Sunday, January 31, 2021

Via White Crane Institute // HOWARD OVERING STURGIS

 

Howard Sturgis and The Babe (William Haynes Smith)
1855 -

HOWARD OVERING STURGIS, the novelist and eccentric was born on this date. A millionaire American expatriate, Sturgis passed his life in England knitting, embroidering and writing novels. He is best known for two: Tim: A Story of Eton and Belchamber. Affable and witty, Sturgis was a favorite with Henry James, Edith Wharton, and A. C. Benson, and the subject of a memorable sketch by E. M. Forster. Sturgis maintained a lifelong relationship with a much younger man, William Haynes-Smith, familiarly known as "the Babe", to whom his novel "Belchamber" is dedicated.

The scion of a wealthy New England family, his parents sent him to be educated at Eton College. He went on to study at Cambridge where he became a friend of the novelists henry James and Edith Wharton.

After the death of his mother in 1888 he moved, with his lover William Haynes-Smith, into a country house named Queen's Acre, near Windsor Great Park. Sturgis's first novel, Tim: A Story of School Life (1891), was published anonymously and was dedicated to the "love that surpasses the love of women." It describes the love of two youths at boarding-school.

He died on February 7, 1920. After his death appreciations of him were published by A.C. Benson, Edith Wharton, E.M. Forster and George Santayana, his cousin.

Via BrainPickings // D.T. Suzuki on What Freedom Really Means and How Zen Can Help Us Cultivate Our Character

 

D.T. Suzuki on What Freedom Really Means and How Zen Can Help Us Cultivate Our Character

“The ego-shell in which we live is the hardest thing to outgrow.”

 

Alan Watts may be credited with popularizing Eastern philosophy in the West, but he owes the entire trajectory of his life and legacy to a single encounter with the Zen Buddhist sage D.T. Suzuki (October 18, 1870–July 12, 1966) — one of humanity’s greatest and most influential stewards of Zen philosophy. At the age of twenty-one, Watts attended a lecture by Suzuki in London, which so enthralled the young man that he spent the remainder of his life studying, propagating, and building upon Suzuki’s teachings. Legendary composer John Cage had a similar encounter with Suzuki, which profoundly shaped his life and music.

In the early 1920s, spurred by the concern that Zen masters are “unable to present their understanding in the light of modern thought,” Suzuki undertook “a tentative experiment to present Zen from our common-sense point of view” — a rather humble formulation of what he actually accomplished, which was nothing less than giving ancient Eastern philosophy a second life in the West and planting the seed for a new culture of secularized spirituality.

But by 1940, all of his books had gone out of print in war-torn England, and all remaining copies in Japan were destroyed in the great fire of 1945, which consumed three quarters of Tokyo. In 1946, Christmas Humphreys, president of London’s Buddhist Society, set out to undo the damage and traveled to Tokyo, where he began working with Suzuki on translating his new manuscripts and reprinting what remained of the old. The result was the timeless classic Essays in Zen Buddhism (public library), originally published in 1927 — a collection of Suzuki’s foundational texts introducing the principles of Zen into secular life as a discipline concerned first and foremost with what he called “the reconstruction of character.” As Suzuki observed, “Our ordinary life only touches the fringe of personality, it does not cause a commotion in the deepest parts of the soul.” His essays became, and remain, a moral toolkit for modern living, delivered through a grounding yet elevating perspective on secular spirituality.

 

Read the original and more here

Via Comic Sands // The Walking Dead' Shuts Down Homophobic Backlash

 


'The Walking Dead' Shuts Down Homophobic Backlash To Show's Gay Storyline With Powerful Post

AMC

Zombie thriller franchise The Walking Dead just clapped back at homophobic internet trolls in a concise but oh-so-satisfying tweet.

The show's non-negotiable commitment to showcasing LGBTQ+ characters and relationships has already won praise in the past. The recent tweet only solidified the franchise's solid footing as an ally.

The homophobic hullabaloo all began when actor Jelani Alladin appeared on the podcast Talk Dead to Me.

He discussed how proud he was to play his character in the show who—among many heroic attributes—just so happens to be one half of a same-sex couple.

"There was no kind of need to explain anything further and I love that The Walking Dead is kind of putting that forward, that LGBTQ relationships are nothing different than any other kind of relationship."
"They have the same struggles, they have the same complexities, they get mad at each other, they love each other just as hard."

The onscreen couple is made up of Alladin and fellow actor Nico Tortorella, who identifies as gender fluid.

Make the Jump here to read the original and more 

Via Daily Dharma: Train Your Mind How to Respond

 The quality of our life is determined by our mind’s response to the circumstances of our life. It is not determined directly by the circumstances.

—Yoshin David Radin, “Brief Teachings”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - January 31, 2021 💌

 


"It’s amazing how the nature of your relationships change when it’s coming out of love instead of trying to get love."

