Tricycle Daily Dharma October 15, 2013

What Are You Meditating For?

You may read that meditation enables you to tame your mind and bring it to a state of stability and peace. Despite meditating as a Buddhist for more than 40 years, I have not achieved even a glimpse of this, nor have I ever seen anyone else achieve it. Admittedly, I am not much of a practitioner, but there may also be a more general reason why this is so.

- Douglas Penick, "What Are You Meditating For?"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through October 16, 2013
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member

JMG Quote Of The Day

"I am a white heterosexual male. This trifecta of privilege means that I'm not routinely subjected to prejudice. But for a few minutes I got to walk in the shoes of a gay person in a public place. For no good reason I had had a slur marked over my luggage. I was degraded. I was shamed. I was humiliated. For me, this was only a few minutes of one day of my life. If what I felt for those few minutes is extrapolated out every day over a lifetime, then I can fully understand why our gay friends feel persecuted and why they have such high rates of suicide. It is unacceptable. It is said that words can't hurt you. That it is true. But it isn't the words that hurt, it's the intention behind them. 'I am gay' was not emblazened across my luggage as a celebration. It was used as a pejorative. It was used to humiliate. It was used as a slur." - One Sleepy Dad blogger Aaron, whose suitcase emerged on the Perth airport carousel with the above message. The airline has apologized.

Labels: air travel, Australia, homophobia

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: NORTH CAROLINA: State Attorney General Roy Cooper Endorses Marriage Equality

But he's still going to fight defend the state against the lawsuit brought by the ACLU. Via the Associated Press:

Attorney General Roy Cooper says he supports gay marriage but argues his personal views aren't preventing him from vigorously defending North Carolina's constitutional amendment affirming its prohibition from a lawsuit. Cooper opposed passage of the amendment in 2012 but hadn't addressed his views on sanctioning gay marriage publicly until now. He said over the weekend "I support marriage equality" when asked by The Associated Press about the topic. His announcement worries the socially conservative North Carolina Family Policy Council after it questioned why Cooper was speaking next month at a fundraiser for gay-rights group Equality North Carolina.

Equality North Carolina has responded to Cooper's announcement: "The Attorney General has long been an advocate for equal rights for all people and we applaud him for publicly aligning with a fast-growing majority of North Carolinians who now support the legal relationship recognitions between committed LGBT couples." (Tipped by JMG reader Al)

Labels: ACLU, marriage equality, North Carolina, Roy Cooper

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma October 14, 2013

Taking Suffering Seriously

Taking suffering seriously is an important element of Buddhist practice. To ignore it is to miss a powerful opportunity. Intolerance to suffering motivated the Buddha to find liberation from it.

- Gil Fronsdal, "Living Two Traditions"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through October 15, 2013
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma October 13, 2013

Face to Face

In a sense, all of Buddhist practice takes place here, in this most intimate realm: here, in the family, shoulder to shoulder with fellow workers, beside each other on the cushion. Even alone in a cave, there is no way out of the sense object we call the body. We meet each other face to face, and so have all our teachers and ancestors met each other. In this way have all the Buddhas taught. Hand to sweating hand.

- Sallie Tisdale, “Washing Out Emptiness”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through October 14, 2013
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma October 12, 2013

Recognizing Love

As adults, we need to become newly aware of the love that has infused our lives all along, to turn our attention to it afresh with the eyes of a child. To do so is to become conscious of the tremendous capacity for love that even now permeates our being—to open to it, to be healed by its life-giving energy, and to participate in its power to renew our world. We can awaken to the deepest goodness in ourselves and others. We can learn to recognize and commune with the blessings that have always been pouring forth.

- John Makransky, “Love Is All Around”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through October 13, 2013
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member

Via JMG: US Olympic Committee Adds Sexual Orientation To Non-Discrimination Policy

The United States Olympic Committee today amended its official non-discrimination policies to include sexual orientation.

