Via Daily Dharma / August 28, 2016: The Myth of the Negative Emotion

There isn’t any such thing as a negative emotion. There are negative things that we do with our emotions, but our emotions themselves are neither negative nor positive. They simply are.

—Robert Augustus Masters, "From Spiritual Bypassing"

Via Taller: Amor y Sexualidad / FB

Via FB:

Via Boyfactor: 8 Openly Homophobic Companies To Avoid

If CEOs these days were smart, they would realize that over half of America supports marriage equality. Companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks, Google, and many more have famously “gone gay” and come out in support of LGBT rights through monetary donations, employee protection, and publicly promoting equality. It seems like publicly opposing equality would be PR suicide these days, doesn’t it? Surprisingly, this isn’t the case. The Human Rights Campaign conducts an annual Corporate Equality Index and consistently hands out failing grades to companies for either being un-inclusive, or downright homophobic. Some of the following companies might be familiar to you, but you might be surprised by who else made the list.

Chick-Fil-A

Before you “Chow Down at Chick-Fil-A ala Willam Belli, you might want to know that they are famed for their disdain of everything gay.

CEO Dan Cathy believes firmly in the “traditional definition of marriage” to the point that he has donated to Christian Organizations which support the murder of gay individuals in Africa. You know that “Kill the Gays” bill in Uganda? That came thanks to organizations that have gotten substantial donation from this fast food chain.

Chick-Fil-A: Serving up nuggets with a side of homophobia.

Purina

For a company that’s devoted to feeding animals, Purina does a good job at being discriminatory to a large group of humans. The pet-chow company offers zero benefits for same-sex partners, and has no anti-discrimination policy in place. They also famously pulled ads from Saturday Night Live because it was “immoral” and promoted an “unclean lifestyle.” Lofty words from a company whose claim to fame is Beggin’ Strips and Sausages.

The Salvation Army

 

Next time you see a friendly bell-ringer at your local grocery store, be advised that your donated money is actually going to a company that wishes death on gay and transgender individuals. According to one higher-up in the corporation, they take the word of the Bible literally and seriously, meaning gay and trans individuals are hell-bound and deserve death. There has also been issues with trans and gay folks being denied access to Salvation Army operated shelters because of their “lifestyle choices.” With opinions like that, it might be time to change the company’s name to the “Selective Salvation Army.”

Dominos

Even pizza companies are getting political these days. Dominos has a founder who is notoriously sexist and homophobic and has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to conservative causes to undercut equality. Evidently Dominos is just too highbrow and classy to allow us queers access to the pizza cutter. Their loss: We’re pros at working with sausage.

Urban Outfitters

This one is a bit more surprising to some people considering Urban has achieved a sort of reverance in the gay community for the clothing it sells. Despite the CEO being an openly gay man, the founder of Urban Outfitters has donated money to the campaigns of politicans such as Rick “can’t hear you over my Bible audiobook” Santorum.

Additionally, Urban has removed Pro-Gay clothing from its shelves in the past while keeping clothing with transphobic, sexist, and racist language out for sale. Keep that in mind next time you’re shooting for Hipster-Chic and Urban comes up as an option.

Cracker Barrel

Color me shocked to hear a restaurant chain famed for Southern influences is homophobic. Cracker Barrel not only does not protect the LGBT individuals from being fired or mistreated, it actively does not hire these individuals because their “lifestyle” is incongruent with Cracker Barrel’s values as well as the values of “the majority of our clientele.” If you find yourself hankering for some chicken and waffles, consider finding a place that doesn’t cater to folks who enjoy good old-fashioned queer-beatings and down-home transphobia.

Wal-Mart

 

Famous for rollback prices and for being a terrible place to work if you want competitive wages, Wal-Mart also has an anti-LGBT streak in it.  Though it is the country’s largest seller of books, Wal-Mart does not have any LGBT-themed pieces of literature for sale in its stores. One book that was famously vended by the retail giant promoted the idea that gay people can overcome their sin and become straight, because if there is one place qualified to offer conversion therapy, it’s Wal-Mart.

Exxon

Here’s the big one. The granddady of homophobic companies. Far and away the record-holder for lowest score on the HRC’s Corporate Equality Index. Exxon Oil come on down, claim your prize! With a Corporate Equity Index score of negative 25 out of 100 Exxon is far and away the worst place to work if you are LGBT.

