Via JMG: Obama Names Gay US Army Secretary Eric Fanning To Rio Olympics Closing Ceremony Delegation

August 12, 2016 LGBT News, Sports

Via White House press release:

President Barack Obama today announced the designation of a Presidential Delegation to attend the Closing Ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Federative Republic of Brazil. The Closing Ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Federative Republic of Brazil will be held on August 21, 2016.

The delegation will attend athletic events, meet with U.S. athletes, and attend the Closing Ceremony. The Honorable Gina McCarthy, Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, will lead the delegation.

Members of the Presidential Delegation

The Honorable Liliana Ayalde, U.S. Ambassador to the Federative Republic of Brazil, Department of State

The Honorable Eric Fanning, Secretary of the Army, Department of Defense

Ms. Bess Evans, Senior Associate Director and Senior Policy Advisor, White House Office of Public Engagement and Domestic Policy Council

Ms. Lauren Kelly, Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary, Office of the First Lady

Mr. Jason Collins, Retired NBA Player and Member of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition

Ms. Jackie Joyner-Kersee, three-time Olympic gold medalist, one-time Olympic silver medalist, two-time Olympic bronze medalist, women’s heptathlon and long-jump, and Founder of the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation

You’ll note that openly gay former NBA player Jason Collins is also a member of the delegation. Billie Jean King was named a delegation member for the 2014 Olympics, which were held in the far less gay-friendly Sochi, Russia. King’s selection was considered a message to Putin about LGBT rights.

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Via Purple Clover / FB:

Via Daily Dharma / August 13, 2016: Cultivating Openness

When we open our hearts and our minds completely, we are in a place where we can experience something new, a new truth, a new reality, a miracle that we haven’t experienced in the past.

—Anam Thubten, "How a Tomato Opened My Mind"

Via Daily Dharma / August 11, 2016: Heedfulness as a Virtue

The Buddha identified the basis for all our good and skillful qualities as heedfulness—not innate goodness or compassion: heedfulness.

—Thanissaro Bhikkhu, "What Is True Safety?"

Via John Ibbitson at The Globe and Mail: Justin Trudeau to apologize for historic persecution of gay Canadians

As early as this autumn, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will apologize on behalf of all Canadians to those who were imprisoned, fired from their jobs or otherwise persecuted in the past because of their sexuality.

That apology is a key element in a broad range of reforms that will collectively represent one of the greatest advances for sexual minorities in Canada’s history.

John Ibbitson explains The Globe's focus on Everett Klippert's pardon (The Globe and Mail)

“This is a long-awaited moment and a very emotional moment, to be honest,” said Helen Kennedy, executive director of Egale, a national organization that advocates for the rights of sexual minorities. 

“For the government to recognize the damage that it caused, the harm that it caused, to thousands and thousands of Canadians is a historic moment for our communities.”

The Globe and Mail has learned of the planned reforms from numerous sources within and outside the government.

In essence, the Liberals have decided to act on most or all of the recommendations of The Just Society, a report submitted to the government in June by Egale. The title refers to former prime minister Pierre Trudeau’s program for rights protection and social reform.

Those recommendations include:

• Apologizing to people who were convicted of gross indecency for committing homosexual acts in the years before 1969, when same-sex acts between consensual adults were decriminalized. Those convictions will be pardoned, expunged or in some other fashion stricken from the records of those convicted;
• Apologizing to those who were dismissed from the public service, discharged from the military or otherwise discriminated against in government work because they were homosexual. It was only in the 1990s that the federal government ceased efforts to identify and expel homosexuals in the military;
• Eliminating the difference in the age of consent for sexual acts. The current age of consent is 16, but it is 18 for anal intercourse, which discriminates against and stigmatizes young homosexuals.
• Examining whether and how to compensate those who suffered past discrimination because of who they were or whom they loved. This could involve individual compensation and/or funding for programs or services;
• Requiring all police officers or others who work in the justice system to receive human-rights training, with an emphasis on the historic wrong of treating members of sexual minorities as criminals and on the current bias that all too often still exists;
• Providing similar training to Customs officials, who still are more likely to ban homosexual materials from crossing the border, while permitting their heterosexual equivalents;
• Implementing procedures to protect the dignity of transgender or intersex persons in prisons or jails;
• Eliminating laws, such as keeping a bawdy house, that can be used to criminally charge those who visit a bathhouse or who practise group sex.

