Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Via White Crane Institute // ORPHEUS


Orpheus by Franz von Stuck (1891)
-

ORPHEUS: traditional date of birth. Orpheus was the son of Calliope and either Oeagrus or Apollo. He was the greatest musician and poet of Greek myth, whose songs could charm wild beasts and coax even rocks and trees into movement. He was one of the Argonauts, and when the Argo had to pass the island of the Sirens, it was Orpheus' distractions that prevented the crew from being lured to destruction. This much of the legend of Orpheus is fairly certain. It's the final days of Orpheus, however, that are the subject of varying stories.

One such version justified Orpheus' inclusion here. The celebrated Thracian musician became a follower of Dionysius and, it is believed, soothed the Argonauts with means other than mere melodies, thus introducing homophile love into Greece. As a result, Orpheus was soundly hated by Aphrodite who considered him a competitor and rival. Orpheus met his end at the hands of the women of Thrace who, because the handsome hunk refused to pay them any attention, tore him to pieces.

And…speaking of charming Thracians…

 

Via Daily Dharma: Failure Is Natural

 

Before you meet with success, failure is natural and necessary. As a baby learns to walk, it keeps falling down. Is this failure?

—Master Sheng-Yen, “Being Natural”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Monday, July 19, 2021

Via Thich Nhat Hanh Quote Collective / FB

 

 

If you can be here, if you can be free, then you can br happy right here and right now. — Thich Nhat 
 

Via Daily Dharma: Cherishing Life Here and Now

Pure Land Buddhism might suggest an otherworldly orientation, but its primary focus is on… the here and now cherished as a gift of life itself to be lived creatively and gratefully, granted us by boundless compassion.

—Taitetsu Unno, “Into the Valley”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

 

Sunday, July 18, 2021

Tina Turner - Lotus Sutra / Purity of Mind (2H Meditation)

Here in HQ:



 

Via Daily Dharma: Exploring What Is Inbox

The Buddha’s teachings are not a method for transforming one state of mind into another. They are, pure and simple, a way of exploring what is.

—Douglas Penick, “Exploring What Is”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

 

Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - July 18, 2021 💌

 


Ask yourself: Where am I? 
Answer: Here. 
Ask yourself: What time is it? 
Answer: Now. 

Say it until you can hear it.   

Each time you do this, try to feel the immediacy of the Here and Now. Begin to notice that wherever you go or whatever time it is by the clock, it is ALWAYS HERE AND NOW. In fact you will begin to see that you can't get away from the HERE and NOW. Let the clock and the earth do their "thing"...let the comings and goings of life continue... But YOU stay HERE and NOW.  


Excerpt from "Be Here Now"

Saturday, July 17, 2021

Via Daily Dharma: Harnessing Your Past

Past karma is not necessarily a weight that holds us back. It is also the ground where seeds of realization were planted a long time ago. Looking at our lives in this way, we can harness the past and transform the future.

—Mindy Newman and Kaia Fischer, “Embracing the Buddha”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

 

Friday, July 16, 2021

Via Thich Nhat Hanh Quote Collective / FB

 


Via White Crane Institute // REINALDO ARENAS

 


Poet Reynaldo Arenas
1943 -

The great Cuban poet, novelist and memoirist REINALDO ARENAS was born (d. 1990). Despite his early sympathy for the 1959 revolution, Arenas grew critical of and then rebelled against the Cuban government. Born in the countryside outside of Holguin, Cuba, in 1973 he was imprisoned for his homosexuality and his opposition against the Fidel Castro regime. In 1980 he went to the USA. In 2000 Julian Schnabel made a movie about his life based on Arenas' memoir: Before Night Falls.

Via Daily Dharma: Meet Yourself With Kindness

An important point is to meet yourself with kindness, be present with your human self, just like you would be patient and kind with a small child you care about. Criticizing yourself simply adds to the difficulty.

—Lama Palden Drolma, “Tips for the Procrastinator Practitioner”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

 

Thursday, July 15, 2021

Via Tricycle // Inside Breath Taking, a New Exhibit at the New Mexico Museum of Art

 

Inside Breath Taking, a New Exhibit at the New Mexico Museum of Art
By Michael Haederle
In a striking new multimedia show, artists meditate on the power of the breath—and transmute its invisible essence into tangible form. 
Read more »

Via Daily Dharma: Shining Light on Your Regrets

[Learning to forgive yourself] is not about denying what happened or making it all better. It is about turning the light directly on the areas of painful regret and extending a loving hand to them.

—“Why Are We So Hard On Ourselves?", Mark Coleman

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

 

Scarlett Business Impresses The Judges With Incredible Contortion - Amer...

Wednesday, July 14, 2021

RuPaul Reacts to Family History in Finding Your Roots | Ancestry

Via White Crane Institute // This Day in Gay History

 

July 14

Born
L to R: Tom Hatcher and Arthur Laurents
1914 -

ARTHUR LAURENTS, American playwright, novelist, director and one of the giants of the American theater, born (d: 2011); His credits included the stage musicals West Side Story and Gypsy and the film The Way We Were. In 2000, Laurents published Original Story By Arthur Laurents: A Memoir of Broadway and Hollywood. In it, he discusses his lengthy career and his many Gay affairs and long-term relationships, including those with Farley Granger and Tom Hatcher, an aspiring, and quite beautiful, actor whom Gore Vidal suggested Laurents seek out at the men's clothing store in Beverly Hills Hatcher was managing at the time.

The couple remained together for 52 years until Hatcher's death on October 26, 2006. Laurents died in 2011.

Tina Turner - Lotus Sutra / Purity of Mind (2H Meditation)

Via Tricycle -- Bringing Hungry Ghosts Out of Hiding

 


Bringing Hungry Ghosts Out of Hiding
Andy Rotman in conversation with Julia Hirsch
Early Buddhist literature describes hell realms full of tormented beings with insatiable appetites. According to the author of Hungry Ghosts, these beings are powerful teachers of the dharma who make our suffering visible.  
Read more »