Via Daily Dharma / June 11, 2016: Everyday Enlightenment

Great enlightenment is the tea and rice of daily activity.

—Dogen, "Tea and Rice"

Via JMG: Gay Bicyclist Rushing To Hook-Up Gets Tackled By NYPD When He Barrels Into Obama’s Motorcade [VIDEO]

So this happened yesterday. Via TMZ:

President Obama got in the way of potential true love when the people protecting him opened a can of whoop ass on an unsuspecting NYC bicyclist. Daniel Provencio, 59, tells us he was hot to trot for a blind date — pumping “Call Me Maybe” through his headphones — when NYC cops tackled him for riding into a secured area just before the Prez breezed through. Turns out Daniel was on his way to hook up with a guy he met on an online dating website the night before … he wouldn’t say which.

The Daily News is questioning the NYPD’s tactics:

A cop grabbed Provencio and knocked him off the bike onto the ground, then fell to the ground himself. A helmeted cop roughly grabbed Provencio’s arm and twisted it behind his back. Cops rolled Provencio over until he was face down, stuck a knee in his back and cuffed him as a Secret Service agent walked over to observe. Obama’s motorcade rolled past during the arrest. Provencio did not appear to be resisting during the encounter. He was issued a summons for disorderly conduct, police said.

Provenico says his hook-up lost interest because he was hours late due to being interrogated by the cops. “Manhattan men are huge on punctuality.”

See the video and more here

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day - 10/06/2016

“Reconhecer nossas contradições internas é um passo fundamental dentro do processo evolutivo, porque é o início de uma mudança de consciência; é o início de uma mudança de identidade. Quando pode transcender suas contradições, o que significa deixar de ser governado pela mente condicionada e passar a ser guiado pelo coração, você sabe para onde deve ir e paga o preço que tem que pagar para seguir os comandos do coração.” 

“Reconocer nuestras contradicciones internas es un paso fundamental dentro del proceso evolutivo, porque es el inicio de un cambio deconsciencia; es el inicio de un cambio de identidad. Cuando puedes trascender tus contradicciones, lo que significa dejar de ser gobernado por la mente condicionada y pasar a ser guiado por el corazón, sabespara dónde debes ir y pagas el precio que hay que pagar para seguir los comandos del corazón.”

“To recognize our internal contradictions is a fundamental step within our evolutionary process, because it is the beginning of a change in our consciousness. It signals the beginning of a change in our identity. When we can transcend our contradictions, it means we stop being governed by our conditioned mind and we start being guided by our hearts. We know where we have to go and we pay the necessary price in order to follow the commands of our hearts.”

Via Daily Dharma / June 10, 2016: Falling Blossoms, Scattering Leaves

Make the universe your companion, bearing in mind the true nature of things—mountains and rivers, trees and grasses, and humanity—and enjoy the falling blossoms and the scattering leaves.

—Matsuo Basho, "Whirling Petals, Windblown Leaves"

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day - 09/06/2016

“Nosso grande desafio é superar nossas contradições, pois elas são a fonte do sofrimento. O sofrimento nasce justamente pelo fato de existirem duas forças opostas atuando dentro de nós. Dentro de você, um eu quer a família e outro eu quer ficar sozinho. Um eu quer ir para a esquerda e o outro quer ir para a direita. Essa divisão gera um cabo de força, que gera tensão, gera stress e desdobramentos de sofrimento. Quanto maior a contradição, maior o sofrimento.”

“Nuestro gran desafío es superar nuestras contradicciones, puesellas son la fuente del sufrimiento. El sufrimiento nacejustamente por el hechode existir dos fuerzas opuestas actuando dentro de nosotros. Dentro de ti, un yoquierela familia y otro yoquiere estar solo. Un yo quiere ir hacia la izquierda y el otro quiere ir a la derecha. Esta división genera un tira y afloje, que genera tensión, genera estrés y desdoblamientos de sufrimiento. Cuanto mayor La contradicción, mayor el sufrimiento.”

“Our greatest challenge is to go beyond our contradictions as they are the source of suffering. Suffering is born out of the fact that there are two opposing forces acting inside of us. There is a part of us that wants a family and another part of us that wants to be single. There is a self that wants to go to the left and another self that wants to go the right. This division creates a tug-of-war within us, generating tension, stress and all other kinds of suffering. The greater the contradiction, the greater the suffering.”

Via Daily Dharma / June 9, 2016: Empowered Practice

We call this mindful choice in action: our deeds and words should be in line with ultimate reality. We call this well-balanced and perfect practice. If you only understand ultimate reality but cannot use it in your daily life, your practice is not well balanced; it is not empowered.

—Venerable Chwasan, "The Grace in This World"

Via Ram Dass:

 June 8, 2016

The curriculum of service provides us with information about our strengths as well, and we discover how these contribute to genuinely help-full service. Each time we drop our masks and meet heart-to-heart, reassuring one another simply by the quality of our presence, we experience a profound bond which we intuitively understand is nourishing everyone. Each time we quiet our mind, our listening becomes sharp and clear, deep and perceptive; we realize that we know more that we thought we knew, and can reach out and hear, as if from inside, the heart of someone's pain. Each time we are able to remain open to suffering, despite our fear and defensiveness, we sense a love in us which becomes increasingly unconditional.

