Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects and Abiding in the Fourth Jhāna

 

RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects 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 awakening factor of concentration is internally present, one is aware: “Concentration is present for me.” When concentration is not present, one is aware: “Concentration is not present for me.” When the arising of unarisen concentration occurs, one is aware of that. And when the development and fulfillment of the arisen awakening factor of concentration occurs, one is aware of that. . . . One is just aware, just mindful: “There is a mental object.” And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection The practice of insight meditation also involves the practice of concentration. Insight and concentration are like the two wings of a bird, each supporting the function of the other. Concentration is a mental factor that allows the mind to focus on a single object without being carried away by the stream of consciousness into telling and retelling stories. Insight is understanding the nature of what you are focusing on.  Daily Practice As with all mental factors, sometimes concentration is present and sometimes it is not. Sometimes your mind is focused, and other times it is flitting from one object to another, apparently out of control. With practice you can notice these fluctuations of mind. You can watch the ability to focus come and go, always simply being aware of what is happening. The idea is not to control the mind but to calm it and let it settle. RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the Fourth Phase of Absorption (4th Jhāna) With the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous disappearance of joy and grief, one enters upon and abides in the fourth phase of absorption, which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure and purity of mindfulness as a result of equanimity. The concentrated mind is thus purified, bright, unblemished, rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability. (MN 4) Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of Suffering  One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Body and Abiding in the First Jhāna Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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Via Daily Dharma: Finding the Desire for Interconnectedness

 The more we are able to recognize in our bodies what a lack of trust—in others and in ourselves—feels like, the more we will notice a desire to belong, to experience interconnectedness.

Radhule Weininger, “Deep Trust: Finding Our Footing in a Turbulent World”

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Mount Shasta Webcam Image Provided by: Snow Crest Inc.

 

Via Tricycle // Inside the World of Buddhist Medicine

 

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October 1, 2022

Inside the World of Buddhist Medicine
 

The Buddha has often been described as a great healer or physician. Diagnosing the ailment of dukkha (suffering), he offered the eightfold path as his prescription for healing the disease of suffering that is caused by the workings of the mind. 

But what about the body? What does the dharma have to say about the suffering of illness? What can Buddhist knowledge teach us about physical healing? 

Buddhist traditions have sought to address physical illness for centuries, and Buddhist ideas have shaped a robust body of healing knowledge that is practiced around the world to this day.

Dr. Pierce Salguero, Buddhism scholar, historian of medicine, and author of A Global History of Buddhism and Medicine, joins us on October 10 for a virtual conversation on the fascinating world of Buddhist medicine. In this hour-long Zoom event—free for Tricycle Premium subscribers—he’ll discuss how Buddhist medical practices and Buddhist healers have influenced health care globally (including mental health care and Western medical approaches).

Sign up today to join us on October 10 at 4 p.m. ET, and bring your questions! 
 

Sign up now!

 

Also this week:

• Join Stephen Batchelor, Sylvia Boorstein, Kaira Jewel Lingo, and other Buddhist teachers and writers for the Living Well in Difficult Times virtual summit—a conversation series on transforming suffering during times of personal and global crisis. 
• New to the dharma? Start your journey with Buddhism for Beginners, Tricycle’s comprehensive online learning platform.
• Walk in the Buddha’s footsteps across Northern India and Nepal with Buddhist scholar Andrew Olendzki as your guide on this special pilgrimage, December 3-18. Learn more. 
• On the latest episode of Tricycle Talks, scholar and professor of philosophy Allison Aitken discusses why anger is so seductive—and how to transform this destructive emotion into compassion, according to Buddhist texts.

Via Tricycle // The Mountain Path

 

Film Club: The Mountain Path
Now Streaming!

 

One man sets off for China’s Zhongnan Mountains in search of a Buddhist hermit master along the way he meets a series of recluses who teach him about life, death, and the journey within.

