Buddhist monk on Gender Equality (video)

Claralynn N.(United Kingdom); Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; Abbot Ajahn Brahmavamso (BuddhistSocietyWA, June 27, 2014)

PERTH, Western Australia - Ajahn Brahm -- an enlightened Western Buddhist monk from England living in Australia after a decade in Northeast Thailand (Isan) at Wat Pah Nanachat, the International Forest Monastery -- talks about the banning of his United Nations' speech on gender equity, equality of the sexes.

Viewers who support Wisdom Quarterly and women's right to full ordination in Theravada Buddhism as well as supporting Ajahn Brahm's work striving for the equality of females within all Buddhist schools, particularly his more traditional and monastic tradition, are encouraged to consider signing the online petition here.

• 

  Sangha: nuns, monks, female, male supporters.

  Traditionally, it was thought that women could no longer secured full ordination due to a rule the Buddha laid down when his foster mother ordained. However, evidence found in the background stories (Vibhanga) of the Nuns' Disciplinary Code (Bhikkhuni Vinaya), research by the Theravada nun Ayya Tathaloka, shows that those rules or garudhammas are a historical impossibility. Had the Buddha laid them down with all the fanfare in front of the Shakyan women as is claimed, questions would not have arisen regarding etiquette between male and female monastics and ordination, as those would have been settled issues. But that questions did arise, as recorded in the stories accompanying the formation of each rule, those sexist and patriarchal garudhammas could not have been preexisted. The function of these additional rules seems to be little more than to subordinate female Sangha members to males and was clearly in the interest of monks to have hastily inserted at some point in time.

Let's invite Ajahn Brahm to present his gender equality paper at the 2015 UNDV conference

3,242 signers so far. Let's reach 10,000 United Nations' Day of Vesak (UNDV)
 
Supporting Buddhist women at the U.N.

Nuns are necessary for a complete Sangha

We, the undersigned, are astounded and deeply disappointed by the banning of Ajahn Brahm's paper on gender equality at the 2014 United Nations' Day of Vesak (UNDV) conference in Vietnam.

 

The paper was clearly aligned with the UN’s Millennium Development Goal 3 (Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women), which the UNDV is committed to uphold through its connection with the UN. Moreover, Ajahn Brahm's paper had already been approved for presentation when it was suddenly banned 36 hours before its scheduled presentation.

 

We value free and open dialogue. We therefore ask that the UNDV, in accordance with Millennium Development Goal 3, promotes dialogue about the participation of women in contemporary Theravada Buddhism by inviting Ajahn Brahm to publicly present his gender equality paper at the next UNDV conference in 2015.

• READ: Ajahn Brahm's paper
• Remembering Asherah, the Western God's wife
• NUNS: Alliance for Bhikkhunis (bhikkhuni.net)
• Ongoing: Israel's Gaza offensive – Ebola outbreak – Ukrainian unrest 

(To view signers, go to petition2014.org. This petition will remain open until October 1st, 2014. The petition can be read in Chinese (petition2014.org/2001325991.html), Thai and Vietnamese (petition2014.org/3616363436253634365236073618-vi7879t.html), and Sinhalese (petition2014.org/35233538345835243517.html).

Giant Gay Pride Parade Fest (June 6-8)

Dev, Wisdom Quarterly; gaywesthollywood.com/gaypride

LA PRIDE LGBT Pride in West Hollywood 

Christopher Street West Association, Inc. is a non-profit service organization within the... Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Celebration in West Hollywood. The LA PRIDE Celebration is held in beautiful West Hollywood Park.

  

2014 Gay Pride in Los Angeles, California, Gay West Hollywood 

LA Gay Pride Parade and Festival in Los Angeles, attracting 1/2 million visitors... 

City of West Hollywood: One City One Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival 

Each year, the City of West Hollywood celebrates Pride month through the artistic contributions of our community with the One City One Pride Arts Festival. 

West Hollywood Los Angeles Gay Pride 2014 

(GayTravel.about.com) The L.A. Pride Festival occurs over Friday, June 6, Saturday, June 7 (from noon until midnight), and Sunday (from 11:00 am till 11:00 pm) in the heart of West Hollywood.

