Via Daily Dharma: You Can’t Force Your Heart Open

A wide and caring heart is not a “should” or an obligation but a longing that awakens naturally.

—Radhule Weininger, “Brief Teachings”

Via 3 of 13 Daily Dharma: The Seed of True Kindness

When we start to develop maitri for ourselves—unconditional acceptance of ourselves—then we’re really taking care of ourselves in a way that pays off. We feel more at home with our own bodies and minds and more at home in the world. As our kindness for ourselves grows, so does our kindness for other people.

—Pema Chödrön, “Unlimited Friendliness”

Via BBC / Inter-American Human Rights Court backs same-sex marriage

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has ruled that same-sex marriages should be recognised.

The court's rulings apply to countries which have signed the American Convention on Human Rights.

Some of the signatories already recognise same-sex marriages while others recognise same-sex civil unions.

But others, such as Bolivia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Paraguay and Peru do not recognise either and will be expected to change their laws.

The court was established by the regional body, the Organization of American States (OAS), and signatories to the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights are bound by its rulings.

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Western hemisphere countries where same-sex marriage is legal:

Image copyright Reuters

• Argentina
• Brazil
• Canada
• Colombia
• Mexico (certain states only)
• US
• Uruguay

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The ruling comes as a number of Latin American countries have changed or are debating changing their laws to allow same-sex couples to marry.

Most recently, outgoing Chilean President Michelle Bachelet sent a gay marriage bill to Congress for debate.

Other western hemisphere countries, such as Ecuador, have introduced same-sex civil unions.

'Without discrimination'

The judges said that governments "must recognise and guarantee all the rights that are derived from a family bond between people of the same sex".

They also said that it was inadmissible and discriminatory for a separate legal provision to be established just for same-sex marriages.

The judges demanded that governments "guarantee access to all existing forms of domestic legal systems, including the right to marriage, in order to ensure the protection of all the rights of families formed by same-sex couples without discrimination".

Recognising the difficulty in passing such laws in countries where there is strong opposition to same-sex marriage, they recommended that governments pass temporary decrees until new legislation was brought in.

The judges issued the ruling in response to a motion brought by Costa Rica.

The Central American government asked the court to give its opinion on whether it had an obligation to extend property rights to same-sex couples. The court ruled that it did.

The Costa Rican government also wanted to know whether it should allow transgender people to change their name on their identity documents. Again, the court ruled that it should.

Costa Rica's Vice-President Ana Helena Chacón welcomed the court's ruling, saying it would be adopted "in its totality".

Read the article and more here

Via Ram Dass / 4 of 21 Words of Wisdom - January 10, 2018

I don't want people doing their practices because they ought to be good. I want you doing your practices like you go to the toilet. You don't go to the toilet because you're good, I mean, you know why you go to the toilet. That's the way spiritual practices should be done. It's a great advertisement for spiritual practice: Come spend the weekend with spiritual practices, it's like going the toilet!

-  Ram Dass -

Via Daily Dharma: Zig Zag Practice

Practice is never a straight line to a fixed goal. It is always a mixture of moments of confusion and moments of clarity, periods of discouragement and periods of aspiration, times of feeling like a failure and times of going deeper.

—Ezra Bayda, “Reflect, Without Thinking”

Via Daily Dharma: Finding Freedom Through Attitude

The attempt to look at your attitude—what you are feeling and thinking and the frame that holds it, and then your attitude to your attitude, is one of the routes to freedom.

—John Tarrant, “In the Wild Places”

Via Daily Dharma: Honesty’s Advantage

Being honest about our limitations protects us from becoming patronizing and self-satisfied. When we are more honest, we don’t have as much to prove.

—Judy Lief, “On Beginning at the Beginning”

Via FB

Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - January 7, 2018

The reason we are addicted to power is because of separateness—separate nations, separate states, separate religions, and separate people. When you are separate the whole universe is powerful, and you are so little…When you get into your soul, the whole world is made of love—trees are made of love; beings, in their souls, are made of love.

