Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation \\\ Words of Wisdom - February 22, 2026 ❄️

 

“In the course of spiritual awakening, our social perceptions keep changing as we do this spiritual work. Many of us are in the peculiar predicament that we have built an entire ego structure about who we are and how we function, based on these emotionally laden habits about individual differences.”   Source: Ram Dass – Here and Now – Ep. 103 – Individual Differences

Via Daily Dharma: A Shared Dilemma

 

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A Shared Dilemma The artist’s dilemma and the meditator’s are, in a deep sense, equivalent. Both are repeatedly willing to confront an unknown and to risk a response that they cannot predict or control. Stephen Batchelor, “A Democracy of the Imagination” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Old Friend By Philip Ryan While visiting his father, a Tricycle editor considers dementia, memory, and impermanence. Read more »

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Body and the First Jhāna

 

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RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Body A person goes to the forest or to the root of a tree or to an empty place and sits down. Having crossed the legs, one sets the body erect. One establishes the presence of mindfulness. (MN 10) One is aware: "Ardent, fully aware, mindful, I am content." (SN 47.10)   Breathing in and out, tranquilizing bodily activities … one is just aware, just mindful: "There is a body." And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection Sunday is a good day to get in the habit of spending some time in mindful meditation. When the quality of mind called mindfulness is nurtured and developed, the mind inclines toward contentment, as this passage points out. This might even be a good definition of mindfulness: feeling content with whatever is happening by not wanting it to be anything other than it is. Daily Practice The text that teaches meditation begins with learning to breathe in and out, long and short, mindfully, but here it shifts with a more intentional directive. The instruction is to "tranquilize"—calm or relax—the breathing and all bodily activity. In other words, we are now not simply being aware of what is happening but also trying to direct our experience toward deeper and deeper states of calm. With each breath, relax. RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the First Phase of Absorption (1st Jhāna) Having abandoned the five hindrances, imperfections of the mind that weaken wisdom, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, one enters and abides in the first phase of absorption, which is accompanied by applied thought and sustained thought, with joy and the pleasure born of seclusion. (MN 4) Reflection We dedicate Sundays to practicing mindfulness and concentration. Concentration practice involves focusing the mind on a single object, such as the breath, and returning attention to this focal point whenever it wanders off (which it will surely do often). All forms of meditation involve some level of concentration, so it is a good thing to practice. Daily Practice Formal concentration practice, involving absorption (Pali: jhāna) in four defined stages, requires more time and sustained effort than occasional practice generally allows and would benefit from careful instruction by a qualified teacher. You may begin on your own, however, simply by practicing to abandon the five hindrances, since jhāna practice only really begins when these temporarily cease to arise. Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin Suffering One week from today:  Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and Abiding in the Second Jhāna Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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Via Daily Dharma: Learning from the Elements

 

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Learning from the Elements The elements can teach us the truth of impermanence. The elements are constantly changing in the natural world, as they are within us. Lin Wang Gordon, “We Are the Elements” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Restraining Unarisen Unhealthy States

 

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RIGHT EFFORT Restraining Unarisen Unhealthy States Whatever a person frequently thinks and ponders, that will become the inclination of their mind. If one frequently thinks about and ponders unhealthy states, one has abandoned healthy states to cultivate unhealthy states, and then one’s mind inclines to unhealthy states. (MN 19) Here a person rouses the will, makes an effort, stirs up energy, exerts the mind, and strives to restrain the arising of unarisen unhealthy mental states. One restrains the arising of the unarisen hindrance of restlessness. (MN 141)

Reflection It should not surprise us to hear that a person gradually becomes what they practice being. If you complain a lot about all the things you are discontented with, you will become a more discontented person and more inclined to further discontent. This works in a positive direction also, allowing us to develop healthy mental habits, but this passage focuses on protecting ourselves from our own toxic qualities of mind. Daily Practice This passage begins the process of walking us through the five hindrances, qualities of mind that inhibit mental clarity and contribute to suffering. The first of these is restlessness, a quality of mind that is active in some moments and dormant in others. Here we are told to practice the states of mind, primarily calm and tranquility, that prevent restlessness from arising. A calm mind is a healthy mind; practice calming the mind often. Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Body and Abiding in the First Jhāna One week from today: Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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Viva!

 Love is more powerful than hate.

O amor é mais poderoso que o ódio.

El amor es más poderoso que el odio.

 - Bad Bunny

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Via Daily Dharma: Looking and Witnessing

 

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Looking and Witnessing When you’re deeply looking at something, you’re loving it. And I think that when you do that, whether it’s with a person or a nonhuman animal or a plant or a tree, it is a way of witnessing and being witnessed. Ada Limón, “Decentering the Self” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

‘To Study the Self Is to Forget the Self’ By Eihei Dogen Zenji, translated by Shohaku Okumura The founder of Soto Zen discusses delusion and realization. Read more »