Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día- Flower of the day - 09/09/2016

“Muitos confundem egoísmo com amor. Uma coisa é você estar com alguém porque é bom estar próximo, porque existe uma sinergia, uma afinidade, e a energia de ambos cresce nesse encontro. Outra coisa é estar com alguém porque você acredita que será feliz através dessa pessoa; porque espera receber dela alguma coisa. Nesse caso, você não quer alguém para amar, você quer é alguém para atender às suas necessidades e expectativas. Isso chama-se egoísmo.”

“Muchos confunden egoísmo con amor. Una cosa es que estés con alguien porque es bueno estar cerca, porque existe una sinergia, una afinidad, y la energía de ambos crece en ese encuentro. Otra cosa es estar con alguien porque crees que serás feliz a través de esa persona; porque esperas recibir alguna cosa de ella. En ese caso, no quieres alguien para amar, quieres alguien para atender tus necesidades y expectativas. Eso se llama egoísmo.”

“Many confuse selfishness with love. It’s one thing to be with someone because it is good to be together, because there is a synergistic affinity, and a positive energy grows for both in this union. It’s another thing to be with someone because you believe you will find happiness through this person, because you think you will get something from him or her in return. In this case, you don’t want someone to love. You want someone to attend to your needs and expectations. This is what is known as selfishness.”

Via BuzzFeed : Australia’s Second Biggest Church Says It’s OK To Vote “Yes” On Marriage Equality

Melbourne Archbishop Philip Freier has released a letter he wrote to Australia’s Anglican bishops, saying the church “must accept” same-sex marriage as part of the landscape if a national plebiscite is carried.

Joe Castro / AAPIMAGE

In the letter, Freier differentiates between types of marriage, saying that if civil marriage is amended to include same-sex couples, the church can still reserve its definition of marriage as between a man and a women.

“We can still stand for and offer holy matrimony between a man and a woman as a sacred ordinance given by God, while accepting that the state has endorsed a wider view of marriage,” he wrote.
In the 2011 census, 17% of Australians identified themselves as Anglicans – second to 25% who are Catholic.

Freier also noted that Anglicans are not uniform in their positions on same-sex marriage, and gave the green light for people to land on either side of the debate.

“Individual Anglicans have adopted a variety of positions taken in good conscience based on their Christian understanding of the principles and issues, and this is right and proper,” he wrote.

Freier said he personally welcomed the plebiscite, but feared a divisive debate, and called for more pastoral sensitivity towards LGBT people in the church.

“I am very concerned that the discussion does not become harsh or vilifying – on either side, for it is not only Christians who have sometimes failed on this score,” he said.

Alex Wong / Getty Images

The president of the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA), Stuart McMillan, told BuzzFeed News the church would not take part in the plebiscite campaign as it has been engaged in an internal discussion on marriage theology since 2012.

The Uniting Church is Australia’s third largest, encompassing 5% of the population, and currently defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

“As we are engaged in our own discernment process, we will not be formally involved with other groups lobbying on the marriage issue,” McMillan said.

Instead, the church’s involvement will consist of “resources for respectful conversations on marriage” available on the UCA website.

“Uniting Church ministers and members are free to express personal opinions or take part in campaigns in the course of the national debate, so as long as they are clear that they are expressing personal views and not speaking on behalf of the Uniting Church,” McMillan added.

McMillan published a blog on Friday urging church members to remain graceful throughout the marriage debate.

“It is easy to harm each other with careless words. So we should all choose ours carefully,” he said.

“We are committed to being an inclusive Church that embraces LGBTIQ people as full members and to culturally appropriate discussion about relationships and marriage across our diversity.”

 

Lane Sainty is a reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Sydney, Australia.

Contact Lane Sainty at lane.sainty@buzzfeed.com.

Via Daily Dharma / September 9, 2016: The Power of Madness

The people who have been through the harshest conditions—and survived—have the greatest potential to transform the madness of their lives. . . . if they can take that madness, claim it, and stand on top of its incredible energy, they can transform it into power. —Vinny Ferraro, "The Heartful Dodger"

An Orlando Shooting Survivor's Inspiring Story – EXTENDED

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Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día- Flower of the day - 08/09/2016

“A mente condicionada faz você acreditar que só poderá ser feliz se o outro olhar para você de uma determinada maneira. O outro precisa agir do jeito que você imagina para você poder ser feliz, então você vive tentando fazer com que essa pessoa faça desse jeito, pois somente assim você se sente amado; somente assim você pode ser feliz. Essa felicidade que depende da forma que o outro age é uma mentira. A verdadeira felicidade independe de fatores externos, ela vem de dentro de você - ela nasce da liberdade.”

