Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día- Flower of the day 12/03/2015

“O desejar é um poço sem fundo. Ele absorve tudo e nada satisfaz. É como um buraco que drena toda a energia que se aproxima de você, o que faz com que poucas pessoas queiram ficar perto. Porque ao ser tomado pelo desejar compulsivo, você se torna um mendigo, um ladrão de energia, que sem querer (sem ter consciência disso) rouba a energia do outro. Mesmo sem ter consciência, você se torna um especialista nisso, e descobre que a melhor maneira de roubar energia do outro é fazendo com que ele se sinta inferior e inseguro."

“El desear es un pozo sin fondo. Él absorbe todo y nada satisface. Es como un agujero que drena toda la energía que se aproxima a ti, lo que hace que pocas personas quieran estar cerca. Porque al ser tomado por el desear compulsivo, te tornas un mendigo, un ladrón de energía, que sin querer (sin tener consciencia de eso) roba energía del otro. Mismo sin tener consciencia, te vuelves un especialista en eso, y descubres que la mejor manera de robar energía del otro es haciendo que él se sienta inferior e inseguro.”

“Desire is a bottomless pit. It absorbs everything, and nothing satisfies it. It’s like a hole that drains all the energy that comes near us, which makes most people want to stay away from us. When we are consumed by compulsive desire, we become a beggar; an energy thief. Without trying to, we unconsciously rob the other’s energy. Even without knowing it, we become an expert in this area. We discover that the best way to rob the other’s energy is to make them feel inferior and insecure.”

Via Daily Dharma

What We Learn When We Beg | March 12, 2015 Although we hold the bowl open for an offering, the practice of takuhatsu [collecting alms] does not teach us to be dependent upon society, asking for something that is not earned, or pressuring a community for an entitlement to food or goods. Rather, it teaches us the fundamental lessons of the Buddha: to be dependent on everyone, to live our original homelessness, to include the homeless in thought and deed, to share everything, to accept what comes to us, to be generous, to be humble in society, to recognize the timid, to resist fame, to be modest, to resist the acquisition of goods, to throw off ego, to have the courage to be fully visible in practice. - Eido Frances Carney, "Zen and the Art of Begging" Read More →

Via John Pavlovitz: Sorry To Rainbow On Your Parade (A Pastor Sets The Record “Straight” On The Gay Agenda)

 

Brace yourselves and gird your loins, true believers; I have some earth-shattering news.

 

I’ve long heard rumors of the homosexual community’s insidious master plan to contaminate and corrupt our sweet straight setup here, and one way or another, I decided I’d get to the bottom of it, once and for all.

As you may or may not know, I’ve been a pastor in the local church for the past 18 years; listening, counseling, observing. I’ve served at house churches and mega churches; at ones with pipe organs and ones with Marshall stacks; ones with wooden pews and ones with free WiFi. This vast and lengthy resume has given me unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to the hidden lives of tens of thousands of unsuspecting families. During that time, I’ve done some covert reconnaissance on our behalf, and the raw, naked truth I’ve uncovered? Well, it’s a game-changer, to say the least.

My friends, sadly I’m afraid that the horror stories you’ve heard on the radio shows, and in the blogs, and in the Sunday sermons are all-too true: The Gay Agenda is very, very real.

I feel a responsibility to expose this grave reality now; not to frighten you, (though it certainly will), but to help arm you with the best plan of attack in the face of it. This list is by no means exhaustive, mind you, but it will give you a good working understanding of the imminent, horrible menace threatening our cozy heterosexual existence; even as you read these very words.

As much as I’ve been able to ascertain based on my research, the Gay Agenda is this:

Agenda Number 1: Gay people want to work. They seem to enjoy careers; searching to discover them, studying to prepare for them, honing their craft to develop them, using their gifts and talents to nurture and expand them. In related matters, as unbelievable as it seems, they also apparently appear to get personal satisfaction from being employed, from working hard, from supporting their families financially, and from contributing to the global economy.

Agenda Number 2: Gay people want to buy stuff. Taking part in said global economy, they have a love for commerce and material goods that appears quite similar to our own. They like to purchase things; things like cars, and lawnmowers, and patio furniture, and Mac products, and even homes; and then they enjoy going out to shop for stuff to put in those homes. They do so, both in person and online. Gay people currently use all the same stores we straight people do (though they rarely admit to shopping at Wal-Mart, either).

