A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
Thursday, November 10, 2016
Via Daily Dharma / November 10, 2016: Learning From Anger
When
we approach our feelings of anger with awareness, with mindfulness, it
becomes a productive part of our practice. We find, after all, that
anger has something to teach us.
—Jules Shuzen Harris Sensei, "Uprooting the Seeds of Anger"
—Jules Shuzen Harris Sensei, "Uprooting the Seeds of Anger"
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
the invitation has arrived
to step into our courage
and our full humanity
from this day forward
the harm can only unfold
and multiply and spread
with our silence
with our consent
with our participation
we will not be silent
we do not consent and
we will not participate
in legitimating violence, lies and division
the love that we are
the love that connects us all
the love that bends history
even in this dark moment
towards liberation
We are one
we are many and
we are one
it is time
dear friends
the revolution of love
must be completed
And it is only possible
if on this day
we commit our lives
to walking the hard road
because there is now only one way forward
adapted from work by Taj James, founder and Executive Director of the Movement Strategy Center
Join us for a Special Charter for Compassion Conference Call: After the Election
Thursday, November 10 at 11:30 am https://zoom.us/webinar/ register/ 36baa35b64dee048c5b9141539e44e e6
A
discussion about compassion and how we are called to act following a US
election season that has brought out strains of racism, misogyny,
xenophobia, and bigotry. How can we heal? How are we called to action?
What can we bring to the mission of making compassion a luminous force?
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Via Ram Dass
The
enlightened being, or the person that’s awakened, realizes that the
game is to walk through the path and leave no footprint. Leave no
footprint because whatever footprint you leave is just more karmic
stuff. Do what you do, but do it so purely. They say in the Tao, “The
leader who leads best leads so that at the end, you think you did it
yourself.” The next best leader you admire, the next best you fear, and
the worst leader pays you.
Via Daily Dharma / November 9, 2016: Anger, Sans Storyline
When
you feel the fear and you feel the rage in meditation, there’s no
storyline. There’s just the experience of the arising and passing away
of the emotions and the sensations in the body, and seeing how they
relate to one another.
—Gavin Harrison, "Lotus in the Fire"
—Gavin Harrison, "Lotus in the Fire"
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Via Daily Dharma / November 8, 2016: The Buddha’s Ballot Box
If
Buddha had added a ninth practice to the Eightfold Path, it might have
been Right Voting. Voting is a manifestation of the law of
interdependence: Each of our actions, no matter how small, affects the
whole cosmos. Our votes count.
—Susan Moon, "Ten Practices to Change the World"
—Susan Moon, "Ten Practices to Change the World"
Monday, November 7, 2016
Via Daily Dharma / November 7, 2016: Fostering the Love Within Us
In
reality, love is a quality of our heart. The heart has no other
function. If we were aware that we all contain love within us, and that
we can foster and develop it, we would certainly give that far more
attention than we do.
—Ayya Khema, "What Love Is"
—Ayya Khema, "What Love Is"
Sunday, November 6, 2016
Via JMG: Frank Bruni: The Ugliness Is Far From Over
November 6, 2016
2016 Election, Politics
“Tuesday nears, after such epic ugliness. ‘It’s almost over,’ friends say. ‘We’ll finally be done with this.’ What a lovely thought. What a naïve fantasy. There’s no end here, just a punctuation mark, a measly comma between the rancor that has built until this point and the fury to come. And there’s no way to un-see what all of us have seen over these last 18 months, to bottle up what has been un-bottled.
“Election Day will redeem and settle nothing, not this time around. No matter who declares victory, tens of millions of Americans will be convinced — truly convinced — that the outcome isn’t legitimate because untoward forces intervened. Whether balloons fall on Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, there will be bolder divisions in America than there were at the start of it all and even less faith in the country’s most important institutions.
“The person taking office will do so not on a wave of hope but amid tides of disgust, against fierce currents of resistance. Tell me how she or he moves forward. Tell me how America does.” – Frank Bruni, writing for the New York Times. The full piece is worth your time.