“La mente condicionada te hace creer que solo podrás ser feliz si el otro te mira de una maneradeterminada. El otronecesitaactuar de la formaque tú imaginas para poder ser feliz, entonces vivesintentando lograr que estapersona actúede esa forma, porque solamente así te sientes amado; solamenteasí puedes ser feliz. Esta felicidad que depende de la forma queel otro actúa es una mentira. La verdadera felicidad es independiente de factores externos, viene de adentro tuyo - nace de la libertad.”

“The conditioned mind makes us believe that we can only be happy if the other looks at us the way we want to be seen.We believe the other has to act in a certain way for us to be happy. So, we live our lives trying to make the other act according to our own standards because this is the only way we think we will feel loved or be able to experience happiness. But happiness that depends on how others act is not real. True happiness exists independently of external factors as it comes from within. Happiness is born out of freedom.”

Via Daily Dharma / September 8, 2016: The Sacred and the Ordinary

At last a tongue-tip taste of the
dharma comes home to the heart.
Not chasing after imaginary things,
the ordinary is sacred after all.
Wellsprings of gratitude surface.

—Edward Espe Brown, "The Vision Cow"

Via Ram Dass

September 7, 2016

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 into 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.

Via Sri Prem Baba

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día- Flower of the day - 07/09/2016

“O Brasil nesse momento está na UTI, podemos dizer que já em estado de coma. E o que está morrendo? A possibilidade da realização do dharma, o propósito maior. Isso ocorre quando a injustiça cresce para além de toda e qualquer possibilidade de transformação através da escolha e da vontade consciente. Então, se faz necessário entrar num redemoinho energético de transformação, que é praticamente impossível saber onde vai dar.”

“Brasil en este momento está en la UTI,podemos decir que ya en estado de coma. ¿Qué eslo que está muriendo? La posibilidad de realización del dharma, el propósitomayor. Esto ocurre cuando la injusticia crece más allá de toda y cualquier posibilidad de transformación a través de la elección y de la voluntad consciente. Entonces, se hacenecesario entrar en un remolino energético de transformación, y es prácticamente imposible saber hacia dónde va.”

“We could make the analogy that Brazil is currently in ‘urgent care’ experiencing a ‘coma’. But what is dying is the possibility for Brazil to fulfill its dharma, or it’s greater purpose. This happens when injustice outweighs all chances of transformation to occurthrough the use of choice and conscious will. Thus, an energetic whirlpool of transformation begins to form, whose outcome is practically impossible to determine.”

Via Daily Dharma / September 7, 2016: Neither Bound Nor Blind

What saves me from despair about this very human situation? It is simply the fact that while I am not blind to damage caused by the lived illusion of race, neither am I bound by it. And I know others need not be bound by it, either.

—Charles Johnson, "Black Coffee Buddhism"

Via FB:

Via Ram Dass: Ram Dass and Allen Ginsberg in Conversation

Hello, friends:

Here’s the second video in our three-part series in celebration of Ram Dass, a gem that we discovered from this luminary teacher’s extensive archives:

Ram Dass and Allen Ginsberg in Conversation

Video #2 in a three-part series

Available Now

If you’re a writer, artist, or otherwise creative spirit, this one was picked just for you.

As you may know, Allen Ginsberg was a “Johnny Appleseed” for poetry the way Ram Dass was (and is) for spiritual transformation. Here, they explore: how art and spirituality support each other, prophetic reflections on the dangers and possibilities of the modern world, and more.

Yours on the journey,
Sounds True

P.S. Did you miss the first free video?  It’s excellent! You can watch it here.

