Wednesday, July 28, 2021

Via Daily Dharma: Experiencing Non-Suffering


In meditation we learn to cultivate and stretch the moments of being unencumbered, those places of non-suffering. We can experience the state of non-suffering with each breath, moment by moment, breathing in and breathing out.

—Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, “The Terror Within”

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Namo Avalokiteshvara | Plum Village | Dreamforce 2016

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

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VIa White Crane Institute // TROY PERRY

 


Reverend Troy Perry
1940 -

TROY PERRY, Metropolitan Community Church founder born; Happy Birthday Troy! The Reverend Elder Troy Deroy Perry is the founder of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, a Protestant denomination devoted to ministering to the spiritual needs of GLBTQ people.

A charismatic preacher and leader, Perry has built the religious organization into one of the fastest growing denominations in the world, with over 300 churches in some 18 countries. Perry obtained a GED and enrolled at a Bible college in Illinois, at the same time serving as pastor of a congregation of the Church of God. Perry was excommunicated from the Church of God after church officials learned that he had had a consensual sexual relationship with a man.

After reading Donald Webster Cory's The Homosexual in America (1951), Perry decided that he could no longer live as a "pseudo-heterosexual." He revealed his sexual orientation to a church official. Shortly thereafter he was dismissed by his bishop. Perry's wife left him, taking their sons with her. She eventually divorced Perry and remarried. She kept the boys from having any contact with Perry until 1985, when the younger son, James Michael Perry, sought out his father and was happily reunited with that side of his family. Perry soon began to discover the Gay community in Los Angeles and to become acquainted with other Gay men, whom he viewed "as part of [his] extended family."

When Perry was drafted into the United States Army in 1965, he acknowledged that he was Gay, but the Army inducted him anyway. He was stationed in Germany, where he worked as a cryptographer, a job requiring a high-level security clearance. Eventually, Perry felt called to start a new church. He spoke to members of the Gay community and took out an advertisement in a newspaper announcing a worship service.

Twelve people attended the first meeting of the Metropolitan Community Church, which was held in Perry's living room. Perry preached a sermon entitled "Be True to You," enunciating three important tenets of his faith: 1) salvation--which comes through Jesus Christ and is unconditional; 2) community--which the church should provide, especially to those without caring family and friends; and 3) Christian social action--a commitment to fight oppression at all levels. These principles have guided the Church as it has matured from an evangelical, Pentecostal organization into a more liturgical and ecumenical denomination that welcomes heterosexuals as well as homosexuals and that empowers women and minority groups.

Via Daily Dharma: Distilling Wisdom

 

Through the magic of reflecting on the teachings, their force—sometimes clear, sometimes obscure—will cause ferment in our minds from which we can gradually distill the wisdom of reflection.

—Lama Jampa Thaye, “How Do We Learn the Dharma?”

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Monday, July 26, 2021

Jackson Browne & Leslie Mendelson "A Human Touch" from 5B - OFFICIAL MUS...

Via Daily Dharma: Every Day Is a Bonus


This truth [of impermanence] changes our perspective and makes us much happier. It helps us appreciate the life we have right now—moment by moment. It helps us understand that every day is a bonus.

—Trungram Gyalwa Rinpoche, “Every Day Is a Bonus”

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Sunday, July 25, 2021

Boudha Stupa Boudhanath • Nepal | JOEJOURNEYS

Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - July 25, 2021 💌

 


 

You and I are the force for transformation in the world. We are the consciousness that will define the nature of the reality we are moving into. - Ram Dass

Via Daily Dharma: Unfolding in Freedom

 

Just as love must be allowed to unfold and cannot be forced, our broader experience of life and death can truly unfold only in the freedom of mutual encounter between us and the world.

—Mark Unno, “The Original Buddhist Rebel”

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Saturday, July 24, 2021

Tibetan Buddhist Library at Sakya Monastery in Tibet

Via Tricycle -- Embracing the Buddha

 


Embracing the Buddha
By Mindy Newman and Kaia Fischer
An ancient tale from The Hundred Deeds Sutra offers a powerful lesson in turning our aspirations into reality.  
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Via Daily Dharma: What Is Correct Concentration?

 

Only the mind that is void of grasping at and clinging to “I” and “mine” can have the true and perfect stability of correct concentration.

—Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, “A Single Handful”

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Friday, July 23, 2021

Via Tricycle // Dawn Scott

 

The Steadying Power of Patience
With Dawn Scott
When life gets stressful, practicing patience can help stabilize the mind and strengthen the heart. 
Watch now »

Via Daily Dharma: The Circle of Practice

Each moment of practice encompasses enlightenment, and each moment of enlightenment encompasses practice. In other words, practice and enlightenment—process and goal—are inseparable. The circle of practice is complete even at the beginning.

—Kazuaki Tanahashi, “Fundamentals of Dogen’s Thoughts”

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Thursday, July 22, 2021

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Shasta via Tumblr

 


Via Lama Surya Das

 


tSponsSoredoWhen a water drop merges with the ocean, it is indivisible from the ocean. And the one space on the outside and inside of a broken vase cannot be differentiated, but extends into a single, all-pervasive space. Likewise, in the identification within yourself of the pure awareness, the nature of your mind, there is nothing to be altered and nothing else with which to engage.
 

Via Daily Dharma: Mountains Are Simply Mountains

 

In our essence of mind, mountains are simply mountains, flowers are flowers, and the sound of the wind is the sound of the wind. We hear, we see, and we leave each thing as we hear or see it, adding nothing at all to it.

—Shodo Harada Roshi, “Finding Our Essence of Mind”

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