Thursday, November 13, 2014
Flower of the Day: 11/13/14
“Bad
habits open the doorways for evil to enter our lives. Little by little,
our consciousness diminishes and we become more and more dense. The
first symptom can be detected in our dreams when we begin to have
nightmares and lose our presence. I am referring to bad habits in
relationship to food, various behaviors and ways we relate to others,
and even the places we sometimes go to. The more sensitive you are, the
more attentive you should be, because your tendency to absorb the
energies from those around you is greater. With time, you will learn how
to deal with this: you learn to walk on fire without getting burned.
But even at this stage it is necessary to know your limits, or to know
how long you can stay in a place vibrating in cruelty without getting
contaminated. A sensitive person is like a delicate flower – any
mishandling of it can hurt it.”
Sri Prem Baba
Via Daily Dharma: BLOG: DON'T JUST SIT THERE, DO SOMETHING
Ever since Western converts began adopting Buddhist traditions, their community has sought a balance between the quest for personal peace and tranquility and the sense of social engagement. That seemingly irreconcilable conflict made itself felt when several generations of Buddhists came together for the 2014 National Gathering of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship.
Via Daily Dharma
Thoughtful Conviction | November 13, 2014
To question is unbelievably powerful. But if you question all the
time and you remain in doubt, going first this way and then that,
conviction is absent. If you develop a line of inquiry and learn from
your experience, conviction grows.
- Segyu Rinpoche, "Buddhist Training for Modern Life"
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Thich Nhat Hanh: On Homosexuality
Posted on March 29, 2009
Thich Nhat Hanh, the noted Zen monk, poet, teacher who is the inspiration behind Deer Park Monastery and the Plum Village tradition, shares these words about the Buddhadharma’s view of “homosexuality” in the latest book, ANSWERS FROM THE HEART.
Q. What is the Buddhist view of homosexuality?
A.
The spirit of Buddhism is inclusiveness. Looking deeply into the nature
of a cloud, we see the cosmos. A flower is a flower, but if we look
deeply into it, we see the cosmos. Everything has a place.
The base-the
foundation of everything-is the same. When you look at the ocean, you
see different kinds of waves, many sizes and shapes, but all the waves
have water as their foundation and substance. If you are born gay or
lesbian, your ground of being in the same as mine. We are different, but
we share the same ground of being. The Protestant theologian Paul Tillich
said that God is the ground of being. You should be yourself. If God
has created me as a rose, then I should accept myself as a rose. If you
are a lesbian, then be a lesbian. Looking deeply into your nature, you
will see yourself as you truly are. You will be able to touch the ground
of your being and find peace.
If
you’re a victim of discrimination, then your way to emancipation is not
simply by crying out against injustice. Injustice cannot be repaired by
recognition alone, but by your capacity to touch the ground of your
being. Discrimination, intolerance, and suppression stem from lack of
knowledge and lack of understanding. If you’re capable of touching the
ground of your being, you can be released from the suffering that has
been created in you through discrimination and oppression.
Someone
who discriminates against you, because of your race or the color of your
skin or your sexual orientation, is ignorant. He doesn’t know his own
ground of being. He doesn’t realize that we all share the same ground of
being; that is why he can discriminate against you.
Someone
who discriminates against others and causes them to suffer is someone
who is not happy with himself. Once you’ve touched the depth and the
nature of your ground of being, you’ll be equipped with the kind of
understanding that can give rise to compassion and tolerance, and you
will be capable of forgiving even those who discriminate against you.
Don’t believe that relief or justice will come through society alone.
True emancipation lies in your capacity to look deeply.
When you
suffer because of discrimination, there’s always an urge to speak out.
But even if you spend a thousand years speaking out, your suffering
won’t be relieved. Only through deep understanding and liberation from
ignorance can you be liberated from your suffering.
