Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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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.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
Monday, April 8, 2013
Via JMG: REPORT: Gay Couples Will Not Be Included In Immigration Reform Bill
The director of Immigration Equality said today that she does not expect that gay couples will in included in the immigration reform bill about to be introduced in the US Senate. Michael Lavers reports at Washington Blade:
“We are not expecting LGBT families to be included in the Gang of 8 bill,” she told the Washington Blade during a conference call ahead of a rally in support of comprehensive immigration reform on Wednesday that is expected to draw tens of thousands of people to the U.S. Capitol. “That in our minds means that of course the bill is incomplete.” Tiven’s comments come roughly three months after President Obama publicly unveiled an immigration reform proposal that includes bi-national gay couples.Rep. Jerrold Nadler confirmed to the Blade that "LGBT-specific language will likely not appear in the bill. Nadler: "This is disappointing but not particularly surprising."
Labels: immigration, Immigration Equality, Senate
Via JMG: OREGON: Haters Lose Bid To Rewrite Marriage Ban Ballot Measure
Oregon's Attorney General has rejected the "absurd" bid of an anti-gay group to rewrite a proposed 2014 ballot measure to overturn that state's ban on same-sex marriage.
The attorney general's office on Friday announced its final wording on a ballot title -- and it rejected the legal argument from an attorney for the Oregon Family Council that the title should reflect the notion that the initiative would require every governmental agency in Oregon to issue marriage licenses. Basic Rights Oregon, the gay-rights group sponsoring the initiative, has rejected that argument as absurd. It says county clerks would continue to be the only ones issuing marriage licenses if this initiative is approved by voters.Here is the ballot language approved by the state: "Amends Constitution: Recognizes marriage between couples of same gender; protects clergy/religious institutions' refusal to perform marriages." Basic Rights Oregon has until July 2014 to collect 116,000 petition signatures.
Labels: 2014 elections, marriage equality, Oregon
Via JMG: Dan Savage On Margaret Thatcher
"I was living in London—waiting tables, seeing plays, stealing silver, pining after British boys—when Section 28 was being debated. The law prompted Ian McKellen to come out of the closet and it prompted some righteous lesbian parents to tag Thatcher billboard with "Lesbians Mums Aren't Pretending." Coming at the height of the AIDS epidemic, Section 28 instilled panic. It felt like this law might the first of many anti-gay laws to come. Instead Section 28 was the beginning of the end for political homophobia in the UK. Because McKellen wasn't the only gay person to come out in protest. And you know what happens when gay people come out. So thanks for that, Maggie." - Dan Savage, writing for Slog.
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma April 8, 2013
Putting Your Body to Good Use
What
should you do to put your body to good use? Most people have no idea. A
craftsman who borrows some tools will try to make the best possible use
of them while they are available. Your body, too, is actually on loan
to you for the time being, for the brief period left before it is taken
back from you by death. Had you better not use it to practice the dharma
while you can?
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- Dilgo Khyentse, "The Day After You Die"
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Vua JMG: Tenth Brazilian State Legalizes Marriage
The Brazilian state of Parana has become the tenth in that nation to legalize same-sex marriage.
According to a count by the office of Rep. Jean Wyllys, Brazil's first openly gay lawmaker, ten states out of twenty-seven now automatically convert such unions into marriage, they include: Alagoas, Bahia, Ceara, Sergipe, Espiritu Santo, Piaui, Sao Paulo, Parana, Mato Grosso do Sul and the Federal District.Marriages conducted in those ten states are recognized nationwide. (Via Zack Ford)
Labels: Brazil, marriage equality, South America
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma April 6, 2013
An Ever-Present Refuge
Love
and compassion make us feel safe because they express the safety of
their source—the deep buddhanature within us, the unchanging inner space
of primal awareness that cannot be harmed. By receiving unconditional
love and compassion from those who’ve awakened before us, we sense that
we too can relax into the very source of such love in the unconditioned
nature of our minds, our buddhanature.
