We
should avoid thinking, “Daily life is more important,” or, “Spiritual
life is more important.” We live in both realms simultaneously, and if
we don’t notice this, we will be off balance.
—Les Kaye and Teresa Bouza, “Brief Teachings”
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Monday, January 4, 2021
Via Daily Dharma: Reside in Balance
Upajjhatthana Sutta // Thich Nhat Hanh
These Remembrances are found in a sermon of the Buddha called the Upajjhatthana Sutta, which is in the Pali Sutta-pitaka (Anguttara Nikaya 5:57). The Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh also has spoken of them often. A version of the Remembrances is part of the Plum Village chanting liturgy.
The Five Remembrances
- I am subject to aging. There is no way to avoid aging.
- I am subject to ill health. There is no way to avoid illness.
- I am going to die. There is no way to avoid death.
- Everyone and everything that I love will change, and I will be separated from them.
- My only true possessions are my actions, and I cannot escape their consequences.
https://www.learnreligions.com/the-five-remembrances-449551
Sunday, January 3, 2021
Via Daily Dharma: Challenge Yourself to Stay Open
Something
changes when I genuinely let go and ask for help. The challenge is
maintaining this openness, rather than grasping at solid forms or quick
solutions to feel safe.
—Rob Preece, “The Solace of Surrender”
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Via White Crane Institute // Today's Gay Wisdom
2018 -
After researching and writing this collection now for more than a decade, it is a pleasant surprise to discover some new bit of Gay history. Listening to All Things Considered on a drive home to upstate New York from Connecticut on New Year’s Day, we listened to author and biographer Mosette Broderick discussing her book, Triumvirate: McKim, Mead & White: Art, Architecture, Scandal, and Class in America's Gilded Age (Knopf ISBN-10: 0394536622), a multiple biography of the three architects who shaped the American architectural scene well into the 20th century (the firm still exists, though under a different name, now).
I nearly drove off the road when she dropped this little tidbit into the conversation. “It’s quite clear from their letters that something happened between them while they traveled in Italy.” The “them” she refers to is no less than architect Stanford White and his longtime collaborator – and now it would seem lover – August Saint-Gaudens. Yes, Stanford White was eventually (and now one might suggest “ironically”) shot by the irate cuckolded husband of actress Evelyn Nesbitt, Philadelphia plutocrat Harry K. Thaw. And yes, August Saint-Gaudens was a married man.
As the French say chacun à son goût!
And as we say: Whatever.
In the book Broderick goes into great detail about the relationship, but some particular things jump off the page to the careful reader. Though Saint-Gaudens was, indeed, married, it seems that this was a classic marriage of convenience, particularly for Saint-Gaudens for whom the marriage meant financial security found in the wealth of his wife and her family. When she attempted to make “an arrangement” for White with her own sister, White wrote to friends protesting,
“’I am sure that she – or any other girl – is not for me.” Broderick goes on, “White’s remarks about women and marriage seem to indicate a lack of interest in any serious relationship. Indeed, beyond a generic reference to “pooty” girls, there is little other indication of ending his bachelor status.”
Oh those bachelors! “Pooty” girls. Indeed.
But perhaps the most telling…and dare we say romantic...story Broderick relates is of the two men’s sojourn together in Italy.
“While in Italy alone with Gus [August Saint-Gaudens] who had been in Italy twice before and could act as a guide, something happened between the two of them that cannot be fully ascertained. White’s letters, which were carefully edited by his son in the Depression years, contain references to an incident that almost cost the men their friendship. With an ocean between them in the following months each writes the other admitting blame and urging the other not to be too serious about what happened. Gus seems to do the bulk of the apologizing for his behavior. The language used by the two—who address each other as “beloved” and even “doubly beloved” and sign their missives as “ever lovingly thine”—indicates a possible pass made at White by Saint-Gaudens. Although probably the act was rejected, an ambiguity toward homosexual moments appears in their letters from this point forward; both words and drawings seem to indicate a shared experience, and their old motto Kiss My Ass, used as an ending for letters, becomes more serious when signed with graphic cartoon drawings.”
Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - January 3, 2021 💌
It’s only when caterpillarness is done that you become a butterfly. That is part of this paradox. You cannot rip away caterpillarness. The whole trip occurs in an unfolding process over which you have no control.
- Ram Dass -
Saturday, January 2, 2021
Via Lion's Roar // May you live with Peas
How to Practice Metta with Children
You’re never too young to practice loving-kindness. Gail Silver on how to teach metta to your kids.
Illustrations by Tomi Um.
When I returned home after attending my first silent retreat, I was overflowing with loving-kindness and found myself spontaneously reciting certain phrases of the Metta Prayer aloud:
May you be happy.
May you be safe.
May you be strong.
May you live with ease.
“Did you just tell me to live with ‘peas’?” my littlest one asked me. “No, honey,” I laughed. “I said, ‘ease.’ May you live with ease.”
Via Lion's Roar // A New Year's Blessing
| ||
How to Establish a Daily Practice of Almost Anything, in 6 Steps |
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| Whatever new leaf you’re thinking about turning over for 2021, Anne Cushman has some smart advice to help you succeed. | ||
Going to a retreat or program is a wonderful way to deepen our
meditation practice. But how do we stay connected with these waking-up
practices when we go home to the myriad projects, emails,
responsibilities, and distractions waiting for us?
This is a question that applies not just to meditation, yoga, and other spiritual practices, but to any creative art we want to commit to, such as painting, writing, or playing an instrument. |
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Via Daily Dharma: Go to the Edge
Go to the edge of your practice, where you step into what you do not know.
—Ken McLeod, “Beyond Question”
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Friday, January 1, 2021
Via Daily Dharma: Use Your Precious Human Life
May
myriad beacons of goodness overpower the dark shadows of the past year,
and may their resplendence inspire us to acknowledge and make good use
of this precious human life.
—Pamela Gayle White, “A New Year’s Wish for Light”
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