When you
break through to the truth, compassion springs up like a stream of
water. With that compassion, you can embrace even the people who have
persecuted you. When you’re motivated by desire to help those who are
victims of ignorance, only then are you free from your suffering and
feelings of violation. Don’t wait for things to change around you. You
have to practice liberating yourself. Then you will be equipped with the
power of compassion and understanding, the only kind of power that can
help transform an environment full of injustice and discrimination. You
have to become such a person-one who can embody tolerance,
understanding, and compassion. You transform yourself into an instrument
for social change and change in the collective consciousness of
mankind.
Thich Nhat Hanh, Answers from the Heart: Practical Responses To Life’s Burning Questions (Berkeley: Parallax Press, 2009), 119-122.
Via Lions Roar: A Bad Day at the Airport
What better place to work with your mind?
Here is a practice I have been working with for more than a decade. I recite, usually silently, these two sentences:May I meet this moment fully.These blessing phrases cultivate and sustain a mind of peace and goodwill. For me, they represent the promise of practice. “May I meet this moment fully” expresses my faith that an alert and balanced mind is a possibility for human beings. “May I meet it as a friend” reminds me that my mind’s natural benevolence is my best refuge. Although most of my daily practice has always been the simple practice of alert attention to changing experience, I often begin periods of simple sitting with some repetitions of this two-phrase mantra as a kind of mood-setter, an incliner of my mind toward relaxing.
May I meet it as a friend.
In recent years, I find this blessing comes to mind naturally in times of stress as I go about my life. Recently, I decided to track its activity through a particularly stressful day:
I arrive at the airport well in time for my early morning flight to Orange County, where an old friend has taken quite ill. I notice the flight is delayed. I feel myself starting to cry.
May I meet this moment fully.I realize that I am feeling sad because I love my friend, and am sad to be losing her. I think about how long we’ve been friends. The pleasure of that thought settles my mind.
May I meet it as a friend.
Then, I hear the announcement that the flight has now been cancelled. I ask about the next available flight and am waved in the direction of a long line, where I’m told I need to wait for the next available agent. “If I wait in that line, it will be too late for the next flight. I already have a boarding pass,” I say. “You need to be in that line,” I’m told again.
I feel mad. I think, “I’ll write that letter on behalf of all passengers who should be treated more respectfully!”
May I meet this moment fully.I realize that everyone needs to wait and that I feel particularly sensitive because I’m sad. A helpful person standing in line says, “If we phone the airline while we stand here, we can probably get faster service.” I decide to do that. I dial. The phone rings and rings. I am feeling irritable.
May I meet it as a friend.
May I meet this moment fully.I am told, electronically, that my call is very important to the airline and that an agent will be with me soon. That message repeats many times. I hear my mind again composing indignant letters to Customer Service.
May I meet it as a friend.
May I meet this moment fully.My mind calms down and I realize that I am disappointed with myself because my friend is sick and I am indulging myself in indignation. “Really, Sylvia! What are you thinking?”
May I meet it as a friend.
May I meet this moment fully.The line progresses slowly. I repeat my phrases slowly, paying attention to what I am saying. I look around at the other travelers and wonder where they are going. In my mind, I begin blessing them.
May I meet it as a friend.
May I meet this moment fully.It is my turn at the ticket counter just at the point that my phone call is answered and so I hang up. I realize I’ve calmed down. The agent is courteous. I learn that all the flights until mid-afternoon have been cancelled because of the thunderstorms. I rebook for the next day.
May I meet it as a friend.
The airport bus for my trip home arrives just as I emerge from the terminal in time to board it. I’m grateful, and a little bewildered from the morning of hurrying up and waiting and ultimately going back home. But I’m all right. Just a little tired.
May I meet this moment fully.I travel without difficulty the next day to be with my friend.
May I meet it as a friend.
Flower of the Day: 11/12/14
“The
process of unveiling love requires commitment and redirecting the
vectors of our willpower. Our will is the greatest power of the soul.