Agenda Number 3: Gay people want to eat. They seem to enjoy shopping for, preparing, and consuming food of all varieties; gay and otherwise. While they sometimes conveniently and mercifully do this in the privacy of their own homes, they will at times, venture out to local public eating establishments where they can order and pay for food that someone else made. They seem to be quite fine with straight people doing this. Currently, there aren’t a lot of “gay restaurants”, though people have speculated about Hooters for years. (Overcompensating, much?).

Agenda Number 4: Gay people want to go to church and worship God. Well, some of them, anyway. Contrary to popular belief, just like us straight folk; many of them would also prefer to stay home all Sunday morning in their underwear; eating cold pizza and watching football pre game shows. Others though, believe in God, and as a result, feel compelled to attend local area houses of worship. While there, they brazenly insist on doing all the “straight” stuff: praying, singing, tithing, reflecting, playing Bejewled 3 during the longer sermons. They apparently somehow feel as though worshiping God is a queer community option.

Agenda Number 5: Gay people want families. They don’t just want families, (as frightening as that in itself, is), they actually have them; siblings, parents, children, cousins, weird uncles who smell like Cheetos and tell the same story every holiday, about the time they thought they saw Bill Murray at the dog show. (It wasn’t incidentally, it was just an oversized labradoodle that resembled Murray). They insist on doing lots of “straight family” things, like going on vacations, to high school basketball games, to movies, to the park, to non-Bill Murray-attending dog shows. They invite other families over to grill food, play in their backyards, sit on the front porch, and watch UFC (Well, that one’s a little dicey anyway, I’ll admit; what with the “grappling” and all).

Agenda Number 6: Gay people want to create. Apparently queer folks have Muses too. They write songs, (even non-show tunes, songs), they paint and draw, they design bridges and buildings, and write novels, and scrapbook, and microbrew beer. They try to bake bread, and try to cure cancer, and try to get the hallway pictures to hang straight (As-if). They do all sorts of stuff that heterosexual people do with their hands, minds, hearts, and voices, as they are inspired to; and they seem to believe that somehow all this “gay creativity” actually enriches the world. The gall.

Agenda Number 7: Gay people want to feel, fully. Shockingly, they “claim” to crave the same human interaction that we do, which hardly seems probable. They aspire to tell stories, to tell jokes, (to laugh at the good ones), to remember, and dream, and show affection, and fall in love, and break-up, and grieve a loved one’s passing, and share life-giving conversation with a friend over coffee. They dare to visit sick people in the hospital, and reconnect with a childhood BFF on Facebook, and get really pissed at that guy who cuts into their lane at the last second, even though he totally saw everybody merging over, three miles ago. They would argue at having the full complement of human emotions—not only lust.

So, there you have it brothers and sisters: Working, buying stuff, eating, worshiping God, not worshiping God, having families, creating, feeling. That’s the encroaching evil we’re up against here.

If I had more time, I’d go into gory detail about some other key, vile, dangerous components of the Gay Agenda: to vote, pay taxes, take their kids to the dentist, binge watch The Walking Dead, hold grudges, forgive, have health insurance, get haircuts, regret haircuts, fart and blame someone else, sing Karaoke, volunteer, throw-up on roller coasters, shop at Trader Joes, have weddings, go to weddings, avoid weddings, and watch Frozen with their toddler… again, gladly.
For now though, at the very least I’ve hopefully given you enough to know the devious, crafty, conniving enemy, and what they’re up to.

In the face of the clear horror I’ve detailed for you here, you can now pray, and reflect on, and discuss together, your next move to adequately fight the Code Level Red threat of the Gay Agenda.

To quote the old Saturday morning sages: “The more you know…”

Be strong and courageous, true believer.



Make th Jump here to read the full story

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia - Flor del Dìa - Flower of the day 11/03/201

“Todo o ser humano sem exceção traz consigo dons e talentos que são a forma particular como o amor se expressa através de cada um. Embora na essência sejamos um, essa essência se manifesta de maneira única em cada um de nós. É como a sua marca digital - só você faz desse jeito. E quando dá passagem esse jeito específico, você sente um encaixe, um contentamento. Você sente satisfação em acordar de manhã porque sabe a razão de estar acordando.”