- Ram Dass -

Saturday, January 30, 2021

Via Tricycle // Buddhism by the Numbers: Climate Change and Pilgrimage Sites



Buddhism by the Numbers: Climate Change and Pilgrimage Sites
By The Editors
Population growth, heat waves, and other climate-related factors are likely to have a dramatic effect on the future of tourism to Buddhist holy sites. 
Read more »

Via Daily Dharma: Unravel Your Patterns

 There is insight to be gained in seeing how we transfer life patterns of control, anxiety, or self-consciousness into our meditation practice. Learning to undo some of these patterns within our practice is a meaningful step in learning how to release their grip on the rest of our lives.

—Christina Feldman, “Receiving the Breath: Meditation Q&A”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Thursday, January 28, 2021

Via Daily Dharma: Compassion Reverberates

 Whether we know it or not, every act of compassion, real or simulated, may have a positive significance far beyond our powers of imagination.

—Taitetsu Unno, “Three Grapefruits”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Via Love Serve Remember Foundation // Join Jack Kornfield for a New Masterclass on Interactive Guided Meditation




Greetings and Happy Wednesday,

Many of you know Jack Kornfield as one of the key teachers to introduce Buddhist mindfulness practice to the West, but he's also been a dear friend of Ram Dass for many decades, and one of our beloved retreat teachers for many years.

Jack brings a lifetime of practice and rich experience into his offerings, so we're thrilled to announce that Jack's new “Masterclass in Interactive Guided Meditation” is now available for therapists, healers, meditation teachers, and dedicated students.

This self-guided 10-hour, 8-part masterclass includes powerful, transformative practices to facilitate healing, deep opening and new understanding. Work at your own pace; revisit the course as many times as you like.

This training is not about ordinary guided meditations, but a compelling hands-on, interactive course with ample theory, lively demonstrations, rich case studies and clear practices.

When taking Masterclass in Interactive Guided Meditation*, you will learn:
  • How to use breath to create a powerful connection between yourself and others;
  • Immediate tools for bringing transformative healing to body, heart and mind;
  • Practices for resolving and releasing difficulties and conflicts in family, work and beyond;
  • Guidance and practice to open to wisdom and love beyond the limited sense of self.
*Closed Captioning for Deaf practitioners is available.
 
EXPLORE & REGISTER FOR JACK'S COURSE


We'd also like to invite you to a free Mystics Summit hosted by the Shift Network, taking place Feb. 1-5th, featuring many teachers from the LSRF community, board and beyond:

Mystics across time have written some of the world’s greatest poetry and scripture during episodes of war, plague, and social upheaval… and they call to us now to reclaim our soul’s longing and commune with the sacred heart of existence — even in the midst of turmoil.

Some of the most influential cultural firebrands throughout history have undergone terrific “dark nights of the soul” and come out the other side brimming with renewed vision and impassioned wisdom.

Throughout the Mystics Summit, you’ll receive not only gems of wisdom from the ancient mystics, but also poetry, music, and practices that can put you in touch with the unmistakable passion… born of a direct revelation of “the Beloved.”

You’ll come away knowing that mysticism isn’t reserved just for those on the pedestals of religious history. It’s everyone's birthright!

Explore with more than 40 scholars, teachers, contemporary mystics — including Krishna Das, Mirabai Starr, Matthew Fox, Rabbi Rami Shapiro, Imam Jamal Rahman, Richard Rohr, Rameshwar Das, Mirabai Bush, Trevor Hall, and many others — as they lead you through the lives and times of ancient mystics, their “ordinary heroism,” and lessons you can apply in these tumultuous times.
 
REGISTER FOR THE MYSTIC'S SUMMIT

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Via Sean Rayshel // #HolocaustRemembranceDay

 

 

Today we honor all those who we lost in the Holocaust for #HolocaustRemembranceDay

All the millions of Jews, Disabled, Gays, Roma, Jehovah Witnesses, Freemasons, Artists, Socialists, Clergy, and freethinkers. Time and time again we repeat the mistakes of our past, ripping children out of their parents arms and writing a number on their arms in a Sharpie marker, and putting them in “holding pins” to me is no different from what happened to ancestors, and to the gay communities throughout Germany and Nazi occupied Europe.

Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - January 27, 2021 💌

 

 

"Faith is not a belief. Faith is what is left when your beliefs have all been blown to hell. Faith is in the heart, while beliefs are in the head. Experiences, even spiritual experiences, come and go. As long as you base your faith on experience, your faith is going to be constantly flickering, because your experiences keep changing."

- Ram Dass -


Excerpt from Be Love Now: The Path of the Heart

Via Daily Dharma: Arranging a Life You Want

Make the things you want to do easy, and the things you don’t want to do difficult. 

—Gregg Krech, “Meditating Every Day and What to Do When You Don’t”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE