Via FB:

Today's Daily Dharma: The Upside of Envy

The Upside of Envy

Avoidance of envy, if it was ever feasible, is a dinosaur gone extinct. The trick is to steer ourselves toward the emotion’s beneficial side. . . .  envy can bring us closer to what we dearly want to attain, and help us course-correct, if necessary, to get ourselves back on track. - Louisa Kamps, "In Defense of Envy"

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Via Senado Federal / FB:

Além de discriminar e tratar de maneira degradante alguns grupos sociais, os discursos de ódio ainda estimulam o preconceito em outros usuários de redes sociais, especialmente crianças e adolescentes. Projeto de lei que tramita no Senado estabelece pena de reclusão de 1 a 3 anos para quem praticar crimes de ódio pela internet. Saiba mais: http://bit.ly/1NqhkIP

PF: http://bit.ly/1PcNTr1
MPF: http://bit.ly/1JXcCjI

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 21/08/2015

“Minha proposta é que você se harmonize com o fluxo da vida, que possa se tornar desprendido e natural. Em outras palavras, que você possa ouvir e atender os comandos do coração. Isso é possível somente se o coração estiver aberto. Por isso, meu trabalho é para abrir o coração, para desvendar o amor.”

“Mi propuesta es que te armonices con el flujo de la vida, que puedas tornarte desprendido y natural. En otras palabras, que puedas escuchar y atender los comandos del corazón. Esto es posible solamente si el corazón está abierto. Por eso, mi trabajo es para abrir el corazón, para develar el amor.”

“I propose that you harmonize with the flow of life, so that it becomes effortless and natural. May you be able to hear and attend to the commands of the heart. This is only possible if the heart is open. For this reason, my work is to open the heart in order to unveil love.”

Today's Daily Dharma: Conscientious Compassion

Conscientious Compassion

When compassion and justice are unified, we arrive at what I call conscientious compassion. This is compassion, not merely as a beautiful inward feeling of empathy with those suffering, but a compassion that gives birth to a fierce determination to uplift others, to tackle the causes of their suffering, and to establish the social, economic, and political conditions that will enable everyone to flourish and live in harmony. - Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi, "Conscientious Compassion"

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El SMS

Handel - Israel in Egypt Oratorio at Pharoah's Islands

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 20/08/2015

PRABHU AP JAGO PARAMATMA JAGO MERE SARVE JAGO SARVATRA JAGO - Deus desperte - desperte em mim, em todos e em todos os lugares.
“Tenho um convite a fazer: experimente - enquanto estiver andando pelas ruas, nas lojas, nos restaurantes, nos cafés, onde quer que passe - cantar esse mantra dentro de você, com a intenção de que o seu significado toque as pessoas ao seu redor. Pode ser em sânscrito, ou na sua própria língua, apenas permita-se dar passagem para essa onda de amor. Quando canta esse mantra com o seu coração, você compreende o significado da palavra milagre.”

PRABHU AP JAGO PARAMATMA JAGO MERESARVE JAGO SARVATRA JAGO - Dios despierta - despierta en mí, en todos y en todos los lugares.
"Tengo una invitación para hacer: prueba –mientras caminas por las calles, en las tiendas, en los restaurantes, cafeterías, donde quiera que pases - cantar este mantra dentro tuyo, con la intención de que su significado toque a las personas a tu alrededor. Puede ser en sánscrito, o en tu propio idioma, simplemente permítete dar pasaje a esta ola de amor. Cuando cantas este mantra con tu corazón, comprendes el significado de la palabra milagro".

PRABHU AP JAGO, PARAMATMA JAGO, MERE SARVE JAGO, SARVATRA JAGO - God awaken. Awaken in me, awaken in everyone and everywhere.
“I would like to invite you to make an experiment while you are walking along streets, when you are in a store, in restaurants, cafés – wherever it is that you may happen to be – sing this mantra inside of you with the intention that its meaning may touch the people you encounter. It can be in Sanskrit, or in your own language, just allow this wave of love to pass through you. When you sing this mantra with your heart, you understand the meaning of the word ‘miracle.’”