“Todo ser humano sin excepción trae consigo dones y talentos que son la forma particular como el amor se expresa a través de cada uno. Aunque en la esencia seamos uno, esa esencia se manifiesta de manera única en cada uno de nosotros. Es como tu huella digital – solo tú lo haces de esa manera. Y cuando le das paso a esa forma específica, sientes un encaje, un contentamiento. Sientes satisfacción al despertar por la mañana porque sabes la razón de estar despertando.”

“All human beings, without exception, have gifts and talents that are the special ways love expresses itself through them. While in essence we are all one, this essence manifests itself in a unique way in each one of us. It is like your fingerprint. You’re the only one who does something in a particular way. When you allow this special way to come through you, everything fits together and you feel satisfaction. You feel content when you wake up in the morning because you know why you are getting up.”

Via Daily Dharma

The Truth about Religion | March 11, 2015 Our world is dangerously polarized at a time when humanity is more closely interconnected—politically, economically, and electronically—than ever before. If we are to meet the challenge of our time and create a global society where all people can live together in peace and mutual respect, we need to assess our situation accurately. We cannot afford oversimplified assumptions about the nature of religion or its role in the world. - Karen Armstrong, "The Myth of Religious Violence" Read More →

Owning Our Faith

JMG REPORT: ISIS Beheads Gay Men In Iraq

Via News 24:

ISIS has publicly beheaded three men in northern Iraq, two of them for allegedly engaging in homosexual acts, according to photos shared by sympathisers on social media on Tuesday. The jihadist group, which controls swathes of Iraq and neighbouring Syria, has carried out hundreds of executions as it has imposed its brutal version of Islamic law, many of them photographed or videotaped. The latest images did not show the claimed beheadings and their authenticity could not be independently verified. A series of photographs shows the blindfolded men kneeling in the centre of what appears to be a traffic circle with a crowd of people looking on as a masked, black-clad executioner stands by with a long, rusty blade. Accompanying captions said the trio were then executed, the third of them for alleged blasphemy.

Some reports say all three young men were accused of homosexuality, adding that two of them may have been a couple. However ISIS is known to accuse its enemies of being gay in order to "justify" their executions.

Labels: Iraq, ISIS, Islamists, terrorism

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día- Flower of the day 10/03/2015

“A mente é um veículo que precisa ser bem conduzido. Se um veículo não é bem conduzido, inevitavelmente haverá acidentes. E o principal acidente de uma mente mal conduzida são as repetições negativas. Durante algum tempo, você segue acreditando que a vida pode ser diferente, mas quando menos espera, o drama se repete. Então, aos poucos você se torna uma pessoa sem esperança.”

“La mente es un vehículo que necesita ser bien conducido. Si un vehículo no es bien conducido, inevitablemente habrá accidentes. Y el principal accidente de una mente mal conducida son las repeticiones negativas. Durante algún tiempo, sigues creyendo que la vida puede ser diferente, pero cuando menos lo esperas el drama se repite. Entonces, de a poco, te vuelves una persona sin esperanza.”

“The mind is a vehicle that needs to be driven well. If we do not drive a car properly, we will unavoidably have accidents. The main accident resulting from a poorly driven mind is negative repetitions in our lives. For a while, we continue to believe that life can be different, but when we least expect it, the drama repeats itself. Then, little by little, we begin to lose hope.”

Via Daily Dharma

Profound and Subtle | March 10, 2015 Shakyamuni Buddha taught that all suffering can be overcome by understanding its true nature. This is a profound and subtle process. It can take a while. - Patricia Anderson, "Good Death" Read More →

Via Human Rights Campaign / FB:

On the Path with Thay A longtime student reflects on 30 years with the Vietnamese master.

Back in the ’80s, I had a friend named Michael Attie, a lay Zen practitioner known in the media as the “lingerie monk” because he once organized a sitting group on the roof of his business, Playmates of Hollywood, one of the world’s largest lingerie stores. Thanks to his persistence one Sunday in 1987, I agreed to accompany him to see a Vietnamese Buddhist monk and antiwar activist giving a talk under the “teaching tree” of the Ojai Foundation, 90 minutes by car from Los Angeles. The Foundation was created by Joan Halifax, then an anthropologist who worked with Joseph Campbell, the mythologist and writer widely known for his now often-repeated slogan “Follow your bliss.” It was meant to bring Native American teachers and Buddhist masters together to teach in a natural power spot facing the dramatically sculpted Topa Topa mountains.

