Via Daily Dharma: Use Doubt as Fuel

 If those doubts come up, fine. Don’t deny that they are there. Throw those into your practice. Let that be the fuel to nourish doing. 

Elihu Genmyo Smith, “Do Your Best”

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[GBF] Sunday's talk with Sean Feit Oakes

 Don’t let the wind blow you over

The Buddha described eight “worldly winds” that come and go throughout our lives: gain and loss, fame and disgrace, blame and praise, pleasure and pain. They are the source of all our drama, anxiety, and confusion because we cling to them, craving some and fearing others. We’ll explore how to practice with these inevitable weather patterns and what becomes possible when we can be more resilient around the changing winds of the world.

Attached are two readings from the Anguttara Nikaya (Numbered Discourses) of the Pali Canon:

• Numbered Discourses 8.5
•  
• 1. Love

Worldly Conditions (1st)

“Mendicants, the eight worldly conditions revolve around the world, and the world revolves around the eight worldly conditions. What eight? Gain and loss, fame and disgrace, blame and praise, pleasure and pain. These eight worldly conditions revolve around the world, and the world revolves around these eight worldly conditions.

Gain and loss, fame and disgrace,blame and praise, and pleasure and pain.These qualities among people are impermanent,transient, and perishable.

A clever and mindful person knows these things,seeing that they’re perishable.Desirable things don’t disturb their mind,nor are they repelled by the undesirable.

Both favoring and opposingare cleared and ended, they are no more.Knowing the stainless, sorrowless state,they who have gone beyond rebirth understand rightly.”

• Numbered Discourses 8.6
• 1. Love

Worldly Conditions (2nd)

“Mendicants, the eight worldly conditions revolve around the world, and the world revolves around the eight worldly conditions. What eight? Gain and loss, fame and disgrace, blame and praise, pleasure and pain. These eight worldly conditions revolve around the world, and the world revolves around these eight worldly conditions.

An uneducated ordinary person encounters gain and loss, fame and disgrace, blame and praise, and pleasure and pain. And so does an educated noble disciple. What, then, is the difference between an ordinary uneducated person and an educated noble disciple?”

“Our teachings are rooted in the Buddha. He is our guide and our refuge. Sir, may the Buddha himself please clarify the meaning of this. The mendicants will listen and remember it.”

“Well then, mendicants, listen and pay close attention, I will speak.”

“Yes, sir,” they replied. The Buddha said this:

“Mendicants, an uneducated ordinary person encounters gain. They don’t reflect: ‘I’ve encountered this gain. It’s impermanent, suffering, and perishable.’ They don’t truly understand it. They encounter loss … fame … disgrace … blame … praise … pleasure … pain. They don’t reflect: ‘I’ve encountered this pain. It’s impermanent, suffering, and perishable.’ They don’t truly understand it.

So gain and loss, fame and disgrace, blame and praise, and pleasure and pain occupy their mind. They favor gain and oppose loss. They favor fame and oppose disgrace. They favor praise and oppose blame. They favor pleasure and oppose pain. Being so full of favoring and opposing, they’re not freed from rebirth, old age, and death, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. They’re not freed from suffering, I say.

An educated noble disciple encounters gain. They reflect: ‘I’ve encountered this gain. It’s impermanent, suffering, and perishable.’ They truly understand it. They encounter loss … fame … disgrace … blame … praise … pleasure … pain. They reflect: ‘I’ve encountered this pain. It’s impermanent, suffering, and perishable.’ They truly understand it.

So gain and loss, fame and disgrace, blame and praise, and pleasure and pain don’t occupy their mind. They don’t favor gain or oppose loss. They don’t favor fame or oppose disgrace. They don’t favor praise or oppose blame. They don’t favor pleasure or oppose pain. Having given up favoring and opposing, they’re freed from rebirth, old age, and death, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. They’re freed from suffering, I say. This is the difference between an educated noble disciple and an uneducated ordinary person.

Gain and loss, fame and disgrace,blame and praise, and pleasure and pain.These qualities among people are impermanent,transient, and perishable.

A clever and mindful person knows these things,seeing that they’re perishable.Desirable things don’t disturb their mind,nor are they repelled by the undesirable.

