Via Ram Dass

 

 Just play with the silence for a moment. Instead of using it as expectancy, waiting for something to happen, flip it just slightly and just be in it.

Are you really here or are you just waiting for the next thing?

It’s interesting to see where we are in relation to times; whether we’re always just between what just happened and what happened next, or whether we can just be here now.
Let’s just find our way here to be together. If you’re feeling agitated, just notice the agitation. If you’re warm, be warm. If you’re cold, be cold. If you’re overly full, be overly full. Be it, whatever it is, but put it all in the context of a quiet space, because there’s a secret in that, and it’s worth playing with.

Via Lion's Roar:

In 2015, philanthropists revivified the great Buddha statues of Bamiyan, destroyed by the Taliban in 2001, with 3D light projection.

 

Our tools for awakening constantly change to keep up with our sneaky, evolving delusions. It is said that the Buddha developed 84,000 methods for awakening. In the 2600 years since, there have been countless more. So this Lion's Roar Weekend Reader focuses on innovation: How are we creating and preserving tools for enlightenment? How are we fostering inclusivity and compassion? How does science fit? I found inspiration and hope in writing these stories. I hope reading them may do the same for you. —Sam Littlefair, Associate Editor, LionsRoar.com

 

Archaeologists restore great Buddha statue bombed by the Taliban
 

In Pakistan and Afghanistan, modern conflicts have seen the demolition of great Buddhist monuments. But preservationists are working hard to memorialize or restore their legacies.

...

Nine years after its face was destroyed by Taliban militants, the famous Jahanabad Buddha has been restored. The sculpture, a massive cliff-face carving, was widely hailed as one of the most important pieces of Buddhist art in the region, second only to Afghanistan’s giant Bamiyan Buddhas. Those statues, which stood at 115 and 174 feet tall were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. [...] 

 

Make the jump here to read the original and more here

Via Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma / November 20, 2016: Learn to Help without Praise

In being told we’re good when we’re helpful, we receive the praise we crave. Yet once we confuse helpful behavior with our own needs, we’re locked into a pattern that undermines our genuine desire to do good.

—Ezra Bayda, "The 'Helper' Syndrome"

VIa FB:

Via Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma / November 19, 2016: Fostering Empathy, Avoiding Harm

When there are thoughts, speech, and actions strong enough to cause suffering, reflect: Just as I do not wish to suffer, neither do others wish to suffer. As such, one avoids doing harm.

—Sayadaw U Pandita, "The Best Remedy"

Via Sri Prem Baba:

Via Daily Dharma / November 18, 2016: Cutting Through a Clouded Mind

Much of the time our mind is thick, with thoughts and emotions and cognitive content, but when focused on the breath or on some other object it narrows, gets sharper and more precise, and is increasingly capable of becoming aware of just that thin sliver of experience presenting itself in the present moment. —Andrew Olendzki, "Giving Pain the Slip"

Via Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma / November 17, 2016: The Difference Between Wisdom and Goodness

Wisdom inclines toward the good but is not attached to it. It shies away from what is not good, but has no aversion to it. Wisdom recognizes the difference between skillful and unskillful, and it sees the undesirability of the unskillful.

—Sayadaw U Tejaniya, "The Wise Investigator"

Fuck you 2016!

 

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - Donald Trump Elected U.S. President

Via JMG: 2016 Presidential Medal Of Freedom Honorees: Ellen DeGeneres, Robert De Niro, Bruce Springsteen, Others

 

Note that two of this year’s honorees, De Niro and Springsteen, are among the loudest Trump critics. CBS News reports:

The White House on Wednesday announced the recipients of the Presidential Medal Of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. The prestigious accolade is given to people “who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.” This year’s recipients include famous actors (Robert De Niro, Tom Hanks, Robert Redford) legendary athletes (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan) and television icons (Ellen DeGeneres, Lorne Michaels).

Here’s what the official White House notice says about Ellen:

Ellen DeGeneres is an award-winning comedian who has hosted her popular daytime talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, since 2003 with her trademarked humor, humility, and optimism. In 2003 Ellen lent her voice to a forgetful but unforgettable little fish named Dory in Finding Nemo. She reprised her role again in 2016 with the hugely successful Finding Dory. Ellen also hosted the Academy Awards twice, in 2007 and 2014. In 1997, after coming out herself, DeGeneres made TV history when her character on Ellen revealed she was a lesbian. In her work and in her life, she has been a passionate advocate for equality and fairness.

See the White House bio for each honoree here. We shudder to think who will be on the 2017 list.

Make the jump here to read the original on JMG and more

Via Sri Prem Baba

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"

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?

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