“Express yourself completely, then keep quiet. Be like the forces of
nature: when it blows, there is only wind; when it rains, there is only
rain; when the clouds pass, the sun shines through.”
- Lao Tzu
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, May 10, 2018
Via Daily Dharma: Spring Cleaning for Your Mind
If
I view [everyday chores] as tasks to rush through on the way to
something more important, they become a crushing waste of time. But from
the perspective of Buddhist teachings, each of these activities is a
golden moment, an opportunity for full awakening.
—Anne Cushman, “Clearing Clutter”
—Anne Cushman, “Clearing Clutter”
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Via Calm in Side
“If you want to become whole, let yourself be partial.
If you want to become straight, let yourself be crooked.
If you want to become full, let yourself be empty.
If you want to be reborn, let yourself die.
If you want to be given everything, give everything up.”
If you want to become straight, let yourself be crooked.
If you want to become full, let yourself be empty.
If you want to be reborn, let yourself die.
If you want to be given everything, give everything up.”
Via Daily Dharma: Agree to Disagree
It
is inevitable that there will be a wide range of beliefs, opinions,
practices, and behaviors in this large and diverse world. It is not
inevitable that people must hate one another on account of this.
—Andrew Olendzki, “Advice for Conflict”
—Andrew Olendzki, “Advice for Conflict”
Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - May 9, 2018
Within the spiritual journey you understand that suffering becomes something that has been given to you to show you where your mind is still stuck. It’s a vehicle to help you go to work. That’s why it’s called grace.
- Ram Dass -
Tuesday, May 8, 2018
Via / Daily Dharma: Focus on Giving, Not Getting
On
the spiritual path, there’s nothing to get, and everything to get rid
of. Obviously, the first thing to let go of is trying to “get” love, and
instead to give it. That’s the secret of the spiritual path. One has to
give oneself wholeheartedly.
—Ayya Khema, “What Love Is”
—Ayya Khema, “What Love Is”
Monday, May 7, 2018
Via Tricycle / Unpacking Bodicitta
The sudden lightning glares and all is clearly shown,
Likewise rarely, through the Buddhas’ power,
Virtuous thoughts rise, brief and transient, in the world.
Likewise rarely, through the Buddhas’ power,
Virtuous thoughts rise, brief and transient, in the world.
Virtue, thus, is weak; and always
Evil is of great and overwhelming strength.
Except for perfect bodhichitta,
What other virtue is there that can lay it low?
Evil is of great and overwhelming strength.
Except for perfect bodhichitta,
What other virtue is there that can lay it low?
Via Daily Dharma: The Path of Understanding
Bodhicitta
is the path of understanding who you are in the fathomless nature of
infinite contingency, and then developing the skills to navigate this
reality—your life—in a way that is awakening for both yourself and for
others.
—Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel, “Nurturing the Intelligent Heart”
—Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel, “Nurturing the Intelligent Heart”
Sunday, May 6, 2018
Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - May 6, 2018
When I meditate I sit quietly, I withdraw the awareness of my ears hearing, my eyes seeing. I don’t move around much. I sit quietly and I go deep inside. What happens when you grow old? You lose your hearing, you lose your sight, you can’t move around very much. What an ideal time for doing inner work.
Aging has its own beauty. It is a beautiful stage for doing inner work. You have a chance to not be so dependent on social approval. You can be a little more eccentric. You can be more alone. And you can examine loneliness and boredom instead of being afraid of them. There is such an art and a possibility of aging...
Aging has its own beauty. It is a beautiful stage for doing inner work. You have a chance to not be so dependent on social approval. You can be a little more eccentric. You can be more alone. And you can examine loneliness and boredom instead of being afraid of them. There is such an art and a possibility of aging...
- Ram Dass -
Via Daily Dharma: The Power of Simplicity
The
principle of renunciation is not to encourage a state of lack, but to
establish as complete a state of simplicity as possible. In that
simplicity you can more clearly see those patterns of wanting, not
wanting, fearing, hoping, as they take shape.
—Interview with Venerable Ajaan Amaro by Mary Talbot, “Just Another Thing in the Forest”
—Interview with Venerable Ajaan Amaro by Mary Talbot, “Just Another Thing in the Forest”
Saturday, May 5, 2018
Via Daily Dharma: Embrace Uncertainty
We have a choice. We can spend our whole life suffering because we can’t relax with how things really are, or we can relax and embrace the open-endedness of the human situation, which is fresh, unfixated, unbiased.
