Thursday, December 6, 2012
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma December 6, 2012
Transforming Anger
Perhaps
the most important reason for getting to know our anger is that anger
is actually a precious energy that becomes anger only when it is caught
up in complex egoic patterns. Those patterns include my stories about
anger’s cause and object as well as many deluded beliefs, not the least
of which is the delusion of separation. This energy needs to be freed
and transformed rather than distorted or destroyed.
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- Nancy Baker, "Precious Energy"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through December 8th, 2012
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Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Via JMG: REPORT: Openly Gay Banker Under Consideration For Obama Cabinet
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Washington Blade that Hochberg is under consideration for various positions within the administration, although commerce secretary is the role for which he’s seen as most fit. “What I’ve been told is Fred very well regarded, he’s done a great job at the bank, and he’s one of the folks that they are looking at carefully for Commerce,” the official said. But the official said Hochberg hasn’t been involved as of Monday in direct talks with the White House about the position, nor could the official offer any timeline for when the administration would make an announcement.RELATED: Shortly after last month's election, the Human Rights Campaign began advocating for the president to consider adding an LGBT person to his cabinet.
Via Buddhism on Belief:
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Via JMG: URUGUAY: Lower House To Vote On Same-Sex Marriage Bill Next Week
Five months ago, the government approved the recognition of same sex marriage legalized in other countries. The law was supported by the Constitution Committee and the Codes of the House including two opposition legislators. Frente Amplio legislator Julio Bango, a supporter of the law, said the law would pass the Senate in 2013 after the summer recess. He noted the dispute about name order for children of same sex marriages but said that issue would be resolved in the next week. The law reads, “the institution of marriage will mean the union of two parties, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation thereof at the same terms with the same effects established in the Civil Code”. The law will extend to include homosexuals, lesbians and transsexuals.In 2007 Uruguay became the first South American nation to legalize civil unions.
Via NEB - International Network of Engaged Buddhists
Deer Park Monastery
A holiday letter from Thay Phap Dung, Abbot of Deer Park Monastery:
Dear Beloved Thầy,
Dear Sanghas throughout the World,
Dear Dharma Brothers and Sisters,
Our loving Mother Earth is still there for us, right beneath our two feet. She is a miracle, a jewel in the cosmos, refreshing and healing. She has shown unlimited patience throughout human history and an uncanny ability to transform just about anything with equanimity and acceptance. She is now calling us for help. She is suffering from our human activities based on our craving, discrimination, fear, and despair.
The Gift of Practice - This holiday season, we have a chance to express our love and care for Mother Earth by the way we care for our self, our family and our environment. We can practice mindfulness to care for our inner environment, our feelings and our emotions so that we do not lose ourself in worries about the future or regrets about the past, or lose ourself with our feelings and thinking in the present moment. We practice in such a way that we are peaceful, free and happy right in the here and now. We can practice to be more relaxed in our body and mind as we drive our car to work, or cook for our family, or play with our friends, or even rest when we return home. We can look deeply into our relationships with our loved ones, with our environment, our neighborhood, and our workplace and find skillful ways to care, to renew and to improve them. Care is a priceless gift.
Having Enough – Concretely this Holiday Season, we invite you to make an effort to find ways that you can give a gift that does not require you to spend a lot of money or even any at all. The greatest gift is, of course, our practice, our true presence, our understanding and love. The giving of this gift will require more effort, more creativity, and deeper looking into your beloved. You can make something. You can surprise him or her with a message that has been waiting for so long.
“Dear Father, I know you are there and I am happy.”
“My son, I am here for you completely.”
“My dear, I am sorry; let us begin a new chapter.”
“Dear Mother Earth,I take refuge in you and bow down deeply.”
A reminder, a memory, a simple attention with skillfulness in expression can touch and transform. Understanding and compassion cannot be bought.
This is an invitation to all practitioners throughout the world to join us this Season for a silent resistance – to the mass pressure to consume, to the forces that cause us to run away from ourself in forgetfulness. Let us change the way we spend our Holiday Season this winter. Let us show our care for the planet in concrete ways. Let us say to Mother Earth that She can have trust in us. And please share this with the larger community by writing about your priceless gift: your gift of practice; your gift of transformation, with by messaging us here at the Deer Park Facebook page, or by commenting below.
