Sunday, May 15, 2016

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia / Flor del dia / Flower of the Day – 15/05/2016

“Quando se permite sentar por alguns minutos, alinhando o corpo, fechando os olhos e concentrando a atenção na respiração, você se coloca no aqui-agora; você se coloca presente. E somente na presença você pode observar; somente na presença a consciência pode expandir. Ao observar, é possível perceber que existe uma canção psicológica, um fluxo de pensamentos repetitivos com o qual você está identificado. Estar identificado significa que isso te dá um senso de identidade. A sua consciência está presa nesse ponto. Então, o próximo passo é dissociar-se disso. Ao observar a mente, você deixa de ser a mente. Assim a identificação começa a perder força.”

“Cuando te permites sentarte por algunos minutos, alineando el cuerpo, cerrando los ojos y concentrando la atención en la respiración, te colocas en el aquí-ahora; te colocas presente. Y solamente en presencia puedes observar; solamente en presencia la conciencia puede expandirse. Al observar, es posible percibir que existe una canción psicológica, un flujo de pensamientos repetitivos con los cuales estás identificado. Estar Identificado significa que esto te da un sentido de identidad. Tu conciencia está presa en este punto. Entonces el próximo paso es disociarte de esto. Al observar la mente, dejas de ser la mente. Así la identificación comienza a perder fuerza.”

“When we allow ourselves to sit for a few minutes, align the body, close our eyes and place our concentration and attention on our breath, we bring ourselves back to the here and now and we become present. It is only from this presence that we are able to observe, and expand our consciousness. As we continue observing, we may perceive that there is a psychological track playing in our minds: a flow of repetitive thoughts that we are identified with. Being identified with these thoughts means that they are giving us a sense of identity and our consciousness is fixated upon this identity. The next step to be taken is to de-associate ourselves from this identity. As we observe the mind, we stop being the mind. Consequently, the identification begins to lose its strength.”

Via Daily Dharma / May 15, 2016: Beyond Language

When in daily living we learn to return again and again to where we are in body, emotion, and mind, we are learning to hold our language and views lightly, to see that they are ever-evolving currents of being, that they are not only ours but belong to everyone else as well.

—Norman Fischer, "Beyond Language"

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Friday, May 13, 2016

Via JMG: European Union Denounces Anti-LGBT US Laws

EUslam

From the European Union:
The recently adopted laws including in the states of Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee, which discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons in the United States contravene the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the US is a State party, and which states that the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection.
As a consequence, cultural, traditional or religious values cannot be invoked to justify any form of discrimination, including discrimination against LGBTI persons. These laws should be reconsidered as soon as possible.
The European Union reaffirms its commitment to the equality and dignity of all human beings irrespective of their sexual orientation and gender identity. We will continue to work to end all forms of discrimination and to counter attempts to embed or enhance discrimination wherever it occurs around the world.”
 Read the original and more here

Via She's Magic & Midnight Lace: Atticuspoetry

 

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia / Flor del dia / Flower of the Day – 12/05/2016

“Não adianta rezar se você não coloca os ensinamentos em prática. Esse é o significado mais profundo da honestidade da qual tenho falado tanto. Deus não te salva se você não se salva. Isso quer dizer que você precisa fazer a sua parte. Você salva a si próprio através da integridade e da honestidade, ou seja, é o amor que nasce da verdade que te salva.”

“No sirverezar si no colocas las enseñanzas en práctica. Este es el significado más profundo de la honestidad de la cualtanto vengo hablando. Dios no te salva si tú no tesalvas. Esto significa que precisas hacer tu parte. Te salvas a ti mismo a través de la integridad y de la honestidad, es decir, es el amor que nace de la verdad que te salva.”

"There is no use in praying if you do not put the teachings into practice. This is the deepest meaning of honesty. God will not save us if we do not save ourselves. In other words, we need to do our part as well. We are saved through integrity and honesty. Love that is born out of truth is what saves us."

Via Daily Dharma / May 12, 2016: We Lift One Another

What if we administer the medicine of the dhamma to one another, each lifting the other up and showing compassion for one another’s suffering? Even those we do not particularly like or understand; even those who are “of no use” to us; even, dare I say, with our own hand?

—Andrew Olendzki, "Medicine for the World"

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Via Love Is Love #HumanRights #RespectDiversity / FB:


Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day 11/05/2016

"O processo que chamo de ‘ABC da Espiritualidade’ se divide em duas esferas. A primeira diz respeito à como quebrar as barreiras que nos separam de nós mesmos. Trata-se de um trabalho de cura e transformação do eu inferior. A outra esfera diz respeito a tomar consciência dos conteúdos inconscientes que sabotam nossa felicidade dentro dos relacionamentos. Nela, trabalhamos para derrubar as barreiras que nos separam do outro. É nessa esfera que descobrimos os mistérios da sexualidade e o papel dela dentro da vida humana. Navegamos nos ensinamentos do tantra com o objetivo de fazer com que a energia sexual se mova em direção ao amor - e o amor em direção à liberdade."

