Samantabhadra

The Bodhisattva of Universal Worthy

     With Samanta meaning "universally extending" and Bhadra meaning "great virtue" the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra extends his virtue and compassion to all sentient beings.  Samantabhadra is known as the Bodhisattva of "Universal Worthy" as his virtue is that of a sage's.  As a cosmic entity, Samatabhadra is the embodyment of all Bodhisattva practices and merits indispensable in the attainment of Buddhahood. 

The Importance of the Lotus Sutra

     The Lotus Sutra is compossed of 28 chapters. There are two broad themes to the Lotus sutra, the first being found in the first fourteen chapters. The first fourteen chapters are meant to explain the reality of intrinsic commonalities that occur in human beings, while the remaining chapters describe the eternalness of the Buddha. (www.nshi.org/Buddisme/English%20Buddhisme/Lotus-And-Buddha.htm) The Lotus Sutra is the only sutra that promises the salvation of women, therefore it was a central part of the Japanese women's religion. According to other sutras, the only way for a woman to reach enlightenment would be for her to be reborn as a man, which is why this particular sutra was so important. Fugen was believed to be the protector of those who were devoted to the Lotus Sutra, so Fugen became an important figure to all women and their prayers (http://wsu.edu/~dee/ANCJAPAN/WOMEN.HTM). Like many other sutras, the Lotus Sutra can be recited and copied to pay alms by both men and women (http://news.fjnet.com/english/sutra/t20060617_29976.htm). Listen to the video below if you would like to hear the Lotus Sutra chanted.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r364h19dXio)

The Ten Great Vows 

Samantabhadra contributed to the Avatamsaka sutra, which recites the practices of Bodhisattvas and the merits of the Buddhist teaching.  In the sutra, the Bodhisattva Samatabhadra teaches a student how wisdom is only present as long as it benefits everyone.  In his teaching he recites ten great vows that he uses to guide himself to enlightenment.  The Ten Great Vows included:

1. To pay homage and respect to all Buddhas  
2. To praise all the Buddhas  
3. To make extensive offerings to all the Buddhas 
4. To repent misdeeds and evil karmas
5. To rejoice in others' merits and virtues
6. To request the Buddhas to continue teaching (Turning the wheel of Dharma) 
7. To request the Buddhas to remain in the world 
8. To always follow Buddha's teachings 
9. To accommodate and benefit all living beings 
10. To dedicate all merits for the welfare of all living beings   

The first eight vows guide one to enlightenment through oneself; while the last two vows are drawn out to help others reach enlightenment.  The first vow is to show respect to all buddhas for their wisdom and compassion.  The second refers to Samantabhadra’s belief that there are infinite number of Buddhas and how all should be praised for their virtues.  The third is to make offerings like food or flowers to the Buddhas.  However, Samatabhadra stated that the most valuable offering is to practice the teachings of the Buddha so everyone can benefit.  In the fourth vow, Samatabhadra identifies how everyone has sinned from thoughts, words, or actions throughout their past lives. So, it is best to repent these sins by commiting one's self to not make the same mistakes.  With the fifth vow, Samantabhadra proposed to benefit from others merits and share the Buddhist teachings.  The sixth is intended to ensure that the Buddhist teachings will continues to be passed on.  The seventh vow is for the Buddhas to remain in the world so they would be able to guide more individuals.  By always following the Buddha’s teaching in the eighth vow, people are able to attain enlightenment by taking the Buddha’s same path.  The ninth is meant for all living beings to be able to live in harmony.  Finally, the last vow is designed to save all living beings by gaining merits from following the first nine vows.
  

http://taipei.tzuchi.org.tw/tzquart/98winter/qw98-19.htm

 
For his dedication to the Buddhist teachings and through his Ten Great Vows, Samantabhara also became known as the Bodhsattva of Extensive Conduct.  As well as, Samantabhadra’s vows have become a common practice in East Asian Buddhism and have been used regularly for morning rituals.  The Ten Great Vows have even become basic guidelines for bodhisattvas.  

http://www.manjushri.com/Buddha-List/Samantabhadra.html 

 Samantabdhadra Mantra 

adaṇḍe daṇḍapati daṇḍa-āvartani daṇḍa-kuśale daṇḍa-sudhāri 

sudhārapati buddhapaśyane sarvadhāraṇi 

āvartani saṁvartani saṅgha-parīkṣite saṅgha-nirghātani 

dharma-parīkṣite sarva-sattva ruta kauśalya-anugate 

siṁha-vikrīḍite anuvarte vartani vartāli svāhā 

http://www.sutrasmantras.info/mantra09.html

Thanks to Foundations of Buddhism of this Info

Namo Buddhaya!

