Via Daily Dharma / An Enlightened Vision of the World:

I came to realize clearly that mind is no other than mountains and rivers and the great wide earth, the sun and the moon and the stars.

—Zen Master Dogen, "In Search of the Sacred"

Via Ram Dass

One dies as one lives...Once that starts to fall into place, then the question is how you use the moment-to-moment experiences of your life as a vehicle for awakening.

Via Daily Dharma / The Evolution of Understanding:

When I arrived at a more intimate knowledge, I came to the point where I saw that mountains are not mountains, and rivers are not rivers. But now that I have got its very substance, I am at rest. For it’s just that I see mountains once again as mountains, and rivers once again as rivers.

—Qingyuan Weixin, "First There Is a Mountain (Then There Is No Mountain)"
 

Viva Hans Rosling!

 

Woke up to find that dear, dear Hans Rosling, has passed away. The world has lost a good, decent man who offered us all a postive message using data... I am crushed.

Take time today to listen to him. Viva Hans Rosling!

https://www.ted.com/playlists/474/the_best_hans_rosling_talks_yo

WALK WITH ME - International Trailer

Via Shambhala Publications: Pema Chödrön

 

Relaxing in the midst of chaos,
learning not to panic—this is the spiritual path.


Disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that teach us where it is that we’re holding back. They teach us to perk up and lean in when we feel we’d rather collapse and back away.
 

—Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart

 

Via FB: From Scott Mednick, when a Trumpster Facebook friend told him, "We suffered for 8 years. Now it’s your turn.”

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From Scott Mednick, when a Trumpster Facebook friend told him, "We suffered for 8 years. Now it’s your turn.”

Scott's reply: "There will never be a President who does everything to everyone’s liking. There are things President Obama (and President Clinton) did that I do not like and conversely there are things I can point to that the Presidents Bush did that I agree with. So I am not 100% in lock step with the outgoing President but have supported him and the overall job he did.

And, if you recall, during the Presidential Campaign back in 2008 the campaign was halted because of the "historic crisis in our financial system."

Wall Street bailout negotiations intervened in the election process. The very sobering reality was that there likely could be a Depression and the world financial markets could collapse. The United States was losing 800,000 jobs a month and was poised to lose at least 10 million jobs the first year once the new President took office. We were in an economic freefall. So let us recall that ALL of America was suffering terribly at the beginning of Obama’s Presidency.

But I wanted to look back over the last 8 years and ask you a few questions. Since much of the rhetoric before Obama was elected was that he would impose Sharia Law, Take Away Your Guns, Create Death Panels, Destroy the Economy, Impose Socialism and, since you will agree that NONE of this came to pass,I was wondering: Why have you suffered so?'

So let me ask: Gays and Lesbians can now marry and enjoy the benefits they had been deprived of. Has this caused your suffering?

When Obama took office, the Dow was 6,626. Now it is 19,875. Has this caused your suffering?

We had 82 straight months of private sector job growth - the longest streak in the history of the United States. Has this caused your suffering?

Especially considering where the economy was when he took over, an amazing 11.3 million new jobs were created under President Obama (far more than President Bush). Has this caused your suffering?

Obama has taken Unemployment from 10% down to 4.7%. Has this caused your suffering?

Homelessness among US Veterans has dropped by half. Has this caused your suffering?

Obama shut down the US secret overseas prisons. Has this caused your suffering?

President Obama has created a policy for the families of fallen soldiers to have their travel paid for to be there when remains are flown home. Has this caused your suffering?

We landed a rover on Mars. Has this caused your suffering?

He passed the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Has this caused your suffering?

Uninsured adults has decreased to below 10%: 90% of adults are insured - an increase of 20 Million Adults. Has this caused your suffering?

People are now covered for pre-existing conditions. Has this caused your suffering?

Insurance Premiums increased an average of $4,677 from 2002-2008, an increase of 58% under Bush. The growth of these insurance premiums has gone up $4,145 – a slower rate of increase. Has this caused your suffering?

Obama added Billions of dollars to mental health care for our Veterans. Has this caused your suffering?

