Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma April 18, 2012

The Relief of Impermanence

When our thoughts believe that an entity is permanent, that is a mistake, and that mistake causes us to suffer. Because when we believe an entity that makes us happy is permanent, we suffer when that entity ceases to exist. And when we believe an entity that makes us suffer is permanent, we deny ourselves the relief of knowing that it is impermanent and will therefore not cause us suffering forever, or even close to it!
- Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso, "The Path of Faith and the Path of Reasoning"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Monday, April 16, 2012

Via JMG: Activists Slam Obama Over Rejection Of Employment Non-Discrim Order

Michelangelo Signorile reports at HuffPo:
Two prominent LGBT activists slammed President Obama for refusing to sign an Executive Order "at this time" barring federal contractors from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Tico Almeida, president of Freedom to Work, was among the LGBT activists in a White House meeting with senior advisor Valerie Jarrett earlier in the week who were told the order would not be signed. He said the White House rationale was “weak,” “shallow,” “unpersuasive” and “embarrassing.” Paul Yandura, a gay former Clinton White House aide and a Democratic strategist, criticized some gay leaders in addition to the president, saying that groups like the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), “weren’t advocating on our behalf.”
Via Towleroad: Almeida talks to CurrentTV host Eliot Spitzer about his disappointment.  





Reposted from Joe

Via Facebook / Being Liberal:

That´s why they are called the Greatest Generation!


Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma April 16, 2012

The Pivotal Point

To willingly reside in our distress, no longer resisting what is, is the real key to transformation. As painful as it may be to face our deepest fears, we do reach the point where it's more painful not to face them.
- Ezra Bayda, "Bursting the Bubble of Fear"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma April 15, 2012

 

Living the Life You Wish to Live

The beauty of the practice is that we can evaluate our lives even before we are on our deathbed. If we are not living the life we wish to live, how can we change that now, while there is still time?
- Ondrea Levine, "Living the Life You Wish to Live"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via Facebook:

Via Facebook:

Via ॐ Blue Buddha Quote Collectiveॐ

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass the world is too full to talk about.”

~ Rumi
 

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Browse|Upload Titanic - The Untold Gay Story

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma April 14, 2012

The Gift That Cannot Be Given

The Buddha taught ‘kingly or queenly giving,’ which means giving the best of what we have, instinctively and graciously, even if none remains for ourselves. We are only temporary caretakers of all that is provided; essentially, we own nothing. As this understanding takes root in us, there is no getting, possessing, and giving; there is just the spaciousness that allows all things to remain in the natural flow of life.
- Marcia Rose, "The Gift That Cannot Be Given"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via JMG: FRC's Values Voters 2012: A Who's Who Of Hate Groups


Embiggen the images or go here to see who's on the slate for this year's Family Research Council Hato-O-Rama.


reposted from Joe

Via Takei/Facebook:

Friday, April 13, 2012

Via Follower of the Buddha:

Everything changes, nothing remains without change.
The Buddha
Everything changes, nothing remains without change.

The Buddha
 
Namo Buddhaya Namo Dharmaya Namo Sanghaya སངས་རྒྱས་ཆོས་དང་ཚོགས་ཀྱི་མཆོག་རྣམས་ ལ། Sang-gye cho-dang tsog-kyi cho-nam-la I take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha 諸佛正法眾中尊 བྱང་ཆུབ་བར་དུ་བདག་ནི་སྐྱབས་སུ་མཆི། Jang-chub bar-du dag-ni kyab-su-chi Until I attain enlightenment. 直至菩提我歸依དག་གིས་སྦྱིན་སོགས་བགྱིས་པའི་བསོད་ནམས་ ཀྱིས། Dag-gi jin-sog gyi-pe so-nam-kyi By the merit I have accumulated from practising generosity and the other perfections 我以所行施等善འགྲོ་ལ་ཕན་ཕྱིར་སངས་རྒྱས་འགྲྲུབ་པར་ཤོག །། Dro-la pan-chir sang-gye drub-par-shog May I attain enlightenment, for the benefit of all migrators. 為利眾生願成佛

CAMPANHA PELO CASAMENTO CIVIL IGUALITÁRIO NO BRASIL

Via AmericaBlog Gay:


From Greg Sargent tonight: 

Jeff Merkley reminds us that he’s an excellent Senator by hammering the White House for punting on the executive order barring discrimination by federal contractors against LGBT workers.

Here's what Greg linked to:

Washington, DC- Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley, the lead sponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, issued the following statement after reports that the Obama Administration won’t take action to bar federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT workers.

“I am deeply disappointed that the Administration will allow companies that accept federal contracts to discriminate against workers on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Such discrimination in the workplace is unacceptable. There is no way that equal opportunity exists for all Americans when such discrimination is tolerated.
“I appreciate the President’s support for ENDA and will keep pushing for legislative action. However, an executive order would be a very constructive step forward and help build momentum to pass the bill. It’s disappointing that the White House is passing on an opportunity to make immediate gains for equal opportunity in America.”
Also, Greg has a post on the White House executive order debacle, warning them to "Stop playing it cute on gay rights":

There’s no denying that Obama and his advisers have a very good overall record on gay rights. But on this issue, and on gay marriage — two hugely important topics to the gay community — there’s too little clarity and too much of a whiff of excuse-making and political calculation.
Bad political calculations. Really bad.

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma April 13, 2012

Every Time a Good Time

The priest Wumen once wrote, 'A hundred flowers blossom in spring, the moon shines in autumn, there is a fresh breeze in summer, and there is snow in winter. If your mind isn’t occupied with trivial matters, every time is a good time.'
- Harada Sekkei Roshi, "Zen Basics"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Megan Mullally & Nick Offerman for Americans for Marriage Equality

Via JMG: Ex-Gay Researcher Repudiates His Own Study: I Had It All Entirely Wrong


The nation's most famous/infamous "ex-gay" researcher today renounced his best known study, work that is heavily cited by anti-gay and Christianist hate groups.
In a move that serves as a significant blow to "ex-gay" programs and anti-gay organizations, Dr. Robert Spitzer repudiated his much-criticized 2001 study that claimed some "highly motivated" homosexuals could go from gay to straight. His retraction occurred in an American Prospect magazine article that hit newsstands today. Spitzer's rejection of his own research, which was originally published in the prestigious Archives of Sexual Behavior, is a devastating blow to "ex-gay" organizations because it decisively eliminates their most potent claim that homosexuality can be reversed through therapy and prayer. "Dr. Spitzer's repudiation of his 2001 study is an earthquake that severely undermines the validity of 'ex-gay' programs," said Truth Wins Out's Executive Director Wayne Besen, who criticized the study in his 2003 book, Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth. "Spitzer just kicked out the final leg from the stool on which the proponents of 'ex-gay' therapy based their already shaky claims of success."
Wayne Besen: "It will be an integrity test to see which groups remove citations of his work in the coming week."


Reposted from Joe