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Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día- Flower of the day - 12/08/2016

“O que podemos considerar como êxito para o ser humano é a capacidade de identificar suas contradições ou insanidades, pois esse é o início da sanidade. A identificação da doença é o início da cura. Mas, entre a identificação e a cura da doença, existe um caminho e, às vezes, é um longo caminho. Às vezes, são necessários muitos procedimentos; às vezes é necessário mudar hábitos e reeducar muita coisa na sua vida. Esse é um processo atemporal, porque a cura depende de muitos fatores. Então, não se preocupe com o tempo, apenas trabalhe para identificar suas contradições.”

“Lo que podemos considerar como éxito para el ser humano es la capacidad de identificar sus contradicciones o insanidades, porque ese es el inicio de la sanidad. La identificación de la enfermedad es el inicio de la cura. Pero entre la identificación y la cura de la enfermedad existe un camino y, a veces, es un largo camino. A veces, son necesarios muchos procedimientos; a veces es necesario cambiar hábitos y reeducar muchas cosas en tu vida. Este es un proceso atemporal, porque la cura depende de muchos factores. Entonces, no te preocupes con el tiempo, solo trabaja en identificar tus contradicciones.”

“What we can consider a success for human beings is our capacity to identify our contradictions and our insanity. This marks the beginning of sanity. The identification of the disease heralds the beginning of the healing process. However, between the diagnosis and the cure, there is a path we must travel, often a very long one. Sometimes we must undergo many procedures. It may be necessary to change our habits or to re-educate ourselves about various things in life. We don’t know how long this process will take because healing depends on many factors. So, we do not need to be concerned about time. We simply work to be able to identify our contradictions.”

Via Daily Dharma / August 12, 2016: Dream Before You Wake

In the beginning, our illusions are important. In some ways, those illusions bring us to practice. Hopefully, in the process of practicing, we wake up to how things really are. But it’s not bad to have some dreams at the beginning.

—Natalie Goldberg, "Beyond Betrayal"

Hillary's America: Loved Ones

Via Ram Dass

August 10, 2016

As long as you have certain desires about how it ought to be you can’t see how it is.

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día- Flower of the day - 10/08/2016

“A mente é um fluxo de pensamentos que nasce a partir da ideia de eu. O ego, ao encarnar em um corpo, cria um eu para poder sobreviver; e a partir dessa ideia de eu, pensamentos são criados. A ideia de eu gera a ideia de meu, e a partir desse binômio eu-meu, nascem todas as outras formas de pensamento. Um mundo inteiro é criado para sustentar essa falsa identidade. Por isso, no universo do yoga, costuma-se dizer que é preciso acessar o estado de ‘não-mente’; pois a mente está identificada com esse mundo ilusório criado pelo falso eu.”

“La mente es un flujo de pensamientos que nace a partir de la idea del yo. El ego, al encarnar en un cuerpo, crea un yo para poder sobrevivir, y a partir de esa idea de yo, son creados pensamientos. La idea de yo genera la idea de mío, y a partir de ese binomio yo-mío, nacen todas las otras formas de pensamiento. Un mundo entero es creado para sustentar esa falsa identidad. Por eso, en el universo del yoga, se acostumbra decir que es necesario acceder al estado de ‘no-mente’, porque la mente está identificada con ese mundo ilusorio creado por el falso yo.”

“The mind is a flow of thoughts that is born from the idea of self. The ego, when it incarnates in a body, creates this ‘I’ to survive. From this idea of self, thoughts are created. The idea of ‘me’ creates the idea of ‘mine’ and from this dual role of ‘me’ and ‘mine’, all other forms of thought are born. A whole world is created to sustain this false identity. Therefore, in the world of yoga, it is said that we need to access the state of ‘no-mind’, because the mind is identified with the illusory world created by this false self.”

Via Daily Dharma / August 10, 2016: The Virtue of Impatience

As a writer and Zen practitioner I hear myself extolling the virtues of patience when I realize that while patience is absolutely necessary, impatience is also necessary . . . The tension that exists between patience and impatience is so fertile. That’s where the energy comes from.

—Ruth Ozeki, "Memories in the Mirror"

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día- Flower of the day - 09/08/2016

“Estamos lutando para vencer nossos inimigos, que são os nossos próprios pensamentos. Nessa batalha, nos tornamos vitoriosos quando podemos flechar o inimigo antes mesmo dele apontar sua flecha para nós, ou seja, quando podemos deter o pensamento antes que ele se exteriorize. Para isso, precisamos manter nossa flecha sempre apontada na direção do coração do inimigo, o que significa que nossa atenção precisa estar sempre voltada para o apego, pois ele é que sustenta o pensar compulsivo.”

