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Via Daily Dharma / September 5, 2016: The Vulnerable Pronoun

We are sentient creatures easily threatened. Things harm Me. Events bruise and batter Me. The Me is our fearful Self. Me is the pronoun cast in this vulnerable role.

—James Austin, "I-Me-Mine"

Via Tricycle / September 5, 2016: Lean In to Learning

The school year has begun! Whether you’re a student, a parent, or a Ph.D. candidate, lunches are packed alongside the notebooks and pens, and our minds, refreshed from the summer, are primed for learning. This week at Tricycle we take the opportunity to learn about race in America and the optimism of the buddhadharma from scholar and writer Charles Johnson. In “Black Coffee Buddhism," poet and literary activist E. Ethelbert Miller asks the National Book Award-winning novelist the questions that “a person in a crowd might be thinking about,” and Johnson’s timely, generous answers offer hope for the next generation of thinkers. When asked what advice he’d share with his grandson, Johnson answers, “I want him to understand that the best position for him to take in regard to objects and others and himself is that of epistemological humility and egoless listening.” What better advice could a student ask for? For centuries, Buddhist women worldwide have been denied access to a full Buddhist education, and thus the full promise of the Buddha’s teaching. In “Buddhism’s Glass Ceiling,” Tricycle’s editor-at-large, Mary Talbot, takes stock of this issue, which has endured from the time of the Buddha to the present day. As Ayya Medhanandi, a nun in the Theravada tradition, puts it, “The Buddha gave the full training to those who were hell-bent on nirvana. Why shouldn’t we receive it?” (For more on Buddhist women achieving what some deemed impossible, check out this month’s Film Club feature, Daughters of Everest.) The right to an education—one education that encompasses the spiritual, intellectual, social, and emotional life—should be a universal right for people of all ages. In that spirit, the first week of dharma teacher Vinny Ferraro’s Dharma Talk, “Starting a Practice of Lovingkindness,” is open to the public, so feel free to share it with your friends and loved ones this week. Tune in to learn about the first two of the four immeasurables: lovingkindness and compassion. No matter your age, it’s always a good idea to invest in your dharma education.

(A Response to 'One Man, One Woman') GOD LOVES LGBT+

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Via Ram Dass

September 4, 2016

Grace is something that an individual can see about their own suffering and then use it to their advantage. It is not something that can be a rationalization for allowing another human being to suffer. And you have to listen to the level at which another person is suffering. And when somebody is hungry you give them food. As my guru said, "God comes to the hungry person in the form of food." You give them food and then when they’ve had their belly filled then they may be interested in questions about God. Even though you know from, say, Buddhist training, or whatever spiritual training you have had, that the root cause of suffering is ignorance about the nature of dharma. To give somebody a dharma lecture when they are hungry is just inappropriate methodology in terms of ending suffering...

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día- Flower of the day - 04/09/2016

“É preciso ter firmeza para evitar que as forças contrárias ao amor destruam as coisas boas que conseguimos construir na nossa vida. Nossas escolhas precisam vir do coração, que é o Divino em nós, e não do ego obcecado pelo poder e viciado em machucar e destruir. Será que não estamos suficientemente cansados do sofrimento? Precisamos nos comprometer com a Luz, o que significa trabalhar para criar união, prosperidade, construção, paz e alegria, na mente e no coração.”

“Es necesariotenerfirmeza para evitar que las fuerzas contrarias al amor destruyan las cosas buenas que pudimos construir en nuestra vida. Nuestras eleccionesprecisan venir del corazón, que es lo Divino en nosotros, y no del ego obsesionado con el poder y adicto a lastimar y destruir. ¿Será que no estamos lo suficientemente cansados del sufrimiento? Necesitamos comprometernos con la Luz, que significa trabajar para crear unión, prosperidad, construcción, paz y alegría en la mente y en el corazón.”

"Firmness is necessary so that we don't let the opposing forces to love destroy all the good things we have built in our lives. Our choices need to come from our hearts, which is the Divine in us, and not our egos that are obsessed by power and addicted to causing pain and destruction. Have we not had enough of suffering? We need to commit ourselves to the light, working in order to create union, prosperity, construction, peace, and happiness in our minds and in our hearts."

Via Daily Dharma / September 4, 2016: The River of Ourselves

Practicing Buddhism is about discovering ourselves to be in a great, flowing river of continuities.

—Joan Halifax, "Giving Birth to Ancestors"

Via Daily Dharma / September 3, 2016: Inherent Compassion

Compassion is not something that we can “do” or “create”; it already exists in each and every one of us.

—Andy Puddicombe, "10 Tips for Living More Mindfully"

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Via bipartisanreport: Before European Christians Forced Gender Roles, Native Americans Acknowledged 5 Genders

By Pearson McKinney

It wasn’t until Europeans took over North America that natives adopted the ideas of gender roles. For Native Americans, there was no set of rules that men and women had to abide by in order to be considered a “normal” member of their tribe.