The Left Forum 2014 (audio)

Amber Larson, Pfc. Sandoval, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly; NYC, LeftForum.org

Left Forum 2014 Special Programming (KPFKorg) (ARCHIVE)

THRIVE: What On Earth Will It Take? (video)

Pat Macpherson, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; ThriveMovement.com

The world is waking up, but what on Earth will it take to finally THRIVE?

Native Americans on gay marriage, junk food...

Xochitl; CC Liu, Ashley Wells, (eds.) Wisdom Quarterly; NPR.org; Take Two (SCPR.org)

Cleaning, restoring, and hiking Hahamongna, sacred Tongva land, Native Los Angeles

Navajo Nation rainbow flag (dbking/flickr.com/npr.org)

How some Natives dealt with homosexuality

LGBTQ (transgendersociety.yolasite.com)

It may be that gay marriage is not accepted by traditional Native Americans, like California's Chumash (ranging from Malibu to San Luis Obispo). They nevertheless found a progressive and inclusive solution to gender-bending, transsexuality, and homosexuality: "Two-spirit people."

San Francisco march (indybay.org)

Two-spirit is a modern umbrella term used by some indigenous North Americans for gender-variant individuals within their communities.

 

Non-Native anthropologists have historically used the term berdaches (almost exactly like the analogous Afghan/Pashtun bacheh) for individuals who fulfill one of many mixed gender roles in First Nations and Native American tribes.

• Afghan Buddhist missionary monks, led by Hwui Shan, brought Buddhism to Native Americans in the 5th century AD according to historian Edward P. Vining ("Inglorious Columbus," 1884)
• Buddhism refers to transgender individuals as pandakas
• Modern Buddhists in Thailand (S.E. Asia) say kathoeys

The complex social psychology of sex and the social construction of gender among Native Americans and ancient Asians can teach us a great deal to allay our unconscious sexism (GJ)

  

Ancient Afghans and Chinese in America

But this term has more recently fallen out of favor (in Afghanistan as well). Third and fourth gender roles historically embodied by two-spirit people include performing work and cross dressing, that is, wearing clothing associated with the other gender. 

 

Some tribes consider there to be at least four gender identities: (1) feminine men, (2) masculine men, (3) feminine women, and (4) masculine women. The presence of male two-spirits "was a fundamental institution among most tribal peoples" (Brian Joseph Gilley, Becoming Two-Spirit: Gay Identity and Social Acceptance in Indian Country, 2008). According to Will Roscoe, male and female two-spirits have been "documented in over 130 North America tribes, in every region of the continent" (Will Roscoe, The Zuni Man-Woman, p.5, 1991).
 

Transsexual and transgender Native Americans existed, and were even accepted and assimilated, before Western contact (Transgender Society/de Batz, Illinois,1735)

.

Banning Native American Gay Marriage
Tell Me More (npr.org)

But we need gay marriage or they win!

The Navajo Nation has has prohibited same-sex marriage since 2005, when the Dine Marriage Law was passed. Now, critics are challenging that ban.  As the largest reservation in the U.S., the Navajo Nation straddles the borders of three states: New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. Utah has been embroiled in its own same-sex marriage battle recently (the state halted gay marriages Monday).  But these state laws do not affect the Navajo Nation ban. Michel Martin, the excellent host of NPR's nightly Tell Me More, recently sat down with Deswood Tome, a special adviser to the president of the Navajo Nation and activist Alray Nelson of the Coalition for Navajo Equality. LISTEN

Impact of The Long Walk felt 150 years later

Laurel Morales, Fronteras Desk (Take Two, Jan. 24, 2014)

The Long Walk for Navajos and Apaches (Bosque Redondo Memorial/Shonto Begay)

 

Navajo Artist Shonto Begay says, “I could feel and hear the cries of the people the trail the heat the cold. I had to be deep deep inside that to try to bring out the echoes of the cries on the trail.”

January marked the 150th anniversary of what Navajo and Mescalero Apache people call "The Long Walk," similar to the forced death-march known as the "Trail of Tears."

Native American (SuperG82/flickr)

In 1864 the U.S. Army forced the Navajo and Apache to walk 400 miles from their assigned reservation in northeastern Arizona to the edge of the Pecos River in eastern New Mexico. As expected thousands died during that long, arduous journey.

These days, so many Navajos like musician Clarence Clearwater have moved off the reservation for work.

Clearwater performs on the Grand Canyon Railway -- the lone Indian among dozens of cowboys and train robbers entertaining tourists.