Both favoring and opposingare cleared and ended, they are no more.Knowing the stainless, sorrowless state,they who have gone beyond rebirth understand rightly

--
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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Action: Reflecting upon Social Action

RIGHT ACTION
Reflecting Upon Social 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 social action is to be done with repeated reflection. (MN 61) A person is content with any clothing they may get, speaks in praise of such contentment, and does not try to obtain these things in improper or unsuitable ways. Not getting these things, one does not worry, and getting them one makes use of them without being greedy, obsessed, or infatuated, observing such potential dangers and wisely aware of how to escape them. (AN 4.28)

Reflection

Just as we practiced cultivating contentment in regard to food last month, today we are invited to work with our relationship to clothing. Discontent is a persistent cause of social discord, and contentment contributes to people getting along with one another. If we envy what other people have or yearn for something we don’t have, the seeds of unhappiness are sown and watered. Such suffering is unnecessary.

Daily Practice

We are not being asked here to have disdain for fashion, or taste, and it is not suggested that what we wear does not matter at all. As with so many other aspects of our lives, we are being invited here to examine the relationship we have with ordinary things such as the clothing we wear. It is healthy and helpful to focus more on what we have than on what we want and to avoid the pitfalls of becoming greedy, obsessed, or infatuated.

Tomorrow: Abstaining from Intoxication
One week from today: Reflecting upon Bodily Action

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Via Daily Dharma: Expanding Our Identity

 Recognizing that we are not separate from the rest of the biosphere brings a deep sense that the whole earth is our body and an aspiration to live out the implications of such realization.

David Loy, “In Search of the Sacred”

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8 Oldest Religions of the World

That's So Gay(Hilary Duff AD)

Via Daily Dharma: Awakening Is in the In-Between

 Awakening arises in times of vulnerability and awkwardness between, before, and after where prior identities are canceled and anything is possible and nothing certain.

Lin Jensen, “Molting”

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Speech: Refraining from Frivolous Speech

RIGHT SPEECH
Refraining from Frivolous Speech

Frivolous speech is unhealthy. Refraining from frivolous speech is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning frivolous speech, one refrains from frivolous speech. One speaks at the right time, speaks only what is fact, and speaks about what is good. One speaks what is worthy of being overheard, words that are reasonable, moderate, and beneficial. (DN 1) One practices thus: “Others may speak frivolously, but I shall abstain from frivolous speech.” (MN 8) A person should examine things in such a way that while examining them, their consciousness is not distracted and scattered externally, and not clinging, one does not become agitated. Then there is no origination of suffering (MN 138)

Reflection

This passage seems written particularly for the 21st century, since so much of what we encounter every day seems designed to distract our consciousness and scatter it externally. Such distraction and scattering is in fact the very origin of suffering, because it leads us to become agitated and thereby to cling to one outcome or another. The whole process never gets started if we learn how to avoid or resist the distractions.

Daily Practice

Much of what distracts us and scatters our consciousness externally is the propensity for frivolous speech, both in the world around us and within ourselves. Is it asking too much to practice abstaining from unnecessary or unworthy speech at least once in a while? These days, learning to steer away from distraction and the scattering of our minds is a practice in itself, and we are likely to become less agitated if we are able to do it well.

Tomorrow: Reflecting upon Social Action
One week from today: Refraining from False Speech

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Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - September 28, 2022 💌

 

“My challenge to you as fellow pilgrims on the journey, is to cultivate the stability of living on two planes of consciousness simultaneously—as Christ said, ‘In the world but not of the world,’ to be fully passionately involved in life and also be totally equanimous and centered. This is not an either/or, it’s a both/and.” 

- Ram Dass -

Upland Hills Ecological Awareness Center February 15-16th 1997

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 on 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)  Equanimity is like a mother with a son who is busy with his own affairs, for she is not worried about what he does. (Vm 9.108) When a person, touching a sensation with the body, is not attached to pleasing sensations and not repelled by unpleasing sensations, they have established mindfulness and dwell with an unlimited mind. For a person whose mindfulness is developed and practiced, the body does not struggle to reach pleasing sensations, and unpleasing sensations are not considered repulsive. (SN 35.274)

Reflection

The image of a mother with a grown son is invoked to describe the quality of mind called equanimity, for we understand that she still loves and cares deeply for her son but is not invested in the superficial details of his daily activities. You can stay attentive, intimate, and deeply engaged with your affairs without being caught up in and afflicted by them. The image is one of a person who is at ease in their affairs without struggling.