At his annual address to the USOC Assembly on Friday, CEO Scott Blackmun said the federation is not in the business of trying to influence Russian policy. “The fact that we do not think it is our role to advocate for a change in the Russian law does not mean that we support the law, and we do not,” Blackmun said. The board passed the measure Thursday, a week after chairman Larry Probst, a new member of the International Olympic Committee, said he would support a similar change to the IOC Olympic charter. Currently, it does not mention sexual orientation as a form of discrimination. With the Sochi Olympics less than four months away, Blackmun said the USOC is seeking clarity from the IOC on what will and won’t be regarded as violations of the IOC rule against using the Olympic stage to make political protests or demonstrations.

Blackmun added that the USOC has given American athletes the freedom to express opposition to Russia's anti-gay laws "however they see fit." But that freedom ends when the Games begin. (Tipped by JMG reader Dwight)

Labels: LGBT rights, Russia, Sochi Olympics, USOC

Reposted from Joe

Via HimalayaCrafts / FB:

My religion is to live and die without regret. - HimalayaCrafts

Via JMG: It's National Coming Out Day

 

Is there anybody left for you to come out to?

Labels: Keith Haring, LGBT History, National Coming Out Day

Reposted from Joe

Betty Celebrates All Families 2013

Via JMG... make the jump here to read the comments...

25 Years of National Coming Out Day: Coming Out Still Matters

Via jMG: USPS To Announce Harvey Milk Stamp

From the Facebook page of the Harvey Milk Foundation:

Breaking! It is official! The USPS will confirm this week that my uncle, Harvey Milk will be commemorated on a 2014 US postage stamp. Another first! My deep gratitude to everyone that supported this effort! More details including the image to come via USPS soon! "Hope Will Never Be Silent" and will be on millions of letters soon!

Get ready for some super-sadz!

 

Labels: Harvey Milk, LGBT History, USPS

Reposted from Joe

Gay test? Arab countries to 'detect' and bar homsexuals from entry

More Sarah goes to Church – her Baha’i on Life blog

Sarah goes to Church – her Baha’i on Life blog by justabahai

"Sarah Goes To Church" is an engaging and insightful blog on her independent investigations into different religions. So she went along to find out about the Bahais of Webster Groves, Missouri along with her partner with the dazzling pink hair. Enjoy the read! http://sarahgoestochurch.blogspot.nl/2013/10/bahai-on-life.html And then you'll see that the bottleneck for her is that […]

Read more of this post

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma October 10, 2013

Devotional Practice

In Asia, laypeople generally relate to Buddhism devotionally. But in America, when laypeople engage in these traditions they most often want to relate to them solely as a yogic path, beyond devotion. The problem is that they have all of the problems that lay Buddhists have always had. Trying to force yourself into the yogic path while living with all of the distractions, complications, and follies of the lay life may not always work so well.

- Mark Unno, “The Buddha of Infinite Light and Life”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through October 11, 2013
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member

Via Sarah Goes To Church: AND THAT'S WHEN SARAH STEPPED OFF THE BAHA'I BOAT

Baha'i on Life 

 Sidebar - I'm tired of talking about gay issues at church. My life is like a gay pride parade - it's constantly raining glitter and fabulous. Gay is all around me and it's wonderful. I wouldn't want it any other way. My life is amazing. It's just...I know people are still working through this whole "Is it okay to be gay?" thing and trying to figure out where God fits in with the issue. But I'm really losing my patience and I'm starting to get angry. GOD LOVES EVERYONE NOW SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!! Can we please talk about something other than gayness? Please? PLEASE!!??!!! Anything. Syria. Gun violence. The afterlife. Mysteries of the universe. Tacos. A.N.Y.T.H.I.N.G. 

Gayness follows me. I cannot escape it. Long ago I accepted that I indeed have magical gay powers and everything I touch turns to gay. So, I should have known the Baha'i service would eventually start heading down a gay road...and it did. 

Out of nowhere the conversation turned to David's son, who recently realized he was gay. David was very supportive of his gay son - standing up for his desire to wear skirts and make-up at school. David's son felt for some time that he was transgender - living life as a woman in a man's body - and started expressing himself as such. David beautifully described how God didn't see gender or biological sex. God only sees our soul and our souls are without gender or biological sex. It's not your human body that matters - it's your soul. Up until this point I appreciated everything David had to say about gender and homosexuality.

Then things got sticky...someone brought up the issue of having sex.