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- John Makransky, "Aren't We Right to be Angry?"
Friday, April 5, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
April 5, 2013
Seeing Possibility in Suffering
Being
intolerant of suffering, in the Buddhist sense, does not mean that we
reject it or fight against it. It means that we stop and look at it, not
morbidly, but with faith in the possibility of living a joyful and
peaceful life.
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- Gil Fronsdal, "Living Two Traditions"
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma
Tricycle Daily Dharma April 4, 2013
Lighten Your Load
Consider
the possibility, and I am only saying consider the possibility, that
maybe nothing is unforgivable. Maybe there is a way to find forgiveness
even for what we have believed for so long to be unforgivable. Explore
this mindfully.
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- Allan Lokos, “Lighten Your Load”
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Wednesday, April 3, 2013
JMG Quote Of The Day - Kobe Bryant
"Of course Magic is supportive of and loves his son. Why should anyone be surprised? What I can't tolerate is a lack of tolerance." - NBA superstar Kobe Bryant, responding to yesterday's TMZ story about Magic Johnson's support for his gay son. TMZ ponders: "The strong implication -- tolerance is not just limited to parents and their kids, but to pro athletes whose teammates may soon come out of the closet. In case you aren't reading between the lines -- given Kobe's stature, his statement could have a huge impact on athletes coming out."
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma April 3, 2013
Nirvana Right Now
Maybe
we think that nirvana is a place where there are no problems, no more
delusions. Maybe we think nirvana is something very beautiful, something
unattainable. We always think nirvana is something very different from
our own life. But we must really understand that it is right here, right
now.
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- Maezumi Roshi, “Appreciate Your Life”
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Via JMG: Uruguay Approves Same-Sex Marriage!
Moments
ago the Uruguay Senate approved its marriage equality bill by a vote of
23-8. The bill now returns to the nation's lower legislative chamber to
reconcile a minor change. President Jose Mujica has promised to sign
the bill and marriages should commence within a few months. ¡Felicidades
Uruguay!
UPDATE: Freedom To Marry cheers via press release.
Reposted from Joe
UPDATE: Freedom To Marry cheers via press release.
“Freedom to Marry applauds the people of Uruguay and their government for moving forward into a future in which all loving and committed couples can share in the freedom to marry and the meaning and protections marriage brings to families. Uruguay’s vote today to move past civil union to marriage itself, Argentina’s enactment of the freedom to marry in 2010 and the Mexico Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling last month in favor of the freedom to marry -- citing the U.S Supreme Court cases of Brown v. Board of Education and Loving v. Virginia -- all are inspirations and examples decision-makers here in the United States, including our Supreme Court justices, should swiftly follow to get the U.S. where it needs to be.”
Labels: marriage equality, South America, Uruguay
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma April 2, 2013
Spacious Mind
Most
of our suffering comes from habitual thinking. If we try to stop it out
of aversion to thinking, we can’t; we just go on and on and on. So the
important thing is not to get rid of thought, but to understand it. And
we do this by concentrating on the space in the mind, rather than on the
thought.
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- Ajahn Sumedho, “Noticing Space”
Monday, April 1, 2013
Via JMG: Uruguay To Advance Marriage Tomorrow
Rex Wockner passes along this email from Uruguay's LGBT rights group.
The Uruguayan Senate will vote the marriage equality bill tomorrow, Tuesday, April 2. As you may remember, the bill had been passed by the Chamber of Deputies in December, but the Senate has modified it. According to our Constitution, those modifications will have to be confirmed by the Deputies for the bill to be finally approved. The modifications are minor and do not affect the bill's essence. We know the bill will be passed by both Chambers by an overwhelming majority, and in a speedy way. After this Tuesday's vote by the Senate, the lower chamber will probably vote and pass it in one or two weeks (all in April). Once passed, the government has up to 90 days to regulate it, i.e., to make the necessary changes in red tape to implement it. Hopefully, the first couples will be getting married in July/August.Zoom, zoom, zoom.
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