Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture since 1989
This Day in Gay History
June 06 Born Nobel Laureate Thomas Mann 1875 - THOMAS MANN, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955); a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and mid-length stories, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and intellectual. His analysis and critique of the European and German soul used modernized German and Biblical stories, as well as the ideas of Goethe, Nietzsche and Schopenhauer.   Mann's diaries, unsealed in 1975, tell of his struggles with his sexuality, which found reflection in his works, most prominently through the obsession of the elderly Aschenbach for the 14-year-old Polish boy Tadzio in the novella Death in Venice (Der Tod in Venedig, 1912).   Anthony Heilbut's biography Thomas Mann: Eros and Literature (1997) was widely acclaimed for uncovering the centrality of Mann's sexuality to his oeuvre. Gilbert Adair's work The Real Tadzio describes how, in the summer of 1911, Mann had been staying at the Grand Hôtel des Bains in Venice with his wife and brother when he became enraptured by the angelic figure of Władysław Moes, an 11-year-old Polish boy. Considered a classic of homoerotic passion (if unconsummated) Death in Venice has been made into a film and an opera. Blamed sarcastically by Mann’s old enemy, Alfred Kerr, to have ‘made pederasty acceptable to the cultivated middle classes’, it has been pivotal to introducing the discourse of same-sex desire to the common culture.   Mann himself described his feelings for young violinist and painter Paul Ehrenberg as the "central experience of my heart." Despite the homoerotic overtones in his writing, Mann chose to marry and have children; two of his children, Klaus, also a writer, who committed suicide in 1949, and Erika, an actress and writer who died in 1969 and who was married to W.H. Auden for 34 years, were also Gay. His works also present other sexual themes, such as incest in The Blood of the Walsungs (Wälsungenblut) and The Holy Sinner (Der Erwählte).   |8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8| 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 |8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Speech: Refraining from Frivolous Speech

 

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RIGHT SPEECH Refraining from Frivolous Speech Frivolous speech is unhealthy. Refraining from frivolous speech is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning frivolous speech, one refrains from frivolous speech. One speaks at the right time, speaks only what is fact, and speaks about what is good. One speaks what is worthy of being overheard, words that are reasonable, moderate, and beneficial. (DN 1) One practices thus: “Others may speak frivolously, but I shall abstain from frivolous speech.”  (MN 8) An authentic person is one who even unasked reveals what is praiseworthy in others—how much more so when asked. When asked, however, and obliged to reply to questions, one speaks of what is praiseworthy in others, fully and in detail. (AN 4.73)

Reflection It is not necessary to point out people’s flaws on a regular basis. Sometimes things need to be called out, and right speech does not mean covering up what is difficult. But it does point to the inherent harmfulness of being unnecessarily critical, which can damage the speaker as well as the target of such speech. You should focus on saying what is beneficial, and much of the time critical speech is rooted in an aggressive mental stance. Daily Practice Get in the habit of saying good things about people. Practice random acts of praise, even when not asked to do so. And when you do have an opportunity, don’t hold back on pointing out what is praiseworthy in others. We know this is important when raising children, so why not extend it to everyone? It turns out this is a healthy thing to do, because it both benefits others and brings out healthy states in you. Tomorrow: Reflecting upon Social Action One week from today: Refraining from False Speech Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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Via Daily Dharma: Standing on Your Own

 

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Standing on Your Own Can you really, truly apply the teachings of emptiness and radiant compassion and stand on your own two feet as a warrior in the world? If you can, no one can ever take that away from you. Then, perhaps, you are truly walking the path.  Laurie Fisher Huck, “Leaving My Sangha”  CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Nirvana Is Where the Path Begins Stephen Batchelor in conversation with Rev. Dr. Kenneth K. Tanaka Stephen Batchelor and Kenneth Tanaka discuss the intersection of secular Buddhism and Jodo Shinshu. Read more » Tricycle’s Meditation Group A Guided Meditation Series This brand-new offering for Tricycle subscribers will provide weekly meditations and small group discussions led by renowned Buddhist teachers.  Sign up »

Via White Crane Institute // RUTH FULTON BENEDICT

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Anthropologist Ruth Benedict

1887 -

RUTH FULTON BENEDICT was an American anthropologist and folklorist born on this date (d: 1948).

She was born in New York City, attended Vassar College and graduated in 1909. After studying anthropology at the New School of Social Research under Elsie Clews Parsons, she entered graduate studies at Columbia University in 1921, where she studied under Franz Boas. She received her PhD and joined the faculty in 1923. Margaret Mead, with whom she shared a romantic relationship, and Marvin Opler, were among her students and colleagues.

