If we give as best we can without the feeling of needing compensation, we feel the wisdom of interconnection and interbeing.
Joshua Bee Alafia, “Cultivating the Courage to Be Generous”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
Thursday, December 15, 2022
Via Daily Dharma: Giving Without Expectation
Wednesday, December 14, 2022
Via White Crane Institute // Aunt Bee
This Day in Gay History | ||
December 14Born
1902 -
FRANCES BAVIER (December 14, 1902 – December 6, 1989) was an American stage and television actress born on this date (d: 1989); Originally from New York theatre, Bavier worked in film and television from the 1950s until the 1970s. She is best known for her role of Aunt Bee on The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D. from 1960 to 1970. Aunt Bee logged more Mayberry years (ten) than any other character. She won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Comedy Actress for the role in 1967. Bavier was additionally known for playing Amy Morgan on It's a Great Life (1954-1956). Bavier had roles in more than a dozen films, as well as playing a range of supporting roles on television. Career highlights include her turn as Mrs. Barley in the classic 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still. In 1955, she played the rough and tough "Aunt Maggie" Sawtelle, a frontier Ma Barker-type character, in the Lone Ranger episode "Sawtelle's Saga End". In 1957, she played Nora Martin, mother of Eve Arden's character on The Eve Arden Show, despite the fact that Arden was less than six years younger than Bavier. That same year, Bavier guest-starred in the eighth episode of Perry Mason as Louise Marlow in "The Case of the Crimson Kiss". She was in the episode of Make Room for Daddy, which launched the characters of "Andy Taylor," with Andy Griffith and Ron Howard as "Opie Taylor." She played a character named Henrietta Perkins. The episode introduced The Andy Griffith Show, and Bavier was cast in the role of Aunt Bee. Bavier had a love-hate relationship with her famous role during the run of the show. As a New York City actress, she felt her dramatic talents were being overlooked, yet after playing Bee for eight seasons, she was the only original cast member to remain with the series in the spin-off, Mayberry R.F.D., for two additional seasons. Bavier was easily offended on the set of The Andy Griffith Show and the production staff took a cautious approach when communicating with her. Series star Andy Griffith once admitted the two sometimes clashed during the series run. On a 2003 appearance on Larry King Live, Griffith said Bavier phoned him four months before she died and apologized for being "difficult" during the series run. Bavier confessed in an interview with Bill Ballard for Carolina Camera that "it is very difficult for an actress ... to create a role and to be so identified that you as a person no longer exist and all the recognition you get is for a part that is created on the screen." While the character of "Aunt Bee" was thought of as “everyone’s aunt” by fans, off the set, Bavier was a far different personality than the woman that she portrayed on television. Her being a lesbian was an open secret to the Andy Griffith Show cast and crew, and in Hollywood gay circles. She dated some women but passed them off as “good friends”. In that era, an actor could never really be candid about their sexuality. "Aunt Bee" might have been a gentle soul, a woman who was primarily focused on the kitchen, but in real life, the actor who played her was a fierce, driven career woman. |8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8 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! |8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8
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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Speech: Refraining from Harsh Speech
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Tuesday, December 13, 2022
Via Daily Dharma: Asking Why
We
must first directly comprehend the spiritual reason of things and then
let us with this insight look upon things that are about us.
Soyen Shaku, “The Middle Way”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
Monday, December 12, 2022
Via Dhamma Wheel | Right View: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering
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Via Daily Dharma: Cultivating Connection
Genuine
connection can be like a rainbow—to go charging at it, or even to grasp
at it, can make it dissolve. Cheerful patience is essential.
Mindy Newman and Kaia Fischer, “Making Our Way Together”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
Sunday, December 11, 2022
Via Buddhist Global Relief
All of us at Buddhist Global Relief wish to express our deepest gratitude to each of you who participated in our 2022 Buddhist Action to Feed the Hungry season. Hundreds of BGR supporters contributed their time, fundraised, donated, and shared in our online Dharma gathering, held on October 29. The event was a poignant tribute to the impact of our community’s compassion and generosity.
“Compassion means taking action,” Insight Meditation Society co-founder Joseph Goldstein said in his Dharma talk at the gathering. “This is what Buddhist Global Relief is doing so effectively, and so successfully in the world, that it’s just a tremendous inspiration for me and for many others.”
Joseph was joined by a program of eminent Buddhist teachers including Konjun Gaelyn Godwin, abbot of the Houston Zen Center; Bhante Buddharakkhita, founder and abbot of the Uganda Buddhist Center; Ven. Lekshe Tsomo, founder of the Jamyang Foundation; Rev. Kiyonobu Kuwahara, of Berkeley Buddhist Temple; Raimund Hopf, founder of Mitgefühl in Aktion; Bhante Saranapala, founder of Canada: A Mindful and Kind Nation; Ayyā Dhammadīpā, founder of the Dassanāya Buddhist Community; and BGR founder Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi.
Through these talks, and through presentations from BGR partners Amrita Basu of Building Bridges India, Genevieve Waltcher of Lotus Outreach International, and David Palmer of the Joan Rose Foundation, we were invited to reflect on the qualities of our hearts that allow us to be open to seeing and being present with suffering, and to celebrate the joy that arises from taking action to respond to that suffering.
We at BGR are grateful to everyone who joined us in this beautiful gathering and to all of our supporters around the globe who make our work possible. Together, we are creating a more compassionate world.
It is not too late to contribute to BGR’s “Creating a More Compassionate World” fundraising season. To view the recording of our October 29 event, visit our website.
Thank you for your generous support of BGR and those whom we serve.
Come together in the work of conscientious compassion at: buddhistglobalrelief.org
Via Tricycle // Metta and Karuna
With Devin Berry
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Via Tricycle // Perspectives on Buddhism and Human Flourishing
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Perspectives on Buddhism and Human Flourishing
In today’s world, what does it mean to live a good life? How can we live well—and navigate the path to awakening—in times of existential and ecological crisis? Tricycle’s October virtual event series, Living Well in Difficult Times, brings together leading Buddhist teachers and writers to explore the building blocks of a life well lived, from emotional well-being to right livelihood to spiritual friendship.
If you missed the live series in October, don’t worry—the full set of video conversations is now available on Tricycle Online Courses!
For just $40, enjoy events including:
- Cultivating unconditional joy with James Baraz and Sylvia Boorstein
- Stephen Batchelor: An ethics of uncertainty: ancient perspectives on living well in times of crisis
- Right livelihood in times of economic instability with David Nichtern
- Healing collective trauma and caring for one another with Kaira Jewel Lingo
- Tibetan Medicine perspectives on emotional well-being with Dr. Nida Chenagtsang and Dr. Caroline van Damme
- Aging confronts us directly with the reality of impermanence. Join us Dec. 15 for a conversation with Lewis Richmond and Douglas Penick on aging as a spiritual practice.
- This month’s Film Club pick, Descending the Mountain, explores the question: What happens when you give psychedelics to experienced Zen meditators?
- Discover the power of metta and karuna, two heart practices to cultivate in meditation and daily life, in our December Dharma Talk series with meditation teacher Devin Berry.
- Kimberly Brown, meditation teacher and author of Navigating Grief and Loss, offers concrete tools for becoming a better friend to yourself through the grieving process.
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