Magesh Velayudham

The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal god and avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the natural and spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. ~ Albert Einstein 

Namo Buddhaya

How Coming Out Heals Your Life

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma January 19, 2014

Mindful Resolution

The Buddha encouraged us to think of the good things done for us by our parents, by our teachers, friends, whomever; and to do this intentionally, to cultivate it, rather than just letting it happen accidentally.

- Ajahn Sumedho, “The Gift of Gratitude”

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Tricycle Daily Dharma January 18, 2014

Peace is Possible

Peace is possible, here and now. If peace were as much a priority as, say, economic expansion, there would be peace. There’s no lofty Buddhist philosophy that’s necessary to explain it. It’s very simple. Peace is absolutely possible if you stop listening to people who would have you believe otherwise, and if we truly wish it.

- Samdhong Rinpoche, “Democracy in Exile”

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Via JMG: ABC's Bachelor: Gays Are Perverts

Details.  (Graphic source)

Labels: assholery, reality shows, television

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: CUBA: Cops Arrest Gay-Bashing Russian Fugitive Maxim Martsinkevich

 

Fugitive Russian gay-basher Maxim Martsinkevich was arrested in Cuba today. Note that the following report is from the official Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

Russia was informed by Cuban police of the arrest of Maxim Martsinkevich through Interpol, the Russian Interior Ministry said in a statement. More widely known under his nickname of Tesak, or machete, Martsinkevich was arrested in absentia by a Russian court last month on extremism charges. Martsinkevich said during a January 8 interview that the criminal charges against him were orchestrated by Russia’s “pedo-lobby,” and that he did not intend to return to Russia, according to Russian tabloid Life News that has close links to the security services. The details of Martsinkevich's extradition were currently being finalized, Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement Saturday. In a January 9 post on his website, Martsinkevich wrote that he had flown to Cuba from the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, via the German city of Frankfurt. In 2011, Martsinkevich founded the Occupy Pedophile vigilante group, which lured men to abusive meetings with false promises of sex with minors. The encounters were recorded and then posted online. The group was also reported to target gay men, who were subjected to similar abusive treatment.

The above-linked report notes that Martsinkevich, who is also wanted by Ukrainian authorities, has over 130,000 subscribers on the Russian social media site Vkontakte. For more about his history of brutal attacks on gay men, read my earlier reports. (Tipped by multiple JMG readers)

 

Labels: closet cases, crime, Cuba, evil, gay bashing, Maxim Martsenkevich, Russia, Ukraine

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: STUDY: Divorce Rate Of Evangelicals Higher Than General Population

According to a study to be published in the American Journal Of Sociology, "religiously conservative Protestants" divorce at a higher rate than the general population.

Researchers discovered that higher divorce rates among conservative Protestants were tied to earlier marriages and childbearing – factors known to ramp up divorce. Starting families earlier tends to stop young adults from pursuing more education and depresses their wages, putting more strain on marriages, University of Texas at Austin professor Jennifer Glass said. But the study went a step further: Glass and another researcher also discovered that people living in areas with lots of conservative Protestants were at higher risk of getting divorced, even if they weren’t conservative Protestants themselves. County by county, for every 1% increase in the share of conservative Protestants compared with mainline Protestants, the divorce rate increased 0.02%, the study found. Glass argued that community institutions in such areas might encourage early marriage, affecting divorce rates for everyone who lives there.

Save that bolded sentence for the next time you get told that you are destroying traditional marriage. (Tipped by JMG reader Str8 Grandmother)

Labels: divorce, marriage equality, religion

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Russian Vigilantes Targeting Gay Men

Via FB:

What I want to be when I grow up: Daniel Orey at TEDxSacramento

1670 hits... woo hoo!

Via George Takei / FB:

Via JMG: Putin: Gays Won't Be Bothered At Sochi As Long As They Leave Children Alone

Via the Associated Press:

Russian President Vladimir Putin says gays should feel welcome at the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, but they must "leave the children in peace." Putin told volunteers Friday that gays visiting Sochi "can feel calm and at ease," and vowed that there would be no discrimination at the games. But he emphasized that, according to a law banning homosexual "propaganda" among minors, gays cannot express their views on gay rights issues to anyone underage.

So protesting to adults will be allowed?