"There are two spheres of the process we call the ABC’s of Spirituality. The first sphere relates to how we can break the barriers that keep us separate from ourselves. It is a work of healing and transforming the lower self. The second sphere involves becoming aware of the unconscious contents that sabotage our own happiness within relationships. In this sphere, we work on breaking down the barriers that separate us from others. This is where we discover the mysteries of sexuality and its role in human life. We navigate through the teachings of Tantra in order to direct our sexual energy towards love, ultimately directing this love towards freedom."

“El proceso que llamo “ABC de la Espiritualidad” se divide en dos esferas. La primera trata de cómo romper las barreras que nos separan de nosotros mismos. Es un trabajo de cura y transformación del yo inferior. La otra esfera se refiere a tomar consciencia de los contenidos inconscientes que sabotean nuestra felicidad dentro de las relaciones. En ella, trabajamos para derrumbar las barreras que nos separan del otro. Es en esa esfera que descubrimos los misterios de la sexualidad y su papel dentro de la vida humana. Navegamos en las enseñanzas del tantra con el objetivo de hacer que la energía sexual se mueva en dirección al amor, y el amor en dirección a la libertad.”

Via Daily Dharma / May 11, 2016: Everything Is Miraculous

When you’re at home and everything is familiar, it’s hard to remember how miraculous everything is. When you go to a new place, everything freshens up.

—Susan Moon, "The Old Woman of Pagazzano"

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Via Muffy Bolding / FB: ALL HAIL RICKY GERVAIS


#this
#shittalker
#truthteller
#churchescansuckit
#payupbuttercup







Via Lion's Roar: Queer Eye, Right View


minal 
Minal Hajratwala.

The queer eye sees what it’s not supposed to: alluring curve of hip or neck on the wrong type of body, band of colored light in a thundercloud, rain bowing like a bodhisattva’s back.

Likewise, the Dhammapada tells us that the wise see with the inner eye. This secret eye is how we grasp the wheel of dharma, which turns and turns despite whatever sensation we might have of being stuck. (Say, in the closet.)

The Venerable Ajahn Chah urged us to observe nature and the cycles of nature: “Having arisen, all things change and die.” Don’t get lost in moods, in attachments and aversions.
Supreme Court this, homophobia that.

As LGBTIQ people we have become skilled at nonattachment. We uproot our clinging to familial acceptance, to hometowns too small to hold our view of the multiverse, to gender assignments at birth, to the well-worn paths of compulsory marriage.

But if queerness becomes mainstream, what will happen to queer sanghas, to the queer eye itself? No fear; the dharma points the way. Ajahn Chah again: “Different people establish different conventions about what’s right and what’s wrong, but the Buddha took suffering as his guideline.”
We must turn our collective queer eye to where the suffering is.

In June 1969, a group fought back against the police outside the Stonewall Inn in New York City. At that moment, a queer rights movement was born, as Sylvia Rivera, Storme DeLarverie, and others declared “enough” and demanded the opening of eyes.

On the forty-sixth anniversary of Stonewall, same-sex marriage—an agenda set and fought for by a largely white gay American movement—scored a major victory. Some of us celebrated at the White House. At the same moment, transgender and immigration activist Jennicet Gutiérrez, inside the White House, honored her Stonewall ancestors by protesting trans deportations. Amid a hissing crowd of mostly white respectable gays, she demanded that we open our eyes to a part of our community whose suffering remains deep and unresolved.

As the dharma eye teaches us, we cannot cling to a fixed path. A movement that ossifies will change and die. Will we attach ourselves to the politics of respectability, or will we shed it as we’ve learned to shed the genders, faiths, and expectations we were born into? Will we seek approval from the eight worldly winds, or will we honor the wild, messy truths that we apprehend with our innermost gaze?

Read the original here and much much more

Sukiyaki ("Ue wo Muite Arukō" (上を向いて歩こう?, "I Look Up As I Walk")

The other night I was listening to KCRW and a relatively groovy new Japanese song came on. At this ever advancing age, it doesn't take much, so I was transported back in time... to my 9th birthday, on the ranch in Yreka. 

It was a time, when the adults would gladly let us roam freely, and we spend hours making dams in the creek, only coming back when my grandmother rang a big old bell retrieved from an old school house somewhere.


I know someone had made a cake, and there were presents. But 9 year old boys don't remember much of that, but I do remember one thing... I got a small transistor radio. It was made with – plastic – and was bright blue. Anybody who knows me, and has suffered my visits know that I listen to the radio... its a sickness, especially wit the invention of the internet, headphones and my IPad. And so there I was listening to KCRW, listening to a Japanese song and I remembered my first musical obsession – you know the kind, you listen to a song a million and 1/2 times and still need to hear it more.


The song was a hit being played everywhere: Sukiyaki- sung by Kyu Sakamoto. This was a hit, in a way few others had been, as it was sung in Japanese. It was also in the era when Japanese food was just becoming in”, tho not sushi yet. But you always went out and “had”sukiyaki, I wasn't ever a picky eater – only rejecting out right liver and onions and the worst of all, and still to this day... lima beans. 
Grandma was kind and never ever made them when I was there, tho my parents did for some unreasonable reason... I am sure it was passive aggression. As a new grandparent, who survived raising an amazing son, I know there were moments when you thought “this is good for you”. Even when it wasn't for either of us. It wasn't until marrying a Brazilian that I learned that beans were not from a can and sweet, and were actually ok.