Baha'i's are to refrain from sexual activity until they enter into a religious marriage - and the only marriages recognized are marriages between...you guessed it...one man and one women. The Baha'i faith doesn't exactly condemn gay love. They are big believers in legal marriage equality and protecting gay rights.  And you can totally hold hands and talk and snuggle and share your deepest darkest secrets with your same-sex partner, but you can't have sex with him or her. EVER. Not even oral. Nope. Not okay. If you are gay and you follow the Baha'i faith you are expected to practice life long chastity.  

AND THAT'S WHEN SARAH STEPPED OFF THE BAHA'I BOAT.

WHAT?!?!?!!!!! Does God hate gay people? Cause that seems like lifelong punishment for being gay...the way God made them to be. What kind of God does that? Here ya go, here are all these desires and feelings and instincts but DON'T YOU DARE DO ANYTHING WITH THEM OR I WON'T LIKE IT! Also, if God doesn't see the physical body and only cares about the soul then why does God care about gay sex or sex at all for that matter?

No really, why does God care if we have sex? WHY?  See, I don't think God cares. Not even a little bit. I think God could give two shits about where you poke your pickle or who's dusting your closet. I think sex is a good thing - not a curse, or a punishment or a test of will-power. It's a great stress reliever - like all natural Xanax. It's a sleep-aid. It helps you deal with body issues. It can give you energy. It makes you happy. Maybe God created us with these "feel good places" because God wants us to...I don't know...feel good?

There was a woman at the service, a gay woman, who talked about how hard it was to be chaste but  she knew this life was only but a blip and that her devotion would be rewarded in the next life.

This just does not make sense to me. AT ALL. This Earthly life is but a test for the next one? Baha'i's don't believe in a literal hell or heaven, but instead gauge heaven and hell by your closeness with God. So, apparently God is King Candy and having gay sex is like drawing that horrible gum drop guy when you are half way through with Candyland (the children's game) and are now even further away from a heavenly ice- cream palace finish. It helps me if you can explain things in preschool terms. Candyland exhausts me and I really think God can do better.

After the service the nice man sitting next to me talked about how having standards is so important. I questioned which standards you are supposed to follow because lately I've found everyone is claiming different standards as "God's". He was very understanding and explained that the great thing about Baha'u'llah is that he was truly a messenger of God and spoke the truth.

Uh huh. Right. Thanks. Gotta run. I need a drink - which you do not believe in. 

 

This sex loving booze drinking spiritual enthusiast left church and headed straight to Cherokee street for some authentic Mexican cuisine and a delicious homemade margarita. I said a quiet prayer for all the gay people around the world who have been led to believe they shouldn't live a happy and full and SEXUAL life because of their orientation. I wish you all many wonderful orgasms and lots and lots of post-coital snuggles.

 

I'm so glad I finally made it back to church.

 

Cheers!

Make the jump here to read the full article at Sarah Goes to Church

 

JMG Quote Of The Day - Rev. Gary Hall

"In its wisdom, the church came to its senses and labeled both racism and sexism as sinful. And now we find ourselves at the last barrier—call that barrier homophobia, call it heterosexism. We must now have the courage to take the final step and call homophobia and heterosexism what they are. They are sin. Homophobia is a sin. Heterosexism is a sin. Shaming people for whom they love is a sin. Shaming people because their gender identity doesn’t fit neatly into your sense of what it should be is a sin. Our job, as Christians, is not only to proclaim that Gospel. Our job is to live it. And if we are faithful in proclaiming and living it, today’s generation of LGBT youth will thrive and grow and take their places around this table, with Jesus, as we bless, forgive, heal, and love the world. Amen." - Rev. Gary Hall, chief ecclesiastical leader of the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, in a sermon marking the 15th anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepard.