From the moment that I laid eyes on Thich Nhat Hanh (known to students as “Thay,” meaning “teacher” in Vietnamese), I was struck by how quietly impassioned he was. I will always remember how he began the talk: “Dear brothers and sisters—our appointment with life is only available in the present moment.” One had the sense that this gentle yet vehement monk was offering himself as a living example of a Buddha for us to scrutinize.

Read the full article here

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día- Flower of the day 09/03/2015

"Rezar para que todos os seres sejam felizes é algo realmente significativo. Mas, até que você possa manifestar esse amor por todos os seres (até que possa se tornar essa oração), será preciso aprender a amar quem está perto de você; aquele a quem você está vinculado emocionalmente. Para que possa em algum momento amar a grande família, você precisará amar a sua pequena família. Às vezes os obstáculos para amar a pequena família são tão grandes que você primeiro tem um vislumbre do amor pela grande família – mas, somente um vislumbre, pois não é possível sustentar essa abertura sem ter purificado o núcleo do amor. E você só completa essa purificação quando aprende determinadas lições que dizem respeito à pequena família.”

“Rezar para que todos sean felices es algo realmente significativo. Pero hasta que puedas manifestar ese amor por todos los seres (hasta que puedas volverte esa oración), será necesario aprender a amar a quien está cerca tuyo, aquel con quien estás vinculado emocionalmente. Para que puedas en algún momento amar a la gran familia, necesitarás amar a tu pequeña familia. A veces los obstáculos para amar a la pequeña familia son tan grandes que primero tienes un vislumbre del amor por la gran familia – pero solamente un vislumbre, porque no es posible sustentar esa apertura sin haber purificado el núcleo de amor. Y solo completas esa purificación cuando aprendes determinadas lecciones que dicen respecto a la pequeña familia.”

“Praying for all beings to be happy is a truly significant thing. For you to be able to manifest this love for all beings, and to become this prayer, you will first have to learn to love those near you who you are linked to emotionally. In order for you to love the big family, you have to love your small family. Sometimes, the obstacles to loving your immediate family are so great that you get a glimpse of love for the global family first – but only a glimpse, as it’s impossible to sustain this opening if you have not purified the nucleus of love first. You only complete this purification process when you learn certain lessons related to your direct family.”

Via Daily Dharma

Here to Awaken | March 9, 2015 We are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness. - Thich Nhat Hanh, "A Floating Sangha Takes Root." Read More →

the power of now audiobook by ekhart tolle Keith Stevens Keith Stevens 273 31.438

The Most Powerful Video on Spirituality and Happiness - Rare Eckhart Tolle Teaching - Must See

Via http://higherperspective:

3 Buddhist Teachings That Will Make Your Life A Happier One

Buddhism has a lot to offer the world, and unlike many other religions, if you aren’t Buddhist, that’s okay with Buddhism. It’s not here to be dogmatic, but to help people grow and develop themselves. These are 3 Buddhist teachings that can make your life better.

1. Anitya – Impermanence.

We aren’t permanent. Nor is anything else in this world. Things change every day. Each day, our bodies are different, our environment is different – our whole universe is different!
Celebrate the idea that our lives change every day. Accept this constantly moving existence. When you look at it through new eyes, it’s pretty exciting, isn’t it! Each new day brings new opportunities.

2. Dukkha – Life is suffering.

This one sounds kind of negative, doesn’t it? But it’s not just trying to tell you that life is tough and you need to buck up, but that attachment to people, things, and expectations is a cause of pain. Try not to buy into the idea that you’re a broken person. Expect that your body will decay over time and that strife will happen and you’ll be more resilient in the face of it.

3. Anatma – Life is constantly changing.

Buddhism doesn’t assume that there is a fixed self, but rather, a constantly changing self. Our thoughts, names, jobs, titles, and even personalities identify us, but those things can change overtime. As Thich Nhat Hanh says, “Thanks to impermanence, anything is possible.”
Instead of trying to find yourself, focus on creating yourself. Create the best possible self for this moment. Worry about the kind of self you need to be for tomorrow tomorrow. Focus on the you you want to be now.

