A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Vua GayStarNews: Canada to accept gay refugees from Syria
ISIS have executed dozens of gay men in Iraq and Syria
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Canada will accept 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of February with priority given to families, vulnerable women, gay men, lesbians and LGBTI people.
Tuesday’s (24 November) announcement comes after it was reported that the government would not accept single young men as they could pose a security risk.
But the government has now said it will sponsor gay men and those who identify as members of the LGBTI community, according CBC News.
‘The government is aware that gays could be persecuted, and therefore plans to include them in the selection process aimed at rescuing some of the region’s most vulnerable refugees,’ the Ottawa Citizen reported.
Over the last year, ISIS has executed dozens of men accused of being gay in its controlled areas of Iraq and Syria.
‘We have a responsibility to significantly expand our refugee targets and give more victims of war a safe haven in Canada,’ said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
‘The resettling of vulnerable refugees is a clear demonstration of this. While our plan is ambitious, it reflects Canada’s commitment to share responsibility and offer protection to those who need it.
Canada must once again be regarded as the compassionate, generous country we’ve always been.’
Canada has already accepted 3,089 Syrian refugees, and will invest up to $678 million over the next six years toward resettling and integrating the 25,000 new arrivals.
Click here to read the original and more
Via Sri Prem Baba: Sri Prem Baba participará do TEDxSãoPaulo
Olá Amigos!
Amanha 26/11 às 19h | Sri Prem Baba participará do TEDxSãoPaulo.
Os ingressos já estão esgotados mas todo o evento será transmitido ao vivo através do link: http://livestream.com/tedx
Saiba mais: https://www.facebook.com/
#sriprembaba #prembaba #tedxsp #tedx
Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day 25/11/2015
“A educação pública deveria oferecer mais espaço para as crianças se
expressarem. Na maioria das vezes, tanto na escola como em casa, a
criança não tem a chance de se expressar como precisa, especialmente no
que diz respeito a sentimentos de natureza sombria. Criança também sente
raiva, inveja, culpa... Mas não aprende a lidar com isso e geralmente é
reprimida. Um dos grandes obstáculos é a religião horizontal que exige
que a criança seja boazinha e não admite a existência da maldade. A
criança reprime esses aspectos sombrios e isso cria uma série de
dificuldades que perduram até a vida adulta. Portanto, um espaço para a
criança elaborar esses assuntos é muito importante.”
“La educación pública debería ofrecer más espacio para que los niños se
expresen. La mayoría de las veces, tanto en la escuela como en casa, el
niño no tiene la oportunidad de expresarse como necesita, especialmente
en lo que respecta a sentimientos de naturaleza sombría. El niño
también siente rabia, envidia, culpa... Pero no aprende a lidiar con eso
y generalmente es reprimido. Uno de los grandes obstáculos es la
religión horizontal que exige que el niño sea buenito y no admite la
existencia de la maldad. El niño reprime esos aspectos sombríos y eso
crea una serie de dificultades que perduran hasta la vida adulta. Por lo
tanto, un espacio para que el niño pueda elaborar esos asuntos es muy
importante.”
“Public schooling ought to offer more room for children to express themselves. In most cases in school as well as at home, children aren’t given the opportunity to express themselves as they need to, especially when it comes to saying anything regarding feelings from their shadowy nature. Children also feel anger, jealousy, guilt and so forth, but they don't learn how to deal with these feelings and they are generally repressed. One of our great obstacles are horizontal religions, as they demand that children be good and don’t fess up to the existence of evil. Children repress these shadowy aspects and this creates a series of challenges that last through their adult life. That's why it's so important for children to have the space to elaborate on these issues.”
“Public schooling ought to offer more room for children to express themselves. In most cases in school as well as at home, children aren’t given the opportunity to express themselves as they need to, especially when it comes to saying anything regarding feelings from their shadowy nature. Children also feel anger, jealousy, guilt and so forth, but they don't learn how to deal with these feelings and they are generally repressed. One of our great obstacles are horizontal religions, as they demand that children be good and don’t fess up to the existence of evil. Children repress these shadowy aspects and this creates a series of challenges that last through their adult life. That's why it's so important for children to have the space to elaborate on these issues.”
Via LionsRoar: A Future Is Possible by Thich Nhat Hanh
Photo by Paul Davis.
When we see people living mindfully, smiling and behaving in a loving manner, we gain confidence in our future.
