Via Ram Dass

 

 

You know what happens when things get like they’re getting, when it’s becoming increasingly destabilized?

In the late 60’s we had the Vietnam and Anti-Vietnam forces in this culture that were destabilizing. What happens in the presence of that destabilization, where there is human unconsciousness is that people get frightened, and when they get frightened, they use certain mechanisms; they go into denial, they become more fundamentalist; they try to find values they can hold onto, to ward off evil. They cling and become more ultra-nationalist. There’s more ethnic prejudice, there’s more racial prejudice and anti-semitism. It all increases, because this fear isn’t just in us, this is a worldwide thing.

These changes are happening very rapidly, and they are destabilizing changes. People respond with fear, and the question we must ask ourselves today is, “Is there any place you can stand inside yourself where you don’t freak out, where you can be quiet enough to hear the predicament and find a way to act in a way that is at least not contributing to the further destabilization?”

That’s a fair request.

Via Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma / November 23, 2016: How Gratitude Leads to Generosity

Gratitude, the simple and profound feeling of being thankful, is the foundation of all generosity.

—Sallie Tisdale, "As If There is Nothing to Lose"

Via Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma / November 22, 2016: A Mind that Does Not Cling

Liberation is about cutting, or dissolving, or letting go of, or seeing through—choose your image—the attachment to anything. The description of the mind of no-clinging may be different in the different schools, but the experience of the mind of no-clinging is the same.

—Joseph Goldstein, "How Amazing!"

I WANT TO KNOW WHAT LOVE IS - GAY VERSION

Via Daily Dharma / November 21, 2016: A Double-edged Sword

Not only do I harm others by generating these defilements of anger or passion or fear or evil, I harm myself also, simultaneously. —S. N. Goenka, "Superscience"

Via Ram Dass

 

 Just play with the silence for a moment. Instead of using it as expectancy, waiting for something to happen, flip it just slightly and just be in it.

Are you really here or are you just waiting for the next thing?

It’s interesting to see where we are in relation to times; whether we’re always just between what just happened and what happened next, or whether we can just be here now.
Let’s just find our way here to be together. If you’re feeling agitated, just notice the agitation. If you’re warm, be warm. If you’re cold, be cold. If you’re overly full, be overly full. Be it, whatever it is, but put it all in the context of a quiet space, because there’s a secret in that, and it’s worth playing with.

Via Lion's Roar:

In 2015, philanthropists revivified the great Buddha statues of Bamiyan, destroyed by the Taliban in 2001, with 3D light projection.

 

Our tools for awakening constantly change to keep up with our sneaky, evolving delusions. It is said that the Buddha developed 84,000 methods for awakening. In the 2600 years since, there have been countless more. So this Lion's Roar Weekend Reader focuses on innovation: How are we creating and preserving tools for enlightenment? How are we fostering inclusivity and compassion? How does science fit? I found inspiration and hope in writing these stories. I hope reading them may do the same for you. —Sam Littlefair, Associate Editor, LionsRoar.com

 

Archaeologists restore great Buddha statue bombed by the Taliban
 

In Pakistan and Afghanistan, modern conflicts have seen the demolition of great Buddhist monuments. But preservationists are working hard to memorialize or restore their legacies.

...

Nine years after its face was destroyed by Taliban militants, the famous Jahanabad Buddha has been restored. The sculpture, a massive cliff-face carving, was widely hailed as one of the most important pieces of Buddhist art in the region, second only to Afghanistan’s giant Bamiyan Buddhas. Those statues, which stood at 115 and 174 feet tall were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. [...] 

 

Make the jump here to read the original and more here

Via Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma / November 20, 2016: Learn to Help without Praise

In being told we’re good when we’re helpful, we receive the praise we crave. Yet once we confuse helpful behavior with our own needs, we’re locked into a pattern that undermines our genuine desire to do good.

—Ezra Bayda, "The 'Helper' Syndrome"

VIa FB:

Via Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma / November 19, 2016: Fostering Empathy, Avoiding Harm

When there are thoughts, speech, and actions strong enough to cause suffering, reflect: Just as I do not wish to suffer, neither do others wish to suffer. As such, one avoids doing harm.

—Sayadaw U Pandita, "The Best Remedy"

Via Sri Prem Baba:

Via Daily Dharma / November 18, 2016: Cutting Through a Clouded Mind

Much of the time our mind is thick, with thoughts and emotions and cognitive content, but when focused on the breath or on some other object it narrows, gets sharper and more precise, and is increasingly capable of becoming aware of just that thin sliver of experience presenting itself in the present moment. —Andrew Olendzki, "Giving Pain the Slip"

Via Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma / November 17, 2016: The Difference Between Wisdom and Goodness

Wisdom inclines toward the good but is not attached to it. It shies away from what is not good, but has no aversion to it. Wisdom recognizes the difference between skillful and unskillful, and it sees the undesirability of the unskillful.

—Sayadaw U Tejaniya, "The Wise Investigator"

Fuck you 2016!