Sunday, November 28, 2021

Via White Crane Institute \\ RITA MAE BROWN

 This Day in Gay History

November 28

Born
Rita Mae Brown
1944 -

RITA MAE BROWN American writer, born; Best known for her mysteries and other novels (Rubyfruit Jungle), she is also an Emmy-nominated screenwriter. In the 1960s, Brown attended the University of Florida but was expelled; she states that it was for her participation in a civil rights rally. She moved to New York and attended New York University, where she received a degree in classics and English. Later she received another degree in cinematography from the New York School of Visial Arts. She also holds a doctorate in political science from the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington D.C.

In the late 1960s, Brown turned her attention to politics. She became active in the American Civil Rights movement, the anti-war movement, the Gay Liberation movement and the feminist movement. She cofounded the Student Homophile League and participated in the Stonewall Uprising (pg 243 of the 1997 edition of "Rita Will": "There stood Martha Shelley and I in a sea of rioting Gay men...'Martha, we'd better get the hell out of here.'") in New York City. She took an administrative position with the fledgling National Organization for Women, but angrily resigned in February 1970 over Betty Friedan’s anti-Gay remarks and NOW's attempts to distance itself from Lesbian organizations. She played a leading role in the "Lavender Menace" zap of the Second Congress to Unite Women on May 1, 1970, which protested Friedan's remarks and the exclusion of Lesbians from the women's movement.

In the early 1970s, she became a founding member of The Furies Collective, a Lesbian feminist newspaper collective which held that heterosexuality was the root of all oppression. She is the former girlfriend of tennis player Martina Navratilova, actress and writer Fannie Flagg, socialite Judy Nelson and politician Elaine Noble. Brown enjoys American fox hunting and is master of her Fox Hunt Club. She has also played polo and started the woman-only Blue Ridge Polo Club.

The woman is funny, she’s deadly serious, and you’d better damn well listen up. She’s just like Molly Bolt, the heroine of her semi-autobiographical Rubyfruit Jungle who locks her adoptive mother in the root cellar. She’s a born fighter and doesn’t take any nonsense from anyone. She’d be awfully hard to take if it weren’t for the fact that she’s right in what she says almost all the time. And she says exactly what most people don’t want to hear. Like, for example, “I don’t think there is a ‘Gay lifestyle.’ I think that’s superficial crap all that talk about Gay culture. A couple of restaurants on Castro Street and a couple of magazines do not constitute culture. Michelangelo is culture. Virginia Woolf is culture. So let’s don’t confuse our terms. Wearing earrings is not culture, that’s a fad and it passes. I think we’ve blown superficial characteristics out of proportion…”


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Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute

"With the increasing commodification of gay news, views, and culture by powerful corporate interests, having a strong independent voice in our community is all the more important. White Crane is one of the last brave standouts in this bland new world... a triumph over the looming mediocrity of the mainstream Gay world." - Mark Thompson

Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture since 1989!
www.whitecraneinstitute.org

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Friday, November 26, 2021

Hollywood's (Gay) China Problem

Via FB

 


Via Daily Dharma: Enlivening Patience

 

Patience can demand the most determined effort, especially when the habits of irritation and anger have built up over a lifetime or more, yet it is enlivened by the sweetest of qualities, such as humor, lightness, and perspective.

—Sarah Kanowski, “Raging Buddha”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Via Dhamma Wheel // Undertaking the Commitment to Abstain from Intoxication

 


RIGHT LIVING
Undertaking the Commitment to Abstain from Intoxication
Intoxication is unhealthy. Refraining from intoxication is healthy. (MN 9) What are the imperfections that defile the mind? Negligence is an imperfection that defiles the mind. Knowing that negligence is an imperfection that defiles the mind, a person abandons it. (MN 7) One practices thus: “Others may become negligent through intoxication, but I will abstain from the negligence of intoxication.” (MN 8)
Reflection
An intoxicated mind is a negligent mind, no matter what toxin it is under the influence of. Whether alcohol, drugs, misinformation, bigotry, conceit, illusion, or some other harmful influence, all act to distort the functioning of the mind and obscure its capacity to see clearly, thus contributing directly to suffering. Right living requires an honest assessment of and strong commitment to abstaining from negligence in all its many forms.

Daily Practice
Deliberately undertake the practice of non-intoxication by noticing when you are free of anything that causes negligence. This may not be sustainable for long, given the many things that can diminish our alertness and clarity. But at least be aware of the moments when your mind is alert and clear. Perhaps you can gradually extend those moments, and the skill of right living can grow.

Tomorrow: Maintaining Arisen Healthy States
One week from today: Abstaining from Harming Living Beings

Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media
#DhammaWheel

Questions?
Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

When Harry met Santa ENG SUB

Via Lion’s Roar \\ Learn the “BASICS” of Insight Meditation

 


Learn the “BASICS” of Insight Meditation
Larry Yang teaches the basics of a simple practice you can do right now: insight meditation.

