Thursday, May 7, 2015

Via FB:


Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día- Flower of the day 07/05/2015

“Ao longo da jornada evolutiva a entidade humana constrói máscaras para se proteger da dor. Essas máscaras são criadas de acordo com o que ela tem, com sua história, com o ambiente onde vive - de acordo com o karma que ela carrega. Alguns aprendem que, para conseguirem o que querem, precisam ser vítimas, outros aprendem que precisam ser agressivos. Alguns entendem que precisam ser caridosos e religiosos, outros que precisam ser criminosos. Alguns vestem a máscara da autossuficiência, da superioridade, outros da impotência e da fragilidade. Mas, não importa qual seja a máscara, ela não tem nada a ver com a verdade de quem é você.”

“A lo largo del camino evolutivo la entidad humana construye máscaras para protegerse del dolor. Estas máscaras son creadas de acuerdo con lo que ella tiene, con su historia, con el ambiente donde vive - de acuerdo con el karma que carga. Algunos aprenden que para conseguir lo que quieren, tienen que ser víctimas, otros aprenden que necesitan ser agresivos. Algunos entienden que necesitan ser caritativos y religiosos, otros que necesitan ser criminales. Algunos visten la máscara de la autosuficiencia, de la superioridad, otros de la impotencia y de la fragilidad. Pero no importa cuál sea la máscara, ella no tiene nada que ver con la verdad de quien eres.”

"Throughout the evolutionary journey, human beings create masks to protect themselves from pain. These masks are shaped through our possessions, our life’s history, our personal environment, and the karma we carry. Some people learn that they have to be a victim to get what they want, others learn that they need to be aggressive. Some people believe that they need to be charitable and religious, others believe they have to be criminals. Some people wear the mask of self-sufficiency and superiority, others wear the mask of helplessness and weakness. No matter what the mask is, it has nothing to do with the truth of who you are.”

Via JMG: Porno Pete: NOM Lied About Hate March



 
Brian Brown told numerous outlets that attendance at last month's hate march was 15,000.


Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: ARIZONA: Rubio Headlines Fundraiser For Group That Backs "Ex-Gay" Torture



Yesterday Sen. Marco Rubio headlined a fundraiser for the vile Arizona Center For Public Policy, which advocates for "ex-gay" torture among other anti-gay positions. Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed:
Although there was no media inside the room at the Center for Arizona Policy fundraiser, held at Arizona Christian University, and a spokesperson from Rubio’s campaign did not respond to repeated requests Wednesday for comment about the event or what Rubio planned to say, at least two attendees did post on social media from within the event with remarks from Rubio. “Even as I’m speaking to you now, a human life is being terminated in America,” a congressional staffer attending Wednesday’s event quoted Rubio as saying. The staffer works for Rep. Trent Franks, who also was in attendance. “Without faith at the core of our society, you fall into an era of moral relativism,” the staffer quoted Rubio as saying. When Rubio was discussing marriage, the Franks staffer did not quote Rubio directly, but he tweeted, “Dangerous era in America, says @marcorubio, where if you believe in the traditional definition of marriage, you’re a bigot.”
Two weeks ago Rubio declared that he believes that sexual orientation is "something people are born with." It doesn't appear that he addressed "ex-gay" therapy during his speech.


Reposted from Joe Jervis

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día- Flower of the day 06/05/2015

“É curioso ver que muitos não aprendem com suas desilusões e fracassos nos relacionamentos, e seguem acreditando que obterão felicidade através do outro. Essa fantasia se mantém por algum tempo, enquanto cada um vive sua vida e o casal se encontra de vez em quando. Mas, quando resolvem morar juntos, a verdade aparece. Logo a relação vira um campo de batalha. Isso ocorre porque as pessoas não querem alguém para amar, elas querem alguém para satisfazer suas necessidades e caprichos. Elas querem se tornar donos do outro. E o pior é que a grande maioria acredita que essa obsessão em possuir é amor.”

“Es curioso ver que muchos no aprenden con sus desilusiones y fracasos en las relaciones, y siguen creyendo que obtendrán la felicidad a través de otro. Esta fantasía se mantiene durante algún tiempo, mientras cada uno vive su vida y la pareja se encuentra de vez en cuando. Pero cuando resuelven vivir juntos, la verdad aparece. Pronto la relación se convierte en un campo de batalla. Esto ocurre porque las personas no quieren alguien a quien amar, ellas quieren alguien para satisfacer sus necesidades y caprichos. Quieren volverse dueños del otro. Y lo peor es que la gran mayoría cree que esta obsesión de poseer es amor.”

