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.
Wednesday, September 15, 2021
Via White Crane Institute // PERRY BRASS
American author, poet and activist, PERRY BRASS was born today Brass grew up in Savannah, Georgia grew up in the 1950s and 60s in equal parts Southern, Jewish, economically impoverished, and very much gay. To escape the South’s violent homophobia, he hitchhiked at age 17 from Savannah to San Francisco — an adventure, he recalls, that was “like Mark Twain with drag queens.” He has published fourteen books and been a finalist six times in three categories (poetry; gay science fiction and fantasy; spirituality and religion) for national Lambda Literary Awards.
One of the main themes in his writing has been the integration of sexuality and the religious or spiritual impulse, as exemplified in his novels Albert: or, The Book of Man, Angel Lust, and Substance of God. His writings have attempted to answer questions such as: Why are so many gay men religious and political conservatives? Why is the need for God so important to us? What is our own place in nature and the world?
Among the early anthologies that included Brass's work were The Male Muse, the first anthology of openly gay poetry ever published, edited by Ian Young; The Gay Liberation Book from Rolling Stone Press, including work by John Lennon; The Penguin Book of Homosexual Verse; and Gay Roots from Gay Sunshine Press. His work can be found in over 20 anthologies of poetry, short stories, essays, memoirs, and other writings. A poetry cycle called "Five Gay Jewish Prayers" was used as part of the high holiday service at New York's Beth Simchat Torah congregation. The text of this poem was accepted (in 1985) as one of the first gay Jewish documents in the YIVO Archives of Jewish history. This poem was set to choral music by Chris De Blasio, as "Five Prayers," which has been sung by several gay choruses.
In 1984, his play Night Chills, an early play dealing with the AIDS crisis, won a Jane Chambers International Gay Playwriting Award. Brass’s collaborations with composers include the words for "All the Way Through Evening," a five-song cycle set by DeBlasio, which was featured on the AIDS Quilt Songbook CD from Harmonia Mundi, France, and Heartbeats from Minnesota Public Radio; "The Angel Voices of Men" set by Ricky Ian Gordon and commissioned by the Dick Cable Musical Trust for the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus, which has featured it on its CD Gay Century Songbook; "Three Brass Songs" with Grammy-nominated composer Fred Hersch; and "Waltzes for Men" also commissioned by the DCMT for the NYC Gay Men’s Chorus and set by Craig Carnahan.
Brass's non-fiction book, How to Survive Your Own Gay Life (Belhue Press, 1999) deals with the psychic and physical survival of gay men, with their spiritual and psychological growth, and with achieving happiness and maturity. It was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award in religion and spirituality, and has been the basis for many LGBT discussion and support groups, classes, and workshops.
Via White Crane Insitute // Ann Weldy,
Ann Weldy, better known by her pen name ANN BANNON, born on this date, is an American author who, from 1957 to 1962, wrote six lesbian pulp fiction novels known as The Beebo Brinker Chronicles. The books' enduring popularity and impact on lesbian identity has earned her the title "Queen of Lesbian Pulp Fiction". Bannon was a young housewife trying to address her own issues of sexuality when she was inspired to write her first novel. Her subsequent books featured four characters who reappeared throughout the series, including her eponymous heroine, Beebo Brinker, who came to embody the archetype of a butch lesbian. The majority of her characters mirrored people she knew, but their stories reflected a life she did not feel she was able to live. Despite her traditional upbringing and role in married life, her novels defied conventions for romance stories and depictions of lesbians by addressing complex homosexual relationships.
Her books shaped lesbian identity for lesbians and heterosexuals alike, but Bannon was mostly unaware of their impact. She stopped writing in 1962. Later, she earned a doctorate in linguistics and became an academic. She endured a difficult marriage for 27 years and, as she separated from her husband in the 1980s, her books were republished; she was stunned to learn of their influence on society. They were released again between 2001 and 2003 and were adapted as an award-winning Off-Broadway production at the New York Theater Workshop. They are taught in Women's and LGBT studies courses, and Bannon has received numerous awards for pioneering lesbian and gay literature. She has been described as "the premier fictional representation of US lesbian life in the fifties and sixties", and it has been said that her books "rest on the bookshelf of nearly every even faintly literate Lesbian"
Ann Bannon retired from teaching and college administration at California State University, Sacramento, in 1997, but tours the country visiting paperback-collecting conventions and speaking at colleges and universities about her writings and experiences. She was a guest of National Public Radio's Peabody Award-winning talk show "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross, and has also been featured in Gross's book, All I Did Was Ask, a collection of transcripts from the show. Bannon also speaks at gay-themed events around the country and is working on her memoirs.
In a recent editorial written by Bannon in Curve, she discussed how her books survived despite criticisms by censors, Victorian moralists, and purveyors of literary "snobbery" in writing, "To the persistent surprise of many of us, and of the critics who found us such an easy target years ago, the books by, of and for women found a life of their own. They—and we—may still not be regarded as conventionally acceptable 'nice' literature, as it were—but I have come to value that historical judgment. We wrote the stories no one else could tell. And in so doing, we captured a slice of life in a particular time and place that still resonates for members of our community.
