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.
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Monday, November 14, 2016
Via Daily Dharma / November 14, 2016: A New Consciousness in Every Moment
The
mind that sees something quickly dies, and a different consciousness
hears a sound. No self or soul carries over from one perceptual act to
the next. In truth, your life-span is only one moment long.
—Cynthia Thatcher, "Disconnect the Dots"
—Cynthia Thatcher, "Disconnect the Dots"
Sunday, November 13, 2016
Via Ram Dass
The
game of powers is always very simple: Don’t use them. The minute you
get a power and say, “I’ve got this power, I will use it,” you’re stuck
again. A new attachment, a new ego trip. Don’t use them, rather let them
be used through you.
Purity brings powers. Unfortunately, that’s one of the lions at the gate that brings you incredible powers. The minute you’re a little less attached than everybody else, you have incredible power over everybody, because you don’t want anything that everybody else wants so much. The minute you don’t want so much, suddenly you’re free, in a way that you can’t believe because you’re so used to being trapped in this network of needs and desires.
Purity brings powers. Unfortunately, that’s one of the lions at the gate that brings you incredible powers. The minute you’re a little less attached than everybody else, you have incredible power over everybody, because you don’t want anything that everybody else wants so much. The minute you don’t want so much, suddenly you’re free, in a way that you can’t believe because you’re so used to being trapped in this network of needs and desires.
Via Daily Dharma / November 13, 2016: A Completely Useless Buddha
In
the very act of sitting, we actualize the completeness of the act
itself and we actualize our own full completeness as a useless human
being, another name for which is Buddha.
—Barry Magid, "Uselessness"
—Barry Magid, "Uselessness"
Saturday, November 12, 2016
Via Daily Dharma / November 12, 2016: The Speechless Center
The
only parts of the practice that can be described with confidence are
the rough, cerebral edges. What happens at the center, when the mind
quiets down, is impossible to verbalize.
—Jeff Greenwald, "The Great Indoors"
—Jeff Greenwald, "The Great Indoors"
Friday, November 11, 2016
ViaTricycle: Buddhist Teachings for Post-Election Healing
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Encouragement from 'Abdu'l-Baha:
The darkness of this gloomy
night shall pass away. Again the Sun of Reality will dawn from the
horizon of the hearts. Have patience, wait but do not sit idle; work
while you are waiting; smile when you are wearied with monotony; be firm
while everything around you is being shaken; be joyous while the ugly
face of despair grins at you; speak aloud while the malevolent forces of
the nether world try to crush your mind; be valiant and courageous while
men all around you are cringing with fear and cowardice. Do not yield
to the overwhelming power of tyranny and despotism. Serve the cause of
democracy and freedom. Continue your journey to the end. The bright day
is coming. The nucleus of the new race is forming. The harbinger of the
new ideals of international justice is appearing. The trees of hope will
become verdant; the copper of scorn and derision will be transmuted
into the gold of honor and praise; the arid desert of ignorance will be
transformed into the luxuriant garden of knowledge; the threatening
clouds shall be dispelled and the stars of faith and charity will again
twinkle in the clear heaven of consciousness."
- Abdu'l-Baha , Baha'i Scriptures, p. 547
- Abdu'l-Baha , Baha'i Scriptures, p. 547
Thursday, November 10, 2016
and that's how democracy dies
25.6% voted Clinton
25.5% voted Trump
46.9% didn't vote
and that's how democracy dies
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