Today's Daily Dharma: How You Develop the Heart

How You Develop the Heart

Whatever experience is present / you clearly see right there, / right there— / not taken in, / unshaken: / that's how you develop the heart.

- Shakyamuni Buddha, "View of an Auspicious Day"

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Eat With Me Movie Trailer

Via Bipartisan Report / FB:

Via WGB: Republican National Committee Adopts Resolution Endorsing Anti-LGBT First Amendment Defense Act

The Republican National Committee has adopted a resolution which calls on Congress to pass the anti-LGBT First Amendment Defense Act. The resolution names several martyred anti-gay business owners who have recently been found guilty of violating public accommodation laws. Full story here!


See the original posting on WGB here

0:02 / 3:52 Do All Kids Need a Mother and Father?

Breath and Sound - Tom Goss feat. Matt Alber

Via Being Liberal / FB:

There Is an Evolutional Explanation Why You Are Gay

Same sex desire helps bonding with people of the same gender.

Dr Fleischman said: ‘From an evolutionary perspective we tend to think of sexual behavior as a means to an end for reproduction.

‘However, because sexual behavior is intimate and pleasurable, it is also used in many species, including non-human primates, to help form and maintain social bonds.

‘The results of our study are compelling because using two very different methods, they arrived at the same conclusion.’

 ‘Humans are among a group of animals who have sex for many reasons, not just to reproduce.

‘Reasons can include pleasure, a reward, a way of saying “please be nice to me” or exerting dominance.

‘It’s very complex, but it’s clear… the ability to engage sexually with those of the same sex or the opposite sex is common. In humans, much, if not most of same-sex sexual behavior occurs in those who don’t identify as homosexual.’

Their research is published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.

Via: Gaystarnews

Image: Humerus LLC

You Have to See How This Mom Reacted When Her Son Came Out - (10) Image Gallery and Video

I just don't want to be right!

New Information Revealed About Don't Ask Don't Tell

Never Be Afraid to Be Yourself

Justice for all!

Transgender People Protest Discriminatory Bathroom Policies Via Social Media - (10) Images Gallery

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cause gay lgbt news evolutional explanation scientists homosexuality evolution same gender dr fleischman sexual behavior social bonds reproduce science

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Make the jump here to read the article

Same sex desire helps bonding with people of the same gender.

Dr Fleischman said: ‘From an evolutionary perspective we tend to think of sexual behavior as a means to an end for reproduction.

‘However, because sexual behavior is intimate and pleasurable, it is also used in many species, including non-human primates, to help form and maintain social bonds.

‘The results of our study are compelling because using two very different methods, they arrived at the same conclusion.’

 ‘Humans are among a group of animals who have sex for many reasons, not just to reproduce.

‘Reasons can include pleasure, a reward, a way of saying “please be nice to me” or exerting dominance.

‘It’s very complex, but it’s clear… the ability to engage sexually with those of the same sex or the opposite sex is common. In humans, much, if not most of same-sex sexual behavior occurs in those who don’t identify as homosexual.’

Their research is published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.

Via: Gaystarnews

Image: Humerus LLC

You Have to See How This Mom Reacted When Her Son Came Out - (10) Image Gallery and Video

I just don't want to be right!

New Information Revealed About Don't Ask Don't Tell

Never Be Afraid to Be Yourself

Justice for all!

Transgender People Protest Discriminatory Bathroom Policies Via Social Media - (10) Images Gallery

Tags:

cause gay lgbt news evolutional explanation scientists homosexuality evolution same gender dr fleischman sexual behavior social bonds reproduce science

Stay tuned! get more from
lgbtfeed to your inbox

- See more at: http://lgbtfeed.com/post/there_is_an_evolutional_explanation_why_you_are_gay#sthash.AneXXY5D.dpuf

There Is an Evolutional Explanation Why You Are Gay - See more at: http://lgbtfeed.com/post/there_is_an_evolutional_explanation_why_you_are_gay#sthash.AneXXY5D.dpuf

Via FB:

