Ordinary
people just want life to be smooth, without problems. But Buddhist
practitioners have a different attitude. They are ready to endure many
difficulties if they are in the service of transforming others.
—Master Sheng-Yen, “The Wanderer”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
Monday, October 5, 2020
Via Daily Dharma: Transforming Others
Sunday, October 4, 2020
Via On the Media - WYNC : God Bless
( Diana Vargas
/
Unsplash
)
President Trump has once more tried to cast himself as an ally of the Christian right — this time, by nominating Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. This week, On the Media explains how the religious right goes beyond white evangelicals and the persistent allure of persecution narratives in Christianity. Plus, we examine the overlooked religious left. And, we explore how the image of Jesus as a white man was popularized in the 20th century, and why it matters.
1. Andrew Whitehead [@ndrewwhitehead], professor of sociology at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis, explains how Christian nationalism holds the religious right together. Listen.
2. Candida Moss [@candidamoss], professor of theology and religion at the University of Birmingham in the U.K., on how false claims of persecution date back centuries, to the early Christian church. Listen.
3. Jack Jenkins [@jackmjenkins], national reporter at Religion News Service, explains why the religious left is harder to define, and its influence more difficult to measure, than its right-wing counterpart. Listen.
4. OTM reporter Eloise Blondiau [@eloiseblondiau] examines how "White Jesus" came to America, how the image became ubiquitous, and why it matters. Listen.
Music from this week's show:
Ave Maria — Pascal Jean and Jean Brenders
Amazing Grace — Robert D. Sands, Jr.
I Got a Right to Sing the Blues — Billy Kyle
What’s That Sound? — Michael Andrews
Wade in the Water — Charlie Haden and Hank Jones
For the Creator — Hildegard von Bingen
Walking by Flashlight — Maria Schneider (The Thompson Fields)
Via Daily Dharma: Make Meaning from Chores
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”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - October 4, 2020 💌
One day in India, on my second stay, Maharaji said to me, "You don't have to change anybody; you just have to love them." In relationships, when the other person doesn't fit into your model of how heaven would be, you don't have to play God. You just have to love individual differences and appreciate them the way they are because love is the most powerful medicine.
- Ram Dass -
Saturday, October 3, 2020
Via One Arth Sangha // Entering the Bardo
Joanna Macy has previously spoken about “four R’s” of the Deep Adaptation movement: the four core values of resilience, relinquishment, restoration, and reconciliation that can help us find the seeds of new beginnings in the breakdown of industrial growth society. In this article, she continues to document the Great Unraveling, likening it to entering the bardo—the frightening transitional state of consciousness between death and re-birth so vividly portrayed in Tibetan Buddhism. The worsening wildfires, hurricanes, COVID outbreaks, and police violence certainly evoke the intensity and uncertainty of the bardo. But as always, she faces, and encourages us to face, our “cruel social and ecological realities” with courage and an unflinching gaze, while continuing to work towards the Great Turning to a life-sustaining civilization.
Joanna further explored these themes in a talk during Upaya Zen Center’s daylong program in June. Thanks to Upaya’s generosity, we share a video of this talk at the end of this article.
We are in a space without a map. With the likelihood of economic collapse and climate catastrophe looming, it feels like we are on shifting ground, where old habits and old scenarios no longer apply. In Tibetan Buddhism, such a space or gap between known worlds is called a bardo. It is frightening. It is also a place of potential transformation.
As you enter the bardo, there facing you is the Buddha Akshobhya. His element is Water. He is holding a mirror, for his gift is Mirror Wisdom, reflecting everything just as it is. And the teaching of Akshobhya’s mirror is this: Do not look away. Do not avert your gaze. Do not turn aside. This teaching clearly calls for radical attention and total acceptance.
This article was originally published by Emergence Magazine and is republished here with permission.
Make the Jump Here to read the full article
Via Daily Dharma: Creating Enlightenment
“Enlightenment” isn’t a permanent state but the dynamic back-and-forth that we create with our intrinsic wisdom.
—Kurt Spellmeyer, “Liberating Impermanence”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
Friday, October 2, 2020
Via Daily Dharma: Use Compassion to Protect Yourself
Use
compassion, not anger, to motivate you to protect yourself, and [have]
compassion toward the person who’s giving you the trouble. Compassion
rather than hate is what helps.
— Gelek Rinpoche, “What to Do When the Anger Gets Hot”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
Thursday, October 1, 2020
Via Lama Rod
October
Preparing Ourselves
Hello Everyone.
The world is unsteady and chaotic.
We are moving into an election that may very well determine the
wellbeing of our lives and the lives of future generations. Many of us
are being confronted with the reality of death and change in a way we
thought we never would.
In the face of all this, resiliency is such an important skill to
develop right now. Resiliency requires preparation. Resiliency is about
how well we are able to meet the challenges of our lives with a sense of
openness and curiosity that helps us to regain our balance.
Balance means understanding how to return back to a sense of being grounded in order to meet challenges directly.
Recently it was the Equinox.
Symbolically,
a time which calls for our relationship with the the earth to
be deepened, as we are invited to descend into the deeper healing
properties held by the earth. It’s a time to nurture our systems,
privileging the comfort of our bodies, as night becomes longer and
temperatures drop here in the Northern lands.
Community is like a body, it feels, it responds.
It lives and grows.
Which is why it requires care.
I
have included a selection of dates coming up this month...it's a full
month for me, so for a full picture of practice dates and events, head
over to my website, so we can practice together and take care of ourselves as we prepare and cultivate our collective resiliency.
Peace,
Lama Rod
Lamarodowens@gmail.com
+
October
Oct 5th
Click HERE to register
Oct 9th - Oct 11th
Click HERE to register
Nov 1st
Click HERE to register
Love, Fear, and Resiliency as the World Falls Apart w/ Lama Rod Owens
#condemnwhitesupremacychallenge
Hello! My name is Daniel Clark Orey and I condemn white supremacy.
I condemn ANYONE who thinks that just because they are white, makes them better than any other race.
I do not believe in a master race, nor do I believe that black and brown people are less important than I am.
I also believe all people should be treated with equality and fairness.
I WILL NOT CONDONE or STAY SILENT when I see a person wronged, simply because they are of another race. I vow not to use my vote to help, condone, or normalize white supremacy.
Via Adyashanti
“In my experience it matters not whether we are gathered in person, or remotely through the medium of technology, for our collective presence acts as a catalyst for insight that transcends time, space, and location.”
- Adyashanti -
Via Daily Dharma: Practicing Empathy
All things, we learn, are ourselves. Thus, practice necessarily leads to empathy.
—Charles Johnson, “A Sangha by Another Name”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)