There’s a lot of suffering in the world, and it’s important for us to stay in touch with this suffering in order to be compassionate. But to remain strong, we also need to embrace the positive elements. When we see a group of people living mindfully, smiling and behaving in a loving manner, we gain confidence in our future. When we practice mindful breathing, smiling, resting, walking, and working, we become a positive element in society, and we will inspire confidence in everyone around us. This is the way to avoid allowing despair to overwhelm us. It is also the way to help the younger generation so they don’t lose hope. It’s very important that we live our daily lives in such a way as to demonstrate that a future is possible.To bring about real change in our global ecological situation our efforts must be collective and harmonious, based on love and respect for ourselves and each other, our ancestors, and future generations. If anger at injustice is what we use as the source of our energy, we may do something harmful, something we will later regret. According to Buddhism, compassion is the only source of energy that is useful and safe. With compassion your energy is born from insight; it’s not blind energy. Just feeling compassion is not enough; we have to learn to express it. That is why love must always go together with understanding. Understanding and insight show us how to act.
Adapted from The World We Have. Look inside the January issue of the Shambhala Sun, dedicated to the life and teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh. For a limited time, use this link to subscribe and start your subscription with this special issue (U.S. subscribers only).
Today's Daily Dharma: Arising and Subsiding
Arising and Subsiding
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Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Gayatri Mantra 108 Times With Lyrics - Chanting By Brahmins - Peaceful Chant
Oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ
tát savitúr váreṇyaṃ
bhárgo devásya dhīmahi
dhíyo yó naḥ pracodáyāt
Via JMG: Pew Research: White Christians No Longer A Majority
Pew Research: White Christians No Longer A Majority
Politico reports:
White Christians now make up less than half of the U.S. population, largely receding from the majorities of most demographic groups, with one notable exception: the Republican Party. According to the latest results from Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape survey published Monday by National Journal’s Next America project, just 46 percent of American adults are white Christians, down from 55 percent in 2007.
At the same time, according to the report, the share of white Christians identifying as Republican has remained steady, even equal with the share of the party that carried President Ronald Reagan to his 1984 reelection. Nearly seven in 10 white Christians — 69 percent — identify with or lean toward the GOP, while just 31 percent do the same with Democrats.More from the National Journal:
Even as White Christians shrink in their overall numbers, they still account for nearly seven-in-10 Americans who identify with, or lean toward, the Republican Party, the Pew study found. White Christians, in fact, represent as large a share of the Republican coalition today as they did of American society overall in 1984, when Ronald Reagan won reelection. A clear majority of all White Christians across the United States now identify as Republican, Pew found.
In sharp contrast, the Pew data show, the Democratic coalition has evolved into a three-legged stool that divides almost evenly between White Christians, non-White Christians, and those from all races who identify either with a non-Christian faith or, increasingly, with no religious tradition at all. Most Americans who don’t identify with any religious faith – a rapidly growing group—now align with Democrats.
Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day 24/11/2015
“Você está aqui para aprender a dirigir o seu veículo, o corpo. A mente
é parte do corpo. Se o veículo anda sem condutor, inevitavelmente
encontra um poste ou um abismo. Se a mente não tem condutor, ela é
conduzida por impulsos inconscientes.Conduzir o veículo significa
escolher quando e para onde você vai.Essa é uma metáfora para o estado
de equanimidade mental gerado pela presença. Isso só é possível quando
você pode ocupar o seu corpo.”
“Estás aquí para aprender a manejar tu vehículo, el cuerpo. La mente es
parte del cuerpo. Si el vehículo anda sin conductor, inevitablemente
encuentra un poste o un abismo. Si la mente no tiene conductor, es
conducida por impulsos inconscientes. Conducir el vehículo significa
elegir cuándo y para dónde vas. Esta es una metáfora para el estado de
ecuanimidad mental generado por la presencia. Esto solo es posible
cuando puedes ocupar tu cuerpo.”
“You are here to learn how to drive your vehicle, which is your body. The mind is a part of the body. If the vehicle moves without a driver, it will inevitably drive into a light post, or worse,down a cliff. If the mind doesn’t have a driver, it is conducted by unconscious impulses. Driving a vehicle means deciding when and where you want to go. This is a metaphor for the state of mental equanimity generated by presence. This is only possible when you are able to occupy your body.”
“You are here to learn how to drive your vehicle, which is your body. The mind is a part of the body. If the vehicle moves without a driver, it will inevitably drive into a light post, or worse,down a cliff. If the mind doesn’t have a driver, it is conducted by unconscious impulses. Driving a vehicle means deciding when and where you want to go. This is a metaphor for the state of mental equanimity generated by presence. This is only possible when you are able to occupy your body.”
Today's Daily Dharma: Two Aspects of the Path
Two Aspects of the Path
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Monday, November 23, 2015
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