Revoked: Oct 1, 2024

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Intention: Cultivating Lovingkindness

RIGHT INTENTION
Cultivating Lovingkindness

Whatever you intend, whatever you plan, and whatever you have a tendency toward, that will become the basis on which your mind is established. (SN 12.40) Develop meditation on lovingkindness, for when you develop meditation on lovingkindness, all ill will will be abandoned. (MN 62)

Lovingkindness is like a mother who has a baby boy, for she just wants him to grow and thrive. (Vm 9.108)

Reflection

The image of a mother with a newborn child is used often in early Buddhist literature to help envision and define the emotional state of lovingkindness. While this might involve some idealization, the point is that this emotion can be viewed as natural, pure, and spontaneous. It is a caring for another that is not rooted in our own self-interest and not entangled with an exchange. Lovingkindness is just wanting the best for someone else.

Daily Practice

See what it feels like to regard all people as your newborn child, to look on all situations with the same benevolence you might extend to an infant and to cultivate a non-specific wish for all beings to be healthy, safe, and profoundly well. Lovingkindness is a quality of heart and mind that can be cultivated, and by doing so you transform “the basis on which your mind is established.” In short, you become a more caring person.

Tomorrow: Refraining from False Speech
One week from today: Cultivating Compassion

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Via GBF: "Intimacy With the Yourself" with Daigan Gaither

Our latest dharma talk is now available.

Here's a 60-second audio preview

(part of our "Dharma Wisdom Nuggets" series)

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How can we become truly present and engage with each moment we experience?

In both interpersonal relationships and self-reflection, Daigan Gaither advocates for an open, curious approach where we allow things to be as they are, rather than forcing them to fit preconceived notions. This approach, he suggests, fosters deeper connection and understanding with ourselves and others, as well as with the world around us.

Daigan explains that we often misinterpret our emotions by labeling them (e.g., calling a physical sensation “anxiety”) and then react to those labels instead of the actual experience. This creates layers of stories and emotions, leading us further from the original feeling.

He encourages us to stay curious about our experience, letting go of certainty and rigid identities, and allowing the experience to tell us what it is. By doing so, we avoid creating fixed identities or stories about ourselves and our emotions, which can lead to suffering.

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You can watch or listen to the full talk on our website or YouTube:

Intimacy with Yourself – Daigan Gaither | Gay Buddhist Fellowship

Intimacy with Yourself - Daigan Gaither 2024-09-15 (youtube.com)

or listen on your favorite podcast player.

Via Daily Dharma: Cultivating the Causes of Freedom

October 1, 2024

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Cultivating the Causes of Freedom

For a Buddhist, the question isn’t whether we have free will or not; it is how we cultivate the causes of freedom instead of the causes of imprisonment. This is the sole purpose of the Buddhist teachings.

Andy Karr, “Between Neuro-Skepticism and Ultimate Liberation”

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