Via JMG: Antonin Scalia: Don't Paint Me As Anti-Gay

 

"The issue of gay rights, on abortion, on many of the issues in which Ruth’s opinions and mine differ does not pertain to the substance. It doesn’t pertain to whether gay people ought to have those rights or whether there ought to be a constitutional right or a right to an abortion. That isn’t the issue. The issue is who decides. That’s all. I don’t have any public views on any of those things. The point is who decides? Should these decisions be made by the Supreme Court without any text in the Constitution or any history in the Constitution to support imposing on the whole country or is it a matter left to the people? But don’t paint me as anti-gay or anti-abortion or anything else. All I’m doing on the Supreme Court is opining about who should decide."  

 

- Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, speaking last night at the George Washington University event where Ruth Bader Ginsburg made her "not 100% sober" comment.

Labels: Antonin Scalia, marriage equality, SCOTUS

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: March Issue Of Texas Monthly

Labels: gay families, marriage equality, Texas

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: OREGON: Democratic Gov. John Kizhaber Resigns In Scandal Over His Fiance, Successor Kate Brown Is Openly Bisexual

 

Via Bloomberg:

Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber’s almost four-decade political career fell apart Friday, as he heeded calls from fellow Democrats to resign after a scandal involving his fiancee’s use of his office to generate business for her energy-consulting firm. Kitzhaber, a 67-year-old re-elected to a fourth term in November, announced his departure in a news release. Secretary of State Kate Brown, also a Democrat, will assume the office until 2016.

Oregon's now governor-to-be Kate Brown is married to a man and is openly bisexual, which will make her the first openly LGBT governor in American history. Unless you count former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevy, which you shouldn't.

Labels: Democrats, Kate Brown, Oregon, scandal

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Daily Dharma

Dharma Dating | February 14, 2015 As human beings, we’re hardwired for connection. Of course, our practice helps us dissolve the illusion of a separate self and know that we are supported in every breath by the whole universe. But at the same time, it’s also good to feel supported by a real live person who actually cares that we had a bad day, that the kids were brats, that the boss was a tyrant, that the computer kept crashing, that we failed to solve our koan. - Anne Cushman, "Fifteen Weeks of Dharma Dating" Read More →

Flor do Dia - Flor del Día - Flower of the Day - 13/02/2015

“Ao praticar técnicas sexuais com várias pessoas diferentes você acaba criando situações perigosas. Isso porque você amplia seu poder e magnetismo, o que deixa seu ego mais robusto e astuto. E o principal poder que você desenvolve é o poder de manipulação. Mas porque você quer ter esse poder? Você quer manipular o outro para ter domínio sobre ele e para fugir de si mesmo. Ter domínio sobre uma pessoa não é diferente de ter um carro novo ou de ter bastante dinheiro na conta bancária – tudo agrega valor à falsa ideia de quem é você. No mais profundo, você está em busca de uma identidade; está tentando suprir uma carência.” 

Acesse ao Satsang Completo: bit.ly/prembaba01

“Al practicar técnicas sexuales con varias personas diferentes terminas creando situaciones peligrosas. Porque amplías tu poder y magnetismo, lo que deja a tu ego más robusto y astuto. Y el principal poder que desarrollas es el poder de manipulación. ¿Pero porqué quieres tener ese poder? Quieres manipular al otro para tener dominio sobre él y para huir de ti mismo. Tener dominio sobre una persona no es distinto de tener un auto nuevo o de tener bastante dinero en la cuenta bancaria – todo agrega valor a la falsa idea de quien eres tú. En lo más profundo, estás en búsqueda de una identidad, estás intentando suplir una carencia.”

"Practicing sexual techniques with many different people can end up creating dangerous situations. One may increase one’s power and allure, which makes the ego more robust and cunning, but the main power that develops is manipulation. Why would one want to have this power? In order to manipulate the other and dominate them, while avoiding looking at oneself. Having dominion over the other is no different than having a new car, or having a lot of money in one’s bank account. Everything adds value to the false idea of who we are. On a deeper level, one is seeking an identity, and this is an attempt to compensate for a neediness."

- Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

Tasting Buddhanature | February 13, 2015 Being told about buddhanature but never really making it our personal experience will not help anything. It's like staying hungry. Once we put the food in our mouth, we discover what the food tastes like. - Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, "As the Clouds Vanish" Read More →

Flor do Dia - Flor del Día - Flower of the Day -12/02/2015

“Muitas vezes damos passagem para determinados impulsos que não gostamos e não aceitamos, e que gostaríamos que fossem diferentes. O que faz uma pessoa refém do ciúme e da inveja? Refém da insegurança e da vingança? Refém do medo? É a ignorância a respeito da natureza desse impulso. Isso porque tudo o que é negado e relegado ao plano da sombra acaba ganhando força justamente por ficar no inconsciente.”
Acesse ao Satsang Completo: bit.ly/25012015

“Muchas veces damos pasaje a determinados impulsos que no nos gustan y no aceptamos, y que gustaríamos que fuesen diferentes. ¿Qué hace a una persona rehén de los celos, de la envidia? ¿Rehén de la inseguridad y de la venganza? ¿Rehén del miedo? Es la ignorancia al respecto de la naturaleza de ese impulso. Eso porque todo lo que es negado y relegado al plano de la sombra acaba ganando fuerza justamente por estar en el inconsciente.”

"Oftentimes we give way to certain impulses that we do not like nor accept, and that we wish would be different. What makes a person hostage to jealousy and envy? What makes one hostage to insecurity, revenge and fear? It is the ignorance about the nature of this impulse. Everything that is denied and banished to the realms of the shadow ends up gaining strength simply by remaining unconscious."

- Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

Democratizing Enlightenment | February 12, 2015 We must take care, in our age of scientific mastery, not to treat enlightenment as the ultimate technological discovery, a state in which everything is understood, a kind of unified field theory of the spirit where only experts reign. This is not the quality of real insight. Real awakening should bring home to us the inexplicability, even unknowability, of our world. - Lewis Richmond, "Enlightenment Needs a Minyan" Read More →

Flor do Dia - Flor del Día - Flower of the Day - 11/02/2015

“Ao entrega-se para a vontade divina, a vontade do seu Eu superior, você se torna uma testemunha silenciosa; um canal puro do amor. Cada ação é como uma prece ao Divino e sua vida se torna devoção. Nada do que você faz é para si mesmo: a graça, a alegria, a cura e o amor passam por você para chegar ao outro, e assim você vai experimentando a plenitude e o contentamento – você vai provando pílulas de samadhi, o êxtase místico. E a cada vislumbre do Eterno, a natureza inferior vai se dissipando, e você vai se aproximando da sua verdadeira essência.”

Acesse ao Satsang Completo: bit.ly/1CviIRC

“Al entregarse a la voluntad divina, la voluntad de tu Yo superior, te vuelves un testigo silencioso, un canal puro del amor. Cada acción es como una plegaria al Divino y tu vida se vuelve devoción. Nada de lo que haces es para ti mismo: la gracia, la alegría, la cura y el amor pasan por ti para llegar al otro, y así vas experimentando la plenitud y el contentamiento – vas probando las píldoras de samadhi, el éxtasis místico. Y a cada vislumbre del Eterno, la naturaleza inferior se va disipando, y vas aproximándote a tu verdadera esencia.”

"When you surrender to the divine will, the will of your higher self, you become a silent witness and a pure channel of love. Each action turns into a prayer to the Divine and your life becomes devotion. Nothing you do is for yourself. Grace, joy, healing and love pass through you to reach the other. In this way, you go on experiencing fulfillment and contentment. You experience samadhi pills: mystical ecstasy. At every glimpse of the Eternal, the lower nature begins to dissipate, and you come closer to your true essence."

- Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

Facing Extinction | February 11, 2015 There are a lot of decisions we’re going to be making, consciously or unconsciously, that are going to impact other species, and a lot of choices for us to make that will maximize or minimize that impact. I’m trying to bring those choices into consciousness, because right now we are simply making them unconsciously; we are making them by not making them. - Elizabeth Kolbert, "No Easy Answers" Read More →

Flower of the Day: 02/10/15

“Different spiritual traditions invoke the Divine in specific ways, but there is a common denominator amongst them. For example, bhajans, devotional chants, evoke the deities of the Hindu tradition. Through their symbolism, these deities, or names and forms of the Divine, represent aspects of the Divine that dwell within us all. Everything is inside of us. The Divine works through each one of us, and that which is not here is nowhere."

Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Kos

Via Daily Dharma

The Four Metaphors | February 10, 2015 Noble one, think of yourself as someone who is sick, Of the dharma as the remedy, Of your spiritual teacher as a skillful doctor, And of diligent practice as the way to recovery. - Shakyamuni Buddha, "Again 'Common Sense' Buddhism" Read More →

Flower of the Day: 02/09/15

"It is true that the spiritual master is One, that the truth is One, and that the path is One. However, it’s necessary to be aware of the importance of focusing and connecting with the channel that represents the bridge to this oneness for us at this precise moment. Compulsion can manifest in different ways in the many areas of life, and if we are in a particular place but cannot relax and surrender to the process, then we won’t be able to benefit from it. In order to benefit from the path we are on, we must enter into communion with it. For this to occur, we need to focus, surrender and relax."

Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

The Witness | February 9, 2015 When you sit with the earth, when you make it your witness and when you act as a witness for it—what do you see? What are you compelled to do? These are questions that take us beyond political stances, beyond principles, beyond arguments about engagement or detachment. They are questions, it seems to me, that can never be answered in any way other than the strictly personal. Sitting or acting; engagement or retreat; perhaps there need be no contradiction. - Paul Kingsnorth, "The Witness" Read More →

Via Daily Dharma

Through Every Jewel | February 8, 2015 All day long, creatures are bumping into other creatures, squashing them, killing and eating and drinking them, wearing and using them, walking and lying on them, destroying their homes. There is no personal boundary to this karmic responsibility—it radiates through every jewel in Indra's net. A karmic debt 'owed' by one is owed by all. Vegetarians owe as much as meat eaters, pacifists as much as fighters. There are no personal safe zones, no useful strategies for self-protection. - John McClellan, "Meat: To Eat It or Not" Read More →

Via Daily Dharma

Wisdom Will Resurface | February 7, 2015 Wisdom does accumulate—not in a linear arithmetic progression but in a complex, dynamic system. Each understanding sheds light upon the others in an interactive living process. Insights that seem unassailable may suddenly meet passionate doubt, all clarity shattered at the very moment it is most needed. Then, just as suddenly, wisdom will resurface, stronger for having vanished, wisdom that now knows of its own disintegration. - Nina Wise, "Sudden Awakening" Read More →

Via JMG: 81% Of College Freshmen Back Marriage

 

In its annual American Freshman Survey, UCLA researchers polled over 150,000 incoming freshmen at 227 colleges and universities. This year's result on marriage:

The survey last asked about same-sex marriage in 2012. In the interim, support for same-sex couples having the legal right to marry has increased 6.5 percentage points to 81.5%. This increase covers a span of time where the U.S. Supreme Court struck down part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act and California’s state ban on same-sex marriage. Additionally, since these Supreme Court decisions, state-level same-sex marriage bans have fallen across the country in U.S. Circuit and District courts; as of January 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up four pending cases from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Figure 10 breaks support for same-sex marriage down by political ideology. The findings show that only students who identify as “far right” do not support same-sex marriage. Just 44.3% of students identified as “far right” either “agreed somewhat” or “agreed strongly” that same-sex couples should have the legal right to marry. This figure contrasts with 56.6% of “conservative” students, 84.7% of “middle-of-the-road” students, 93.9% of “liberal” students, and 90.5% of “far left” students. It is clear that same-sex marriage is no longer an issue for the vast majority of entering college freshmen.

We can't wait for Tony Perkins to spin this one.

Labels: education, marriage equality, polls

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Daily Dharma

Experiential Ethics | February 5, 2015 The wonderful challenge of Buddhism is that it does not offer any absolute formulas for virtuousness. In the Silabatta Sutta, the Buddha asks Ananda if every precept and practice taught by the dharma is holy. Ananda replies, 'Lord, that is not to be answered with a categorical answer.' - Hannah Tennant-Moore, "Personal Heaven, Personal Hell" Read More →

Flower of the Day: 02/06/15

"By deepening the practice of self-observation, we may reach the surprising conclusion that we feel pleasure through our negative actions in the world. There is a pleasure connected to the negative situation that repeats itself in our lives. Our vital energy is invested into this destructive action. As we deepen even further into this practice of self-observation, we realize that this may be the only way we know how to feel pleasure. Oftentimes, the positive manifestation of pleasure is a threat to the human being. Since we are so identified with this negativity, we suffer the terror of being annihilated in its absence. Unconsciously, we believe that letting go of this negativity would mean death."

- Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

You Can't Always Get What You Want | February 6, 2015 The chains of desire pull us into a life of frustration and suffering, while renunciation cuts those chains. Renunciation, though often understood to mean 'giving up,' is, more accurately, the willingness to experience things as they are, not as we want them to be. Here you discover true freedom, the deep, quiet joy that has always been present in you. - Ken McLeod, "You Can't Always Get What You Want" Read More →

Flor do Dia - Flor del Día - Flower of the Day - 04/02/2015

“Alguns seres que atingiram a meta da autorrealização enxergam esse planeta como uma prisão. Eu prefiro vê-lo como uma escola, onde a principal matéria é o amor desinteressado. Mas, para amar de forma desinteressada você precisa aprender a perdoar e agradecer, e para perdoar e agradecer, você tem que aprender muitas outras coisas.”

“Algunos seres que han alcanzado la meta de la autorrealización ven este planeta como una prisión. Yo prefiero verlo como una escuela, donde la principal materia es el amor desinteresado. Pero para amar de forma desinteresada, precisas aprender a perdonar y agradecer, y para perdonar y agradecer, tienes que aprender muchas otras cosas.”

"Some beings who have attained the goal of self-realization see this planet as a prison. I prefer to see it as a school, where the main subject matter is selfless love. To be able to love selflessly, we must learn to forgive and give thanks. In order to forgive and thank, we have to learn many more things."

- Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

The Enlightened Life | February 4, 2015 When we call forth and base ourselves on the magnificent enlightened life that exists within each of us without exception . . . even the most fundamental, inescapable sufferings of life and death need not be experienced as pain. Rather, they can be transformed into a life embodying the virtues of eternity, joy, true self, and purity. - Daisaku Ikeda, "Faith in Revolution" Read More →

Via Daily Dharma

Liberation is Already in Effect | February 3, 2015 From the viewpoint of a leap philosophy, there is no causal connection between the liberated and the unliberated state; it is, therefore, impossible to build a bridge between these two wholly incompatible realms. If it is not possible to create a causal chain that will lead one from unliberated to liberated status, and yet, as is claimed, liberation is possible, it must be the case that liberation is already in effect. All we must do as practitioners is allow ourselves to see, and to acknowledge, that fact. - Jan Nattier, "A Greater Awakening" Read More →

Flor do Dia - Flor del Día - Flower of the Day - 03/02/2015

“Toda a entidade humana em evolução carrega partes dentro de si mesma com as quais não pôde chegar a um acordo; partes que, de alguma maneira, ela se envergonha ou não compreende, e por isso as mantêm separadas, trancadas em negação. Mas, a negação é o principal obstáculo para a felicidade, pois é somente através da integração dessas partes negadas e separadas que se pode ter um vislumbre da Unidade, e por consequência da paz e do amor.”

Acesse ao Satsang completo: bit.ly/1uTivU9

“Toda la miseria que vemos en este mundo es causada por el olvido de nuestra verdadera naturaleza espiritual. La crisis que vemos en todas las áreas de la sociedad se debe a este olvido. Podemos decir que nuestra sociedad está psicótica, porque existe una profunda identificación con el falso yo. Todos están demasiado ocupados en mantener y embellecer la propia historia, pero no saben que ella no es más que una ficción, una gran mentira; y para sustentarla son capaces de cualquier cosa.”

“All evolving human entities carry parts of themselves that they have not yet come to terms with. They somehow still feel ashamed of these parts within them or have not yet been able to fully understand them, so they keep these feelings separate, locked up in denial. Denial is the main obstacle towards happiness, because only by integrating these denied and separate parts can one have a glimpse of unity and, consequently, of peace and love.”

- Sri Prem Baba

Hallmark Valentine's Ad Stars Gay Couple

Gay Pride Parade Mumbai

Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, and Music Superstars Sing "We Are The Champions" (A Cappella)

Via JMG: Anti-Gay Lawmakers Seek Revenge with New Laws: Feb 2 MNW

Via JMG: Obama's Budget Gives Social Security Benefits to Gay Couples Nationwide

Via Talking Points Memo:

In his fiscal 2016 budget, released Monday, President Barack Obama proposed allowing married same-sex couples to receive spousal Social Security benefits, regardless of which state they live in. Currently, married same-sex couples lose their benefits it they move to a state that does not recognize their unions. "The budget proposes to amend the Social Security Act to ensure all lawfully married same-sex couples will be eligible to receive Social Security spousal benefits, regardless of where they live," Obama's proposal states. "Under this proposal, such married couples would have access to these benefits," the budget says. Same-sex marriages are currently recognized in 36 states, as Bloomberg noted. The proposal would have to be approved by the Republican-led Congress to take effect.

Freedom To Marry reacts via press release:

Once again, President Obama has demonstrated his commitment to fairness and freedom for all Americans, including same-sex couples and their families. His proposal to ensure equal Social Security benefits would fix a crucial gap in federal protections for same-sex couples.President Obama's leadership in helping bring the freedom to marry to all Americans will be a shining part of this president's legacy. Of course, the only way to ensure same-sex couples nationwide have all the protections of marriage is for the Supreme Court to put the country on the right side of history by ending marriage discrimination throughout the United States, leaving no family and no state behind.

Labels: Barack Obama, feds, Freedom To Marry, LGBT rights, marriage equality, Obama administration, Social Security

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Julian Bond For Mississippi Marriage

 

"Mississippians know sexual orientation or gender identity shouldn’t matter when it comes to working hard and taking care of your neighbor. Mississippians know all children are valued, no matter who they are. And Mississippians know that above all, treating one another with dignity and respect is what counts.

"The fight for basic civil rights is not a quest for superiority or an unvoiced desire for power. It is, at its root, a battle to raise us all up. We all deserve the right to try and fail, move forward and fall back, and ultimately succeed on our own merits and individual gifts. But for many of us, our ability to dream of a greater and more brilliant future is limited by the color of our skin, the texts of our religious tomes, and the gender of whom we love and who we are.

"The push for full equality for all Americans has always come with hurdles and setbacks. But we are not dissuaded from our path. LGBT Mississippians and their families yearn for a better day, one that we can work together to create. Let’s begin right now." - NAACP chairman emeritus Julian Bond, writing for the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. Hit the link and read the full op-ed.

Labels: Julian Bond, marriage equality, Mississippi, NAACP

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking and Arthur C. Clarke - God, The Universe and Everything Else (1988)

Neil deGrasse Tyson and Richard Dawkins - The Poetry of Science

14 glorious minutes of religious people getting served by Richard Dawkins

Love Letters to Richard Dawkins (NSFW)

Via Tricycle: Was the Buddha an Atheist?

Preeminent Buddhist thinkers—Badiner, Kornfield, Batchelor, and Thurman—weigh in. Philip Wolfson 

"The Buddha was an atheist."
Writer Allan Badiner made this bald pronouncement in the midst of a conversation that spanned the wee hours of a cloudless Burning Man night. Sitting in a vast tent where, during the day, scores of partygoers had washed off their dust and grime in a plexiglass chamber, we discussed prevailing notions of a Buddhist godhead and, conversely, our mutual embrace of the religion in its secular form.  
I was most intrigued, though, by Badiner’s description of the Buddha as an atheist. I asked for sources. 
 Allan’s first response:

I would need time to do it, but there are passages from the Tripitaka that strongly indicate that the Buddha denied the existence of a creator god. Rather than classify him as an atheist or an agnostic, it would be more appropriate to use the term nontheist. An atheist believes only what he can see but, of course, the Buddha suggested that not all that you see is real.

I responded with enthusiasm and persistence: "I like nontheist—thanks—but do send me the citation when you can."
He did:

According to Stephen Batchelor’s Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist, on the few occasions in the [Pali] Canon . . . where the question of God is addressed, Gautama is presented as an ironic atheist. The rejection of God is not a mainstay of his teaching, so he did not get worked up about it. Such passages have the flavor of a diversion, a light entertainment, in which another of humanity’s irrational opinions is gently ridiculed and put aside. This approach stands in contrast to the aggressive atheism that periodically erupts in the modern West. The Buddha regarded questions about the cause of the universe, or other questions related to a creator god as not useful, in light of the more important task of bringing about the cessation of human suffering. 

