Intention Is Everything
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Friday, October 16, 2015
Today's Daily Dharma: Intention Is Everything
Thursday, October 15, 2015
Via The Huffington Post: Federal Report Calls For End To 'Conversion Therapy' For LGBT Youth The practice is "inappropriate and reinforces harmful gender stereotypes."
Advocates of conversion therapy argue that gay people can change their sexual orientation with help, which often includes religious efforts. The therapy stems from the once accepted -- but now discredited -- belief that homosexuality is a mental disorder that can be cured.
SAMHSA's report concludes that "none of the existing research" supports that premise.
"Directing the child or adolescent to conform to any particular gender expression or identity, or directing parents and guardians to place pressure on the child or adolescent to conform to specific gender expressions and/or identities, is inappropriate and reinforces harmful gender stereotypes," SAMHSA's report says.
The report follows the White House's criticism of the practice in April, in response to an online petition following the death of 17-year-old transgender youth Leelah Alcorn, who died after her parents forced her to attend conversion therapy. Senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said at the time that the administration "supports efforts to ban the use of conversion therapy for minors."
On Thursday, she told reporters that the administration was pleased to present SAMHSA's report, which is the first in-depth federal look at conversion therapy.
"It's not our job to tell parents how to raise their children. But it is our responsibility to provide parents with the scientific evidence necessary in order for them to make the best possible decisions when raising their children," Jarrett said. "We do strongly believe that young people should be valued for who they are, no matter what they look like, where they're from, the gender with which they identify or who they love."
In May, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) introduced the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act, which would classify conversion therapy as a fraudulent practice that would be illegal under the Federal Trade Commission Act. If passed, Lieu's bill would also ban all advertising that claims the therapy can successfully change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.
In a statement Thursday, Lieu said the new report "makes it clear that so-called ‘conversion therapy’ is psychological child abuse -- plain and simple."
SAMHSA recommends a number of steps to end conversion therapy for minors, including reducing discrimination toward LGBT individuals and providing better information and training for behavioral health providers, as well as taking legislative or legal action.
Four states and the District of Columbia have already passed laws banning the practice for minors, and 21 other states have introduced similar legislation, according to the report.
"We recognize that the significant health disparities faced by LGBT youth -- in particular, issues related to suicide, depression, substance abuse and homelessness, among many others -- often relate to experiences of family rejection due to their sexual orientation, their gender identity or their gender expression," said Elliot Kennedy, special expert on LGBT affairs at SAMHSA, on Thursday.
Major health organizations have rejected conversion therapy as well, with many concluding that it can cause significant physical and psychological harm.
Read about The Huffington Post's Gabriel Arana's experience undergoing this "ex-gay therapy" as a teenager, from his article in The American Prospect in April 2012.
Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
Make the jump here to read the original and full story
Via Mavaddat Javid: Bahai Faith Discriminates on Homosexuals
Today's Daily Dharma: The Act of Apology
The Act of Apology
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Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Via WGB: America, the Hateful (Part Two)
America, the Hateful
By Lawrence Pfeil, Jr.
Part II
The fact that gay and lesbian Americans have won the battle for marriage equality may not bode well for hate crime trends in the future. According to June’s vocative.com article:
“In the past, marriage equality legislation has been speculatively linked to violence against the LGBT community. When France legalized same-sex marriage in 2013, it was accompanied by a reported 30 percent increase in such attacks. In 2009, a surge in anti-gay hate crimes in California was blamed on controversy surrounding Prop 8, a state ban on same-sex marriage. At the time, a Santa Clara County prosecutor in charge of tracking hate crimes said, ‘My belief from having done this work for many years is that surges in types of hate incidents are linked to the headlines and controversies of the day.’”
With 2015 also being a high water mark for transgender people, there is certainly reason for those in the Community to be apprehensive as well. On October 7th, Human Rights Campaign reported the murder of 22-year old Keisha Jenkins of Philadelphia, the 20th transgender person killed in America during this record setting year, with three months to go. As transgender activist Bamby Salcedo put it, “We’re also living a double-edged sword. When there’s increasing visibility, there’s also increasing hate towards our community.”
To believe anti-LGBT violence in America will simply “blow over” or fade with growing acceptance is to live in a fool’s paradise. One only needs to look at the explosion of new hate groups after the election of President Barack Obama; the systemic violence towards the Black community; or the massacre in Charleston at an AME Bible study to know it isn’t true. People are addicted to their hate.
