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.
Sunday, July 5, 2015
Via Colgay PRIDE of Columbus Georgia / FB:
"People continue to spew Hate upon us. This takes the cake. Truly sad day for LGBT citizens that we must endure this type of disgusting behavior and hatred. To those who say we shouldn't be all up in your face with our "lifestyle" I say to you we have endured your lifestyle for millenia through PDA, Movies, Weddings, Churches, Social media and so on as well as enduring your hatred. So why should we take a "BACKSEAT" for you today?"
Via JMG: A Very Young Gay Human Of New York
"I'm homosexual and I'm afraid about what my future will be and that people won't like me."
Posted by Humans of New York on Friday, July 3, 2015
Sometimes the Internet can be a good place filled with good people. On Friday, Humans of New York photographer Brandon Stanton posted a heartbreaking image of a young boy with the caption, "I'm homosexual, and I'm afraid about what my future will be and that people won't like me." Even 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton left a few inspirational words, writing, "Prediction from a grown-up: Your future is going to be amazing. You will surprise yourself with what you’re capable of and the incredible things you go on to do. Find the people who love and believe in you –- there will be lots of them."Your day will truly be better if you read the comments. And that's a sentence you won't see very often.
Today's Daily Dharma: Wherever the Mind Points, It Goes
Wherever the Mind Points, It Goes
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In
this historical moment when American democratic ideals of freedom,
civility, pluralism, altruism, and individualism make America the most
comfortable home on earth for the individual pursuit of enlightenment,
it is an essential form of Buddhist practice to participate in politics,
to vote, to speak out, to encourage those who agree, to reason with
those who disagree. It is wisdom. It is meditation. It is compassion. It
is ethics.
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Saturday, July 4, 2015
Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 04/07/2015
Quando começa a retirar os amortecedores que te impedem de sentir, e
entra em contato com a dor de ter machucado alguém, fique atento para
não cair na armadilha da culpa. Às vezes ela é tão grande que você
começa a se punir severamente até que não veja outra saída a não ser
amortecer de novo.”
“Cuando comienzas a retirar los anestesiadores que te impiden sentir, y entras en contacto con el dolor de haber lastimado a alguien, estate atento para no caer en la trampa de la culpa. A veces ella es tan grande que empiezas a castigarte severamente hasta que no ves otra salida que no sea anestesiarte de nuevo.”
"When we start to remove the layers of numbness that prevent us from feeling, and we get in touch with the pain of having hurt someone else, we must be careful not to fall into the trap of guilt. Sometimes the guilt is so great that we begin to punish ourselves severely, until there is no other choice but to numb ourselves yet again."
“Cuando comienzas a retirar los anestesiadores que te impiden sentir, y entras en contacto con el dolor de haber lastimado a alguien, estate atento para no caer en la trampa de la culpa. A veces ella es tan grande que empiezas a castigarte severamente hasta que no ves otra salida que no sea anestesiarte de nuevo.”
"When we start to remove the layers of numbness that prevent us from feeling, and we get in touch with the pain of having hurt someone else, we must be careful not to fall into the trap of guilt. Sometimes the guilt is so great that we begin to punish ourselves severely, until there is no other choice but to numb ourselves yet again."
Today's Daily Dharma: American Buddhism Calls for Participation
American Buddhism Calls for Participation
In
this historical moment when American democratic ideals of freedom,
civility, pluralism, altruism, and individualism make America the most
comfortable home on earth for the individual pursuit of enlightenment,
it is an essential form of Buddhist practice to participate in politics,
to vote, to speak out, to encourage those who agree, to reason with
those who disagree. It is wisdom. It is meditation. It is compassion. It
is ethics.
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Via JMG: SCOTUS Fallout: Decade-Old Pride Image Spawns Death Threat For Photographer
Via the Washington Post:
More than a decade ago, photographer Ed Freeman set out to capture the gay rights struggle in a photograph for the cover of Frontiers, a gay magazine. To do so, he relied on an image — the flag-raising at Iwo Jima — that has been imitated and adapted countless times since it was captured in the midst of one of America’s bloodiest battles. [snip] More than a decade after his adaptation of the photograph was published, it circulated on social media following the Supreme Court’s decision Friday to allow same-sex marriage in all 50 states. That prompted a backlash against Freeman — including a death threat he says he reported to the FBI. “He said if he ever saw me, he’d kill me,” Freeman said in a phone interview. “I got swamped with vitriolic hate mail.” Freeman said there is “no way in hell” that he meant his adaptation of the Iwo Jima image to be provocative. “This picture was just a flashpoint for a lot people who are looking for a reason to lash out, so I guess I get to be the whipping boy,” he said. “I’m fine with that if that’s what it takes.Haters are going nuts on Twitter.