With trust and confidence,
Brother Pháp Dung for the Plum Village Community
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma December 5, 2012
Generosity of the Heart
Genuine
happiness in relationships comes forth naturally when it’s no longer
blocked by all the conditions that we normally add—our agendas, our
needs, our expectations. When we’re more able to refrain from indulging
our self-centered motivations, we no longer look at our relationship in
terms of what we will get. Instead, as we move toward the generosity of
the heart, we naturally want to give.
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- Ezra Bayda, "Giving Through Relationships"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through December 7th, 2012
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Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via JMG: France's First Lady: I Can't Wait To Take Part In My First Same-Sex Wedding
Valerie Trierweiler, the girlfriend of French President Francois Hollande, has given plans to legalise gay marriage with her personal seal of approval by announcing she will be a witness at one of the first ceremonies. While her partner's commitment to proposed legislation allowing same-sex marriages has been questioned in recent weeks, Trierweiler revealed she had accepted an invitation to participate in the wedding of gay friends. "I'm delighted that I'm going to be a witness at one of the very first marriages for all," Trierweiler said. A law providing for same sex couples to wed and adopt children is expected to be on the statute book by the middle of next year. Its passage through parliament is likely to be stormy however given strong opposition from sections of the opposition right, Catholic bishops and other religious leaders.France's national legislature begins debate on the draft version of the bill in three months.
Labels: France, marriage equality, Socialist Party
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma December 4, 2012
Valuing the Here and Now
Goal-seeking
activity is always the enemy of real peace and contentment. The idea
that what is here and now is less valuable than what’s over there just
past the finish line prevents us from ever being truly content and happy
right where we are. No matter what your ultimate goal is, it’s always
off in the distance. This goes for any goal at all, even the goal of
attaining ultimate inner peace or saving all beings.
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- Brad Warner, "Goalless Practice"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through December 6th, 2012
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Monday, December 3, 2012
JMG HomoQuotable - Frank Mugisha
NOTE: There is a chance that the Ugandan Parliament will recess before hearing the Anti-Homosexuality Act due to a ferocious unrelated battle over a bill regarding oil drilling rights.
Via JMG: NORWAY: Princess Secretly Traveled To India To Care For Gay Staffer's Newborns
Armed with a diplomatic passport that granted her immediate access, the future queen jumped on a plane in late October when the employee, who is also a friend, and his husband were unable to travel to care for their newborns. "For me, this is about two babies lying alone in a New Delhi hospital," Mette-Marit said in a statement. "I was able to travel and wanted to do what I could." She did not alert Indian authorities and spent several days with the babies at the Manav Medicare Centre, where staff assumed the wife of Norway's Crown Prince Haakon was a nanny. While the princess was away, her name continued to appear in the official palace calendar and her absence from a parliamentary dinner was not explained. A relative of the two fathers eventually took over from Mette-Marit and the fathers received a visa in November, when they brought the babies back to Norway, the palace added.Norway legalized same-sex marriage in 2009, but the above-linked story notes that paying for surrogacy is a highly controversial topic there. (Tipped by JMG reader Carol)
Labels: gay families, good work, India, Norway
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma December 3, 2012
Gifting What is Precious
When
we give, we need to do so with the awareness that our gift will be both
appropriate and helpful. It is not an act of generosity, for example,
to give money to a wealthy person or alcohol to a child. We also give
what we can afford; we don’t jeopardize our own health or well-being. At
the same time, we can give what is precious to us, what is difficult to
give, because of our attachment to it.
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- Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, “Generosity (and Greed) Introduction"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through December 5th, 2012
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Sunday, December 2, 2012
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma December 2, 2012
Integrating Realization into our Lives
Spiritual
realization is relatively easy compared with the much greater
difficulty of actualizing it, integrating it fully into the fabric of
one’s daily life. Realization is the movement from personality to
being, the direct recognition of one’s ultimate nature, leading toward
liberation from the conditioned self, while actualization refers to how we integrate that realization in all the situations of our life.
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- John Welwood, "The Psychology of Awakening"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through December 4th, 2012
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Via JMG: West Point Hosts First Gay Wedding
Penelope Gnesin and Brenda Sue Fulton, a West Point graduate, exchanged vows in the regal church in a ceremony conducted by a senior Army chaplain. The ceremony comes a little more than a year after President Obama ended the military policy banning openly gay people from serving. The two have been together for 17 years. They had a civil commitment ceremony that didn't carry any legal force in 1999 but had longed hoped to formally tie the knot. The brides both live in New Jersey and would have preferred to have the wedding there, but the state doesn't allow gay marriage. "We just couldn't wait any longer," Fulton said. Guests at the wedding posted photos on Twitter while it was underway and afterward. Fulton said Cadet Chapel on the campus at West Point was a fitting venue.Fulton (left) is the communications director for the military LGBT advocacy group OutServe and I've met her at several grassroots events. She's also the head of Knights Out, an organization for West Point's LGBT alumni. Congratulations to the happy couple!
RELATED: All the right people are already pissed off.
Labels: army, DADT, gay weddings, LGBT History, marriage equality, military, New York state, West Point
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Via JMG: HomoQuotable - Frank Bruni
"Where’s your apology for signing the Defense of Marriage Act? And why,
amid all the battles you’ve joined, and with all the energy
you’ve been able to muster, haven’t you made a more vigorous case for
same-sex marriage, especially in light of your history on this issue?
You fret about your legacy, as any president would. For turning a blind
eye to the butchery in Rwanda, you struggled through a mea culpa of
sorts, and after Barack Obama seemed to lavish higher praise on Ronald
Reagan than on you, you seethed.
"Well, DOMA, which says that the federal government recognizes only
marriages of a man and a woman, is one of the uglier blemishes on your
record, an act of indisputable discrimination that codified unequal
treatment of gay men and lesbians and, in doing so, validated the views
of Americans who see us as lesser people. If our most committed,
heartfelt relationships don’t measure up, then neither do we. If how we
love is suspect, then so is who we are. No two ways to interpret that.
No other conclusion to be drawn." - Frank Bruni, writing for the New York Times.
Via JMG: Matt Barber: People With AIDS Are Sinners Who Deserve Their Gruesome Deaths
Just when you think God's Gentle People™ could not possibly behave more repulsively, Christian leader Matt Barber proves you wrong. Deliberately timed for World AIDS Day, obviously.
Reposted from Joe
Labels: AIDS, Christian Love, disgusting, God's Gentle People, hate groups, horrible, Liberty Counsel, Matt Barber, pigs, religion, Sharia Law, theocracy, World AIDS Day
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma December 1, 2012
The Key to Happiness
Grace
is the key to happiness. When bad things happen, if we have confidence
in grace, then we can remain grounded in that and not be overwhelmed by
the soap opera of life. And grace is a circular blessing. The more grace
enters your life, the more grateful you are. The more grateful you are,
the more easily grace seems to enter.
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- Dharmavidya David Brazier, "Let Grace In"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through December 3rd, 2012
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Friday, November 30, 2012
Via Gay Politics Report:
How religion helped win marriage equality
Marriage equality advocates engaged people of faith and religious leaders in successful campaigns to win ballot initiatives this year, a turnaround from four years ago when social conservatives dominated religious discussions over California's Proposition 8. A Washington state coalition distributed thousands of buttons bearing the message, "Another Person of Faith Approves R. 74," sparking conversations in which proponents were trained to speak about the issue in terms of love and commitment rather than "gay rights." Ross Murray, director of religion, faith and values at the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, helped train thousands of "conversationalists" to speak about the issue and their own faith, and to listen intently to those who described their difficulties supporting marriage equality. “All of us like to be listened to," Murray said. CNN/Belief blog
Marriage equality advocates engaged people of faith and religious leaders in successful campaigns to win ballot initiatives this year, a turnaround from four years ago when social conservatives dominated religious discussions over California's Proposition 8. A Washington state coalition distributed thousands of buttons bearing the message, "Another Person of Faith Approves R. 74," sparking conversations in which proponents were trained to speak about the issue in terms of love and commitment rather than "gay rights." Ross Murray, director of religion, faith and values at the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, helped train thousands of "conversationalists" to speak about the issue and their own faith, and to listen intently to those who described their difficulties supporting marriage equality. “All of us like to be listened to," Murray said. CNN/Belief blog
JMG Editorial Of The Day:
From Tom Goldstein at SCOTUSblog:
Reposted from Joe
At their Conference today, the Justices will consider petitions raising federal constitutional issues related to same-sex marriage. These are the most significant cases these nine Justices have ever considered, and probably that they will ever decide.Read the full essay.
I have never before seen cases that I believed would be discussed two hundred years from now. Bush v. Gore and Obamacare were relative pipsqueaks. The government’s assertion of the power to prohibit a loving couple to marry, or to refuse to recognize such a marriage, is profound. So is the opposite claim that five Justices can read the federal Constitution to strip the people of the power to enact the laws governing such a foundational social institution.
The cases present a profound test of the Justices’ judgment. The plaintiffs’ claims are rooted in the fact that these laws rest on an irrational and invidious hatred, enshrined in law. On the other hand, that describes some moral judgments. The Constitution does not forbid every inequality, and the people must correct some injustices (even some grave ones) themselves, legislatively.
The striking feature of these cases – not present in any others I have ever seen – is that that they would have been decided by the Justices’ predecessors one way and would be decided by the Justices’ successors another way.
Labels: LGBT History, LGBT rights, SCOTUS
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma November 30, 2012
Great Compassion
The
virtues of great compassion are infinite; they could be expounded upon
forever without exhausting them, but it boils down to this: Whoever has
great compassion can extinguish all obstructions caused by past actions
and can fulfill all virtues; no principle cannot be understood, no path
cannot be practiced, no knowledge not attained, no virtue not developed.
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- Zen Master Torei, "Great Compassion"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through December 2nd, 2012
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Thursday, November 29, 2012
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma November 29, 2012
Freedom of Heart
Sometimes
suffering comes through clinging to certain emotional pain or certain
stories; sometimes through not recognizing emptiness, the evanescence of
life, that nothing can be claimed as I or mine. The point of dharma
practice is to pay attention to where there is suffering, see the
clinging and identification, and release it to find a freedom of heart.
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- Jack Kornfield, "The Sure Heart’s Release"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through December 1st, 2012
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Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma November 28, 2012
A Radical Challenge
The
Buddha presented a radical challenge to the way we see the world, both
the world that was seen two millennia ago and the world that is seen
today. What he taught is not different, it is not an alternative, it is
the opposite. That the path that we think will lead us to happiness
leads instead to sorrow. That what we believe is true is instead false.
That what we imagine to be real is unreal. A certain value lies in
remembering that challenge from time to time.
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- Donald S. Lopez, "The Scientific Buddha"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through November 30th, 2012
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Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma November 27, 2012
An Honest, Enlightened Society
Enlightened
society is not an idealized environment. It's an environment that
actually accepts the imperfections of humanity and encourages you to
open your heart and mind and work with other people and situations as
they are. Enlightened society is one in which, as you make friends with
yourself, your communication with other people gets clearer, more
direct, more honest.
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- Pema Chödrön, "No Place to Hide"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through November 29th, 2012
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Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
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Monday, November 26, 2012
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma November 26, 2012
The Necessity of Love
There
is no denying that consideration of others is worthwhile. There is no
denying that our happiness is inextricably bound up with the happiness
of others. There is no denying that if society suffers, we ourselves
suffer. Nor is there any denying that the more our hearts and minds are
afflicted with ill-will, the more miserable we become. Thus we can
reject everything else: religion, ideology, all received wisdom. But we
cannot escape the necessity of love and compassion.
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- H.H. the Dalai Lama, "Consider Yourself a Tourist"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through November 28th, 2012
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