 

“I always tell people I’m there to temper the cowboys,” Clearwater said. “I’m there to give people the knowledge that there was more of the West than just cowboys.”

 

Clearwater retraced his great-great-great-grandfather’s footsteps 50 years ago for The Long Walk’s 100th anniversary. Along the way he learned a song about going home. LISTEN

• A history of discrimination denying affirmative action

Native American Junk-Food Tax?
"Advocates Vow To Revive Navajo Junk-Food Tax" (AP/NPR, April 22, 2014)

This mouth-watering burger is a delicious vegan melt with baked fries (Vegan)

 

Don't tell anyone they're good as in healthy.

FLAGSTAFF, Arizona - Facing a high prevalence of diabetes, many American Indian tribes are returning to their roots with community and home gardens, cooking classes that incorporate traditional foods, and running programs to encourage healthy lifestyles.

 

The latest effort on the Navajo Nation, the country's largest reservation, is to use the tax system to spur people to ditch junk food.

 

Sobochesh berries (eattheweeds.com)

A proposed 2 percent sales tax on chips, cookies and sodas failed Tuesday in a Tribal Council vote. But the measure still has widespread support, and advocates plan to revive it, with the hope of making the tribe one of the first governments to enact a junk-food tax.

 

Elected officials across the U.S. have taken aim at sugary drinks with proposed bans, size limits, tax hikes and warning labels, though their efforts have not gained widespread traction. In Mexico, lawmakers approved a junk food tax and a tax on soft drinks last year as part of that government's campaign to fight obesity.

 

Navajo President Ben Shelly earlier this year vetoed measures to establish a junk-food tax and eliminate the tax on fresh fruit and vegetables. At Tuesday's meeting, tribal lawmakers overturned the veto on the tax cut, but a vote to secure the junk-food tax fell short. Lawmakers voted 13-7 in favor of it, but the tax needed 16 votes to pass. More

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• (EA) The LAPD is reviewing security at the front desks of police stations after a gunman opened fire two weeks ago inside the lobby of a Mid-City station, wounding one officer.
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Is domestic violence kind of SEXY? (cartoon)

Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon, Irma Quintero, Wisdom Quarterly; Mia De Graaf (Daily Mail)

 

Vogue is being blasted.

Is the fashion magazine "trivializing domestic abuse" in violence-themed edition that teams beaten-up and bloodied models with haute couture (high fashion)?

 

Female editor Franca Sozzani is unapologetic. She claims it is a political statement against domestic abuse. But outraged Twitter users blast the images as "unacceptable" and "repulsive."

Woman bleeding and strewn across floor

[First it was "heroin chic," now this. What next? Demeaning and expensive clothes and shoes? Tasteless jokes? "What do you tell a woman with two black eyes? Nothing, you already..." Hey, you can't publish that punchline! All right, just saying. I mean, what next?]

 

Vogue Italia has sparked international outrage after publishing slick photos of a "beaten-up" model. The image, in this month's edition, was an attempt at making a statement calling attention to all-too-common violence, the publication is claiming.

 

I'd rather be on the cover of Vogue

But critics have blasted the fashion shoot for "glamorizing" violence against women. The photograph shows a redheaded model in a Prada dress sprawled upside down at the bottom of a flight of stairs, blood streaming into her hair, as a blood-splattered man looks on from an armchair.

Other images in the violence-themed edition show a girl in a Prada dress screaming as a man approaches her with blood on his hands.

A balaclava makes one Pussy Riot

Another girl hides in a cupboard, with a man leaning over brandishing shears. And in one, the model looks petrified crouching under the stairs as a man descends.

Outraged Twitter users [twits?] attacked the fashion shoot as being in "poor taste." More

We we go topless to protest (even if it bothers you) - FEMEN.org

Euronews iTalk in English: Inna Shevchenko explains why.

Pull that thing out of my... already!

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Why are more women drinking? (video)

Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; Elizabeth Aguilera (KPCC Health Reporter), host Larry Mantle, AirTalk (scpr.org); Seth Macfarlane (Family Guy, American Dad)

Drain bramage, schmrain damage, if a man can get a DUI, I want one, too! (cracked.com)

Drunk without a real-friend's protection (see sutra below). Oh, alcohol! (cracked.com)

  

Women are drinking more despite the risks

Yum, it's liquid ignorance.

