Thursday, February 28, 2019
Via Daily Dharma: For All Beings
To
try earnestly to develop positive qualities through meditation is the
best activity you can do for yourself; it is also the best you can do
for others.
—An Interview with Matthieu Ricard, “Why Meditate?”
—An Interview with Matthieu Ricard, “Why Meditate?”
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - February 27, 2019 💌
Bearing the unbearable is the deepest root of compassion in the world. When you bear what you think you cannot bear, who you think you are dies. You become compassion. You don't have compassion - you are compassion. True compassion goes beyond empathy to being with the experience of another. You become an instrument of compassion.
- Ram Dass -
Via Daily Dharma: Beyond Bliss
There may be bliss with awakening, because it is actually a by-product of awakening, but it is not awakening itself. As long as we are chasing the byproducts of awakening, we will miss the real thing.
—Adyashanti, “Bliss is a By-Product”
—Adyashanti, “Bliss is a By-Product”
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Via Daily Dharma: Start Right Here
Without cultivating love for ourselves, regardless of how much discipline we have, regardless of how serious we are about practice, we will still stay stuck in the subtle mercilessness of the mind, listening to the voice that tells us we are basically and fundamentally unworthy.
—Ezra Bayda, “The Three Things We Fear Most”
—Ezra Bayda, “The Three Things We Fear Most”
Monday, February 25, 2019
Via Daily Dharma: The Power of Our Practice
The
practice of each one of us, however humble and immature it may be, is
seen as something powerful and indispensable for the entire community of
awakened ones.
—Kazuaki Tanahashi, “Fundamentals of Dogen’s Thoughts”
—Kazuaki Tanahashi, “Fundamentals of Dogen’s Thoughts”
Sunday, February 24, 2019
Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - February 24, 2019 💌
I've often been struck by the poignancy of meeting old people of great wealth and power, and seeing how frightened they are of losing what they have. The greater their clinging, the greater their pain, realizing how little use the accoutrements of power and worldly position are in helping them age with wisdom and peace. In truth, the Ego's attachment to power of any kind is linked inextricably to the fear of losing that power, and thus becomes a source of suffering.
There is a kind of power that does not give rise to fear, however. It is spiritual power, the power of the enlightened mind. As we begin to emphasize Soul power over worldly power, our perception of the alterations brought on by aging changes proportionately.
There is a kind of power that does not give rise to fear, however. It is spiritual power, the power of the enlightened mind. As we begin to emphasize Soul power over worldly power, our perception of the alterations brought on by aging changes proportionately.
- Ram Dass -
Via Daily Dharma: The Virtuous Circle of Patience
The wonderful thing about patience, unlike commodities, is the more we use it, the more we offer it, the more we have.
—Allan Lokos, “Allan Lokos: Patience With Self”
—Allan Lokos, “Allan Lokos: Patience With Self”
Saturday, February 23, 2019
Via Daily Dharma: Finding Freedom
Learning to let thinking come and go, we can eventually understand a thought as a thought and a word as a word, and with this understanding we can find a measure of freedom from thoughts and words.
—Norman Fischer, “Beyond Language”
—Norman Fischer, “Beyond Language”
Friday, February 22, 2019
Via Daily Dharma: Bridging the Divide
The
reason that remarkable stories of forgiveness take our breath away is
that we instantly feel the liberation in the lifting of boundaries, the
end of separation, of “inside” and “outside.”
— Roshi Nancy Mujo Baker, “The Seventh Zen Precept”
— Roshi Nancy Mujo Baker, “The Seventh Zen Precept”
Thursday, February 21, 2019
Via Daily Dharma: Going Deeper with Mindfulness
As
your mindfulness develops, your resentment for the change, your dislike
for the unpleasant experiences, your greed for the pleasant
experiences, and the notion of selfhood will be replaced by the deeper
awareness of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and selflessness.
—Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, “Sitting Still”
—Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, “Sitting Still”
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Via Reddit: R/Baha'i - I hate but love the Bahai Faith
Grew up a bahai, felt immense love from the community and loved the teachings. Started having homosexual thoughts at 12 and now 10 years later the still haven’t left me. I have prayed so much that I don’t even know if I want to live anymore. I am clinically depressed and the thought of my family or the community finding out I’m gay would make me want to commit suicide.
This is all as a result of the Bahai Faith which is supposed to be a ‘progressive’ and ‘accepting’ religion which teaches about the unity of mankind. I feel isolated and repressing this part of myself is truly AWFUL for gay bahais. I have no one to talk to about this except for my therapist and even telling her has caused me so much pain because I hate associating the Faith with the reason for my depression. It should be a solace and a source of comfort in my life but the past few years has made me doubt everything I truly believed in before. I wonder why I am ‘spiritually diseased’ as Shoghi Effendi wrote. I think about how Bahaullah taught about the harmony between science and religion yet Bahais do not see homosexuality as a natural thing. I just feel like this is too much for me to handle and I am gradually drifting away. I don’t pray anymore, I just go to activities to support my family and friends and for the social interactions because otherwise I would be a disappointment to people.
I’ve turned to bad coping mechanisms to help escape the reality of who I am. I am so ashamed and feel horrible guilt over the person I am that I wonder how I’d ever be able to overcome this ‘spiritual disease’. Conversion therapy? No thanks. It’s detrimental to anyone who engages with it. I’m so heart broken that I believe in Bahaullah and everything he taught except for this ONE thing which is a part of who I am. I’m sure there are may gay bahais out there like me who also feel the same. We can’t just be expected to stay in the closet and not get married or stay celibate our whole lives. I’d rather die.
Sorry for the rant I’m just super upset and feeling a lot of mixed emotions around the faith.
Make the jump here and read the original and the comments...
Via Lion's Roar: Tina Turner: What’s Love Got to Do With It?
She’s the Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll. An unwanted child. A believer in the power of love. A longtime Buddhist. Andrea Miller talks to Tina Turner.
Tina Turner. Photo by Alberto Venzago.
The Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll is not just a powerhouse on stage. She is also a longtime Buddhist, having begun her practice in the 1970s while struggling to end an abusive relationship with musician Ike Turner. Soka Gakkai, the tradition to which Tina Turner adheres, is like other schools and subschools of Nichiren Buddhism; it focuses on the Lotus Sutra and teaches that chanting its title in Japanese—Nam-myoho-renge-kyo—ultimately enables chanters to embrace the entirety of the text and uncover their buddhanature.
Turner chanting the Lotus Sutra is featured on Beyond, an album that weaves together Buddhist and Christian prayers, and also features the singers Dechen Shak-Dagsay and Regula Curti. “Bringing together corresponding pieces from Christian and Tibetan Buddhist traditions as has been done here,” wrote the Dalai Lama in the liner notes, “will allow listeners to share in these prayers, stirring thoughts of deeper respect and peace in their lives.” All revenue from the CD goes to foundations dedicated to spiritual education or helping children and mothers in need.
In this interview, Turner speaks about the power of song and practice, and the meaning of love.
All religions speak about love, and it sounds easy to be loving. But people so frequently fail to love. Why is loving so difficult?
Some people are born into a loving family. For example, everyone in the family greets everyone else in the morning, they sit at breakfast together, they give each other a kiss when they leave. There is harmony and love in the house. When you are born with that, you take it with you.
But some people are born into situations where they’re exposed to everything but love. The world is full of people that are born into such situations, and they are traveling through life in the dark. No one has ever explained to them that they need to find love, and they have no education for love except for falling in love with another person, for sexual love. I believe that the problem with the world today is that we have too many people who are not in touch with true love.
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