A few weeks later, at a conference on psychedelic research in Marin, California, I asked Insight Meditation Society cofounder Jack Kornfield the same question: "Was the Buddha an atheist?"
He responded later in an email, in his usual sweet manner:
"Yes, the Buddha was a nontheist. But he believed in and talked a lot about Brahma, King of the Gods and about other Gods . . .” 
He continued, rather cryptically, with a quote from the Buddha himself: A star at dawn, a drop of dew, an echo, a rainbow and a dream.
Now we were getting somewhere, or perhaps nowhere, or maybe somewhere rather koan-istic.
Then Stephen Batchelor himself weighed in on our group email:

I’m happy you are happy with nontheist. The problems are manifold.  The term atheist as we use it today would not have been used in that way at the Buddha’s time. Nor, for that matter, would the concept nontheist. There are no equivalents for either in Pali or Sanskrit, though many Hindus today still regard the Buddha as a nastika, usually translated as nihilist but which means something like one who asserts there is nothing.  
Again, the Buddha would have rejected this since he warns against the two extremes of atthi [it is] and natthi [it is not] and seeks to establish his dharma in the middle (madhyama), which does not lapse into the extremes of eternalism or annihilationism. The Buddha simply did not define himself or his teaching in such ways. So trying to capture him in these terms is bound to misrepresent him.
On the other hand, the only way we can talk about him and his vision is via the concepts of our own time and language, which has been the case throughout Buddhist history in the different countries in which it took root. I take nontheist to mean one who does not employ God as a necessary term in his or her teaching. In this sense, yes, the Buddha was a nontheist. 
However since he is recorded in the Agganna Sutta as mocking and rejecting the very idea of God, he also comes close to being an atheist in the modern sense. It is probably best to drop trying to categorize the Buddha in any of these ways, to cultivate a healthy skepticism regarding views and opinions, and to concentrate on practicing the dharma instead. 

Stephen, as usual, had cut through the Gordian Knot with that “practice the dharma” thing—or get over yourself with the intellectual stuff that leads to more intellectual stuff: the obsessional path. It stung like the smack of the keisaku provoking a kensho. 
Then, some weeks later when I had almost given up, Bob Thurman, noted Columbia University Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, gave his view:

From the records we have, I think we can fairly say that Buddha was a non-monotheist—or non-creator-theist— and also a non-atheist, since he was in conversation with various gods quite often, actually one of his names was devamanusyanam shasta (Pali), or teacher of gods and humans. So the Buddha is an example of one who can be a theist while rejecting a creator. As I like to say, no one person is to blame for creating this whole mess—other than each of us, that is!

So there you have it—as close to the horses’ mouths as I can get. Pick and choose from atheist, nontheist, agnostic, non-creator-theist, and non-atheist; or make up one of your own. 
Did I learn something from this? Yes. For one, as Stephen said, pinning the Buddha down to a specific category of belief is a difficult thing, because we live in a different time with a different set of values and a whole other language to express them. Therefore, we cannot know the Buddha directly as a historical personage. Moreover, Buddhism has been of such benefit to a variety of practitioners, its modifications and commentaries leaves grown from a single tree. Why hold the Buddha stuck in place? The dharma is a moving thing. And clearly, he, Gautama, touched its essence. For that wisdom we owe great gratitude to the Buddha, atheist or not, and all those who have breathed life into his path.

Phil Wolfson is a psychiatrist and secular Buddhist practitioner. He lives in the Bay Area.
Image: Chris Sorensen/Gallerystock

Please read the original article here

Via Daily Dharma

Choosing Wisdom | February 2, 2015 In all likelihood, the environmental crises we will encounter in the coming decades and probably centuries will bring great upheavals and immense suffering. It is all so hard to wrap one’s mind around because the problem is unprecedented in magnitude. At the same time, we have the whole history of human wisdom to draw upon in making our choices and taking action. The defining question of our age will be how we meet the calamities we will face, and how we will act to mitigate them and find our virtue in confronting them. The stakes couldn’t be higher, yet as human beings, we are not only expert in creating misery, we are also expert in working to resolve it. Both legacies, and the ability to choose which to follow, belong to us. - James Shaheen, "Choosing Wisdom in the Face of Peril" Read More →

Via Beloved Festival / FB:

 

I looked in temples, churches & mosques. I found the Divine within my Heart. ~Rumi

Via FB:

Via Daily Dharma

Get Out of the Way | February 1, 2015 You cultivate rich, fertile, living ground for insight and compassion, for deep human feeling, to continually sprout and take seed. It’s a natural process. You can’t force it. You simply set the right conditions in motion and then get out of the way. - Steve Krieger, "Growing Ground" Read More →

The YouTube Interview with President Obama

Michael Hill. We're For Love.

