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.
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia / Flor del dia / Flower of the Day – 21/04/2016
“Se há repetições negativas acontecendo na sua vida, isso quer dizer
que, por trás delas, há um pacto de vingança inconsciente. Existem
páginas do livro da sua vida que você ainda não compreendeu. Em outras
palavras, você ainda guarda mágoas e ressentimentos e por isso vibra na
tônica do medo e do ódio. Mas, através da identificação das causas
geradoras dessas frequências de energia negativa no seu sistema, você
abre espaço para ressignificar o passado, o que possibilita a transformação no momento presente.”
“Si hay repeticiones negativas sucediendo en tu vida, eso quiere decir
que, detrás de ellas, hay un pacto de venganza inconsciente. Hay páginas
del libro de tu vida que todavía no comprendiste. En otras palabras,
todavía guardasheridas y resentimientos ypor eso vibras en la tónica del
miedo y del odio. Peroa través de la identificación de las causas
generadoras de estas frecuencias de energía negativa en tu sistema,
abres espaciopara resignificar el pasado, lo que posibilita la
transformación en el momento presente.”
“If there are any negative repetitions happening in our lives, then there are certainly unconscious pacts of revenge operating behind the scenes. There are pages of the book of our life that have not yet been understood. In other words, we are still holding onto hurts and resentments that are causing us to continue vibrating in fear and hatred. If we can identify what is generating the negative energy frequencies in our systems, we make room to be able to redefine the past. Consequently, this makes it possible for us to transform the present moment."
“If there are any negative repetitions happening in our lives, then there are certainly unconscious pacts of revenge operating behind the scenes. There are pages of the book of our life that have not yet been understood. In other words, we are still holding onto hurts and resentments that are causing us to continue vibrating in fear and hatred. If we can identify what is generating the negative energy frequencies in our systems, we make room to be able to redefine the past. Consequently, this makes it possible for us to transform the present moment."
Via Daily Dharma / April 21, 2016: Motivation to Awaken
We
do have the potential to awaken, but we must do the hard work of
distinguishing when we are motivated by greed, hatred, and delusion, and
when we are motivated by their opposites—generosity, kindness, and
wisdom.
—Lynn Kelly, "First Thought, Worst Thought"
—Lynn Kelly, "First Thought, Worst Thought"
Via Antinous the Gay God / FB:
There are two ways to live your life:
One is as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as though everything is a miracle.
Remember that Antinous works his miracles through dreams and visions. That is his specialty, according to the Obelisk of Antinous which now stands in a park in Rome .... Bust of Antinous from Patras ... National Archaeological museum in Athens ...
Há duas maneiras de viver a sua vida :
Um é como se nada é um milagre.
O outro é como se tudo é um milagre.
Lembre-se que Antinous trabalha seus milagres através de sonhos e visões. Essa é a sua especialidade, de acordo com o Obelisco de Antinous que agora está em um parque em Roma .... Busto de Antinous de Patras ... Museu Nacional de Arqueologia , em Atenas.
Hay dos maneras de vivir tu vida :
Una es como si nada es un milagro.
La otra es como si todo es un milagro .
Recuerde que Antinoo trabaja sus milagros a través de sueños y visiones. Esa es su especialidad, de acuerdo con el Obelisco de Antinoo , que ahora se encuentra en un parque en Roma .... Busto de Antinoo de Patras ... Museo Arqueológico Nacional de Atenas.
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Via Ram Dass:
April 20, 2016
How do you know that what you are doing is from a level of evolving consciousness and not just an ego trip? Until the final moment before enlightenment, I can guarantee that everything is an ego trip. Even spiritual practices are all ego trips. They’re all ego trips because it’s you being somebody thinking you’re doing something. That’s an ego trip.
Via Daily Dharma / April 20, 2016: Innocent Consciousness
The
work of Zen is to reach the ground of being, to perceive the true
nature of the self, which, as it turns our, is a phantom. This is also
the work of poetry, at least for me: to erode the membrane between self
and the world, so that a newly innocent consciousness can emerge, one
that sees what it sees without commentary, analysis, or judgment.
