"Witnessing a historic moment is such an odd and exhilarating thing. It
is hard to register the full scope of it because you are chest deep in
it.That is how I feel about the gay-marriage arguments made before the
Supreme Court on Tuesday and Wednesday.However the court rules on
California’s Proposition 8 and the federal
government’s Defense of Marriage Act, there is no denying that something
historic has just happened: an aggrieved group has taken a stand and
given voice once again to the American — and indeed Democratic — ideals
of justice and fairness and freedom." - Charles Blow, writing for the New York Times.
A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Via JMG: Willie Nelson Backs Marriage Equality
In an interview with Texas Monthly
country music legend Willie Nelson displayed the above take on this
week's marriage equality meme and restated his well-known support for
LGBT rights.
Reposted from Joe
TM: For better or worse, you've also grown into a reputation as something of an authority on marriage itself. WN: I've been there and back a few times. It's not perfect, so why should we expect it to be perfect for everybody? TM: But to be clear, you think everybody should be able to get married? WN: Absolutely. I never thought of marriage as something only for men and women. But I'd never marry a guy I didn't like. TM: A lot of people think this battle echoes the fight for civil rights in the sixties. WN: It does. It's about human rights. As humanity, we've come through so many problems from the beginning to here. I guess it finally had to come around to this. This is just another situation, another problem. We'll work it out and move on. TM: And what do you think they'll say when they look back on this? WN: We'll look back and say it was crazy that we ever even argued about thisTexas Monthly concludes the article by posting the above weed-equality avatar and inviting readers to use it themselves.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma March 26, 2013
Changing our Approach to Life
In
Buddhism, the point is not simply to be accomplished meditators but to
change our whole approach to life. Meditation is not merely a useful
technique or mental gymnastic, but part of a balanced system designed to
change the way we go about things at the most fundamental level.
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- Judy Lief, "Is Meditation Enough?"
Via JMG: Bill Gates Will Pay For A Better Condom
Bill Gates has issued a "grand challenge" for a better condom and is offering a $100,000 prize to the start-up that comes up with a "next-generation" version. From the challenge site:
We are looking for a Next Generation Condom that significantly preserves or enhances pleasure, in order to improve uptake and regular use. Additional concepts that might increase uptake include attributes that increase ease-of-use for male and female condoms, for example better packaging or designs that are easier to properly apply. In addition, attributes that address and overcome cultural barriers are also desired. Proposals must (i) have a testable hypothesis, (ii) include an associated plan for how the idea would be tested or validated, and (iii) yield interpretable and unambiguous data in Phase I, in order to be considered for Phase II funding.Several years ago a German company introduced a spray-on condom, but the product was withdrawn because men did not want to wait the full minute for the product to dry. That, and you couldn't really travel with the applicator in your wallet.
Labels: Bill Gates, condoms, safer sex, science
Monday, March 25, 2013
Via JMG: Signorile: It Was Grassroots Activists And Not Gay Inc Who Got Us To SCOTUS
"Whether it was ACT UP organizing civil disobedience at the height of the government ignorance of the AIDS epidemic in the late '80s, or Get Equal members chaining themselves to the White House fence to push the president on 'don't ask, don't tell,' it took brave people who put their reputations, their privacy, their futures, their jobs, their families and sometimes literally their own bodies on the line to push things forward. They withstood attack not just from antigay zealots,the police and the media, but from the gay establishment, telling them to just be good little boys and girls.
"Sometimes these champions weren't even gay themselves but were allies of gay rights as well: When San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom began marrying couples in San Francisco in 2004, the Democratic establishment, and the gay establishment which is very much a part of it, went ballistic. It affected Newsom's political career, but there's no doubt Newsom is a hero of marriage equality whose action was pivotal.
"If not for grass-roots activists pressuring President Obama, gay leaders seemed likely to have given him a pass on 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal in his first term and on defending DOMA in court, let alone moving forward on marriage equality. So let's not forget these brave people as we watch all the talk shows and read the media interviews which highlight the very gay leaders who were often opposed to the exact strategy they're now embracing." - Michelangelo Signorile, writing for the Huffington Post.
