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Via Daily Dharma: Opening the Hand

 By opening the hand, we let go of whatever was in its grip, and refrain from grasping something new. With time, meditation practice makes it easier to choose what to focus on, let go of, linger with, indulge in, turn away from, enhance, or reiterate.

Jill Satterfield, “Mindfulness at Knifepoint”

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Action: Reflecting upon Verbal Action

 

RIGHT ACTION
Reflecting Upon Verbal Action

However the seed is planted, in that way the fruit is gathered. Good things come from doing good deeds, bad things come from doing bad deeds. (SN 11.10) What is the purpose of a mirror? For the purpose of reflection. So too verbal action is to be done with repeated reflection. (MN 61) When you wish to do an action with speech, reflect upon that same verbal action thus: "Would this action I wish to do with speech lead to the affliction of another?" If, upon reflection, you know that it would, then do not do it; if you know that it would not, then proceed. (MN 61)

Reflection

Often a conversation is like a chess game, in which it is beneficial to be able to think a few moves ahead. Are you just expressing what is on your mind, or do you want to have the other person hear you so you can have an impact on what they are thinking? Considering the impact your words have on others is a skill that can be learned, and it increases the effectiveness of your speech. It is good to be aware of what you are saying.

Daily Practice

Try slowing down your speech pattern and taking that extra moment to pause and check in on your emotional and mental state before you respond. With what quality of mind will you speak the next words: annoyance? agitation? benevolence? equanimity? Normal speech patterns are often very rapid, not giving us much time for reflection, but being more reflective is an extremely valuable practice.

Tomorrow: Abstaining from Taking What is Not Given
One week from today: Reflecting upon Mental Action

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Via Daily Dharma: Authentic Selflessness

 Fulfilling the true commitment of a relationship is extraordinary, unrelenting selfless activity. It is one of the most authentic ways that humanity can experience self-transcendence. This is authentic selflessness, not the endorphin-intoxicated spiritual trance that some mistakenly think of as the transcendent experience.

Anam Thubten, “What We Can Learn from the Haunted Ground of Relationships”

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Speech: Refraining from Malicious Speech

 

RIGHT SPEECH
Refraining from Malicious Speech

Malicious speech is unhealthy. Refraining from malicious speech is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning malicious speech, one refrains from malicious speech. One does not repeat there what one has heard here to the detriment of these, or repeat here what he has heard there to the detriment of those. One unites those who are divided, is a promoter of friendships, and speaks words that promote concord. (DN 1) One practices thus: "Others may speak maliciously, but I shall abstain from malicious speech." (MN 8) When others address you, their speech may be connected with good or with harm … One is to train thus: "My mind will be unaffected, and I shall utter no bad words; I shall abide compassionate for their welfare, with a mind of lovingkindness, without inner hate." (MN 21)

Reflection

Malice is the desire to do harm, and when we look closely and honestly we may notice that much of what we say is laced with this intention. One text calls a dispute “stabbing one other with verbal daggers.” Here we are being encouraged to receive the wound without striking back. It is ultimately an expression of freedom from compulsion when you are able to say, “Others may speak maliciously, but I choose not to.”

Daily Practice

Not being provoked to malice by the malice of others is a difficult but important practice. Try to do this in small ways and gradually build up to more difficult situations. If someone slights you in some small way, practice noticing this, understanding it as an aggressive verbal act and then deliberately choosing to not be provoked by it into some form of retaliation. Do this again and again, and you will gradually get the hang of it.

Tomorrow: Reflecting upon Verbal Action
One week from today: Refraining from Harsh Speech

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A Franciscan blessing I just learned of that seems apt:

 

“May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.

 

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

 

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their pain to joy.

 

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

 

Amen.”

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Intention: Cultivating Compassion

 

RIGHT INTENTION
Cultivating Compassion

Whatever you intend, whatever you plan, and whatever you have a tendency toward, that will become the basis on which your mind is established. (SN 12.40) Develop meditation on compassion, for when you develop meditation on compassion, any cruelty will be abandoned. (MN 62) The manifestation of compassion is non-cruelty. (Vm 9.94)

Reflection

We are all born with the innate capacity for compassion, but that does not mean we will naturally express compassion. Like everything else, expressing compassion is something we learn to do or not do. The practice of right intention involves the deliberate development of benevolent states of mind such as compassion, and that will only happen when we do so again and again. Seeking out opportunities to be compassionate, we strengthen that muscle.

