“Prayer
just for itself, just for the act of praying . . . is a way of
connecting to the deep ocean of being that we all are. It is a way of
offering our bows, our incense, our flowers, to the ineffable reality of
the moment, to the absolute reality of this experience.”
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.
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Via WGB: New York Man Accused of Torching Gay Pride Bench
Police say they've have charged a 47-year-old man with a hate crime for torching an outdoor bench that had been painted in rainbow colors by members of a northern New York group to show support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
Authorities in Ogdensburg say Francis Solis was charged Wednesday with arson and criminal mischief as a hate crime. Full story here!
WGB :: I am so glad he got caught but I am not surprised he did this after reading THIS ARTICLE.
Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 12/09/201
Project Everyone - Metas Globais
4. EDUCAÇÃO DE QUALIDADE
"Uma completa renovação na educação se faz necessária, pois é através dela que um novo ser humano, mais consciente e responsável, surgirá. A criança é sábia e traz com ela dons e talentos a serem compartilhados com o mundo. Nós precisamos criar espaço para que isso aconteça, incentivando o empoderamento da criança. Para isso, uma educação baseada em valores humanos espirituais precisa se tornar política pública.”
4. EDUCAÇÃO DE QUALIDADE
"Uma completa renovação na educação se faz necessária, pois é através dela que um novo ser humano, mais consciente e responsável, surgirá. A criança é sábia e traz com ela dons e talentos a serem compartilhados com o mundo. Nós precisamos criar espaço para que isso aconteça, incentivando o empoderamento da criança. Para isso, uma educação baseada em valores humanos espirituais precisa se tornar política pública.”
Project Everyone - Global Goals
4. QUALITY EDUCATION
"We are in need of a complete educational reform, for it is through education that a new kind of human being will emerge, more conscious and responsible. Children are wise; and they bring to the world gifts and talents to be shared. We need to create space for this by encouraging people to empower children. For this to occur, an education based on spiritual human values must become public policy."
Project Everyone - Global Goals
4. EDUCACIÓN DE CALIDAD
"Una completa renovación en la educación es necesaria, ya que es a través de ella que un nuevo ser humano, más consciente y responsable, surgirá. El niño es sabio y trae dones y talentos a ser compartidos con el mundo. Precisamos crear espacio para que esto suceda, incentivando el empoderamiento del niño. Para ello, una educación basada en valores humanos espirituales precisa convertirse en política pública.”
4. QUALITY EDUCATION
"We are in need of a complete educational reform, for it is through education that a new kind of human being will emerge, more conscious and responsible. Children are wise; and they bring to the world gifts and talents to be shared. We need to create space for this by encouraging people to empower children. For this to occur, an education based on spiritual human values must become public policy."
Project Everyone - Global Goals
4. EDUCACIÓN DE CALIDAD
"Una completa renovación en la educación es necesaria, ya que es a través de ella que un nuevo ser humano, más consciente y responsable, surgirá. El niño es sabio y trae dones y talentos a ser compartidos con el mundo. Precisamos crear espacio para que esto suceda, incentivando el empoderamiento del niño. Para ello, una educación basada en valores humanos espirituales precisa convertirse en política pública.”
Via Te Greko - konstantin dimopoulos / FB:
Konstantin Dimopoulos’s The Barbed Wire Buddha is a fresh addition to his thought-provoking public art interventions in urban and landscape environments, yet it is not simply just a tool for public engagement. The sculpture also raises key formalist art questions of materiality and technique. At Conny Dietzschold Gallery, Sydney Contemporary.
Today's Daily Dharma: Violence Begets Violence
“Hostilities
aren't stilled through hostility, regardless. Hostilities are stilled
through non-hostility: this, an unending truth.”
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Today's Daily Dharma: Doubt Brings Depth.
“Doubt
in itself is not [a] problem. The problem comes from identifying with
the doubting 'me' and believing that this is who we really are. But if
seen for what it is, doubt can even be a positive force in practice.
Provided we don’t get lost in the negative beliefs that arise with it,
it can lead to a deepening of our quest.”
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Friday, September 11, 2015
Via Tricycle: Simply Stop
Simply Stop
Thich Nhat Hanh
elucidates the no-frills wisdom of 9th-century Chinese Zen teacher
Master Linji, founder of the Rinzai school of Zen.
