Revoked

Sunday, August 2, 2015

Today's Daily Dharma: The Love Available to Us

The Love Available to Us

There is far more love available to us in any given moment than we might be aware. And there is much, much more love in our hearts than we as adults have been conditioned to believe is appropriate to express.

- Kate Johnson, "Making the First Move "

Gay marriage in the year 100 AD

Gay marriage sounds like an ultra-contemporary idea. But almost twenty years ago, a Catholic scholar at Yale shocked the world by publishing a book packed with evidence that same-sex marriages were sanctioned by the early Christian Church during an era commonly called the Dark Ages.

Illustration of Serge and Bacchus, in a same-sex union

John Boswell was a historian and religious Catholic who dedicated much of his scholarly life to studying the late Roman Empire and early Christian Church. Poring over legal and church documents from this era, he discovered something incredible. There were dozens of records of church ceremonies where two men were joined in unions that used the same rituals as heterosexual marriages. (He found almost no records of lesbian unions, which is probably an artifact of a culture which kept more records about the lives of men generally.)

Bolstered by this evidence, Boswell published a book in 1994, the year before his death from AIDS, called Same-Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe. The book comes out next month for the first time in a digital edition. It was an instant lightening rod for controversy, drawing criticism from both the Catholic Church and sex pundit Camille Paglia. Given the Church's present-day views on gay marriage, these detractors argued, Boswell's history seemed like wishful thinking.

Make the jump here to read the full article

Via WGB: Leslie Jordan Throws Coffee At Men Screaming Antigay Slurs Inside WEHO Starbucks

"A trio of homophobes learned the hard way this week why you should never enter a West Hollywood Starbucks and start hurling antigay slurs at customers.

“You will die, fucking faggots!” one of the men allegedly announced to the entire store.

Joseph Daniels, who was waiting in line at the time, told WEHOville, “It was very scary and unexpected.” But he wasn’t going to let a group of d-bags get the best of him. He walked over to the men and told them their behavior was “rude.”

Then the manager came along and told them to get the hell out.

The thugs refused to leave and proceeded to call everyone in the store “faggots.” And that’s when things got really heated. Because unbeknownst to the homophobes, Leslie Jordan happened to be there.

Yes, the Leslie Jordan." Full story here!

WGB: I love Leslie Jordan and wouldn't mess with him. Those guys picked the wrong queen to fuck with! Love you Leslie!!!

A Salute to Sissies

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 01/08/2015

GURU SHARANAM HARI SHARANAM SACHCHE SHARANAM PRABHU SHARANAM ~ Estou sob a guiança e a proteção do Mestre, da Verdade e de Deus ~
“Isso é entrega, isso é redenção. Para verdadeiramente entregar-se, se faz necessário muita confiança. Entregar significa se tornar livre do peso que você carrega. Você entrega e deixa que o mestre leva para você. Você entrega seus problemas e não pensa mais neles. Porque se você diz que entregou, mas continua preocupado ou não aceita a solução que lhe é oferecida, existe aí um autoengano. Significa que o ego ainda está tentando controlar o destino da embarcação, porque não confia que será levado para um lugar seguro. Mas afinal, o que é seguro? As referências do ego dizem respeito apenas a satisfação do corpo, e isso é muito limitado.”

GURU SHARANAM HARI SHARANAM SACHCHE SHARANAM PRABHU SHARANAM ~ I am under the guidance and protection of the master teacher, of truth and of God. ~
“This is surrender; this is redemption. In order to truly surrender, a lot of trust is needed. Surrendering means becoming free of the weight that we carry. We surrender when we let the master teacher take this weight from us, and surrendering our problems means that we no longer think about them. If we say we have surrendered but continue to worry and do not accept the solution our teacher has offered, then there is still some self-deception happening. This means that the ego is still trying to control the fate of its vessel, because there is still mistrust that this vessel will be led to a safe port. In the end, what is safe? The references that the ego knows only involve corporeal satisfactions, and this is a very limited perspective.”

Today's Daily Dharma: The Light Is Always There

The Light Is Always There

Drawing attention to stillness, silence, and spaciousness shifts your focus from feeding the insecurity of the ego to connecting with pure being. Anytime you identify with a sense of 'I' "'I feel something'; 'I have lost some thing'; 'I am lost'" you are identifying with the wrong person. You are identifying with the ego, with your pain body, not with your true nature.

- Tenzin Wangyal, "The Light Is Always There "

Via Humanity's Team / FB:

Friday, July 31, 2015

Via JMG: COLOMBIA: Top Court Considers Marriage

J. Lester Feder reports at Buzzfeed:

Colombia’s top court held a day-long hearing on Thursday on whether it should interpret its constitution as giving marriage rights to same-sex couples — framing the debate in a wider discussion about whether international standards now dictate that marriage equality is a fundamental right. The hearing comes five weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to allow marriage equality, in a move that reverberated around the world. Unlike the U.S. Supreme Court, Colombia’s Constitutional Court weighs foreign precedent and international human rights law in its decisions. To discuss the question of marriage equality in Thursday’s debate, the Court’s judges invited a broad range of international opinions, including representatives of the United Nations’ human rights office, the U.S.-based conservative legal group the Alliance Defending Freedom, and Albie Sachs, the former chief justice of South Africa’s Constitutional Court who authored a 2005 marriage equality ruling.

