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.
30-year-old Francisco José Alvarado is a family doctor at Lavapiés Health Center in Madrid. While working tirelessly to help COVID-19
patients back in March, he contracted the virus. After making a full recovery, he returned to work. Now, he’s just been named Mr. Gay World
Pride.
REVEREND ROBERT WOOD, author of historic book Christ and the Homosexual (1960) was born. Wood's book is considered one of the first positive treatments of homosexuality and Christianity.
Wood, himself a
Gay man was ministering at the time in New York City and was well
acquainted with the ostracism experienced by the gay subculture at the
hands of what he saw as “a society which in most cases has not taken the
time to study the facts and to know the individuals involved.”
“Christ and the
Homosexual” was the first book published merging these two subjects, and
groundbreaking in its poignant critique of the Church, and in its
description, support, and affirmation of the Gay community.
All 3,000
hardbound copies sold at a cost of $3.95 each. Copies of the book are extremely scarce today as no further editions were printed.
You
have to get dirty with your emotions. Meditation allows us to feel them, live them, and taste them completely. It gives us a lot of insight into why we do the things we do and why other people do the things they do. Out of this insight, compassion is born.
All
experience arises in the present, does its dance, and disappears.
Experience comes into being only tentatively, for a little time in a
certain form; then that form ends and a new form replaces it moment by
moment.
Sanskrit: Bhaiṣajyaguru (भैषज्यगुरु)
Chinese: Yàoshīfó (藥師佛); Yàoshīrúlái (藥師如來)
Japanese: Yakushi (薬師); Kusurishi Nyorai (薬師如来)
Korean: Yaksayeorae, Yaksabul (약사여래, 약사불)
Mongolian: Оточ Манла
Bhaiṣajyaguru, more formally Bhaiṣajyaguruvaidūryaprabharāja (भैषज्यगुरुवैडूर्यप्रभाराज; "Medicine Master and King of Lapis Lazuli Light"), is the buddha of healing and medicine in Mahayana Buddhism.
In the English language, he is commonly referred to as the "Medicine Buddha". The use of the analogy of a Buddha being depicted as a doctor who cures the illness of suffering using the medicine of his teachings appears widely in Buddhist scriptures.
In the Bhaiṣajyaguruvaidūryaprabharāja Sūtra, the Medicine Buddha is described as having entered into a state of samadhi called "Eliminating All the Suffering and Afflictions of Sentient Beings." From this samadhi state he spoke the Medicine Buddha Dharani.
Buddhists recite the mantra of the Medicine Buddha to overcome sickness. He is also closely associated with ceremonies for temple donors and for transferring of merit to such donors.
Phật Dược Sư (tiếng Phạn: bhaiṣajyaguru; chữ Hán: 藥師佛; nghĩa là "vị Phật thầy thuốc"), còn gọi là Dược Sư Lưu Li Quang Phật, (bhaiṣajyaguruvaidūrya-prabha-buddha; 藥師琉璃光佛), là vị Phật đại diện cho sự trọn vẹn của Phật quả ngự cõi phía đông (là cõi Tịnh Lưu ly). Tranh tượng của vị Phật này hay được vẽ với tay trái cầm thuốc chữa bệnh và tay mặt giữ Ấn thí nguyện.
Phật Dược Sư thường được thờ chung với Phật Thích Ca Mâu Ni và A Di Đà, trong đó phật Dược Sư đứng bên trái còn Phật A Di Đà đứng bên phải Phật Thích Ca. Trong kinh Dược Sư, hiện nay chỉ còn bản chữ Hán và chữ Tây Tạng, người ta đọc thấy 12 lời nguyện của vị Phật này, thệ cứu độ chúng sinh, với sự giúp đỡ của chư Phật, Bồ Tát và 12 vị Hộ Pháp và Thiên vương.
O Mantra do Buda da Medicina, cuja função é livrar os seres vivos das doenças exteriores e interiores concedendo-lhes bênçãos. Confiando sinceramente no Buda da Medicina, os seres vivos destes tempos impuros podem ser curados de graves doenças físicas e mentais e encontrar alívio para a dor interior causada pelos três venenos – apego, raiva e ignorância.
Também podem ser protegidos de muitos outros perigos e obstáculos.
Este mantra libera o sofrimento da memória hereditária impregnada de culpa, punição, inveja, raiva, ciúme, ambição... e de desequilíbrio.
A Mantra do Buda da Medicina é um método para obtermos as realizações deste ser iluminado. Se praticarmos com sinceridade, receberemos um poder especial de corpo, fala e mente, que poderemos usar para ajudar os outros por meio de ações de cura, conforme o Mantra do Buda da Medicina.
No processo de recitar o mantra do Buda da Medicina tente mentalizar a cor azul, mas, a cor que vier primeiro em sua mente é a cor que deve trabalhar.
Tayatha om bekandze bekandze maha bekandze randze samugate soha
What
can Buddhist cosmology teach us about our current existential
anxieties? Curtis White looks to the Tibetan Wheel of Life to find the
bigger picture for this moment of crisis.
The primary duty of a trustworthy friend is to point out your faults—for
only when you see your faults can you correct them; only when you
correct them are you benefiting from your friend’s compassion in
pointing them out.
In a statement, Knott said, “While right now we all need to focus on fighting COVID-19, we must not forget to continue protecting the values in which we believe.
“On International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia,
we reaffirm our support for efforts to raise public awareness of issues
affecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI)
community, and pay tribute to the hard work of LGBTI people in Poland,
the UK and around the world to ensure human rights and dignity for all.
Dharma
practice is about the development and cultivation of skillful mind
states—no matter what the situation. This is not to say difficult mind
states don’t arise unbidden, but which ones do you want to hang on to?
What kind of mind do you want?
—Diana Winston,“Seven Reasons Why It’s Better Not to Hate Them”