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día- Flower of the day - 06/09/2016

“Quero propor uma pequena tarefa: avalie com sinceridade como você está na esfera dos relacionamentos. Se você está com alguém, veja por que está nessa relação. O que te mantém nela? E se você não está com alguém, se pergunte por que você está sozinho. É uma escolha da sua alma ou você está com medo de se relacionar? Não tenha medo de fazer essas perguntas. Somente a mentira pode cair - a verdade nunca cai. Se a sua escolha é baseada no amor e na liberdade - se você está se expandindo na luz e crescendo dentro do programa da sua alma, ótimo. Zele por isso. Mas, se você está onde está por outras razões, tenha coragem de encarar a verdade, porque ela te liberta.”

“Quiero proponer una pequeña tarea: evalúasinceramente cómo estás en la esfera de las relaciones. Si estás con alguien, mira por qué estás en esa relación. ¿Quées lo que te mantiene en ella? Y si no estás con alguien, pregúntate por qué estás solo. ¿Es una elección de tu alma o tienes miedo de relacionarte? No tengas miedo de hacer estas preguntas. Solamente la mentira puede caerse - la verdad nunca se cae. Si tu elección se basa en el amor y en la libertad - si te estásexpandiendoen la luz y creciendo dentro del programa de tu alma, muy bien.Cuida bien de ello. Pero si estásdónde estás por otras razones, ten coraje de encarar la verdad, porque ella te libera.”

“I would like to propose a small exercise: sincerely evaluate where you are in the realm of relationships. If you are with someone, take a look at why you are with them. What keeps you in this relationship? If you are not with someone, ask yourself why you are alone. Is it a choice you have made from your soul or are you frightened of being in a relationship? Don’t be afraid to ask yourself these questions. The only thing that will fall away will be lies. The truth will never collapse. If your choice is based in love and freedom, if you are expanding in the light and growing along with the program of your soul, then that’s wonderful. Continue to nurture it. However, if you are in this relationship for other reasons, have the courage to face the truth, because it will set you free.”

Via Daily Dharma / September 6, 2016: Consciousness, Divided

Consciousness is the division of an otherwise seamless Whole, which transcends space and time, into space and time—that is, into here and there, then and now.

—Steve Hagen, "Time and Now"

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Via Daily Dharma / September 5, 2016: The Vulnerable Pronoun

We are sentient creatures easily threatened. Things harm Me. Events bruise and batter Me. The Me is our fearful Self. Me is the pronoun cast in this vulnerable role.

—James Austin, "I-Me-Mine"

Via Tricycle / September 5, 2016: Lean In to Learning

The school year has begun! Whether you’re a student, a parent, or a Ph.D. candidate, lunches are packed alongside the notebooks and pens, and our minds, refreshed from the summer, are primed for learning. This week at Tricycle we take the opportunity to learn about race in America and the optimism of the buddhadharma from scholar and writer Charles Johnson. In “Black Coffee Buddhism," poet and literary activist E. Ethelbert Miller asks the National Book Award-winning novelist the questions that “a person in a crowd might be thinking about,” and Johnson’s timely, generous answers offer hope for the next generation of thinkers. When asked what advice he’d share with his grandson, Johnson answers, “I want him to understand that the best position for him to take in regard to objects and others and himself is that of epistemological humility and egoless listening.” What better advice could a student ask for? For centuries, Buddhist women worldwide have been denied access to a full Buddhist education, and thus the full promise of the Buddha’s teaching. In “Buddhism’s Glass Ceiling,” Tricycle’s editor-at-large, Mary Talbot, takes stock of this issue, which has endured from the time of the Buddha to the present day. As Ayya Medhanandi, a nun in the Theravada tradition, puts it, “The Buddha gave the full training to those who were hell-bent on nirvana. Why shouldn’t we receive it?” (For more on Buddhist women achieving what some deemed impossible, check out this month’s Film Club feature, Daughters of Everest.) The right to an education—one education that encompasses the spiritual, intellectual, social, and emotional life—should be a universal right for people of all ages. In that spirit, the first week of dharma teacher Vinny Ferraro’s Dharma Talk, “Starting a Practice of Lovingkindness,” is open to the public, so feel free to share it with your friends and loved ones this week. Tune in to learn about the first two of the four immeasurables: lovingkindness and compassion. No matter your age, it’s always a good idea to invest in your dharma education.