Consumer confidence has gone from 37.7 to 98.1 during Obama’s tenure. Has this caused your suffering?

He passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Has this caused your suffering?

His bi-annual Nuclear Summit convinced 16 countries to give up and destroy all their loose nuclear material so it could not be stolen. Has this caused your suffering?

He saved the US Auto industry. American cars sold at the beginning of his term were 10.4M and upon his exit 17.5M. Has this caused your suffering?

The deficit as a percentage of the GDP has gone from 9.8% to 3.2%. Has this caused your suffering?

The deficit itself was cut by $800 Billion Dollars. Has this caused your suffering?

Obama preserved the middle class tax cuts. Has this caused your suffering?

Obama banned solitary confinement for juveniles in federal prisons. Has this caused your suffering?

He signed Credit Card reform so that rates could not be raised without you being notified. Has this caused your suffering?

He outlawed Government contractors from discriminating against LGBT persons. Has this caused your suffering?

He doubled Pell Grants. Has this caused your suffering?

Abortion is down. Has this caused your suffering? Violent crime is down. Has this caused your suffering?

He overturned the scientific ban on stem cell research. Has this caused your suffering?
He protected Net Neutrality. Has this caused your suffering?

Obamacare has extended the life of the Medicare insurance trust fund (will be solvent until 2030). Has this caused your suffering?

President Obama repealed Don't Ask Don't Tell. Has this caused your suffering? He banned torture. Has this caused your suffering?

He negotiated with Syria to give up its chemical weapons and they were destroyed. Has this caused your suffering?

Solar and Wind Power are at an all time high. Has this caused your suffering?

High School Graduation rates hit 83% - an all time high. Has this caused your suffering?

Corporate profits are up by 144%. Has this caused your suffering?

He normalized relations with Cuba. Has this caused your suffering?

Reliance on foreign oil is at a 40 year low. Has this caused your suffering?

US Exports are up 28%. Has this caused your suffering?

He appointed the most diverse cabinet ever. Has this caused your suffering?

He reduced the number of troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Has this caused your suffering?

Yes, he killed Osama Bin Laden and retrieved all the documents in his possession for analysis. Perhaps THIS caused your suffering?

From an objective standpoint it would appear that the last 8 years have seen some great progress and we were saved from a financial collapse.

Things are not perfect. Things can always be better. We are on much better footing now than we were in 2008.

I look forward to understanding what caused you to suffer so much under Obama these last 8 years."

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Via Daily Dharma / Words of a Perfect Teacher

When others are proud, you cannot please them easily. When you are being very proud, you always find fulfillment difficult, your expectations are high, and you take things very personally.

—Kyabgon Phakchok Rinpoche, "Six Lessons from Patrul Rinpoche"

1. “The proud will never be pleased”
2. “The jealous will never be happy”
3. “The greedy will never be satisfied”
4. “The hateful will never be reconciled”
5. “The stingy will never have enough” 
6. “The ignorant will never accomplish”

Via Daily Dharma / Correct Views:

Shunyata is “the exhaustion of all theories and views.” Making it into a metaphysical theory is like grasping a snake by the wrong end–look out! Nagarjuna emphasizes that the meaning of shunyata itself is relative: having used it to let go of other concepts, we should let go of shunyata too.

—David Loy, "The Dharma of Deconstruction"

Via Metroweekely: Gil Steinlauf: Dear President Trump

Dear President Trump,

As a Jew, as a rabbi, as a gay man, I have something to say to you: you don’t know me, but I know you. We have met, in fact, many times. We have met in this lifetime, and across countless generations. In my lifetime, I have heard your hateful words and felt your contempt in the expressions of bullies and mean-spirited children who taunted me and beat me and called me “faggot” in the hallways and classrooms of my junior high school. The day after you won the election, your spirit was in the man who approached my partner and me as we walked down the street holding hands, as he pantomimed gunning us down with a semi-automatic weapon.