Daily Practice

Each of the brahma-viharas, the sublime states of mind, is paired with an opposite to which it is the antidote. Compassion is the antidote to cruelty, one of the most heinous human emotions. Cruelty is the wish for beings to experience greater suffering; compassion is the wish for them to be relieved of their suffering. Look for instances of suffering around you and direct to each the healing power of a compassionate mind.

Tomorrow: Refraining from Malicious Speech
One week from today: Cultivating Appreciative Joy

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Via Daily Dharma: Meditation Is Meditation

 Meditation isn’t about anything: meditation is meditation. Any attempt to define it in terms of something else simply confuses the issue.

Barry Evans, “The Myth of the Experienced Meditator”

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Times are difficult globally; awakening is no longer a luxury or an ideal. It’s becoming critical.

We don’t need to add more depression, more discouragement, or more anger to what’s already here. It’s becoming essential that we learn how to relate sanely with difficult times.

The earth seems to be beseeching us to connect with joy and discover our innermost essence. This is the best way that we can benefit others.

~Pema Chodron

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

 

RIGHT VIEW
Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering

What is the origin of suffering? It is craving, which brings renewal of being, is accompanied by delight and lust, and delights in this and that; that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for being, and craving for non-being. (MN 9) When one does not know and understand flavors as they actually are, then one is attached to flavors. When one is attached, one becomes infatuated, and one’s craving increases. One’s bodily and mental troubles increase, and one experiences bodily and mental suffering. (MN 149)

Reflection

Working systematically through the six different sense modalities, here we come to working with the flavors discernible by the tongue that give rise to moments of “tasting.” Here too we can easily get caught by wanting or craving some experiences of taste over others. A moment of suffering is born when we dislike the taste of something we are eating, or when we like something so much that we want to eat it again and again.

Daily Practice

See if you can get free for just a moment from the reflex to pursue pleasure and avoid displeasure. Try taking a few bites of something you traditionally don’t like and see if you can regard tasting it as simply a different experience. Try taking one bite and not another of something you really like and investigate that too as an experience. In this exercise you practice equanimity: tasting something without getting entangled in it.

Tomorrow: Cultivating Compassion
One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering

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Via Daily Dharma: Touch Your Potential

 We actually have incredible power over our thoughts—more power than any one thought has over us. To tap into this power, we need to find the creative potential for wisdom and of compassion within ourselves.

Martine Batchelor, “How the Buddha Deals with Difficult Thoughts”

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Restraining Unarisen Unhealthy States

RIGHT EFFORT
Restraining Unarisen Unhealthy States

Whatever a person frequently thinks and ponders, that will become the inclination of their mind. If one frequently thinks about and ponders unhealthy states, one has abandoned healthy states to cultivate unhealthy states, and then one’s mind inclines to unhealthy states. (MN 19) Here a person rouses the will, makes an effort, stirs up energy, exerts the mind, and strives to restrain the arising of unarisen unhealthy mental states. One restrains the arising of the unarisen hindrance of restlessness. (MN 141)

Reflection

It should not surprise us to hear that a person gradually becomes what they practice being. If you complain a lot about all the things you are discontented with, you will become a more discontented person and more inclined to further discontent. This works in a positive direction also, allowing us to develop healthy mental habits, but this passage focuses on protecting ourselves from our own toxic qualities of mind.

Daily Practice

This passage begins the process of walking us through the five hindrances, qualities of mind that inhibit mental clarity and contribute to suffering. The first of these is restlessness, a quality of mind that is active in some moments and dormant in others. Here we are told to practice the states of mind, primarily calm and tranquility, that prevent restlessness from arising. A calm mind is a healthy mind; practice calming the mind often.

Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Body and Abiding in the First Jhāna
One week from today: Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States

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Via Daily Dharma: A Caring Foundation

 We can’t live ethically without caring about ourselves as well as others. And we can’t be mindful without caring about what is happening here and now. Care underpins the radical attention that dharma practice accentuates.

Winton Higgins, “Treading the Path with Care”

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Via Listen to this week’s podcasts from the Be Here Now Network

  Ram Dass – Here and Now – Ep. 194 – Pitfalls and Providence
February 24, 2022 In this Q&A session from his legendary 1974 Naropa University course, Ram Dass answers questions about the Bhagavad Gita, the pitfalls of meditation, dealing...

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