Via Daily Dharma: Courageous Compassion
—Sharon Salzberg, "Understanding Equanimity: The Secret Ingredient in Mindfulness"
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
Tuesday, September 14, 2021
Via Thich Nhat Hanh Quote Collective / FB
Via FB // ~from Karen Armstrong's The Spiral Staircase, pp 293-297
Via The Tricycle Community // Daily Dharma: Meditating on Difficult Emotions
Helpless, Not Hopeless
By Kurt Spellmeyer
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Via Daily Dharma: Meditating on Difficult Emotions
Via White Crane Institute // JOHN LYON BURNSIDE III
JOHN LYON BURNSIDE III died on this date (b: 1916) He was the inventor of the teleidoscope, the Darkfield Kaleidoscope and the Symmetricon and, because he rediscovered the math behind kaleidoscope optics, for decades, every maker of optically correct kaleidoscopes sold in the U.S. paid him royalties. He was the life partner of Harry Hay for 40 years, from 1962 until Hay's death in 2002. John lived in San Francisco, California until his death from complications of brain cancer, aged 91.
Burnside and Hay formed a group in the early 1960s called the Circle of Loving Companions that promoted gay rights and gay love. In 1966 they were major planners of one of the first gay rights march, a protest against exclusion of homosexuals from the military, held in Los Angeles. In 1967, they appeared as a couple on the Joe Pyne television show. In the late 1970s, they imagined the Radical Faeries along with Don Kilhefner.
He and Harry were seen as such a singular unit that he became known in some circles as “n’John” as in “Harry ‘n John”” A sweeter man I have never met.
Via White Crane Institute // ALEXANDER HUMBOLDT
ALEXANDER HUMBOLDT, German naturalist and traveler, born (d: 1859). This is one of my personal favorite discoveries in the development of this LGBT history project. One of the geniuses of the 19th century, he made so many contributions to science there is no way to do justice to him in this space.
From 1799 to 1804 he made an expedition with A.J. A. Bonpland to Central and South America and Cuba a journey reputed to have laid the foundations for the sciences of physical geography and meteorology. Humboldt explored the Orinoco and Amazon. He ascended the Andean peaks of Peru to study the relation of temperature and altitude, made observations leading to the discovery of the periodicity of meteor showers and the fertilizing properties of guano.
In 1808 he settled in Paris and published his findings in 23 volumes. During this period, he also established the use of isotherms; studied the origin and course of tropical storms, the increase in magnetic intensity from the equator to the poles, volcanology and pioneered the investigation of the relationship between geographical environment and plant distribution. All this before middle age. He was extraordinarily handsome according to pictures rendered of him throughout his lifetime.
He was always thought to be homosexual, with the rumors having begun with the suspicion that he and Bonpland were lovers. What was suspected seemed to be confirmed in the minds of his contemporaries when he named his valet Seifert as his sole heir.
Via White Crane Institute // THE ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES
This Day in Gay History
September 14
In ancient Greece, this was the first day of the ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES, during which the sacred objects were brought from Eleusis to Athens. The Mysteries were based on a legend concerning Demeter, the goddess of life, agriculture and fertility. According to the legend, Demeter's daughter Persephone was gathering flowers with friends one day, when she was seen by Hades, the god of death and the underworld. Hades fell in love with Persephone and kidnapped her, taking her to his underworld kingdom.
Distraught, Demeter searched high and low for her daughter. In her distress, she neglected her duties; this caused a terrible drought in which the people suffered and starved.
According to the myth, during her search, Demeter traveled long distances and had many minor adventures along the way. In one instance, she teaches the secrets of agriculture to Triptolemus. Finally, by consulting Zeus, Demeter reunites with her daughter and the earth returns to its former verdure and prosperity: the first spring. Before allowing Persephone to return to her mother, Hades gave her seeds of a pomegranate.
As a result, Persephone could not avoid returning to the underworld for part of the year. According to the prevailing version of the myth, Persephone had to remain with Hades for four months while staying above ground with her mother for a similar period. This left her the choice of where to spend the last four months of the year and since she opted to live with Demeter, the end result was eight months of growth and abundance to be followed by four months of no productivity. These periods correspond well with the Mediterranean climate of Ancient Greece.
The four months during which Persephone is with Hades correspond to the dry Greek summer, a period during which plants are threatened with drought. After the first rains in the fall, when the seeds are planted, Persephone returns from the Underworld and the cycle of growth begins anew.
The Eleusinian Mysteries celebrated Persephone's return, for it was also the return of plants and of life to the earth. Persephone had gone into the underworld (underground, like seeds in the winter), then returned to the land of the living: her rebirth is symbolic of the rebirth of all plant life during Spring and, by extension, all life on earth.
Monday, September 13, 2021
Via Tricycle // Embodying the Healing Mother
Embodying the Healing Mother
By Mindy Newman
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Via Daily Dharma: Blossoming Through Suffering
While we may not recognize it at the time of a traumatic event, life-changing suffering has a way of being an opening to a greater understanding of life. The “mud” and mess of our most painful experiences can become the fertile ground for the blossoming of our understanding and self-compassion.
Sunday, September 12, 2021
Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - September 12, 2021 💌
The way you work in doing Sādhanā is that every act you perform becomes a
method of taking you to this other state of consciousness. You are
trying to change your perceptual vantage point and everything you do has
to be a device to take you to that place. From a Western point of view,
you are doing a complete cognitive reorganization. You are changing
your reference point, changing the core concept around which the whole
constellation is built. - Ram Dass
Today is the last day to register for the upcoming "Cookbook for a
Sacred Life" 21-Day e-course that begins tomorrow, September 13th.
Registration closes at 9pm PDT tonight. Sign up here!
Via Daily Dharma: Connecting Heart and Mind
Via FB // Always With Love // Expected Death