Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and the Second Jhāna

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RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling 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)   When feeling a mental painful feeling, one is aware: “Feeling a mental painful feeling”. . . One is just aware, just mindful: “There is feeling.” And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection Just as physical pleasure and pain are inevitable, so too are mental pleasure and pain. There is no use in trying to avoid mental pain, since it is an integral part of our experience, but it need not inevitably lead to suffering. Just as you might be aware of the pain of a stubbed toe and yet retain your mental and emotional balance, you can also turn toward and experience mental pain and hold it with healthy equanimity. Daily Practice Mental pain includes such things as sorrow and unhappiness. When we think about the loss of someone we care about, it hurts. When we open to the suffering of others, it hurts. Such pain is an intrinsic part of the human condition and is not to be avoided. Allow yourself to feel sorrow or even unhappiness and notice that it need not evoke unhealthy emotions such as despair or anguish. This too can just be held in awareness.   RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the Second Phase of Absorption (2nd Jhāna) With the stilling of applied and sustained thought, one enters upon and abides in the second phase of absorption, which has inner clarity and singleness of mind, without applied thought and sustained thought, with joy and the pleasure born of concentration. (MN 4) One practices: “I shall breathe in experiencing pleasure"; one practices: “I shall breathe out experiencing pleasure.” This is how concentration by mindfulness of breathing is developed and cultivated so that it is of great fruit and great benefit. (SN 54.8) Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and Abiding in the Third Jhāna 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: Equanimous Hearts

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Equanimous Hearts The equanimous heart can accept outcomes without attachment.  Gene Richards, “Equanimity Versus Indifference”  CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Joy By Scott Tusa A teaching on mudita, an infectious and transformative practice of being happy for others’ good fortune. Read more »

Via Daily Dharma: The Aliveness of This Body

 

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The Aliveness of This Body Let’s connect with the sense of aliveness in this body. Breathing, pulsating, this amazing piece of nature.  Nikki Mirghafori, “Death Is a Part of Life”   CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Celebrating Buddhism’s Inclusivity By Wendy Biddlecombe Agsar and Tricycle In honor of Pride Month, here is a collection of articles from Tricycle’s archives that celebrate strides toward equality. Read more »

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States

 

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RIGHT EFFORT Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States Whatever a person frequently thinks and ponders upon, that will become the inclination of their mind. If one frequently thinks and ponders upon unhealthy states, one has abandoned healthy states to cultivate unhealthy states, and then one’s mind inclines to unhealthy states. (MN 19) Abandoning ill will, one abides with a mind free from ill will, compassionate for the welfare of all living beings; one purifies the mind of ill will. (MN 51) Just as a person who had been bound in prison would get free of prison, so would one rejoice and be glad about the abandoning of ill will. (DN 2)

Reflection Ill will, along with its synonyms hatred and aversion, can be likened to a disease from which we need to recover. It roils the mind like the boiling of water, preventing us from seeing clearly what arises in the mind, unlike water that is calm and therefore reflective of whatever stands before it. Here ill will is compared with being in prison: hatred has a way of trapping the mind and denying it the freedom it is capable of when unbound. Daily Practice When ill will comes up in your mind, abandon it. Just let it go. Anger and hatred are only sustained if we feed them. Since all mental and emotional states are transient, we need simply to allow them to pass through the mind unhindered. Normally we ruminate on what someone said or did and thereby sustain and amplify our ill will. Instead, watch ill will come up, notice that it is unhelpful and unhealthy, and let it go. Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and Abiding in the Second Jhāna One week from today: Developing Unarisen Healthy States Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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Jesus in India, Tibet and Persia - An Account Missing from the Bible

Avalokitesvara Mantra

 

 

 

Oṃ Mani Padme Hūṃ / Om Mani Padme Hum

Avalokiteshvara (or Avalokiteśvara) is a Bodhisattva who represents compassion, and his mantra also symbolizes that quality. 

Avalokiteshvara means “The Lord Who Looks Down (in compassion)”.

There are various forms of Avalokiteśvara (Chenrezig in Tibetan). The four-armed form is shown here. There is also a 1000-armed form — the many arms symbolizing compassion in action. And in the far east, Avalokiteshvara turned into the female Bodhisattva, Kuan Yin.

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The Sūtra on the Heart of Realizing Wisdom beyond Wisdom

 

Avalokiteshvara, who helps all to awaken, moves in the deep course of realizing wisdom beyond wisdom, sees that all five streams of body, heart, and mind are without boundary, and frees all from anguish.

 

O Shāriputra, [who listens to the teachings of the Buddha], form is not separate from boundlessness; boundlessness is not separate from form.

 

Form is boundlessness; boundlessness is form.

 

The same is true of feelings, perceptions, inclinations, and discernment.

 

O Shāriputra, boundlessness is the nature of all things.

 

It neither arises nor perishes, neither stains nor purifies, neither increases nor decreases.

 

Boundlessness is not limited by form, nor by feelings, perceptions, inclinations, or discernment.

 

It is free of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind; free of sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and any object of mind; free of sensory realms, including the realm of the mind.

 

It is free of ignorance and the end of ignorance.

 

Boundlessness is free of old age and death, and free of the end of old age and death.

 

It is free of suffering, arising, cessation, and path, and free of wisdom and attainment.

 

Being free of attainment, those who help all to awaken abide in the realization of wisdom beyond wisdom and live with an unhindered mind.

 

Without hindrance, the mind has no fear. Free from confusion, those who lead all to liberation embody profound serenity.

 

All those in the past, present, and future, who realize wisdom beyond wisdom, manifest unsurpassable and thorough awakening.

 

Know that realizing wisdom beyond wisdom is no other than this wondrous mantra, luminous, unequaled, and supreme.

 

It relieves all suffering. It is genuine, not illusory.

 

So set forth this mantra of realizing wisdom beyond wisdom. Set forth this mantra that says:

 

Gaté, gaté, paragaté, parasamgaté, Bodhi! Svaha!

Gaté, gaté, paragaté, parasamgaté, Bodhi! Svaha!

Gaté, gaté, paragaté, parasamgaté, Bodhi! Svaha!

 

Translated by Kazuaki Tanahashi and Joan Halifax Rōshi

 

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