“Lost” by David Wagoner

Lost

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.

For a another level of reflection on this poem and an inspiring British recitation of it, listen to this short excerpt of a talk with a young David Whyte: 

https://youtu.be/XO0OjtThqyI

Via White Crane Institute // On This Day in Gay History

 

November 24 Born Baruch Spinoza 1632 - BARUCH SPINOZA, Dutch philosopher was born (d.1677); One of the great rationalists of 17th century philosophy, he laid the groundwork for the 18th century Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism. By virtue of his magnum opus, the posthumous Ethics, Spinoza is also considered one of Western philosophy's definitive ethicists. He was raised and educated in the Orthodox Jewish fashion, also studying Latin and was thoroughly familiar with European humanism. What exactly is it that caused him to be excommunicated from the synagogue when he was only twenty-four years old? Many scholars have speculated that the horror Spinoza inspired in the Jewish community may have come not only from his espousal of advanced economic theories, but from his espousal, as well, of "Greek love" among impressionable students in the liberal circle where he taught. A Dutch physician, J. Roderpoort, wrote at The Hague in 1897: “Spinoza excites the youth to respect women not at all and to give themselves to debauchery.”  Was Spinoza merely teaching the Greek and Roman classics, with their inevitable passages on pederasty? What were Roderpoort’s motives for discrediting the Jewish philosopher? Was Spinoza, in fact a pederast? It’s all open to speculation.   Today's Gay Wisdom Spinoza 2017 - The Wisdom of Baruch Spinoza If you want the present to be different from the past, study the past. It may easily come to pass that a vain man may become proud and imagine himself pleasing to all when he is in reality a universal nuisance. I do not know how to teach philosophy without becoming a disturber of established religion. Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice. Be not astonished at new ideas; for it is well known to you that a thing does not therefore cease to be true because it is not accepted by many. Happiness is a virtue, not its reward.

Via Daily Dharma: Seeing the Whole Process

 Do not fear things that arise in the mind; question them, know them. The truth is more than thought and feelings, so do not believe and get caught by them. See the whole process arising and ceasing. This understanding gives rise to wisdom.

—Achaan Chah, “Walking: Meditation on the Move”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Via LGBTQ Nation // A gay kid’s letter to Santa is breaking the internet’s heart

 

Will asked Santa if he can ask God if "He loves me for being gay." Get tissues ready.

By Alex Bollinger Tuesday, November 24, 2020    

 

Will's handwritten letterPhoto: USPS website

 

A letter to Santa sent by a gay kid named “Will” is breaking the internet’s heart.

Each year, the United States Postal Service conducts “Operation Santa,” sending responses to letters to Santa. In many locations, private organizations and citizens can help out, and some of the letters get posted to the USPS website.

The program opens on December 4, but to build interest in the program USPS posted letters from previous years. One of them is from Will, who says he’s gay and asks Santa if he can ask God if “He loves me for being gay.”

Dear Santa,

Do you support the LGBTQ community and if you can speak to god can you tell Him I love him, and if He loves me for being gay.

Thank you

Love Will

No other information about Will is available on the site. It’s not known what he had been told to make him think that God can’t love him if he’s gay, whether he had to hide his letter from his parents and send it secretly, or if he was worried that a response to the letter could out him.

While Twitter is full of straight people saying he’s too young to know that he’s gay – these are possibly the same straight people who ask two-year-old girls if they’re breaking boy’s hearts or three-year-old boys if they have a girlfriend yet – a lot of people just wanted to send Will some support.

WHO IS TELLING THESE QUEER CHILDREN THAT SANTA DOESNT LOVE THEM

— KIE (@kierra3lyse) November 23, 2020

Being a queer kid is so difficult 💔 I hope this little boy knows that God does love him no matter what

— The Evil Wench (@aLilBitWrOng_) November 23, 2020

This hurts my heart so much. I hope will and all the other little lgbtq+ babies know (and get told) they’re so, so loved. For those who believe in Christianity, yes, God loves you. Don’t believe those who say he doesn’t. 😭🥺

— Ashley (@yelhsawo) November 23, 2020

This is what I mean when I say straight cis people will never know what it’s like to be one of us.

— TREVOR🦑 (@bi_oticcharge) November 22, 2020

 

 

Make the jump here to read the original and more 

Ask a Teacher: Holidays 2020

 

Ask a Teacher: Holidays 2020
By Nina Herzog

Even if you can’t be physically present with your family this holiday season, you can use your practice to welcome loved ones into your heart.