Labels: LGBT rights, Russia, Sochi Olympics, Vladimir Putin

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: NIGERIA: Dozens More Arrested

Via the Associated Press:

Activists say that dozens more people have been rounded up, arrested and questioned across Nigeria for being perceived to be gay just over a week after the president signed a law criminalizing gay organizations and meetings as well as same-sex marriage. Ifeanyi Kelly Orazulike, Executive Director of the Nigeria-based International Center for Advocacy on Right to Health, said Friday that over two days more than 30 people have been detained. He says 12 people have been arrested in Oyo state in the southwest, six in Imo state in the southeast, eight in central Abuja and six in Anambra state in the southeast.

(Tipped by JMG reader Akim)

Labels: Africa, homosexuality, Nigeria, religion

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: HRC Demands US Action On Nigeria

The Human Rights Campaign has written to Secretary of State John Kerry, demanding a "strong and proactive American response to the humanitarian crisis" in Nigeria. From the list of suggested actions:

Directing the U.S. Embassy in Abuja to perform in-country refugee processing for LGBT Nigerians who are being targeted for arrest under the newly passed law. Recommending that President Obama evaluate removing Nigeria from the list of countries currently eligible for assistance under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The law requires the President to determine on an annual basis which countries are eligible based “on progress in meeting certain criteria, including progress toward the establishment of a market-based economy, rule of law, economic policies to reduce poverty, protection of internationally recognized worker rights, and efforts to combat corruption. ”Suspending bilateral engagements between the United States and Nigeria that are of particular importance to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, such as suspending Nigeria’s participation in the Young African Leaders Initiative. Using any regulatory, administrative, or statutory means in your arsenal to combat implementation of this law.

Read the full letter.

Labels: Africa, Chad Griffin, Goodluck Jonathan, HRC, John Kerry, LGBT rights, Nigeria, Obama administration, State Department

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Petition Of The Day

Details.

Labels: Indiana, marriage equality, Mike Pence

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Jon Stewart Navigates the Difficult Plumbing of Gay Marriage in Red States - January 16, 2014

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma January 17, 2014

Changing Views

For, as the Buddhist view has consistently demonstrated, it is the perspective of the sufferer that determines whether a given experience perpetuates suffering or is a vehicle for awakening. To work something through means to change one's view; if we try instead to change the emotion, we may achieve some short-term success, but we remain bound by forces of attachment and an aversion to the very feelings from which we are struggling to be free.

- Mark Epstein, “Shattering the Ridgepole”

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Via JMG: NIGERIA: Eleven Muslim Men On Trial, Face Stoning To Death For Homosexuality

The BBC reports:

An Islamic court in Nigeria's northern state of Bauchi has put on trial 11 Muslim men accused of being homosexuals in violation of their religion, a religious leader has told the BBC. A 12th person arrested - a Christian - would be tried under secular law, a BBC reporter says. Under Islamic law, a person can be sentenced to death by stoning if convicted of homosexuality. It is also illegal to have gay sex in Nigeria, according to its secular laws. Jibrin Danlami Hassan, the commissioner of Bauchi state's Sharia Commission, said the alleged homosexuals were arrested by residents of Bauchi city. They were handed to the Islamic police force, which interrogated them, he said. "They accept that they are doing that dirty game," Mr Hassan said. Ms Aken'Ova said some of those arrested had been beaten up and tortured, but Mr Hassan denied this. The BBC's Ishaq Khalid in Bauchi says the Sharia Commission confirmed to him that a Christian had been arrested with the 11 Muslims, and would be tried in a "conventional court".

There have not yet been any confirmed "death by stoning" executions in Nigeria, although several such sentences have been handed down.

Labels: Africa, homosexuality, Islam, LGBT rights, Nigeria, religion, Sharia Law

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: The Professor Dies At Age 89

Russell Johnson, the professor on Gilligan's Island, has died at the age of 89.

Johnson, who played Professor Roy Hinkley, died of natural causes at his home in Washington. Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann, just posted on Facebook, "My 2 favorite people are now gone. The professor past (sic) away this morning. My heart is broken." The other person who died is Bob Denver, who played Gilligan. He died in 2005. Johnson was on the show from 1964 to 1967. Johnson was not in the original opening of the show. He and Mary Ann were referred to as "The rest." But Denver insisted that they be included and that happened later.

In his later years Johnson became a full-time fundraiser for AIDS research. His son died of the disease in 1994.

Labels: Hollywood, obituary, television

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Judy Garland-I Don't Care

Via TabooJive.com / FB:

Via HimalayaCrafts / FB:

At the bottom of patience is Heaven. - HimalayaCrafts

 

An Amazing Day! Um pedido de casamento. (legendado)

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma January 16, 2014

Your Interwoven Self

For a few moments just feel the body’s warmth and strength, its ability to hold itself upright. The vitality and aliveness that you experience in your body require various chemical and mineral substances, a continuous supply of oxygen, the energy of the sun, and the cohesion and conductivity of water. The Buddha instructs us to reflect on the body as composed of the elements of earth, air, fire, and water, so that we will see how this life is interwoven with universal processes.

- Wes Nisker, "Evolution’s Body"

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 January 16, 2014

Your Interwoven Self

For a few moments just feel the body’s warmth and strength, its ability to hold itself upright. The vitality and aliveness that you experience in your body require various chemical and mineral substances, a continuous supply of oxygen, the energy of the sun, and the cohesion and conductivity of water. The Buddha instructs us to reflect on the body as composed of the elements of earth, air, fire, and water, so that we will see how this life is interwoven with universal processes.

- Wes Nisker, "Evolution’s Body"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 17, 2014
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John Grant - Glacier

O Budismo te incomoda? Então…

 

… talvez você busque algo que não é budismo…. vamos ver o que a Reva Yvonete Joko tem a nos dizer:

Desfazendo Equívocos

Se você quer milagres, não procure o budismo. O supremo milagre para o budismo é você lavar seu prato depois de comer.

Se você quer curar seu corpo físico, não procure o budismo. O budismo só cura os males de sua mente: ignorância, cólera e desejos desenfreados.

Se você quiser arranjar emprego ou melhorar sua situação financeira, não procure o budismo. Você se decepcionará, pois ele vai lhe falar sobre desapego em relação aos bens materiais. Não confunda, porém, desapego com renúncia.

Se você quer poderes sobrenaturais, não procure o budismo. Para o budismo, o maior poder sobrenatural é o triunfo sobre o egoísmo.

Se você quer triunfar sobre seus inimigos, não procure o budismo. Para o budismo, o único triunfo que conta é o do homem sobre si mesmo.

Se você quer a vida eterna em um paraíso de delícias, não procure o budismo, pois ele matará seu ego aqui e agora.

Se você quer massagear seu ego com poder, fama, elogios e outras vantagens, não procure o budismo. A casa de Buda não é a casa da inflação dos egos.

Se você quer a proteção divina, não procure o budismo. Ele lhe ensinará que você só pode contar consigo mesmo.

Se você quer um caminho para Deus, não procure o budismo. Ele o lançará no vazio.

Se você quer alguém que perdoe suas falhas, deixando-o livre para errar de novo, não procure o budismo, pois ele lhe ensinará a implacável Lei de Causa e Efeito e a necessidade de uma autocrítica consciente e profunda.

Se você quer respostas cômodas e fáceis para suas indagações existenciais, não procure o budismo. Ele aumentará suas dúvidas.

Se você quer uma crença cega, não procure o budismo. Ele o ensinará a pensar com sua própria cabeça.

Se você é dos que acham que a verdade está nas escrituras, não procure o budismo. Ele lhe dirá que o papel é muito útil para limpar o lixo acumulado no intelecto.

Se você quer saber a verdade sobre os discos voadores ou sobre a civilização de Atlântida, não procure o budismo. Ele só revelará a verdade sobre você mesmo.

Se você quer se comunicar com espíritos, não procure o budismo. Ele só pode ensinar você a se comunicar com seu verdadeiro eu.

Se você quer conhecer suas encarnações passadas, não procure o budismo. Ele só pode lhe mostrar sua miséria presente.

Se você quer conhecer o futuro, não procure o budismo. Ele só vai lhe mandar prestar atenção a seus pés, enquanto você anda.

Se você quer ouvir palavras bonitas, não procure o budismo. Ele só tem o silêncio a lhe oferecer.

Se você quer ser sério e austero, não procure o budismo. Ele vai ensiná-lo a brincar e a se divertir.

Se você quer brincar e se divertir, não procure o budismo. Ele o ensinará a ser sério e austero.

Se você quer viver, não procure o budismo, pois ele o ensinará a morrer.

Se você quer morrer, não procure o budismo, pois ele o ensinará a viver.

Nota: Esse texto é de autoria da Rev. Yvonete Gonçalves (Shakuni Joko) qualquer reprodução deve citar o nome da autora.

