. When we
see old people, we should think about young people. They are connected,
like links of a chain.
- Ajahn Chah, "The Gift of Gratitude"
Flower of the Day: 09/05/14
“The
human race is undergoing a profound change. It is often difficult to
know what is personal and what is collective, especially since
separation is only an illusion. Some people are already able to see the
changes without getting identified with them, since they have already
given up control. Suffering is generated by control, which is an
instrument of fear. Fear comes from a lack of faith in existence.”
Sri Prem Baba
Thursday, September 4, 2014
JMG Quote Of The Day - Carl Siciliano
"I feel like the LGBT movement has been asleep at the wheel when it comes to this. We've been so focused on laws – changing the laws around marriage equality, changing 'don't ask, don't tell,' getting adoption rights – that we haven't been fighting for economic resources. How many tax dollars do gay people contribute? What percentage of tax dollars comes back to our gay kids? We haven't matured enough as a movement yet that we're looking at the economics of things. There is a psychological reality that when you're an oppressed group whose very existence is under attack, you need to create this narrative about how great it is to be what you are. It's like, 'Leave the repression and the fear behind and be embraced by this accepting community, and suddenly everyone is beautiful and has good bodies and great sex and beautiful furniture, and rah-rah-rah.' And, from day one of the Stonewall Riots, homeless kids were not what people wanted to see. No one wanted to see young people coming out and being cast into destitution. It didn't fit the narrative." - Ali Forney Center founder Carl Siciliano, in a Rolling Stone article on the epidemic of homeless LGBT youth.
Via Jean Wyllys ; FBÇ
Jean Wyllys's photo.
A partir de hoje, o PSOL 50 - Partido Socialismo e Liberdade começa a divulgar o programa de governo de Luciana Genro, candidata à presidência da República. O programa foi construído coletivamente a partir das diretrizes programáticas lançadas no dia do anúncio da candidatura da Luciana, e será divulgado por eixos.
A Luciana pediu
especialmente que o primeiro eixo a ser divulgado fosse o capítulo sobre
cidadania e direitos da população LGBT. Esse eixo é apenas um dos
vários aspectos, em diferentes temáticas, que estão presentes no plano
de governo da Luciana e que vão ser divulgados por ela ao longo dos
próximos dias; o fato de eu estar divulgando esteja divulgando este eixo
não significa eu me importe apenas com esse aspecto dos programas de
governo dos candidatos e das candidatas à presidência..
Eu tenho muito orgulho de ter participado da elaboração desse texto e poder dizer a todos e todas vocês, com absoluta certeza, que o programa de governo da Luciana é o que melhor responde às demandas e necessidades de lésbicas, gays, bissexuais e trans e o que melhor entende a importância da luta contra todas as formas de preconceito, contra o fundamentalismo e pelo estado laico e a igualdade de direitos.
Para Luciana, os direitos humanos não se negociam!
Não deixem de ler o texto completo aqui: http://lucianagenro.com.br/programa/lgbt/
#LucianaPresidenta50
#JeanWyllys5005
Eu tenho muito orgulho de ter participado da elaboração desse texto e poder dizer a todos e todas vocês, com absoluta certeza, que o programa de governo da Luciana é o que melhor responde às demandas e necessidades de lésbicas, gays, bissexuais e trans e o que melhor entende a importância da luta contra todas as formas de preconceito, contra o fundamentalismo e pelo estado laico e a igualdade de direitos.
Para Luciana, os direitos humanos não se negociam!
Não deixem de ler o texto completo aqui: http://lucianagenro.com.br/programa/lgbt/
#LucianaPresidenta50
#JeanWyllys5005
Via Daily Dharma
Present to Rage | September 4, 2014
Meditation is recommended here not as a
way to eradicate our rage but as a way to become fully present to its
energies. When you become uncomfortable or frightened, remember that
difficult emotions are your most profound teachers. The more we can
witness our experiences without judgment, the less suffering we will
experience in our lives.
- Ruth King, "Soothing the Hot Coals of Rage"
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
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Via Daily Dharma:
Stinking Bones | September 3, 2014
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?!
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
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
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)Via Daily Dharma
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
Monday, September 1, 2014
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)