Via JMG: Edith Windsor: NYC Pride Grand Marshal
Via press release from New York City Pride:
NYC Pride announced that it has selected and confirmed Edith Windsor, Harry Belafonte and Earl Fowlkes as Grand Marshals for the 44th annual NYC LGBT Pride March. These individuals represent dedication, greatness and inspiration within the LGBT community. Edith Windsor will be taking her fight against DOMA all the way to the Supreme Court after paying more than $360,000 in federal estate taxes upon the death of her partner of 44 years. Harry Belafonte has been a longtime advocate for civil rights and universal equality on a global scale. Earl Fowlkes serves as the President/CEO of the Center for Black Equity, whose mission is to fight for health, social and economic equity in the Black LGBT community.Fantastic selection!
Labels: DOMA, Edith Windsor, NYC Pride, SCOTUS
Via JMG: Signorile: It Was Grassroots Activists And Not Gay Inc Who Got Us To SCOTUS
"Whether it was ACT UP organizing civil disobedience at the height of the government ignorance of the AIDS epidemic in the late '80s, or Get Equal members chaining themselves to the White House fence to push the president on 'don't ask, don't tell,' it took brave people who put their reputations, their privacy, their futures, their jobs, their families and sometimes literally their own bodies on the line to push things forward. They withstood attack not just from antigay zealots,the police and the media, but from the gay establishment, telling them to just be good little boys and girls.
"Sometimes these champions weren't even gay themselves but were allies of gay rights as well: When San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom began marrying couples in San Francisco in 2004, the Democratic establishment, a
Location
nd the gay establishment which is very much a part of it, went
ballistic. It affected Newsom's political career, but there's no doubt
Newsom is a hero of marriage equality whose action was pivotal."If not for grass-roots activists pressuring President Obama, gay leaders seemed likely to have given him a pass on 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal in his first term and on defending DOMA in court, let alone moving forward on marriage equality. So let's not forget these brave people as we watch all the talk shows and read the media interviews which highlight the very gay leaders who were often opposed to the exact strategy they're now embracing." - Michelangelo Signorile, writing for the Huffington Post.
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Saturday, March 23, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma March 23, 2013
Deep Engagement
It
is a misunderstanding to think that enlightenment is some sort of final
escape from life and that the doctrine of the unsatisfactory nature of
samsara obviates any need for involvement with other beings or social
responsibility. Because nirvana is selfless, there is no self that
enjoys a state of being beyond the world. Wisdom and compassion are
ultimately inseparable, wisdom being the complete knowledge of ultimate
selflessness and compassion being the selfless commitment to the
happiness of others.
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- Robert Thurman, "The Politics of Enlightenment"
Friday, March 22, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma March 22, 2013
Taking Risks
In
order to practice, we have to surrender, we have to take a risk.
Otherwise what we’re doing is standing back in order to judge, in order
to feel superior. Often the obstacle is fear: we don’t think we’ll ever
succeed. And so we’d rather stand apart and be cynical, to feel
protected in that way, not having to try.
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- Sharon Salzberg, "Sitting on the Fence"
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Via JMG: Marriage Support Hits Record High
ABC News reports:
Support for gay marriage reached a new high in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, marking a dramatic change in public attitudes on the subject across the past decade. Fifty-eight percent of Americans now say it should be legal for gay and lesbian couples to wed. That number has grown sharply in ABC News/Washington Post polls, from a low of 32 percent in a 2004 survey of registered voters, advancing to a narrow majority for the first time only two years ago, and now up again to a significant majority for the first time.The survey breakdown is here.
Labels: ABC, marriage equality, polls, WaPo
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma
Tricycle Daily Dharma March 20, 2013
Skillful Desire
The
notion of a skillful desire may sound strange, but a mature mind
intuitively pursues the desires it sees as skillful and drops those it
perceives as not. Basic in everyone is the desire for happiness. Every
other desire is a strategy for attaining that happiness.
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- Thanissaro Bhikkhu, "Pushing the Limits"
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma March 19, 2013
The Haven of Meditation
Meditation
is a haven away from the ubiquitous world of self-improvement. It's not
just that there's no such thing as 'bad' meditation, but there's no
such thing as 'good' meditation either. It is what it is.
