Today's Daily Dharma: All There Is

All There Is

Wherever there is the death of one state of mind there is the birth of another, and linking the two there is bardo. The past has gone and the future has not yet come: we cannot catch that in-between moment, yet it is really all there is.

—Francesca Fremantle, "The Secret Life of the Street"

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Coldplay Performs 'Adventure of a Lifetime'

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day 06/12/2015

“A verdade é muito simples. A complexidade existe porque tentamos fugir da verdade. A mentira é muito complexa. Ela é a mais sutil e menos óbvia matriz do eu inferior. Ela se manifesta como autoengano – o autoengano da falsa ideia de eu. O sofrimento está sentado em cima da mentira, enquanto a verdade é a base para a alegria.”

“La verdad es muy simple. La complejidad existe porque intentamos huir de la verdad. La mentira es muy compleja. Es la más sutil y menos obvia matriz del yo inferior. Se manifiesta como autoengaño - el auto-engaño de la falsa idea de yo. El sufrimiento está sentado arriba de la mentira, mientras que la verdad es la base de la alegría.”

"The truth is very simple. Things become complicated when we try to escape the truth. Lies are very complex. Deceit is the most subtle and least obvious matrix of the lower self. Lies manifest as self-deception, which is the false idea of the self. Suffering comes from lies, whereas the truth is the foundation for joy."

Celebrate Togetherness

Home. Heart. Holiday. "The Homecoming"

Today's Daily Dharma: The Consequence of Forgetfulness

The Consequence of Forgetfulness

If we live in forgetfulness rather than in mindfulness—in a dream—we are creating violence without being aware of it. The way we live our daily lives and the way we consume creates a lot of suffering, a lot of injustice. We think it does not harm us, or others, but it can be very violent.

—Thich Nhat Hanh, "Waking Up the Nation"

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Today's Daily Dharma: Brave Enough to Be Unsure

Brave Enough to Be Unsure

Becoming intimate with the queasy feeling of being in the middle of nowhere only makes our hearts more tender. . . . By not knowing, not hoping to know, and not acting like we know what's happening, we begin to access our inner strength.

—Pema Chodron, "The In-between State"

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Bill Murray gives a surprising and meaningful answer you might not expect.

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Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day

“Liberdade significa não estar preso a absolutamente nada. Somente quando não está preso a nada é que você pode sustentar o êxtase, a alegria sem causa, o contentamento perene que não se abala com nada.”

“Libertad significa no estar atado a absolutamente nada. Solamente cuando no estás atado a nada es que puedes sustentar el éxtasis, la alegría sin causa, el contentamiento perenne que no se quiebra por nada.”

"Freedom means not being tied to absolutely anything. Only when one is no longer attached to anything can one sustain ecstasy, joy without cause and an enduring contentment that nothing can deter."

Today's Daily Dharma: Of Benefit to All

Of Benefit to All

There are a variety of skillful means and practices in Buddhism to awaken the wisdom and compassion at the core of who we really are. When our true nature is awakened, all our activities are spontaneously of benefit.

—Lama Palden, "The Gateway to Compassion"

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Via Natural Cures Not Medicine / FB:

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día -Flower of the day 03/12/2015

“Deus está a seu favor, o universo está a seu favor, a vida está a seu favor – mesmo que, as vezes, as coisas não aconteçam do jeito que você quer, do jeito que você espera. Liberte-se de qualquer expectativa ou necessidade de segurança. Essa é a verdadeira liberdade.”

“Dios está a tu favor, el universo está a tu favor, la vida está a tu favor -incluso si, a veces, las cosas no suceden de la manera que quieres, de la manera que esperas. Libérate de cualquier expectativa o necesidad de seguridad. Esta es la verdadera libertad.”

"God is in your favor, the Universe is in your favor, and life is in your favor – even if, sometimes, things don’t happen the way you wanted or the way you expected. Free yourself of any expectations or need for security. This is true freedom."

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Today's Daily Dharma: Our Own Beating Heart

Our Own Beating Heart

Any time we feel sorrow, any time we are touched by the suffering of another being, we reconnect with our own beating heart and the quality of lovingkindness. When empathy spontaneously arises, we sense the power of love as a blessing revealed by adversity.