Via JMG: POLL: Majority Backs SCOTUS Rulings
Via YouGov:
The opposition to legal same-sex marriage is both partisan and generational. Two-thirds of Republicans oppose same-sex marriage, as does a majority of those 65 and older. Two in three Democrats and adults under 30 are in favor. Some of the opposition is clearly religious: 57% of those who say religion is very important to them oppose the ruling (a third approve). Among Catholics, there is a close division with nearly half approving. There is more support in the Northeast and West than there is in the Midwest and South.46% of all Americans say they'd attend a same-sex wedding.
But same-sex marriage has already become part of the American landscape. 44% say they know a gay or lesbian married couple. More than half of those with higher incomes and half of women do, but only 29% of African-Americans say they know a gay or lesbian couple that is married. Those who know a same-sex married couple approve of the Court’s ruling by two to one. While many people know a same-sex married couple, only 7% have attended a same-sex wedding. Three times as many Democrats (11%) as Republicans (3%) and eight times as many liberals (16%) as conservatives (2%) have done so.
Friday, July 3, 2015
Via Tricycle: May I Become an Island
To the Buddhas residing in all directions
With my palms pressed together I make this request
Please continue to shine the lamp of Dharma
For living beings lost and suffering in the darkness of ignorance.
May I become an island for those seeking dry land
A lamp for those needing light,
A place of rest for those who desire one,
And a servant for those needing service.
From Guide to the Bodhisattiva's Way of Life by Shantideva, © 2002 by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso and New Kadampa Tradition. Reprinted with permission of Tharpa Publication, www.tharpa.com.With my palms pressed together I make this request
Please continue to shine the lamp of Dharma
For living beings lost and suffering in the darkness of ignorance.
May I become an island for those seeking dry land
A lamp for those needing light,
A place of rest for those who desire one,
And a servant for those needing service.
Image: Buddha statue in the town of Akurala, on the southwest coast of Sri Lanka, after the tsunami. Photo by contributing editor Jeff Greenwald who is in Sri Lanka working with the Mercy Corps relief agency.
Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the day 02/07/2015
“Nosso destino é construído através de cada pensamento, cada palavra e
cada atitude - tanto o destino pessoal quanto o destino coletivo. Nossas
ações determinam nosso futuro. A cada instante temos a chance de
escolher entre ações que nos afastam ou ações que nos aproximam da nossa
própria liberdade.”
“Nuestro destino se construye a través de cada pensamiento, cada palabra y cada actitud - tanto el destino personal como el destino colectivo. Nuestras acciones determinan nuestro futuro. A cada instante tenemos la oportunidad de elegir entre acciones que nos alejan o acciones que nos acercan a nuestra propia libertad.”
“Nuestro destino se construye a través de cada pensamiento, cada palabra y cada actitud - tanto el destino personal como el destino colectivo. Nuestras acciones determinan nuestro futuro. A cada instante tenemos la oportunidad de elegir entre acciones que nos alejan o acciones que nos acercan a nuestra propia libertad.”
“Our destiny is created through every thought, word and action. This
can be said for both our personal and collective destiny. Our actions
determine our future. Every moment, we have the opportunity to choose
between actions that will either take us further away from or bring us
closer towards our own freedom.”
Today's Daily Dharma: The Acknowledgment of Suffering Is a Gift
The Acknowledgment of Suffering Is a Gift
As the early Buddhist teachings freely admit, the predicament is that the cycle of birth, aging, and death is
meaningless. They don't try to deny this fact and so don't ask us to be
dishonest with ourselves or to close our eyes to reality. As one
teacher has put it, the Buddhist recognition of the reality of
suffering, so important that suffering is honored as the first noble
truth, is a gift, in that it confirms our most sensitive and direct
experience of things, an experience that many other traditions try to
deny.
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Thursday, July 2, 2015
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