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.
However the seed is
planted, in that way the fruit is gathered. Good things come from doing
good deeds, bad things come from doing bad deeds. (SN 11.10) What is the
purpose of a mirror? For the purpose of reflection. So too social
action is to be done with repeated reflection. (MN 61)
One reflects thus: “I shall initiate and sustain verbal acts of kindness
toward my companions, both publicly and privately.” One lives with
companions in concord, with mutual appreciation, without disputing,
blending like milk and water, viewing each other with kindly eyes. One
practices thus: “We are different in body but one in mind.” (MN 31)
Reflection
As social
beings we speak a lot in the course of our daily lives. Here is an
invitation to focus on the quality of our verbal actions in a social
setting. The way to live in harmony with others is lubricated, so to
speak, by verbal acts of kindness. As the text says, “Good things come
from doing good deeds,” and this includes the things we say. The skill
of living "without disputing, blending like milk and water," is sorely
needed these days.
Daily Practice
Speak with
kindly intention to your friends, family members, and colleagues. The
quality of mind behind our words is often more important than the words
themselves, and here we are invited to emphasize the feeling of caring
for others when we speak. When we speak with kindly intention we evoke
kindness from others, as well as bring out and strengthen our own
capacity for kindness. This contributes to social well-being.
Tomorrow: Abstaining from Intoxication One week from today: Reflecting upon Bodily Action
Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel
We
don’t practice to attain enlightenment, just as we don’t eat or breathe
to be alive. Because we’re alive, we breathe. Because we’re alive, we
eat. Because we’re enlightened, we do zazen.
Roshi Bernie Glassman and Rick Fields, “Instructions to the Cook”
On this day in 1855, WALT WHITMAN published the first edition of Leaves of Grass.
The first edition consisted of twelve poems, and was published
anonymously; Whitman set much of the type himself, and paid for its
printing. Over his lifetime, he published eight more editions, adding
poems each time; there were 122 new poems in the third edition alone
(1860-61), and the final "death-bed edition," published in 1891,
contained almost 400. The first edition received several glowing — and
anonymous — reviews in New York newspapers. Most of them were written by
Whitman himself.
The praise was
unstinting: "An American bard at last!" One legitimate mention by
popular columnist Fanny Fern called the collection daring and fresh.
Emerson felt it was "the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom
America has yet contributed." This wasn't a universal opinion, however;
many called it filth, and poet John Greenleaf Whittier threw his copy
into the fire.
ECHO Conference, NYC, 1965
1965 -
ECHO (East Coast Homophile Organizations) protesters picket Independence Hall in Philadelphia on Independence Day.
Today's Gay Wisdom
2018 -
Preface to Leaves of Grass
by Walt Whitman
This is what you
shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give
alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote
your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God,
have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to
nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with
powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of
families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year
of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or
in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul; and your very flesh
shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its
words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the
lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.
|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|
Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute
"With the
increasing commodification of gay news, views, and culture by powerful
corporate interests, having a strong independent voice in our community
is all the more important. White Crane is one of the last brave
standouts in this bland new world... a triumph over the looming
mediocrity of the mainstream Gay world." - Mark Thompson
Frivolous speech is
unhealthy. Refraining from frivolous speech is healthy. (MN 9)
Abandoning frivolous speech, one refrains from frivolous speech. One
speaks at the right time, speaks only what is fact, and speaks about
what is good. One speaks what is worthy of being overheard, words that
are reasonable, moderate, and beneficial. (DN 1) One practices thus:
“Others may speak frivolously, but I shall abstain from frivolous
speech.” (MN 8)
An authentic person is one who even unasked reveals their own faults—how
much more so when asked. When asked, however, and obliged to reply to
questions, one speaks of one’s own faults fully and in detail. (AN 4.73)
Reflection
The last time
we looked at refraining from frivolous speech we focused on holding back
from criticizing others. Now we look at the flip side of that—being
willing to be forthcoming about your own faults. The idea here is not to
put yourself down but to be honest with yourself. It is an example of
speaking only what is fact and what is beneficial, since admitting your
faults allows you to grow beyond them.
Daily Practice
This is a
practice of humility and has to do with cultivating a humble attitude
about yourself. It counteracts those qualities of mind that contribute
to the inflation of the sense of self, such as pride and conceit, and
helps moderate the tendency to aggrandize the self. You need not dwell
on your faults, and it is okay to equally acknowledge your strengths,
but simply stating both honestly is a form of right speech.
Tomorrow: Reflecting upon Social Action One week from today: Refraining from False Speech
Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel
You
don’t need to drill a hole in your head in order to get enlightened.
You can hold several ideas in your mind that are contradictory without
freaking out—Keats’s negative capability.
