Revoked

Wednesday, July 6, 2022

Via Daily Dharma: Random Acts of Kindness

We never really know what’s going on with anyone else, but we know what it’s like to be human. So in the face of suffering, what appropriate response is there but compassion?

Taylor Plimpton, “Lessons From a Mostly Good Dog: #3: Be Kind”

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Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Intention: Cultivating Equanimity

RIGHT INTENTION
Cultivating Equanimity

Whatever you intend, whatever you plan, and whatever you have a tendency toward, that will become the basis upon which your mind is established. (SN 12.40) Develop meditation on equanimity, for when you develop meditation on equanimity, all aversion is abandoned. (MN 62)

The near enemy of equanimity is the ordinary indifference of the uninformed. (Vm 9.101) When a person, hearing a sound with the ear, is not attached to pleasing sounds and not repelled by unpleasing sounds, they have established mindfulness and dwell with an unlimited mind. For a person whose mindfulness is developed and practiced, the ear does not struggle to reach pleasing sounds, and unpleasing sounds are not considered repulsive. (SN 35.274)

Reflection

The idea of a near enemy is used in Buddhist commentaries to help define the meaning of words. A near enemy is something that seems like the right definition of a word (hence near), but is actually missing the mark and steering us in a wrong direction (hence enemy). What is being said here is that equanimity can easily be misconstrued as indifference, while in fact these two are miles apart. Real equanimity is fully engaged.

Daily Practice

Working with sound, see if you can hear sounds without favoring or opposing what you hear, without preferring some sounds and feeling aversion toward others. You will notice that this requires paying close attention and is thus far from indifference. When hearing a sound (bird calls, traffic, the refrigerator), just be aware of hearing the sound with an attitude of true equanimity: attentive but unattached.

Tomorrow: Refraining from Frivolous Speech
One week from today: Cultivating Lovingkindness

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Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

Via Daily Dharma: The Best Time to Meditate

The best time to meditate, the best place, the best length of practice is the one that you actually do. Showing up for the practice today, however long or short, is enough.

Kate Johnson, “Calming the Not Now Mind”

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Monday, July 4, 2022

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Namaske!

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

RIGHT VIEW
Understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering

And what is the way leading to the cessation of suffering? It is just this noble eightfold path: that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right living, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. (MN 9)

One perfects their ethical behavior by abandoning intoxication . . . (DN 2)

Reflection

Once again the importance of ethical behavior is emphasized, as the heart of walking the path toward the cessation of suffering, and so too is the particular value of keeping the mind clear and alert. Intoxication leads to a muddling of the mind, and the negligence that ensues can be the source of a lot of trouble. Sobriety in its many forms is a skill that can be learned, developed, strengthened, and ultimately perfected.

Daily Practice

Look at the many ways your diligence of mind is diminished throughout the day and becomes negligent. We get distracted by petty things, interrupted by random circumstances, confused by stray thoughts, or addled by any number of befuddling substances. The path to awakening winds its way among these obstacles. See if the image of gradually perfecting your ethical behavior can be useful in countering this.

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

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Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

Via Daily Dharma: We Are All Interdependent

We are dependent on others, yet we also contribute to others. Such is the nature of our existence, which includes our relationships with our family, our friends, our community, the nation, the international community, and the natural world.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth Tanaka, “The Land of Many Dharmas”

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Via White Crane Institute \\ WALT WHITMAN published the first edition of Leaves of Grass

1855 -

On this day in 1855, WALT WHITMAN published the first edition of Leaves of Grass. The first edition consisted of twelve poems, and was published anonymously; Whitman set much of the type himself, and paid for its printing. Over his lifetime, he published eight more editions, adding poems each time; there were 122 new poems in the third edition alone (1860-61), and the final "death-bed edition," published in 1891, contained almost 400. The first edition received several glowing — and anonymous — reviews in New York newspapers. Most of them were written by Whitman himself.

The praise was unstinting: "An American bard at last!" One legitimate mention by popular columnist Fanny Fern called the collection daring and fresh. Emerson felt it was "the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom America has yet contributed." This wasn't a universal opinion, however; many called it filth, and poet John Greenleaf Whittier threw his copy into the fire.

2018 -

Preface to Leaves of Grass
by Walt Whitman

This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul; and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.

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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 Daily Living from White Crane Institute \\ Charlie Murphy

1953 -

CHARLIE MURPHY was an American singer-songwriter who was born on this date (d: 2016); Growing up during the civil rights and anti-war movements, Charlie devoted his life to social change. His conviction was fueled by his experience at Camp Claggett, a summer camp led by a group of extraordinary adult activists who were also involved in the human potential movement. He worked as a camp counselor throughout his college years while studying sociology at Loyola University in Baltimore. He also received training in group facilitation at the Center for mid-Atlantic Trainers, where he became their youngest facilitator.

After college, Charlie chose to work with youth through the Roanoke Virginia mental health services. Charlie soon discovered, however, that he was being asked to help these young people to adjust to a world in turmoil rather than to empower them to take an active role in making things better. So, he left the world of mental health and chose to express his passion for social change through music. From an early age Charlie loved music and played the guitar. This unleashed a passion for writing and composing songs.