Via Huffington Post: Please Protect My Marriage: Vote For Hillary
When I was in college I met my first love in Paris and he moved to Boston to be with me. It was a nightmare because he couldn’t work, we constantly struggled with visa issues, and with time, it was too much to handle and we separated, young hearts broken. I swore no more international boyfriends! Of course, I met a guy from Montreal and that too ended, but years ago.
And then I met Giovanni. I was much older and long-single, so I
didn’t say no. And at first, it was casual and I didn’t really think
about him being Colombian. I first really felt it when I went to Africa
and he stood by me every day from home, but he couldn’t come to my
graduation. He couldn’t fly or leave the country.
I came back and
we moved in together. I started to see him talk to his family back
home, and hear how being apart for 17 years broke his heart, especially
when his dad got sick. His pain was too much to bear. So for him, for
us, I took on marriage equality in NYC.
My focus was on
the Equality Bill - but I was determined to free him, so I added this
to my plate. I took on immigration reform too. We had two pathways to
freedom from DOMA. The Supreme Court. Or Congress via Comprehensive
Immigration Reform. I couldn’t affect SCOTUS, although I did resort to
prayer, organizing a sunrise prayer service in D.C. the morning of the
hearings.
But I worked
deep in the trenches in immigration reform. There I learned that
straight immigrants suffer the same horrible fear and closet that gay
people do. Who knew. And bringing gay relationships in to that forum
with the Catholic Church & Evangelicals in the room was hard stuff.
Fortunately,
the SCOTUS came through on Wednesday, June 26, 2013. And on the
following Sunday, NYC Pride Day, Giovanni and I got married and paraded
down 5th Avenue with the sign “Just Married Today” — as the liberation
joy of millions poured forth. It was incredible and our faces hurt from
smiling.
Then came the
immigration process, extremely stressful and frightening as we revealed
our lives. But we got through that process. And the boot lifted. He
flew home finally. Although we were afraid he might not actually get
back in. He flew home again. Okay. Relief. We got his social
security number - a huge deal. Health insurance. He could join our
apartment lease. We finally got on a plane together and had our
honeymoon in his country.
But most of all
we were free. Free from watching other people get married when we
couldn’t. Free from feeling like a second class citizen in my own
country. Free from all the heart-wrenching stories from other
bi-national couples with whom we are forever bonded.
Amidst all of this, there was one incredibly painful and also happy day I’ve not talked about.
Two years
before DOMA was overturned we won Marriage Equality in NY. Soon there
was a big gay wedding day at the marriage bureau when they opened just
for us on a Sunday to issue licenses.
Seeing all the couples together was incredible. Marriage ceremonies going on all over. Old, young, all colors. Our tribe was on parade and it was beautiful.
Seeing all the couples together was incredible. Marriage ceremonies going on all over. Old, young, all colors. Our tribe was on parade and it was beautiful.
But I almost
didn’t go down because my heart was so heavy. We could still not marry.
DOMA remained. Our suffering remained. And a huge battle loomed
still ahead, an overwhelming battle in Congress or the Supreme Court to
overturn DOMA - a tall order.
But it’s gone now. DOMA is dead. We’re free & equal. And Hillary will make sure the SCOTUS keeps it that way.
Please protect
our “hard fought, hard won” progress, as Hillary rightfully calls it.
Protect Marriage Equality. Protect my marriage. My husband. Our lives
and freedom depend upon it.
#ForwardTogether #ProtectOurProgress #Hillary4President2016 #VoteEQUALITY
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Via Ram Dass
You
are constantly going to sleep and waking up. All you can do is keep
searching for the clarity and quietness amidst the confusion of your
melodramas...
Via Daily Dharam / November 6, 2016: Experience Freedom Directly
Liberation is only found here and now, the direct experience of freedom, beyond the concepts of nirvana or enlightenment.
—Jack Kornfield, "The Wise Heart"
—Jack Kornfield, "The Wise Heart"
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