- Ram Dass -

Via Daily Dharma: Sorting Out Love and Attachment

Attachment is the very opposite of love. Love says, “I want you to be happy.” Attachment says, “I want you to make me happy.”

—Tenzin Palmo, “No Excuses”

Via Daily Dharma: The Compassion We Give, The Compassion We Want

To be compassionate to those we do not have to be compassionate towards, and to those who expect little if any compassion—is this not the same contract we hope exists between us and some further, more powerful force?

—Rick Bass, “Animal Realm”

Via Daily Dharma: Jealousy Is a Warning

When I start feeling jealous of others, it’s a warning sign that I’ve become a little bit too entranced by some idea of myself and have lost touch with the reality of my life.

—Shozan Jack Haubner, “Middle Way Manager”

Via Daily Dharma: Letting Go of Perfection

A good fit is not the same as a perfect fit, if such a thing even exists. Rather, a good fit contains good imperfections, things that don’t fit, problems you can sink your teeth into.

—Andrew Cooper, “The Good Fit”

Via Daily Dharma: Right Action through Community

Connection with others loosens the bonds of self-concern and helps us find our best course of action in the world.

—Henry Shukman, “The Meeting”

Via Ram Dass / 7 of 25 Words of Wisdom - January 3, 2018

  You can get to the place of being loving awareness, but before you can love the universe or other people you have to be able to love yourself. That love throws you into the next plane, which I call the soul plane. It is spiritual, but it also deals with separation, because the soul wants to meld with the One. The One is love, light; the One is peace, compassion. The soul wants to meld with that.

-  Ram Dass -

Via Daily Dharma: Joyful Reflection

The process of setting intentions and joyfully reflecting on them is how, over time, we transform extrinsic into intrinsic motivations, and thereby sustain the energy and purpose to live true to our best aspirations.

—Thupten Jinpa, “Two Exercises for Turning Intention into Motivation”

Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - December 31, 2017

You can't push yourself into enlightenment... You can only wait for grace.

- Ram Dass -

Via Daily Dharma: Wise Resolutions

The most comfortable and wisest people are those who watch their health when they are healthy; guard their country when it is untroubled; and cultivate their fields well when weeds are nonexistent or scarce.

—Venerable Chwasan, “The Grace in This World”

Via Daily Dharma: True Self-Refinement

Through the constant refining of the self—of teasing out what is not self and letting it go—we suffer less, get unburdened, feel lighter.

—Mary Talbot, “Saving Vacchagotta”

Via Daily Dharma: Accept Yourself

In accepting yourself, you’re simply agreeing to the fact that you are already accepted by the entire universe, just as you are.

—Ruben L. F. Habito, “Be Still & Know”

Via Daily Dharma: Our Fearsome Friend

If we understand fear as an evolved survival mechanism, we gain some perspective and perhaps some release from our identification with the feeling. We might even arrive at a place where we can bow down to fear, seeing it as a friend who is looking out for our very life.

—Wes Nisker, “It’s Only Natural”

Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - December 27, 2017

For respect to come to you, you must respect yourself first. And for you to respect yourself first, you've got to make contact with that part in you that is worthy of respect. Not your will, but a deeper part of your being or discipline.

-  Ram Dass  -

Via Daily Dharma: The Great Teacher

Nature is the great teacher. Shakyamuni went to the jungle to find its teachings, Moses up the mountain, Jesus to the desert, and Bodhidharma and Muhammad to their caves. We tend to forget this, so it is important to have a practice that reminds us of it again.

—Clark Strand, “Turn Out the Lights”

Via Daily Dharma: Let Desire Melt Away

All we can say is that desire arises in the mind, stays in it for a while, and dissolves in it. The more we try to find any intrinsic characteristics in desire, the more it melts away under our gaze, as frost under the morning sun.

