Via LionsRoar / Steadfast in the Midst of Samsara

Self-Immolation,” 2012 by Tashi Norbu. www.tashinorbu.com

Shinshu Roberts examines the suffering inherent in the bodhisattva path, what Dogen referred to as being “the blue lotus in the flame.” From the Spring 2020 issue of Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly.

In 1243, Eihei Dogen, the thirteenth-century founder of Soto Zen in Japan, wrote in his evocative Kuge (“Flowers of Emptiness”) that “the time and place that the blue lotus flowers open and spread are in the midst of fire and in the time of fire” (Gudo Nishijima and Chodo Cross, Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo). Dogen lived in a time of political uncertainty, violent weather, and cultural change. Perhaps these difficulties inspired Dogen to take up the poetic image of a blue lotus—associated with practice–realization—blooming within the fire of samsara.

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Via Daily Dharma: Making Space to Respond with Intention

If we cultivate awareness enough to step back a bit from simply reacting, we can insert a gap or a pause before being carried away. In that little gap there is the freedom to respond in a fresh way, less predetermined.

—Judy Lief, “Train Your Mind: Don’t Be So Predictable”

Via Daily Dharma: Focus on Kindness

When our minds become convinced that we’ve been the recipients of a a tremendous amount of kindness in our lives, the wish to speak ill of others vanishes.

—Ven. Thubten Chodron, “The Truth About Gossip”

BR 9+ 0:02 / 4:22 Sergio Mendes feat. Black Eyed Peas - Mas Que Nada

Via Daily Dharma: How to Gain Wisdom

We attain wisdom not by creating ideals but by learning to see things clearly, as they are.

—Jack Kornfield, “Theravada Vipassana Practice”

Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation / Words of Wisdom - March 1, 2020 💌

The Living Spirit, the Beloved, is always right here. It is merely your mind that prevents you from acknowledging its existence. The minute you quiet your mind or open your heart so that it draws your mind along with it, only then do you rend the veil and see that the Beloved is right there.

- Ram Dass -

Via Be Here Now Network / Mindrolling – Raghu Markus – Ep. 330 – Cultivating ‘We’ Consciousness with Deborah Eden Tull

 

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Zen meditation teacher Deborah Eden Tull drops by Mindrolling for a conversation around turning towards pain and suffering, processing fear, and cultivating ‘we’ consciousness.

Deborah Eden Tull, founder of Mindful Living Revolution, teaches the integration of compassionate awareness into every aspect of our lives. She is a Zen meditation and mindfulness teacher, public speaker, author, activist, and sustainability educator. Her latest book is called Relational Mindfulness: A Handbook for Deepening Our Connections with Ourselves, Each Other, and the Planet. Learn more about her at deborahedentull.com. 

Psychic Numbing

Raghu welcomes Eden to the show and asks about her path to Zen Buddhism. They talk about how sensitivity can be a great strength, and how we can turn towards our pain and suffering rather than numb it out. In a world filled with psychic numbing, we all have a choice to stay present.

“It’s very true – how we treat ourselves and how we treat our world is the same. One’s personal practice has an impact that is transpersonal, interpersonal, societal, and global.” – Deborah Eden Tull

Addicted to Drama (25:33)

Raghu asks Eden about her experiences with Zen meditation, which he considers the most uncompromising form of meditation. Eden leads a short practice on processing fear, turning towards it with a gentle curiosity. Raghu talks about the boredom that can arise with practice, while for Eden it was an addiction to drama that kept coming up.

“The teaching really is to meet everything in our human experience with gentle curiosity and kindness.” – Deborah Eden Tull

Cultivating ‘We’ Consciousness (38:20)

Raghu reads from Eden’s book about making the shift from I to we. Eden discusses cultivating ‘we’ consciousness, especially in these difficult times. Raghu talks about moving away from self cherishing behaviors, and the practice of deep listening. After all, attention is the most subtle form of love.

“Being present is powerful in itself, but shared presence is wildly powerful. Shared presence is even bigger – dropping into spaciousness with another human being. Intimacy arises from spaciousness.” – Deborah Eden Tull

Ram Dass, Trudy Goodman, Jack Kornfield, and Duncan Trussell talk about the ‘movie of me’ on Mindrolling Ep. 269

