Sunday, September 22, 2024

Via White Crane Institute // EQUINOX

 


2022 -

This is the AUTUMNAL EQUINOX in the Northern Hemisphere and the Vernal Equinox in the Southern Hemisphere. An equinox in astronomy is the moment in time (not the whole day, that is called "the equilux") when the center of the Sun can be observed to be directly above the Earth’s equator, occurring around March 20 and September 23 each year. Today this moment is 9:03 p.m. on the East Coast.

The September equinox marks the first day of Mehr or Libra in the Iranian calendar. It is one of the Iranian festivals called Jashne Mihragan, or the festival of sharing or love in Zoroastrianism. The September equinox was "New Year’s Day" in the French Republican Calendar, which was in use from 1793 to 1805. The French First Republic was proclaimed and the French monarchy was abolished on September 21, 1792, making the following day the equinox day that year, the first day of the "Republican Era" in France. The start of every year was to be determined by astronomical calculation, (that is: following the real Sun and not the mean Sun as all other calendars).

A folk tale claims that only on the March (Vernal) equinox day (some may add the September equinox day or may explicitly not), one can balance an egg on its point. However one can balance an egg on its point any day of the year if one has the patience.

For more on egg balancing: http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/errata/a/equinox_eggs.htm

Although the word "equinox" implies equal length of day and night, as is noted elsewhere, this is not true. For most locations on earth, there are two distinct identifiable days per year when the length of day and night are closest to being equal. Those days are commonly referred to as the "equiluxes" to distinguish them from the equinoxes. Equinoxes are points in time, but equiluxes are days. By convention, equiluxes are the days where sunrise and sunset are closest to being exactly 12 hours apart. This way, you can refer to a single date as being the equilux, when, in reality, it spans sunset on one day to sunset the next, or sunrise on one to sunrise the next

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/EarthSeasons.php


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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 White Crane Institute // In 1992 White Crane #15 looked at The Wild Man, Robert Bly and Gays

 

Today's Gay Wisdom
2017 -

In 1992 White Crane #15 looked at The Wild Man, Robert Bly and Gays, and included a spirited debate among Harry Hay, Mark Thompson, and Arthur Evans on the origins of the Faeries. J. Michael Clark issued a call to ecological reflection:

Toward A Gay Ecological Perspective: the Gay Experience and Ecology

One important theme in Gay liberation is the realization that we cannot wait for others to sanction our efforts in theology or spirituality. We must instead find our own prophetic voice and assume our own authority to speak in theology and spirituality. Ultimately, neither Gay men and Lesbians, nor Native Americans, nor the poor, nor any other oppressed people can afford to wait for an external conferral of authority to speak. Moreover, the shared nature of oppression means that as we create our own liberation, so also are we obliged to seek the liberation of other people, and of the Earth itself, from objectification, disvaluation and exploitation.

Gay spirituality and theology, borne out of our experience of oppression, can contribute something unique to ecological reflection. While we would not expect the so called deep ecologists and other straight male writers to include our particular perspective, it is surprising that the majority of feminist writers also do not include Gay/Lesbian oppression as part of their analysis of human and ecological oppression and exploitation. Even when women, African Americans, Native Americans and Third World [sic] peoples and their environments are acknowledged and examined, Gay men and Lesbians are consistently absent and invisible. The extension of rights to Blacks, to women, and in a limited extent to some endangered species and the environment, conveniently passes over certain groups which, therefore, remain disenfranchised — most Native Americans, the poor, the homeless, and Gay men and Lesbians. These groups of people are all too much of the biosphere as well as invisible, even to so-called liberals, and treated as disvalued and disposable.

According to deep ecology, human self-centeredness has led to environmental problems. According to feminism, masculine privilege and social structures have devalued and exploited both women and nature. A Gay perspective would insist that not only are women, nature and the Earth devalued, but our society, with its fear of diversity, disvalues anyone (Gays, Lesbians, Native Americans, the poor and homeless, etc.) and anything (the environment, the Earth) designated as “other.” What we see is not just a devaluing which leads to domination and exploitation, but a disvaluing which strips away all value leading to exclusion, to being disposable, to being acceptable for extinction. This insight is one unique contribution to ecology which Gay people can offer, Gay thinking must move beyond the issues of domination and exploitation to those of disvaluation, exclusion and expendability to radically celebrate diversity and the intrinsic value of all that is, the human, the biospheric, the geospheric. Gay people must work against the disvaluation and exclusion of self and world as disposable, worthless commodities in a society that disdains diversity and eliminates the unnecessary — that which has no utilitarian value.

As Gay men and Lesbians look out on our disposable society of planned obsolescence and throw-away consumerism, we cannot help but be aware of the growing trash heap, the over-burdened landfills, the industrially polluted water and the wastelands of deforestation. We are able to see out society throwing away our Earth, our home, because we are also aware of how often human beings themselves have been treated as disposable and expendable. Historically, African-Americans, Native Americans, the poor and the homeless, the physically and mentally challenged and virtually all Third World [sic] peoples have been treated as either expendable after use (in slavery or minimum wage work) or as totally useless.

In the history of our own community, never has our expendability been so evident as in the rising incidence of anti-Gay violence and in the AIDS health crisis. Our government continues to spend money in the pursuit of protocols and vaccines, while ouor politico-medical system drags its feet in regard to approving treatment protocols or to finding a cure. Gay men, IV-drug users, people of color, and Third World [sic] communities where AIDS rages heterosexually are still devalued and/or disvalued. Our expendability becomes an example of our society’s attitudes toward all the Eart. Hence, our Gay ecological perspective must adamantly oppose any disvaluation and exclusion that leads to dispensing with diversity and disposing of life. Neither Gay men and Lesbians, nor the biosphere, nor the geosphere, nor any of the great diversity which god/dess creates and delights in is expendable.

An ecological perspective will also address our own lives as Gay men and Lesbians. We must be held accountable whenever we accede to or cooperate with the forces of oppression, exploitation and expendability. We must challenge any Gay/Lesbian assimilation which mitigates our diversity. Gor Gay men in particular, we must also examine our socialization as men. We must discern how we as men have been conditioned to accept exploitation, disvaluation and expendability — worthlessness — in our lives. If the typical masculine socialization process of our society works against a compassionate, caring, empathy for nature, spiritual Gay men who escaped that socialization may be able to demonstrate, for all men, a male-embodied love and care for nature.

As we (re)confront the abuses that imperil the environment, we can begin to create a Gay ecology that discloses that our Gay and Lesbian existence is not only a mode of being-in-the-world, but also a way of being-with-the-world, as co-partners in the process of healing and liberation throughout the Earth. Granted, in some respects Gay men and Lesbians, as a larger community, may lag behind other groups in wrestling with ecological issues and environmental causes because our energies are so consumed with dealing with AIDS, homophobia and other forms of oppression. Even with our considerable in-house agenda, which absolutely must not be forsaken, groups such as the various faerie circles and Gays United Against Nuclear Arms have pursued ecological concerns, while individuals have worked within local neighborhood groups on similar issues. Developing a broader, ecological perspective can help us see the connection among all forms of oppression, exploitation and disvaluataion and can facilitate liaisons to confront all of these. Not through co-option, but through cooperation, working together to achieve liberation for all peoples and the Earth itself, will we find out own liberation achieved as well.

Michael Clark is the author of Beyond the Ghetto: Gay Theology in Ecological Perspective, Pilgrim Press 1993


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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 GBF // "Waking Up to the Nature of Reality" with David Lewis

Our latest dharma talk is now available.

Here's a 60-second audio preview

(part of our "Dharma Wisdom Nuggets" series)

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What did the Buddha mean when he spoke of ignorance?

In this talk, David Lewis discusses the essence of mindfulness and the core principles of Buddhism, emphasizing direct experience over intellectual understanding. He explains that ignorance in Buddhism is not about a lack of information but rather the failure to see things clearly in the present moment. “Ignoring” the present reality and being caught up in thoughts can lead to suffering.

He discusses:

  • Perception and Misperception: David highlights that our perception is conditioned by our experiences, often leading to erroneous interpretations of reality. He uses the metaphor of blind men perceiving an elephant differently to illustrate how we can have differing understandings of the same phenomenon.
  • Insight and Ignorance: According to David, insight in Buddhism is not intellectual but a deeper, intuitive understanding that emerges from conscious awareness. It helps dissolve ignorance, which is the beginning of suffering.
  • The Three Characteristics of Existence:
    1. Impermanence (Anicca): Everything is in a state of change, and recognizing this helps us let go of attachments and fear of death or loss.
    2. Suffering (Dukkha): Often misunderstood as mere suffering, Dukkha refers to the inherent unsatisfactoriness and unreliability of life.
    3. Not-Self (Anatta): David discusses the concept of no-self, which challenges the idea of a permanent, unchanging self, promoting a deeper understanding of interconnectedness and letting go of ego-based clinging.

David emphasizes that these insights are tools for waking up to the nature of reality, leading to freedom from suffering. Meditation serves as a practice to cultivate awareness and wisdom, helping us to live in harmony with the true nature of things.

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You can watch or listen to the full talk on our website or YouTube:

Waking Up to the Nature of Reality – David Lewis | Gay Buddhist Fellowship

Waking Up to the Nature of Reality - David Lewis 2024-09-08 (youtube.com)

or listen on your favorite podcast player.

Vis Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - September 22, 2024 💌

 

"Spiritual practices help us move from identifying with the ego to identifying with the soul. Old age does that for you too. It spiritualizes people naturally. " - Ram Dass

Vis The Tricycle Community // The Future of Life on Earth

 

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September 21, 2024

Climate Activism and the Spirit of Community
 
Will there be a future for all of us on Earth?

This question is at the center of the climate movement Extinction Rebellion, featured in the powerful documentary Rebel for Life. Inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village community, the group’s mission is radical systemic change through non-violent civil disobedience. In this intimate portrayal of their dedication, the activists display what it means to be committed to the future of all life.

“I know, I can't unknow, that you are in peril, dear Earth, that we are heading for an iceberg and that we don't have long to turn the huge ship round and that most of your passengers are too busy soothing themselves to notice.” This letter from activist Satya emanates the grief and pain that these activists face in the wake of climate catastrophe, while at the same time demonstrates her intense love and empathy for the planet.

Rebel for Life directed by Wouter Verhoeven is September’s Film Club pick, available for subscribers now through the end of the month. Don’t wait to watch this story about climate activism, the spirit of community, and the future of life on Earth.
 

Also this week:
  • Our popular online course, The Five Spiritual Powers, is back for another live run beginning October 7! Gain confidence on your path, cultivate samādhi and wisdom, and deepen your meditation practice in this six-part course. Enroll today
     
  • In our most recent episode of Tricycle Talks, meditation teacher Andrew Holecek explores techniques that go beyond mindfulness to deeper transformation. Listen today
     
  • Watch our latest Dharma Talk featuring Gregory Kramer to learn how to harness the power of relationships to amplify mindfulness and deepen concentration. 

Vis Daily Dharma: Live a Life of Continuous Practice

 


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Live a Life of Continuous Practice

Dogen encourages me to live a life of continuous practice—that is, to heed how I act in the world and to do so with complete honesty and compassion. Being honest with myself is as important as being honest with others.

Camille Shigetsu Goodison, “Letting in All the Ancestors”


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Reporting with compassion: From trauma-informed to dharma-informed journalism. 
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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and Abiding in the Third Jhāna

 


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RIGHT MINDFULNESS
Establishing Mindfulness of Mind
A person goes to the forest or to the root of a tree or to an empty place and sits down. Having crossed the legs, one sets the body erect. One establishes the presence of mindfulness. (MN 10) One is aware: “Ardent, fully aware, mindful, I am content.” (SN 47.10)
 
When the mind is not liberated, one is aware: “The mind is not liberated”. . . One is just aware, just mindful: “There is mind.” And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)
Reflection
Consciousness itself is open and empty of defining characteristics. Its function is to reflect like a mirror whatever object presents itself—to simply be aware of it. The mind is bound by the emotions, attitudes, and viewpoints it becomes entangled in, and these bonds change from moment to moment. In meditation one can sometimes distinguish between “just knowing” itself, and the mind’s many other more elaborate co-activities. 

Daily Practice
The mind is not liberated most of the time, meaning it is bound by various habits, influences, assumptions, projections, and other residue accumulated through past activity. Mindfulness of mind is the practice of just observing the mind, however it naturally manifests in experience. Practice simply noticing what is there, without commentary and without elaboration. Sometimes its bound, and sometimes its free.


RIGHT CONCENTRATION
Approaching and Abiding in the Third Phase of Absorption (3rd Jhāna)
With the fading away of joy, one abides in equanimity; mindful and fully aware, still feeling pleasure with the body, one enters upon and abides in the third phase of absorption, on account of which noble ones announce: “One has a pleasant abiding who has equanimity and is mindful.” (MN 4)     

Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Way to the Cessation of Suffering
One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects and the Fourth Jhāna

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