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.
There
can be no love without attention. In cultivating attention, we’re
cultivating a possibility for intention and a possibility for
connection. Connection is all about love.
Los cinco obstáculos: La mala voluntad By Vanessa Zuisei Goddard
Vanessa
Zuisei Goddard explica que el remedio principal para la mala voluntad
es permitir que el agua se calme, que nuestra visión sea expansiva, y lo
hacemos dirigiendo sabiamente nuestra atención hacia la bondad amorosa (metta) y cultivándola cuidadosamente.
NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIOis founded in the United States.
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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
The traditional date for the publication of the GUTENBERG BIBLE, the first Western book printed from movable type thus transforming what had been an apocryphal transcription and imprecise oral tradition into rigid stone.
While the Gutenberg Bible helped introduce printing to the West, the process was already well established in other parts of the world. Chinese artisans were pressing ink onto paper as early as the second century A.D., and by the 800s, they had produced full-length books using wooden block printing. Movable type also first surfaced in the Far East. Sometime around the mid-11th century, a Chinese alchemist named Pi Sheng developed a system of individual character types made from a mixture of baked clay and glue. Metal movable type was later used in Korea to create the “Jikji,” a collection of Zen Buddhist teachings. The Jikji was first published in 1377, some 75 years before Johannes Gutenberg began churning out his Bibles in Mainz, Germany.
By studying the size of Gutenberg’s paper supply, historians have estimated that he produced around 180 copies of his Bible during the early 1450s. That may seem miniscule, but at the time there were probably only around 30,000 books in all of Europe. The splash that Gutenberg’s Bibles made is evident in a letter the future Pope Pius II wrote to Cardinal Carvajal in Rome. In it, he raves that the Bibles are “exceedingly clean and correct in their script, and without error, such as Your Excellency could read effortlessly without glasses.”
Most Gutenberg Bibles contained 1,286 pages bound in two volumes, yet almost no two are exactly alike. Of the 180 copies, some 135 were printed on paper, while the rest were made using vellum, a parchment made from calfskin. Due to the volumes’ considerable heft, it has been estimated that some 170 calfskins were needed to produce just one Gutenberg Bible from vellum.
Out of some 180 original printed copies of the Gutenberg Bible, 49 still exist in library, university and museum collections. Less than half are complete, and some only consist of a single volume or even a few scattered pages. Germany stakes the claim to the most Gutenberg Bibles with 14, while the United States has 10, three of which are owned by the Morgan Library and Museum in Manhattan. The last sale of a complete Gutenberg Bible took place in 1978, when a copy went for a cool $2.2 million. A lone volume later sold for $5.4 million in 1987, and experts now estimate a complete copy could fetch upwards of $35 million at auction.
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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
We’re
not only Buddhas fully free from attachment and suffering—we’re also
humans fully free to get attached, to experience personal love, and to
suffer. What great freedom is this!
Santiago Santai Jiménez, “Free from Suffering and Free to Suffer”
RIGHT LIVING Undertaking the Commitment to Abstain from Harming Living Beings
Harming living beings is
unhealthy. Refraining from harming living beings is healthy. (MN 9)
Abandoning the harming of living beings, one abstains from harming
living beings; with rod and weapon laid aside, gentle and kindly, one
abides with compassion for all living beings. (MN 41) One practices
thus: "Others may harm living beings, but I will abstain from the
harming of living beings." (MN 8)
A layperson is not to engage in the livelihood of trading in living beings. (AN 5.177)
Reflection
In the ancient
world there was a lot of abuse and exploitation of people through
servitude and slavery. The Buddha recognized this as a toxic enterprise
and steered his followers away from participating in such practices.
Yes, wealthy Buddhists had servants, but many texts emphasize the
importance of treating them well, including paying them fairly and
giving them time off and medical support.
Daily Practice
Take stock of
how much harm to others is generated from your chosen field of
livelihood. See what measures might be taken to treat people more
fairly, reduce inequality, and actively promote the common good. In
particular, if you find yourself engaged in an industry that is
systemically and systematically abusive, take steps to change
professions. Causing harm to others or yourself is not healthy.
Tomorrow: Restraining Unarisen Unhealthy States One week from today: Abstaining from Taking What is Not Given
Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel
Alchemy
is all about transformation, and there is nothing in our practice more
transformative than generosity - toward both ourselves and others.
In this talk, Kevin Martin shares
that what we do on the cushion is the most generous thing we can give
to ourselves. Our practice can help us disrupt personal karma by making
us more curious about the deeply held beliefs and patterns that imprison
us.
Sharing
the dharma is also a great act of generosity toward others. Putting our
knowledge into action is even more powerful. It takes courage to apply
the dharma in order to disrupt the conditions in the world that give
rise to suffering.
Kevin
goes on to explore cultivating a generous heart. This can include the
courage to express our genuine self, which extends to others the freedom
to be themselves. ______________