—Matthieu Ricard, “Working With Desire”

Via Daily Dharma: Limitless Charity

One small act of charity (dana paramita) is said to be equal to countless acts of charity. No one can measure the effects of a single act of giving, for its repercussions are beyond our limited imagination.

—Taitetsu Unno, “Three Grapefruits”

Via Daily Dharma: Generosity Goes Beyond Gifts

An act of giving is of most benefit when one gives something of value, carefully, with one’s own hand, while showing respect, and with a view that something wholesome will come of it.

—Andrew Olendzki, “The Wisdom of Giving”

Via Daily Dharma: Meditation without Meaning

Meditation is just to be here. This can mean doing the dishes, writing a letter, driving a car, or having a conversation—if we’re fully engaged in this activity of the moment, there is no plotting or scheming or ulterior purpose.

—Steve Hagen, “Looking for Meaning”

Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - December 24, 2017

 

The technique of the witness is to merely sit with the fear and be aware of it before it becomes so consuming that there’s no space left. The image I usually use is that of a picture frame and a painting of a gray cloud against a blue sky. But the picture frame is a little too small. So you bend the canvas around to frame it. But in doing so you lost all the blue sky. So you end up with just a framed gray cloud. It fills the entire frame.

So when you say, 'I'm afraid' or, 'I'm depressed', if you enlarged the frame so that just a little blue space shows, you would say ‘Ah, a cloud.’ That is what the witness is. The witness is that tiny little blue over in the corner that leads you to say, ‘Ah, fear.’ 

- Ram Dass -

Via Daily Dharma: Commitment Leads to Care

Strong personal relationships are the pathway to experiencing impartial care and concern for all beings.

—Sylvia Boorstein, “Dear Abbey Dharma”

Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - December 20, 2017

 

A true marriage is with God. The reason we form a conscious marriage on the physical plane with a partner is to do the work of coming to God together. That is the only reason for marrying when we are conscious. The only reason. If we marry for economics, if we marry for passion, if we marry for romantic love, if we marry for convenience, if we marry for sexual gratification, it will pass and there is suffering. The only marriage contract that works is what the original contract was - we enter into this contract in order to come to God, together. That's what a conscious marriage is about. 

 

- Ram Dass -

Via Daily Dharma: Practice Like a Child

Spiritual practice ought to be childish. It ought to help us recapture something that gets lost in the process of growing up. It ought to foster a sense of play, a sense of magic, a sense of humor.

—Norman Fischer, “Saved From Freezing”

Via 4 of 11 Daily Dharma: Stop Distracting Yourself

When we stop distracting ourselves, trying to figure the chances of ultimate success or failure, our minds and hearts are liberated into the present moment. And this moment together is alive and charged with possibilities.

—Joanna Macy, “The Greatest Danger”

Via ily Dharma: Prayer Opens Us to Love

Through prayer, we come out of the mine shaft, open our eyes, become receptive to enlightened presence, the omnipotent love and compassion that exist for all beings.

—Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, “Prayer: Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche”

Victoria's first legally recognised same-sex marriage (Melbourne, Australia) - 7 News Melbourne

Via Daily Dharma: How Present Are You?

There are many degrees to being present. Just because my eyes are open doesn’t mean I’m awake. It’s possible to look right at someone and still not truly see them.

—Erik Hansen, “Moving Target”

Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - December 17, 2017

 

When I start to get angry, I see my predicament and how I’m getting caught in expectations and righteousness. Learning to give up anger has been a continuous process. When Maharaji told me to love everyone and tell the truth, he also said, “Give up anger, and I’ll help you with it.” Maharaji offered me a bargain: “You must polish the mirror free of anger to see God. If you give up a little anger each day, I will help you.” This seemed to be a deal that was more than fair. I readily accepted. And he’s been true to his end of the bargain.

I found that his love helped to free me from my righteousness. Ultimately I would rather be free and in love than be right. 

