Buddhist group offers support for gays

[kweerwolf]

Twenty people mill around the room in circles, silent and eyes staring straight ahead. If you didn't know better, you might think you were watching a rehearsal for ''Dawn of the Dead."

But the tables covered with candles, water bowls, and photos of Buddhist teachers testify to the spiritual intent. On the command of their leader, Craig Smith, the crowd splits into pairs who stare intently at each other's faces to detect pain, wisdom, anything to like or dislike.

Later, as the group sits on floor cushions in a circle, Smith asks them to describe what they felt during the exercise, meant to demonstrate how our minds clutch perceptions and ideas that separate us from others and our environment. One young man describes his discomfort: ''As a gay guy, to make eye contact with another guy means a certain thing. It's a completely sort of different thing that I'm trying to do here."

''Here" is the monthly meeting of the seven-month-old Queer Buddhist Fellowship at the Boston Shambhala Center in Brookline. Smith, who flew overnight from his home in Seattle to teach the class, is an evangelist for the view that Buddhist meditation can help young gay people on the cusp of coming out, by helping them let go of emotional weight and accept themselves as they are.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/06/25/buddhist_group_offers_support_for_gays/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+City%2FRegion+News

[DanCa]

1. Excellent news

Maybe people are finally waking up to the fact that a persons orientation doesnt matter.