Social conservatives, evangelical Christians, as well as others who don’t want to know better are clearly outraged by the seismic shift in LGBT civil rights. Fueled by media outlets, religious leaders, and political candidates bent on turning back the clock of equality, they’re not going to go away or change anytime soon.
People like the Tennessee hardware store owner posting and selling “No Gays Allowed” merchandise and government officials imposing their personal beliefs on others by refusing to uphold the Constitution which they have sworn an oath to do, are prime examples of such. Yes, they are guaranteed their freedom of speech and freedom of religion. But if the merchandise said “No Blacks Allowed” and marriage licenses were being denied to interracial couples, the hate and discrimination would not be tolerated.
How is it different from anti-gay graffiti, transgender slurs, or gender nonconformity bullying? It’s not, including those against the most vulnerable, children. Lambda Legal website states, “There is no constitutional right to be a bully…and the kind of behavior that school authorities are expected to control or prevent.” And yet, many administrators fail to do so adding to the epidemic of “self-inflicted hate crimes,” LGBT adolescent suicide.
These various kinds of actions not only foster fertile ground, but plant the seeds of greater, more widespread, and ultimately violent acts of hate. As Shannon Minter of the National Center for Lesbian Rights said, “We all have a responsibility to stop this violence. We all have an obligation to speak up, to do something.”
For decades LGBTs have been urged to step out of the closet and into the Community. Now it’s time for the Community and its allies to step up and step in when they witness hate and stop it before it can take root and grow into violence. For America to become beautiful, it must have vigilant gardeners tending to it so life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness can hope to thrive.
Get Involved
State by state laws and advocacy
National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs
Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 14/10/2015
“Até hoje nós, enquanto sociedade humana, estivemos interessados em
explorar e conquistar a matéria. Isso ocorre porque estamos em um
estágio ainda primitivo de evolução. Mas a inteligência criadora já está
podendo nos dar provas de que precisamos nos mover em outra direção,
caso contrário seremos extintos. Nós precisamos nos mover em direção à
consciência amorosa, e para isso precisamos deixar de explorar a matéria
e nos tornar exploradores da consciência.”
“Hasta hoy nosotros, como sociedad humana, estuvimos interesados en
explorar y conquistar la materia. Esto ocurre porque estamos en un
estadio aún primitivo de evolución. Pero la inteligencia creadora ya
está pudiendo darnos pruebas de que necesitamos movernos en otra
dirección, si no seremos extinguidos. Precisamos movernos en dirección a
la consciencia amorosa, y para eso necesitamos dejar de explorar la
materia y volvernos exploradores de la consciencia.”
“Up until now, humanity as a whole has been interested in exploring and conquering the material world. This has been so because we are still in a relatively primitive stage of our evolution. However, the Creative Intelligence has already been showing us that it’s time for us to move in another direction; otherwise, we will become extinct. We need to move towards loving consciousness, which means leaving behind our exploration of the world of matter and instead becoming explorers of consciousness.”
“Up until now, humanity as a whole has been interested in exploring and conquering the material world. This has been so because we are still in a relatively primitive stage of our evolution. However, the Creative Intelligence has already been showing us that it’s time for us to move in another direction; otherwise, we will become extinct. We need to move towards loving consciousness, which means leaving behind our exploration of the world of matter and instead becoming explorers of consciousness.”
day's Daily Dharma: Awareness Arises Naturally
Awareness Arises Naturally
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Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Via LionsRoar: Meditation: Be Kind to Yourself
A three-step contemplation to give yourself the compassion you need (and deserve).
- Put both hands on your heart, pause, and feel their warmth. You can also put your hand anyplace on your body that feels soothing and comforting, like your belly or face.
- Breathe deeply in and out.
- Speak these words to yourself, out loud or silently, in a warm and caring tone:
This is a moment of suffering. Suffering is a part of life.
May I be kind to myself in this moment.
May I give myself the compassion I need.
The first phrase, This is a moment of suffering, is designed to bring mindfulness to the fact that you’re in pain. Other possible wordings are I’m having a really tough time right now, This hurts, or anything that describes the suffering you are experiencing.