Women in the U.S. are consuming more alcohol than they have in decades past, and they face greater health risks for doing so. 

 

For one, a woman's body has fewer enzymes for breaking down alcohol [a poison from the fermentation (i.e., decomposition) process] and less water weight to diffuse its effects. This means women are at greater risk for liver damage and disease.

(Quagmire/Family Guy) "OMG, but you know you love it," your friends will say. And you have to wonder why you keep "dating" the same types of guys. No one has sympathy for a lush.

 

To self-sabotage! (Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP)

Researchers also say drinking increases a woman's chances of getting breast cancer, as studies have shown that alcohol can raise estrogen levels. They also say that the way women are drinking today -- binge drinking, foregoing meals -- is cause for medical concern.

Experts say the rise in "risky drinking" is due to increased social acceptability [from shows like "Sex and the City"], gender "equality" [or the illusion of striving for it], culture and even a preference for hard liquor over beer.

WARNING: Potential trigger as Carrie & Co. do another "Ladies' Night"!

Women are also being arrested [and being sent to prison which, after all, is "equality," too] at an increasing rate for driving under the influence.

A recent report by KPCC analyzing 20 years of California DMV records shows a significant increase in the number of women being arrested for driving under the influence.

 

The DMV reports that women made up about 24 percent of DUI arrests statewide in 2011, the last year statistics are available. That's an increase over the 11 percent of DUI arrests in 1989.

WARNING: Sexually suggestive with cartoonish alcohol consumption!

 

Anything Goes!

What's behind this increase in alcohol consumption among women? Should more be done to educate women [who are already highly educated and at some level well aware of the hazards and pitfalls] about the dangers of alcohol? 

I didn't mean for that to happen. - Another drink?

[Or, like other successful campaigns, do emotions have to be brought into play with emotional appeals, better behavioral models and ideas of what's "cool" and acceptable. Are you a mom, do you drink and drive? Are you single, do you have sex with people you would not have otherwise? Are you a student, do you see a future vomiting in a toilet? Yum! Party on!] LISTEN (16:37)

• Please speak clearly into the cellphone when you drunk dial: White House proposal wants to [keep] NSA’s collection of your phone data [in a different guise]
• 5 Drinking Myths That'll Get You Killed

SUTRA: Drinking Buddies: With "friends" like that...
Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly

Health is wealth, and here's how to lose both.

In the Advice to Householders Discourse (Sigalovada Sutra, DN 31), the Buddha explains the "Six Channels for Dissipating Wealth."
 
These include drinking alcohol (indulging in intoxicants which occasion heedlessness), roaming the streets at all hours, bad diversions, gambling, associating with the foolish, and idleness.
 

The Buddha goes further to explain why these lead to ruin. Each has six miserable consequences. Alcohol leads to: (1) loss of wealth, (2) increase in quarrels, (3) susceptibility to disease, (4) loss of reputation, (5) indecent exposure, and (6) weakened intellect.
 

When roaming the streets at all hours (usually due to drinking), we are: unprotected and unguarded, as is our family and property, and we are suspected of crimes, subject to false rumors, and we encounter many troubles.
 

What's wrong with "unsavory shows"? We remain restless and agitated, wondering: Where is there dancing, singing, music, recitals, and this and that distraction? We never find inner peace or enlightenment -- even though that's what we say we're searching for. (Entertainment is not wrong in and of itself, only that it takes us away from our quest and leads to financial ruin).
 

Let's go underage drink! If it's good enough for adults...

What's wrong with gambling? Isn't it just a pleasant pastime to help Las Vegas' economy? The Buddha explains in detail, but here is the biggest one: associating with "the foolish." Any gambler, any wastrel, any drunkard, any cheater, any swindler, any violent person -- in brief,, any "fool" (bala) -- is one's associate and comp. And with friends like that, who needs enemies?

"Idle hands are the devil's helper," grandma says: Addiction to laying around (with the hangover blues) means we are not inclined to put forth effort to get anything done, instead making excuses: "It’s too cold! It’s too hot! It’s too late! It’s too early! I’m too hungry! I’m too full!" Living like this, we leave many (karmically) profitable things left undone. Wealth is left unacquired, and savings dwindle away.
 