Without it, we are unable to cross the sea of illusion because the
opposing forces towards unveiling love are so great in this realm. The
power of will is built with discipline, dedication, commitment, and
comprehension. It will only make sense to direct the vectors of the will
in one particular direction when you have gained comprehension of where
you are on your path.”
Sri Prem Baba
Via Daily Dharma
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The Two Extremes | November 12, 2014
These are the two extremes, O bhikshus (Religious Wanderers) which
the man who has given up the world ought not to follow—the habitual
practice, on the one hand, of self-indulgence which is unworthy, vain
and fit only for the worldly-minded—and the habitual practice, on the
other hand, of self-mortification which is painful, useless and
unprofitable.
- The Buddha, "Wake Up, Episode Five" |
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Via Just a Baha'i: What does Baha’i Scripture say about homosexuality?
November 11, 2014
Nothing. For Baha’is, Baha’i Scripture is everything penned by The Bab and Baha’u’llah, and the interpretations by Baha’u’llah’s son ‘Abdul-Baha, and where Shoghi Effendi (‘Abdul-Baha’s grandson) wrote in his capacity as official interpreter of Baha’i Scripture. It is a source of pride for many Baha’is to be able to state that we have authoritative scripture. That is to have access to the actual texts (or accurate translations of texts) as the sources for Baha’i Scripture.“Unity of doctrine is maintained by the existence of the authentic texts of Scripture and the voluminous interpretations of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, together with the absolute prohibition against anyone propounding “authoritative” or “inspired” interpretations or usurping the function of Guardian. Unity of administration is assured by the authority of the Universal House of Justice.” Universal House of Justice, to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Netherlands, March 9, 1965: Wellspring of Guidance, pp. 52-53
The only mention of homosexuality in authoritative Bahai text (not Scripture) is in five letters written by secretaries on behalf of Shoghi Effendi penned between 1949 and 1955.
The authority of these letters is unclear. It seems clear that they were intended as advice for the addressee but the authority of this advice is not clear:
“The exact status which Shoghi Effendi has intended the friends to give to those communications he sends to individual believers is explained in the following statement written through his secretary to the National Assembly on November 16, 1932:
“As regards Shoghi Effendi’s letters to the individual Bahá’ís, he is always very careful not to contradict himself. He has also said that whenever he has something of importance to say, he invariably communicates it to the National Spiritual Assembly or in his general letters. His personal letters to individual friends are only for their personal benefit and even though he does not want to forbid their publication, he does not wish them to be used too much by the Bahá’í News. Only letters with special significance should be published there.”
Published in the US Bahai Newsletter, No. 71, February 1933, pp. 1-2
However it is clear that Shoghi Effendi did not wish the status of these letters penned by secretaries to be confused with the authority of his own writing nor that of Bahai Scripture.
“I wish to call your attention to certain things in “Principles of Bahá’í Administration” which has just reached the Guardian; although the material is good, he feels that the complete lack of quotation marks is very misleading. His own words, the words of his various secretaries, even the Words of Bahá’u’lláh Himself, are all lumped together as one text. This is not only not reverent in the case of Bahá’u’lláh’s Words, but misleading. Although the secretaries of the Guardian convey his thoughts and instructions and these messages are authoritative, their words are in no sense the same as his, their style certainly not the same, and their authority less, for they use their own terms and not his exact words in conveying his messages. He feels that in any future edition this fault should be remedied, any quotations from Bahá’u’lláh or the Master plainly attributed to them, and the words of the Guardian clearly differentiated from those of his secretaries.”
Letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, 25 February 1951 in The Unfolding Destiny of the British Baha’i Community, p. 260)
However if you do a search on the internet you will find Bahais stating that it is a Bahai Teaching that homosexuality is forbidden and many Bahais have told me that Baha’u’llah forbids homosexuality. If Baha’u’llah had written on the topic of homosexuality we would have access to this by now. I think it is a stroke of genius by Shoghi Effendi to have secretaries pen these letters so there can be no confusion with anything he penned himself. Shoghi Effendi also stated that not everything he penned [footnote 1] is to be considered as authoritative on a par with Bahai Scripture, but given that he did not write on the topic of homosexuality there’s no need here to discuss what should be considered part of the canon of Bahai Scripture.