The second phrase, Suffering is a part of life, reminds you that imperfection is part of the shared human experience. Other possible wordings are Everyone feels this way sometimes, This is part of being human, etc.
The third phrase, May I be kind to myself in this moment, helps bring a sense of caring concern to your present-moment experience. Other possible wordings are May I love and support myself right now, May I accept myself as I am, etc.
The final phrase, May I give myself the compassion I need, firmly sets your intention to be self-compassionate. You might use other words such as May I remember that I am worthy of compassion, May I give myself the same compassion I would give to a good friend, etc.
Find the wordings for these four phrases that are the most comfortable for you and memorize them. Then, the next time you judge yourself or have a difficult experience, you can use these phrases as a way of reminding yourself to be self-compassionate. This practice is a handy tool to soothe and calm troubled states of mind.
Make the jump here to read the original and more!
Via Sri Prem BabaFlor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 13/10/2015
“De todos os estágios da desidentificação com a natureza inferior o
mais difícil é a identificação do prazer negativo. Mas, estando
verdadeiramente comprometido, você consegue. E quando você vê os
desdobramentos e o impacto que essa condição causa na sua vida e na vida
das pessoas a sua volta, você começa a querer largar esse padrão. Nesse
momento você pode enxergar o que está te prendendo e encontrar o núcleo
do apego. E esse é o início do desapego.”
“De todos los estadios de la desidentificación con la naturaleza
inferior el más difícil es la identificación del placer negativo. Pero
estando verdaderamente comprometido, lo consigues. Y cuando ves los
desdoblamientos y el impacto que esa condición causa en tu vida y en la
vida de las personas cercanas, comienzas a querer soltar ese patrón. En
ese momento puedes ver lo que te está tomando y encontrar el núcleo del
apego. Y ese es el inicio del desapego.”
“Of all the stages within the process of de-identifying from the lower self, the most difficult is to identify our negatively orientated pleasure. If we are truly committed to this endeavor, then we will succeed. When we see all of its unfoldings and the impacts it has had on our lives and the lives of those around us, we begin to truly want to let go of this pattern. In this moment, we are able to see what has been keeping us stuck and we encounter the root of this attachment. This marks the beginning of the detachment process.”
“Of all the stages within the process of de-identifying from the lower self, the most difficult is to identify our negatively orientated pleasure. If we are truly committed to this endeavor, then we will succeed. When we see all of its unfoldings and the impacts it has had on our lives and the lives of those around us, we begin to truly want to let go of this pattern. In this moment, we are able to see what has been keeping us stuck and we encounter the root of this attachment. This marks the beginning of the detachment process.”
Today's Daily Dharma: Understanding Understanding
Understanding Understanding
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Monday, October 12, 2015
Via WGB: America, the Hateful
By Lawrence Pfeil, Jr.
Part I
Seventeen years ago today, a college student died from his injuries after being abducted by two men, bound to a fence, beaten beyond recognition, and left to freeze in the Wyoming night. According to police reports, the only part of Matthew Shepard’s face not covered with blood when they found him was where his tears had washed it away.
Two years ago, a Texan lured a man to his house; imprisoned and bound his wrists with an electrical cord. He brutally beat him, causing numerous skull/facial fractures before throwing the man in the trunk of his own car and driving to a friend’s. The victim, A.K., was eventually taken to an EMS station and survived after spending ten days in the hospital.
Both men were targeted for violent and vicious crimes because of who they were, because they lived openly, because they were gay.
And while the perpetrators were brought to justice and imprisoned, little has lessened the occurrence of hate crimes against LGBTs in America, not even with the passage of the Shepard/Byrd Federal Hate Crime Prevention Act in 2009. What it has changed is the way federal hate crime data is collected and reported, and the numbers are nearly as shocking as the crimes themselves.
FBI Hate Crime Statistics 2013, released last December, showed 20.8% of the nearly 6,000 reported hate crimes were related to sexual orientation, 1,402 in total, 60.6% of which were against gay men specifically. Break it down and someone in the LGBT Community is victimized roughly every four hours in America.
What’s more, these statistics may dramatically underappreciate the size of the problem as they only account for reported incidents that have been classified by police as hate crimes. In an article from June 22, 2015, on vocative.com, Senior Fellow, Mark Potok, of The Southern Poverty Law Center said, based on Bureau of Justice survey statistics, “The best estimates suggest that the real number of hate crimes are up to 40 times larger than the numbers contained in the FBI reports.”