Thich Nhat Hanh
elucidates the no-frills wisdom of 9th-century Chinese Zen teacher
Master Linji, founder of the Rinzai school of Zen.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Filed in Zen (Chan), Insight (vipassana)
Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 11/09/201
Project Everyone - Objetivos Globais
3. SAÚDE E BEM ESTAR
“Aprendemos a buscar saúde fora de nós, e assim buscamos soluções para nossas mazelas na medicina. Normalmente não cultivamos uma vida saudável, simplesmente tratamos dos sintomas que surgem através das soluções criadas pela ciência. Mas a ciência não tem tido sucesso em construir uma sociedade saudável porque desconsidera a existência daquilo que é a fonte da cura. Ela desconsidera a existência do espírito.”
3. SAÚDE E BEM ESTAR
“Aprendemos a buscar saúde fora de nós, e assim buscamos soluções para nossas mazelas na medicina. Normalmente não cultivamos uma vida saudável, simplesmente tratamos dos sintomas que surgem através das soluções criadas pela ciência. Mas a ciência não tem tido sucesso em construir uma sociedade saudável porque desconsidera a existência daquilo que é a fonte da cura. Ela desconsidera a existência do espírito.”
Project Everyone -Objetivos Globales
3. BUENA SALUD
“Aprendemos a buscar salud fuera de nosotros, y así buscamos soluciones a nuestros males en la medicina. Normalmente no cultivamos una vida saludable, simplemente tratamos los síntomas que surgen a través de soluciones creadas por la ciencia. Pero la ciencia no ha tenido éxito en construir una sociedad saludable, porque no considera la existencia de aquello que es la fuente de la cura. Ella desconsidera la existencia del espíritu.”
Project Everyone - Global Goals
3. GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
“We have learned to seek health outside of us, turning to the medical field to cure all our illnesses. Instead of cultivating a healthy lifestyle from the start, we end up focusing on just treating the symptoms that arise. Even with all the solutions science gives us, we are still not a healthy society because we disregard the source of all healing, which is the spirit.”
3. BUENA SALUD
“Aprendemos a buscar salud fuera de nosotros, y así buscamos soluciones a nuestros males en la medicina. Normalmente no cultivamos una vida saludable, simplemente tratamos los síntomas que surgen a través de soluciones creadas por la ciencia. Pero la ciencia no ha tenido éxito en construir una sociedad saludable, porque no considera la existencia de aquello que es la fuente de la cura. Ella desconsidera la existencia del espíritu.”
Project Everyone - Global Goals
3. GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
“We have learned to seek health outside of us, turning to the medical field to cure all our illnesses. Instead of cultivating a healthy lifestyle from the start, we end up focusing on just treating the symptoms that arise. Even with all the solutions science gives us, we are still not a healthy society because we disregard the source of all healing, which is the spirit.”
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 10/09/2015
Projeto Todos - Metas Globais
2.FOME ZERO
"Todo filho dessa Terra tem direito de matar sua fome e saciar sua sede com os alimentos que ela própria oferece. A Terra é uma manifestação da Mãe Universal que dá tudo em abundância. E nenhuma mãe quer ver seus filhos passarem fome. Porém, por conta do medo da escassez e da carência, nós transformamos a Mãe em uma mercadoria. Tiramos tudo dela sem dar nada em troca. Precisamos resgatar nossa relação com a Mãe, porque enquanto abusarmos dela, haverá fome neste planeta.”
"Todo filho dessa Terra tem direito de matar sua fome e saciar sua sede com os alimentos que ela própria oferece. A Terra é uma manifestação da Mãe Universal que dá tudo em abundância. E nenhuma mãe quer ver seus filhos passarem fome. Porém, por conta do medo da escassez e da carência, nós transformamos a Mãe em uma mercadoria. Tiramos tudo dela sem dar nada em troca. Precisamos resgatar nossa relação com a Mãe, porque enquanto abusarmos dela, haverá fome neste planeta.”
Proyecto Todos – Objetivos Globales
2. HAMBRE CERO
"Todo hijo de esta Tierra tiene el derecho de quitar su hambre y saciar su sed con los alimentos que ella misma ofrece. La Tierra es una manifestación de la Madre Universal que lo da todo en abundancia. Y ninguna madre quiere ver a sus hijos pasar hambre. Sin embargo, debido al miedo a la escasez y a la carencia, nosotros transformamos a la Madre en una mercancía. Le sacamos todo sin dar nada a cambio. Precisamos rescatar nuestra relación con la Madre porque mientras abusemos de ella, habrá hambre en este planeta.”