Labels: Gary Hall, Matthew Shepard, religion

Reposted from Joe

Jimmy Fallon, Miley Cyrus & The Roots Sing "We Can't Stop" (A Cappella)

Via JMG: Activists To IOC: Uphold Principle 6

Athlete Ally and All Out have joined forces to urge the International Olympic Committee to uphold its own Principle 6, which bans discrimination at the Olympic Games. The groups intend to make Principle 6 into a method of denouncing Russia's anti-gay laws without actually risking the arrests of attendees or the medals of supporting athletes at the Sochi Games. Frank Bruni explains at the New York Times:

Athlete Ally, working with a company called the Idea Brand and the professional football player Brendon Ayanbadejo, came up with and developed the notion of using the very name of that clause, along with a logo or logos that allude to it, as a rebuke of Russia’s laws and a method for athletes and fans to express their convictions. The symbol and the syllables P6, perhaps worn as a sticker, perhaps woven into clothing, could evolve into something along the lines of a Livestrong bracelet: a ubiquitous motif that doesn’t spell out a whole philosophy but has an unmistakable meaning and message. [snip] It’s an attempt to take full advantage of the world’s attention to the Winter Games without putting athletes at risk of censure. Maybe they hold up six fingers. Maybe their outfits include something with a P6 logo, several designs for which are being considered.

Read more about the Principle 6 campaign at the Athlete Ally site. Their petition is at the link.  Samples of the proposed Principle 6 logos are at the Times link.

 

Labels: activism, Athlete Ally, LGBT rights, Principle 6, Russia, Sochi Olympics, sports

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma October 9, 2013

Faith in Mind

Reject existence and you fall into it, Pursue emptiness and you move away from it. With many words and thoughts You miss what is right before you. Cutting off words and thought Nothing remains unpenetrated.

- Jianzhi Sengcan, "Faith in Mind"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through October 10, 2013
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member

We Choose to be Gay: Suna: Prof. Cüneyt Can ein Interview mit einem Bahai

Via Karmapa / FB:

I usually consider the planet to be a living system. I think of it like the mother earth, as being a loving, gentle goddess. - Karmapa

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma October 8, 2013

A Serious Engagement

When we engage seriously with the Buddhist tradition we learn other ways of construing the world, other stories we can tell about the way things are, and these can be cogent, coherent, and compelling in their own way. This is not to argue for a naive acceptance of Buddhist epistemology and cosmology. But we won't see what Buddhism has to offer if, at the outset, we twist it out of shape to make it conform to contemporary norms.

- Robert Sharf, "Losing Our Religion"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through October 9, 2013
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma October 7, 2013

Spacious Mind

Noticing the space around people and things provides a different way of looking at them, and developing this spacious view is a way of opening oneself. When one has a spacious mind, there is room for everything. When one has a narrow mind, there is room for only a few things.

- Ajahn Sumedho, “Noticing Space”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through October 8, 2013
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member

Via JMG: CALIFORNIA: Governor Signs Bill Allowing Children More Than Two Legal Parents

After vetoing a similar measure last year, California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill which allows children to have more than two legal parents.

Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) said he authored the measure to address the changes in family structure in California, including situations in which same-sex couples have a child with an opposite-sex biological parent. The law will allow the courts to recognize three or more legal parents so that custody and financial responsibility can be shared by all those involved in raising a child, Leno said. "Courts need the ability to recognize these changes so children are supported by the adults that play a central role in loving and caring for them," Leno said. "It is critical that judges have the ability to recognize the roles of all parents so that no child has to endure separation from one of the adults he or she has always known as a parent."

Anti-gay groups, of course, are furious about the bill.

Labels: California, gay families, gay parenting, Mark Leno

posted by Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma October 6, 2013

Forgive

Forgiveness is really not about someone’s harmful behavior; it’s about our own relationship with our past. When we begin the work of forgiveness, it is primarily a practice for ourselves.

- Gina Sharpe, “The Power of Forgiveness”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through October 7, 2013
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member

Via JMG: Married

 

The gay Marine whose homecoming kiss went globally viral last year got married to his boyfriend yesterday in a small town the Finger Lakes area of western New York. Hit the link for more.

Labels: gay weddings, military, New York state, USMC

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma October 4, 2013

Nothing to Get, Everything to Give

On the spiritual path, there's nothing to get, and everything to get rid of. Obviously, the first thing to let go of is trying to 'get' love, and instead to give it. That's the secret of the spiritual path. How can we give ourselves? By not holding back. By not wanting for ourselves. If we want to be loved, we are looking for a support system. If we want to love, we are looking for spiritual growth.