 

-  Ram Dass -

Via Daily Dharma: Strengthen Skillful Desire

This is how a mature and healthy mind works: conducting a dialogue not so much between reason and desire as between responsible desires and irresponsible ones.

—Thanissaro Bhikkhu, “Pushing the Limits”

Via Daily Dharma: No Ego, No Guilt

Relief comes when we can be honest about what we’re thinking, feeling, saying, and doing. We take responsibility for our actions without feeling guilty about them because we don’t attach a big-ego “I.”

—Thubten Chodron, “The Truth About Gossip”

Via Daily Dharma: When Jealousy Dissolves

As jealousy dissolves, universal compassion and unconditional love become more easily available.

—Jorge Ferrer, “What’s the Opposite of Jealousy?”

Via Daily Dharma: At-home Practice

As you walk from room to room in your own home, try to really experience the transition of traveling from one place to another. Notice the differences between motion and stillness. Sense how you relate to various enclosures and open spaces.

—Gary Thorp, “Crossing the Threshold”

Via Ram Dass / 9 of 43 Words of Wisdom - December 13, 2017

You have to be very honest about your spiritual predicaments. You can’t be phony. Phony Holy isn’t going to get us there, in other words, you don’t go dramatically changing everything once you get a new value in your head, because you’re doing it with a certain kind of attachment of mind that’s going to cause you to have a reaction to it anyway. So don’t get voluntary-simple too soon. Let it be something that naturally falls away, rather than you ripping it away. 

- Ram Dass -

Via Daily Dharma: Discovering Nature within You

Nature, earth, the world—whatever you call it—is not simply something I am on but something I am. It is not outside of me: it is me, and I am it. There is no outside.

—Paul Kingsnorth, “The Witness”

Via Daily Dharma: Inexhaustible Generosity

When out of gratitude we use our candle to light other people’s candles, the whole room gets brighter. This is why we transfer merit to others. This kind of light is continuous and inexhaustible.

—Master Sheng-Yen, “Rich Generosity”

Via Daily Dharma: Sharing Stress and Happiness

Compassion is not condescension, but a leveling of the playing field, a recognition of yourself in others and an acceptance that their stress is your stress, that their happiness is your own.

—Stephen Schettini, “What to Expect When You’re Reflecting”

via nobhilllife

“I love you

I want to fall asleep with you,
and I could care less
whether it is in
layers upon layers
of clothing
or only our skin -
all I really want is to wake up
not knowing
where I end and you begin. ”

Coco Goes to Costco

Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - December 10, 2017

A lot of people try to counteract the ‘I am not good enough’ with ‘I am good enough.’ In other words, they take the opposite and they try to invest it. That still keeps the world at the level of polarities. The art is to go behind the polarities. 

So the act is to go not to the world of ‘I am good’ to counteract ‘I am bad,’ or ‘I am lovable’ as opposed to ‘I am unlovable.’ But go behind it to ‘I am.’ I am. I am. And 'I am' includes the fact that I do crappy things and I do beautiful things and I am. That includes everything and I am.

As you start to rest in the I am-ness, from that place, you can start to set boundaries on the way you play the game and become more impeccable in the way you play it. 

- Ram Dass -

Via Daily Dharma: Waking Up to What Matters

Cleaning the bathroom or chopping the onions is no less important than sitting in deep meditation. Grasping this and acting on it is called waking up.

—Janet Jiryu Abels, “Participate Fully”

Via Daily Dharma: The Power of Ritual

The process of giving oneself over to the beauty of ritual and tradition allows entry into transcendence, thus alleviating the suffering of daily life.

—Myokei Caine-Barrett, “The Great Divide”

Via Daily Dharma: Finding Clarity in Discomfort

You eliminate an enormous amount of suffering by concentrating on the suffering that is actually present instead of creating more with your thinking.

—Larry Rosenberg, “When the Student Is Ready, the Teacher Bites”