—Chase Twichell, "Second Innocence: With Basho at Sesshin"
—Chase Twichell, "Second Innocence: With Basho at Sesshin"
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Via Lion's Roar: Sayadaw U Pandita, influential Burmese meditation master, dead at 94
The modern Vipassana meditation teacher Sayadaw U Pandita has died, at the age of 94.
A highly influential Theravada teacher, U Pandita was, at the time of his death, the abbot of Paṇḍitārāma Meditation Center in Yangon, Myanmar, which he founded in 1991. He had himself been trained by the famed Mahasi Sayadaw, and took over the Mahasi Meditation Center after Mahasi’s death in 1982.
U Pandita’s influence in the West was strong with students and teachers alike, due in part to his time teaching at Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts in 1984. (Read IMS teacher Sharon Salzberg’s account of training with U Pandita.) The talks he gave there were later collected in the book In This Very Life: Liberation Teachings of the Buddha. He also authored several other writings, including the book The State of Mind Called Beautiful.
Make the jump here to read the full article and more at Lions Roar
also see:
How to Practice Vipassana Insight Meditation by Sayadaw U Pandita
Via JustaBahai: Jake Sasseville’s dilemma
I
have just read Jake's blog “Baha’i Curious? Religion & Sexuality”
who wrote: “Aside from my parents, the Baha’i Faith has cultivated and
shaped who I’ve become in my life, and it is the most consistent
community to which I’ve belonged. That’s why it’s so heart-breaking that
I’m considering leaving the Baha’i Faith.” “Many Baha’is […]
Via Sri Prem BabaFlor do dia / Flor del dia / Flower of the Day – 19/04/2016
“Somos levados a acreditar que sucesso significa realizar-se na
matéria. Somos bem sucedidos quando produzimos uma bela obra de arte,
desenvolvemos um sofisticado projeto, ocupamos um cargo importante ou
quando ganhamos uma alta quantia de dinheiro. Eu não condeno esse tipo
de conquista; isso faz parte da vida, mas o verdadeiro sucesso é quando
tomamos consciência daquilo que nos aprisiona; quando tomamos
consciência da nossa insanidade. Ao
perceber a nossa insanidade, começamos a nos tornar sãos. Ao perceber o
que está inconsciente, expandimos a consciência e podemos perceber o que
está além da matéria - o espírito.”
“Somos llevados a creer queéxito significa realizarseen la materia.
Somosexitosos cuando producimos una bella obra de arte, desarrollamos un
proyecto sofisticado, ocupamos un cargo importante o cuando ganamos una
alta cantidad de dinero. No condeno a este tipo de conquista; esto es
parte de la vida, pero el verdadero éxito es cuando tomamos consciencia
de aquello que nos aprisiona; cuando tomamos consciencia de nuestra
locura. Al percibir nuestra locura, comenzamos a volvernossanos. Al
percibir lo que está inconsciente, expandimos la conciencia y podemos
percibir lo que está más allá de la materia - el espíritu.”
“We are led to believe that success means manifesting something in the material world. We think we are successful if we create a beautiful piece of art, develop a sophisticated project, have an important position, or if we earn a lot of money. I do not condemn this kind of achievement; it is part of life. However, true success is when we become conscious of what imprisons us and aware of our own insanity. When we are able to identify our insanity, we move towards sanity. As we develop our capacity perceive the unconscious, we begin to expand our consciousness so that we can perceive what lies beyond the material world: our spirit.”
“We are led to believe that success means manifesting something in the material world. We think we are successful if we create a beautiful piece of art, develop a sophisticated project, have an important position, or if we earn a lot of money. I do not condemn this kind of achievement; it is part of life. However, true success is when we become conscious of what imprisons us and aware of our own insanity. When we are able to identify our insanity, we move towards sanity. As we develop our capacity perceive the unconscious, we begin to expand our consciousness so that we can perceive what lies beyond the material world: our spirit.”
