Monday, October 10, 2022

Via Daily Dharma: Getting Closer to Our Pain

 The closer we get to our pain, the greater are the odds that we’ll be able to skillfully relate to it rather than from it.

Robert Augustus Masters, “A Painless Present”


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Via White Crane Institute // MPHO ANDREA TUTU van FURTH

 

Noteworthy
Mpho Tutu van Furth with her father Desmond Tutu
1963 -

MPHO ANDREA TUTU van FURTH is a South African Anglican priest, author and activist. We know she was born in this year, but have randomly assigned this birthdate because we can't ascertain her actual date of birth. She is the daughter of Leah and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. She coauthored two books with her father, and a biography about him with journalist Allister Sparks. She was ordained in 2003, but due to the regulations of the Anglican Church of South Africa, she was not permitted to function as a priest in the church after marrying a woman in 2015. In 2022 she began preaching in Amsterdam. As a child, Tutu had no desire to follow in her father's footprints as a priest and later described her path to the ministry as taking the "scenic route" and said she felt God calling her into the profession.

Tutu van Furth was ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church of the United States in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 2003. Before her ordination, she was the director of the Discovery Program at All Saints Church in Worcester, Massachusetts. She received her master's degree from Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and after her ordination she began preaching at the historic Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia.

Tutu van Furth has co-authored a number of books including Made for Goodness: And Why This Makes All the DifferenceThe Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World and Tutu: The Authorised Portrait; The former two books were written with her father and the latter with journalist Allister Sparks. She has been an outspoken advocate for the importance of forgiveness. She made news for forgiving the murderer of her housekeeper in 2012. She and her father have advocated for forgiveness in the wake of racial tensions and police shootings in the United States. As a public speaker, she has shared the stage with The 14th Dalai Lama, Eckhart Tolle, Ken Robinson and others.

Tutu van Furth was the founding director of the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation and served as executive director from 2011 to 2016.

In January 2022, Mpho Tutu van Furth was confirmed as pastor of Vrijburg, a church in Amsterdam, by the reverend Joost Röselaers

In 2015, Tutu married Marceline van Furth, a Dutch professor of medicine, and moved to Amstelveen in the Netherlands. Shortly after the marriage, the Diocese of Saldanha Bay withdrew her license as a priest. Both of her parents were supportive of her marriage. According to the BBC, the Anglican Church of South Africa is looking at new guidelines for members who enter same-sex unions, but it is "not clear whether there will be any change when it comes to same-sex marriages of church clerics". 

In 2022, the Church of England – which does not allow its clergy to marry the same gender – prohibited her from leading a funeral because she is married to a woman. 

In regards to her marriage, Tutu van Furth said, "I had the extreme good fortune of growing up in a household with parents who were very clear about their faith and very clear about full inclusion of all people ... regardless of gender and gender identity and regardless of sexual orientation." Her father said in 2013 that he would never "worship a God who is homophobic" and both of them have been active in calls for LGBT equality. Desmond Tutu stated that he was "as passionate about [the campaign against homophobia] as I ever was about apartheid".

Reverend Tutu von Furth had previously been married to Joseph Burris, with whom she had two children


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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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Sunday, October 9, 2022

BBC Crowd Science // Why am I gay?

 

Human sexuality comes in many forms, from exclusively heterosexual to exclusively homosexual. But seeing as homosexuality creates apparent reproductive and evolutionary disadvantages, listener Ahmed from Oslo wants to know: why are some people gay? CrowdScience presenter Caroline Steel examines what science can - and can't - tell us about the role of nature, nurture and evolution in human sexual attraction. She asks a geneticist what we know of the oft-debated 'gay gene', as well as looking into why homosexual men on average have more older brothers than heterosexual men. Caroline looks into the role of nurture with a developmental psychologist to answer a question from a CrowdScience listener from Myanmar. He wonders if the distant relationship he has with his own father has impacted his own feelings of attraction. She also learns about research into a group of people in Samoa who may shed light on the benefits of traditionally non-reproductive relationships for communities as a whole. Presented by Caroline Steel Produced by Jonathan Blackwell for BBC World Service 

Contributors: 

Dr. Kevin Mitchell – Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin 

Dr. Malvina Skorska - Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto 

Prof. Lisa Diamond - Professor of Psychology and Gender Studies, University of Utah Prof. 