 

Via Daily Dharma: Meditating Without Goals

 

While it is necessary to be attracted to our practice if we are to develop a strong motivation to do it, it is entirely destructive if that attraction is based on achieving, during the practice, a desired state of mind while excluding others.

—Nigel Wellings, “Are You Practicing Stupid Meditation?”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Via Dhamma Wheel \\ Refraining from Frivolous Speech

 

RIGHT SPEECH
Refraining from Frivolous Speech
Frivolous speech is unhealthy. Refraining from frivolous speech is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning frivolous speech, one refrains from frivolous speech. One speaks at the right time, speaks only what is fact, and speaks about what is good. One speaks what is worthy of being overheard, words that are reasonable, moderate, and beneficial. (DN 1) One practices thus: “Others may speak frivolously, but I shall abstain from frivolous speech.” (MN 8)
Reflection
This guideline for speech can sound more oppressive than it is. We are not all teaching Buddhas, and much of what we say may not be directly contributing to the edification of the world. The call is for us to use speech that is "reasonable, moderate, and beneficial. " This is practical advice to laypeople who will naturally speak of daily affairs but are encouraged to do so in a way that is healthy.

Daily Practice
When you speak, see that your words are weighty and worthwhile. Speak up when people are listening, and refrain from interrupting others. Always speak the truth, and try your best to emphasize what is positive and helpful rather than being overly critical and saying things that would hurt people. You have to be mindful to speak carefully. The practice of mindful speech is worthwhile in its own right and conducive to well-being.

Tomorrow: Reflecting upon Social Action
One week from today: Refraining from False Speech

Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media
#DhammaWheel

Questions?
Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation \\ Words of Wisdom - November 24, 2021 💌

 
 

From the soul’s point of view, you come to appreciate that each one of us is living out his or her own karma. We interact together, and those interactions are the grist for each other’s mill of awakening. From a personality point of view, you develop judgment, but from the soul’s point of view, you develop appreciation.    

This shift from judging to appreciating — to appreciating yourself and what your karmic predicament is, and who other beings are with their own karma — brings everything into a simple loving awareness. To be free means to open your heart and your being to the fullness of who you are because only when you are resting in the place of unity can you truly honor and appreciate others and the incredible diversity of the universe. 

- Ram Dass -

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

When Harry met Santa

Via White Crane Institute // Today's Gay Wisdom: Thanksgiving

 

Today's Gay Wisdom
Announcement of the first fixed date for Thanksgiving by Franklin Roosevelt
1941 -

Influenced by the campaigning of author Sarah Josepha Hale, who wrote letters to politicians for around 40 years trying to make it an official holiday, Lincoln proclaimed the date to be the final Thursday in November in an attempt to foster a sense of American unity between the Northern and Southern states. Because of the ongoing Civil War and the Confederate States of America's refusal to recognize Lincoln's authority, a nationwide roll-out of the Thanksgiving date was not realized until Reconstruction was completed in the 1870s. These things happen when you try something new, right?

Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving an official holiday by proclamation in 1863, designating it as the last Thursday of November. Many southern states weren’t supportive of Thanksgiving at first.  They were not happy about the federal government telling them to celebrate and felt that it was a “New England” holiday. They were still a bit miffed about the whole Civil War thing.

Despite Lincoln’s proclamation, the date of Thanksgiving was not fixed until 1941, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed a bill setting the holiday on the fourth Thursday of November. He moved it up a week to help the economy by lengthening the Christmas shopping season.

Republicans were not down with this change, and retaliated by calling it “Democrat Thanksgiving” (or “Franksgiving”). They celebrated the following Thursday, calling that “Republican Thanksgiving.” Many Republican governors defied the change of date and observed the holiday on the last Thursday of the month, anyway. Republicans have some experience of being childish pre-Obama, it seems.

Macy’s first Thanksgiving Day parade in 1924 was held with live animals from the Central Park Zoo and was billed as “The Christmas Parade.” This was the parade for the next three years.

In 1927, Goodyear sponsored a giant balloon of Felix the Cat, starting that tradition. Until 1933, the balloons were just released to float off into the sky at the end of the parade and $100 was given by Macy’s to whomever found a deflated balloon.

That stopped when a pilot trying to grab a loose balloon crashed his plane and died. Mickey Mouse made his debut seven years later. Kermit the Frog came along in 1985. Snoopy, who joined the parade in 1968, holds the record for most appearances in the parade with seven. 

The parade route was moved to its present starting point at 77th and Central Park West in 1946. It was first televised nationally in 1947, drawing respectable viewership. Fifty years ago, the parade was almost cancelled due to the assassination of JFK. But it was felt that the nation needed it so the show went on. Each year, approximately 3.5 million people line the streets to watch the parade live while another 50 million or so watch it on TV. 

