Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Living: Abstaining from Harming Living Beings

 

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RIGHT LIVING Undertaking the Commitment to Abstain from Harming Living Beings Harming living beings is unhealthy. Refraining from harming living beings is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning the harming of living beings, one abstains from harming living beings; with rod and weapon laid aside, gentle and kindly, one abides with compassion for all living beings. (M 41) One practices thus: "Others may harm living beings, but I will abstain from the harming of living beings." (MN 8) A layperson is not to engage in the livelihood of trading in meat. (AN 5.177)

Reflection Vegetarianism is an important issue in contemporary Buddhist discussion. The Buddha was famously not a vegetarian, although he spoke of the importance of not harming living beings. His perspective was that as beggars, the monks and nuns had to accept all offerings put in their bowls without making distinctions between what they liked or didn't like, or between what they thought was rightly or wrongly procured.  Daily Practice Whether or not you are a practicing vegetarian, the matter raised here is about the livelihood of a layperson. Trading in meat was singled out as an inappropriate profession because it involves the killing of living beings every day in great numbers. This is just not a healthy thing to be doing. Give the matter some attention today and reflect upon how much harm or lack of harm results from what you do for a living. Tomorrow: Restraining Unarisen Unhealthy States One week from today: Abstaining from Taking What is Not Given Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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Via Daily Dharma: Understanding Death

 

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Understanding Death You have to know the true nature of dying to understand the true nature of living. If you don’t understand death, you don’t understand life. Thich Nhat Hanh, “The Gift of Fearlessness” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Moral Philosophy and Zen By Geoff Dawson An Australian Zen Buddhist teacher explains the distinction between virtue ethics and utilitarianism in developing values. Read more » On the Road Directed by Changjae Lee Follow the lives of four Korean women and their journey to become Buddhist nuns in this unprecedented glimpse into Backheung-am, a thousand-year-old rural Korean Buddhist nunnery, the documentary. Watch now »

Via White Crane Institute // The March equinox

 

Noteworthy 2024 - THE VERNAL EQUINOX -- also known as The March equinox – marks the beginning of the spring season in the Northern Hemisphere and the autumn season in the Southern Hemisphere. The 2024 spring equinox arrived , March 19, 2024 at 11:06 pm EDT. On the dates of the equinox, the sun rises due east and sets due west as it crosses the celestial equator. If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, start watching the sun this month, and watch every night as the sun sets just a bit farther north on the horizon each evening until the summer solstice. In the Northern Hemisphere, the March equinox will bring earlier sunrises, later sunsets, softer winds, sprouting plants. Meanwhile, you’ll find the opposite season – later sunrises, earlier sunsets, chillier winds, dry and falling leaves – south of the equator. The equinoxes and solstices are caused by Earth’s tilt on its axis and ceaseless motion in orbit. You can think of an equinox as happening on the imaginary dome of our sky, or as an event that happens in Earth’s orbit around the sun. Owing to the pandemic, and in the interests of public health, there was no Spring Equinox gathering at Stonehenge last year.  People wanting to watch the sunrise to mark the first day of spring were  told not to travel to Stonehenge. English Heritage maintains it cannot host the usual celebrations at the prehistoric monument due to safety concerns.

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