Project Everyone - Global Goals
2. ZERO HUNGER
“Every child on Earth has the right to satiate their hunger and quench their thirst with the nourishment that the earth itself provides. The earth is an embodiment of the Universal Mother who gives everything with abundance. No mother wants to see her children starve. Due to the fear of scarcity or that something will be lacking, we have turned the Mother into a commodity. We took everything from Her without giving anything in return. We need to rescue our relationship with the Mother, for as long as we continue abusing Her, hunger will prevail on this planet.”
2. HAMBRE CERO
"Todo hijo de esta Tierra tiene el derecho de quitar su hambre y saciar su sed con los alimentos que ella misma ofrece. La Tierra es una manifestación de la Madre Universal que lo da todo en abundancia. Y ninguna madre quiere ver a sus hijos pasar hambre. Sin embargo, debido al miedo a la escasez y a la carencia, nosotros transformamos a la Madre en una mercancía. Le sacamos todo sin dar nada a cambio. Precisamos rescatar nuestra relación con la Madre porque mientras abusemos de ella, habrá hambre en este planeta.”
Project Everyone - Global Goals
2. ZERO HUNGER
“Every child on Earth has the right to satiate their hunger and quench their thirst with the nourishment that the earth itself provides. The earth is an embodiment of the Universal Mother who gives everything with abundance. No mother wants to see her children starve. Due to the fear of scarcity or that something will be lacking, we have turned the Mother into a commodity. We took everything from Her without giving anything in return. We need to rescue our relationship with the Mother, for as long as we continue abusing Her, hunger will prevail on this planet.”
Today's Daily Dharma: Words Lose Their Meaning
Words Lose Their Meaning
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Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 09/09/2015
Projeto Todos - Metas Globais
1. FIM DA POBREZA
"O sentimento de pobreza é um dos mais nocivos para a alma humana. É um dos principais alimentos para a insegurança. Sentimentos como impotência, fracasso e exclusão estão na mesma frequência. Porém, o desenvolvimento da consciência só é possível se houver autoconfiança. Por isso é preciso acabar com a pobreza (interna e externa). Isso precisa acontecer de dentro para fora, através do autoconhecimento; e de fora para dentro, através de políticas públicas que estejam alinhadas com esse propósito."
1. FIM DA POBREZA
"O sentimento de pobreza é um dos mais nocivos para a alma humana. É um dos principais alimentos para a insegurança. Sentimentos como impotência, fracasso e exclusão estão na mesma frequência. Porém, o desenvolvimento da consciência só é possível se houver autoconfiança. Por isso é preciso acabar com a pobreza (interna e externa). Isso precisa acontecer de dentro para fora, através do autoconhecimento; e de fora para dentro, através de políticas públicas que estejam alinhadas com esse propósito."
Project Everyone - Global Goals
1. NO POVERTY / FIM DA POBREZA
"The feeling of poverty is one of the most harmful sentiments for the human soul. Poverty mentality feeds a sense of insecurity. This mentality also comes with feelings of helplessness, of failure and exclusion. The development of consciousness is only possible if there is trust. Ending poverty, both within and without, is crucial; it happens from the inside-out through self-knowledge, and from the outside-in through public policies that are aligned with this purpose."
Proyecto Todos – Objetivos Globales
1.FIN DE LA POBREZA
"El sentimiento de pobreza es uno de los más nocivos para el alma humana. Es uno de los principales alimentos para la inseguridad. Sentimientos como impotencia, fracaso y exclusión están en la misma frecuencia. Sin embargo, el desarrollo de la conciencia solo es posible si hubiese autoconfianza. Por eso es necesario acabar con la pobreza (interna y externa). Esto necesita suceder de adentro hacia afuera, a través del autoconocimiento; y de afuera hacia dentro, a través de políticas públicas que estén alineadas con este propósito."
1. NO POVERTY / FIM DA POBREZA
"The feeling of poverty is one of the most harmful sentiments for the human soul. Poverty mentality feeds a sense of insecurity. This mentality also comes with feelings of helplessness, of failure and exclusion. The development of consciousness is only possible if there is trust. Ending poverty, both within and without, is crucial; it happens from the inside-out through self-knowledge, and from the outside-in through public policies that are aligned with this purpose."
Proyecto Todos – Objetivos Globales
1.FIN DE LA POBREZA
"El sentimiento de pobreza es uno de los más nocivos para el alma humana. Es uno de los principales alimentos para la inseguridad. Sentimientos como impotencia, fracaso y exclusión están en la misma frecuencia. Sin embargo, el desarrollo de la conciencia solo es posible si hubiese autoconfianza. Por eso es necesario acabar con la pobreza (interna y externa). Esto necesita suceder de adentro hacia afuera, a través del autoconocimiento; y de afuera hacia dentro, a través de políticas públicas que estén alineadas con este propósito."