In the mid seventies, Charlie toured the country as a folk singer, inspiring audiences with a passion for social change. He was a pioneer of the men’s movement and sang openly about Gay rights, making him one of the few out and proud Gay singer/songwriters of his day. He appeared on the landmark 1979 album “Walls to Roses”, that featured both Gay and straight men who supported the struggle against sexism. In the late ‘80s, Charlie founded the award-winning band, Rumors of the Big Wave, with creative partner and cellist Jami Sieber.

His AIDS anthem, I Choose Life, landed the band a spot as featured artists on a Barbara Walters special commemorating the 20^th anniversary of the AIDS crisis. Rumors of the Big Wave played with Ziggy Marley, Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, and Midnight Oil. They traveled nationally and internationally and produced several award-winning albums.

Murphy's album Catch the Fire (1981), released on the Good Fairy Productions label, contained the original version of 'Burning Times', later covered by Christy Moore and Roy Bailey. The album also contained the LGBT rights anthem 'Gay Spirit'. The album is notable for addressing LGBT issues and pagan spirituality within its lyrics. The song "Burning Times" concerns the persecution of women accused of witchcraft in the Middle Ages and early modern periods. Its chorus mentions several pagan female deities: Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hecate, Demeter, Kali... Inanna. It also memorializes that nine million women died, ...in this holocaust against the nature people. The other key song, "Gay Spirit", expresses the frustration of growing up gay within a prejudiced society: When we were born they tried to put us in a cage, and tell our bodies what to feel, we have chosen to feel all the truth, that our bodies do reveal.... The chorus is a rousing burst of optimism: There's a gay spirit singing in our hearts, leading us through these troubled times, There's a gay spirit moving 'round this land, calling us to a time of open love.

In 1996, Charlie and Langley resident, Peggy Taylor, a journalist and creative development specialist, founded a creativity-based youth development organization called the Power of Hope: Youth Empowerment Through the Arts. Their Creative Community Model for integrating the arts into youth development, quickly caught fire and began to spark a transformation in youth work. In 2005, Charlie, was awarded an Ashoka Fellowship in recognition of his life-long achievements as a change maker and for his groundbreaking work in the youth development field.

In 2006, Charlie and his husband, theater-artist Eric Mulholland, began traveling internationally, leading Creative Community-based youth programs and trainings in Uganda, South Africa, Italy, and the UK. Three years later, with Peggy and UK-based entrepreneur Ian Watson, Charlie formed PYE Global: Partners for Youth Empowerment to further spread the international work. Charlie and Eric spent several years developing an international network of PYE partners and facilitators dedicated to bringing creativity and hope into the lives of young people. With over one million youth impacted to date and thirty partners in fifteen countries, Charlie’s influence continues to grow and promises to flourish in years to come.

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Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute

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

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Sunday, July 3, 2022

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Via Daily Dharma: Practice with Mistakes

As long as we realize and admit our mistakes, let them go, and make corrections immediately, that is practice.

Master Sheng-Yen, “How to Be Faultless”

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Via White Crane Institute // DOG DAYS

Noteworthy

2018 -

According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac today marks the beginning of the DOG DAYS most commonly experienced in the months of July and August, which typically observe the warmest summer temperatures. In the Southern hemisphere, they typically occur in January and February, in the midst of the austral summer. The Almanac lists the traditional period of the Dog Days as the forty days beginning July 3rd and ending August 11th, coinciding with the ancient heliacal (at sunrise) rising of the Dog Star, Sirius. These are the days of the year with the least rainfall in the Northern Hemisphere.

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Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute

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

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

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 uplifted, one is aware: “The mind is uplifted”. . . One is just aware, just mindful: “There is mind.” And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection

An uplifted mind is one made more noble by the presence of an ennobling mental factor or combination of factors. Buddhist psychology measures the mind in moments that quickly come and go, so a mind that is uplifted in one moment by kindness, for example, might be the opposite the very next moment if ill will or selfishness shows up. Among other things, mindfulness involves noticing the quality of the mind moment by moment.

Daily Practice

Closely examine your mind—not the content of your mind but the quality of your mind. By quality we mean whether it has healthy mental factors like kindness, generosity, and wisdom. Many mind moments do not have such uplifting factors, but many of them do, and it is important to recognize your own good qualities when they are present. This allows you to not only appreciate your good qualities but also encourage their arising in the future.

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)

One practices: “I shall breathe in experiencing mental formations;”
one practices: “I shall breathe out experiencing mental formations.”
This is how concentration by mindfulness of breathing is developed and cultivated,
so that it is of great fruit and great benefit. (A 54.8)

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 Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - July 3, 2022 💌

When people say, “What should I do with my life?” the more interesting question is, “How do I cultivate the quietness of my being, where ‘what I should do with my life’ will become apparent?”

Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. The journey is constant, between listening to the inner voice and making the choice to take an action. The minute you make a decision, if you feel it is disharmonious with some other plane of existence, you must go back inside again. The art form of continually emptying to hear freshly. Imagine being in a relationship where the two people are meeting each other anew all the time. Imagine how freeing it would be for you.

- Ram Dass -