Saturday, March 4, 2023

Via Tricycle //

 



Buddhist Shorts Film Festival
Streaming Now Through March 31
Tricycle’s annual short film festival is back! Throughout the month of March, tune in to enjoy five short films documenting Buddhist diversity around the world.
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Via Be Here Now Network

  Ram Dass – Here and Now – Ep. 220 – Hearing Your Dharma, Hearing Your Part
February 27, 2023

 

“To look at the universe and see all of the forces – the heavy ones, the light ones, the destructive ones, the creative ones...


Via The Body Electric School

Amanda Gorman The Hill We Climb


When day comes, we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never-ending shade?

The loss we carry. A sea we must wade.

We braved the belly of the beast.

We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace, and the norms and notions of what “just” is isn’t always justice.

And yet the dawn is ours before we knew it.

Somehow we do it.

Somehow we weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken, but simply unfinished.

We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny Black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president, only to find herself reciting for one.

And, yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine, but that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect.

We are striving to forge our union with purpose.

To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man.

And so we lift our gaze, not to what stands between us, but what stands before us.

We close the divide because we know to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside.

We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another.

We seek harm to none and harmony for all.

Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true.

That even as we grieved, we grew.

That even as we hurt, we hoped.

That even as we tired, we tried.

That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious.

Not because we will never again know defeat, but because we will never again sow division.

Scripture tells us to envision that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid.

If we’re to live up to our own time, then victory won’t lie in the blade, but in all the bridges we’ve made.

That is the promise to glade, the hill we climb, if only we dare.

It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit.

It’s the past we step into and how we repair it.

We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation, rather than share it.

Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.

And this effort very nearly succeeded.

But while democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated.

In this truth, in this faith we trust, for while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us.

This is the era of just redemption.

We feared at its inception.

We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour.

But within it we found the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves.

So, while once we asked, how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe, now we assert, how could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?

We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be: a country that is bruised but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free.

We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation, become the future.

Our blunders become their burdens.

But one thing is certain.

If we merge mercy with might, and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and change our children’s birthright.

So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left.

Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest, we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.

We will rise from the golden hills of the West.

We will rise from the windswept Northeast where our forefathers first realized revolution.

We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the Midwestern states.

We will rise from the sun-baked South.

We will rebuild, reconcile, and recover.

And every known nook of our nation and every corner called our country, our people diverse and beautiful, will emerge battered and beautiful.

When day comes, we step out of the shade of flame and unafraid.

The new dawn balloons as we free it.

For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it.

If only we’re brave enough to be it.

 

Via TED // The surprising climate benefits of sharing your stuff

 


Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States

 


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RIGHT EFFORT
Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States
Whatever a person frequently thinks about 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 abandon arisen unhealthy mental states. One abandons the arisen hindrance of restlessness. (MN 141) 
Reflection
One of the key strategies of Buddhist practice is to abandon unhealthy states that have arisen in the mind. This word abandon is used in a particular way—as an alternative to either accepting or rejecting the experience. If you act out an unhealthy state of mind, you are only strengthening it, and if you repress it, you are only postponing its impact. The middle way is to be aware of the unhealthy state of mind, understand it is harmful, and gently release your hold on it.

Daily Practice
Restlessness comes up a lot, particularly in a busy daily life. It wants something different from what is happening in order to either get something desired or escape something undesired. It is important to recognize the unhelpfulness of this mental state. Restlessness is not bad or wrong, but it does hinder the mind’s ability to act skillfully. Develop the ability to recognize when you feel restless and then shake off its hold on you. Instead, just be with what is.

Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and Abiding in the Second Jhāna
One week from today: Developing Unarisen Healthy States

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Questions?
Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.



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Via Daily Dharma: Is Buddhism True?

Buddhist ideas, like any ideas, are true or useful not because of who said them, or how ancient they are, or whether they reflect the intended meaning of a sacred text. They are true to the degree that they correspond to how things are. 

Bhikkhu Santi, “Getting the Ball Rolling”


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