Via Daily Dharma / September 9, 2016: The Power of Madness

The people who have been through the harshest conditions—and survived—have the greatest potential to transform the madness of their lives. . . . if they can take that madness, claim it, and stand on top of its incredible energy, they can transform it into power. —Vinny Ferraro, "The Heartful Dodger"

An Orlando Shooting Survivor's Inspiring Story – EXTENDED

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

“A mente condicionada faz você acreditar que só poderá ser feliz se o outro olhar para você de uma determinada maneira. O outro precisa agir do jeito que você imagina para você poder ser feliz, então você vive tentando fazer com que essa pessoa faça desse jeito, pois somente assim você se sente amado; somente assim você pode ser feliz. Essa felicidade que depende da forma que o outro age é uma mentira. A verdadeira felicidade independe de fatores externos, ela vem de dentro de você - ela nasce da liberdade.”

“La mente condicionada te hace creer que solo podrás ser feliz si el otro te mira de una maneradeterminada. El otronecesitaactuar de la formaque tú imaginas para poder ser feliz, entonces vivesintentando lograr que estapersona actúede esa forma, porque solamente así te sientes amado; solamenteasí puedes ser feliz. Esta felicidad que depende de la forma queel otro actúa es una mentira. La verdadera felicidad es independiente de factores externos, viene de adentro tuyo - nace de la libertad.”

“The conditioned mind makes us believe that we can only be happy if the other looks at us the way we want to be seen.We believe the other has to act in a certain way for us to be happy. So, we live our lives trying to make the other act according to our own standards because this is the only way we think we will feel loved or be able to experience happiness. But happiness that depends on how others act is not real. True happiness exists independently of external factors as it comes from within. Happiness is born out of freedom.”

Via Daily Dharma / September 8, 2016: The Sacred and the Ordinary

At last a tongue-tip taste of the
dharma comes home to the heart.
Not chasing after imaginary things,
the ordinary is sacred after all.
Wellsprings of gratitude surface.

—Edward Espe Brown, "The Vision Cow"

Via Ram Dass

September 7, 2016

From the soul’s point of view, you come to appreciate that each one of us is living out his or her own karma. We interact together, and those interactions are the grist for each other’s mill of awakening. From a personality point of view, you develop judgment, but from the soul’s point of view, you develop appreciation. This shift from judging to appreciating — to appreciating yourself and what your karmic predicament is, and who other beings are with their own karma — brings everything into a simple loving awareness.

To be free means to open your heart and your being into the fullness of who you are, because only when you are resting in the place of unity can you truly honor and appreciate others and the incredible diversity of the universe.

Via Sri Prem Baba

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día- Flower of the day - 07/09/2016

“O Brasil nesse momento está na UTI, podemos dizer que já em estado de coma. E o que está morrendo? A possibilidade da realização do dharma, o propósito maior. Isso ocorre quando a injustiça cresce para além de toda e qualquer possibilidade de transformação através da escolha e da vontade consciente. Então, se faz necessário entrar num redemoinho energético de transformação, que é praticamente impossível saber onde vai dar.”

“Brasil en este momento está en la UTI,podemos decir que ya en estado de coma. ¿Qué eslo que está muriendo? La posibilidad de realización del dharma, el propósitomayor. Esto ocurre cuando la injusticia crece más allá de toda y cualquier posibilidad de transformación a través de la elección y de la voluntad consciente. Entonces, se hacenecesario entrar en un remolino energético de transformación, y es prácticamente imposible saber hacia dónde va.”

“We could make the analogy that Brazil is currently in ‘urgent care’ experiencing a ‘coma’. But what is dying is the possibility for Brazil to fulfill its dharma, or it’s greater purpose. This happens when injustice outweighs all chances of transformation to occurthrough the use of choice and conscious will. Thus, an energetic whirlpool of transformation begins to form, whose outcome is practically impossible to determine.”

Via Daily Dharma / September 7, 2016: Neither Bound Nor Blind

What saves me from despair about this very human situation? It is simply the fact that while I am not blind to damage caused by the lived illusion of race, neither am I bound by it. And I know others need not be bound by it, either.

—Charles Johnson, "Black Coffee Buddhism"

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Via Ram Dass: Ram Dass and Allen Ginsberg in Conversation

Hello, friends:

Here’s the second video in our three-part series in celebration of Ram Dass, a gem that we discovered from this luminary teacher’s extensive archives:

Ram Dass and Allen Ginsberg in Conversation

Video #2 in a three-part series

Available Now

If you’re a writer, artist, or otherwise creative spirit, this one was picked just for you.

As you may know, Allen Ginsberg was a “Johnny Appleseed” for poetry the way Ram Dass was (and is) for spiritual transformation. Here, they explore: how art and spirituality support each other, prophetic reflections on the dangers and possibilities of the modern world, and more.

Yours on the journey,
Sounds True

P.S. Did you miss the first free video?  It’s excellent! You can watch it here.

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

“Quero propor uma pequena tarefa: avalie com sinceridade como você está na esfera dos relacionamentos. Se você está com alguém, veja por que está nessa relação. O que te mantém nela? E se você não está com alguém, se pergunte por que você está sozinho. É uma escolha da sua alma ou você está com medo de se relacionar? Não tenha medo de fazer essas perguntas. Somente a mentira pode cair - a verdade nunca cai. Se a sua escolha é baseada no amor e na liberdade - se você está se expandindo na luz e crescendo dentro do programa da sua alma, ótimo. Zele por isso. Mas, se você está onde está por outras razões, tenha coragem de encarar a verdade, porque ela te liberta.”

“Quiero proponer una pequeña tarea: evalúasinceramente cómo estás en la esfera de las relaciones. Si estás con alguien, mira por qué estás en esa relación. ¿Quées lo que te mantiene en ella? Y si no estás con alguien, pregúntate por qué estás solo. ¿Es una elección de tu alma o tienes miedo de relacionarte? No tengas miedo de hacer estas preguntas. Solamente la mentira puede caerse - la verdad nunca se cae. Si tu elección se basa en el amor y en la libertad - si te estásexpandiendoen la luz y creciendo dentro del programa de tu alma, muy bien.Cuida bien de ello. Pero si estásdónde estás por otras razones, ten coraje de encarar la verdad, porque ella te libera.”

“I would like to propose a small exercise: sincerely evaluate where you are in the realm of relationships. If you are with someone, take a look at why you are with them. What keeps you in this relationship? If you are not with someone, ask yourself why you are alone. Is it a choice you have made from your soul or are you frightened of being in a relationship? Don’t be afraid to ask yourself these questions. The only thing that will fall away will be lies. The truth will never collapse. If your choice is based in love and freedom, if you are expanding in the light and growing along with the program of your soul, then that’s wonderful. Continue to nurture it. However, if you are in this relationship for other reasons, have the courage to face the truth, because it will set you free.”

Via Daily Dharma / September 6, 2016: Consciousness, Divided

Consciousness is the division of an otherwise seamless Whole, which transcends space and time, into space and time—that is, into here and there, then and now.

—Steve Hagen, "Time and Now"

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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...