Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 13/08/2015

“Quando a moral religiosa é muito forte, alguns casais acabam ficando juntos movidos pelo medo de desagradar à família, o sacerdote ou Deus. Permanecem na relação, fechados, muitas vezes inconscientes do autoengano, esperando a morte chegar para resolver o problema. E quando a moral religiosa não é tão aguda, com o menor sinal de dificuldade alguns se separam e partem para a próxima relação. Esses são sintomas do que chamo de “síndrome de Walt Disney”, a crença de que existe um príncipe (ou princesa) encantado que te fará feliz para sempre.”

“Cuando la moral religiosa es muy fuerte, algunas parejas terminan quedándose juntos movidos por el miedo de desagradar a la familia, al sacerdote o a Dios. Permanecen en la relación cerrados, muchas veces inconscientes del autoengaño, esperando que la muerte llegue para resolver el problema. Y cuando la moral religiosa no es tan aguda, con la menor señal de dificultad algunos se separan y parten hacia la próxima relación. Estos son síntomas a los que llamo “síndrome de Walt Disney”, la creencia de que existe un príncipe (o princesa) encantado que te hará feliz para siempre.”

“When religious morals are very strong, some couples wind up getting together out of the fear of displeasing their families, their clergymen or God. They stay in a relationship while being closed off to one another, oftentimes unaware of their own self-deceit as they are waiting for death to arrive and solve their problem. In other cases, when religious morality is not as acute, upon the slightest sign of difficulty, some couples separate and run off to the next relationship. These are symptoms of what I call the ‘Walt Disney syndrome’: the belief that there exists a prince charming or an enchanted princess with whom you will live happily ever after.”

Today's Daily Dharma: The Best Remedy

The Best Remedy

Rejoicing [in the well-being of others] is the best remedy for jealousy and envy. Rejoicing does not depend on material or physical actions—it can be done while you are working, eating, or sleeping. It can be done at any time, and it is such a simple way to create good karma. - Lama Zopa, "Friendvy"

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Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 12/08/2015

“Quanto mais identificado com a criança ferida, maior a necessidade de receber amor exclusivo. Por conta disso, o ser humano desenvolve estratégias para receber esse amor: se é atenção que o outro quer, você dá somente se ele fizer o que você quer. O outro se transforma num escravo para atender as suas necessidades e expectativas. Mas, o outro começa a fazer a mesma coisa com você. Esse é um jogo nefasto no qual um rouba energia do outro.” 

“Cuanto más identificado con el niño herido, mayor la necesidad de recibir amor exclusivo. A causa de esto, el ser humano desarrolla estrategias para recibir ese amor: si es atención lo que el otro quiere, tú se la das solamente si él hace lo que tú quieres. El otro se transforma en un esclavo para atender tus necesidades y expectativas. Pero el otro comienza a hacer lo mismo contigo. Este es un juego nefasto en el cual uno roba la energía del otro.”

“The more identified we are with the wounded child, the greater our need is to receive exclusive love. Because of this, human beings develop strategies to receive this love. Since we are aware of what the other wants, we only give it to them when they do what we want them to first. The other becomes a slave to fulfilling our needs and expectations. Eventually, they begin to do the same thing to us, and this becomes a never-ending game of stealing the other’s energy.”

Today's Daily Dharma: Rethinking Inner Peace

Rethinking Inner Peace

I don’t envision inner peace as the cessation of struggle, arriving at some sun-washed placeless place from which I can distribute refreshments. . . . it comes down to taking my human-sized place in the human race. - Patrick McMahon, "The Question"

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Via Lizzy the Lezzy / FB:

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 11/08/2015

“A austeridade inteligente te prepara para a verdadeira renúncia. Porém, essa austeridade só é possível quando você já compreendeu o condicionamento ou aspecto do eu inferior que precisa ser redirecionado. Caso contrário, ela pode servir apenas para aumentar o vício e o sentimento de impotência.”

“La austeridad inteligente te prepara para la verdadera renuncia. Sin embargo, esta austeridad solo es posible cuando ya comprendiste el condicionamiento o aspecto del yo inferior que necesita ser redireccionado. En caso contrario, esta puede servir solo para aumentar el vicio y el sentimiento de impotencia.”

“Intelligent austerities prepare us for true renunciation. This austerity is only possible when we already understand our conditioning, or the aspect of the lower self that needs to be redirected. Otherwise, it will only serve to increase the addiction or the feeling of helplessness within us.”

