The Biggest LGBT Advances of 2016

Via Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma / December 30, 2016: Leading the Charge

Individually, we might feel that global problems are beyond our capacity to solve. What I have noticed, though... is that if one or two people take the lead in making even small changes, it energizes the whole community.

—Joseph Goldstein, "Facing the Heat"

Via Daily Dharma / December 29, 2016: The Binding Thread

A string of beads has a thread running through all the beads, keeping them together. What we need is a thread too—of sanity and stability. Because when you have a thread, even though each bead is separate, they hang together.

—Sogyal Rinpoche, "The Stability of Ease"

Via Ram Dass

As long as you have certain desires about how it ought to be, you can't see how it is.

Via Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma / December 28, 2016: Learning How to Love

To love is, first of all, to accept ourselves as we actually are. —Thich Nhat Hanh, "Cultivating Compassion"

Via Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma / December 27, 2016: Give Up the Pursuit

If you were to let go of the pursuit of happiness, what would you do? To put it a bit more dramatically, suppose you were told that no matter what you did, you would never be happy. Never. What would you do with your life?

—Ken McLeod, "Forget Happiness"

Via Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma/ December 26, 2016: A True Understanding

When you understand interconnectedness, it makes you more afraid of hating than of dying.

—Robert A. F. Thurman, "Rising to the Challenge: Cool Heroism"

RIP George Michael - Freedom! '90

Via Ram Dass

When I asked Maharajji how to meditate, he said, “Meditate like Christ.” I said, “Maharajji, how did Christ meditate?” He became very quiet and closed his eyes. After a few minutes, he had a blissful expression on his face and a tear trickled down his cheek. He opened his eyes and said, “He lost himself in Love.”

Via Daily Dharma / December 25, 2016: Giving, but Losing Nothing

The Buddha taught “kingly or queenly giving,” which means giving the best of what we have, instinctively and graciously, even if none remains for ourselves. We are only temporary caretakers of all that is provided; essentially, we own nothing. —Marcia Rose, "The Gift That Cannot Be Given"

Via Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma / December 24, 2016: True Generosity

The practice of true generosity is rare; it is an exchange in which both giver and receiver are enriched.

—Judy Lief, "The Power of Receiving"

Via Ram Dass

Unconditional love really exists in each of us. It is part of our deep inner being. It is not so much an active emotion as a state of being. It’s not ‘I love you’ for this or that reason, not ‘I love you if you love me.’ It’s love for no reason, love without an object.

Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma/ December 22, 2016: Buddhism for Everyone

If I truly believe that Buddhism is for everyone, then I have to act that way. It requires introspection and a commitment to weeding out everything within that prevents that compassion and acceptance from happening.

—Myokei Caine-Barrett, "A Right to the Dharma"