As is common with the rest of these companies, Exxon refuses to provide benefits for LGBT workers and their partners. However, Exxon enjoys the distinction of having actually revoked these benefits which were present in the past. In addition to just kind of being dicks with regards to the environment, Exxon actively pursues legislation which is designed to keep LGBT folks from receiving equality. Exxon execs firmly opposed ENDA and are adamantly refusing the become the final Fortune 10 company to protect LGBT individuals from unfair workplace treatment. Exxon is the most profitable company in the world, but also holds the title of “Least LGBT Friendly Company.” Just because Exxon is responsible for turning dead dinosaurs into fuel doesn’t mean they need to have prehistoric mindset when it comes to equality.

These are only a few of the unfortunately large list of companies that oppose LGBT equality. Knowing where your money goes when you spend it is important lest it go toward murdering gay people in Uganda as in the case of Chick-Fil-A. The good news is that these companies are offset by an ever-growing number of companies who actively support LGBT rights. For every Wal-Mart there is a Costco, and for every Cracker-Barrel there is a Starbucks which combat the various phobias these companies perpetuate. With the holiday season coming up and shopping about to get hella busy, consider checking out the HRC’s full list of Corporate Equality Index scores so you can spend your money somewhere that doesn’t want you dead.

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Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día- Flower of the day - 27/08/2016

Estamos trabalhando para que haja um despertar da consciência humana. Despertar, nesse contexto, significa ampliar a percepção de forma que possamos ver aquilo que não vemos; significa remover as lentes que distorcem a realidade para que possamos ter acesso a ela. Tais lentes representam os sistemas de crenças que nos fazem interpretar a realidade a partir das nossas feridas infantis. Isso nos impede de evoluir e desenvolver nossos potenciais latentes porque ficamos presos ao passado. Porém, a natureza da vida é movimento e expansão e inevitavelmente chega um momento em que as nossas crenças são questionadas e passamos a perceber a vida de outra maneira. Esse é o início do despertar.”

“Estamos trabajando para que haya un despertar de la conciencia humana. Despertar, en este contexto, significa ampliar la percepción de modo que podamos ver aquello que no vemos; significa remover los lentesque distorsionan la realidad para que podamos tener acceso a ella. Tales lentes representan los sistemas de creencias que nos hacen interpretar la realidad desde nuestras heridas infantiles. Esto nos impide evolucionar y desarrollar nuestros potenciales latentes porque estamos atados al pasado. Sin embargo, la naturaleza de la vida es movimiento y expansión e inevitablemente llega un momento en que nuestras creencias son cuestionadas y pasamos a percibir la vida de otra manera. Este es el inicio del despertar.”

“We are working to awaken human consciousness. ‘To awaken’ in this context means to increase our perception to such a degree that we are able to see that which we were formally unable to. It means to remove the lenses that distort reality so that we are able to access it. These ‘lenses’ are the systems of beliefs that were a result of our childhood wounds that make us interpret reality as we do. This is what prevents us from evolving and developing our hidden talents because we are trapped in the past. However, the nature of life is movement and expansion and inevitably there comes a moment when our beliefs are questioned and we begin to perceive life in another way. This is the beginning of awakening.”

Via Daily Dharma / August 27, 2016: All That Stillness Holds

Being fully in the stillness was not about self-isolation or self-help but about standing in radical relationship with all that stillness holds—all the grief, all the loss, all the loneliness—and standing with it, rather than rushing to reason it away, arrest it, or lock it in a box.

—Jasmine Syedullah, "Radicalizing Dharma Dreams"

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día- Flower of the day - 26/08/2016

“Cada ser humano traz consigo uma visão, um programa a ser realizado. Esse programa é o propósito da alma; é o que ela veio fazer aqui. A criança nasce tendo a clareza do propósito mas, com o tempo, ela acaba se esquecendo, especialmente se os adultos responsáveis por ela não alimentam essa visão por não acreditarem nela ou por projetam na criança as suas próprias inseguranças, bloqueios e frustrações. Dessa forma, a criança vai sendo condicionada àquilo que a sociedade determina que é melhor para ela. Ela é desviada do seu caminho natural e essa é a maior desgraça do ser humano.”