"It’s curious to see that many people do not learn from their deceptions and failures in relationships, and still believe that they will attain happiness through the other. This fantasy is maintained for some time, while each partner lives their own life and the couple only meets up from time to time. But when they decide to live together, the truth appears. Soon after, the relationship becomes a battlefield. This is because people do not want someone to love; they want someone to satisfy their needs and whims. They want to own the other. The worst part is that the vast majority of people believe that this obsession with possessing is love.”

Via Daily Dharma


How to Develop Motivation | May 6, 2015


In Buddhist thinking, motivation is a matter of desire, more specifically the desire to act accompanied with a sense of purpose. Say, in the case of being more compassionate, it's by making emotional connection with compassion and its objectives that we arouse in ourselves the desire to act. And it's through seeing the benefits that we acquire a sense of purpose in being more compassionate.

- Thupten Jinpa, "Turning Intention into Motivation"

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Yes 2 Love - The Nualas


Via hubpages: The Verdict is in: Guess Who's The Worst President in US History?

There is much debate about who was the best or worst president in US history. It's too important of a subject to rely on opinion polls which are skewed by the influence of individual bias and political views. Yet It's difficult to quantify how good or bad any president may have been in comparison to another. However, a careful look at the facts shows one president failed in virtually every aspect of the job to a degree unrivaled by any other president.
When you review the facts below and consider his impact on our economy, foreign policy and domestic policy, by almost any standard, it’s difficult to find any president who did more harm and left the country in worse shape than George W. Bush.

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día- Flower of the day 05/05/2015

“Se você carrega dentro de si um pacto de vingança em relação a uma pessoa, de certa forma, ela fica presa também. Se essa pessoa ainda não é iluminada, esses sentimentos e pensamentos acabam exercendo influência sobre ela. Mas o mesmo acontece quando você perdoa. Ao libertar-se do ódio, você libera a outra pessoa também.”

“Si llevas dentro de ti un pacto de venganza en relación a una persona, en cierto modo, ella queda atrapada también. Si esa persona no está iluminada, estos sentimientos y pensamientos terminan ejerciendo influencia sobre ella. Pero lo mismo sucede cuando perdonas. Al liberarte del odio, liberas a la otra persona también.”

"If we carry within us a pact of revenge pact towards someone, in some way, this person gets stuck as well. If that person is not yet enlightened, our feelings and thoughts end up influencing them. The same thing happens when we forgive someone: by freeing ourselves of our hatred, we also liberate the other person.”

Via Daily Dharma


What Determines Our Character | May 5, 2015


It is not what happens to us that determines our character, our experience, our karma, and our destiny, but how we relate to what happens.

- Lama Surya Das, "Practicing with Loss"

Via Daily Dharma


Purify Negativity with Compassion | May 4, 2015


Instead of looking at others, telling yourself your usual story about who people are, visualize every person you see as the Bodhisattva of Compassion, the very embodiment of compassion. Deeply doing this, there’s no way you can feel negative toward them. It’s impossible. Instead of misery, they give you blissful energy.

- Lama Yeshe, "Visualizations"

Via Daily Dharma


Simple Joy | May 3, 2015


What is it that opens the gate to joy in our ordinary, day-to-day lives? I’ve been calling it awakeness and awareness: the simple practice of sitting quietly, breathing in and out, dropping our obsessive thoughts and resistance to the freshness of the moment that is exactly here. It is amazing, our resistance to tapping into the joy that is like the blue sky surrounding this earth.

- Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara, "Simple Joy"


Saturday, May 2, 2015

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día- Flower of the day 02/05/2015

“Ao colocar seus dons e talentos a serviço do bem maior, você se torna um elo na corrente da felicidade. A alegria, a prosperidade e o amor passam por você para chegar ao outro. Você começa a se sentir guiado e levado por algo maior do que você. Mas, enquanto estiver isolado, querendo fazer tudo do seu jeito, isso não é possível. É preciso se colocar na corrente. E você faz isso quando pergunta: “Como posso servir?”. Assim você se torna um canal da felicidade.”

“Al colocar tus dones y talentos al servicio del bien mayor, te conviertes en un eslabón en la corriente de la felicidad. La alegría, la prosperidad y el amor pasan por ti para llegar al otro. Comienzas a sentirte guiado y llevado por algo más grande que tú. Pero mientras estés aislado, queriendo hacer todo a tu manera, esto no es posible. Es preciso colocarse en la corriente. Y lo haces cuando te preguntas: "¿Cómo puedo servir?". Así te conviertes en un canal de la felicidad.”

