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.
When
you stop to examine your thoughts you start to see that they have a
life of their own, they come and go, generally in a random,
idiosyncratic way. Recognizing the constancy of our endless thinking
process is said to be one of the important early steps we take on the
meditation path.
If your identification isn’t exclusively with your role, say as parent,
your mind doesn’t force the child to be only a child and then the two of
you can be God at play. You are just two souls that are meeting in a
birth to do some work together.
“Estamos trabalhando para acordar a nossa habilidade de criar união. O
vício na desunião está tão arraigado que é preciso rever muitas vezes o
mesmo conhecimento até que ele possa ser compreendido, ou seja, até que
ele se transforme em sabedoria. Se faz necessário aprofundar no
conhecimento, mas também na prática. E prática significa mergulhar em si
mesmo a fim de encontrar aquilo que joga contra a união e a felicidade,
para finalmente ter a coragem de renunciar isso; coragem para entregar
as armas e abrir mão da guerra. Mas, para isso, é preciso abrir mão da
ideia de que você tem inimigos e de que é uma vítima. É preciso
renunciar as crenças,até que aquilo que está além delas possa se
manifestar.”
“Estamos
trabajando para despertar nuestra habilidad de crear union. El vicio en
la desunión está tan arraigado que es necesario revisar muchas veces el
mismo conocimiento hasta que pueda ser comprendido, es decir, hasta que
se transforme en sabiduría. Se hace necesario profundizar en el
conocimiento, pero también en la práctica. Y práctica significa
sumergirse en uno mismo para encontrar aquello que juegaen contra de la
unión y de la felicidad, para finalmente tener el coraje de renunciar a
ello; coraje para entregar las armas y renunciar a la guerra. Pero para
eso, es necesario renunciar a la idea de que tienes enemigos y de que
eres una víctima. Es necesario renunciar a las creencias, hasta que
aquello que está más allá de ellas,se pueda manifestar.”
“We are
working in order to awaken our capacity to create union. The addiction
to separation is so ingrained that we need to review it over and over
again, and continue to observe it so that it may be understood, until it
finally transforms into wisdom. It is necessary to deepen our
understanding, but it is also necessary to put our knowledge into
practice. By practice, I mean to take a look deep within ourselves until
we find the part of ourselves that acts contrary to union and
happiness, and to finally have the courage to renounce this part of
ourselves. We need to have the courage to put down our weapons, and to
let go of conflicts. In order to do this, we need to let go of the idea
that we have enemies and that we are a victim. It is necessary to
renounce our beliefs, until we are able to manifest that which exists
beyond separation and beliefs.”
Each
activity you perform is an opportunity to observe the ways mind and
body can work together and how they can sometimes conflict. The mind can
spend hours worrying about a simple task that will take the body only
minutes to perform. Although the music may be long, the dance itself is
short.
Às vezes eu chamo o nosso trabalho de “movimento em direção à amizade”,
pois compreendo que o maior desafio do ser humano na Terra é criar
união. Tudo o que precisamos é nos tornar amigos uns dos outros.”
“A veces llamo nuestro trabajo de "movimiento en dirección a la
amistad" porque comprendo que el mayor desafío del ser humano en la
Tierra es crearunión. Todo lo que precisamos es volvernos amigos unos de
los otros.”
“Sometimes I refer to our work as a 'movement towards friendship’,
because I understand that our greatest challenge as human beings here on
earth is to create union. This is only possible when we truly become
friends with one another.”
The
Buddhists say there are 121 states of consciousness. Of these, only
three involve misery or suffering. Most of us spend our time moving back
and forth between these three.
“A prática constante da auto-observação permite que você identifique
padrões de pensamento que se repetem na sua mente, às vezes por horas ou
dias; e às vezes por meses ou anos. Esses padrões mentais nascem da sua
identificação com o passado e se manifestam na sua vida no presente,
causando situações de sofrimento. Mas, ao identificá-los, você tem a
chance de fazer a relação de causa e efeito para compreender qual situação do passado está gerando determinada situação negativa no presente.”
“La práctica constante de la auto-observación permite que identifiques
patrones de pensamiento que se repiten en tu mente, a veces por horas o
días, y a veces por meses o años. Estos patrones mentales nacen de tu
identificación con el pasado y se manifiestan en tu vida en el presente,
causando situaciones de sufrimiento. Pero al identificarlos, tienes la
chance de hacer la relación de causa y efecto para comprender cual
situación del pasado está generando determinada situación negativa en el
presente.”
“The constant practice of self-observation allows us
to identify the thought patterns that are repeating in our minds, which
sometimes last hours, days, months or even years. These mental patterns
arise from our identification with the past and consequently materialize
in our present lives, causing many painful situations. When we are able
to identify these patterns, we can seek out their cause and effect
relationship to better understand which story from our past is creating a
current negative situation in our lives.”
As
I enter into my body, I not only see more clearly the force of my
automatic judgments but also become more aware of my seeing and the
freedom it brings. There is a kind of emptiness and fluidity in this
awareness; that which is seen is transformed, revealing an energetic
quality.