Via Hadley-Ives family update

A response to a Gay Baha'i - by Eric Hadley-Ives

Back before the Internet's widespread use, when people were using electronic bulletin boards and e-mail lists to discuss various things, I was often engaged in groups that discussed the Baha'i Faith.  Back then, a common topic was the fact that our religion, the Baha'i Faith, teaches that people ought not express love through homosexual behaviors.  The sources of that teaching, the actual teaching, how that teaching is interpreted, what was actually intended, how the teaching is implemented in Baha'i community life... all these things were regularly discussed.  And then, in the later 1990s more people became involved in internet discussions of these things.  It seemed to me the same things kept getting discussed, and the same ideas were repeated so often that I became very bored with the whole topic.  It's been over ten years since I've ever posted on this topic, but a recent blog post inspired me to write about it again.  I think I offer a few insights that are not often repeated in these discussions.
I've never actually cared much about this issue.  For a while, perhaps for several months when I was in my late teens or early 20s, I did think that homosexuality was probably unhealthy or wrong, but I never felt any emotional negativity about gay people. I've had very close friends, whom I loved very much, admit that they felt homosexual attraction to me, and I have felt some slight regret that I was never able to reciprocate those feelings in any way, and I have sometimes felt that my non-sexual or non-erotic love for other men has been devalued because, in general, American culture devalues non-sexualized love.  But, anyway, gay behaviors don't strike me as worth much attention, outside of the social context that makes them important (because of the persecution of gay people). I understand that because many people feel extremely prejudiced against gay people, and society inflicts harm on gay persons, therefore we have a need to protect the rights of gay people, and defend them, and so forth, and that appeals to me.  But, having never had strong emotions about it, I sometimes don't understand the fuss at an emotional level.  Some people enjoy playing chess, and some don't, but who cares?  If there was no persecution and discrimination against homosexuality, people's sexual orientation would be, for me, of about the same importance as people's orientation toward enjoying a game of chess.
I am, however, very thankful for the social critique that gay activists have brought to us, because in my opinion, heterosexual behaviors are generally quite problematic in this world; and I think gay theorists give us some very useful insights into the problems of sexism, homophobia, machismo, and so forth.

