Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day - 11/03/2016

“Nós seres humanos, mesmo com tanta miséria e sofrimento, continuamos insistindo em acreditar que tudo se resume em dinheiro. Mas, precisamos ter coragem para admitir que o paradigma materialista caiu. O crescimento econômico não pode mais ser o indexador para medir o nosso desenvolvimento. O PIB não pode mais ser o fator determinante para o nosso sucesso. Dinheiro é apenas um dos aspectos da vida. É bom ter dinheiro, desde que ele não custe a destruição do planeta. Hoje não existe outra maneira de salvar o planeta a não ser a partir de uma mudança de paradigma. Chegou o momento de ampliarmos nossa visão, sem medo de fazer diferente - sem medo de sermos espirituais.”

“Nosotros seres humanos, incluso con tanta miseria y sufrimiento, continuamos insistiendo en creer que todo se resume en dinero. Pero necesitamos tener coraje para admitir que el paradigma materialista cayó. El crecimiento económico no puede ser más el indicador para medir nuestro desarrollo. El PBI no puede ser más el factor determinante de nuestro éxito. El dinero es apenas uno de los aspectos de la vida. Es bueno tener dinero, mientras que éste no cueste la destrucción del planeta. Hoy no existe otra manera de salvar el planeta a no sea un cambio de paradigma. Llegó el momento de ampliar nuestra visión, sin miedo de hacer algo diferente, sin miedo de ser espirituales.”

"Us human beings, even with all our misery and suffering, continue to believe that everything boils down to money. However, we must have the courage to admit that the materialistic paradigm has collapsed. Economic growth can no longer be the index with which we measure our development. Gross National Product can no longer be the determining factor of our success. Money is only one aspect of life. It is good to have money, but not at the cost of destroying our planet. At this point in time, there is no other way to save the planet without a paradigm shift. It is time to broaden our vision and without being afraid to do things differently or to be spiritual."

Via Ram Dass

March 9, 2016

When you have your game all together, and there is still a yearning inside of you, and you say, “I don’t understand why I’m still unhappy; I’ve got it all.” Well, that yearning is your ticket to spiritual awakening.

Via Daily Dharma: Lasting Happiness

First we have to let go of fixation on material things. This does not necessarily mean jettisoning all our material possessions, but it implies that we should not look to material things for lasting happiness.

—Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche, "Letting Go of Spiritual Experience"

Obama and Trudeau at the White House: The complete speeches

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day - 09/03/2016

“A essência disso que chamamos de ‘altruísmo’ é deixar Deus agir através de nós. Para isso, o ego precisa ser anulado, porque é ele que nos faz tomar direções equivocadas. Embora o ego seja uma criação divina, ele desviou-se da Meta e seguiu um caminho próprio. Portanto, somente a partir da rendição do ego o Amor divino pode agir através de nós.”

“La esencia de eso que llamamos ‘altruismo’ es dejar que Dios actúe a través nuestro. Para eso, el ego necesita ser anulado, porque es quien nos hace tomar direcciones equivocadas. Aunque el ego sea una creación divina, él se desvió de la Meta y siguió un camino propio. Por lo tanto, solamente a partir de la rendición del ego el Amor divino puede actuar a través de nosotros.”

"The essence of what we call 'altruism' is to let God work through us. For this to happen, the ego must be dissolved because it is precisely the ego that makes us take ‘wrong turns’. Even though the ego is a divine creation, it has gone astray from the greater goal and chosen to follow its own path. Therefore, only by surrendering the ego can divine love act through us.”

Via Daily Dharma: Meditation, Simply Defined

Meditation, simply defined, is a way of being aware. It is the happy marriage of doing and being.

—Lama Surya Das, "The Heart-Essence of Buddhist Meditation"

Just a note of thanks to all my devoted... OK, to both of my devoted readers... Thanks folks!

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day - 08/03/2016

“Ninguém quer sentir dor, mas às vezes é necessário abrir mão dos anestésicos e amortecedores para poder encará-la de frente. É preciso ter coragem de lidar com a frustração daquilo que, por alguma razão, você evita entrar em contato. Quando umarepetição negativa se torna insistente na sua vida, quer dizer que ela quer te ensinar algo que você se recusa a aprender. Nesse momento, pare e pergunte: O que você quer me ensinar? O queeu preciso aprender? Assim, aos poucos, você vai dando passagem para as revelações da sua alma."

“Nadie quiere sentir dolor, pero a veces es necesario soltar los anestésicos y amortiguadores para poder encararlo de frente. Es necesario tener coraje para lidiar con la frustración de aquello que, por alguna razón, evitas entrar en contacto. Cuando una repetición negativa se vuelve insistente en tu vida, quiere decir que quiere enseñarte algo que te rehusas a aprender. En ese momento, detente y pregunta: ¿Qué quieres enseñarme? ¿Qué necesito aprender? Así, de a poco, vas dando paso a las revelaciones de tu alma.”

"No one wants to feel pain, but sometimes it’s necessary to let go of our numbing devices and shock absorbers in order to face our pain face to face. It takes courage to deal with the frustration of what we avoid getting in touch with for onereason or another. When a negative repetition becomes persistent in our lives, it is wanting to teach us something that we are refusing to learn. In such cases, we must stop and ask: ‘What do you want to teach me? What do I need to learn?’Thus, we gradually make way for our soul’s revelations.”