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day - 08/06/2016

“Ao se deixar ser guiado pela mente condicionada, você inevitavelmente é lançado ao sofrimento. A mente condicionada te leva para o caminho oposto daquele que o seu coração determina; ela te leva a classificar o que é certo e o que é errado e te faz agir a partir dessa classificação. Então você aprende a fazer o que julga ser o correto apenas para receber recompensas, mas isso não quer dizer que você está feliz com isso.”

“Al dejarte guiar por la mente condicionada, eres inevitablemente lanzado al sufrimiento. La mente condicionada te lleva hacia el camino opuesto al que tu corazón determina; te lleva a clasificar lo que es correcto y lo que está equivocadoy te hace actuar desde esta clasificación. Entonces aprendes a hacer lo que juzgasque escorrecto solo para recibir recompensas, pero eso no quiere decir que estás feliz con ello.”

“If we allow ourselves to be guided by the conditioned mind, we inevitably are catapulted into suffering. Our conditioned mind takes us to the complete opposite path of our heart; it makes us classify what is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ and makes us act from this set of rules. Then we learn to act according to what we believe to be correct in order to fulfill an expectation, but this is not what makes us happy.”

Via Daily Dharma / June 8, 2016: A Living Offering

To cut a bloom is to destroy a living thing. The best flowers to offer are those that have not been picked at all but fall from the tree and are gathered in a cloth before they reach the ground.

—Hans Georg Berger, "The Most Suitable Offerings"

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day - 07/06/2016

“Uma das principais características do ego humano é a necessidade de ser amado exclusivamente. A criança nasce amando e, ao mesmo tempo, querendo ser amada. Então, com o passar do tempo, o amor é eclipsado por crenças e choques adquiridos, o que faz com que a necessidade de receber amor seja maior do que a necessidade de amar. A pessoa acaba se desconectando do seu núcleo interior e se conecta à superfície, às máscaras - um falso centro é criado a partir da carência. Essa é a causa de grande parte disso que conhecemos como sofrimento.”

“Una de las principales características del ego humano es la necesidad de ser amado exclusivamente. El niño nace amando y, al mismo tiempo, queriendo ser amado. Entonces, con el paso del tiempo, el amor es eclipsado por creencias y shocks adquiridos, que hace que la necesidad de recibir amor sea mayor que la necesidad de amar. La persona termina desconectándose de su núcleo interior y se conecta a la superficie, a las máscaras - un falso centro se crea a partir de la carencia. Esta es la causa de gran parte de eso que conocemos como sufrimiento.”

“One of the main characteristics of the human ego is the need to be exclusively loved. A child is born loving and, at the same time, wanting to be loved. Then, with the passing of time, love is eclipsed by acquired beliefs and shocks, which makes the need to receive love greater than the need to give love. As adults, we wind up disconnected from our core and connected to the superficial layer called masks, which is a false center created out of our neediness. This disconnection is the cause of so much of what we experience as suffering.”

Via Daily Dharma / June 7, 2016: What the World Is Made Of

Something I have come to understand slowly over my lifetime is that nature, earth, the world—whatever you call it—is not simply something I am on but something I am. It is not outside of me: it is me, and I am it. There is no outside.

—Paul Kingsnorth, "The Witness"

Via FB:

Fleetwood Mac - Bare Trees [Full Album]

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

“Estamos trabalhando para ressignificar as nossas vidas e para que todos encontrem e realizem o programa da sua alma. Trabalhamos para que possamos cumprir nossa missão. Porque, ao realizar essa missão, nos sentimos encaixados e ficamos em paz - nós nos realizamos. Então, nós descobrimos que a felicidade é a causa da felicidade, ou seja, ao nos realizarmos, criamos um círculo benigno no qual felicidade gera felicidade.” 

“Estamos trabajando para resignificarnuestras vidas y para que todos encuentren y realicen el programa de su alma. Trabajamos para poder cumplir con nuestra misión. Porque, al realizar esta misión, nos sentimos encajadosy estamos en paz - nos realizamos. Entoncesdescubrimos que la felicidad es la causa de la felicidad, es decir, al realizarnos, creamos un círculo benigno en el cual felicidad genera felicidad.”

“We are working to give new meaning to our lives so that we all may discover and fulfill the program of our souls. We are working so that we can complete our mission. When we are able to accomplish our mission, we feel as if we belong, and we are at peace; we become self-realized. We discover that happiness breeds even more happiness. As we become self-realized, we create a healthy circle in which happiness fosters even more happiness.”

Via Daily Dharma / June 6, 2016: The Bodhisattva’s Commitment

May I become an island for those seeking dry land
A lamp for those needing light,
A place to rest for those who desire one,
And a servant for those needing service.

—Shantideva, "May I Become an Island"

Via Lessons Learned In Life Inc. / FB:

Via Tim McGraw / FB:

Via Bernie Sanders for President 2016:

Ban Ki-moon: Discrimination can never be justified We must right these wrongs!

“We should all be outraged when people suffer discrimination, assault or even murder simply because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. We should all speak out when someone is arrested and imprisoned because of who they love or how they look. This is one of the great neglected human rights challenges of our time. We must right these wrongs! […] Some may oppose change. They may invoke culture, tradition or religion to defend the status quo. Such arguments have been used to try to justify slavery, child marriage, rape in marriage and female genital mutilation. I respect culture, tradition and religion, but they can never justify the denial of basic rights. My promise to the lesbian, homosexual, bisexual and transgender members of the human family is this: I’m with you. I promise that as Secretary-General of the United Nations I will denounce attacks against you and I will keep pressing leaders for progress.”

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the International Conference on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (Oslo, 15-16 April 2013).