Benedict was President of the American Anthropological Association and was also a prominent member of the American Folklore Society. She became the first woman to be recognized as a prominent leader of a learned profession. She can be viewed as a transitional figure in her field, redirecting both anthropology and folklore away from the limited confines of culture-trait diffusion studies and towards theories of performance as integral to the interpretation of culture. She studied the relationships between personality, art, language and culture, insisting that no trait existed in isolation or self-sufficiency, a theory which she championed in her 1934 book Patterns of Culture.

Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict are considered the two most influential and famous anthropologists of their time. One of the reasons why Mead and Benedict got along well was the fact that they both shared a passion for their work and they each felt a sense of pride in the fact that they were successful working women during a time when this was uncommon. They were frequently known to critique each other's work; they entered into a companionship which began through their work, but during its early period, it also had an erotic character. Both Benedict and Mead wanted to dislodge stereotypes about women which were widely believed during their time and show people that working women could also be successful even though working society was seen as a man's world. In her memoir about her parents, With a Daughter's Eye, Margaret Mead's daughter implies that the relationship between Benedict and Mead was sexual. 

Benjamin Breens  recent history of the early days of psychedelic science, Tripping On Utopia, Margaret Mead, The Cold War and the Troubled Birth of Psychedelic Science, more than "implies" their intimacy, and delves deeply into the longterm relationship of the two women.

In 1946, Benedict received the Achievement Award from the American Association of University Women. After Benedict died of a heart attack in 1948, Mead kept the legacy of Benedict's work going by supervising projects that Benedict would have looked after, and editing and publishing notes from studies that Benedict had collected throughout her life.

The American Anthropology Association awards an annual prize named after Benedict. The 'Ruth Benedict Prize' has two categories, one for monographs by one writer and one for edited volumes. The prize recognizes 'excellence in a scholarly book written from an anthropological perspective about a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender topic'.

A U.S. 46¢ Great Americans series postage stamp in her honor was issued on October 20, 1995. Benedict College in Stony Brook University has been named after her.

In 2005 Ruth Fulton Benedict was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

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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 - June 5, 2024 💌

 

The romantic quality of love which is between separate entities is a doorway into deeper love… a lot of people experience a quality they call 'love' but they’re doing it with their mind, they’re not really opening their hearts fully. They are loving, meaning I am attracted to … or I am attached to ... but its not the quality of the liquid merging.

So I would say that when the fear dissipates you are feeling at home in the universe. Meaning your identity with your separateness isn’t so overriding your feeling of connection with everything that you’re feeling cut off and vulnerable - which is where the root of the fear is. So as you cultivate that unitive quality then the fear dissipates, so the relation is one between love and fear, but it’s not the love in the sense of ‘I love you’, its the sense that we are together in the space of love. 

- Ram Dass -

Via FB

 

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Intention: Cultivating Equanimity

 

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RIGHT INTENTION Cultivating Equanimity Whatever you intend, whatever you plan, and whatever you have a tendency toward, that will become the basis upon which your mind is established. (SN 12.40) Develop meditation on equanimity, for when you develop meditation on equanimity, all aversion is abandoned. (MN 62)  The purpose of equanimity is warding off attachment. (Vm 9.97) When a person seeing a form with the eye is not attached to pleasing forms and not repelled by unpleasing forms, they have established mindfulness and dwell with an unlimited mind. For a person whose mindfulness is developed and practiced, the eye does not struggle to reach pleasing forms, and unpleasing forms are not considered repulsive. (SN 35.274)

Reflection Equanimity is the antidote to aversion. Just as we can develop an aversive tendency through practice and habit, we can develop equanimity as a primary character trait and latent tendency. We can practice this at the level of primary sensory contact, such as described here using visual information. Practice just seeing what is there, without attachment or aversion; gaze upon your visual sphere with equanimity. Daily Practice When you are looking at something using your eyes, notice when this is accompanied by a subtle “I don’t like this” or “This is not good.” When you are aware of this happening, try replacing the aversion with an attitude of equanimity: “This is the way this is. I don’t need to judge it or disapprove of it. Let it be.” In this way the eye is not struggling against unpleasing forms and is thus not attached to their being different than they are.  Tomorrow: Refraining from Frivolous Speech One week from today: Cultivating Lovingkindness Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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