But I digress...


In those days – Grandma had a party line, you could listen to the county station all day. My uncle, a ham radio operator, showed me early on that as soon as the sun went down you could listen to the whole world. It was AM only... but amazing... so there was Sukiyaki played on KGO, or KGW, and the best... XERB, the huge powerful station, so powerful and so full of itself it broadcast just across the border from México, thousands of miles away, by a cool guy named Wolfman Jack....


Later on, after my next radio, I began to keep a log – and would write down the call letters and names of the stations I got, and where they from from... with notes, like "it must be in Canada, its French". Little did I know that my budding research career began with a small little radio.


It was my first love with technology – like I said it was blue plastic, plastic being something new and exotic. No one thought about the consequences at the time, in those days you went to the beach and all you found were sea shells. And of course it was “Made in Japan”. I can still smell the plastic, as I slept with it under my pillow, tuned low... and I listened to music and news, and conversations in different accents...


After my birthday, we went back home to San Jose, and I was enrolled in swimming lessons.” liked water, and being a chubby kid, I really had little to know concern as a 9 year old kid about what I looked like, but there was one thing... that scared the shit out of me... the deep end.


Tho the water was clear, and so chlorinated it made your teeth white, that feeling of eternity you get when you look under water towards the far end and see no end was terrifying. Of course the swim instructor had to get us to the deep end, I know now that that was the point, so we wouldn't drown if you were on the Andre Doria, so you could paddle around and save people, but I being a sissy boy, would have none of it.


All I could do was survive, thru shear panic. And so I did. I can swim, and I don't mind clear water no mater how deep as long as I can see the bottom, but looking out into infinity when snorkeling still gives me the heebie-jeebies.


But I digress.


The radio, which went with me everywhere. Was sitting on the back seat, when we went to swim lessons. When we came back it wasn't. In those days you parked the car – in this case a light blue and white Chevy four door, with the windows rolled down. No AC, so things got really hot, and besides it was the summer of 1963... crime hadn't been invented yet, along with seat belts, or signs in parking lots reminding people to keep your valuables locked. I know the parents locked the doors of the house when we left, but I also remember them being unlocked most of the time. Like I said, crime hadn't been invented yet, even in suburban California.


So when we came back from traumatic swim lessons, it was gone.


I was devastated, and being a card carrying sissy boy cried for days. Not sure what happened, I don't remember a new radio, I remember next starting 3rd grade, and being madly in love with Miss Riggs. I remember t the day JFK was shot, as I was at the water fountain, I was a hyper active kid and always sharpening my pencil and getting a drink, when the principal came over the loudspeaker and told us that the president was dead, and that school was out... I remember Miss Riggs bursting into tears and we all were silent, and how we all walked down Foxworthy Avenue a couple of hundred kids in silence...


Yet still there was Sukiyaki... even tho the rest of week was devoted to JFK's funeral and all the mess around Lee Harvey Oswald. There was that song...


So, during this goofy time here in Brasil, I guess it was soothing to find it online and load it into my ITunes thingy.


I leave you here with it, in hopes it too takes you back, to that time before crime...


Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia / Flor del dia / Flower of the Day – 10/05/2016

“Tudo o que vivemos nesse mundo é para que possamos manifestar o amor puro. Todo o sofrimento que experimentamos é para que possamos reaprender a amar. O amor puro é o maior poder nessa Terra. Ele é o solvente universal para todos os males. O mundo inteiro pode estar balançando, mas estando firmado no amor, você não cai.”

“Todo lo que vivimos en este mundo es para que podamos manifestar el amor puro. Todo el sufrimiento que experimentamos es para que podamos reaprender a amar. El amor puro es el mayor poder en esta Tierra. Él es el solvente universal para todos los males. El mundo entero puede estar sacudiéndose, pero estando afirmado en el amor, tú no caes.”

“Everything we experience here in this world is helping us be able to manifest pure love. All the suffering we experience is re-teaching us how to love. Pure love is the greatest power on this planet. It is the cure for all evil. The whole world may shake and tremble, but if we are steadfast in love, then we won’t ever fall.”

Via Daily Dharma / May 10, 2016: Seeking Wholeness

All of our lives are about going toward wholeness, completeness. To me, being a Buddhist is about living as complete a life as possible.

—Rev. Karuna Dharma, "What Does Being a Buddhist Mean to You?"

Monday, May 9, 2016

Via FB:

 
 
Buddha was not a Buddhist. Jesus was not a Christian. Muhammad was not a Muslim. Krishna was not a Hindu. Rumi was not a Sufi mystic. They were #teachers who taught love. #Love was their religion.

Via Thich Nhat Hanh - Pema Chödrön - Dalai Lama / FB:

 
 
Some people are consumed with thoughts and memories from their past. Their mourning, regretting, rehashing, and begrudging doom them to life imprisonment in their painful past.

- Thich Nhat Hanh