Rabbi Gil Steinlauf — Photo by Todd Franson / File photo

My Jewish people know you so very well. In fact, we tell the story of you at our Passover seders. In the Haggadah, we read how you rise up in each and every generation — either to destroy us literally, or to destroy everything that we stand for. And what is it that we stand for? “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him…You shall not ill-treat any widow or orphan…” (Exodus 22:21-22). The stranger, the widow, the orphan — these represent all the people in society who are vulnerable, who do not have privilege. In our time, that list extends to black people, to LGBTQ people, to Muslims and to immigrants, to Jews, to women, to the disabled.

I know you so well, Mr. Trump, because in every generation, you hate and seek to destroy us for exactly the same reason: deep down, you are afraid of us. We threaten everything that you understand about yourself. For you, life is a nightmare where you cannot feel the nearness of Divine love, no matter how much wealth and acclaim and privilege you hoard, no matter how many of us you attack for the momentary relief of feeling powerful at the expense of the less powerful.

But I also know one more thing about you, Mr. Trump. In every generation, you may rise up to extraordinary power. You may wreak terrible destruction. But you always fall. Always. You see, the power of Divine love lives with us “strangers, orphans and widows.” And that Divine love is the only real power there is. And that love will give us strength to organize, to stand tall and proud, and to resist you.

“The day after you won the election, your spirit was in the man who approached my partner and me as we walked down the street holding hands, as he pantomimed gunning us down with a semi-automatic weapon.”

 

Sorry to break this news to you, Mr. Trump. Sorry that your power and privilege shuts your eyes and covers your ears to the truth. But we have been around the block with you for thousands of years, and it always ends the same way. Enjoy your power grab and your rampage of hate — yet again. And when Love and Justice vanquishes your regime of intolerance once more, I only ask that you try to remember, once and for all, that it was never us whom you needed to fear. It was your own hardened heart — feeling powerless and closed off to the world — that you projected onto us and called “enemy.”

But whether or not you are capable of learning this lesson, we are here. We are stronger than you can imagine. And we are ready for you.

Sincerely,

Gil Steinlauf
Senior Rabbi
Adas Israel Congregation, Washington, D.C.

@gsteinlauf

Rabbi Steinlauf’s words here represent his views only, and he does not speak on behalf of Adas Israel Congregation.

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Via Ram Dass

The only way you can keep you heart open is by living simultaneously on more than one plane of consciousness. When I was in India, there was a time in Bangladesh when things were just falling apart, and I wanted to take my VW and use it as an ambulance. My guru didn’t tell me to or not to, but he saw how agitated I was, and he said, “Ram Dass, don’t you see it’s all perfect?” and I said “Perfect?!” – I was outraged because people were dying and suffering.

My self-righteousness was outraged. How could it be perfect if people were being violated, and there is injustice?

Yet he would cry over the suffering, and he would do things to alleviate suffering, so I began to try to embrace the paradox of the planes of consciousness, in which there are inconsistencies. It involves the evolution of the individual soul through all kinds of learning experiences that involve suffering and death, but if you are looking at it through the eyes of your separateness, through your individual rational mind, it becomes a trap where you cannot see that it is all simultaneously perfect and it stinks.

Via Daily Dharma / The Jewel of Community:

The sangha literally embodies the Buddhist tradition; it transcends the self-concerns of any individual, especially the concerns that arise from placing our inner life at the center of the universe.

—Robert Sharf, "Losing Our Religion"

Via JMG: Tony Perkins: It’s “Fake News” To Claim Religious Liberty Executive Orders Would Legalize Discrimination

 

February 4, 2017 Christianists, Hate Groups

Via press release from hate group leader Tony Perkins:

The Left’s cabal is in an uproar over word of new religious liberty protections potentially coming from the White House. What they consistently refuse to recognize, however is just how much of this fundamental first freedom we need to restore in the wake of the Obama regime.

The hysteria stems from word of a draft executive order that was leaked to The Nation, who claims that the order would create “wholesale exemptions for individuals and organizations who claim religious objections to same-sex marriage, premarital sex, abortion, and trans identity.” Like most of the Left’s fake news, this is more about advancing their anti-Christian agenda than it is reporting real news.