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- Barry Evans, "The Myth of the Experienced Meditator"
Monday, March 18, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma March 18, 2013
Breaking the Chain of Suffering
Our
suffering was not caused by our parents or grandparents. It was merely
passed down. We are social animals. We grow through modeling. We teach
what we have learned. We act as we have been acted upon. A person who is
not loving has not experienced love. It is not his fault. Realizing
this gives rise to forgiveness. And in Chan we vow that suffering will
stop with us. We will not pass it down.
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- Guo Jun, "A Special Transmission"
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma March 17, 2013
Our Capacity for Joy
Joy
is not something we have to manufacture. It is already in us when we
come into the world. We need only release the layers of contraction and
fear that keep us from it.
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- James Baraz, “Lighten Up!”
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through March 18th, 2013
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Location
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma
Tricycle Daily Dharma March 16, 2013
Being Grateful for our Mistakes
It’s only our mistakes that bring us to the place where we should have been all along.
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- Pico Iyer, "My Bad"
Friday, March 15, 2013
JMG Photo Of The Day :
NBC News reports on today's tribal wedding in Michigan:
Dexter McNamara, chairman of the 4,600-member Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in northern Michigan, wed Tim LaCroix, 53, and Gene Barfield, 60, of Boyne City. After McNamara read the couple's vows and led the ceremony in English, a member of the tribe followed and conducted a tribal ceremony in their language. "How could the world be better? How could the world be better? … I'm just full of joy and happiness and I love my husband," Barfield said. "We’re so unbelievably grateful to the tribe and so full of respect for their position in this.”The couple met 30 years ago when they were stationed at Orlando's Naval Training Center.
UNRELATED: My family briefly lived on that base when we first moved to Orlando. I learned to drive on the deserted access road around the base parade grounds, the one place my mother knew I wouldn't crash into other cars. Not long after that, I was dropping swabbies off at the front gate after meeting them at the Parliament House. Good times.
Labels: gay weddings, LGBT History, Michigan, Native Americans
Via JMG: More Gay Sniping In Venezuela
"If I were gay I'd take ownership of it with pride
and shout it to the four winds and I would have no problem loving whoever I had to love
with my heart. Because the worst homophobe is one who is
gay and discriminates against his own.
It's similar to a foreman in a slave-owner's farm. A black traitor who
whips an African man's back. That's the worst homophobe: He who denies
his identity and discriminates against his equals. We introduced a
constitutional amendment to acknowledge their existence and the supreme
respect the nation has towards our sexually diverse brothers and sisters
- and our opponents and the right called for a vote against that
amendment." - Interim Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, firing back at homophobia charges
by opposition candidate Henrique Capriles by again hinting that
Capriles is gay. At the link, Andres Duque points out that Capriles did
not oppose the above-cited amendment. The election is April 14th.
RELATED: Maduro also claims that Hugo Chavez is now "face-to-face with Christ" and therefore influenced the selection of a South American pope.
Reposted from Joe
RELATED: Maduro also claims that Hugo Chavez is now "face-to-face with Christ" and therefore influenced the selection of a South American pope.
Labels: 2013 elections, Henrique Capriles, Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela
Via Gay Politics Report
- New pope blamed devil for marriage equality push
Pope Francis, elected this week to lead the Roman Catholic Church, once forcefully opposed legislation allowing same-sex couples to marry in his native Argentina, saying the effort was "a move by the father of lies," a biblical reference to the devil. The new pope also once called adoption by gays "discrimination" against children. In 2003, however, then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio said the church should speak with "respect" and "understanding" toward individuals when discussing its teachings on sexuality. LGBT advocates have called on the Church under Francis to tone down its anti-gay rhetoric, which they said harshened under Pope Benedict XVI. The Huffington Post (3/13), The Washington Post/The Fix blog (3/14)
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma March 15, 2013
Keep Your Balance
Just
as a person mired in quicksand cannot help another until he has himself
reached firm ground, our ability to help others depends chiefly on
keeping our own balance.
