Via Daily Dharma / September 1, 2016: The Diamond Vehicle

In the Vajrayana, we see that our difficulties with relative reality stem from our attitudes and beliefs, rather than from relativity itself. We are called to see each arising of our day not as a threat, but as an opportunity—a chance to open our arms, lay down our weapons, and surrender to this exact moment of our life.

—Reginald Ray, "The Vajrayana Journey Is an Experience of Love, Power, and Freedom"

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Via Ram Dass...

August 31, 2016

Here in the West, we treat personality as absolutely real, we really think it’s real. Who you think you are is really real. For example, you were battered as a child and that seems very real, because it’s a strong mental structure in your head and it permeates you and you are carrying your history with you on your shoulders.

At some point you will start to see that each person is presenting who they think they are. It’s like they’re putting on a huge mind net, “This is who I am, this is who I am, this is who I am…” You can start to see it in the way they walk, talk, dress, present themselves; always presenting who they think they are, which has a historical thread running through it.

When you have started to awaken and see that there are other planes of reality that are equally valid to the one which presently exists, you learn how to live more or less with more and more planes simultaneously, which is what freedom is about. It’s not totally standing in one plane, it’s not standing anywhere at all.

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día- Flower of the day - 31/08/2016

“O ódio da mãe, no decorrer dos milênios, tem se manifestado das mais diversas maneiras através do abuso do feminino. E o abuso sexual é uma das expressões mais agudas desse ódio. No cerne dessa problemática está a carência afetiva; e por trás dela está a repressão sexual. O sadismo, a promiscuidade, a perversão e a pornografia são filhos da repressão sexual. Isso quer dizer que, embora nossa sociedade tenha no mínimo dez mil anos de história, nós ainda não aprendemos a lidar com a sexualidade. Ela ainda é um grande tabu. E para que possamos mudar esse cenário, a sexualidade precisa fazer parte da educação, tanto dentro de casa como nas escolas. Mas, para isso, pais e educadores precisam estar preparados através do autoconhecimento.”

“El odio a la madre, a través de los milenios, se ha manifestado de las más diversas formas a través del abuso del femenino. Y el abuso sexual es una de las expresiones más agudas de este odio. En el centro de esta problemática está la carencia afectiva; y detrás de ella está la represión sexual. El sadismo, la promiscuidad, la perversión y la pornografía son hijos de la represión sexual. Esto significa que, aunque nuestra sociedad tenga por lo menos diez mil años de historia, todavía no hemos aprendido a lidiar con la sexualidad. Sigue siendo un gran tabú. Y para que podamos cambiar este escenario, la sexualidad precisa ser parte de la educación, tanto dentro de casa commo en las escuelas. Pero, para ello, padres y educadores precisan estar preparados a través del autoconocimiento.”

“Hatred of the mother, over the millennia, has manifested in various forms of female abuse. Sexual abuse is one of the most severe expressions of this hatred. At the heart of this problem, lies the need for affection, and behind this, sexual repression. Sadism, promiscuity, perversion and pornography are the results of sexual repression. Even though our society has at least ten thousand years of history, we still haven’t learned to deal with sexuality. It is still a great taboo. In order for us to change this scenario, sexuality needs to become part of our educational system, both at home and at our schools. Parents and teachers need to be prepared for this role through the process of self-knowledge.”

Via Daily Dharma / August 31, 2016: Enlightened Desire

The Buddha teaches that there are many wholesome desires: the desire to serve, the desire to give, the desire to be free, the desire to cultivate qualities of heart that ennoble our lives and lead us to connect with others. It’s desire that causes us to seek depth and understanding. It is desire that brings about wholesome social change and justice.

—Christina Feldman, "Doing, Being, and the Great In-Between"

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día- Flower of the day - 30/08/2016

“A solução para o problema da violência sexual não é fortalecer o sistema carcerário ou punir mais severamente os criminosos envolvidos. A solução para essa questão está no desenvolvimento da consciência amorosa. Mas, essa consciência só poderá despertar na sociedade através da educação. Precisamos refletir sobre o que estamos ensinando para as nossas crianças. Precisamos assumir responsabilidade e entender onde estamos falhando. O fato é que nós estamos criando estupradores e mulheres vulneráveis ao estupro. E não basta enclausurar o estuprador, sem oferecer a ele nenhuma possibilidade de transformação. Isso não resolve e só nos distrai da percepção sobre o causa real do problema.” 

“La solución al problema de la violencia sexual no es fortalecer el sistema penitenciario o castigar más severamente a los criminales implicados. La solución a este problema está en el desarrollo de la conciencia amorosa. Pero esta conciencia sólo podrá despertar en la sociedad a través de la educación. Necesitamos reflexionar sobre lo que estamos enseñando a nuestros niños. Precisamos asumir la responsabilidad y entender dónde estamos fallando. El hecho es que estamos criando violadores y mujeres vulnerables a la violación. Y no basta con encerrar al violador, sin ofrecerle ninguna posibilidad de transformación. Esto no resuelve y sólo nos distrae de la percepción de la causa real del problema.”

