Revoked: Jan 26, 2025

Sunday, January 26, 2025

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Body and the First Jhāna

RIGHT MINDFULNESS
Establishing Mindfulness of Body

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)

Breathing in and out, experiencing the whole body …one is just aware, just mindful: "There is body." And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection

As you sit in formal practice your breath becomes an anchoring object of awareness. Other objects—sounds, thoughts—will intrude on your attention, but the breath is a baseline to which you can return. Notice the texture of the entire breath, from the beginning of the in-breath to the last moment of the out-breath, with steadiness and no interruption. When the mind is attentive like this it is naturally content.

Daily Practice

See if you can experience contentment while breathing. This means not wanting anything to be different than it is, not having anywhere else to go, not moving your mind beyond the moment but simply meeting each movement of the breath with mindful equanimity. You can feel the experience of the breath permeating your whole body and simply abide without clinging to anything whatsoever.

RIGHT CONCENTRATION
Approaching and Abiding in the First Phase of Absorption (1st Jhāna)

Having abandoned the five hindrances, imperfections of the mind that weaken wisdom, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, one enters and abides in the first phase of absorption, which is accompanied by applied thought and sustained thought, with joy and the pleasure born of seclusion. (MN 4)

Reflection

Jhāna practice is not for everyone. Some take to it easily, some find it inaccessible. This is not something for you to succeed or fail at. If you are seriously interested in undertaking these concentration practices, then you should find a qualified teacher and practice in a protected space. Jhāna practice can contribute greatly to your understanding of the teachings, but is not a universal prerequisite. Lots of Buddhists don’t practice jhāna.

Daily Practice

Without striving for any kind of accomplishment, sit quietly at a dedicated time and place and allow the mind to gradually settle down, sinking through increasing layers of relaxation and calm. When one of the five hindrances arises, just gently let go of it and move the mind away from it. Whenever the mind is able to temporarily free itself of the hindrances, it naturally drops into the absorption of jhāna.

Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering
One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and Abiding in the Second Jhāna

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Via Daily Dharma: A Reminder to Let Go

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A Reminder to Let Go

We are born with all the wisdom, playfulness, and imagination we need; we just sometimes need a reminder to return to our senses and get out of our own way. Let go of whatever fears, assumptions, distractions, resistance, and busyness may be hampering you.

Marc Lesser, “Do Less, Accomplish More”

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Where the Light Comes From
Interview with Ada Limόn by James Shaheen

Poetry can slow us down and return us to a state of wonder.

Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture since 1989

This Day in Gay History

January 26

Born

1908 -

Legendary French jazz violinist STEPHANE GRAPPELLI was born (d. 1997). Grappelli is best known as the cofounder of the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt. It was one of the first (and arguably the most famous) of all-string jazz bands.

Born Stephane Grappelly (he didn't change his name to "Grappelli" until the 1960s), his collaboration with Reinhardt produced a musical pairing that was sort of the jazz equivalent of Lennon-McCartney or Jagger-Richards. A foil worthy of literature, Grappelli was openly Gay, fastidiously a tidy pianist and violinist.

Grappelli was born in Paris, France to Italian parents: his father, Marquess Ernesto Grappelli was born in Alatri (Lazio). His mother died when he was four and his father left to fight in World War I. As a result he was sent to an orphanage. Grappelli started his musical career busking on the streets of Paris and Montmartre with a violin.

He began playing the violin at age 12, and attended the Conservatoire de Paris studying music theory, between 1924 and 1928. He continued to busk on the side until he gained fame in Paris as a violin virtuoso. He also worked as a silent film pianist while at the conservatory and played the saxophone and accordion. He called his piano "My Other Love" and released an album of solo piano of the same name. His early fame came playing with the Quintette du Hot Club de France with Django Reinhardt, which disbanded in 1939 due to World War II. In 1940, a little known jazz pianist by the name of George Shearing made his debut as a sideman in Grappelli's band.

After the war he appeared on hundreds of recordings including sessions with Duke Ellington, jazz pianists Oscar Peterson, Michel Petrucciani and Claude Bolling, jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, jazz violinist Stuff Smith, Indian classical violinist L. Subramaniam, vibraphonist Gary Burton, pop singer Paul Simon, mandolin player David Grisman, classical violinist Yehudi Menuhin, orchestral conductor André Previn, guitar player Bucky Pizzarelli, guitar player Joe Pass, cello player Yo Yo Ma, harmonica and jazz guitar player Toots Thielmans, jazz guitarist Henri Crolla and fiddler Mark O'Connor. He also collaborated extensively with the British guitarist and graphic designer Diz Disley, recording 13 record albums with him and his trio, and with now renowned British guitarist Martin Taylor. In the 1980s he gave several concerts with the young British cellist Julian Lloyd Webber.

Grappelli made a cameo appearance in the 1978 film King of the Gypsies, along with noted mandolinist David Grisman. Three years later they performed together in concert, which was recorded live and released to critical acclaim. Grappelli's music is played very quietly, almost inaudibly, on Pink Floyd's album Wish You Were Here. In 1997, Grappelli received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He is an inductee of the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame. Grappelli is interred in Paris' famous Père Lachaise Cemetery.

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Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute

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Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation. \\ Words of Wisdom - January 26, 2025 💠

"Jesus said you will get to the kingdom of God and that’s where you’ll find the children. I like to believe in childhood or child-like qualities as a goal. Or a way to reach spiritual awareness. And it’s not to go back to being a child, it’s to be child-like, in the sense of innocence, openness, freshness and beginning."