Last night John Kasich reaffirmed his earlier statements that same-sex marriage is a settled issue.
“There could be an effort to pass a Constitutional
Amendment. I’m not for doing it. I’m for moving on,” the Republican
presidential hopeful said Thursday in a town hall airing on MSNBC.
“Exactly where it is now, I’m fine with it,” he said when asked if there
are any laws that should be changed to address the issue.
In a landmark decision last year, the Supreme Court ruled same-sex
couples have a constitutional right to marry. Many in the once crowded
Republican presidential field opposed the ruling, and while Kasich
affirmed he believes marriage should remain between a man and woman, he
told Matthews that everyone should be “a bit more tolerant.”
The Ohio governor often talks about how he recently attended a
friend’s same-sex marriage ceremony. “I don’t think it’s right and the
wedding that I went to, they know that I don’t agree with them,” Kasich
said. Asked by Matthews what gay couples who love each other should do,
Kasich said: “They should love one another. That’s the end of it.”
Men can contract Zika through unprotected sex with other
men who are infected with the virus, the Center for Disease Control and
Prevention said Thursday, a finding that adds to experts’ understanding
of how Zika can be transmitted.
The CDC said a case of sexual transmission that occurred in Dallas in
January — and was reported in the mainstream media in early February —
involved two men. It was only the second reported case of sexual
transmission of Zika ever, and the first in which sexual spread was
observed between two men.
While gay men who want to avoid Zika infection should take note, the
lesson here applies to both men and women: Zika infection can be
contracted through unprotected anal sex.
The Dallas case involved a man who had been infected with the virus while traveling
in Venezuela. Two days after he returned home, his symptoms developed. A
week after his return, his longtime partner, who had not traveled
outside the country, became ill.
The investigators tried to rule out the possibility that the second
man might have been infected locally by a mosquito. Mosquito traps set
up around the couple’s home collected some Culex mosquitoes, but no
Aedes moquitoes, the type believed to be the main culprit in spread of
Zika virus.
The effects and symptoms of Zika virus can vary widely
from person to person. In most people, the virus causes a mild disease
lasting between two and seven days, with key symptoms including fever,
rash, aches, conjunctivitis and eye pain.
However, in a minority of people, Zika has been found to cause
Guillain-Barré syndrome, an auto-immune disease which makes the immune
system attack the body’s nerve cells, resulting in weakness of the
muscles and even paralysis. The effects typically last between a few
weeks and a few months, but are sometimes permanent. Other neurological
and autoimmune diseases, including acute disseminated encephalomyelitis,
have also been linked to Zika.
The most notorious effect of the virus is its now-confirmed ability
to cause foetal abnormalities if a pregnant woman contracts it.
Following a study published by The New England Journal of Medicine, Dr
Tom Frieden, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, said that “it is now clear that the virus causes
microcephaly.”
Mahatma
Gandhi said that mute prayer was his greatest weapon and that we must
ourselves embody the changes we want to see in the world. To me, that
means we can work from the inside out to make a better world. I call
this spiritual activism.
More than a few years ago, a film I dearly love
"Moon over Parador" was filmed mostly here in Ouro Preto. It is one of
those very silly-everyone-is-in-it over the top films with a message - mostly how the CIA messed up much of Latin America by supporting some very nasty dictatorships. For those of us who
have lived and worked in Latin America it is a very poignant parody of the
80’s.
I recently wrote a posting here about the current pie fights and shenanigans in politics and how I am morphing, spiritually speaking. The political stress here has been giving me not a
few nightmares about things that I saw and experienced living under martial law
in Guatemala.
Yesterday on our way home from work,
M & I stopped off at the farmácia, and with out thinking, stepped into a lively discussion re:
the impeachment proceedings going on. One guy in line told me “You know the CIA is behind
it.”
And I thought, with a big sigh, oh no, here we go again... Steady as she goes, gringo.
Milton immediately, and very, very
calmly began to talk to him… tactfully showing him that he was off by quite a few
meters. I finally entered into it, and said,
"Look, its 2016, not 1980… and unfortunately no one in the
States really gives a damn about Brasil… most people I know haven’t even bothered to ask me at
all what is going on down here. And most estadounidenses are preoccupied by basketball, ISIS
and spring…”
In Brazilian culture, Gérson's Law (Portuguese: Lei de Gérson) is an adage which reflects
the way Brazilians behave towards themselves, immortalizing concepts such as jeitinho and malandragem.
In short, Gérson's Law is taking advantage of every thing and every one
and having no concern for ethics. This expression came into use since a TV
commercial for the cigarette brand Vila Rica,
starring Brazilian footballer Gérson, was
aired around 1970. While he is a very well known football player in Brazil and worldwide,
Gérson had always been a source for controversy. In the commercial, that
particular cigarette brand was portrayed as advantageous for being better and
cheaper in comparison to other brands, and at the end of the commercial, Gérson
says "I like to get an advantage in everything". Later, the player
resented having his image connected to the ad, since all kinds of unethical
behaviors were linked to his name with reference to the law. (obrigado Charles for the remind!)