—Pema Chödrön, “The Fundamental Ambiguity of Being Human”
—Pema Chödrön, “The Fundamental Ambiguity of Being Human”
Friday, May 4, 2018
Via Daily Dharma: Buddhahood Is Within You
Some people think that one can become a buddha through meditation. This is wrong. The potential for Buddhahood is within your own nature.
—Master Sheng-Yen, “Being Natural”
—Master Sheng-Yen, “Being Natural”
Thursday, May 3, 2018
Via Daily Dharma: Connecting to the Body
In body awareness meditation, we open to a reunion of body and mind by exploring the sensations of our thoughts and feelings.
—Ruth King, “Soothing the Hot Coals of Rage”
—Ruth King, “Soothing the Hot Coals of Rage”
Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - May 2, 2018
Don’t
get caught in righteousness; don’t get caught in helping somebody. It
doesn’t mean don’t help them; just don’t get caught in it… If you really
want to help somebody, instead of helping them for yourself, give up
helping anybody. And then just be with them and see what happens.
- Ram Dass -
Via Daily Dharma: Open to Your Feelings
When we open to our feelings as they arise, we create the causes and conditions of mental and physical health.
—Josh Korda, “Flowing Feelings”
—Josh Korda, “Flowing Feelings”
Tuesday, May 1, 2018
Via JMG: Majorities In 44 States Now Back Same-Sex Marriage
Just in from PRRI Polling:
Read the original and more at JMG here
Recent dramatic shifts in support for same-sex marriage are also evident at the state level. Today, majorities in 44 states believe gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to legally marry, compared to only 30 states in 2014.
In only six states does the issue of same-sex marriage garner less than majority support: Alabama (41%), Mississippi (42%), Tennessee (46%), West Virginia (48%), Louisiana (48%), and North Carolina (49%). But notably, only one state, Alabama, has a majority of residents who oppose same-sex marriage.
Substantial regional disparities in views of same-sex marriage are evident. New England is generally more supportive of same-sex marriage than any other region in the U.S. Roughly eight in ten residents of Vermont (80%), Massachusetts (80%), and Rhode Island (78%) support the policy.
And nearly three-quarters of Americans living in Connecticut (73%), New Hampshire (73%), and Maine (71%) support it. A number of Southern states have only a slim majority expressing support for same-sex marriage, such as Kentucky (51%), Arkansas (52%), and Georgia (52%).
Read the original and more at JMG here
Via Daily Dharma: True Peace
Suffering
comes to an end only when a person is so in touch with life that he or
she is completely at peace, regardless of physical or emotional
circumstances.
—Ken McLeod, “Bodhicitta Explained”
—Ken McLeod, “Bodhicitta Explained”
Monday, April 30, 2018
Via Daily Dharma: Uncontrollable Joy
We can’t control joy. It is something that bobs up when we are truly alive and meet the whole world in an instant.
—Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara, “Simple Joy”
—Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara, “Simple Joy”
Sunday, April 29, 2018
Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - April 29, 2018
It
is important, as we get older, to learn how to grieve. Although this may
sound self-evident, experience has taught me that it is not. In a
culture that emphasizes stoicism and forward movement, in which time is
deemed “of the essence,” and there is little toleration for slowness,
inwardness, and melancholy, grieving – a healthy, necessary aspect of
life – is too often overlooked.
Over the years, in working with people who are grieving, I’ve encouraged them first of all to surrender to the experience of their pain. To counteract our natural tendency to turn away from pain, we open to it as fully as possible and allow our hearts to break. We must take enough time to remember our losses – be they friends or loved ones passed away, the death of long-held hopes or dreams, the loss of homes, careers, or countries, or health we may never get back again. Rather than close ourselves to grief, it helps to realize that we only grieve for what we love.
Over the years, in working with people who are grieving, I’ve encouraged them first of all to surrender to the experience of their pain. To counteract our natural tendency to turn away from pain, we open to it as fully as possible and allow our hearts to break. We must take enough time to remember our losses – be they friends or loved ones passed away, the death of long-held hopes or dreams, the loss of homes, careers, or countries, or health we may never get back again. Rather than close ourselves to grief, it helps to realize that we only grieve for what we love.
- Ram Dass -
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