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- Andrew Olendzki, "Keep Your Balance"
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma March 14, 2013
Recognizing Yourself in Others
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. The gulf between us all
is imaginary, born of insecurity and fear.
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- Stephen Schettini, "What to Expect When You're Reflecting"
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Via JMG: Bad News For Southern Baptists
Right Wing Watch reports that a survey just done by the polling arm of the Southern Baptists Convention shows broad support for LGBT rights across multiple issues. LifeWay Research, however, is focusing on the minority of respondents who believe that businesses should be able to turn away gay people.
“Clearly, Americans believe the prerogative exists for individuals such as clergy or photographers to deny services for same-sex marriage,” said Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research. “However, the level of agreement changes with scenarios that could be interpreted as more basic rights such as housing and employment.” Consistent in all scenarios of the survey, men are more likely than women to agree these individuals should have the right to refuse services, rental agreements or employment -- as are Americans calling themselves “born-again, evangelical or fundamentalist Christian.”Hit the second link for the full survey results.
Labels: LGBT rights, religion, Southern Baptists Convention, surveys
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma March 9, 2013
What Emotions Reveal
When
we meditate with the idea of getting rid of our emotions, we are
actually empowering the very forces that we seek to escape. On the other
hand, when we can use the arising of emotion to examine our underlying
sense of identification, we tap the transformative potential of
sublimation.
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- Mark Epstein, "Shattering the Ridgepole"
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma;
Tricycle Daily Dharma March 6, 2013
How We Speak to Ourselves
The
Buddha saw that we are always engaged in relationships, starting with
that most significant relationship: the one with ourselves. On the
cushion we notice how we speak to ourselves—sometimes with compassion,
sometimes with judgment or impatience. Our words are a powerful medium
with which we can bring happiness or cause suffering.
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- Allan Lokos, "Skillful Speech"
Via Beliefnet - Buddhist Wisdom:
Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Via JMG: PFLAG China Calls For Marriage
The Chinese chapter of PFLAG has issued a public letter calling for marriage equality. The letter has been sent to members of the National People's Congress. China Daily reports:
"Some of our children have been living with their partners for nearly 10 years. They love each other. But they cannot sign their names legally when their partners need an operation," said the letter, which was written by PFLAG China (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays of China) and represented more than 100 gay parents. The organization said it will communicate with deputies from South China's Guangdong province who are able to promote the legalization of gay marriage during the NPC this year. The letter underlines the problems that gay couples in China face, such as adoption, inheritance and purchasing properties. It calls for early amendment of the Marriage Law to include the right of marriage for gays.PFLAG China was founded in 2008.
Labels: China, marriage equality, PFLAG
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma March 5, 2013
Wisdom's Questions
When
it’s time to suffer, you should suffer; when it’s time to cry, you
should cry. Cry completely. Cry until there are no more tears and then
recognize in your exhaustion that you’re alive. The sun still rises and
sets. The seasons come and go. Absolutely nothing remains the same and
that includes suffering. When the suffering ends wisdom begins to raise
the right questions.
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- Seido Ray Ronci, "The Examined Life"
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Gay Poltics Report:
- Nobel Peace Prize winner condemns LGBT elected officials
- Former president of Poland and Nobel Peace Prize winner Lech Walesa last week lashed out at openly LGBT elected officials, saying they deserve to be separated from the rest of the national parliament "behind a wall." "They have to know that they are a minority and must adjust to smaller things," Walesa said during a television interview. Parliamentary leaders responded by temporarily moving two openly gay and transgender members to the front row, a position of honor. The Victory Fund’s Chuck Wolfe called the comments, "as sad as they are outrageous," given Walesa’s history as a champion for democracy. The Huffington Post/The Associated Press (3/3), ABC News/The Associated Press (3/4), GayPolitics.com (3/4)
Friday, March 1, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma March 1, 2013
Basic Goodness
When
we use this term 'basic goodness' it indicates some fundamental
possibility. Life is possible. Situations are possible. And anybody can
start to gain some kind of insight and appreciation of their lives.
That’s what we call 'sacred.' It doesn’t mean something dramatic, but
something very simple. There’s a sacredness to everyone’s life.
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- Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, "A New Place, A New Time"
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