"By putting our gifts and talents at the service of the greater good, we become a link in the chain of happiness. Joy, prosperity and love pass through us to reach the other. We begin to feel guided and led by something bigger than us. However, if we remain isolated, wanting to do everything our way, then this cannot take place. We need to place ourselves in the current, and we do so by asking: ‘How can I serve?’ This is how we become a channel of happiness."

Via Daily Dharma


The Space in the Mind | May 2, 2015


Most of our suffering comes from habitual thinking. If we try to stop it out of aversion to thinking, we can’t; we just go on and on and on. So the important thing is not to get rid of thought, but to understand it. And we do this by concentrating on the space in the mind, rather than on the thought.

- Ajahn Sumedho, "Noticing Space"

Friday, May 1, 2015

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día- Flower of the day 01/05/2015

“O mestre é a vida, mas ele também é a morte. Ele representa o fim do ego. Tudo o que é vivo quer continuar vivendo, até mesmo o eu inferior. Os eus psicológicos que te habitam sabem disso, e temem sua aproximação do mestre. Por isso muitas vezes você encontra resistências no caminho da entrega e da confiança. Esses eus se alimentam de pensamentos, maus hábitos e vícios. Com o tempo, eles adquirem inteligência própria e passam a agir como entidades. Eles fazem de tudo para continuar vivendo: inventam histórias, criam dificuldades, criticam e discordam. Isso vai cegando sua percepção e fechando sua visão espiritual.”

"The spiritual master is life, but he is also death. The master represents the end of the ego. The psychological selves inhabiting us know this, and they fear our approaching the master. All that is alive wants to continue living, even the lower self. This is why we often find resistance along the path of surrender and trust. These selves feed on thoughts, bad habits and addictions. Over time, they acquire an intelligence of their own and begin to act as entities. They do everything they can to continue living: they invent stories, create difficulties, criticize and disagree with others. This ends up blinding our perception and closing us off to spiritual sight."

“El maestro es la vida, pero también es la muerte. Él representa el fin del ego. Todo lo que está vivo quiere seguir viviendo, incluso el yo inferior. Los yoes psicológicos que te habitan lo saben, y temen tu aproximación al maestro. Por eso muchas veces encuentras resistencias en el camino de la entrega y de la confianza. Estos yoes se alimentan de pensamientos, malos hábitos y vicios. Con el tiempo, adquieren inteligencia propia y comienzan a actuar como entidades. Ellos hacen de todo para seguir viviendo: inventan historias, crean dificultades, critican y discrepan. Esto va cegando tu percepción y cerrando tu visión espiritual.”

Via Daily Dharma


The Right to Ask Questions | May 1, 2015


Practice makes extraordinary demands of us. It requires that we take nothing for granted, that we accept nothing on faith alone. If we practice with diligence and honesty, then we must question everything about ourselves; we must challenge our most basic beliefs and convictions, even those we may have about the dharma itself.

- Larry Rosenberg, "The Right to Ask Questions"

Thursday, April 30, 2015

Teachers for Marriage Equality


Via JMG: Gallup: 780,000 Married Gay Americans


Via Gallup:
Approximately 0.3% of adults in the U.S. are married to a same-sex spouse, and another 0.5% identify as being in a same-sex domestic partnership. In examining the total population of 243 million U.S. adults, these survey estimates suggest nearly 2 million adults are part of a same-sex couple, of whom 780,000 are married. These data are based on 80,568 interviews conducted on Gallup Daily tracking from Jan. 28-April 19, 2015. Overall, approximately 0.3% of all respondents during this time period both identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) and said they were married, and in a follow-up question, they indicated that they were married to a same-sex spouse. An additional 0.5% of adults identified as LGBT and reported being in a same-sex domestic partnership.

The 780,000 American adults who are estimated to be married to a same-sex spouse translates into approximately 390,000 same-sex married couples in the U.S. Similarly, the estimated 1.2 million adults living in a same-sex domestic partnership translates into 600,000 domestic partnership couples. Thus, there is a total of almost a million same-sex couples in the country, of which nearly four in 10 (39%) are married.

At 990,000, Gallup's estimated number of same-sex married or domestic partner couples in the U.S. is significantly higher than past estimates derived from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS), which in 2013 put the number of same-sex couples at roughly 727,000. Of this group, more than 250,000 reported they were married. The Census Bureau, however, has cautioned that the ACS estimates of married same-sex couples may not be reliable as they have determined that a large portion of recorded married same-sex couples may actually be married heterosexual couples who miscoded the sex of one of the spouses.
Wingnuts sites are running with the 0.3% number. Of course.


Reposted from Joe Jervis

The Daily Show - Rights Courts