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.
Saturday, August 27, 2022
Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Developing Unarisen Healthy States
Developing Unarisen Healthy States
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One week from today: Maintaining Arisen Healthy States
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Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.
Via Daily Dharma: Build Lasting Happiness
Trying to build happiness on a foundation of ego is like trying to build a tower on quicksand.
Pamela Gayle White, “A Slow, True Path”
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Friday, August 26, 2022
Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Living: Abstaining from Misbehaving Among Sensual Pleasures
Undertaking the Commitment to Abstain from Misbehaving Among Sensual Pleasures
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One week from today: Abstaining from Intoxication
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Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.
Via Daily Dharma: Practice in Small Ways
Rather
than constantly seeking to eliminate all small irritations from our
lives, we can use them as a basis for developing more patience. If you
emphasize comfort over the practice of patience, your mind will get
weaker and weaker.
Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, “The Path of Patience"
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Thursday, August 25, 2022
Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Action: Reflecting upon Mental Action
Reflecting Upon Mental Action
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One week from today: Reflecting upon Social Action
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Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.
Daily Dharma: Close the Gap
Dharma
practice is an ethical path that leads into that gap between aspiration
and habit; pursuing the ethic of care will gradually close it.
Winston Higgins, “Treading the Path with Care”
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Via White Crane Institute // TRUMAN CAPOTE
TRUMAN CAPOTE, American author died (b. 1924) an American writer whose non-fiction, stories, novels and plays are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast At Tiffany’s (1958) and In Cold Blood (1965), which he labeled a "non-fiction novel" and was co-written by an uncredited Harper Lee, Capote’s childhood friend. Lee modeled the character of Dill on Capote, known then as Truman Persons. A recent memoir by Chicago Tribune reporter, Marja Mills, The Mockingbird Next Door, quotes childhood friend of Capote’s, Harper Lee calling him “a psychopath.”
At least 20 films and TV dramas have been produced from Capote novels, stories and screenplays. Capote, all of 5 feet 4 inches tall and openly gay in a time when it was common among artists, but rarely talked about, was well known for his distinctive, high-pitched voice and odd vocal mannerisms, his offbeat manner of dress and his fabrications. One of his first serious lovers was Smith College literature professor Newton Arvin, who won the National Book Award for his Herman Melville biography.
Capote often claimed to know intimately people he had in fact never met, such as Greta Garbo. He professed to have had numerous liaisons with men thought to be heterosexual, including, he claimed, Errol Flynn. He traveled in eclectic circles, hobnobbing with authors, critics, business tycoons, philanthropists, Hollywood and theatrical celebrities, royalty, and members of high society, both in the U.S. and abroad. Part of his public persona was a long-standing rivalry with writer Gore Vidal ("Truman Capote has tried, with some success, to get into a world that I have tried, with some success, to get out of."). He famously commented on Jack Kerouac’s On The Road, "[It] isn't writing at all -- it's typing"
The wisdom of Truman Capote
All literature is gossip.
Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.
Fame is only good for one thing - they will cash your check in a small town.
Finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the back yard and shot it.
I don't care what anybody says about me as long as it isn't true.
Life is a moderately good play with a badly written third act.
Love is a chain of love as nature is a chain of life.
Mick Jagger is about as sexy as a pissing toad.
My major regret in life is that my childhood was unnecessarily lonely.
No one will ever know what 'In Cold Blood' took out of me. It scraped me right down to the marrow of my bones. It nearly killed me. I think, in a way, it did kill me.
Sometimes when I think how good my book can be, I can hardly breathe.
The quietness of his tone italicized the malice of his reply.
Well, I'm about as tall as a shotgun, and just as noisy.
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Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute
"With the increasing commodification of gay news, views, and culture by powerful corporate interests, having a strong independent voice in our community is all the more important. White Crane is one of the last brave standouts in this bland new world... a triumph over the looming mediocrity of the mainstream Gay world." - Mark Thompson
Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture since 1989!
www.whitecraneinstitute.org
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Wednesday, August 24, 2022
Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Speech: Refraining from Harsh Speech
Refraining from Harsh Speech
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One week from today: Refraining from Frivolous Speech
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Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.
Via Daily Dharma: The First Step in Compassion
The first step in compassion is to notice the other’s need. It all begins with the simple act of attention.
Daniel Goleman, “I Feel Your Brain”
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Via White Crane Institute // STEPHEN JOHN FRY
STEPHEN JOHN FRY is an English comedian, actor, writer, presenter, and activist born on this date. With Hugh Laurie, he is half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, who starred in Jeeves and Wooster.
Fry's acting roles include a Golden Globe–nominated lead performance in the film Wilde, portraying Oscar Wilde, Melchett in the BBC series Blackadder, the title character in the television series Kingdom, a recurring guest role as Dr Gordon Wyatt on the crime series Bones, and as Gordon Deitrich in the dystopian thriller V for Vendetta. He has also written and presented several documentary series, including the Emmy Award–winning Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive, which saw him explore his bipolar disorder, and the travel series Stephen Fry in America. He was also the long-time host of the BBC television quiz show OI, with his tenure lasting from 2003 to 2016.
Besides working in television, Fry has contributed columns and articles for newspapers and magazines and written four novels and three volumes of autobiography, Moab is My Washpot, The Fry Chronicles and More Fool Me. He also appears frequently on BBC Radio4, starring in the comedy series Absolute Power, being a frequent guest on panel games such as Just A Minute, and acting as chairman during one series of I'm Sorry I haven't A Clue, where he was one of a trio of possible hosts who were tried out to succeed the late Humphrey Lyttelton, Jack Dee getting the post permanently.
Fry is also known for his voice-overs, reading all seven of the Harry Potter novels for the UK audiobook recordings, narrating the LittleBigPlanet and Birds of Steel series of video games, as well as an animated series of explanations of the laws of cricket, of which he is a particular fan, and a series of animations about Humanism for Humanists UK.
Fry married comedian Elliott Spencer in January 2015. Fry is on cordial terms with Prince Charles, through his work with the Prince's Trust. He attended the Prince's wedding to Camilla Parker-Bowles in 2005. Fry is a friend of comedian and actor (and Blackadder co-star) Rowan Atkinson and was best man at Atkinson's wedding to Sunetra Sastry at the Russian Tea Room in New York City.
Fry struggled to keep his homosexuality secret during his teenage years at public school, and by his own account did not engage in sexual activity for 16 years from 1979 until 1995. When asked when he first acknowledged his sexuality, Fry quipped: "I suppose it all began when I came out of the womb. I looked back up at my mother and thought to myself, 'That's the last time I'm going up one of those'." Fry was in a 15-year relationship with Daniel Cohen, which ended in 2010. Fry was listed #2 in 2016 and #12 in 2017 on the World Pride Power list.
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Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute
"With the increasing commodification of gay news, views, and culture by powerful corporate interests, having a strong independent voice in our community is all the more important. White Crane is one of the last brave standouts in this bland new world... a triumph over the looming mediocrity of the mainstream Gay world." - Mark Thompson
Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture since 1989!
www.whitecraneinstitute.org
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Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - August 24, 2022 💌