Via HimalayaCrafts / FB:

“Many of us are slaves to our minds. Our own mind is our worst enemy. We try to focus, and our mind wanders off. We try to keep stress at bay, but anxiety keeps us awake at night. We try to be good to the people we love, but then we forget them and put ourselves first. And when we want to change our life, we dive into spiritual practice and expect quick results, only to lose focus after the honeymoon has worn off. We return to our state of bewilderment. We're left feeling helpless and discouraged. It seems we all agree that training the body through exercise, diet, and relaxation is a good idea, but why don't we think about training our minds?”
― Sakyong Mipham

 

 

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma January 15, 2014

Right Judgment

Many Western Buddhists believe that judging runs counter to insight and unconditional compassion, that passing judgment automatically implies a troubling duality, a delusional moral hierarchy. The Buddha, however, warned not against judging, but against being judgmental. The former implies clear comprehension of appropriate action and the latter implies bias and misconception.

- Mary Talbot, “No Justice, No Peace”

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Tricycle Daily Dharma January 14, 2014

The Unconditional Love of Bodhisattvas

When we raise a thought for someone’s well-being, and entrust that to our foundation, that underlying mind—Juingong—never disappears and is never used up. This is different from helping people through material things. This is the unconditional love that bodhisattvas have for all beings. This mind is the compassion that rises when all beings and myself are one, when the suffering of others is my suffering. This is the power that leads us to the truth.

- Daehaeng Kun Sunim, "Thinking Big"

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Support for Marriage Equality Sees Huge Jump in Utah: Jan 13 MNW

Via Tricycle Daily Dharm:

Tricycle Daily Dharma January 13, 2014

Grace in Suffering

There is grace in suffering. Suffering is part of the training program for wisdom.

- Ram Dass, "America's Guru"

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Tricycle Daily Dharma January 12, 2014

Challenge Your Standards

When judging the results of your own actions, you can’t simply take your own ideas of ‘what works’ as a trustworthy standard. After all, you can easily side with your greed, aversion, or delusion, setting your standards too low. So to check against this tendency, the Buddha recommends that you also take into consideration the views of the wise, for you’ll never grow until you allow your standards to be challenged by theirs.

- Thanissaro Bhikkhu, “Lost in Quotation”

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Tricycle Daily Dharma January 11, 2014

Closeness with Every Being

For compassion to develop toward a wide range of persons, mere knowledge of how beings suffer is not sufficient; there has to be a sense of closeness with regard to every being. That intimacy is established either through merely reflecting that everyone equally wants happiness and doesn’t want suffering, or through reflecting on the implications of rebirth, or both, with the one reinforcing the other.

- Jeffrey Hopkins, “Everyone as a Friend”

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Via JMG: Russian Orthodox Church Calls For Referendum To Criminalize Homosexuality

Days after a similar demand from Russian actor Ivan "Burn Gays Alive" Okhlobystin, the Russian Orthodox Church has called for a public referendum to criminalize homosexual acts.

The Church's abrupt intervention came amid a growing debate over whether the Kremlin should mount a firmer defence of traditional values that many in the overwhelmingly conservative country view as coming under attack from Europe and the United States. Church spokesman Vsevolod Chaplin pointed to polls showing more than half of Russians viewing homosexuality as either an illness or a crime as a sign that the country was ready to revert to a Soviet-era homosexual ban. "There is no question that society should discuss this issue since we live in a democracy," Chaplin told the online edition of the pro-government Izvestia daily. "For this reason, it is precisely the majority of our people and not some outside powers that should decide what should be a criminal offence and what should not," he said.

A member of Vladimir Putin's ruling party told the news agency Interfax that Russia is bound by international treaties that ban outlawing homosexuality.

Labels: hate groups, homosexuality, Ivan Okhlobystin, LGBT rights, religion, Russia, Russian Orthodox Church, Vladimir Putin

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: 27 GOP House Reps Co-Sponsor Randy Weber's Bill To Ban Federal Recognition Of Out-Of-State Same-Sex Marriages

Yesterday House Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX) introduced a laughably doomed bill that would limit the federal government to only recognizing same-sex marriages that are legally conducted in the state where the married couple resides. Since the bill's introduction, 27 GOP members of the House have signed on as co-sponsors. The list so far is a cavalcade of crackpottery: Michele Bachmann, Louis Gohmert, John Fleming, etc. Eleven of the 27 co-sponsors are from Texas.
SWeber, a freshman rep and former air conditioner repairman, has previously only authored one failed House resolution. Therefore I suspect his bill was actually written by the Family Research Council, who jointly announced its introduction yesterday with an appearance by Weber on Tony Perkins' national radio show. Other anti-gay hate groups are today praising the bill, including NOM, which posted the below message today on their blog.