Paul Vasey, Professor and Research Chair, Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge 

Vaitulia Alatina Ioelu, Chief Executive Officer, Samoa Business Hub

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Body and Abiding in the First Jhāna

 

RIGHT MINDFULNESS
Establishing Mindfulness of Body
A person goes to the forest or to the root of a tree or to an empty place and sits down. Having crossed the legs, one sets the body erect. One establishes the presence of mindfulness. (MN 10) One is aware: “Ardent, fully aware, mindful, I am content.” (SN 47.10)
 
Full awareness: when walking, standing, sitting, falling asleep, waking up, talking, and keeping silent . . . one is just aware, just mindful: “There is body.” And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)
Reflection
Mindfulness of the body can take place at any time and with any activity. We practice it formally seated on a meditation cushion to become familiar with a certain range of sensations, and then we can extend it to other areas of daily life. Acting with full awareness is particularly well suited to ordinary activities requiring a sense of continuity over time, such as walking or dressing yourself. Full awareness is mindfulness in motion.

Daily Practice
All skills are gradually learned by practicing them again and again. When sitting still we tend to focus on the bodily sensations associated with the breath; when walking mindfully we notice the sensations of the rhythmic moving of certain muscles. See if you can extend the scope of these practices by becoming aware of the sensations of other bodily motions, such as those associated with taking a sip of tea, for example. 


RIGHT CONCENTRATION
Approaching and Abiding in the First Phase of Absorption (1st Jhāna)
Having abandoned the five hindrances, imperfections of the mind that weaken wisdom, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, one enters and abides in the first phase of absorption, which is accompanied by applied thought and sustained thought, with joy and the pleasure born of seclusion. (MN 4)

Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering
One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and Abiding in the Second Jhāna

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

Questions?
Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

Via Daily Dharma: What to Do with Stray Thoughts

 The very fear of stray thoughts is another stray thought. Therefore, if you have many stray thoughts, consider it a natural phenomenon and do not despise them.

Master Sheng-yen, “Being Natural”


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Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - October 9, 2022 💌

 



"I don’t elevate human relationships that much. I see them as just more of the interaction with the phenomenal world, and another person is a set of phenomena manifested. I see that when I’m getting upset because somebody is a certain way, I take that upset and ask 'Why am I upset?' I realize that a part of my upset is because I have a model that I am holding of how the world should be other than the way it is.

I have the choice of either trying to change the world to adhere to my model, or let go of my model to be with the world."
- Ram Dass

Saturday, October 8, 2022

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Via White Crane Institute // Rev. Nancy Wilson, Our Tribe: Queer Folks, God, Jesus and the Bible

 

Today's Gay Wisdom
Reverend Nancy Wilson
2017 -

"In such a toxic environment, the poor, the minorities, and the politically vulnerable populations will be the first to exhibit signs and symptoms of the deteriorating immunological picture. It is the canary-in-the-mines syndrome. When miners wanted to know if a particular mineshaft was safe from poisonous gases, they sent a canary in first. If the canary returned, the miners felt safe to go in. On our planet today, poor people, people of color, women and children, and gays and lesbians are the canaries (or sitting ducks if you prefer). Those who have any kind of privilege (gender, race, class, sexuality, age) are better able, for a time, to buffer and insulate themselves from the toxic environment — from AIDS, cancer, and other diseases. But not forever.

"There is also a moral and religious toxicity in reaction to so much upheaval, change, and worldwide political challenges. This phenomenon is called in many religions fundamentalism. In a century of increasing relativity in values, morality, and religion, fundamentalism provides absolutes and identifies the enemies. It is a kind of collective mental illness that includes obsessive thinking, tunnel vision, and functions much like other addictions." 

- Rev. Nancy Wilson, Our Tribe: Queer Folks, God, Jesus and the Bible


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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 // Have A Gay Day

 

Image Description: A scene from the animated series The Simpsons. Marge Simpson is shown speaking with Reverend Lovejoy in what appears to be an office area of the church building. Marge is wearing a green dress with matching triangle earrings, her back mostly to the viewer. They're both standing, and the Reverend is looking down while she speaks. Based on their garments and location, this appears to be taking place shortly after a church service. Text indicates dialogue. Pinky-purple text says: (Quote) Excuse me Reverend, as long as two people love each other, I don't think God cares whether they have the same who who or ha ha. End quote. Marge Simpson.

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