“Cada ser humano trae consigo una visión, un programa a ser realizado. Este programa es el propósito del alma; es lo queella vino a hacer aquí. El niño nace con el propósito claro pero, con el tiempo, termina por olvidarlo, especialmente si los adultos responsables de élno alimentan estavisión, por no creer en él o por proyectar en el niño sus propias inseguridades, bloqueos y frustraciones. De esta forma, el niño va siendo condicionado a lo que la sociedad determina que es mejor para él. Es desviado de su camino natural y esta es la mayor desgracia del ser humano.”

“Every human being brings with them a vision, a program to be realized. This program is the purpose of the soul; it is what we have come here to do. As a child, we are born with clarity of purpose, but over time, we wind up forgetting it. This happens especially when the adults responsible for raising a child don’t nourish this vision and don’t believe in him or her. This disconnect continues when parents or caretakers project onto a child their own insecurity, blocks and frustrations. In this way, a child becomes conditioned with what society determines to be best for it. The child is deviated from his or her natural path and this is the greatest disgrace for the human being.”

Via Daily Dharma / August 26, 2016: Falling Out of Habit

There is something sacred about the moment when we fall out of the habit-realm. So often it is precisely such a gap, a sense of wonder or questioning at what we take for granted, that brings us to the path in the first place.

—Noelle Oxenhandler, "Twirling a Flower"

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día- Flower of the day - 25/08/2016

“Se existe medo da intimidade, existe vergonha. A vergonha é um aspecto do orgulho que pode ser usado como um portal de acesso ao inconsciente. Ao identificar a vergonha, estabeleça um diálogo com ela. Mas se ainda não foi possível identificar a vergonha, dialogue então com o medo. Converse com essas partes da sua personalidade que estão gerando o isolamento. Pergunta a si mesmo: Do que eu tenho medo? O que eu considero tão feio em mim que preciso esconder? O que em mim eu não consigo aceitar? Essa é uma forma de acessar os porões do inconsciente.”

“Si existe miedo a la intimidad, existe vergüenza. La vergüenza es un aspecto del orgullo que puede ser usado como un portal de acceso al inconsciente. Al identificar la vergüenza, establece un diálogo con ella. Pero si todavía no fue posible identificar la vergüenza, entonces dialoga con el miedo. Habla con esas partes de su personalidad que están generando aislamiento. Pregúntate a ti mismo: ¿De qué tengo miedo? ¿Qué es lo que considero tan feo en mí que necesito esconderlo? ¿Qué en mí no consigo aceptar? Esta es una forma de acceder a los sótanos del inconsciente.”

“If there is fear of intimacy, there exists shame. Shame is an aspect of pride that can be used as a doorway to the unconscious. As you identify shame acting in you, develop a dialogue with it. If you have not yet been able to identify shame, have a conversation with your fear. Converse with these parts of your personality that are creating isolation. Ask yourself, ‘What do I fear? What is so ugly in me that I need to hide? What don’t I accept about myself?’ This is a way to access the dungeons of the unconscious.”

Via Daily Dharma / August 25, 2016: The Buddhist Art of Debate

The Buddha said, “My words are not to be simply accepted; they are to be tested.” Debating trains you to be clear and gives you an analytical mind. When you study Buddhism you can analyze what really makes sense rather than simply memorizing.

—Rinchen Khando Choegyal, "Standing as Equals"

Via Ram Dass

August 24, 2016

Water, when it flows downstream, doesn’t have a model of what it’s doing. It’s just being water, and water floats downstream, because that’s how water works. The thing that is extraordinarily hard for any of us to truly realize and to have sufficient faith to accept, is that if you stop having views, having models, planning, desiring, organizing, and structuring, it’s all right.

You don’t stop your desires as long as you stay in a human body. You break the identification with them. That's all that's required.

It isn’t necessary to give up a thing. It’s necessary to give up attachment to the thing. That’s all that’s required.

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día- Flower of the day - 24/08/2016

“A necessidade compulsiva de trocar de parceiro sexual é um desdobramento da gula; é um mecanismo de defesa que serve para amortecer a consciência. Por trás dessa compulsão existe um profundo medo da intimidade. Você tem medo de aprofundar na relação por que teme se revelar para o outro. O que faz com que você perca o interesse sexual pelo outro é o medo que ele veja algo em você que você não aceita. Você tem medo de entrar em contato com algo que não quer ver. No mais profundo, ao fugir do outro, você está fugindo de si mesmo.” 

“La necesidad compulsiva de cambiar de pareja sexual es undesdoblamiento de la gula; es un mecanismo de defensa que sirve para adormecer la conciencia. Por detrás de esta compulsión existe un profundo miedo a la intimidad. Tienes miedo de profundizar en la relación porquetemes revelarte al otro. Lo que te hace perder el interés sexual por el otro, es el miedo de que él vea algo en ti que no aceptas. Tienes miedo de entrar en contacto con algo que no quieres ver. En lo más profundo, alhuir del otro, estás huyendo de ti mismo.”

“The compulsive need to change our sexual partners is an unfolding of gluttony. It is a defense mechanism that serves to numb our consciousness. Behind this compulsion lies a deep-rooted fear of intimacy. We fear deepening into a relationship because we are afraid to reveal ourselves to the other. What makes us lose our sexual interest in our partner is that we fear they are seeing something in us that we don’t accept about ourselves. We dread coming into contact with something that we don’t want to see. At the deepest level, when we try to escape the other, we are attempting to run and hide from ourselves.”

Via Daily Dharma / August 24, 2016: The Everyday Buddhist

Buddhism after patriarchy calls for a radical reassessment of the relationship between spirituality and so-called “everyday life” . . . Now maintaining one’s livelihood and taking care of one’s environment and family need to be accepted as an alternative that is not inferior to monasticism.

—Rita M. Gross, "After Patriarchy"

Via FB

Via Lion's Roas: I’m interested in going to a Buddhist center in my city for the first time. Any advice?

by Lion's Roar Staff| August 17, 2016

Illustration by Nolan Pelletier.

It sounds like you’re a little nervous and unsure what to expect. That’s okay—Buddhists talk about the value of “not-knowing,” after all. But we do have some tips.

First: do some googling to see what your options are. And you’ll find a helpful directory of Buddhist centers right in the back of Lion’s Roar magazine or Buddhadharma. Visit centers’ websites and social media to get a sense of the tradition and teachings they represent. Which ones reflect what’s drawn you to Buddhism? Look for special beginner-friendly and drop-in events.

Here are some things to keep in mind for your visit to a center:

1. You’re under no obligation to do anything you don’t want to—and you’re free to leave if you don’t like the feel of the place.
2. That said, Buddhist practice is often about letting go, so try your best to have a spirit of playful experimentation. Bowing or chanting may be outside of your experience, but you’re there to try something new. Don’t worry about getting things wrong, because that’s expected.
3. Centers often rely on generosity to function. You are free to make a donation but not obligated.
4. Different communities have different feels—some are mostly silent, some are talkier, and so on. Keep looking and soon you’ll find one where you feel at home.

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Via LGBTQ Nation / FB: Trump’s new campaign chiefs have a long and sordid anti-gay past

In this Aug. 10, 2016, photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a coal mining roundtable at Fitzgerald Peterbilt in Glade Spring, Va. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Donald Trump seems to have discovered some change you can believe in, and has just shuffled around the leadership of his campaign (again). Out goes Paul Manafort, who may or may not have been illegally accepting money from foreign powers, and in comes Breitbart News chairman Steve Bannon and conservative pollster Kellyanne Conway.

Wait, who?

Well, you’ll be delighted (and no doubt shocked) to learn that Trump’s new best friends have a long history of homophobia. Surprise!

Bannon, for example, went nuts over Target’s inclusive bathroom policy, accusing the store of “trying to exclude people who are decent, hard-working people who don’t want their four-year-old daughter to have to go into a bathroom with a guy with a beard in a dress.” Good one!

Conway called homosexuality “corrupting” and said that people “don’t want their kids looking at a cartoon with a bunch of lesbian mothers.” She did a bunch of polling for the National Organization for Marriage, which unbelievably still exists. (In fact, just last week, NOM sent out a fundraising email in which they inadvertently called their own members “pathetic.” Truer words were never spoken!)

Conway also spoke at the Family Research Council’s Values Voter Summit, and said that opposing homosexuality is not “right versus left, but right versus wrong.”

Trump likes to pretend that he’s a friend to the gays, but a quick look over at the company he keeps proves that’s simply not true. And of course, running mate Mike Pence is even worse.