“Estamos luchando para vencer a nuestros enemigos, que son nuestros propios pensamientos. En esta batalla, nos volvemos victoriosos cuando podemos flechar al enemigo antes de que él apunte su flecha hacia nosotros, es decir, cuando podemos detener el pensamiento antes que se exteriorice. Para esto, necesitamos mantener apuntada nuestra flecha siempre en dirección al corazón del enemigo, esto significa que nuestra atención necesita estar siempre puesta en el apego, porque es lo que sustenta el pensar compulsivo.”

“We are fighting to overcome our enemies, which are our own thoughts. In this battle, we are victorious when we're able to take down our 'enemy' before he is even able to aim his arrow. This analogy refers to us being able to stop our thoughts before they become externalized. In order to do so, we must always have our arrows aimed at the 'enemy' — our attachments — as they sustain our compulsive thinking.”

Via Daily Dharma / August 9, 2016: The Dharma of Deep Welcome

If you can create an opportunity for people to show up exactly as they are and for others to welcome that, I think that’s the dharma right there.

—Sebene Selassie, "Buddhism in the Next Generation"

Via Tricycle: Brief Teachings Spring 2016 Select wisdom from sources old and new

This impulse to record and create meaning of the little details and moments of life—as [Georgia] O’Keeffe said, “to paint what I see”—is arguably the birthplace of art, and it starts with being awake to the moments of our lives as they are passing. It begins, in other words, with mindfulness.

—Scott Barry Kaufman and Carolyn Gregoire, "Brief Teachings Spring 2016"

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Via Daily Dharma / August 7, 2016: Art Begins with Mindfulness

This impulse to record and create meaning of the little details and moments of life—as [Georgia] O’Keeffe said, 
“to paint what I see”—is arguably the birthplace of art, and it starts with being awake to the moments of our lives as they are passing. It begins, in other words, with mindfulness.

—Scott Barry Kaufman and Carolyn Gregoire, "Brief Teachings Spring 2016"

Via Ram Dass

August 7, 2016

If I go into the place in myself that is love, and you go into the place in yourself that is love, we are together in love. Then you and I are truly in love, the state of being love. That’s the entrance to Oneness. That’s the space I entered when I met my guru.

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

“Quando pode observar os pensamentos, as emoções e as sensações que passam por você sem criticar ou julgar, você está obtendo uma grande vitória sobre a mente. Em outras palavras, você está se tornando senhor da própria mente. Dessa maneira, você começa a acessar o nível da alma e a empoderar o espírito. Você começa a se perceber como um fragmento do Divino. Mas esse fragmento não se divide, ele é eterno, pois ele é o próprio Divino. Você tem um vislumbre da Unidade.”

“Cuándo puedes observar los pensamientos, emociones y sensaciones que pasan por ti sin criticar o juzgar, estás obteniendo una gran victoria sobre la mente. En otras palabras, te estás convirtiendo en señor de tu propia mente. De esta manera, comienzas a acceder al nivel del alma y empoderar al espíritu. Empiezas a percibirte como un fragmento de lo Divino. Pero este fragmento no se divide, es eterno, porque es la propia Divinidad. Tienes una vislumbre de la Unidad.”

“When we can observe our thoughts, emotions and sensations that pass through us without criticizing or judging them, we gain a great victory over the mind. We become sovereign over the mind. As such, we begin to have access to the level of the soul that empowers the spirit. We begin to perceive ourselves as a piece of the divine. This fragment is not divided. It is eternal because it is divinity itself. We are given a glimpse of unity.”

Via Daily Dharma / August 8, 2016: A Child’s View of Buddha

I think Buddha is light. In this light is a triangle of all-colored light, and inside the light is a human-animal-sea-creature-bird-Being.

—Caroline Kornfield, "Children Talking about ‘Buddha’"

Via Daily Dharma / August 6, 2016: Meeting Every Moment Completely

What is essential in the practice [of kyosaku, the “encouragement stick”] is to meet each moment completely, to be whole, to meet each back, each shoulder, each need as required. To be nothing but the stick and the blow.

—Sallie Jiko Tisdale, "The Encouragement Stick: 7 Views"