Ellen Page no Brasil entrevista policial homofóbico - Gaycation - Vice

Via Daily Dharma: Meditation and the Malleable Self

The self is plastic, a malleable clay being molded each moment by intention. Just as our scientists are discovering not only how the mind is shaped by the brain but now, too, how the brain is shaped by the mind, so the Buddha described long ago the interdependent process by which intentions are conditioned by dispositions and dispositions in turn are conditioned by intentions.

—Andrew Olendzki, "Karma in Action"

Via JMG: Trump Refuses To Answer Gay Marriage Question

March 7, 2016 2016 Election, Marriage Equality

From the Daily Mail:

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump refused to answer a question about same-sex marriage during a press conference Saturday night, following his electoral split of four primary and caucus states with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

DailyMail.com asked Trump to say whether or not he favors marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples, and whether U.S. Supreme Court justices he might appoint would be expected to work toward overturning ‘Obergefell v. Hodges,’ the 2015 decision that legalized such unions nationwide.

‘We have policy on it. And I’ve said it very, very strongly,’ Trump replied, without saying what that policy is. ‘And I think you know it. And it’s all done and, you know, in a campaign how many times do I have to say it?’
Trump said in January during an interview on ‘Fox News Sunday’ that he wished the high court had left the issue to the states to resolve, and concluded that he ‘would strongly consider’ appointing justices to overturn the ‘surprising’ Obergefell decision.

That answer allowed him enough room to maneuver in a Republican primary full of rivals on the religious right, without saying unequivocally that a President Trump would work to reverse the Supreme Court.

Make a jump to this article and much more on JMG

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flor del día 07/03/2016

“Shiva é uma frequência de luz que nos inspira o desapego. As cinzas que cobrem o seu corpo simbolizam o fim do desejo. E através do desapego e da transcendência do desejo, é possível conquistar a morte (não mais temê-la, compreendendo que ela é apenas uma passagem para outra forma de vida). A vitória sobre a morte é a maior iniciação possível neste plano. Ela representa moksha, a liberação do ciclo de morte e renascimento.”

“Shiva es una frecuencia de luz que nos inspira al desapego. Las cenizas que cubren su cuerpo simbolizan el fin del deseo. Y a través del desapego y de la trascendencia del deseo, es posible conquistar la muerte (no temerle más, comprendiendo que es sólo un pasaje hacia otra forma de vida). La victoria sobre la muerte es la mayor iniciación posible en este plano. Representa moksha, la liberación del ciclo de muerte y renacimiento.”

"Shiva is a frequency of light that inspires detachment within us. The ashes covering Shiva’s body symbolize the end of desire. Through detachment and by transcending our desires, we can conquer death. We no longer fear death, as we realize that it is but a passage from one form of life to another. Victory over death is the highest level of initiation possible in this realm. This victory represents moksha, being liberated from the cycle of death and rebirth.”

Via Daily Dharma: Closely Inspecting Experience

To see things as they are is to unearth our hidden assumptions about ourselves and our world, to bring them into the light of full consciousness, and to notice how, on close inspection, these assumptions often contradict our actual experience.

—C.W. Huntington, Jr., "Seeing Things as They Are"

Via Ram Dass

March 6, 2016

Work to extricate yourself from the illusion of your own separateness, and then you do what you do in life. And as you do what you do in life, if you’re a shoemaker you make shoes, if you’re a mother you raise your children; whatever you’re doing that is the vehicle through which you express that. It’s like C.S. Lewis saying you don’t see the center because it’s all center. But whatever you are is the center of the whole game, and it resonates out from there. A fully conscious bus driver can affect everybody that’s in the traffic around them, everybody that steps on their bus.

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day - 06/03/2016

“Amanhã é celebrado na Índia o Mahashivaratri (‘a grande noite de Shiva’) uma data muito auspiciosa por conta da configuração astrológica e astronômica. É o momento do ano no qual a lua exerce menor influência sobre a mente humana, o que favorece a experiência da comunhão com o Divino, através da união entre o masculino (Shiva) e o feminino (Shakti). Esse é um momento propício para a prática do silêncio e/ou do jejum alimentar e da oração.”

“Mañana se celebra en India el Mahashivaratri (‘la gran noche de Shiva') una fecha muy auspiciosa debido a la configuración astrológica y astronómica. Es el momento del año en que la luna ejerce menor influencia sobre la mente humana, lo que favorece la experiencia de comunión con lo Divino a través de la unión entre el masculino (Shiva) y el femenino (Shakti). Este es un momento propicio para la práctica del silencio y/o del ayuno alimenticio y de la oración.”

"In India, Mahashivaratri, 'the great night of Shiva' is celebrated tomorrow. It is a very auspicious date because of its astrological and astronomical configurations. It is the time of year when the moon exerts the least influence on the human mind, which favors the experience of communion with the Divine through the union of masculine, Shiva, and feminine,Shakti. This is a good time to practice silence or fasting as well as prayer.”

Via Daily Dharma: The Point of Buddhism

Most people, myself included, want to get some benefit from something. But in Buddhism, what we’re actually trying to do is to become released from the suffering that comes from wanting to get something.

—Mark Unno, "The Buddha of Infinite Light and Life"

Via PEACE and Grace: Spirituality in a Broken World / FB:

 

DISAVOWAL

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves." (Matthew 7:15)

Via FB:

Hilarious Gay Marriage Speech by NZ MP