Flower of the Day: 11/04/14

“Selfless service is an action that purifies selfishness. Usually all of our actions are full of self-interest: we want to be important, we want to be recognized and receive attention, but this is not service. What we can call service is selfless action performed without any expectation of the fruits of our labor. It is a pure act, a sincere giving that is done in silence and with discretion. It is an act made out of kindness and sweetness. It’s a tool used in the process of personal transformation and at the same time is a way to help awaken love.”

Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

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Dharma on No Dollars a Day | November 4, 2014

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Take that which comes without a price tag and cherish it as a holy text.

- Walker Douglas, "Dharma on No Dollars a Day"

Via JMG: RUSSIA: Steve Jobs Memorial Torn Down Because Apple CEO Tim Cook Came Out

 

Via Business Insider:

Residents of Saint Petersburg have reportedly torn down a giant interactive iPhone memorial that commemorated the death of Apple founder Steve Jobs after the company's current CEO, Tim Cook, came out as gay on Thursday. Business FM Radio reports that the company that originally funded the memorial, ZEFS, decided to tear it down after Cook said he was proud to be gay. The six-foot tall memorial was erected in 2013 to celebrate Steve Jobs' life. It featured a large screen that showcased moments from Jobs' life, as well as scrolling quotations from his speeches and a QR code on the back that would take people who scanned it to a website.

The chairman of the company that installed the memorial said that it might return with a message that instructs Russians not to buy Apple products. (Tipped by JMG reader Alan)

Labels: Apple, bigotry, business, coming out, religion, Russia, St. Petersburg, Steve Jobs, Tim Cook

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: INDIA: Bollywood Star Might Face Charges For Promoting Homosexuality

Last month Bollywood actor and LGBT ally Aamir Khan hosted a nationally televised forum which examined the plights of gays and transgender people in a nation which recently saw homosexuality recriminalized. The show went viral on YouTube, where it was posted both in Hindi and with English subtitles. And here come the haters:

A court in Chandigarh issued a legal notice to Bollywood actor Aamir Khan, seeking his response by 19 December on a petition alleging that he promoted homosexuality on his popular TV show 'Satyamev Jayate'. Admitting the petition by advocate Mandeep Kaur, the court of civil judge Jaswinder Singh had on Friday issued a notice to Aamir Khan to file his reply by 19 December. In her petition, Kaur alleged that Aamir Khan's conduct on his show 'Satyamev Jayate' was a violation of the Supreme Court order on homosexuality, upholding Section 377 which criminalises homosexual acts. Through the petition, she sought the court's intervention to declare Khan's act a contempt of court.

Kaur has demanded a public apology from Khan but says she has gotten no response.

Labels: Aamir Khan, India, LGBT rights, Section 377

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: AUSTRIA: Conchita Wurst Meets UN Head Ban Ki-Moon During Talks On LGBT Rights

 

Via the Associated Press:

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has joined Austrian cross-dressing pop star Conchita Wurst in calling for an end to bias based on a person's sexual orientation. Wurst teamed up with Ban on Monday on the sidelines of a U.N. conference to deliver their message of tolerance. Ban told reporters that he will continue his fight "against transphobia and homophobia." "I stand strong for equality," Ban said. "We are unstoppable," he added, quoting Wurst's words on the night of her victory at this year's Eurovision song contest.

More from Yahoo News:

The entertainer, sporting a demure dress and black high heels along with the trademark beard, shook hands and joked with Ban and sang for hundreds of cheering officials and diplomats at the United Nations complex in Vienna. "This year I extended benefits to same-sex partners of U.N. staff members... Discrimination has no place in the United Nations," Ban said to applause from officials, dozens of whom crowded round to get a picture with or autograph from Wurst. "When I heard that she won this Eurovision song contest I immediately knew that she was a star of the world," Ban said.

Labels: Austria, Ban Ki-Moon, Conchita Wurst, drag, Eurovision, gay artists, LGBT rights, pop music, United Nations, Vienna

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Daily Dharma

How to Regard All People | November 3, 2014 The myriad dharmas, absolutely everything, are within the nature of all people. If you can regard all people, the bad as well as the good, without grasping or rejecting, free of any clinging, your mind will be like empty space. Thus, it can be called 'great,' maha.    - Huineng, “Prajna”

Flower of the Day: 11/03/14

“What sustains the ego is the idea of ‘me’ and ‘mine.’ This is the root of the dream state. Being identified with the ego, we begin to slip into dreaming. Regardless of whether the nature of the dream is good or bad, dreaming itself ultimately leads to suffering. But if dreaming brings suffering, why don’t we wake up? Why don’t we open our eyes and break with this identification? When we are having a nightmare, even if a part of us wants to wake up, oftentimes we’re unable to do so because a part of us is enchanted with this dream. On some level, we are energetically involved with this story, with our vital energy entangled with the dream.”

Sri Prem Baba

Want to see what progress looks like? Take a look:

Post by Democratic Party.