Daily Practice

In working with physical sensations, as we do when we practice mindfulness of the body, the idea is to be fully aware of sensations without being attached to or repelled by them. Notice that when mindful the mind is said to be unlimited, and when it lacks mindfulness it is considered to be limited. Equanimity, the active ingredient in mindfulness, is the tool that is used to unbind the mind and set it free from aversion.

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

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Via Daily Dharma: What Is Spiritual Growth?

 Spiritual growth is a fine-tuning of our ear to the needs of our heart.

Rodney King, “Undivided Mind”

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Via Facebook // The Very Gay and Interesting History of the Almost Lost Tradition of the Sunday Tea Dance

 

Via LGBTQ Nation // Donald Trump demands we “keep our country gay”

 

Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - September 25, 2022 💌

 
 

"After being back to India for a few years and doing my practices, I began to see that I was not going to really be free until I had embraced life—that I couldn’t be a renunciate and get away with it. I couldn’t just keep getting high, I had to become free. And free meant I had to engage the world." 

Ram Dass

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 Way to 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 practices mindfulness and full awareness . . . (DN 2)

Reflection

Having established that there is an escape from suffering, based on understanding what causes it in the first place, the teachings go on to lay out a path you can walk to get from here to there, from suffering to the end of suffering. It is an integrated path, involving many interrelated components, but at heart it requires the ability to be mindful and fully aware of all that happens in the realm of lived experience.

Daily Practice

Practice the skill of being mindful in all you do. That is, be aware of what is happening in the moment with an attitude of equanimity, neither attached to nor repelled by anything. Also practice the skill of doing all you do—in body, speech, and mind—with full awareness. That is, be carefully attentive to what you do as you do it. These two practices serve as the right and left steps along the path to the end of suffering.

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

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Via Daily Dharma: Meditation Is an Access Point

 The human body is already and always abiding in the meditative state, the domain of awakening—and we are just trying to gain entry.

Reginald Ray, “Tapping into the Body for Radical Change and Transformation”

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and Abiding in 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 not liberated, one is aware: “The mind is not liberated”. . . One is just aware, just mindful: “There is mind.” And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection

Consciousness itself is open and empty of defining characteristics. Its function is to reflect like a mirror whatever object presents itself—to simply be aware of it. The mind is bound by the emotions, attitudes, and viewpoints it becomes entangled in, and these bonds change from moment to moment. In meditation one can sometimes distinguish between “just knowing” itself, and the mind’s many other more elaborate co-activities.

Daily Practice

The mind is not liberated most of the time, meaning it is bound by various habits, influences, assumptions, projections, and other residue accumulated through past activity. Mindfulness of mind is the practice of just observing the mind, however it naturally manifests in experience. Practice simply noticing what is there, without commentary and without elaboration. Sometimes its bound, and sometimes its free.

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)

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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Via Daily Dharma: Let Go of Thoughts

 When longing, ambition, and doubt arise, one need not follow. Not following thoughts into habitual patterns is the effort that engages the awakened state in the present moment. 

Douglas Penick, “Exploring What Is”

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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 awakening factors of tranquility and concentration. (MN 141)

Reflection

Sometime we may find ourselves falling into tranquil and focused states of mind quite naturally, but more often this is a practice that needs to be deliberately cultivated. When we know the value of such states, it is useful to induce them whenever we can. Usually this is just a matter of remembering to do so and then going through certain exercises of focusing on a single object and returning to it consistently when you drift.

Daily Practice

It is worthwhile calling to mind and developing the awakening factors of tranquility and concentration, grouped together here because each entails the other. A focused mind is naturally tranquil, and a tranquil mind is focused. Get in the habit of putting aside some time—at least 20 minutes—whenever you can, devoting it to accessing and sustaining a state of peaceful alertness, quiet concentration, and focused tranquility. It feels good.

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

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