Today's Daily Dharma: Knowing Impermanence Directly
Knowing Impermanence Directly
One of the great insights we can get from mindfulness meditation practice is that each moment of experience arises and passes. Having a direct experience of this impermanence, from observing awareness, helps us let go of the attempt to calcify any single moment of time, to try to make something stable that is not. |
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Today's Daily Dharma: Get Dirty with Your Emotions
Get Dirty with Your Emotions
You have to get dirty with your emotions. Meditation allows us to feel them, live them, and taste them completely. |
Monday, September 7, 2015
Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 07/09/2015
“A encarnação é uma jornada do falso para o real, da escuridão para a
luz, da morte para a imortalidade. O que você pode fazer para auxiliar
nesse processo é ampliar a sua percepção, pois a verdade, o real, já
está dentro de você, mas encontra-se encoberto por pensamentos e
sentimentos que você acredita ser a realidade. Por isso eu lhe convido a
se tornar um explorador da consciência; a se tornar senhor de si mesmo.
E isso significa não mais identificar-se com aquilo que é transitório.”
Ouça o Satsang completo - bit.ly/1CaQvPm
Ouça o Satsang completo - bit.ly/1CaQvPm
“La encarnación es un camino de lo falso hacia lo real, de la oscuridad
hacia la luz, de la muerte hacia la inmortalidad. Lo que puedes hacer
para ayudar en este proceso es ampliar tu percepción, pues la verdad, lo
real, ya está dentro de ti, pero se encuentra encubierto por
pensamientos y sentimientos que crees que son la realidad. Por eso te
invito a convertirte en un explorador de la conciencia; a convertirte en
señor de ti mismo. Y eso significa no identificarte más con lo que es
transitorio.”
“This incarnation is a journey from the false to the real, from the darkness to the light, from death to eternal life. What can help us in this process is to increase our perception, because the truth, what is real, already exists within us. It is only veiled by the thoughts and feelings that we believe to be our reality. For this reason, I invite you to become an explorer of consciousness, and to become Lord of yourself. This means no longer being identified with what is transitory.”
“This incarnation is a journey from the false to the real, from the darkness to the light, from death to eternal life. What can help us in this process is to increase our perception, because the truth, what is real, already exists within us. It is only veiled by the thoughts and feelings that we believe to be our reality. For this reason, I invite you to become an explorer of consciousness, and to become Lord of yourself. This means no longer being identified with what is transitory.”
Today's Daily Dharma: Honoring Acceptance.
Honoring Acceptance
It seems too much to hope that right in the heart of our troubled selves there might actually be the healing we seek. But if suffering and awakening form a single weather-system, as many a wise person has come to know, then when storms come, perhaps we can accept them with less dread and aversion, and more trust, and even hope. |
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Sunday, September 6, 2015
Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 05/09/2015
“Aquilo que chamamos de ‘problemas’ ou ‘provações’ na realidade são
presentes do Universo para que possamos aprender alguma coisa. Neste
plano da existência não há outra maneira de se desenvolver se não
através de erros e acertos. Através deles vamos tomando consciência
daquilo que fecha e daquilo que abre os caminhos para a nossa
realização. Seguimos aprendendo até que possamos escolher somente
pensamentos, palavras e ações que nos libertam.”
“Lo que llamamos "problemas" o "pruebas" en realidad son regalos del
Universo para que podamos aprender algo. En este plano de la existencia
no hay otra manera de desarrollarse que no sea a través de errores y
aciertos. A través de ellos vamos tomando conciencia de aquello que
cierra y de aquello que abre los caminos para nuestra realización.
Seguimos aprendiendo hasta que podamos elegir solamente pensamientos,
palabras y acciones que nos liberan.”
“What we consider to be problems or challenges are in truth gifts from the universe aimed at teaching us specific lessons. In this realm of existence, there is no other way for us to progress other than through trial and error. Through these challenges, we become aware of what closes or opens up the path towards our own self-realization. We continue to learn until we are able to choose only the thoughts, words and actions that liberate us.”
“What we consider to be problems or challenges are in truth gifts from the universe aimed at teaching us specific lessons. In this realm of existence, there is no other way for us to progress other than through trial and error. Through these challenges, we become aware of what closes or opens up the path towards our own self-realization. We continue to learn until we are able to choose only the thoughts, words and actions that liberate us.”
