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Via The Tricycle Community // Meditation Month: Day 14

 

Why Samadhi Can Be an Achilles Heel for So Many Practitioners
By Christina Feldman 

As you develop a meditation practice, be patient with yourself, says Christina Feldman. Cultivating samadhi–this quality of inner collectedness, calm, and stillness–is a lifelong project.

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Via Oh My - George

 

Hi friends, Another George has been in the news lately. His name is George Santos, and he's a pathological liar just elected to Congress. I created this petition because while there are very few things Democrats and Republicans can agree on, one of them should be that someone who has lied about everything in his life—his education, his jobs, his marriage, his finances, even being a college champion volleyball player, say what?—has no business being in Congress.  When pressed by reporters, George Santos recently said, "If 142 people ask me to resign, I'll resign." So I'm thinking, let's hit him with tens of thousands demanding just that. Are you in? I know we need two-thirds of Congress to agree, and that's a tall order in a narrowly divided House. But if we don't demand it, we'll never get it. So I'm asking not just Democrats but independents and Republicans to sign this petition, too. Take a stand against con artists and liars. Send George Santos back to New York, or even better, back to Brazil to face criminal charges for check fraud. Yeah, that's a thing, too.   CLICK GEORGE SANTOS’S SMUG FACE to sign the petition! George Takei

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Music

11 Albums by LGBTQ+ Musicians We’re Excited to Listen to in 2023

From Kelela to Rebecca Black to 100 gecs, this year is shaping up to be a wild sonic ride.

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and the Third Jhāna

RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Mind 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)   When the mind is devoid of desire, one is aware: "The mind is devoid of desire." One is just aware, just mindful: "There is mind." And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection The mind is merely aware of an object, either a sensory or mental object, much like a mirror reflecting accurately whatever comes before it. Emotional states, such as desire, co-arise every moment and flood the mind, often distorting or coloring what is seen, heard, felt, or cognized. Sometimes desire is present, sometimes it is not. Here we are being encouraged to notice when it is not.  Daily Practice Our emotional life flickers moment by moment as quickly as our mental life does, and the stream of consciousness is permeated by a stream of attitudes, intentions, and views. By noticing when desire is present and absent, we learn to recognize that it is just a passing state that sometimes occurs and sometimes does not. Practice "not clinging to anything in the world," including the presence or absence of sensory desire. RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the Third Phase of Absorption (3rd Jhāna) With the fading away of joy, one abides in equanimity; mindful and fully aware, still feeling pleasure with the body, one enters upon and abides in the third phase of absorption, on account of which noble ones announce: "One has a pleasant abiding who has equanimity and is mindful." (MN 4) Reflection Remember that jhāna practice is not something that can be undertaken lightly or sporadically and usually requires the protected conditions of a retreat center and the guidance of an experienced teacher. The jhānas are mentioned a lot in the early texts and form the core discussion of right concentration. But mostly we just hear the standard formula repeated in various contexts without much detail on how to practice. Daily Practice The transition from the second to the third phase of absorption has to do with the mellowing of joy, which is an almost effervescent energetic upwelling of pleasant bodily sensation into an experience of mental and emotional equanimity. The body still experiences pleasure, but the mind settles into an even and balanced awareness of the pleasant feeling tone that is not attached to it in any way. Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Way to the Cessation of Suffering One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects and the Fourth Jhāna Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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Via Tricycle // A Storehouse of Feelings

A Storehouse of Feelings
By Sarah Fleming

Classical Indian texts contain 177 words describing different types of feelings—a rich linguistic storehouse that sheds light on Buddhism’s intricate examination of human emotion.

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Via Daily Dharma: Silent Awareness

 Attend closely with sharp mindfulness when one thought ends and before another begins—there! That is silent awareness! It may be only momentary at first, but as you recognize that fleeting silence, you become accustomed to it; the silence lasts longer. 

Ajahn Brahm, “Stepping Towards Enlightenment”

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Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - January 15, 2023 💌

 
 

Meditation offers an opportunity to have a different experience of consciousness, not as a separate individual but as part of an interconnected web of life.

- Ram Dass -