Flower of the Day: 11/02/14

“Each of us walks the path designated for our soul. This program cannot be changed by the mind. This is why I say that life is a mystery to be unveiled by the heart. Only the heart knows this program. Follow your heart – it knows the way.”

Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

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The Rest is Clear | November 2, 2014

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This is just your life. So you do your part, and the rest is clear. It is clear because there has never been anything lacking, despite any beliefs you might have, despite any ideas you might have. There has never been anything lacking. 

 

- Elihu Genmyo Smith, "Do Your Best" 

 

UN rights office calls on Singapore's legislature to respond to court's decision, repeal anti-gay sex law

 

Using a 150 year old criminal law to prosecute individuals for engaging in consensual same sex conduct violates a host of human rights guaranteed by international law,' says the UN human rights office..He noted that as some political leaders in Singapore have publicly advocated for tolerance and inclusion, the UN hopes Singapore’s legislature will now respond to the Court's decision by repealing section 377A of the Penal Code and enacting comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation that includes discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. 

http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/un-rights-office-calls-singapores-legislature-respond-courts-decision-repeal-anti-gay-sex-la

Via JMG: HRC Reacts To Sen. Ted Cruz

"It's curious that virtually everything that comes out of Senator Cruz's mouth is either an insult or a put-down. Today, it was Tim Cook, LGBT Americans and three of the GOP's most revered leaders. Positivity training should be on his to-do list. Lighten up, Ted. Coming out is the most courageous and important thing that an LGBT person will do in their lifetime. Tim Cook showed great courage and leadership in doing so. He no doubt will save lives by inspiring those struggling with their sexual orientation or gender identity. All we get from Senator Cruz is either backhanded compliments or his backhand." - Fred Sainz, vice present of the Human Rights Campaign, via press release.

Labels: activism, Apple, business, coming out, GOP, HRC, LGBT rights, Tea Party, teabaggers, Ted Cruz, Tim Cook

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Lovely New Ad From Freedom To Marry

Ellen Goes Straight For Halloween

Via JMG: LGBT Business Group Lauds Tim Cook

Via press release from Out Leadership:

Out Leadership, a strategic advisory firm dedicated to cultivating LGBT and ally senior leaders to create global business opportunity and drive equality forward, congratulates Apple CEO Tim Cook on the occasion of his coming out publicly.

“While Tim Cook chose to publicly identify himself as gay for the first time yesterday, he and Apple have long been allies to the LGBT community,” said Todd Sears, Out Leadership’s Founder. “We particularly applaud his choice to use this moment to underline the business case for diversity and the value of out leaders in the boardroom.”

“Though Cook may not consider himself an activist, the fact that the leader of the world’s most valuable company is proud to be gay will no doubt reverberate globally,” Sears continued. “Apple is admired and emulated worldwide, including in many places that have historically been unwelcoming to LGBT people and professionals. Today it’s going to be a bit harder to both love your iPhone and be a homophobe.”

The above-linked press release includes quotes from the CEOs of Deutsche Bank, HSBC, and Goldman Sachs.

Labels: Apple, business, coming out, Tim Cook

posted by Joe Jervis

Flower of the Day: 11/01/14

"The meetings and farewells of life are forms that love uses to purify us from the distortions and projections that cloud our perception of love itself. Such projections make us feel like a victim, and a victim is always laden with expectations, whims, points of view and demands. As long as we are still undergoing purification, true gratitude cannot manifest, since we project these distortions onto the Divine itself. These projections are what turn our relationship with God into a negotiation, a bargaining. The healing work love is performing is constantly squeezing us until the only thing left is our very essence.”

Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

A Positive Attitude | November 1, 2014 Just as a flash of lightening on a dark, cloudy night, For an instant, brightly illuminates all; So, in this world, through the might of the Buddhas, A positive attitude rarely and briefly appears. -Shantideva, “But for a Moment”

Flower of the Day: 10/31/14

 “There is a sacred aspect to our individual wounds. It is a messenger, a teacher that has come to give us the most delicate of lessons: forgiveness. There are messengers that are received with joy, because they are delivered in the form of happy situations and blessed encounters involving prosperity and achievement. But other messengers come in the form of sadness and challenging situations such as loss, illness, and failures. In these circumstances, our tendency is to close ourselves up to the message. However, certain karmas only get dissolved through difficult situations. Some of these circumstances are even predetermined before birth. They are like sacred agreements made with the objective of preventing the human entity from falling asleep, thus losing the opportunity to learn in this life.”

 

Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

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Fearlessness | October 31, 2014

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The fearlessness of the great spiritual teachers like Moses, Jesus, Saint Theresa, Buddha, and Bodhidharma was the fearlessness of the spiritual warrior. Different from stoicism, naïveté, or arrogance, this fearlessness is selfless, generous, and compassionate. Fearlessness is not a matter of ignoring fear, but of really acknowledging it and being empowered by it. 

 

- John Daido Loori Roshi, "Between Two Mountains"