Sunday, November 23, 2014
Flower of the Day: 11/23/14
“The
unveiling of love is a phenomenon that occurs on the level of the soul.
It is the revelation of the Being. This unveiling of love is only
possible when we remove the layers that cover up our hearts. Along the
journey, we became attached to these layers, and life’s challenges are
here to help us break with these attachments. As we continue revealing
ourselves, we find that these resistances are made of attachments to
what is transitory: our ideas and beliefs. These are tests that love
uses to examine our faith and commitment to the truth. Only when this
commitment is truly firm can we reach the sacred dwelling place.”
Sri Prem Baba
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Flower of the Day: 11/22/14
“I
see this planet as a school of love. When I see a cup of water filled
halfway, I see a cup half full – never half empty. I recognize the
difficulties of this planet, but my focus remains on the possibility of
the human being’s evolution. I have an unbreakable faith in love,
because it is the universal solvent for all evil. Through love, we are
able to liberate ourselves from all the difficulties that have been
placed in our paths. In this way, we enter the frequency that allows us
to see this planet from the perspective of light.”
Sri Prem Baba
Via Daily Dharma
May I Be Worthy | November 22, 2014
May I be worthy of this meal, I whispered.
The afternoon light was coming through the window.
The universe did a little waltz.
ONE two three. ONE two three.
I let go.
- Bobby Byrd, "Kensho Down on Texas Avenue, El Paso, Texas"
The afternoon light was coming through the window.
The universe did a little waltz.
ONE two three. ONE two three.
I let go.
- Bobby Byrd, "Kensho Down on Texas Avenue, El Paso, Texas"
Friday, November 21, 2014
Flower of the Day: 11/21/14
“Everyone
wants to live with joy and satisfaction, peace, prosperity and love.
And yet, we have not been taught how to do so. When you place your gifts
and talents in motion, you put yourself in the universal current of
prosperity, so love and peace pass through you to reach the other. Every
human being has their own unique gifts and talents to share with the
world, but it is important to comprehend that these talents should be
put at service of the greater good. This higher purpose is to create the
conditions for human beings to experience unity. Peace, prosperity and
joy are fragrances of this experience, which is synonymous with selfless
love.”
Sri Prem Baba
Via Daily Dharma
No Goal | November 21, 2014
Just as a clay Buddha cannot go through water and a wood Buddha
cannot go through fire, a goal-oriented healing practice cannot permeate
deeply enough. We must penetrate our pain so thoroughly that illness
and health lose their distinction, allowing us just to live our lives.
- Darlene Cohen, "The Practice of Nonpreference"
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Via JMG: Montana Joins The Sapphire States
Big Sky Country has already turned our favorite shade of blue, thanks to
our sort of in-house Wikipedia marriage map monitor. Now we wait for
the usual GOP flailing. Is this state #34 or can we not yet fully count
Kansas?
Reposted from Joe Jervis
JMG Tweet Of The Day - Ellen DeGeneres
Flower of the Day: 11/20/14
“If
you have already given five minutes of your day to silence, then maybe
it is time to give ten minutes. At the end of each silent period before
you open your eyes, affirm to yourself, I am divine light.
Observe what you feel when you make this affirmation – do you truly
recognize yourself as an embodiment of divine light, or is there still
some resistance to affirming this truth? Then, open your eyes, stand up
and continue with your journey.”
Sri Prem Baba
Via Daily Dharma
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The Role of Faith | November 20, 2014
As a factor of the Buddhist path, faith (saddha) does not mean blind belief but a willingness to accept
on trust certain propositions that we cannot, at our present stage of development, personally verify for ourselves.
