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.
Monday, June 5, 2017
Via Daily Dharma: Do You Live Well with Others?
Even
if you have awakened to your enlightened nature, there is still further
to go in your spiritual journey if you’re not living harmoniously with
others.
—Haemin Sunim, “The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down”
—Haemin Sunim, “The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down”
Sunday, June 4, 2017
Via Daily Dharma: On Questioning and Faith
When
one is analyzing and studying, it is good to ask questions and to have
doubts . . . . Analysis produces a faith that is certain.
—Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso, “The Path of Faith and the Path of Reasoning”
—Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso, “The Path of Faith and the Path of Reasoning”
Via Ram Dass
The only thing that ever dies is the model you have in your mind of who you think you are. That’s what dies.
- Ram Dass -
Saturday, June 3, 2017
Via Lion's Roar: What is the Buddhist view on sexuality?
The Buddhist flag (right) debuted in Sri Lanka in 1855 and was adopted internationally in 1952. The rainbow pride flag, designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978, has become a symbol of LGBTIQ hope and progress worldwide.
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In a historic 1997 meeting with LGBTQ community leaders, the Dalai Lama acknowledged that it’s time to revisit traditional Buddhist texts that prohibit gay sex. Buddhist scholar José Ignacio Cabezón explores the Dalai Lama’s words and the traditional Buddhist views on sexuality. ...
The texts are not the endpoint of reflection, but rather the beginning of it, and the great masters of old are not irrelevant "dead brown men," but living conversation partners whose thought, as reflected in their writings, can help us reconstruct our lives so that they lead to the flourishing of self, of others, and of the communities in which we live. [...]
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Via Daily Dharma: An Unedited Life
We
think we know our own life, but what we know is only an edited version,
colored by our emotions and narrow vision. How close can we come to the
original draft?
—Gregg Krech, “Naikan Therapy”
—Gregg Krech, “Naikan Therapy”
Friday, June 2, 2017
Via Daily Dharma: A Noble Person's Mindset
A
noble person does not do good because of willpower. She does it through
a combination of, on the one hand, modesty about self, and, on the
other hand, faith in a higher purpose, a higher meaning, in powers more
potent than self-will.
—David Brazier, “Other-Power”
—David Brazier, “Other-Power”
Thursday, June 1, 2017
Via Daily Dharma: Facing the Dark Sides
It is only when one identifies totally with mumyo, the heart of darkness, that the walls of the proud ego-self are shattered and the true light of wisdom can shine through in one’s actions.
—Reverend Patti Nakai, “Confronting the Heart of Darkness”
—Reverend Patti Nakai, “Confronting the Heart of Darkness”
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Via Ram Dass
Ultimately
you live simultaneously in all of the planes of consciousness all the
time, so that in a way, it’s like a vertical cut up – you look at
somebody, they’re there; they’re not there.
There’s an interesting series of stages in Karma Yoga, the yoga of living daily life as an exercise in becoming pungent, where you develop a witness – a place in yourself that watches your whole melodrama, your dance. It doesn’t judge you, it doesn’t try to change you, it’s not trying to become enlightened, it’s just watching the whole thing.
There’s an interesting series of stages in Karma Yoga, the yoga of living daily life as an exercise in becoming pungent, where you develop a witness – a place in yourself that watches your whole melodrama, your dance. It doesn’t judge you, it doesn’t try to change you, it’s not trying to become enlightened, it’s just watching the whole thing.
- Ram Dass -
Via Daily Dharma: Freedom from Who We Think We Are
What
gets in the way of this movement toward our authentic self, more than
anything, is our insistence on identifying with the small
self—preserving our narrow world of being special, of needing to look
and feel a particular way.
—Ezra Bayda, “No One Special To Be”
—Ezra Bayda, “No One Special To Be”
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Via Impact: A Zen Master's Advice On Coping With Trump
“Trump’s grand and vulgar self-absorption is inviting all of us to
examine our own selfishness. His ignorance calls us to attend to our own
blind spots. The fears that he stokes and the isolation he promotes
goad us to be braver, more generous.”
- Thich Nhat Hanh
Via Daily Dharma: Don't Bully Yourself
It never works to bully the body, or the heart, into poses it’s not ready to enter.
—Anne Cushman, “The Yoga of Creativity”
—Anne Cushman, “The Yoga of Creativity”
Monday, May 29, 2017
Via Daily Dharma: Making Our Own Contribution to World Peace
I
came to the realization that fighting against the system, at least in
my mind, wasn’t working. Somehow I had to recognize that I was a part of
the system and the system was a part of me. In the end, I got great
satisfaction out of knowing that my little peace might be making a
contribution to world peace.
—Ed Winchester, from Tracy Cochran's “The Pentagon Meditation Club”
—Ed Winchester, from Tracy Cochran's “The Pentagon Meditation Club”
Sunday, May 28, 2017
Via Ram Dass
When we first understand there’s a journey, a path, we tend to get somewhat hysterical. We want to sell it to everybody, change everybody, and whichever path we buy first, we try to convert everybody to it. The zeal is based on our lack of faith, 'cause we’re not sure of what we’re doing, so we figure if we convince everybody else...
But we’re all kind of moving into a new space, we’re sort of finished with the first wild hysteria, and we’re settling down into humdrum process of living out our incarnation as consciously as we know how to do. If in the course it turns out this is your last round to get enlightened, fine. If not, that’s the way it is. Nothing you can do about it.
You can’t bulldoze anybody to beat the system – you are the system. The desire to beat the system is part of it.
But we’re all kind of moving into a new space, we’re sort of finished with the first wild hysteria, and we’re settling down into humdrum process of living out our incarnation as consciously as we know how to do. If in the course it turns out this is your last round to get enlightened, fine. If not, that’s the way it is. Nothing you can do about it.
You can’t bulldoze anybody to beat the system – you are the system. The desire to beat the system is part of it.
- Ram Dass -
Via Daily Dharma: When Things Don't Bring Us Happiness Inbox x
We
keep assuming that because things aren’t bringing us happiness, they’re
the wrong things, rather than recognizing that the pursuit itself is
futile—that regardless of what we achieve in the pursuit of stuff, it’s
never going to bring about an enduring state of happiness.
—Daniel Gilbert, “The Pleasure Paradox”
—Daniel Gilbert, “The Pleasure Paradox”
Saturday, May 27, 2017
Via Daily Dharma: Taking Care of What Is Not Broken
The
most comfortable and wisest people are those who watch their health
when they are healthy; guard their country when it is untroubled; and
cultivate their fields well when weeds are nonexistent or scarce.
—Venerable Chwasan, “The Grace in This World”
—Venerable Chwasan, “The Grace in This World”
Friday, May 26, 2017
Via Daily Dharma: Challenging Your Ego
When
you challenge ego-mind, be firm but gentle, penetrating but never
aggressive. Just say to your ego-mind, “Show me your face!” When no mind
shows up saying, “Here I am,” ego-mind will begin to lose its hold on
you and your struggles will lighten up.
—Dzigar Kongtrul, “Searching for Self”
—Dzigar Kongtrul, “Searching for Self”
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