These are just some of the ways of losing money and losing our health the Buddha explained and warned about 25 centuries ago. More

Racism Hurts Everyone: Costs to White People

Editors, Wisdom Quarterly; United Church of Christ Massachusetts Conference (maucc.org)

We're just kids. Are you raising us racist without even realizing what you're doing?

"Stop racism!" (femen.org/en)

Part of being committed to eliminating racism is continuing to grow in our understanding of the horrible effects of racism on people of color today. While there is no comparison with the effects on people of color, white people are also dehumanized and burdened by racism. 

So it is valuable to also grow in our understanding of this part of the system of racism that affects us all. For instance, white people often:

Oh, to be the black sheep of the group! Or white in a group of colored sheep!!

 

I can overcome inequality and guilt?

• Experience a sense of being cut off from people of color -- of not belonging with, or being welcomed by, people of color (who, after all, are a majority of the world’s population).

• Hold stereotypes and prejudices or have negative thoughts about people of color or unintentionally give off an air of entitlement or superiority.
• Are deeply pained by learning about historical/contemporary suffering and racist inequities experienced by people of color.
• Feel powerless to create a just society in the face of racism.
• Feel guilty about the history of racism and current racist institutions.
• Fear making mistakes and being seen as racist or prejudiced.

Beloved Buddhist Saint Sivali

• Have our integrity eroded and our sense of goodness and self-worth undermined by our failures to stand up against racism we observe.
• Experience unjustified fears of people of color.
• Are separated from people of color who are working-class and poor, who are our natural allies, with whom we could join forces to bring about a more equitable distribution of wealth that would benefit us all.
• Experience unfounded fears of what people of color may do to white people, when and if they ever get the chance, exactly what whites did to people of color -- exacting revenge or retribution for past and ongoing racism.

• Miss out on the benefits of deep human relationships with people of other “races” and cultures, and all that can be learned and enjoyed in such relationships.

• Are unconscious of "white privilege" or subtle biases.

• Are separated from other white people by feelings about race... What would you add to the list?

A better kind of arms race

The position of supremacy is inherently dehumanizing to individuals in the dominant group in addition to the terrible and more obvious costs to any subordinated group.

 

Our full humanity can only be realized in full community with other human beings -- in situations of reciprocity, equity, fairness, and mutuality... More

• Anti-Racism Ministry in Local Churches
• Building a Bridge Toward a 21st Century, Multi-Racial, Multi-Cultural Society
• One Church's Anti-Racism Statement
• Race and Justice Resources

The CIA took down young Mandela (video)

Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; DemocracyNow.org, Dec. 13, 2013

"One of Our Greatest Coups": The CIA and the capture of Mandela

CIA capitalists could not stand for a communist success in Africa: life sentence for Mandela

 

Young communist freedom fighter

As South Africa prepares to hold a state funeral for beloved Nelson Mandela, Democracy Now! looks at how the CIA helped the South African government track down and capture Mandela in 1962.

In 1990, the Cox News Service quoted a former U.S. official saying that hours after Mandela’s arrest, a senior CIA operative named Paul Eckel admitted the agency’s involvement. 

Eckel was reported as having told the official, "We have turned Mandela over to the South African security branch. We gave them every detail, what he would be wearing, the time of day, just where he would be. They have picked him up. It is one of our greatest coups." Several news outlets have reported the actual source of the tip that led to the arrest of Mandela was a CIA official named Donald Rickard. 

On Thursday, Democracy Now! attempted to reach Rickard at his home in Colorado. On two occasions, a man who picked up the phone hung up when we asked to speak with Donald Rickard.

The activist group RootsAction has launched a campaign to urge the CIA to open its files on Mandela and South Africa, and the media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting has questioned why corporate media outlets have largely ignored the story. Democarcy Now! speaks to journalist Andrew Cockburn, who first reported on the CIA link to Mandela’s arrest in 1986 in The New York Times. VIDEO 

Do WP readers deserve FULL disclosure in CIA coverage?

The Washington Post should be honest with readers about a big conflict of interest: The newspaper's new owner Jeff Bezos is the founder and CEO of Amazon -- which recently landed a $600 million contract with the CIA. Drone delivery, anyone?

• Nelson Mandela’s "Long Walk to Freedom” ends with burial in home Village of Qunu
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Remote viewing and the mystery of Comet Ison (Nirbiru?)

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• Los Titulares de Hoy (Today's headlines in Spanish)
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