(A Response to 'One Man, One Woman') GOD LOVES LGBT+

Make the jump here to see the original site

Via Ram Dass

September 4, 2016

Grace is something that an individual can see about their own suffering and then use it to their advantage. It is not something that can be a rationalization for allowing another human being to suffer. And you have to listen to the level at which another person is suffering. And when somebody is hungry you give them food. As my guru said, "God comes to the hungry person in the form of food." You give them food and then when they’ve had their belly filled then they may be interested in questions about God. Even though you know from, say, Buddhist training, or whatever spiritual training you have had, that the root cause of suffering is ignorance about the nature of dharma. To give somebody a dharma lecture when they are hungry is just inappropriate methodology in terms of ending suffering...

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día- Flower of the day - 04/09/2016

“É preciso ter firmeza para evitar que as forças contrárias ao amor destruam as coisas boas que conseguimos construir na nossa vida. Nossas escolhas precisam vir do coração, que é o Divino em nós, e não do ego obcecado pelo poder e viciado em machucar e destruir. Será que não estamos suficientemente cansados do sofrimento? Precisamos nos comprometer com a Luz, o que significa trabalhar para criar união, prosperidade, construção, paz e alegria, na mente e no coração.”

“Es necesariotenerfirmeza para evitar que las fuerzas contrarias al amor destruyan las cosas buenas que pudimos construir en nuestra vida. Nuestras eleccionesprecisan venir del corazón, que es lo Divino en nosotros, y no del ego obsesionado con el poder y adicto a lastimar y destruir. ¿Será que no estamos lo suficientemente cansados del sufrimiento? Necesitamos comprometernos con la Luz, que significa trabajar para crear unión, prosperidad, construcción, paz y alegría en la mente y en el corazón.”

"Firmness is necessary so that we don't let the opposing forces to love destroy all the good things we have built in our lives. Our choices need to come from our hearts, which is the Divine in us, and not our egos that are obsessed by power and addicted to causing pain and destruction. Have we not had enough of suffering? We need to commit ourselves to the light, working in order to create union, prosperity, construction, peace, and happiness in our minds and in our hearts."

Via Daily Dharma / September 4, 2016: The River of Ourselves

Practicing Buddhism is about discovering ourselves to be in a great, flowing river of continuities.

—Joan Halifax, "Giving Birth to Ancestors"

Via Daily Dharma / September 3, 2016: Inherent Compassion

Compassion is not something that we can “do” or “create”; it already exists in each and every one of us.

—Andy Puddicombe, "10 Tips for Living More Mindfully"

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Via bipartisanreport: Before European Christians Forced Gender Roles, Native Americans Acknowledged 5 Genders

By Pearson McKinney

It wasn’t until Europeans took over North America that natives adopted the ideas of gender roles. For Native Americans, there was no set of rules that men and women had to abide by in order to be considered a “normal” member of their tribe.

In fact, people who had both female and male characteristics were viewed as gifted by nature, and therefore, able to see both sides of everything. According to Indian Country Today, all native communities acknowledged the following gender roles: “Female, male, Two Spirit female, Two Spirit male and Transgendered.”

“Each tribe has their own specific term, but there was a need for a universal term that the general population could understand. The Navajo refer to Two Spirits as Nádleehí (one who is transformed), among the Lakota is Winkté (indicative of a male who has a compulsion to behave as a female), Niizh Manidoowag (two spirit) in Ojibwe, Hemaneh (half man, half woman) in Cheyenne, to name a few. As the purpose of “Two Spirit” is to be used as a universal term in the English language, it is not always translatable with the same meaning in Native languages. For example, in the Iroquois Cherokee language, there is no way to translate the term, but the Cherokee do have gender variance terms for ‘women who feel like men’ and vice versa.”

The “Two Spirit” culture of Native Americans was one of the first things that Europeans worked to destroy and cover up. According to people like American artist George Catlin, the Two Spirit tradition had to be eradicated before it could go into history books. Catlin said the tradition:

“..Must be extinguished before it can be more fully recorded.”

However, it wasn’t only white Europeans that tried to hide any trace of native gender bending. According to Indian Country Today, “Spanish Catholic monks destroyed most of the Aztec codices to eradicate traditional Native beliefs and history, including those that told of the Two Spirit tradition.” Throughout these efforts by Christians, Native Americans were forced to dress and act according to newly designated gender roles.