Watch now »

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Maintaining Arisen Healthy States

 

RIGHT EFFORT Maintaining Arisen 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 maintain arisen healthy mental states. One maintains the arisen awakening factors of tranquility and concentration. (MN 141)

Reflection The last two of the seven factors of awakening are tranquility and concentration. These are healthy mental and emotional factors that are to be encouraged to arise and when arisen, to be sustained. While all states of mind are fleeting, arising and passing away in a moment, when we are able to string together moments of tranquility one after another, the mind naturally becomes concentrated and focused on a single object.  Daily Practice Focused awareness, otherwise known as concentration practice, is something to undertake in a sustained and continuous manner. Put aside some time at the end of the day or before your day begins and allow yourself to really settle in to some uninterrupted practice. It takes some effort, but that effort becomes easier as tranquility deepens. By cultivating these states, you give your mind a break from restlessness. Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects and the Fourth Jhāna One week from today: Restraining Unarisen Unhealthy States Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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© 2022 Tricycle Foundation 89 5th Ave, New York, NY 10003

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Via GQ // Billy Eichner Believes a Funny Gay Comedy Is the Best Activism

 

Via White Crane Institute // Lakenheath

 

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Anglo-Saxon besties

2008 -

Construction of the Royal Airforce Base at Lakenheath was held up in 2008 when relics of this base’s ancient inhabitants were unearthed during a routine construction project. The base must work with British archaeology officials for every base construction because of the area’s dense concentration of buried artifacts.

Before the Air Force set up shop at Lakenheath more than 60 years ago, it was home to the Anglo-Saxons — ancient peoples who inhabited the south and east of the country from the early fifth century through the Norman conquest of 1066.

Toiling alongside a construction crew that rebuilt the traffic circle on the northside of the base in August, a team of British archaeologists dug up three Anglo-Saxon graves dating to between 450 and 650.

They found two unusually large bodies dating from before the Norman Invasion of 1066 that appeared at first glance to be a husband and wife. The bodies were buried embracing each other, but genetic testing revealed both were men. It remains unknown if they were lovers, relatives, warrior companions, or just good friends…but I think we know.

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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 White Crane Institute // The world's first legal, modern same-sex civil union

 

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1989 -

DENMARK: The world's first legal, modern same-sex civil union are sanctioned and called "registered partnership."

 

 

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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 Dharma: Love Comes from Attention

 Attention is the start of love. There can be no love without attention. In cultivating attention, we’re cultivating a possibility for intention and a possibility for connection.

Anne C. Klein, “Ritual as an Opening to Love”

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Living: Abstaining from Intoxication

 

RIGHT LIVING
Undertaking the Commitment to Abstain from Intoxication

Intoxication is unhealthy. Refraining from intoxication is healthy. (MN 9) What are the imperfections that defile the mind? Negligence is an imperfection that defiles the mind. Knowing that negligence is an imperfection that defiles the mind, a person abandons it. (MN 7) One practices thus: “Others may become negligent by intoxication, but I will abstain from the negligence of intoxication.” (MN 8) When I strive with determination, some particular sources of suffering fade away in me because of that determined striving; in this way suffering is exhausted. (MN 101)

Reflection

Any source of gratification, if indulged to an extreme, will transform into something that causes harm to you or others or both.  Some of these impulses can be managed gently and naturally, but others may require determined effort. Striving with diligence can be seen as a defense mechanism, a way of keeping yourself safe from overindulgence. Sometimes you just have to tell yourself to stop.

Daily Practice

Identify the behaviors in your life that have the potential to escalate to a point of intoxication and negligence, in the broadest sense of these terms. Make a commitment to avoid allowing this to happen; sometimes that takes determination and making a deliberate effort. If the application of energy is grounded in the wise understanding of cause and effect, self-control can be seen as a gift to yourself.

Tomorrow: Maintaining Arisen Healthy States One week from today: Abstaining from Harming Living Beings Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.