30 anos de Mosterio Zen Pico de Raios com Mestre Takuda
30 anos de Mosterio Zen Pico de Raios com Mestre Takuda
Namo Buddhaya, namo Dharmaya, namo Sanghaya!
— at Mosteiro Zen Budista pico de Raios.
Namo Buddhaya, namo Dharmaya, namo Sanghaya!
— at Mosteiro Zen Budista pico de Raios.
Today's Daily Dharma: So Simple, So Very Difficult
So Simple, So Very Difficult
I have no doubt about the teachings. To live right here now, moment after moment. So simple, and so very difficult. |
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 05/09/2015
“Aquilo que chamamos de ‘problemas’ ou ‘provações’ na realidade são
presentes do Universo para que possamos aprender alguma coisa. Neste
plano da existência não há outra maneira de se desenvolver se não
através de erros e acertos. Através deles vamos tomando consciência
daquilo que fecha e daquilo que abre os caminhos para a nossa
realização. Seguimos aprendendo até que possamos escolher somente
pensamentos, palavras e ações que nos libertam.”
“Lo que llamamos "problemas" o "pruebas" en realidad son regalos del
Universo para que podamos aprender algo. En este plano de la existencia
no hay otra manera de desarrollarse que no sea a través de errores y
aciertos. A través de ellos vamos tomando conciencia de aquello que
cierra y de aquello que abre los caminos para nuestra realización.
Seguimos aprendiendo hasta que podamos elegir solamente pensamientos,
palabras y acciones que nos liberan.”
“What we consider to be problems or challenges are in truth gifts from the universe aimed at teaching us specific lessons. In this realm of existence, there is no other way for us to progress other than through trial and error. Through these challenges, we become aware of what closes or opens up the path towards our own self-realization. We continue to learn until we are able to choose only the thoughts, words and actions that liberate us.”
“What we consider to be problems or challenges are in truth gifts from the universe aimed at teaching us specific lessons. In this realm of existence, there is no other way for us to progress other than through trial and error. Through these challenges, we become aware of what closes or opens up the path towards our own self-realization. We continue to learn until we are able to choose only the thoughts, words and actions that liberate us.”
Buddhism Pushes Back
Buddhism provides us with both the imperative and the tools to challenge the economic structures that are creating and perpetuating suffering. We cannot claim to be Buddhist and simultaneously support structures that are so clearly contrary to Buddha’s teachings, antithetical to life itself. |
Friday, September 4, 2015
Today's Daily Dharma: Got to Have Faith
Got to Have Faith
Faith in the Buddha’s own awakening is a requisite strength for anyone else who wants to attain awakening. As it fosters persistence, mindfulness, concentration, and discernment, this faith can take you all the way to the deathless. |
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Via Leonard Pitts: Jimmy Carter’s faith
‘To want what I have, to take what I’m given with grace … for this, I pray.’
— ‘For My Wedding,’ Don Henley
America is a nation of faith. So it is often said.
In
faith, a baker refuses to bake a cake for a gay couple’s wedding. In
faith, a minister prays for the president to die. In faith, terrorists
plant bombs at the finish line of a marathon. In faith, mosques are
vandalized, shot at and burned. In faith, a televangelist asks his
followers to buy him a $65 million private jet.
And no one is even surprised anymore.
In
America, what we call faith is often loud, often exclusionary,
sometimes violent and too frequently enamored of shiny, expensive
things. In faith, ill-tempered people mob the shopping malls every year
at Christmas to have fistfights and gunfights over hot toys and highend
electronics.
You did not hear much about faith last
week when Jimmy Carter held a news conference to reveal that he has
four spots of cancer on his brain. The 39th president made only a few
references to it in the nearly 40 minutes he spoke, and they were all in
response to reporter’s questions. Yet, you would be hard-pressed to
find a more compelling statement of belief in things not seen.
Unsentimental, poised and lit from within by an amazing grace, Carter
discussed the fight now looming ahead of him, the radiation treatments
he will undergo, the need to finally cut back on his whirlwind schedule.
He
smiled often. “I’m perfectly at ease with whatever comes,” he said, in
such a way that you believed him without question. And it was impossible
to feel sorry for him.
