Via Daily Dharma: Balancing Care and Nonattachment

 Bringing order to clutter, I begin to see, is not just about putting my spices in alphabetical order. It’s about balancing the twin poles of spiritual life: cherishing life and holding it sacred, while knowing that it will pass away. It’s about learning to care for the things and people that are precious to me—and, when it’s time, freely letting them go.

Anne Cushman, “Clearing Clutter”

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Speech: Refraining from Frivolous Speech

 

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RIGHT SPEECH Refraining from Frivolous  Speech Frivolous speech is unhealthy. Refraining from frivolous speech is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning frivolous speech, one refrains from frivolous speech. One speaks at the right time, speaks only what is fact, and speaks about what is good. One speaks what is worthy of being overheard, words that are reasonable, moderate, and beneficial. (DN 1) One practices thus: "Others may speak frivolously, but I shall abstain from frivolous speech." (MN 8) When a person commits an offense of some kind, one should not hurry to reprove them but rather should consider whether or not to speak. If you will be troubled, the other person will be hurt, and you can help them emerge from what is unhealthy and establish them in what is healthy, then it is proper to speak. It is a trifle that you will be troubled and they will be hurt compared with the value of helping establish them in what is healthy. (MN 103)

Reflection The teachings on right speech are encouraging us to take the matter of communication more seriously than we often do. Often a lot of chattering is not conveying anything important, and it has a tendency to be distracting, making us less attentive. Speaking carefully about what is true and good brings greater value to our speech and renders it more worthy of being overheard. Daily Practice The example offered in this passage suggests that we should not jump to reprimand someone when they have committed some small offense. Pausing to consider whether to speak up breaks the momentum of a quick, reflexive reaction. It may turn out to be appropriate to speak, but the key issue is whether it would be helpful to do so. Note that whether speaking up would be troublesome or might hurt the other person is a trifle in comparison to the benefit of “helping establish them in what is healthy.” Tomorrow: Reflecting upon Social Action One week from today: Refraining from False Speech Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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

 

“Look at the universe and see all of the forces – the heavy ones, the light ones, the destructive ones, the creative ones – find what your part is in it. And if your part is that of the Bodhisattva, that of reducing the suffering of all human beings, and that’s all your work is, you just do it and do it and do it until there is no you in there, there is merely this instrument for the relieving of suffering of all beings. And that is one of the parts of the dance, of which another and equally important [part] of the dance is that which creates all the suffering in the universe. That’s what’s so far out about it.”

-Ram Dass-

From Here & Now Episode 220: Hearing Your Dharma, Hearing Your Part