Today's Daily Dharma: Jealousy Can Guide Us

Jealousy Can Guide Us

If we can resist the urge of jealousy and envy to pull us deeply into the fantasies we weave about ourselves and others—'she has this or that, and I have nothing'—we can see them as signposts that point the way to a truth about ourselves, and use their appearance as an urgent call to look within. - Emma Varvaloucas, "Jealousy & Envy"

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Via FB:

Via Just a Baha'i:

Just a Bahai Blog

President Obama Says Racism And Homophobia Come From The Same Mindset by justabahai I am very busy working on a few blogs but in until I have time, I leave you with these inspiring words of Obama Barack “You can’t, on the one hand, complain when somebody else does that to you, and then you’re doing it to somebody else," the president pointed out. "You can’t do it. […] Read more of this post

Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 09/08/2015

“Há determinados karmas que precisamos vivenciar, não há nada que possamos fazer em relação a isso. Outros karmas podem ser retirados como se retira um xale. Mas esse não é um fenômeno que a mente pode compreender, ou que o ego pode controlar. O ego entende somente aquilo que os sentidos podem mensurar, mas a realidade espiritual vai muito além disso.”

“Hay determinados karmas que necesitamos vivir, no hay nada que podamos hacer en relación a esto. Otros karmas pueden ser retirados como se retira un chal. Pero este no es un fenómeno que la mente puede comprender, o que el ego pueda controlar. El ego entiende solamente aquello que los sentidos pueden medir, pero la realidad espiritual va mucho más allá de eso.”

“There are certain karmas that we need to experience in this lifetime, and there is nothing that we can do about them. Other karmas can be removed from our paths, as if taking off a shawl. However, this is not a phenomenon that the mind can undersatnd, nor that the ego can control. The ego only understands what the senses can measure, but spiritual reality goes way beyond this plane

Today's Daily Dharma: Between Pride and Confidence

Between Pride and Confidence

Those who practice correctly must not lack confidence in their true nature, nor should they give in to pride. - So Sahn, "The Zen of Confidence"

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Today's Daily Dharma: We Can't Overlook Our Bodies

We Can't Overlook Our Bodies

There are two truths in Buddhism; one is relative and one is absolute. We tend to want to be in the absolute, where we are all the same, we are all one. But that is not where our suffering lies. Our suffering lies in the relative truth, in how we are embodied. So we have to acknowledge and explore these bodies to experience the absolute truth, the truth that we are one from the source of life. We can't skip it.   - Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, "Black, Bisexual, and Buddhist"

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Via JMG: More Corporate Support For Equality Act

From the Human Rights Campaign:

Four new major American companies have become the latest to endorse the Equality Act, federal legislation that would establish full, federal equality for all LGBT Americans. In doing so, these leading companies - IBM, Oracle, Orbitz, and Symantec - made clear that they believe all LGBT Americans should have the protections from discrimination in federal law that they deserve. They join American Airlines, Apple, The Dow Chemical Company, Facebook, General Mills, Google, Levi Strauss & Co., Microsoft, and Nike as part of a national business coalition supporting comprehensive, federal LGBT non-discrimination protections. Additionally, Hewlett-Packard in Fortune recently announced its support for the Equality Act.

STATEMENT BY IBM: “IBM’s workplace culture is built on the principles of non-discrimination and equal opportunity for all. We established a corporate policy on equal opportunity more than a decade before the Civil Rights Act. We championed an industry-leading policy of non-discrimination based on sexual orientation over 30 years ago, and expanded it in 2002 to cover gender identity and expression. IBM is proud to support the Equality Act and maintains our steadfast support for all employees to experience equality in the workplace."

STATEMENT BY ORBITZ: “At Orbitz we’ve been advocates of equality and inclusion since our founding in 2001. Our support for the Equality Act is consistent with our other actions, such as signing the amicus brief calling on the Supreme Court to find gay marriage bans unconstitutional.”

STATEMENT BY SYMANTEC: “At Symantec, we are proud to support full and equal rights for the LGBT community. We believe having a diversity of perspectives ensures we make better business decisions and the products and services we offer meet the needs of the broad spectrum of people we serve worldwide, which is why we couldn’t be more proud to support the expansion of legal protections. We unequivocally support the Equality Act – for the future of our business and society.”

As I've mentioned before, the Equality Act will see little traction in the current GOP-dominated Congress, but this early groundwork is critical to what most consider to be the "heaviest lift" in our movement's history.

Labels: business, Congress, employment, Equality Act, feds, housing, HRC, LGBT rights, public accommodations

Reposted from Joe Jervis

WELL-STRUNG - Blank Space (feat. Johann Sebastian Bach)

The Real Queens and Kings of Stonewall

HRC & Jim Obergefell Ask Candidates to Defend Marriages of Same Sex Couples Across The Nation

Via Huffington Post: Want to Know if Being Gay Is a Choice? Let Me Tell You the Answer

Last night when debating equal marriage someone asked on Facebook "What is it that the LGBT don't have?" So I decided to put together a comprehensive little list for those who are 'getting tired of all this equality sh*t' as they have put it.