Partially, that’s because
we all die and if — still only an if — cancer is what takes James Earl
Carter Jr. away, well, there are worse things than to go having reached
90 years of age, having been president of the United States, having been
married to the love of your life for almost seven decades, having sired
a large and sprawling family and having done significant work toward
the eradication of disease and the spreading of democracy in the
developing world.
But here’s the other reason it
was impossible to feel sorry for him. Feeling sorry would have felt like
an insult, a denial of the virtues he showed and the faith he didn’t
need to speak because it was just … there.
For all
its loudness, all its exclusion, violence and ubiquity, the faith that
is modeled in the public square is often not particularly affecting. It
is hard to imagine someone looking on it from outside and musing to
herself, “I’d like to have some of that.” What Carter showed the world,
though, was different. Who would not want to be able to face the unknown
with such perfect equanimity?
Carter presented an
image of faith we don’t see nearly as often as we should. Which is sad,
because it is also the image truest to what faith is supposed to be —
not a magic lamp you rub in hopes of a private jet, not a license for
our worse impulses, but, rather, an act of surrender to a force greater
than self, a way of being centered enough to tell whatever bleak thing
comes your way, “So be it.” Even fearsome death itself: “So be it.”
The
heat and hubris of human life are such that that state is difficult to
conceive, much less to reach. Our lives are defined by wanting and by
lack — more money, new car, new love — and by the ceaseless hustle to
fill empty spaces within. Media and advertising conspire to make you
feel ever incomplete. So it is hard to feel whole within yourself, at
peace with what is, whatever that turns out to be.
But who, gazing upon the former president, can doubt the result is worth the effort?
In
faith, terrorists kill the innocent. In faith, televangelists swindle
the gullible. In faith, so many of us hate, exclude, hurt, curse and
destroy. And in faith, last week, Jimmy Carter told the world he has
cancer in his brain.
And smiled as he spoke.
Via WGB: Gay Marriage is Legal. Are the Wedding Bells Ringing?
But after the initial flurry of excitement has died down, and the queues for marriages licenses at city hall have subsided, what happens next? How often are same-sex marriages actually performed in these countries? We dug into the numbers, and discovered that in some nations, like Belgium, same-sex marriages have become remarkably commonplace and are warmly accepted by fellow citizens as part of the cultural fabric of the community. On the other hand, in countries like Portugal and Norway, same-sex marriages remain surprisingly uncommon; for Portugal, this is due in part to the powerful influence of the Roman Catholic church in everyday life, while Norway’s low rate is a result of its longstanding (and popular) civil union laws, as well as the still powerful influence of the country’s Lutheran clergy. As recent court cases in the United States involving Christian wedding bakers and florists suggest, just because same-sex marriage is legal, it doesn’t mean that there is an accepting environment for it." Full story here!
Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 03/09/2015
“Existe um tipo de ceticismo que pode ajudar na ampliação da
consciência, porque através dele, você busca as respostas e as encontra
através da própria experiência. Eu mesmo já fui um cético. Já fui um
cientista da mente humana que queria encontrar Deus através da lógica e
da matemática. E essa busca me levou à espiritualidade. Porque, quando
você vai fundo na ciência, inevitavelmente ela desemboca na
espiritualidade. E quando vai fundo na
espiritualidade, ela encontra a ciência. Ambas são extremos da mesma
coisa, assim como a meditação e a devoção.”
“Existe un tipo de escepticismo que puede ayudar en la ampliación de la
conciencia, porque a través de él, buscas las respuestas y las
encuentras a través de la propia experiencia. Yo mismo ya fui un
escéptico. Ya fui un científico de la mente humana que quería encontrar a
Dios a través de la lógica y de la matemática. Y esa búsqueda me llevó a
la espiritualidad. Porque cuando te adentras en la ciencia,
inevitablemente ella termina en la espiritualidad. Y cuando te adentras
en la espiritualidad, ella encuentra la ciencia. Ambas son extremos de
la misma cosa, así como la meditación y la devoción.”
“There is a certain type of skepticism that helps to increase awareness. This skepticism incites us to seek out answers through what we've experienced ourselves. I was also once a skeptic. I was a scientist of the human mind and I wanted to find God through logic and mathematics. This search led me to spirituality. When we get to the bottom of science, we eventually end up in spirituality. Simultaneously, at the depths of spirituality, we find science. Both are the extreme opposite of the very same thing, just as it is with meditation and devotion.”