A decision is expected by the end of the summer.

RELATED: Elsewhere in South America same-sex marriage is legal in Argentina, Brazil, French Guiana, and Uruguay. Civil unions are legal in Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador. A same-sex marriage lawsuit is pending before the Venezuelan Supreme Court. Homosexual acts remain illegal in Guyana, but nowhere else on the continent.

Labels: Colombia, marriage equality, South America

Reposted from Joe Jervis

JMG Quote Of The Day - Henry Rollins

"In a nation of hundreds of millions of people, there is one man born to lead. A man who stands head and shoulders above the rest. A lone alpha who burns incandescent in a vast wasteland of darkness. When asked to serve in Vietnam, he said no and took a deferment. He took a few of them, actually, because he is his own man. He got married. The merger didn’t work. She was fired. So was the next one. It’s business, not personal — like America! He has overcome adversity. Like bankruptcy. And with an almost Michelangelo-like genius, he conquered the K2 challenge of his hair. He is what America needs. A man with so much self-confidence that, if you put him in the Oval Office, some of it will no doubt trickle down to you. Who is this man who will put all other world leaders in their place? The same man who just read a cellphone number, allegedly Lindsey Graham’s private line, out loud so the world could hear. (Hey, I laughed.) This man is America. So bend over, relax and hold onto something solid, because here he comes — here comes Donald Trump 2016. And when he puts it in, you’ll know who your daddy is." - Henry Rollins, writing for LA Weekly.

Labels: 2016 elections, Donald Trump, Henry Rollins

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 31/07/2015

“Guru não é um corpo, é um poder que se manifesta através de um corpo. É o poder de Deus que te levanta e te coloca no estágio além da mente; te tira da sombra e te coloca na luz. Guru é uma palavra pequena, mas seu significado está além das palavras.”

"Gurú no es un cuerpo, es un poder que se manifiesta a través de un cuerpo. Es el poder de Dios que te levanta y te coloca en un nivel más allá de la mente; te saca de la sombra y te coloca en la luz. Gurú es una palabra pequeña, pero su significado está más allá de las palabras"

“The guru is not a body: the guru is a power that manifests itself within a body. It is the power of God that elevates us and puts us in a state beyond the mind. This power takes us out of the darkness and places us in the light. ‘Guru’ is a small word, but its meaning is beyond any words.”

Today's Daily Dharma: Rage Can Become Compassion

Rage Can Become Compassion

Rage "whether in reaction to social injustice, or to our leaders' insanity, or to those who threaten or harm us" is a powerful energy that, with diligent practice, can be transformed into fierce compassion.

- Bonnie Myotai Treace, "Rising to the Challenge: Filling the Well with Snow "

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Via WGB: In The Face Of Violent Homophobia, Jamaica Hosts Its First Pride

Jamaica is frequently cited as one of the worst places in the world to be gay: sex between men is a jailable offense, the country’s leading gay activist was murdered, and LGBT youth are forced to live in the sewers.

Just this March, a gay man was stoned to death by a mob, but some brave activists are standing up to the hate and have scheduled Jamaica’s first Pride event next week.

But there won’t be a Pride parade, due to safety and security concerns. Full story here via NNN!

WGB: I admire and support these brave individuals. It takes the first brave people to come forward to make change happen! I wish them a safe and successful Pride event.

Thank you Firoozeh!

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 30/07/2015

“Os vícios funcionam como amortecedores ou anestésicos. Podem ser coisas ou emoções que são elementos simbólicos, ou seja, algo externo que representa o que está faltando dentro. Algo que acalme o furacão de sentimentos e preencha, mesmo que temporariamente, o vazio interior. Drogas, comida, sexo, internet, dinheiro... Tudo para amenizar a dor da cisão com a essência, o que gerou a ilusão de que somos seres separados do todo e que dependemos de algo externo para sermos felizes.”

“Los vicios funcionan como adormecedores o anestésicos. Pueden ser cosas o emociones que son elementos simbólicos, es decir, algo externo que representa lo que está faltando dentro. Algo que calme el huracán de sentimientos y llene, aunque sea temporariamente, el vacío interior. Drogas, comida, sexo, internet, dinero... Todo para aliviar el dolor de la ruptura con la esencia, lo que generó la ilusión de que somos seres separados del todo y que dependemos de algo externo para ser felices.”

“Addictions work like shock-absorbers or anesthetics. We can either be physically or emotionally addicted to things that symbolize what’s missing inside of us. These addictions serve to calm the whirlwind of feelings and temporarily fill the emptiness inside of us. Drugs, food, sex, Internet and money are all used to alleviate the pain of the split from our essence. This split created the illusion that we are separate from everything and rely on something external in order to be happy.”

Today's Daily Dharma: Not a Private Journey

Not a Private Journey

The way 'spirituality' is often used suggests that we exist solely as a collection of individuals, not as members of a religious community, and that religious life is merely a private journey. It is the religious expression of the ideology of free-market economics and of the radical 'disencumbered' individualism that idolizes the choice-making individual as the prime reality in the world.

- Robert Bellah, "The Future of Religion "