Via Daily Dharma / April 19, 2016: The Happiest Mind
The
Buddha discovered that the happiest mind is the nonattached one. This
happiness is of a radically different order than what we’re used to.
—Cynthia Thatcher, "What’s So Great About Now?"
—Cynthia Thatcher, "What’s So Great About Now?"
Monday, April 18, 2016
Via JMG: Ted Cruz Dodges Question From Gay Republican During Good Morning America Town Hall [VIDEO]
ABC News reports:
Sen. Ted Cruz today invoked the protections included in the Constitution when a gay man asked the Republican presidential candidate about his work protecting the rights of gay voters. Responding to a question from Todd Calogne, a married gay man who is a registered Republican and owner of a pizza parlor in New York City, Cruz said the Constitution protects the rights of all citizens equally.
“When it comes to religious liberty, religious liberty is something that protects all of us; it applies to Christians, it applies to Jews, it applies to Muslims, it applies to atheists,” Cruz said during a “Good Morning America” town hall at ABC News’ Times Square studios. “That freedom ultimately protects each and every one of us.”
When asked further about the Supreme Court decision allowing gay marriage nationally and what would happen to gay people who are already married, Cruz said marriage laws should be settled on the state level rather than the federal level.As you’ll see, panel member Robin Roberts points out that Cruz didn’t actually answer the question.
Via Huffington Post Queer Voices: Every LGBTQ+ Person Should Read This
Dearest Queer Person,
Chances are you don’t even know that you are holy, or royal or magic,
but you are. You are part of an adoptive family going back through
every generation of human existence.
Long before you
were born, our people were inventing incredible things. Gifted minds
like the inventor of the computer Alan Turing and aviation pioneer
Alberto Santos-Dumont live on in you.
The imprint that bold and brilliant individuals like Lynn Conway and Martine Rothblatt (both transgender women alive today) made on modern technology is impossible deny as present-day engineers carry their torch in the creation of robots and microprocessors. More recently speaking, one of the co-founders of Facebook publicly acknowledged his identity as a gay man, as did the current CEO of Apple.
The imprint that bold and brilliant individuals like Lynn Conway and Martine Rothblatt (both transgender women alive today) made on modern technology is impossible deny as present-day engineers carry their torch in the creation of robots and microprocessors. More recently speaking, one of the co-founders of Facebook publicly acknowledged his identity as a gay man, as did the current CEO of Apple.
We were so
often gods and goddesses over the centuries, like Hermaphrodite (the
child of Hermes and Aphrodite), and Athena and Zeus, both of whom had
same-sex lovers. In Japan it was said that the male couple Shinu No
Hafuri and Ama No Hafuri, “introduced” homosexuality to the world. The
ability to change one’s gender or to claim an identity that encompasses
two genders is common amongst Hindu deities. The being said to have
created the Dahomey (a kingdom in the area now known as Benin) was
reportedly formed when a twin brother and sister (the sun and the moon)
combined into one being who might now identify as “intersex.” Likewise,
the aboriginal Australian rainbow serpent-gods Ungud and Angamunggi
possess many characteristics that mirror present-day definitions of
transgender identity.
Our ability to transcend gender binaries and cross gender boundaries
was seen as a special gift. We were honored with special cultural roles,
often becoming shamans, healers and leaders in societies around the
globe. The Native Americans of the Santa Barbara region called us
“jewels.” Our records from the Europeans who wrote of their encounters
with Two-Spirit people indicates that same-sex sexual activity or
non-gender binary identities were part of the culture of eighty-eight
different Native American tribes, including the Apache, Aztec, Cheyenne,
Crow, Maya and Navajo. Without written records we can’t know the rest,
but we know we were a part of most if not all peoples in the Americas.