Under Bannon’s leadership, Breitbart has run headlines like “The Trouble with Trannies” and pushed a conspiracy theory that Matthew Shepard’s murder wasn’t a hate crime. The site has also claimed that being gay is a mental illness.

Read the original and much more here

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día- Flower of the day - 23/08/2016

“O ego humano encontra-se adoecido, completamente obcecado pelo poder. O egoísmo chegou no seu grau máximo. E para que possamos nos curar dessa doença, precisamos primeiro reconhecê-la através dos seus sintomas (ansiedade, angústia, tristeza, depressão, desconexão...). Porém, não basta somente tratar os sintomas, precisamos tratar e eliminar a causa, a raiz dessa doença. No mais profundo, a raiz do egoísmo humano está na desconexão com a sua verdadeira identidade e com realidade espiritual da vida.” 

“El ego humano se encuentra enfermo, completamente obsesionado con el poder. El egoísmo ha alcanzado su grado máximo. Y para que podamos curarnos de esta enfermedad, primero necesitamos reconocerla a través de sus síntomas (ansiedad, angustia, tristeza, depresión, desconexión...). Pero no basta solamente con tratar los síntomas, necesitamos tratar y eliminar la causa, la raíz de esta enfermedad. En lo más profundo, la raíz del egoísmo humano está en la desconexión con su verdadera identidad y con la realidad espiritual de la vida.” 

“The human ego is sick, completely obsessed with power. Selfishness has increased to its maximum degree. In order for us to heal ourselves from this disease, we first need to recognize its symptoms such as, anxiety, anguish, sadness, depression and disconnection. However, it is not enough to only treat the symptoms. We need to treat and eliminate the cause, and address the roots of this illness. At the deepest level, the roots of human selfishness lie in the disconnection from our true identity and the spiritual reality of life.”

Via Daily Dharma / August 23, 2016: Our Temporary Niche

As human beings we agonize about death, and about our lack of freedom. We have the greatest difficulty in acknowledging our impermanence and our dependence. Once we truly accept our temporary niche in the interdependence of all things, then, as the Buddha taught, we can be free of dukkha.

—Robert Aitken, "The Rectification of Names"

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día- Flower of the day - 22/08/2016

“Para ancorar a presença é preciso fechar as contas com o passado, o que significa poder olhar para trás e agradecer à cada pessoa que passou na sua vida. Onde existe ingratidão existe acusação; onde existe acusação, existe um coração fechado. Em outras palavras, existe uma ferida a ser tratada. Pois é essa ferida que te mantém preso ao passado. Com isso, eu lhe convido a fazer uma reflexão: se, nesse momento, a vida lhe convidasse a deixar o corpo, você estaria pronto? Se a resposta é não, procure identificar porquê. O que você estaria deixando para trás inacabado? Quais são as contas abertas que você estaria deixando? Somente quando puder fechar essas contas do passado, você poderá viver plenamente o presente.” 

“Para anclar la presencia es necesario cerrar las cuentas con el pasado, lo que significa poder mirar hacia atrás y agradecer a cada persona que pasó por tu vida. Donde hay ingratitud hay acusación; donde hay acusación, hay un corazón cerrado. En otras palabras, existe una herida a tratarse. Pues esesta herida la que te mantiene atado al pasado. Con eso, yo te invito a hacer una reflexión: si, en ese momento, la vida te invitara a dejar el cuerpo, ¿estarías listo? Si la respuesta es no, trata de identificar por qué. ¿Qué estarías dejando atrás sin terminar? ¿Cuáles son las cuentas abiertas que estarías dejando? Solamente cuando puedas cerrar estas cuentas del pasado, podrás vivir plenamente el presente.” 

“In order to anchor presence, it is necessary to close the open accounts from our past. We need to be able to look back and thank each and every person from our past. Where there is ingratitude, there exists an accusation. Where there are accusations, there is also a closed heart. In other words, there is a wound that needs to be treated. It is this wound that keeps us stuck in the past. With this knowledge, I invite you to do a reflection exercise: if, in this exact moment, life were to invite you to leave your body, would you be ready? If your answer is no, try to identify why this is. What would you be leaving behind that is still unfinished? What are the open accounts that would be left unfinished? Only when we are able to close these accounts of the past will we be able to live fully in the present.”