Until I can hold my partner's hand in the street of the city that I live in, pay taxes in and work in and not be told that I'm a faggot, that I'm going to get my head kicked in or that I'm going to die of AIDS (as my boyfriend and I were told on Saturday) then we don't have everything that those people keep telling us we already have.

Until I can walk out the door on a night out and not hear that little voice in my head tell me that I might look too gay, that I might want to not hold my boyfriend's hand in certain bars, that I should probably not wear that flamboyant t-shirt, that maybe I should tone it down in case a guy gets offended by my gayness and decides to crack a bottle over my head. Until I can be sure that I don't need to 'straighten up' when I get in the back of a taxi, talk to someone new at work, go into a non-gay bar or even talk on the phone on the bus then we don't have everything that those people keep telling us we already have.

Until I can turn down an invite in work to donate blood at the blood drive and not have to out myself to random strangers in the office because unlike the rest of the UK sexually active gay men cannot donate blood in Northern Ireland. Until I can walk into a blood bank and not have to lie about who I am in order to donate blood...Until I can walk into a blood bank and not feel like I am dirty, disgusting, shameful and a constant reminder of a time when gay men and AIDS shared the headlines then then we don't have everything that those people keep telling us we already have.

Until I can say the word marriage when talking to my gay friends who are engaged and not follow it up with "well you know, not a real marriage" and accidentally remind us all that despite being law abiding, tax paying citizens that we still don't have the right to marry the person we love and spend the rest of our lives together in Northern Ireland then we don't have everything that those people keep telling us we already have.

Until I can look at the gay news section of BBC and not read about another trans young person that has taken their own life because their church, their family and their teachers told them they were unnatural or sick or until I no longer have to read about the latest young gay man that has been beaten to death, stoned to death or locked up because they sent a text message to the guy they crushed on or because they just wanted to be happy and treated as a human being and not a walking sex act, pervert or something to be pushed away until they feel that they can't come back then we don't have everything that those people keep telling us we already have.

Yes I am angry. And you should be too. This is the life we have to live day in and day out as LGBT people. You think it's a choice? Read back over what I have written and ask yourself why anyone would choose this.

Read the original and full article here

Via JMG: IOWA: Man Tries To Marry Lawnmower

"Congressman Steve King (R - Iowa) said last week that the recent Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage meant you could marry your lawnmower. So I decided to test his theory and see if I could, in fact, wed my lawnmower in Iowa."

 

(Tipped by JMG reader Blair)

Labels: Christianists, GOP, Steve King, teabaggers

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: KENTUCKY: Anti-Gay Clerk Files Religious Discrimination Suit Against Governor

 

The Liberty Counsel is suing Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear on behalf of renegade county clerk Kim Davis. Via the Lexington Herald-Leader:

Late Tuesday, Davis filed a lawsuit against Beshear in federal district court. She blamed the governor for instructing all 120 of the state's county clerks to comply with this summer's U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage. Beshear's stance left dissenting county clerks vulnerable to lawsuits, including two that she currently faces, filed by groups of her constituents, Davis said. U.S. District Judge David Bunning is expected to rule in these cases in coming days. "The Commonwealth of Kentucky, acting through Governor Beshear, has deprived Davis of her religious-conscience rights guaranteed by the United States and Kentucky constitutions and laws, by insisting that Davis issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples contrary to her conscience, based on her sincerely held religious beliefs," Davis' lawsuit says.

The suit also names the head of the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, which changed the marriage license forms to gender-neutral.

The Liberty Counsel has issued a press release:

“Governor Beshear is unlawfully picking and choosing the conscience-based exemptions to marriage that he deems acceptable,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. When Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway refused to defend Kentucky’s natural marriage laws after “pray[ing] over this decision,” Governor Beshear did not command that he perform his duties, but hired private attorneys to pursue the appeal. “In no uncertain terms, Governor Beshear’s policies and directives are intended to suppress religion—even worse, a particular religious belief,” Liberty Counsel’s complaint points out. “Thus, although Attorney General Conway was given a pass for his conscience about marriage without any threats of repercussion, clerks like Davis are being repeatedly told by their Governor to abandon their religiously informed beliefs or resign.” “Simply put, Governor Beshear is making secularism a litmus test for holding office in Kentucky,” said Mat Staver. “The governor is forcing clerks like Davis to choose between following the precepts of her religion and forfeiting her position, on the one hand, and abandoning one of the precepts of her religion in order to keep her position, on the other,” Staver concluded.

The ruling in the ACLU's suit against Davis is expected next week. (Tipped by JMG reader Allen)

Labels: ACLU, Christianists, hate groups, Kentucky, Kim Davis, Liberty Counsel, Obergefell, religion, Steve Beshear

Reposted from Joe Jervis