Your ancestors
were royalty like Queen Christina of Sweden, who not only refused to
marry a man (thereby giving up her claim to the throne), but adopted a
male name and set out on horseback to explore Europe alone. Her tutor
once said the queen was “not at all like a female.” Your heritage also
includes the ruler Nzinga of the Ndongo and Matamna Kingdoms (now known
as Angola), who was perceived to be biologically female but dressed as
male, kept a harem of young men dressed in traditionally-female attire
and was addressed as “King.” Emperors like Elagalabus are part of your
cultural lineage, too. He held marriage ceremonies to both
male-identified and female-identified spouses, and was known to
proposition men while he was heavily made-up with cosmetics. Caliphs of
Cordoba including Hisham II, Abd-ar-Rahman III and Al-Hakam II kept male
harems (sometimes in addition to female harems, sometimes in place of
them). Emperor Ai of Han Dynasty China was the one whose life gives us
the phrase “the passions of the cut sleeve,” because when he was asleep
with his beloved, Dong Xian, and awoke to leave, he cut off the sleeve
of his robe rather than wake his lover.
You are
descended from individuals whose mark on the arts is impossible to
ignore. These influential creators include composers like Tchaikovsky,
painters like Leonardo da Vinci and actors like Greta Garbo. Your
forebears painted the Sistine Chapel, recorded the first blues song and
won countless Oscars. They were poets, and dancers and photographers.
Queer people have contributed so much to the arts that there’s an entire
guided tour dedicated just to these artists at New York’s Museum of
Modern Art.
You have the
blood of great warriors, like the Amazons, those female-bodied people
who took on roles of protection and had scarce time or interest between
their brave acts to cater to the needs of men. And your heart beats as
bravely as the men of the Sacred Band of Thebes, a group of 150
male-male couples who, in the 4th century B.C.E., were known to be
especially powerful fighters because each man fought as though he was
fighting for the life of his lover (which he was). But your heritage
also includes peacemakers, like Bayard Rustin, a non-violent gay
architect of the Black civil rights movement in the U.S.
We redefined
words like bear, butch, otter, queen and femme, and created new terms
like drag queen, twink and genderqueer. But just because the words like
homosexual, bisexual, transgender, intersex and asexual, have been
created in the relatively recent past doesn’t mean they are anything
new. Before we started using today’s terms, we were Winkte to the Ogala,
A-go-kwe to the Chippewa, Ko’thlama to the Zuni, Machi to the Mapuchi,
Tsecats to the Manghabei, Omasenge to the Ambo and Achnutschik to the
Konyaga across the continents. While none of these terms identically
mirror their more modern counterparts, all refer to some aspect of, or
identity related to, same-gender love, same-sex sex or crossing genders.
You are normal.
You are not a creation of the modern age. Your identity is not a
“trend” or a “fad.” Almost every country has a recorded history of
people whose identities and behaviors bear close resemblance to what
we’d today call bisexuality, homosexuality, transgender identity,
intersexuality, asexuality and more. Remember: the way Western culture
today has constructed gender and sexuality is not the way it’s always
been. Many cultures from Papua New Guinea to Peru accepted male-male sex
as a part of ritual or routine; some of these societies believed that
the transmission of semen from one man to another would make the
recipient stronger. In the past, we often didn’t need certain words for
the same-sex attracted, those of non-binary gender and others who did
not conform to cultural expectations of their biological sex or
perceived gender because they were not as unusual as we might today
assume they were.
Being so unique
and powerful has sometimes made others afraid of us. They arrested and
tortured and murdered us. We are still executed by governments and
individuals today in societies where we were once accepted us as
important and equal members of society. They now tell us “homosexuality
is un-African” and “there are no homosexuals in Iran.” You, and we, know
that these defensive comments are not true—but they still hurt. So,
when others gave us names like queer and dyke, we reclaimed them. When
they said we were recruiting children, we said “I’m here to recruit
you!” When they put pink and black triangles on our uniforms in the
concentration camps, we made them pride symbols.
