Via Dhamma Wheel | Right View: Understanding the Noble Truth of Suffering

 

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RIGHT VIEW Understanding the Noble Truth of Suffering When people have met with suffering and become victims of suffering, they come to me and ask me about the noble truth of suffering. Being asked, I explain to them the noble truth of suffering. (MN 77) What is suffering? (MN 9) Mental pain is suffering. Mental pain, mental discomfort, painful, uncomfortable feeling born of mental contact. (MN 9)

Reflection Under normal circumstances it is okay to make excursions into the realm of mental pain, as long as you are reinforced with the power of mindful equanimity. (Do not do this, however, if you are suffering from serious trauma.) When sitting just be aware, “I am sitting.” When walking just be aware, “I am walking.” And when experiencing mental pain simply be aware, “I am experiencing mental pain.” Equanimity makes suffering bearable. Daily Practice Losing someone you love really hurts. Feel the mental pain of that loss without elaborating a story around it. Feel the pain and nothing else. Being emotionally injured by someone really hurts. Feel in your body how that hurt manifests: tightness in the chest? Heat? Pain hurts, but it is ultimately just a passing sensation. Equanimity allows us to open to pain without being overwhelmed by suffering. Tomorrow: Cultivating Lovingkindness One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering 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: Practice off the Cushion

 

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Practice off the Cushion  Our practice is our whole life. It’s not about the fifteen or thirty minutes on the cushion; it’s about seeing how much presence, awareness, kindness, joy, and freedom we’re bringing to each moment. Sebene Selassie, “Meditation Q&A with Sebene Selassie” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Making the Sangha Whole By Vicki Mackenzie Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, a nun in the Tibetan tradition, discusses the pushback and success in the full ordination of women.  Read more »

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects and the Fourth Jhāna

 

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RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects 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 the mindfulness awakening factor is internally present, one is aware: “Mindfulness is present for me.” When mindfulness is not present, one is aware: “Mindfulness is not present for me.” When the arising of unarisen mindfulness occurs, one  is aware of that. And when the development and fulfillment of the arisen mindfulness awakening factor occurs, one is aware of that . . . One is just aware, just mindful: “There is a mental object.” And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection Mindfulness is a mental state that comes and goes, like all mental states. Sometimes it arises and passes away on its own, and sometimes you “establish its presence” by putting forth energy with an intentional act of will. As your experience and skill in meditation increases, you will find it easier to arouse mindfulness, will it more often, and will find that it remains established for longer periods of time.  Daily Practice The easiest way to notice the presence of mindfulness is in that instant when you become mindful after not being mindful. When mindfulness is established in your mind after being absent the moment before, you can best discern its texture and quality. That is harder to notice when mindfulness has slipped away. Practice noticing when your mind is wandering and gently guide it back to the breath.  RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the Fourth Phase of Absorption (4th Jhāna) With the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous disappearance of joy and grief, one enters upon and abides in the fourth phase of absorption, which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure, and purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. The concentrated mind is thus purified, bright, unblemished, rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability. (MN 4) Reflection This state of mind is the culmination of the four stages of absorption and represents the consummation of the meditative enterprise of focused, one-pointed awareness. With the mind thus purified of its imperfections it is capable of seeing clearly, and by becoming "malleable" and "wieldy" it can be used as a tool to penetrate the many distortions and delusions that normally prevent us from understanding the true nature of things. Daily Practice Allow your Sunday sitting meditation to slowly and gently mellow into a profound state of equanimity. The mind is steady and bright but also imperturbable in the sense that there is nothing in your inner or outer experience that is going to evoke an episode of yearning or aversion. Equanimity is balance, an evenly hovering attention. Notice also in this passage that equanimity is said to be the means of purifying mindfulness. Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of Suffering One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Body and Abiding in the First 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: Qualities of a Mother

 

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Qualities of a Mother  Like the true affections of a great mother, our awareness is naturally loving, unconditionally compassionate, and nonjudgmental. Like a great mother, it stays with us always, no matter what happens in our lives. Zoe Logan Morris, “A Meditation for Mother’s Day” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

The Gift of Dharma By James Shaheen In his Letter from the Editor, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, reflects on his relationship with Tricycle’s founder, Helen Tworkov, and her story reflected in her new book, Lotus Girl. Read more »

Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation \\ Words of Wisdom - May 12, 2024 💌

 

“Let’s trade in all our judging for appreciating. Let’s lay down our righteousness and just be together.” 

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