- Bhikkhu Bodhi, "The Role of Faith" |
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Via JMG: Former "Ex-Gay" Leader Marries Man
Smid has been living as an out gay man for several years now, and he's been in a relationship with [Larry] McQueen for one year. Gay marriage just became legal in Oklahoma last month. The couple live in Paris, Texas, where Smid moved from his Memphis home in the summer of 2013. Smid's journey from ex-gay leader to happily out gay man has been a long one. He was promoted to the role of executive director of Love in Action in September 1990, and in 1994, the organization moved its ministry to Memphis. Love in Action operated here quietly until 2005, when protests over a youth "straight" camp called Refuge sparked a national media firestorm. Smid met McQueen three years ago, but they were just "acquaintances with common friends," wrote Smid in his Facebook announcement of their marriage Sunday. "I gradually got to know him over time until we reached a place in our lives that we saw we wanted to get to know one another through a dating relationship. As we dated we shared our vision for life, our personal philosophies, and our faith values. We found a compatibility that was comfortable and exciting," Smid said.In August of this year Smid and eight other former "ex-gay" leaders issued a joint letter denouncing "reparative" torture. Love In Action now operates as Restoration Path. (Tipped by JMG reader Lynda)
Labels: brainwashing, ex-gay, gay weddings, John Smid, LGBT youth, Love In Action, Oklahoma, religion, torture
Via JMG: South Carolina Earns Stripes Of Progress
Yesterday the Fourth Circuit Court refused South Carolina Attorney
General Alan Wilson's demand to continue the stay on same-sex marriages
during his appeal. Almost simultaneously, a separate federal court ruled
that South Carolina must recognize
out-of-state marriages, prompting Wikipedia's marriage map monitor to
apply the above blue stripes of progress. Late last night Wilson took
his stay extension demand to SCOTUS. Barring action from that court,
marriages will commence at noon tomorrow.
Labels: Alan Wilson, Fourth Circuit Court, lawsuits, LGBT rights, marriage equality, SCOTUS, South Carolina, Wikipedia
Via JMG: Procter & Gamble Endorses Gay Marriage
P&G executives say they want to attract top talent from all backgrounds and part of that strategy is providing a welcoming work environment. "We have always supported our employees and fostered a culture of inclusion and respect – this includes the right to marry whomever they choose and to have that union legally recognized," said Deborah P. Majoras, P&G's chief legal officer and executive sponsor to GABLE – the company's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender-allied employee group.That boycott list just got a few hundred brands longer.
One of the world's largest and most valuable companies, P&G's public stance won't go unnoticed in corporate America. Still, the company says it continues to focus on making consumer products from Pampers diapers, Tide detergent and Head & Shoulders shampoo. "At the heart of it all, P&G is a company heavily dependent on innovation – what's critical are new insights and new ideas," said William Gipson, P&G's chief global diversity officer. "For our company, it's not a political statement, but a statement of support for our employees."
Flower of the Day: 11/19/14
“If
you are able to cultivate five minutes of silence in your day, you will
have won a great victory over the material world. Matter, which
includes your body and mind, has to be at service of the spirit. All of
the misery that we see and experience in the world comes from spirit
serving matter instead. The mind has become the ruler of the house, when
really it's only a vehicle, a place of pilgrimage. The higher self can
pass through the mind, but so can the lower self, which manifests
through the form of destructive thoughts, causing you to believe that
you are isolated and inferior or superior to others. These voices act
through your mind creating dark clouds that prevent you from seeing the
wind that dances in the leaves. They inhibit you from understanding that
all is one. We are connected by an invisible thread that unites
everything and everyone.”
Sri Prem Baba
Via Dialy Dharma
Foundation, Practice, Fulfillment | November 19, 2014
Starting with this most simple of expressions—When this is, that
is—[Thich Nhat Hanh] explicated dependent origination as a vision of
radical interdependence, or what he called “interbeing,” in which all
beings support and are in turn supported by all other beings. This
elaboration . . . encompassed the foundation, the practice, and the
fulfillment of spiritual life.
- Andrew Cooper, "The Debacle"
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Flower of the Day: 11/18/14
“Cultivating
silence for just five minutes a day is enough. Divide these five
minutes into periods of one minute each to be practiced before your main
activities of the day. When the mind is going in all directions, simply
withdraw for one minute and make yourself completely present. Let go of
all your worries, expectations, desires, and thoughts. Feel yourself
occupying your body and focus on the emptiness between your thoughts.
You can prepare the field for this minute of silence through soft, deep
breaths through the nostrils. This is a magical one minute because your
mind may be wherever it is, but in this moment it returns to presence.”
Sri Prem Baba
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