A recent article in Time magazine (Aug 17, 20015) quoted, Shannon Minter, Legal Director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights as saying, “ Most state laws don’t require the collection of such [hate crime] statistics.” Mara Keisling, of the National Center for Transgender Equality went on to say, “A lot of jurisdictions report zeroes, even in places where we know there are hate crimes.”
According to Human Rights Campaign website, “Currently, 15 states have laws that addresses hate or bias crimes based, but do not address sexual orientation or gender identity. Only five states (Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Wyoming) don’t have laws addressing the scourge of hate crimes.”
It’s interesting to note the dichotomy of hate crime incidents vs location as well. States like California, New York, and Massachusetts which rate as most LGBT “friendly” are also consistently in the top ten places reporting hate crimes. By contrast, states like Mississippi report little to no incidents of hate crimes. Has the Southern Bible Belt suddenly become a bastion of LGBT acceptance?
One possible explanation may seem counterintuitive but holds a good deal of merit. In “friendly” states LGBTs feel free to live out and openly making them A) more visible targets B) more likely to actually report hate crimes and C) find sympathetic law enforcement with the training to address LGBT issues. In conservative/religious/rural areas with open animosity towards LGBTs and the equality they’ve gained, the opposite of all three is likely to be true.
Case in point… Bromwell antique store in Cincinnati Ohio, a pro-gay business displaying the pride colors, was vandalized two days after the SCOTUS marriage equality ruling in June. While it was the only store front damaged on the street, police are not treating it as a hate crime and at least one City Councilman questioned the claim.
2015 may not be the turning point in LGBT equality and justice under law that the Community had hoped. Part II of “America, the Hateful” will look at what the future may hold and the challenges it brings with it.
Lean More
10 Anti-gay Myths Debunked
“Assault on Gay America”
Ram Dass interviews Thich Nhat Hanh
Two of my favorite Spiritual Teachers in dialogue with one another. Ram Das interviews Thich Nhat Hanh.
Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 12/10/2015
“Quando puder olhar para o que é transitório e não se identificar, você
terá encontrado a saída do labirinto da mente que o mantém prisioneiro
de padrões negativos. Podemos resumir a busca espiritual em uma única
palavra: desapego. Identificação é sinônimo de apego. Você se apega a
pensamentos, sentimentos, sensações e a tudo o que passa por você, pois a
mente tem essa característica de reter e segurar. O seu trabalho é
deixar passar. Assim como o céu observa as nuvens passarem e não as
acompanha, você observa os pensamentos sem se identificar com eles.”
“Cuando puedas mirar lo que es transitorio sin identificarte, habrás
encontrado la salida del laberinto de la mente que te mantiene
prisionero de patrones negativos. Podemos resumir la búsqueda espiritual
en una única palabra: desapego. Identificación es sinónimo de apego. Te
apegas a pensamientos, sentimientos, sensaciones y a todo lo que pasa
por ti, porque la mente tiene esa característica de retener y sujetar.
Tu trabajo es dejar pasar. Así como el cielo observa las nubes pasar y
no las acompaña, tú observas los pensamientos sin identificarte con
ellos.”
“When we are able to look at what is transitory without getting identified with it, we will have found the exit from the labyrinth of the mind that keeps you hostage to negative patterns. We could summarize the spiritual search into one word: detachment. To be identified is to be attached. We are attached to our thoughts, feelings, sensations and everything that happens to us. The mind has the tendency to hold onto these experiences and keep them alive, and our work is to let it all pass. Just as the sky observes the clouds as they pass without going with them, we observe our thoughts without becoming identified with them.”
“When we are able to look at what is transitory without getting identified with it, we will have found the exit from the labyrinth of the mind that keeps you hostage to negative patterns. We could summarize the spiritual search into one word: detachment. To be identified is to be attached. We are attached to our thoughts, feelings, sensations and everything that happens to us. The mind has the tendency to hold onto these experiences and keep them alive, and our work is to let it all pass. Just as the sky observes the clouds as they pass without going with them, we observe our thoughts without becoming identified with them.”
Today's Daily Dharma: Extending Arms and Hearts
Extending Arms and Hearts
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