5 Same-Sex Couples Tell Us What It’s Like To Be Legally Married

Via Daily Dharma: Breaking from the Dream

We get quiet for a moment in meditation. We sink down to a relaxedness, a calmness, abruptly free from all the crazy dreams we confuse with reality. And in that instant, by mistake maybe, or because we aren’t thinking to stop it from happening—we experience, in a flash, things as they really are.

—William R. Stimson, “My Brief Career Composing Spanish Music”

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Via Daily Dharma: The Weight of Every Step

Nothing is merely a means to an end, nothing is merely a step on the path to somewhere else. Every moment, everything, is absolutely foundational in its own right.

—Barry Magid, “Uselessness”

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

All men -- whether they go by the name of Americans or Russians or Chinese or British or Malayans or Indians or Africans -- have obligations to one another that transcend their obligations to their sovereign societies. 

-Norman Cousins, author, editor, journalist and professor (24 Jun 1915-1990)

Via India.Arie "One" - Official Video

From her 2013 album, SongVersation, India.Arie shares the song that took her a lifetime to write. "One" says everything that India once afraid to say but love for humanity and her courage for truth gave her the words and music to express the powerful and universal truth in this masterful song. This song is dedicated with love to all. #worthy

One

Billions live their lives Now

Muhammad, Krisha, or the Buddha are the way.

Still some believe it's right to say

In the name of Jesus when you pray.

[Chorus:]

We are a human kind of 7 billion

So many different races and religions

And it all comes down to one

Some say God's a him

Still many believe that He is a Her

Does God Live in our hearts?

Or is She somewhere out there in the universe.

[Chorus]

How far will have to go before we learn the lesson?

Gandhi, was a Hindu

Martin Luther King, a Christian

Regardless of religion, they knew love was the mission

And it all comes down to one.

Is there no God at all?

Or a pantheon of gods up in the sky

We can heal our broken hearts

If we give up the desire to be right.

[Chorus]

How far will have to go before we learn the lesson?

Gandhi, was a Hindu Martin Luther King, a Christian

Regardless of religion, they knew love was the mission

And it all comes down to one.

We are a human kind of seven billion

So many different races and religions

And we all want the same things

Health, Love, Prosperity and Peace Tolerance is the seed

And the gift of pure acceptance is the tree

[Chorus]

Whether you are red, brown, yellow, black, or white

Man with a husband, or a woman with a wife

We can debate until the end of time who is wrong or right

Or we can see ourselves as one

Cause it all comes down to love.

Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - June 23, 2019 💌

 

All that you seek is already within you. In Hinduism it is called the Atman, in Buddhism the pure Buddha-Mind. Christ said, 'the kingdom of heaven is within you.' Quakers call it the 'still small voice within.’ This is the space of full awareness that is in harmony with all the universe, and thus is wisdom itself.

- Ram Dass -

Via Daily Dharma: Invitations to a Clearer Mind

One of the essential elements of life is the understanding that everything we encounter—fear, resentment, jealousy, embarrassment—is actually an invitation to see clearly where we are shutting down and holding back.

—Aura Glaser, “Into the Demon’s Mouth”

Via Daily Dharma: We’re Inseparable, Naturally

There is something special and precious about meditating outside and rediscovering our deep connection with the natural world. When we do, it becomes more evident to us that the world is not a collection of separate things but a confluence of natural processes that include us.

—David Loy, “How a Growing Buddhist Movement Is Responding to the Ecological Crisis”

Via Daily Dharma: In the Real, Fast World

We do not have to be afraid of entering unfamiliar territory once we have learned how to hold experience within the gentleness of our own minds. Learning to transform obstacles into objects of meditation provides a much needed bridge between the stillness of the concentrated mind and the movement of real life.

—Mark Epstein, “Stopping the Wind”

Via Daily Dharma: How to Build a Better Future

Even though we cannot see clearly how it’s going to turn out, we are still called to let the future into our imagination. We will never be able to build what we have not first cherished in our hearts.

—Joanna Macy and Sam Mowe, “The Work That Reconnects”

Via Daily Dharma: Confronting the True Causes of Harm

Asking “Who is the villain?” is the prologue to asking who should be punished. But asking “What are the conditions that led to this?” leads us to consider how to change those conditions so that the situation is less likely to happen again.

—Matthew Gindin, “The Red Hat Rorschach Test”

Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - June 19, 2019 💌

One doesn’t have to beat down one’s ego for God. That isn’t the way it works. The ego isn’t in the way. It’s how we are holding the ego. It is much better to just do the spiritual practices and open to God and love God and trust your intuitive heart. As the transformation changes, the ego then becomes this beautiful instrument that’s available to you to deal with the world. It’s not in the way anymore. 

- Ram Dass -

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Via Daily Dharma: The Way to Lasting Happiness

The quick fixes and immediate gratification I think will make me happy never do in the long run, leaving me empty-hearted. Mindfulness digs the truth out from under the excuses and confusion, lighting the way to true satisfaction.

—Joan Duncan Oliver, “Do I Mind?”

The Lavender Scare - Official Trailer

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Via Daily Dharma: Fear Is Not the Enemy

Fear is not the enemy—it is nature’s protector; it only becomes troublesome when it oversteps its bounds. In order to deal with fear we must take a fundamentally noncontentious attitude toward it, so it’s not held as “My big fear problem” but rather “Here is fear that has come to visit.” Once we take this attitude, we can begin to work with fear.

—Amaro Bhikkhu, “Inviting Fear”

Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - June 16, 2019 💌

For my spiritual work I had to hear what Alan Watts used to say to me: “Ram Dass, God is these forms. God isn’t just formless. You’re too addicted to formlessness.” I had to learn that. I had to honor my incarnation. I’ve got to honor what it means to be a man, a Jew, an American, a member of the world, a member of the ecological community, all of it. I have to figure out how to do that—how to be in my family, how to honor my father. All of that is part of it.
That is the way I come to God, acknowledging my uniqueness, if you will. That’s an interesting turn-about in a way. That brings spiritual people back into the world.

- Ram Dass -