So if homosexuality is not mentioned in Bahai Scripture why do so many Bahais think it is? Prejudice against homosexuality has been around for a long time so that’s one reason. Another is that in 1983 the compilation book “Lights of Guidance” was published. It is a valuable source of quotations however, unfortunately, the author doesn’t make distinctions between what is Bahai Scripture and what isn’t, and she presents the Bahai Teachings as list of rules. If this book is used as a way to locate sources, all good and fine. I use it myself in this manner. But if it is used as a book of rules… well see screenshot below.
Via JMG: Out Magazine Unveils 2014 Out 100 List
Out Magazine has unveiled this year's Out 100 list. The 2014 ranking features Buzzfeed's Chris Geidner (seated above) and New York Times writer
Josh Barro (third from left.) Others on the list are Dan Savage, Larry
Kramer, Andy Bell, Armistead Maupin, Jason Collins, Richard Chamberlain,
Carmen Carrera, and the cast of Looking. See the full list.
Labels: Andy Bell, Armistead Maupin, Chris Geidner, Dan Savage, Jason Collins, Josh Barro, Larry Kramer, LGBT culture, LGBT rights, Looking, Out 100, Out Magazine
Via JMG: Mormon Church Confesses: Yes, Joseph Smith Married As Many As 40 Women
Elder Steven E. Snow, the church historian and a member of its senior leadership, said in an interview, “There is so much out there on the Internet that we felt we owed our members a safe place where they could go to get reliable, faith-promoting information that was true about some of these more difficult aspects of our history. “We need to be truthful, and we need to understand our history,” Elder Snow said. “I believe our history is full of stories of faith and devotion and sacrifice, but these people weren’t perfect.” The essay on “plural marriage” in the early days of the Mormon movement in Ohio and Illinois says polygamy was commanded by God, revealed to Smith and accepted by him and his followers only very reluctantly. Abraham and other Old Testament patriarchs had multiple wives, and Smith preached that his church was the “restoration” of the early, true Christian church. Most of Smith’s wives were between the ages of 20 and 40, the essay says, but he married Helen Mar Kimball, a daughter of two close friends, “several months before her 15th birthday.” A footnote says that according to “careful estimates,” Smith had 30 to 40 wives. The biggest bombshell for some in the essays is that Smith married women who were already married, some to men who were Smith’s friends and followers.The revelation notes that Smith probably didn't have sex with all his wives as some of them were merely "sealed" into being his eternal wife in the next life. And on the next planet.
Flower of the Day: 11/11/14
“The best way to help others is to do our own sadhana
and focusing on our own lives, unless others come to us asking for
help. When someone asks us for help, we must be careful not to get in
the way of her path. In order for the other to navigate their path, they
often need to fight great battles and to defeat many demons. Sometimes
the other is hanging on by a thin thread of faith as their lower self
insists on convincing them that they are in the wrong place. This fuels
doubt, confusion and questioning as well as the skeptic within.
Sometimes the lower self even acts through a ‘friend’ who comes to do
away with whatever faith remained.”
Sri Prem Baba
Via Daily Dharma
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Premature Equanimity | November 11, 2014
Western Buddhists are very suspicious of
attachment. They feel they need to be detached . . . so don’t get upset
about racism, or injustice, or the poison in the rivers, because that
means you’re too attached. I think one of the problems with Westernized
Buddhists is premature equanimity. When the Buddha said ‘don’t be
attached,’ he meant don’t be attached to the ego.
- Joanna Macy, "Don't Just Sit There, Do Something" |
Monday, November 10, 2014
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