Via White Crane Insitute / This Day in Gay History

Today's Gay Wisdom It’s February 29th, which means, it’s Leap Year, the odd day of the quadrennial year, and by that very token, this is a Gay day, a “queer” day, an “in between” place. In between places and times are traditionally connected to same-sex/Gay people who, in numerous cultures are considered to be “not-male, not female” i.e. a third (and possibly fourth) gender; in between the sexes. The crossroads is a widely understood example of this “sacred space” traditionally held by same-sex people. The middle ground. The bridge. All are traditionally Gay archetypes. Although the modern calendar counts a year as 365 days, a complete revolution around the sun takes approximately 365 days and 6 hours. Every four years, an extra twenty-four hours have accumulated, so one extra day is added to that calendar to keep the count coordinated with the sun's apparent position. There was a tradition that women may make a proposal of marriage to men only in leap years, further restricted in some cases to only February 29. There is a tradition that in 1288 the Scottish Parliament under Queen Margaret legislated that any woman could propose in Leap Year; few parliament records of that time exist, and none concern February 29. Another component of this tradition was that if the man rejects the proposal, he should soften the blow by providing a kiss, one pound currency, and a pair of gloves (some later sources say a silk gown). There were similar notions in France and Switzerland. A similar modern American tradition, Sadie Hawkins Day, honors "the homeliest gal in the hills" created by Al Capp in the cartoon strip Li'l Abner. In the famous story line, Sadie and every other woman in town were allowed on that day to pursue and catch the most eligible bachelors in Dogpatch. Although the comic strip placed Sadie Hawkins Day in November, today it has become almost synonymous with February 29. A person who was born on February 29 may be called a "leapling". In non-leap years they may celebrate their birthday on February 28 or March 1.

Via Daily Dharma: Train Yourself Toward Compassion

With mindfulness, we see that the heart is the ground from which our speech grows. We learn to restrain our speech in moments of anger, hostility, or confusion, and over time, to train the heart to more frequently incline towards wholesome states such as love, kindness, and empathy.

—Beth Roth, “Right Speech Reconsidered”

Via Daily Dharma: Benefits of a Spacious Mind

The spacious mind has room for everything. It is like the space in a room, which is never harmed by what goes in and out of it.

—Ajahn Sumedho, “Noticing Space”

Via Daily Dharma: Your Calm Mind Helps Others

Your body reflects your mind. When you feel love for all beings, it shows on your face. Seeing your honest, relaxed face, others will gravitate toward you and enjoy being around you.

—Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, “11 Benefits of Loving-Friendliness Meditation”

Via LGBTQ Nation: “Frozen” songwriters creating a movie musical based on a kid’s book about a genderqueer prince

Set in Paris at the dawn of the modern age, the book tells the story of 16-year-old Prince Sebastian, whose parents are hoping to find him a suitable bride. 

 

Make the jump here to read the full story

Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation / Words of Wisdom - February 26, 2020 💌

If there is anything at all that can bring us down, if our house is built on sand and there is fear, we aren’t free. For where there is fear, you are not free. Thus you become motivated to confront the places in yourself that bring you down; not only to confront them but to create situations in which to bring them forth, into light. 

- Ram Dass -

Via Daily Dharma: Opening Our Hearts Amidst Difficulty

Meditation and dharma practice give us straightforward and powerful trainings to balance our mind and open our hearts amidst all difficulties, using mindfulness, loving-kindness, equanimity, and compassion.

—Jack Kornfield, “Truth and Reconciliation Begins with Us”

Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation / Words of Wisdom - February 23, 2020 💌

We often fail to recognize that we too are a part of the lawful unfolding of nature. From a higher perspective, we can sometimes see that it’s all perfect, but that attitude is difficult to maintain in the presence of real suffering. If we attempt to live in either of these extremes, then we’re standing, ‘somewhere’, and there’s nowhere to stand. Our incarnation isn’t an error, and where we are is exactly where we are supposed to be, in this moment. We can’t push away our humanity, as freedom comes through form, not in spite of it.

- Ram Dass -

Via Daily Dharma: There Is Nothing You Need to Fix

Take the attitude that there is nothing in your experience that you need to control or fix, and you’ll be available to experience the perfection that is always there, the truth that everything you need to awaken is with you right now.

—Kate Johnson, “Calming the Not Now Mind”

Via Daily Dharma: What about Attachment to Family?

Too often Buddhist “nonattachment” is misconstrued as “non-loving.” The purpose of Buddhist practice is not to “renounce” our families or community, but to shed habits of self-protective clinging that prevent us from loving them more unconditionally, powerfully, enjoyably.

—Lama John Makransky, “Family Practice”

Via Daily Dharma: The Awareness Already Within Us

To be fully awake is the normal human condition. It expresses the deepest truth of our nature, our oneness with the energy of the universe. We meditate and study and practice to penetrate into, or relax into, this awareness.

—Sandy Boucher, “We Are in Training to Be Nobody Special”

Via Daily Dharma: What Does a Mindful Life Look Like?

To be mindful means to remember to let go of compulsive reactivity and realize a nonreactive way of life.

—Stephen Batchelor, “The Art of Solitude”