- Ayya Khema, "What Love Is"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through October 5, 2013
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member

Via JMG: State Department Updates Russia LGBT Travel Warning, Cites "Propanganda" Ban

Source.

Labels: Obama administration, Russia, State Department

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Germany Unveils Rainbow Olympic Outfits

 

German athletes will wear the above rainbow-hued uniforms at the Sochi Olympics, but officials insist the design is not intended as a commentary on Russia's anti-gay laws. Der Spiegel reports:

The uniforms were created by German designer Willy Bogner, in cooperation with Adidas and the shoe company Sioux. Bogner claims they were an homage to the aesthetics of the 1972 Munich Summer Games and said he wanted to create a "celebratory design, inspired by the great atmosphere of the times." It conveniently comes in the wake of Munich's announcement that it will bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics, which, if it is successful, would make it the first city ever to have hosted both the winter and summer games.
But other commentators have seen a more explicitly political message in the uniforms. On Twitter, German users interpreted the uniforms "as a rainbow pattern" and as a "clear political statement." "Looks great, like a gay and lesbian pride parade," wrote one user. "Extremely hideous -- but a well-intentioned move supporting the rights of gays and lesbians," wrote another. The official description, which claims the outfits "were created using colors and materials specially tailored to the conditions in Sochi" seemed to, in ambiguous fashion, support that interpretation.

The German Olympic Sports Confederation insists that the design was finalized "before the Russian protests had even begun." (Tipped by JMG reader Elroy)

Labels: Germany, Russia, Sochi Olympics, sports

Reposted from Joe

Lewis Black Skewers Barilla Chairman for Anti-Gay Remarks

Via the Advocate: Two Same-Sex Couples Married in Colombia

After a 2011 court ruling that ordered the Colombian Congress to create equal relationship recognition for same-sex couples, gay and lesbian Colombians are finally tying the knot.

BY Sunnivie Brydum

September 30 2013 5:22 PM ET

 

26

Two same-sex couples have become the first to be legally married in Colombia, reports LGBT Latino blog Blabbeando. 

Colombian attorney and LGBT advocate Germán Humerto Rincón Perfetti announced Wednesday that a civil court judge had declared Julio Alberto Cantor Borbón and William Alberto Castro Franco "united in civil matrimony" following a September 20 ceremony, according to Blabbeando. 

On Monday, the nation's leading newspaper published a front-page article announcing the legal marriage of Elizabeth Castillo and Claudia Zea, who were also granted a marriage license by a different civil court judge Wednesday. 

"I join you in a legitimate civil matrimony with all of the prerogatives and rights that civil law grants you and the same obligations imposed by civil law," said the judge before he pronounced the couple married, according to Blabbeando's translation of the Spanish-language article from El Espectador. The newspaper's headline read "Marriage Equality Is a Right" and featured a picture of the newlywed couple beaming. 

Colombia has been on a long journey to embracing marriage equality, but last week's rulings seem to clear the way for same-sex couples throughout the nation to begin receiving marriage licenses. 

In 2011, Colombia's Constitutional Court ruled that gay and lesbian couples could legally register their relationships beginninh June 20, 2013, if the nation's lawmakers failed to extend them the same benefits to them guaranteed to heterosexual married couples. When Congress failed to present any kind of marriage equality legislation, same-sex couples in Colombia began filing June 21 to register their relationships. But at that time, it was still unclear whether those relationships would be recognized as marriages or some other form of union. 

Marriage equality advocates with the LGBT group Colombia Diversa reported that dozens of same-sex couples had attempted to register their relationships with local clerks since the June 20 deadline passed but were issued a document declaring their "solemn union," according to Blabbeando. Colombia Diversa argued that there is no legal structure to recognize a "solemn union" in Colombia's family code, and since Congress failed to meet the deadline set by the Constitutional Court, same-sex couples should automatically be allowed to marry, as it's the only way to guarantee them the same rights and privileges afforded to opposite-sex couples. 