—Judith L. Lief, "Welcome to the Real World"

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Via JMG: White House Issues World AIDS Day Proclamation

November 30, 2015 LGBT News

President Obama tonight issued his annual World AIDS Day proclamation. It reads:

More than three decades ago, the first known cases of HIV/AIDS sparked an epidemic in the United States — ushering in a time defined by how little we knew about it and in which those affected by it faced fear and stigmatization. We have made extraordinary progress in the fight against HIV since that time, but much work remains to be done. On World AIDS Day, we remember those who we have lost to HIV/AIDS, celebrate the triumphs earned through the efforts of scores of advocates and providers, pledge our support for those at risk for or living with HIV, and rededicate our talents and efforts to achieving our goal of an AIDS-free generation.

Today, more people are receiving life-saving treatment for HIV than ever before, and millions of HIV infections have been prevented. Still, more than 36 million people around the world live with HIV — including nearly 3 million children. My Administration is committed to ending the spread of HIV and improving the lives of all who live with it. In the United States, the Affordable Care Act has allowed more people to access coverage for preventive services like HIV testing, and new health plans are now required to offer HIV screening with no cost sharing. Insurance companies can no longer discriminate against individuals living with HIV/AIDS or any other pre-existing condition. Additionally, this year marks the 25th anniversary of the Ryan White CARE Act, which established the Ryan White Program — a program that helps provide needed care to the most vulnerable individuals and touches over half of all people living with HIV in America.

To further our fight to end the HIV epidemic, my Administration released our country’s first comprehensive National HIV/AIDS Strategy in 2010. The Strategy provided a clear framework for changing the way we talk about HIV, and it offered a critical roadmap that prioritizes our Nation’s response to this epidemic and organizes the ways we deliver HIV services. Earlier this year, I signed an Executive Order to update the Strategy through 2020, focusing on expanding HIV testing and care, widening support for those living with HIV to stay in comprehensive care, promoting universal viral suppression among individuals infected with HIV, and increasing access to preventive measures, including pre-exposure prophylaxis for people at substantial risk of acquiring HIV.

Additionally, the primary aims of the Strategy include reducing HIV-related disparities and health inequities, because HIV still affects specific populations disproportionately across our country. Certain individuals — including gay and bisexual men, Black women and men, Latinos and Latinas, people who inject drugs, transgender women, young people, and people in the Southern United States — are at greater risk for HIV, and we must target our efforts to reduce HIV-related health disparities and focus increased attention on highly vulnerable populations. My most recent Federal budget proposal includes more than $31 billion in funding for HIV/AIDS treatment, care, prevention, and research. We are also making great progress toward achieving a greater viral suppression rate among those diagnosed with HIV, and in the last 5 years, we have made critical funding increases to ensure more Americans have access to life-saving treatment.

We cannot achieve an AIDS-free generation without addressing the pervasive presence of HIV throughout the world, which is why our Nation is committed to achieving the goals laid out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to reach more people living with HIV, promote global health, and end the AIDS epidemic. The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has helped save lives across the globe and has made significant impacts on the number of new HIV infections by strengthening international partnerships and expanding essential services for preventing and treating HIV. This year, I announced new targets for PEPFAR that aim to provide almost 13 million people with life-saving treatment by the end of 2017. The United States is also committing resources to support PEPFAR’s work to achieve a 40 percent decrease in HIV incidence among young women and girls in the most vulnerable areas of sub-Saharan Africa. This is a shared responsibility, and America will remain a leader in the effort to end HIV/AIDS while continuing to work with the international community to address this challenge and secure a healthier future for all people.

Working with private industry, faith communities, philanthropic organizations, the scientific and medical communities, networks of people living with HIV and affected populations, and governments worldwide, we can accomplish our goals of reducing new HIV infections, increasing access to care, improving health outcomes for patients, reducing HIV-related disparities, and building a cohesive, coordinated response to HIV. On this day, let us pay tribute to those whom HIV/AIDS took from us too soon, and let us recognize those who continue to fight for a world free from AIDS. Let us also recognize researchers, providers, and advocates, who work each day on behalf of people living with HIV, and in honor of the precious lives we have lost to HIV. Together, we can forge a future in which no person — here in America or anywhere in our world — knows the pain or stigma caused by HIV/AIDS.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim December 1, 2015, as World AIDS Day. I urge the Governors of the States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, officials of the other territories subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, and the American people to join me in appropriate activities to remember those who have lost their lives to AIDS and to provide support and compassion to those living with HIV.

Make the jump here to read the original and much much more at JMG!

Today's Daily Dharma: In This Together

In This Together

We encounter the Buddha way not by means of our individual purity but through our mutual support. Which is to say, in our aspect as bodhisattvas, we muddle ahead together, whole in our virtues and failings, with no one and nothing left out.

—Andrew Cooper, "The Good Fit"

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