“The solution to the problem of sexual violence is not to strengthen our prison system or to punish more severely the criminals involved. The solution to this is the development of a more loving consciousness. This consciousness can only develop in society through education. We need to examine what we are teaching our children. We need to assume responsibility and understand where we are failing. The fact is that we are creating rapists and vulnerable women to be raped. It’s not enough to only incarcerate the rapist without offering any possibility of transformation. This will resolve nothing and only distracts us from understanding the real cause of the problem.”

Via Daily Dharma / August 30, 2016: How to Savor

Since each moment’s meeting of a person or even a flower is precious and fleeting, it is to be savored completely, perhaps best in silence.

—Patricia Donegan, "Silence: Stillness"

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Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día- Flower of the day - 29/08/2016

“A gula é uma matriz psicológica que se manifesta como voracidade. A pessoa gulosa tenta preencher a carência e o vazio existencial através de compulsões, sendo que a mais básica é a compulsão alimentar. São muitos os tipos de compulsões (por falar, por sexo, pornografia, compras, jogos...), mas todas tem relação com a sexualidade. A gula é um sintoma; ela indica que algo precisa ser curado. Existe um conteúdo relacionado a sexualidade que ainda não foi compreendido e aceito.”

“La gula es una matriz psicológica que se manifiesta como voracidad. La persona golosa intenta llenar la carencia y el vacío existencial a través de compulsiones, siendo que la más básica es la compulsión alimentaria. Son muchos los tipos de compulsiones (por hablar, por sexo, pornografía, compras, juegos de azar...), pero todas tienen que ver con la sexualidad. La gula es un síntoma; indica que algo precisa ser sanado. Hay un contenido relacionado con la sexualidad que todavía no fuecomprendido y aceptado.”

“Gluttony is the psychological matrix that manifests as voracity. A gluttonous person tries to fill neediness and existential emptiness through compulsions, of which the most basic is the compulsion to eat. There are many types of compulsions, the compulsion to speak, to have sex, to watch pornography, shopping, games, and so on. All of them are related to sexuality. Gluttony is only a symptom. It indicates that something needs to be healed. It means that there is some content in relationship to sexuality that still hasn’t been comprehended and accepted.”

Via DailyDharma / August 29, 2016: We Belong to Each Other

After hundreds of thousands of millions of years, every particle of clay has passed through every kind of vessel. Every body has particles that have “belonged” to every other body. The vessel-bodies are so tightly packed that there is no distance between them, one shape curving into the next, a valley in one is a hill in another.

—Jan Chozen Bays, "Embodiment"

Via Ram Dass

August 28, 2016

It’s quite apparent that as you work on yourself, on your consciousness, you continue to do whatever dance you’re doing, the dance evolves. You begin to see how the acts you perform can become more and more optimum to the conditions. For instance, when you’re about to change a law in a country you stand back, and you begin to understand the way the whole system works, and you see what the optimum act you can do is, and you perform it totally, without emotional attachment to that act, and instead an awareness of how that act works in the whole system.

In other words, it’s the ability to sometimes have delay of gratification, the ability to stand back to do what is the more optimum response.

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día- Flower of the day - 28/08/2016

“A purificação é a fase da jornada na qual trabalhamos para nos libertar da falsa identidade, e é nessa fase que surgem os maiores desafios, justamente porque nos apegamos a ela. Existem momentos em que a jornada se torna desértica e passamos muito tempo sem ter um gole de água para beber - nossa fé é testada ao máximo. Essa fase requer paciência e boa vontade, pois é isso que nos dá força para continuar batendo na porta da Verdade. Então nós batemos até que, em algum momento, a porta se abre e a Verdade se revela.” 

“La purificación es la fase del camino en el que trabajamos para liberarnos de la falsa identidad, y es en esta fase donde surgen los mayores desafíos, justamente porque nos apegamos a ella. Hay momentos en que el camino se hace desértico y pasamos mucho tiempo sin tener un sorbo de agua para beber - nuestra fe es probada al máximo. Esta fase requiere paciencia y buena voluntad, porque eso es lo que nos da fuerza para continuar golpeando la puerta de la Verdad. Entonces golpeamos hasta que, en algún momento, la puerta se abre y la Verdad se revela.” 

“Purification is the phase of the journey in which we work to liberate ourselves from false identity. This is where our greatest challenges arise precisely because we are attached to this identity. There are times when the journey becomes a desert and we spend a long time without even a drop of water to drink and our faith is severely tested. This phase requires patience and strong willpower that gives us the force necessary to keep knocking on the door of truth. Then we knock on the door of truth, until at some point, the door opens and the truth is revealed.”

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"