Blabbeando notes that the Colombian inspector general has been a vocal opponent of marriage equality, fighting the court ruling so vigorously that the Constitutional Court itself scolded his staff twice and told Inspector General Alejandro Ordoñez that his office had no legal right to interfere in these cases. 

Colombia joins a handful of other Latin American nations that embrace marriage equality, including Argentina, Uruguay, and many regions in Brazil. Some states in Mexico, including the nation's capital, Mexico City, also perform same-sex marriages, and the nation's highest court ruled in 2010 that same-sex marriages performed in marriage equality jurisdictions must be recognized and honored throughout Mexico. Last year, the Mexican Supreme Court struck down a ban on same-sex marriage in the southern state of Oaxaca, effectively changing that state's civil code to say that marriage takes place "between two people" rather than "between a man and a woman." 

 

Tags: Colombia

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma October 3, 2013

Letting Go

Letting go of fixation is effectively a process of learning to be free, because every time we let go of something, we become free of it. Whatever we fixate upon limits us because fixation makes us dependent upon something other than ourselves. Each time we let go of something, we experience another level of freedom.

- Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche, “Letting Go of Spiritual Experience”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through October 4, 2013
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member

Via Waves of Gratitude\ FB:

Waves of Gratitude shared Living Life, Making Choices's photo.

Living Life, Making Choices

 

 

I wish I knew who to give photo credit to for this... it's awesome. Anything is possible, indeed - we just have to believe!

Via FB:

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma October 2, 2013

The Art of Living

Vipassana teaches the art of dying: how to die peacefully, harmoniously. And one learns the art of dying by learning the art of living: how to become master of the present moment.

- S. N. Goenka, "S. N. Goenka, Pioneer of Secular Meditation Movement, Dies at 90"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through October 3, 2013
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member

Via JMG: Olympian Bode Miller Slams Russia

Five-time Olympic skiing medalist Bode Miller didn't hold back yesterday when the Associated Press asked him about Russia's anti-gay laws.

"'I think it's absolutely embarrassing that there's countries and there's people who are that intolerant and that ignorant," he said Monday, one of the few athletes willing to take a stand on the subject at the U.S. Olympic media summit featuring Sochi hopefuls. 'But it's not the first time," Miller said. "We've been dealing with human-rights issues probably since there were humans." At 35 and with five Olympic medals to his credit, Miller is trying for his fifth Winter Games. He has, over the years, built a reputation as an unconventional firebrand, unafraid to state his opinion on sports, skiing or society in general. He said the Russian law puts athletes in an awkward position. "I think it's unfortunate when they get stuffed together because there are politics in sports and athletics," Miller said. "They always are intertwined, even though people try to keep them separate or try to act like they're separate. Asking an athlete to go somewhere and compete and be a representative of a philosophy and ... then tell them they can't express their views or they can't say what they believe, I think is pretty hypocritical or unfair."

Labels: Russia, Sochi Olympics, sports, straight allies

Reposted from Joe

Young boy pops Gillard the question on gay marriage

Via JMG: HomoQuotable - Ian McKellen

"As a gay participant in the opening ceremony of the London Paralympics in 2012, I am angered by the International Olympics Committee's announcement that harsh Russian anti-gay laws do not transgress its own Sixth Fundamental Principle of Olympism that 'any form of discrimination is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic movement.'  In Russia, it is now effectively illegal to speak about homosexuality in public. That means that openly gay visitors to Russia, including Olympians, are only welcome if they bring their closets with them. I agree with the Human Rights Campaign that, 'The IOC has completely neglected its responsibility to athletes, corporate sponsors, and fans.'" - Ian McKellen, writing on his Facebook page.

Labels: HomoQuotable, Ian McKellen, IOC, Russia

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma October 1, 2013

Immediate Gratification

When you analyze it, the motivation to 'just feel good right now' is really just indulging our desires. The motivation to immediately gratify desire is what has driven most of our actions throughout our beginningless sojourn in samsara—all it has accomplished is to perpetuate our confusion, pain, and habitual inability to pull ourselves out of this mess. This is precisely the problem that Buddhism was invented to solve.

- David Patt,“Who’s Zoomin’ Who? The Commodification of Buddhism in the American Marketplace”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through October 2, 2013
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member