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.
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Via Daily Dharma / November 16, 2016: The Pleasure of Being Foolish
The
pleasure of being foolish lies precisely in the freedom it gives from
self-importance and social expectations; the freedom from striving, from
the pressure to impress others, to do things the way others do them.
—Roger Housden, "A Fool’s Bargain"
—Roger Housden, "A Fool’s Bargain"
Via Ram Dass
There’s
a place that we can be inside of ourselves, inside of the universe, in
which which we can appreciate the delight in life. Where we can still
have equanimity, and quality of presence, and the quietness of peace.
Just imagine a mandala or a flower and think about the center of the flower and then all the petals that come out from the center and think of the center of the flower as absolutely still, and think of all of the petals as moving, and energy, and change, but the center is still.
Where is your center?
Just imagine a mandala or a flower and think about the center of the flower and then all the petals that come out from the center and think of the center of the flower as absolutely still, and think of all of the petals as moving, and energy, and change, but the center is still.
Where is your center?
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Via Daily Dharama / November 15, 2016: Naming Thoughts as Thoughts
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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
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