One of the most celebrated Two Spirits in recorded history was a Lakota warrior aptly named Finds Them And Kills Them. Osh-Tisch was born a male and married a female, but adorned himself in women’s clothing and lived daily life as a female. On June 17 1876, Finds Them And Kills Them gained his reputation when he rescued a fellow tribesman during the Battle of Rosebud Creek. An act of fearless bravery. Below is a picture of Osh-Tisch and his wife.

Osh-Tisch (Left) and his wife (Right)

In Native American cultures, people were valued for their contributions to the tribe, rather than for masculinity or femininity. Parents did not assign gender roles to children either, and even children’s clothing tended to be gender neutral. There were no ideas or ideals about how a person should love; it was simply a natural act that occurred without judgement or hesitation.

Without a negative stigma attached to being a Two Spirit, there were no inner-tribal incidents of retaliation or violence toward the chosen people simply due to the fact that individuals identified as the opposite or both genders.

“The Two Spirit people in pre-contact Native America were highly revered and families that included them were considered lucky. Indians believed that a person who was able to see the world through the eyes of both genders at the same time was a gift from The Creator.”

Religious influences soon brought serious prejudice against “gender diversity,” and so this forced once openly alternative or androgynous people to one of two choices. They could either live in hiding, and in fear of being found out, or they could end their lives. Many of whom did just that.

Imagine a world where people allowed others to live freely as the people nature intended them to be..without harm..without persecution..without shame. Imagine a world where we are truly free.

Make the jump here to read the orginal and more

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día- Flower of the day - 02/09/2016

“A submissão é uma distorção da virtude da amorosidade. Trata-se de uma máscara, de um fingir ser. O submisso finge ser humilde e amoroso para conseguir aquilo que quer, mas basta cutucá-lo um pouco para ver o que está por trás da sua máscara: o orgulho e a ira.”

“La sumisión es una distorsión de la virtud de la amorosidad. Se trata de una máscara, unfingir ser. El sumiso finge ser humilde y amoroso para conseguir aquello que quiere, pero basta provocarlo un poco para ver lo que hay detrás de la máscara:orgullo e ira.”

"Submission is a distortion of the virtue of being loving. It acts as a mask, pretending to be something it is not. The submissive one pretends to be humble and loving in order to get something it wants. All that is needed is just a little nudge and it is easy to see that behind this mask lies pride and anger."

Via Daily Dharma / September 2, 2016: Rethinking Freedom

We haven’t thought about the idea of freedom enough. It needs to be internalized as an inner freedom from “demand” itself: the kind of freedom that comes when you’re free from those compulsions to have and to own and to be someone.

—James Hillman, "Brief Teachings Fall 2016"

The Black Eyed Peas - #WHERESTHELOVE ft. The World

Via The Other 98% / FB:

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día- Flower of the day - 01/09/2016

“Estando alinhado com o dharma, que é o caminho do coração ou o propósito maior da existência, você se harmoniza com a lei do mínimo esforço: com o pouco que faz, você realiza muitas coisas. Não estando alinhado com o dharma, você precisa fazer um grande esforço para realizar pouca coisa ou, às vezes, para não realizar nada.”

“Estando alineado con el dharma, que es el camino del corazón o el propósito mayor de la existencia, te armonizas con la ley del mínimo esfuerzo: con lo poco que haces, realizasmuchas cosas. No estando alineado con el dharma, necesitas hacer un gran esfuerzo para realizar poco o, a veces,para no realizar nada.”

"Aligning with dharma, which is the path of the heart or the greater purpose of existence, we attune to the law of minimum effort. With very little effort, we accomplish many things. When we are not in alignment with dharma, much effort is needed to create hardly anything, and sometimes, nothing at all."

Via Daily Dharma / September 1, 2016: The Diamond Vehicle

In the Vajrayana, we see that our difficulties with relative reality stem from our attitudes and beliefs, rather than from relativity itself. We are called to see each arising of our day not as a threat, but as an opportunity—a chance to open our arms, lay down our weapons, and surrender to this exact moment of our life.

—Reginald Ray, "The Vajrayana Journey Is an Experience of Love, Power, and Freedom"