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) today expressed its support for a bill announced in Congress yesterday, the “State Marriage Defense Act of 2014” (HR 3829), and praised Representative Randy Weber (R-TX) for authoring and introducing “this vitally important legislation.” “Representative Weber deserves praise for this vitally important legislation which will lend clarity to the way states’ marriage laws are dealt with by federal agencies,” said Brian Brown, NOM’s President. “The bill simply reaffirms and strengthens the rights reserved by the states under the US constitution.” Brown also said that the bill is based upon a proper understanding of last summer’s decision by the Supreme Court in the Windsor case that struck down one facet of the law but supported states’ rights to determine their own definition of marriage.

Wonkette today posted a typically fabulous reaction.

Given that even Utah briefly recognized gay marriage, we are pretty sure that this legislation isn’t going to go anywhere, let alone have a chance in hell of passing the Senate with Harry Reid being the badass that he is. However, it is a good reminder that there has always and forever been only one form of marriage which is between a man with a PENIS and a woman with governmentally regulated LADYPARTS the GOP continues to hate on the gays in new and inventive ways. We have no idea if this bill deals with age-of-marriage laws, which also differ between states, but we guess that so long as that 12-year-old GIRL is marrying a 40-year-old MAN, Weber and his ilk are probably totes cool with it, because that is WAY MOAR BETTERER than two consenting adult menfolk doin’ it in the butt.

Labels: assholery, Brian Brown, Christianists, crackpots, DOJ, feds, FRC, GOP, hate groups, John Fleming, Louie Gohmert, marriage equality, Michele Bachmann, NOM, Randy Weber, religion, teabaggers, Tony Perkins

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: State Department Issues Security Warning To Americans Traveling To Sochi Olympics

The U.S. State Department today issued an updated travel advisory for Americans planning to attend the Sochi Olympics. An excerpt:

MEDICAL CARE: The Olympics are the first large-scale event to be held in Sochi and medical capacity and infrastructure in the region are untested for handling the volume of visitors expected for the Olympics. Medical care in many Russian localities differs substantially from Western standards due to differing practices and approaches to primary care. Travelers should consider purchasing private medical evacuation and/or repatriation insurance.
TERRORISM: Large-scale public events such as the Olympics present an attractive target for terrorists. Russian authorities have indicated that they are taking appropriate security measures in Sochi in light of this. Acts of terrorism, including bombings and hostage takings, continue to occur in Russia, particularly in the North Caucasus region. Between October 15 and December 30, 2013, there were three suicide bombings targeting public transportation in the city of Volgograd (600 miles from Sochi), two of which occurred within the same 24-hour period. Other bombings over the past 10-15 years occurred at Russian government buildings, airports, hotels, tourist sites, markets, entertainment venues, schools, and residential complexes. There have also been large-scale attacks on public transportation including subways, buses, trains, and scheduled commercial flights, in the same time period.

The warning goes to say that the State Department is presently unaware of any threat specifically aimed at Americans. Today's message includes a special warning to LGBT travelers.

LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER (LGBT) ISSUES: In June 2013, Russia’s State Duma passed a law banning the “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” to minors. The U.S. government understands that this law applies to both Russian citizens and foreigners in Russia. Russian citizens found guilty of violating the law could face a fine of up to 100,000 rubles ($3,100). Foreign citizens face similar fines, up to 14 days in jail, and deportation. The law makes it a crime to promote LGBT equality in public, but lacks concrete legal definitions for key terms. Russian authorities have indicated a broad interpretation of what constitutes “LGBT propaganda,” and provided vague guidance as to which actions will be interpreted by authorities as “LGBT propaganda.” LGBT travelers should review the State Department’s LGBT Travel Information page.

Read today's advisory in full.

 

Labels: Russia, Sochi Olympics, State Department, terrorism

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Coming Out Spiritually: The Next Step by Christian de la Huerta

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma January 10, 2014

Learning to Fall

We all suffer the limitations of our humanness: not just our aches and pains but our fear, our anger, our pettiness, our grief. Fact is, we do practice being human in every waking moment. And the more mindfully we practice, the more often our conflicts dissolve, the more easily we create new possibilities for relationship and community.

- Philip Simmons, “Learning to Fall”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 11, 2014
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