Read more »

Via Daily Dharma: Relaxing into the World

 The more my actions are motivated by generosity, loving kindness, and the wisdom of interdependence, the more I can relax and open up to the world. 

—David Loy, “Rethinking Karma”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Via Daily Dharma: Being Free

 We are used to thinking of freedom as being free to do what we want, but the Buddha sees it as being free from wanting. 

—Andrew Olendzki, “The Ties that Unbind”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - November 22, 2020 💌

 

"Inspiration is God making contact with itself."

- Ram Dass -

Via Daily Dharma: Work with What Arises Inbox

 The mark of a true practitioner is not what arises in your life and mind, but how you work with what arises.

—Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, “The Path of Patience”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

The woodcut prints of Tom Killion

 

The woodcut prints of Tom Killion speak of a deep love for the landscape, a passion for the poetics of space. In particular California’s northern wild edge inspired him from an early age. Spending countless hours carving into wood the sketches he brought back from his trips into the great outdoors. The technique applied is almost identical to the traditional Japanese woodblock printing used by Hokusai two hundred years ago. A multi-color print can take several months to complete but the result is one of a kind.

 

https://doorofperception.com/2018/03/tom-killion/

Via FB

 

Via FB

 

Via Tumblr

 

Via FB

 

Via Daily Dharma: Connecting to This Experience

 Prayer just for itself, just for the act of praying, is a way of connecting to the deep ocean of being that we all are. It is a way of offering our bows, our incense, our flowers, to the ineffable reality of the moment, to the absolute reality of this experience. 

—Roshi Pat Enkyo O'Hara, “Prayer: Sensei Pat Enkyo O’Hara”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Via Daily Dharma: Bearing Difficulty

 It is only natural that we don’t like suffering. But if we can develop the willpower to bear difficulties, then we will grow more and more tolerant. There is nothing that does not get easier with practice. 

—H. H. the Dalai Lama, “Enduring the Fires”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

I love this

 

Via No Matter How Fine a Love: The LGBTQ Baha'i Experience

No Matter How Fine a Love: The LGBTQ Baha'i Experience

It’s been a while since I last posted and for that I apologize, since my last post I have been contacted by those investigating the Baha’i Faith both heterosexual allies and those who identify as LGBTQ asking me for clarification on the Baha’i stance on LGBTQ people and same sex relationships, in each case they said that there is nothing on the US Baha’i website which I found odd, at the end of the last decade there was guidance which if one read between the lines stated that same sex couples wouldn’t qualify to declare as Baha’is unless they fell in-line with Baha’i law which realistically is a passive aggressive way to suggest getting a divorce. Today I was startled to see on the US Baha’i website absolutely no reference to the Baha’i stance on LGBTQ people and same-sex relationships / marriage (please correct me if I overlooked this). For many Americans LGBTQ issues are very important, not only for LGBTQ Americans seeking a loving religious community, but also our heterosexual allies who value LGBTQ people’s humanity. The erasure of LGBTQ guidance on the US Baha’i website (good, bad, or indifferent) simply stings for me as a gay man, it’s the very same sinking feeling I had when the Trump Administration expunged any LGBTQ references on the White House website, it made me feel invisible yet again. For the individual investigating the Baha’i Faith and wanting to know what the Baha’i Faith’s stance on a good 10% of the population (conservative estimate) the website leaves them perplexed as the Baha’i Faith’s rallying cry for “unity in diversity”, the Oneness of humanity, and the elimination of prejudices of any kind assuredly gives the impression that Baha’is would value the humanity of LGBTQ people and would accept them, their spouses, and their families with open arms. It’s also been brought to my attention by a heterosexual mother of a transgender child that not once is homophobia or transphobia listed as forms of prejudice that Baha’is actively address on the website, with Hate Crimes on the rise (transgender women of color in particular) is quite alarming to her as she investigated the Baha’i Faith. As I am writing this I’m doing my very best to not feel rage, instead I’m seeking out clarification from the Public Relations Office at the Baha’i National Center and will share what they say to my inquiry. Attached are screenshots from the US Baha’i website from a few years ago pertaining to guidance on same-sex relationships/ marriage, one must remain vigilant when it comes to this sensitive subject in the Baha’i Faith, one day guidance is up, the next day its invisible (there’s a theme here).

 

For the current public website of the American Baha’i community sans LGBTQ / same sex relationship information

 

and finally, after all their cruelty and homophobia... they end with:

The Baha’i Teachings and Homosexuality

Via Daily Dharma: Broadening Your Mindset

 Adopting a mind that is free from grasping is a direct antidote to a narrow and fixed perspective. 

—Khentrul Rinpoche, “Unity in Difference”

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