VIa JMG: Today in Republican Lesbain Bullshit

Mary Cheney: Drag Is Like Blackface

"Why is it socially acceptable - as a form of entertainment - for men to put on dresses, make up and high heels and act out every offensive stereotype of women (bitchy, catty, dumb, slutty, etc.) - but it is not socially acceptable - as a form of entertainment - for a white person to put on blackface and act out offensive stereotypes of African Americans? Shouldn’t both be OK or neither?" - Mary Cheney, writing on her Facebook page after seeing an ad for the upcoming season of RuPaul's Drag Race. (Tipped by JMG reader Scott)

Labels: drag, homocons, Mary Cheney, RuPaul

Reposted from Joe Jervis

A Message to Mary Cheney from RuPaul's Drag Race

Stephen Fry on God | The Meaning Of Life | RTÉ One

Via LGBT Interfaith Group / FB:

Flor do Dia - Flor del Día - Flower of the Day - 31/01/2015

“Trabalho para criar união, e a união só é criada através do amor. É através do amor que dissolvemos os conflitos, pois ele é o solvente universal para todos os males.”
Acesse o Satsang Completo: bit.ly/1yrjOx8

“Trabajo para crear unión, y la unión sólo es creada a través del amor. Es a través del amor que disolvemos los conflictos, pues él es el solvente universal para todos los males.”

“I work towards creating union, and union can only be created through love. It is through love that we dissolve all conflicts, for it is the universal solvent for all evil.”

 - Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

The Dharma of Action | January 31, 2015 We are good at studying, publishing, and spreading the word of Buddhism. Where we have not been very successful is showcasing the compassion and selflessness of the dharma by our actions. We have written many more words in our books than what few kind words we have spoken to the poor, lonely, and desperate. We have built so many more temples than orphanages. - Ajahn Brahm, "Putting an End to Buddhist Patriarchy" Read More →

Flor do Dia - Flor del Día - Flower of the Day - 30/01/2015

“Se existe lamentação, existe ingratidão. Mas, para evoluir no processo de cura é preciso encontrar a gratidão. Se você não está podendo ser grato, trate de investigar por que. Trate de encarar seu ódio, seus ressentimentos e seus medos. Somente assim você poderá ser iluminado pela sagrada compreensão que te leva ao perdão, que por sua vez te liberta do passado. E não perca o seu mais valioso tesouro - o tempo - com reclamações, julgamentos, comparações e acusações. Isso é somente distração. A vida neste plano é como uma bolha de sabão, quando você menos espera... Foi.”
Acesse o Satsang Completo: bit.ly/1CviIRC

“Si existe lamento, existe ingratitud. Pero para evolucionar en el proceso de cura es necesario encontrar la gratitud. Si no estás pudiendo ser agradecido, trata de investigar por qué. Trata de encarar tu odio, tus resentimientos y tus miedos. Solamente así podrás ser iluminado por la sagrada comprensión que te lleva al perdón, que a su vez te libera del pasado. Y no pierdas tu más valioso tesoro - el tiempo – con reclamos, juicios, comparaciones y acusaciones. Eso es solamente distracción. La vida en este plano es como una burbuja de jabón, cuando menos lo esperas... Fue.”

“If there are complaints, then a lack of gratitude also exists. In order to evolve in the process of healing, it’s necessary to find gratitude. If we’re unable to be grateful, then try to investigate why this is so. We must try to confront our hatred, our resentments and our fears. By doing this, we may be illuminated by sacred comprehension that leads us to forgiveness, which in turn frees us from the past. We mustn’t waste our most precious treasure, time, with complaints, judgments, comparisons and accusations. All of this is just a distraction. Life in this realm is like a soap bubble: when we least expect it, it’s gone.”

- Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma

Student Creates Teacher | January 30, 2015 In order to work with a teacher, there needs to be a student. We often skip over this: It’s easy to waste time going through the motions of entering the room for a face-to-face teaching, but to not really be a student—to just be someone who wants to debate, or to prove something. Often, a real spiritual meeting is not available even though the bows have been made. Yet once a student develops, it is inevitable that a teacher will appear in their life. They create each other. - Bonnie Myotai Treace, Sensei, "The Sword Disappears in the Water" Read More →