Those who
challenge our unapologetic presence in today’s cultures, who try to
deprive us of our rights, who make us targets of violence, remain
ignorant of the fact that they, not us, are the historical anomaly. For
much of recorded history, persecuting individuals who transgressed their
culture’s norms of gender and sexuality was frowned upon at worst and
unheard of at best. Today, the people who continue to harass us attempt
to justify their cruel campaigns by claiming that they are defending
“traditional” values. But nothing could be further from the truth.
But now you
know they are wrong. Just imagine the world without that first computer
or the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling, or a huge part of the music you’ve ever
heard from classical Appalachian Spring to classic YMCA (I mean, we’ve
held titles from the “Mother of Blues” to the “King of Latin Pop!”). How
much less colorful would the world be without us? I’m grateful that
you’re here to help carry on our traditions.
So, happy LGBT History Month! I hope to celebrate with you here at Quist. This list of LGBTQ history online resources is a good place to start in exploring more specifics about this heritage.
Lesbianamente*,
Sarah Prager
*Actually a term as a way someone signed a letter for a lesbian organization in Mexico decades ago!
This piece was inspired in part by facts and sentiments from Another Mother Tongue by Judy Grahn (published 1984). Ritualized Homosexuality in Melanesia
edited by Gilbert H. Herdt (published 1993) is also referenced. Many of
the referenced facts are cited so many places it has become common
knowledge. Christianne Gadd contributed significantly to this piece.
This post originally appeared in The Advocate.
Read the original and much much more at Huffington Queer Post here
Read the original and much much more at Huffington Queer Post here
Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia / Flor del dia / Flower of the Day – 18/04/2016
“Nós somos consciência. Mas quando a consciência toma a forma humana
através do ego, nossa tendência é nos identificarmos com a forma. A
consciência é percepção pura mas, estando em um corpo, nossa percepção é
distorcida pelo ego e acabamos nos identificando com uma interpretação
da realidade. Passamos a acreditar que somos a forma. A identificação é
tão profunda que acabamos deixando de perceber. Isto é o que chamo de ignorância: uma percepção distorcida da realidade.”
“Nosotros somos consciencia. Pero cuando la consciencia toma la forma
humana a través del ego, tendemos a identificarnos con la forma. La
conciencia es percepción pura pero, al estar en un cuerpo, nuestra
percepción es distorsionada por el ego y terminamos identificándonos con
una interpretación de la realidad. Pasamos a creer que somos la forma.
La identificación es tan profunda que dejamos de percibir. Esto es lo
que llamo ignorancia: una percepción distorsionada de la
realidad.
“We are consciousness. But when consciousness takes a human form through the ego, our tendency is to become identified with the form. Consciousness is pure perception, but while we are in a bodily form, our perception is distorted by the ego and we become identified with our own interpretation of reality. We believe that we are this form. This identification is so deep that we end up being unable to perceive the true reality. This is what I call ignorance: our distorted perception of reality.”
realidad.
“We are consciousness. But when consciousness takes a human form through the ego, our tendency is to become identified with the form. Consciousness is pure perception, but while we are in a bodily form, our perception is distorted by the ego and we become identified with our own interpretation of reality. We believe that we are this form. This identification is so deep that we end up being unable to perceive the true reality. This is what I call ignorance: our distorted perception of reality.”
Via Daily Dharma / April 18, 2016: Thoughts Are Idiosyncratic Visitors
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.
—Bob Sharples, "Do the Thoughts Ever Stop"
—Bob Sharples, "Do the Thoughts Ever Stop"
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Via Ram Dass:
April 17, 2016
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.
Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia / Flor del dia / Flower of the Day – 17/04/2016
“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.”
“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.”
Via Daily Dharma / April 17, 2016: Reacquainting the Mind and Body
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.
—Gary Thorp, "The Dust Beyond the Cushion"
—Gary Thorp, "The Dust Beyond the Cushion"
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