“There is a certain type of skepticism that helps to increase awareness. This skepticism incites us to seek out answers through what we've experienced ourselves. I was also once a skeptic. I was a scientist of the human mind and I wanted to find God through logic and mathematics. This search led me to spirituality. When we get to the bottom of science, we eventually end up in spirituality. Simultaneously, at the depths of spirituality, we find science. Both are the extreme opposite of the very same thing, just as it is with meditation and devotion.”
Today's Daily Dharma: The Benefit of Awareness
The Benefit of Awareness
The more unified, stable, luminous, and attentive the mind is at this moment, the more profound the experience. |
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Via Huffington: Glitter in the Woods: A Week at 'Camp' Camp
Nestled in the woods alongside a splendid lake, about 45 minutes
outside of Portland, Maine, there emerges once a year the most wonderful
LGBT space in the country. No, Disney World hasn't set up a new outpost
and no, it's not an Indigo Girls theme park. It's called 'Camp' Camp,
a LGBT adult summer camp, and for nineteen years, folks from all over
the world who identify with some color on the LGBT gender and sexuality
rainbow have been flocking to this Brigadoon-like place for a magical
summer experience.
I first heard about 'Camp' Camp five years ago after reading Joel Derfner's wonderful memoir Swish, but the stars didn't align themselves for me to go until this summer. I had never been to overnight camp before and I was hesitant, but from the handful of 'Camp' Camp alumni whom I met over the years, they always spoke about the place as if they had drunk some crazy Kool Aid, returning there summer after summer. Could it really be that good? In the end, I realized, there was only one way to find out, and so, with my single bag packed -- I was a light packer compared to many of the gay men who schlepped two or three suitcases, some with just shoes -- I boarded my flight to Portland, not knowing a single soul and a bit petrified. Would this just be like almost every gay bar experience in my life in which I felt myself standing along the sidelines while cliquely gaggles of gays ignored me?
The answer quickly made itself apparent. As I walked into the lodge at 'Camp' Camp, it was like being welcomed in a big warm embrace, at times, literally so. People couldn't wait to greet me, ask me questions and make me feel right at home. There were over two hundred people there this summer from so many walks of life. Men, women and folks who didn't identify with any one gender category. Folks in their 20s up through those in their 60s and 70s. Teachers, pastors, professional opera singers and retirees. Singles and couples (some with and without their partners present). Urban dwellers and individuals who lived in remote outposts.
As if I had fallen through Alice's looking glass, the week that followed was one of sublime fun and exuberant liberation, coupled with a profound sense of being accepted for who I am as a gay man. 'Camp' Camp has everything you could imagine at a great summer camp: arts and crafts, sports, boating and swimming, plus some delicious food (don't worry, there's no bug juice or chicken nuggets on the menu). But it's at night when 'Camp' Camp really comes into its own. On the night of the first full day, the camp hosts its Barn Dance and campers, many outfitted in cowboy shirts, boots and bandanas, square danced all night to a live band. As I promenaded and dosey-doed around the room to the caller's instructions (all with a handsome boy on my arm), watching the smiling faces of my fellow campers, I felt like I was having a bit of an out-of-body experience. When was the last time I felt so uninhibited and free? Honestly, I couldn't remember. In the evenings that followed with a game show night and karaoke, I found myself laughing and grinning in ways that I hadn't for a long time.
I first heard about 'Camp' Camp five years ago after reading Joel Derfner's wonderful memoir Swish, but the stars didn't align themselves for me to go until this summer. I had never been to overnight camp before and I was hesitant, but from the handful of 'Camp' Camp alumni whom I met over the years, they always spoke about the place as if they had drunk some crazy Kool Aid, returning there summer after summer. Could it really be that good? In the end, I realized, there was only one way to find out, and so, with my single bag packed -- I was a light packer compared to many of the gay men who schlepped two or three suitcases, some with just shoes -- I boarded my flight to Portland, not knowing a single soul and a bit petrified. Would this just be like almost every gay bar experience in my life in which I felt myself standing along the sidelines while cliquely gaggles of gays ignored me?
The answer quickly made itself apparent. As I walked into the lodge at 'Camp' Camp, it was like being welcomed in a big warm embrace, at times, literally so. People couldn't wait to greet me, ask me questions and make me feel right at home. There were over two hundred people there this summer from so many walks of life. Men, women and folks who didn't identify with any one gender category. Folks in their 20s up through those in their 60s and 70s. Teachers, pastors, professional opera singers and retirees. Singles and couples (some with and without their partners present). Urban dwellers and individuals who lived in remote outposts.