In fact, people who had both female and male characteristics were viewed as gifted by nature, and therefore, able to see both sides of everything. According to Indian Country Today, all native communities acknowledged the following gender roles: “Female, male, Two Spirit female, Two Spirit male and Transgendered.”

“Each tribe has their own specific term, but there was a need for a universal term that the general population could understand. The Navajo refer to Two Spirits as Nádleehí (one who is transformed), among the Lakota is Winkté (indicative of a male who has a compulsion to behave as a female), Niizh Manidoowag (two spirit) in Ojibwe, Hemaneh (half man, half woman) in Cheyenne, to name a few. As the purpose of “Two Spirit” is to be used as a universal term in the English language, it is not always translatable with the same meaning in Native languages. For example, in the Iroquois Cherokee language, there is no way to translate the term, but the Cherokee do have gender variance terms for ‘women who feel like men’ and vice versa.”

The “Two Spirit” culture of Native Americans was one of the first things that Europeans worked to destroy and cover up. According to people like American artist George Catlin, the Two Spirit tradition had to be eradicated before it could go into history books. Catlin said the tradition:

“..Must be extinguished before it can be more fully recorded.”

However, it wasn’t only white Europeans that tried to hide any trace of native gender bending. According to Indian Country Today, “Spanish Catholic monks destroyed most of the Aztec codices to eradicate traditional Native beliefs and history, including those that told of the Two Spirit tradition.” Throughout these efforts by Christians, Native Americans were forced to dress and act according to newly designated gender roles.

One of the most celebrated Two Spirits in recorded history was a Lakota warrior aptly named Finds Them And Kills Them. Osh-Tisch was born a male and married a female, but adorned himself in women’s clothing and lived daily life as a female. On June 17 1876, Finds Them And Kills Them gained his reputation when he rescued a fellow tribesman during the Battle of Rosebud Creek. An act of fearless bravery. Below is a picture of Osh-Tisch and his wife.

Osh-Tisch (Left) and his wife (Right)

In Native American cultures, people were valued for their contributions to the tribe, rather than for masculinity or femininity. Parents did not assign gender roles to children either, and even children’s clothing tended to be gender neutral. There were no ideas or ideals about how a person should love; it was simply a natural act that occurred without judgement or hesitation.

Without a negative stigma attached to being a Two Spirit, there were no inner-tribal incidents of retaliation or violence toward the chosen people simply due to the fact that individuals identified as the opposite or both genders.

“The Two Spirit people in pre-contact Native America were highly revered and families that included them were considered lucky. Indians believed that a person who was able to see the world through the eyes of both genders at the same time was a gift from The Creator.”

Religious influences soon brought serious prejudice against “gender diversity,” and so this forced once openly alternative or androgynous people to one of two choices. They could either live in hiding, and in fear of being found out, or they could end their lives. Many of whom did just that.

Imagine a world where people allowed others to live freely as the people nature intended them to be..without harm..without persecution..without shame. Imagine a world where we are truly free.

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Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día- Flower of the day - 02/09/2016

“A submissão é uma distorção da virtude da amorosidade. Trata-se de uma máscara, de um fingir ser. O submisso finge ser humilde e amoroso para conseguir aquilo que quer, mas basta cutucá-lo um pouco para ver o que está por trás da sua máscara: o orgulho e a ira.”

“La sumisión es una distorsión de la virtud de la amorosidad. Se trata de una máscara, unfingir ser. El sumiso finge ser humilde y amoroso para conseguir aquello que quiere, pero basta provocarlo un poco para ver lo que hay detrás de la máscara:orgullo e ira.”

"Submission is a distortion of the virtue of being loving. It acts as a mask, pretending to be something it is not. The submissive one pretends to be humble and loving in order to get something it wants. All that is needed is just a little nudge and it is easy to see that behind this mask lies pride and anger."

Via Daily Dharma / September 2, 2016: Rethinking Freedom

We haven’t thought about the idea of freedom enough. It needs to be internalized as an inner freedom from “demand” itself: the kind of freedom that comes when you’re free from those compulsions to have and to own and to be someone.

—James Hillman, "Brief Teachings Fall 2016"

The Black Eyed Peas - #WHERESTHELOVE ft. The World

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Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día- Flower of the day - 01/09/2016

“Estando alinhado com o dharma, que é o caminho do coração ou o propósito maior da existência, você se harmoniza com a lei do mínimo esforço: com o pouco que faz, você realiza muitas coisas. Não estando alinhado com o dharma, você precisa fazer um grande esforço para realizar pouca coisa ou, às vezes, para não realizar nada.”

“Estando alineado con el dharma, que es el camino del corazón o el propósito mayor de la existencia, te armonizas con la ley del mínimo esfuerzo: con lo poco que haces, realizasmuchas cosas. No estando alineado con el dharma, necesitas hacer un gran esfuerzo para realizar poco o, a veces,para no realizar nada.”

"Aligning with dharma, which is the path of the heart or the greater purpose of existence, we attune to the law of minimum effort. With very little effort, we accomplish many things. When we are not in alignment with dharma, much effort is needed to create hardly anything, and sometimes, nothing at all."

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.