What would the executive order on religious liberty do and why is it needed? It would create a general directive for all federal agencies to adhere “to the extent permitted by law” to religious freedom laws and principles in agency actions, regulations or policies. It properly recognizes that religion should not be confined to a home or house of worship alone, but to “all activities of life,” such as those that involve social services, education, health care, employment, obtaining “grants or contracts,” or otherwise participating in the “public square.”

Religious expression has every right to exist in the public square as do other forms of expression. The order also directs federal agencies to implement the protections of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, along with the Title VII religious protections for federal employees, religious organizations, and schools.

As I said yesterday, President Trump has been very clear on the importance of religious liberty. The free exercise of religion has suffered greatly under the policies and orders of President Obama. I am confident that the Trump administration will protect this first and most fundamental freedom.

Perkins has been making the rounds on cable outlets to press for the executive order, no doubt in the hope that Trump will see him.

Make the jump here to read the original and more at JMG

Via Daily Dharma / Elements of Stability

The transformative power of Buddhist meditation occurs when the stability and vividness of shamatha is unified with the penetrating insights of vipashyana. Shamatha by itself results in a temporary alleviation of the fundamental causes of suffering, and vipashyana by itself provides only fleeting glimpses of reality.

—B. Alan Wallace, "Within You Without You"
 

Via Daily Dharma / True Generosity:

Generosity requires that we relinquish something, and this is impossible if we are not glad for what we have. Otherwise, the giving hand closes into a fist and won’t let go.

—Sallie Tisdale, "As If There Is Nothing to Lose"
 

Via JMG: BREAKING: Leaked Draft Executive Order Reveals “Sweeping Plan” To Legalize Anti-LGBT Discrimination

February 1, 2017 Civil Rights, LGBT News, Religion

 

The Nation reports:

A leaked copy of a draft executive order titled “Establishing a Government-Wide Initiative to Respect Religious Freedom,” obtained by The Investigative Fund and The Nation, reveals sweeping plans by the Trump administration to legalize discrimination.

The four-page draft order, a copy of which is currently circulating among federal staff and advocacy organizations, construes religious organizations so broadly that it covers “any organization, including closely held for-profit corporations,” and protects “religious freedom” in every walk of life: “when providing social services, education, or healthcare; earning a living, seeking a job, or employing others; receiving government grants or contracts; or otherwise participating in the marketplace, the public square, or interfacing with Federal, State or local governments.”

The draft order seeks to create wholesale exemptions for people and organizations who claim religious or moral objections to same-sex marriage, premarital sex, abortion, and trans identity, and it seeks to curtail women’s access to contraception and abortion through the Affordable Care Act.

Language in the draft document specifically protects the tax-exempt status of any organization that “believes, speaks, or acts (or declines to act) in accordance with the belief that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, sexual relations are properly reserved for such a marriage, male and female and their equivalents refer to an individual’s immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy, physiology, or genetics at or before birth, and that human life begins at conception and merits protection at all stages of life.”

The breadth of the draft order, which legal experts described as “sweeping” and “staggering,” may exceed the authority of the executive branch if enacted. It also, by extending some of its protections to one particular set of religious beliefs, would risk violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution.
“This executive order would appear to require agencies to provide extensive exemptions from a staggering number of federal laws—without regard to whether such laws substantially burden religious exercise,” said Marty Lederman, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center and an expert on church-state separation and religious freedom.

There’s MUCH more at the link.

UPDATE: More from ABC News.

White House officials told ABC News that the draft appears to be among the hundreds of executive orders that are circulating –- drafted by either the Trump transition team, the White House policy team or even by outside groups –- and that not all reflect administration thinking or likely policy. One official did not say who drafted this potential order, but did not dispute its authenticity. “We do not have plans to sign anything at this time but will let you know when we have any updates,” said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a White House spokesperson.

Several outside conservative groups that have been pushing for similar actions have been pressing for something to be released surrounding Thursday’s National Prayer Breakfast in Washington. Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, told CNBC on Tuesday that he believed that “religious liberty” would be addressed in an executive action by Trump, despite the president’s statement earlier that day. “I think this is going to be addressed,” Perkins said. Perkins did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.