The Vila Rica brand uses the old name for Ouro Preto, btw.
To those of my two deeply beloved and dedicated readers, the
Lei de Gérson is a big and very obvious part of Brazilian culture, but to be honest, it applies just about anywhere. But we here have made it a true art form... all the way to the current political scandals happening in Brasília at the moment. Rarely do we want to
take responsibility for any of own actions, it is far easier to blame the other… it applies in many of the diverse places I have lived, but I digress.
Yesterday's farmácia incident reminded me as well of
living in Guatemala or "Parador" in the 80’s. And how I was often approached by locals in a café or market and was asked something like,
“What
do you think of our problem?”
Since it was early 80's Guatemala and we were smack dab in the middle of a very, very violent and often scarry US supported military dictatorship, one
never really knew who you were talking to. I soon learned to avert disaster with a,
“You
know you don’t really need a foreigner’s opinion about the situation. Guatemalans are clearly able
to solve this problem. If you came to my house and told me to move the
furniture and paint the room a different color, I’d be offended. This is the
same thing.”
I
always, I mean always got an offer of a free beer or drink or coffee after this. And I used the opportunity to tone up my español around lighter subjects related to art, music or futebol.
So maybe, just maybe its time to dust off that old pre Powerpoint presentation, translate it from español to the
world’s most beautiful language aka “português mineiro”… uai!
So I leave you dear ones, with the the Paradorian National Anthem here sung by Sammy Davis Jr. with the over the top ending filmed in our Praça Tiradentes of "Luar sobre Parador":
Which reality do you dwell in? If you stand anywhere, you’re missing
part of the show. Don’t stand anywhere. I have no idea who you are or
who I am. Then I am free. The minute I get trapped in a label, I have
just imprisoned myself. No matter how well I furnish the prison, it’s
still a prison.
“Quando, através da auto-observação, conseguimos apenas testemunhar o
fluxo compulsivo de pensamentos, podemos interromper o mecanismo de
projeção, através do qual reagimos a tudo com base nas nossas
experiências do passado. Assim como reagimos aos pensamentos que passam
por nós, da mesma maneira reagimos diante das situações da vida. Ao
aprofundarmos nessa prática, percebemos que a maioria das nossas ações
é, na verdade, o resultado de uma projeção.”
“Cuando a través de la auto-observación conseguimos tan solo atestiguar
el flujo compulsivo de pensamientos, podemos interrumpir el mecanismo
de proyección, a través del cual reaccionamos a todo con base en
nuestras experiencias del pasado. Así como reaccionamos a los
pensamientos que pasan por nosotros, de la misma manera reaccionamos
delante a situaciones de la vida. Al profundizar en esta práctica,
percibimos que la mayoría de nuestras acciones son, en verdad, el
resultado de una proyección.”
“When we are able to simply
witness our compulsive flow of thoughts by using self-observation, we
can put an end to our projection mechanisms. Our projections cause us to
react to everything based upon the past experiences we have had. Just
as we react to our own thoughts that pass through us, we also react to
the situations we encounter in life. As we deepen in this practice of
self-observation, we begin to perceive that the majority of our actions
are, in truth, the result of a projection.”
Learning
to transform obstacles into objects of meditation provides a much
needed bridge between the stillness of the concentrated mind and the
movement of real life.
Meditation
looks inward, poetry holds forth. One is private, the other is out in
the world. One enters the moment, the other shares it. But in practice
it is never entirely clear which is doing which.
“Precisamos focar na educação das crianças. O autoconhecimento precisa
tornar-se política pública, ou seja, ele tem que chegar em larga escala
para a população. Essa é a única chance que temos de trazer uma nova
consciência para esse planeta, caso contrário seguiremos assim: um ou
outro desperta do sonho ruim. Porém, para promovermos uma mudança de
eixo na consciência planetária, precisaremos trabalhar em larga escala com
as crianças. Isso não é trabalho para um homem só - é trabalho para
todos nós. A mudança só acontecerá se unirmos nossos dons e talentos em
prol dessa meta.”
“We need to focus on our children’s education. Self-knowledge needs to
become public policy; it needs to reach a large-scale audience. This is
the only way we can bring a new consciousness to the planet. Otherwise,
there may only be a small number of people who awaken from this bad
dream. In order to create a real shift in the axis of our planet’s
consciousness, we need to work on a large scale with the children. This
is not one person’s job; rather, this is a task for each one of us. This
change can only happen if we unite all our gifts and talents in order
to achieve this goal.”
As
a culture we swing from being afraid of anger to romanticizing it. I
try to see anger for what it is, in myself, and neither fear it nor
idealize it.
in Venezuela. Two days after he returned home, his symptoms developed. A week after his return, his longtime partner, who had not traveled outside the country, became ill.