As if I had fallen through Alice's looking glass, the week that followed was one of sublime fun and exuberant liberation, coupled with a profound sense of being accepted for who I am as a gay man. 'Camp' Camp has everything you could imagine at a great summer camp: arts and crafts, sports, boating and swimming, plus some delicious food (don't worry, there's no bug juice or chicken nuggets on the menu). But it's at night when 'Camp' Camp really comes into its own. On the night of the first full day, the camp hosts its Barn Dance and campers, many outfitted in cowboy shirts, boots and bandanas, square danced all night to a live band. As I promenaded and dosey-doed around the room to the caller's instructions (all with a handsome boy on my arm), watching the smiling faces of my fellow campers, I felt like I was having a bit of an out-of-body experience. When was the last time I felt so uninhibited and free? Honestly, I couldn't remember. In the evenings that followed with a game show night and karaoke, I found myself laughing and grinning in ways that I hadn't for a long time.
Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 02/09/2015
“O medo é um portal. Ele pode te levar para outras dimensões - pessoais e transpessoais - já que existe o aspecto individual e o aspecto coletivo dele. Muitas vezes você canaliza um grande medo, que não sabe de onde vem e não consegue relacionar com a sua vida. Mas, se você sente e se identifica, de alguma maneira isso está conectado a sua história pessoal.”
“El miedo es un portal. Él te puede llevar a otras dimensiones
- personales y transpersonales - ya que existe el aspecto individual y
el aspecto colectivo de éste. Muchas veces canalizas un gran miedo, que
no sabes de dónde viene y no consigues relacionarlo con tu vida. Pero si
lo sientes y te identificas, de alguna manera esto está conectado a tu
historia personal.”
“Fear
acts as a doorway. It can take you to other dimensions, both personal
and transpersonal, which stem from the individual and collective aspect
of fear. Oftentimes, we act as channels of a fear that comes out of the
blue and seems to have nothing to do with our own lives. Still, if we
feel this fear and get identified with it, then this fear must be
connected to our own personal story in one way or another.”
Today's Daily Dharma: Always a Full Moon.
Always a Full Moon
If one seeks understanding with a vacant mind, the moon seems full each and every moment. |
Read More
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
JMG Quote Of The Day – John Corvino
September 1, 2015
Marriage Equality, Religion
RELATED: Several years ago Corvino co-authored Debating Same-Sex Marriage with former NOM president Maggie Gallagher.
Make the jump here to read the original on JMG
Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 01/09/2015
“O verdadeiro amor só é possível quando nos libertamos do passado. E
nos libertamos do passado somente quando nos harmonizamos com ele. Não é
fugindo ou fingindo que ele não existe - é olhando de frente e
permitindo-se compreender porque as coisas aconteceram como aconteceram.
E uma forma de fazer isso é observando e estudando as repetições
negativas e fazendo a relação de causa e efeito, ou seja, relacionando o
passado com o presente.”
“El verdadero amor solo es posible cuando nos liberamos del pasado. Y
nos liberamos del pasado solo cuando nos armonizamos con él. No es
huyendo o fingiendo que no existe - es mirándolo de frente y
permitiéndose comprender por qué las cosas sucedieron como sucedieron. Y
una forma de hacer eso, es observando y estudiando las repeticiones
negativas y haciendo la relación de causa y efecto, es decir,
relacionando el pasado con el presente.”
“Real love is only possible when we can liberate ourselves from the past. We are only liberated from our past once we have harmonized ourselves with it, which can't happen by running away from it or pretending that it doesn’t exist. We must face our past and allow ourselves to understand why things happened as they did. This understanding dawns as we observe the negative repetitions in our lives, really studying the connection between cause and effect, and thereby relating our past to the present moment.”
“Real love is only possible when we can liberate ourselves from the past. We are only liberated from our past once we have harmonized ourselves with it, which can't happen by running away from it or pretending that it doesn’t exist. We must face our past and allow ourselves to understand why things happened as they did. This understanding dawns as we observe the negative repetitions in our lives, really studying the connection between cause and effect, and thereby relating our past to the present moment.”
Today's Daily Dharma: A Love-Hate Relationship with Our Time
A Love-Hate Relationship with Our Time
There's a tension between the part of us that wants to move along at speed, infatuated with our ever-proliferating array of screens and gadgets, and the part of us that deeply hates them, too. There's the part that doesn't want to be bothered with other people's lives and is therefore comfortable with the false proximity that social media affords. But there's also the part that is heartbroken at the loneliness and isolation of the life we are living—the part that requires medication and constant distraction just to endure it. |
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