Via Daily Dharma: Not Good, Not Bad

 

Suppose you’re trying to work, you’re really busy, and the phone rings. We resent the ringing, because we’re trying to work. But the problem isn’t the phone ringing. It’s just ringing. It’s not good or bad.

—Charlotte Joko Beck, “When You Are in Harmony”

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Via Dhamma Wheel // Understanding the Noble Truth of Suffering

 

RIGHT VIEW
Understanding the Noble Truth of Suffering

When people have met with suffering and become victims of suffering, they come to me and ask me about the noble truth of suffering. Being asked, I explain to them the noble truth of suffering. (MN 77) What is suffering? (MN 9) Aging is suffering: "old age, brokenness of teeth, greyness of hair, wrinkling of skin, decline of life, weakness of faculties." (MN 9)

Reflection

The wheel has turned one full revolution now, as we looked at each of the path factors four times over the course of a month. We now return to the beginning and go through another cycle over the course of the next 28 days. The noble truth of suffering is not something we "get" once and for all and then move on. It is something to investigate again and again from multiple different angles as our perspective on it changes.

Daily Practice

We hardly need help understanding the truth of aging, since it is everywhere so  apparent. As our experience with the practice progresses, we learn to observe the signs of aging with greater objectivity and less self-reference. This is just what happens to a body when it ages. It is not that we are being personally persecuted by time. Work on developing the perspective that aging is something to observe rather than to fear.

Tomorrow: Cultivating Lovingkindness
One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering

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Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - December 26, 2021 💌

 
 

I’m sure it is obvious to you, when you reflect upon it, that the nature of one’s reference group has a lot to do with how you deal with a variety of social and economic problems in the world around you. If your reference group is very small, then only within that group is it ‘us,’ and the rest of the universe is ‘them.’”

- Ram Dass