Sources:

  1. Steelman

A Taste of Thanksgiving: Curious Facts About America’s Holiday by Christopher Forest

Ancient Ways: Reclaiming Pagan Traditions by Pauline Campanelli and Dan Campanelli

Hawaiian Mythology by Martha Warren Beckwith

The Everything Christmas Book: Stories, Songs, Food, Traditions, Revelry, and More by Brandon Toropov, Sharon Gapen Cook, Marian Gonsior and Susan Robinson


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Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute

"With the increasing commodification of gay news, views, and culture by powerful corporate interests, having a strong independent voice in our community is all the more important. White Crane is one of the last brave standouts in this bland new world... a triumph over the looming mediocrity of the mainstream Gay world." - Mark Thompson

Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture since 1989!
www.whitecraneinstitute.org

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Via FB


 

Via Daily Dharma: Acknowledging What Is

Whether a buddha comes into this world or not, the nature of things is still the nature of things. The Buddha is someone who realizes what is true, what actually exists. If we want to become enlightened, we simply have to acknowledge or recognize what is.

—Tsoknyi Rinpoche, “Dissolving the Confusion”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

 

Monday, November 22, 2021

Via Dhamma Wheel // Understanding the Noble Truth of the Way to the Cessation of Suffering

 


RIGHT VIEW
Understanding the Noble Truth of the Way to the Cessation of Suffering
And what is the way leading to the cessation of suffering? It is just this noble eightfold path: that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right living, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. (MN 9)
Reflection
Understanding that suffering has a cause and can be cured is one thing, but managing to bring about that cure is a formidable challenge: “Just stop craving, and your suffering will disappear! How hard can that be?” As it turns out, it can be very hard indeed. The way out of suffering, woven from the elements of the eightfold path, needs to be crafted anew by each culture, each generation, each person.

Daily Practice
The practice of walking the path leading to the cessation of suffering has always been a creative project. Since every moment of every person’s experience is new and unique, the blueprint of the eightfold path has to be interpreted flexibly. Find your own distinctive way of understanding these timeless universal principles and applying them to the many challenges of your life and its unique set of changing circumstances.

Tomorrow: Cultivating Equanimity
One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth of Suffering

Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media
#DhammaWheel

Questions?
Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

Via White Crane Institute // ANDRÉ GIDE

 This Day in Gay History

November 22

Born
Andre Gide
1869 -

ANDRÉ GIDE, French writer and Nobel laureate was born (d. 1951); French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1947. Gide's career spanned from the symbolist movement to the advent of anti-colonialism in between the two World Wars.

Known for his fiction as well as his autobiographical works, Gide exposes to public view the conflict and eventual reconciliation between the two sides of his personality, split apart by a straight-laced education and a narrow social moralism.

Gide's work can be seen as an investigation of freedom and empowerment in the face of moralistic and puritan constraints, and gravitates around his continuous effort to achieve intellectual honesty. His self-exploratory texts reflect his search of how to be fully oneself, even to the point of owning one's sexual nature, without at the same time betraying one's values. His political activity is informed by the same ethos, as suggested by his repudiation of communism after his 1936 voyage to the Soviet Union.

In 1908, Gide helped found the literary magazine Nouvelle Revue Francaise (The New French Review). In 1916, Marc Allégret, 16, became his lover. He was the son of Elie Allegret, best man at Gide's wedding. Of Allegret's five children, Andre Gide adopted Marc. The two eloped to London, in retribution for which his wife burned all his correspondence, "the best part of myself," as he was later to comment. In 1918, he met Dorothy Bussy, who was his friend for over thirty years and who would translate many of his works into English.

In the 1920s, Gide became an inspiration for writers like Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre. In 1923, he published a book on Fyodor Dostoyevski; however, when he defended homosexuality in the public edition of Corydon (1924) he received widespread condemnation. He later considered this his most important work.



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Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute

"With the increasing commodification of gay news, views, and culture by powerful corporate interests, having a strong independent voice in our community is all the more important. White Crane is one of the last brave standouts in this bland new world... a triumph over the looming mediocrity of the mainstream Gay world." - Mark Thompson

Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture since 1989!
www.whitecraneinstitute.org

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Via Tricycle // ood Is Very Important

 


Food Is Very Important
By Lewis Richmond
A story about Zen master Suzuki Roshi illustrates both the spiritual significance of eating and a wise and compassionate approach to navigating disagreements.
Read more »

Via Daily Dharma: Noble Silence

 

Sometimes just listening without saying anything is the best recourse.

—Lewis Richmond, “Food Is Very Important”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Sunday, November 21, 2021

Via Daily Dharma: Walk Like a Buddha

 

When you live your daily life with the same heart and mind as a buddha, your life will be full of joy.

—Shinso Ito, “Unconditional Service”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE