A ‘Pastoral Earthquake’: Catholic Church Proposes Extraordinary Shift On Gays And Lesbians

CREDIT: AP

A panel of high-ranking Catholic officials has proposed a dramatic change in the way the church treats gays and lesbians. The group of Cardinals, known as a synod, suggested the church is capable of “valuing their sexual orientation, without compromising Catholic doctrine.”

The Cardinals stopped well short of endorsing gay marriage, stating “unions between people of the same sex cannot be considered on the same footing as matrimony between man and woman.” But they also acknowledged, in a section called “Welcoming homosexual persons,” there “are cases in which mutual aid to the point of sacrifice constitutes a precious support in the life of the partners.” The Cardinals also suggest that same-sex couples should never be discriminated against in ways that could impact their children. 

The document was called a “pastoral eathquake” by John Thavis, a prominent journalist who covers the Vatican. It was produced by Pope Francis’s ongoing extraordinary synod on the family. That group previously polled Catholics about their opinions on issues including same-sex marriage, divorce, and contraception. The document produced by the synod, however, does not represent a formal change in church policy. 

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Flower of the Day: 10/14/14

"Sanatana dharma is the path to enlightenment, the way of the eternal religion, which leaves us some inheritances. These act like footprints of love that serve as a map, a guide to the path of the heart. All the names and forms of the Divine I allude to refer to the higher self that inhabits each one of us. They’re like frequencies of light. Just as white light is composed of all the colors of the rainbow, the higher self consists of many aspects that act as virtues or qualities of the Being. Such virtues are emanations of the same Being. They are scents of the fragrance of love."

 

Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

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Discovering Truth | October 14, 2014

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Trees bend and birds are tossed high. Lives are thrown onto new courses by the spiritual tide. In our ordinary struggles with life and our interminable retreat into the compulsiveness of ordinary being, if we can look honestly, we may experience our religious sense as fully as in many high-flown writings. Looking deeply at our foolishness, we discover truth. 

- Caroline Brazier, "Discovering Truth"

Via Daily Dharma

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Not What You Think | October 13, 2014

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The early teachings deconstruct many habitual ways of being and seeing. We think we’re permanent, but we’re not. We think that by craving things we’ll find happiness, but we won’t. One after another the Buddha challenges our established views, our ways of constructing our version of the world, and takes them apart: you think it’s one way but it’s not; you want an answer, but the problem is your very wanting of an answer. 

 

- Henry Shukman, “The Unfamiliar Familiar”

 

Flower of the Day: 10/13/14

"I have called your attention to this cycle of time we are living in. I have almost no words to express the characteristics of this period; suffice it to say that it’s a very strange or different period. We are entering the peak of Parivartan, the great planetary transformation, so fasten your seatbelts, for we are entering turbulence. Tightening one’s seatbelt means becoming steadfast in one’s sadhana, one’s spiritual practice, because everything will shake. At the same time, we are having wonderful opportunities to serve and to grow in all aspects."

Sri Prem Baba

Via JMG: UPDATED: Wikipedia Marriage Map

Labels: Alaska, marriage, United States


Via JMG/ Comments: 

Top 10 schadenfreude marriage equality states (so far):

1. Utah (LDS)
2. Virginia (Matt Barber, Liberty U., so many others)
3. Oklahoma (Sally Kern)
4. California (Frank Schubert, Randy Thomasson, many others, prop 8 voters)
5. Alaska (Palins)
6. Illinois (Peter LaBarbarian)
7. Massachusetts (MassResistance)
8. North Carolina (a whollllle lotta folks)
9. Hawaii (5000 speakers at the House hearings)
10. Colorado (James Dobson)

More to come, including Mississippi & Texas!

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: BREAKING: Alaska! Alaska! Alaska!

 

State number 30!

Labels: Alaska, LGBT rights, marriage equality

Reposted from  Joe Jervis

Why biblical interpretation has no authority on the matter of sexual orientation.

Flower of the Day: 10/12/14

"As you cultivate silence, even if it may be in one-minute intervals, you begin to lord over your mind, until you are able to abandon it and use it only when necessary. You can use the mind to make calculations or plan your day, but should be able to let it rest when it is not needed. This is the key to freedom."

 

Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

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What to Do When Anger Gets Hot | October 12, 2014

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Americans think it is beneficial to ‘get in touch with’ their anger. That’s just the first step—recognizing your anger. The second step is analyzing and meditating on your anger. 

 

- Ngawang Gelek Demo Rinpoche, “What to Do When the Anger Gets Hot”

 

Via Daily Dharma

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The Science of Enlightenment | October 11, 2014

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It is tempting for teachers to leverage the prestige and power of science to promote a particular religious view. Scientists used to quote scripture. Now religious leaders quote scientific theories! 

 

- Brad Marston, “The Science of Enlightenment”

 

Flower of the Day: 10/11/14

"We want to sustain the idea of ​​'me' and 'mine,' and to maintain what we call the ego. We want to keep our story, however miserable it may be, because it is our story, and gives us some sense of identity. But getting closer to a spiritual master means giving up this story of ours, or at least beginning a new story, which is now based on the present, not the past. Therefore, becoming a disciple actually means being reborn."

 

Sri Prem Baba

Flower of the Day: 10/10/14

"Transformation refers to a structural change that is possible only when we are able to identify the fragmented parts of our personality. This occurs when we predispose ourselves to studying these parts of our personality, understanding that they are there to protect us from pain. When we realize how attached we are to the negative pleasure they activate, a pleasure that keeps us repeating negative actions, then we create the conditions for the transformation to take place."

 

Sri Prem Baba

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The Moon Reflected on the Water | October 10, 2014

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Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken. Although its light is wide and great, the moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide. The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in dewdrops on the grass, or even in one drop of water. 

 

- Eihei Dogen, "Genjokoan"

 

Flower of the Day: 10/09/14

"Another way to understand karma is as the traces that we leave behind. It is our open accounts: the words unspoken or feelings unexpressed. Presence is the master key, because only through presence can we act without leaving a trace. If there are still traces left, then it isn’t possible to merge with the ocean and free ourselves. We have to erase all of our traces by settling our open accounts with all others. This is why I have been focusing on the work of reconciliation."

 

Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

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The Power of Custom | October 9, 2014

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That the Buddhist religion has survived so long in the world is a result not so much of the durability of manuscripts as of the power of ideas embodied in custom; and custom, for all our abundant sources of information, is what we lack and cannot in the long run do without. 

 

- Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano, "Selective Wisdom"

 

Via JMG: xkcd On Same-Sex Marriage

 

Details.(Tipped by JMG reader Bruce)

Labels: marriage equality, polls, xkcd

Reposted from  Joe Jervis

God Only Knows - BBC Music

Flower of the Day: 10/08/14

"Divine justice makes use of human injustice to bring about the ultimate justice. The human mind, although it is a great power, has its limitations. One of the aspects of the mind is memory, but human memory is flawed. We send out an invitation and forget we sent it, so that when the guests arrive we don’t think we invited them. This limitation prevents us from noticing the relationship between cause and effect. But there is no effect without a cause."

 

Sri Prem Baba