Read more at http://higherperspective.com/2015/03/3-buddhist-teachings.html#crctShTPOmAMPzMI.99

Via JMG: President Obama Speaks At Selma, Gives Nod To Battle For LGBT Rights

Via the New York Times:

In an address at the scene of what became known as “Bloody Sunday,” Mr. Obama rejected the notion that race relations have not improved since then, despite the string of police shootings that have provoked demonstrations. “What happened in Ferguson may not be unique,” he said, “but it’s no longer endemic. It’s no longer sanctioned by law or custom, and before the civil rights movement, it most surely was.” But the president also rejected the notion that racism has been defeated. “We don’t need the Ferguson report to know that’s not true,” he said. “We just need to open our eyes and our ears and our hearts to know that this nation’s racial history still casts its long shadow upon us. We know the march is not yet over; we know the race is not yet won. We know reaching that blessed destination where we are judged by the content of our character requires admitting as much.”

And of course he mentioned LGBT rights.

On the 50th anniversary of the march, Obama honored the protesters by saying, “Because of what they did, the doors of opportunity swung open not just for African-Americans, but for every American. Women marched through those doors. Latinos marched through those doors. Asian-Americans, gay Americans, and Americans with disabilities came through those doors. Their endeavors gave the entire South the chance to rise again, not by reasserting the past, but by transcending the past.”

He further noted, “We do a disservice to the cause of justice by intimating that bias and discrimination are immutable, or that racial division is inherent to America. If you think nothing’s changed in the past 50 years, ask somebody who lived through the Selma or Chicago or L.A. of the ’50s. Ask the female CEO who once might have been assigned to the secretarial pool if nothing’s changed. Ask your gay friend if it’s easier to be out and proud in America now than it was 30 years ago. To deny this progress — our progress — would be to rob us of our own agency; our responsibility to do what we can to make America better.”

President Obama Delivers Remarks on the 50th Anniversary of the Selma Marches

Labels: Alabama, American history, Barack Obama, civil rights, civil unrest, racism, Roy Moore, Selma

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: SCOTUSblog On The DOJ's Brief

Lyle Denniston writes at SCOTUSblog:

The brief was limited to defending same-sex marriage under an “equal protection” standard, leaving unmentioned the other constitutional argument that some challengers to state bans have made: that marriage is a fundamental right that cannot be closed to such couples, a “due process” argument.

The government’s new filing, signed by U.S. Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli, Jr., and other Justice Department officials and staff lawyers, sought to persuade the Court to embrace a constitutional test that this administration has been pressing for some time in gay rights cases.

It called for what is known as “heightened scrutiny” — the middle level of three ascending tests for judging claims that laws discriminate on the basis of a forbidden personal trait. The easiest standard to meet is “rational basis,” and the toughest is “strict scrutiny.”

Under the middle level, a law that is challenged as discriminatory can be upheld only if it serves an “important government objective” and its terms are “substantially related” to such a policy goal.

In a series of decisions in recent years that have added to gay rights, the Supreme Court has never specified an explicit standard for use in the field of sexual orientation. At times, it has seemed to adopt something like “rational basis-plus,” but it has never given a specific definition of the test or tests it has used.

Hit the link for more analysis.

Labels: DOJ, marriage equality, SCOTUS, SCOTUSblog

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Popular Street Names By State

 

From the Washington Post:

For decades we have believed that the most popular name for a road was “2nd.” But by my analysis, that crown actually goes to “Park.” (Again, look to the methodology section for a discussion of this.) Out of over a million roads in the United States, 9,640 are named “Park.” Only 8,232 are named “2nd,” or “Second.” Still, both the Census and I agree that “2nd” is a more popular road name than “1st.” The most convincing explanation anyone has come up with so far is that in many towns the primary thoroughfare is “Main” street instead of “1st” street. Because those two names split the honor, so to speak, they tumble in the rankings. Trees, numbers, and presidents are the most popular names for streets, which is understandable.

Labels: maps, U.S. Census Bureau, United States

Reposted from Joe Jervis