Lama Rod Owens

 

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and the Third Jhān

 

RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Mind

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 mind is devoid of aversion, one is aware "the mind is devoid of aversion" … One is just aware, just mindful: "There is mind." And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection

Mindfulness can be established and sustained by focusing on the quality of consciousness itself. Consciousness is colored in every moment by subtle or obvious emotional tones, in particular by various forms of greed, hatred, and delusion. These states are toxic, but the mind is often free of them for fleeting moments. Here we are invited to notice when the mind is free from hatred in its many forms.

Daily Practice

Aversion is a quality of mind that comes and goes. Sometimes we are annoyed at something, and sometimes we are not. Sometimes we hate something and wish it would go away, and sometimes we do not. This is a practice of noticing the flickering moods of the mind, of becoming aware of the emotional strands that arise in the mind and then vanish. In particular, notice when your mind is free of any trace of aversion.

RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the Third Phase of Absorption (3rd Jhāna)

With the fading away of joy, one abides in equanimity; mindful and fully aware, still feeling pleasure with the body, one enters upon and abides in the third phase of absorption, on account of which noble ones announce: "One has a pleasant abiding who has equanimity and is mindful." (MN 4) When one sees oneself purified of all these unhealthy states and thus liberated from them, gladness is born. When one is glad, joy is born; in one who is joyful, the body becomes tranquil; one whose body is tranquil feels pleasure; in one who feels pleasure, the mind becomes concentrated. (MN 40)

Reflection

Pleasure is as natural and inevitable a part of human experience as pain, and like pain it is not to be feared or avoided. The challenge is to not be carried away by either, and to abide with both with equanimity. The unhealthy pursuit of pleasure can lead to all sorts of problems, but there are some cases, like this one, when pleasure is an ally. There is a healthy pleasure that comes simply from the experience of a tranquil body.

Daily Practice

Pleasure can be a gateway leading from tranquility to concentration. Allow yourself to feel how pleasant it is to be calm. Temporarily free from the rush of restlessness, and not, for the moment, driven by all kinds of pressures to do and accomplish things, take some time to allow yourself to fully feel the deep pleasure of a calm and tranquil moment. This is the pleasure of being, not doing.

Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Way to the Cessation of Suffering
One week from today:  Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects and the Fourth Jhāna

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Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

Via Daily Dharma: Appreciate Your Failures

 The small failures of yesterday are your best protection against the major crashes of tomorrow.

Fabrice Desmarescaux, “The Power of Not-Knowing”

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Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - March 13, 2022 💌

 

When you give another human being, your family, or your business, the fullness of your being at any moment, a little is enough. When you give them half of it, because you’re time binding with your mind, there is never enough. You begin to hear the secret that being fully in the present moment is the greatest gift you can give to each situation.

- Ram Dass -

Via NPR // LGBTQ people are fighting to keep their rights in Ukraine

 

Via The Advocate // Why the U.S. Must Help Evacuate LGBTQ+ Refugees in Ukraine

 

via Buddhism, Zen, Tao and Meditation. Are all practices of Spirituality / FB

 

Each of these explain there is no right or wrong. There is only perspective, we must be open to all.

If we Believe in something then we should always remember it is only a Belief, it is not fact. Our Ego becomes attatched to it and it them changes from our Belief to our Identity and this leads to something we become angry and argumentative about. The truth is no one has enough knowledge to judge.

Each of these practices promote Compassion as one of their fundamental foundations.

I am saddened at times to see on a Buddhism, Zen, Tao and Meditation page that people comment on other people's offerings with words like 'Wrong' and 'No' on occasion in block capitals to emphasis their disregard, or I see negative emojis added, such as Laughing at someone's perspective or even an angry face. 

I believe that the Admin team here do an amazing job and to date I have never seen a post of discrimination or one which voices hatred slip through the net. So I see no need for people to defend anything.

The more perspectives we have the cleared we see.

If you feel the need to defend or disagree with someone perspective, then as is said. If you have the opportunity to be Right or Kind always choose Kind. Or at least let go of the need disagree.

In buddhism they recommend the below practice, it is difficult for the ego at times to do this but it promotes Compassion 🙏❤️

viaFB

 

“Folks don’t like nobody being too proud, or too free.”

“I am an expression of the divine, just like a peach is, just like a fish is. I have a right to be this way...I can't apologize for that, nor can I change it, nor do I want to....We will never have to be other than who we are in order to be successful....We realize that we are as ourselves unlimited and our experiences valid. It is for the rest of the world to recognize this, if they choose.”

The Color Purple

Via FB

 

via Fb

 

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Developing Unarisen Healthy States

 

RIGHT EFFORT
Developing Unarisen Healthy States

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

Reflection

Happiness is a skill that can be learned, and it can be practiced again and again as a living presence. We are all capable of experiencing happy and healthy states of mind, but sometimes we need to remember to experience them as a conscious and deliberate act. At any point, we can in principle draw out of a pool of latent tendencies the active manifestation of a positive state such as joy, thus waking it up and bringing it to life.

Daily Practice

Try the exercise of deliberately cultivating joy as an active and present state of mind. This does not mean pretending to be joyful as a kind of false overlay to feelings that are not joyful. It means consciously developing actual joy and allowing it to replace whatever other feeling might be in the mind at the moment. Joy is accessible; it is just a matter of remembering to get in touch with it as a living emotion.

Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and Abiding in the Third Jhāna
One week from today: Maintaining Arisen Healthy States

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Via Daily Dharma: Finding Another Side of Life

 When we are in a spiritual community, perfect or not, we see ourselves more clearly. We see the depth of our pain and rage while bowing or offering incense and flowers. We move so slowly that what is in our bodies cannot be overlooked. Over time, you begin to see another side of yourself, another side of life.

Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, “A Glimpse of the Unseen”

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Living: Abstaining from Misbehaving Among Sensual Pleasures

RIGHT LIVING
Undertaking the Commitment to Abstain from Misbehaving Among Sensual Pleasures

Sensual misconduct is unhealthy. Refraining from sensual misconduct is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning sensual misconduct, one abstains from misbehaving among sensual pleasures. (MN 41) One practices thus: "Others may engage in sensual misconduct, but I will abstain from sensual misconduct." (MN 8) Relationships are of two kinds: to be cultivated and not to be cultivated. Such relationships as cause, in one who cultivates them, unhealthy states to increase and healthy states to diminish, such relationships are not to be cultivated. But such relationships as cause, in one who cultivates them, unhealthy states to diminish and healthy states to increase, such relationships are to be cultivated. (MN 114)

Reflection

As with so many other aspects of our lives, the relationships we foster and the company we keep can be considered healthy or unhealthy, based on whether or not they help us see more clearly and whether they bring about more or less suffering. Since we influence one another so significantly, it is important for our own well-being to nurture healthy relationships and steer away from those that are unhealthy.

Daily Practice

See for yourself whether any particular relationship in your life is predominantly healthy or unhealthy. Do this not by some sort of conceptual analysis but by noticing whether states of yearning, resentment, and confusion increase or decrease when you are engaged with this person. Also note whether states of sharing, caring, and understanding increase or decrease. This is the actual measure of health or unhealth in relationships.

Tomorrow: Developing Unarisen Healthy States
One week from today: Abstaining from Intoxication

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Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

 

Via Daily Dharma: The Mindfulness of Gratitude

 Constantly expressing gratitude for things such as the common conveniences of modern life helps us develop a broader and deeper insight into the unique and wondrous gift of life itself. The mindfulness of gratitude brings the attitude achieved on the meditation cushion to the hectic circus of ordinary life.

Rev. Dr. Kenji Akahoshi, “The Efforts of Others”

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Via White Crane Institute // On this date Germany's PARAGRAPH 175 was finally revoked

 

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1994 -

On this date Germany's PARAGRAPH 175 was finally revoked. Originally adopted in 1871, Paragraph 175 was a provision of the German Criminal Code that made homosexual acts between males a crime. The statute was amended several times. The Nazis broadened the law in 1935 and increased §175 StGB prosecutions by an order of magnitude; thousands died in concentration camps, regardless of guilt or innocence. East Germany reverted to the old version of the law in 1950, limited its scope to sex with youths under 18 in 1968, and abolished it entirely in 1988. West Germany retained the Nazi-era statute until 1969, when it was limited to "qualified cases"; it was further attenuated in 1973 and finally revoked entirely in 1994 after German reunification.

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Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute

"With the increasing commodification of gay news, views, and culture by powerful corporate interests, having a strong independent voice in our community is all the more important. White Crane is one of the last brave standouts in this bland new world... a triumph over the looming mediocrity of the mainstream Gay world." - Mark Thompson

Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture since 1989!
www.whitecraneinstitute.org

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Action: Reflecting upon Mental Action

 

RIGHT ACTION
Reflecting Upon Mental 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 mental action is to be done with repeated reflection. (MN 61) When you wish to do an action with the mind, reflect upon that same mental action thus: "Would this action I wish to do with the mind 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

It is the nature of living beings to act. Every moment some sort of action is called for. Even when we are physically remaining still and silent, the mind is acting. Even deciding not to act is a mental act. Much of the time it seems as if our mind is thinking us, rather than we are thinking our mind. But with heightened awareness it is possible to open up more space for influencing with our intention the direction our mind takes.

Daily Practice

This teaching is inviting us to participate in our mental life with some sort of awareness and freedom of choice. Notice thoughts arising and passing away much as you would watch bodily sensations arise and pass away. As you become more aware of your intentions, examine whether they are healthy or unhealthy, helpful or unhelpful. See if you can at least catch up with your mind—and maybe even get a step ahead of it.

Tomorrow: Abstaining from Misbehaving Among Sensual Pleasures
One week from today: Reflecting upon Social Action

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Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

Via Daily Dharma: Wielding Patience Against Anger

 Patience is the only thing that defeats anger. Don’t be disappointed if you can’t do it right away. Even after years of practice you may find that you’re still losing your temper. It’s all right. But you will also notice that the power of anger has weakened, that it doesn’t last as long, and does not as easily turn into hatred.

Nawang Gehlek Rimpoche, “Anger and Patience”

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Via BBC Outlook // The priest leading the fight for LGBT rights in Poland

 

Via Sounds True // Thich Nhat Hanh

 

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Beloved teacher and author Thich Nhat Hanh passed away peacefully on January 21, 2022, at the age of 95. Thay, as he was known to his students, launched so many of us at Sounds True on our journeys into the miracle of deep presence.

If Thay touched your life in some way, we hope you’ll take a moment to breathe, and then to appreciate and remember him with us.

In celebration of his life and teachings, please enjoy a complimentary copy of his 6-hour audio program Living Without Stress or Fear. 

 

Download here >> https://bit.ly/3fKWE10