Anyway, I'll share my response to the blog post here on my own blog.  The original post to which I was responding was at this link, and may still be there.
*******
Thanks for sharing a lovely essay with the world. Your heart seems pure and loving, and your faith seems strong.  I agree with your friend, the Baha'i Faith needs famous gay Baha'is who stick with the Faith.
A few points to consider:
Homosexuality and homosexual behaviors, and the experiences of homosexual behavior or identity, will be extremely diverse. In different times and places, with various cultures, such behaviors have been quite frequent or extremely rare. Evidently, the social context matters for how people express their sexuality.
There is always a biological (emerging from our biochemistry and evolution quite independently of the family and cultural environment we grow up in) element to everything in human behavior. Obviously.  What else could there be? Even supernatural or spiritual aspects will be manifested in actual body changes and chemistry, which will exist because of biological evolution.
Homosexual behavior and feelings, or sexual orientation, in general, speaking about populations of humans, seems to exist along a continuum, which is sometimes measured by the Kinsey scale.  If you are at an extreme end of the Kinsey scale, your orientation may be purely homosexual or heterosexual, but some sexuality researchers believe most people exist along the continuum, and it is our language (which divides us into pure categories) which pushes us into "homosexual" or "heterosexual" categories (although, if you are at extreme end of the scale, you would presumably be purely homosexual or heterosexual, and so, from that point of view, it might be appropriate to think of the issue in dichotomous--homosexual or not homosexual--terms).
All speech is, to some degree, political.  After all, Baha'u'llah pointed out that "utterance is an essence which aspires to exert an influence".  When we use language, we are attempting to influence others.  "Politics" (broadly defined) is the effort to influence others.  So, suggesting someone's work is "politically motivated" rarely tells us much that is useful.  What work isn't?
The Baha'i Faith and the "Cause of God" can be understood in many ways.  In one sense, the Baha'i Cause is the general cause of God for this age and for all ages: people ought to create societies that maximize human flourishing and happiness; people ought to be ethical and treat each other well; men and women ought to be equal; prejudices should be eliminated; peace should replace war; justice should dominate, while tyranny and injustice should be diminished; people should cultivate their spiritual natures and seek to worship and respect the Divine, etc. In such a general sense, many people who have never heard of the Baha'i Faith are already "Baha'is".  In another sense, Baha'is are members of the organized religion of the Baha'i Faith.  To what extent that organized religion is an imperfect but honest attempt by flawed human beings to create a system and organization that reflects the intentions of Will of the Creator of the Universe, and to what extent it is an actual incarnation of the Will of that Creator, is somewhat mysterious, and it may be impossible to distinguish those two aspects of religion (its existence as a creation of humans and their societies, and its existence as a supernatural embodiment of Providence).  In another sense, the "Baha'is" are persons who actually live up to the teachings and ideals promoted and revealed by Baha'u'llah, and in that ideal sense, everyone can strive to be a Baha'i, but no one should expect to actually be one, just as no one can realistically expect to be "perfect" in some absolute moral sense.  
Baha'i individuals and Baha'i communities vary tremendously in regards to their strengths and weaknesses, their failures and successes. Gay Baha'is might be able to find complete acceptance and love in some Baha'i communities, and certainly in some loving friendships with Baha'i individuals, whereas in other communities the homosexual Baha'is might suffer cruel persecution and ostracism.
Religions must offer guidance to persons in many different cultures, in many different times. On one hand, they need to stand above historical trends, so they can condemn what is wrong, even in times when what is wrong becomes widely accepted.  On the other hand, they must also be flexible, embracing moral thinking and new insights about reality as civilization advances and humanity matures.
When it comes to moral laws and truth, we must consider what is absolutely true, and what is true in particular contexts.  As a thought experiment, imagine that homosexual identities and behaviors are objectively morally correct and favored by God in 0.5% of humanity, discouraged but tolerated in 1.5% of humanity, and spiritually harmful in 98% of humanity.  Suppose that human nature being what it is, if a religion is entirely supportive of homosexual behaviors and identities, 5% of the population would identify as homosexual, and 20% would sometimes engage in homosexual behaviors; whereas if a religion is mildly unaccepting and discouraging, only about 0.5% of its believers will take on the homosexual identity and perhaps fewer than 2% will ever engage in homosexual behaviors.  From a utilitarian point of view, if that was the objective situation, which position would be more spiritually healthy for the religion to take?  But, I'm not a strict utilitarian, and the psychological and social suffering of the small minority who would persist in following their core nature in their homosexuality while worrying about their rejection of the guidance offered by their religion concerns me.  And, by the way, I'm not at all certain the scenario I've suggested bears any resemblance to the actual situation. Perhaps homosexuality in the modern North American sense is objectively morally neutral, and what Shoghi Effendi was describing was the homosexual behaviors he knew from the Middle East and upper-class 1920s England. Or, perhaps homosexuality really is a spiritual sickness or distortion in all its forms and manifestations. I don't know, and I don't even have an opinion, it just doesn't matter to me, as there are so many other problems in the world that are very clearly wrong.  
God doesn't seem overly concerned with our psychological suffering or physical suffering.  After all, this universe relies on natural selection, with all the death and misery that includes, and uses predation, competition for scarce resources, mutations, diseases, and death, as the process that forms atoms and molecules into bodies capable of manifesting the human spirit. Also, natural evil, like the disasters that kills thousands, millions, or possibly somewhere in the universe, billions of lives, seem fairly regular.  God seems mostly concerned with our spiritual well-being, and supposedly, when we understand that, the emotional, mental, and physical suffering we sometimes endure may seem more acceptable, since such suffering offers us opportunities for spiritual growth.
I hope some of these ideas or observations are useful in our mutual search for truth and "whatever is pleasing to God".  Please remember that I write with no more authority than anyone else on this subject. 

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Jackson Browne - A Child In These Hills - Jackson Browne (1972)