Make the jump here to read the original and more at JMG

Via GLAAD: President Trump attacks LGBTQ Americans in reported national 'License to Discriminate' order

By Drew Anderson, Director of News & Rapid Response |

February 1, 2017

 

Administration deceives Americans with reported plans to legalize anti-LGBTQ discrimination across the country

According to The Nation, a leaked copy of a draft executive order reveals plans by the Trump administration to "legalize discrimination." This comes after President Donald Trump's misleading pledge earlier this week to leave in place federal workplace protections for LGBTQ people. The executive order, obtained by The Investigative Fund and The Nation, could allow for businesses, schools, and even healthcare providers to turn away LGBTQ people based on “religious freedoms.”
“If anything in this document were to become federal law, it would be a national license to discriminate, and it would endanger LGBTQ people and their families,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD President & CEO. “Freedom of Religion does not mean the freedom to discriminate. If the Trump Administration moves forward with any of these unconstitutional and un-American policies, the chorus of public outcry will get even louder while the president’s approval ratings continue to crumble.”

President Trump’s planned anti-LGBTQ executive order, a draft of which was reported on by the media on Wednesday, is strikingly similar to Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) – a law Vice President Mike Pence championed and signed into law while governor. Public backlash to that law was immediate and severe, causing a $250 million economic panic, prompting companies to postpone business expansions, and derailing the state’s reputation as a welcoming place for all people.

So what could President Trump’s reported national 'License to Discriminate' order mean for LGBTQ Americans? Here’s a look at just some of what could take place as discrimination is enshrined in federal law.

WHAT TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ORDER COULD MEAN FOR LGBTQ AMERICANS:

1) Employers without penalty may fire an LGBTQ person from their job because of religious freedom.

2) Child welfare and adoption services without penalty may deny LGBTQ couples the ability to adopt children.

3) Health care providers without penalty may deny LGBTQ people, including women, critical services that are important to their health needs.

4) Schools without penalty may openly discriminate against LGBTQ teachers, faculty, and students.

5) Government officials without penalty may deny LGBTQ people services – including county clerks who issue marriage licenses for couples.

6) Businesses without penalty may deny LGBTQ people services, including pharmacies, restaurants, beauty salons, sporting events, etc.

Make the jump here to read the original and more

Via Daily Dharma: Right Where We Are

The idea that what is here and now is less valuable than what’s over there just past the finish line prevents us from ever being truly content and happy right where we are.

—Brad Warner, "Goalless Practice"

Via The Nation:  Leaked Draft of Trump’s Religious Freedom Order Reveals Sweeping Plans to Legalize Discrimination

 If signed, the order would create wholesale exemptions for people and organizations who claim religious objections to same-sex marriage, premarital sex, abortion, and trans identity.

By Sarah Posner

Donald Trump speaks to a gathering of clergy at the New Spirit Revival Center in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, September 21, 2016. (Reuters / Jonathan Ernst)

A leaked copy of a draft executive order titled “Establishing a Government-Wide Initiative to Respect Religious Freedom,” obtained by The Investigative Fund and The Nation, reveals sweeping plans by the Trump administration to legalize discrimination.

This article was reported in partnership with the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute.

The four-page draft order, a copy of which is currently circulating among federal staff and advocacy organizations, construes religious organizations so broadly that it covers “any organization, including closely held for-profit corporations,” and protects “religious freedom” in every walk of life: “when providing social services, education, or healthcare; earning a living, seeking a job, or employing others; receiving government grants or contracts; or otherwise participating in the marketplace, the public square, or interfacing with Federal, State or local governments.” 

The draft order seeks to create wholesale exemptions for people and organizations who claim religious or moral objections to same-sex marriage, premarital sex, abortion, and trans identity, and it seeks to curtail women’s access to contraception and abortion through the Affordable Care Act. The White House did not respond to requests for comment, but when asked Monday about whether a religious freedom executive order was in the works, White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters, “I’m not getting ahead of the executive orders that we may or may not issue. There is a lot of executive orders, a lot of things that the president has talked about and will continue to fulfill, but we have nothing on that front now.” 

Read the full text and more here