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)

Reflection We take action every moment, either with the body or with speech or with the mind. Verbal action can have big consequences and needs to be wielded carefully. Every word uttered is a seed planted that will yield fruit whether we are aware of it or not. Speech as a form of action may not be a familiar concept, but when we look at it this way we may be inclined to be more attentive to it and more careful of how we speak.  Daily Practice Reflect on the impact of your speech not only by noticing how others react to your words but also paying attention to how your words affect you. Hear what you are saying as you say it. Notice whether you are planting good seeds or bad. There are times for silent meditation, but the habit of awareness developed in silence can and should be applied to verbal action, where it becomes a mindfulness practice in its own right.  Tomorrow: Abstaining from Taking What is Not Given One week from today: Reflecting upon Mental Action 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: The Antidote to Self-Criticism

 Having appreciation for yourself, for the world, and for your life is really important. Why? Because we all have basic innate goodness. 

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, “The Antidote to Self-Criticism”

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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)

Reflection There is so much malicious speech in the world these days, speech that is intended to divide and promote discord. It is valuable to recognize what it is, to be aware of it when it occurs, and to undertake a commitment to refrain from speaking maliciously yourself. Let’s not contribute to the problem but instead work actively in the other direction, not only refraining from wrong speech but also promoting right speech. Daily Practice Even though others may speak maliciously, make it an ongoing practice to be a person who does not speak with malice. When the tendency comes up to return like for like in your speech, catch that with mindfulness and decide on a different course of action. Commit to being someone who speaks to unite those who are divided and utters only words that foster concord. Practice being a promoter of friendships with all you say. Tomorrow: Reflecting upon Verbal Action One week from today: Refraining from Harsh Speech 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: Helping Others Grow

 Every time I can take something that’s hurting, something that’s toxic, something that’s out of balance, and actively participate in its transformation, that act will help me to grow.

Julia Butterfly Hill, “My Teacher, The Tree”

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Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - November 9, 2022 💌

 
 

“The predicament with loving is the power of the addiction of the practice of loving somebody, of getting so caught in the relationship that you can’t ever arrive at the essence of dwelling in love. Imagine that you are cut off in your heart from love, so you feel hungry. What that hunger is, is the hunger to come home, to be at peace, to be feeling at one in the universe, where lover and Beloved merge. It’s the place to feel fulfilled, fully in the moment.”

- Ram Dass -


From Here & Now Podcast - Ep. 178 – The Path of the Heart

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)

Reflection Compassion is a mental factor that can be developed, much as you might develop a muscle in the gym. It takes time, constant repetition, and working with successively heavier weights. The more time you spend caring for those who are in pain, and the more challenging the objects of your compassion (even people you don’t like!), the stronger and more compelling your inclination toward compassion will become.  Daily Practice Practice cultivating the intention to care for those who are suffering. Plan ways of helping others and develop a tendency toward compassion. When you do this, compassion will become the basis on which your mind is established. That is to say, it will become easier and more natural for you to feel compassion as you train your mind in that direction. Eventually it will be difficult to have a thought of ill will toward anyone. Tomorrow: Refraining from Malicious Speech One week from today: Cultivating Appreciative Joy 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: Wisdom Promotes Compassion

 Just as ignorance promotes anger, the inverse is also true: Wisdom promotes compassion.

Allison Aitken, “What’s Wrong with Anger?”

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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)

Reflection These are the three flavors of craving: strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate. Craving can take the form of 1) wanting more of the physical sensations and other sensory inputs that feel good and wanting to avoid those that feel bad. It can also take the form of 2) aching for things that are not happening to happen or 3) yearning for things that are happening to stop. All three forms of craving inevitably give rise to suffering. Daily Practice Look for the truth of this in your own experience. Any time you are suffering, even slightly, look into the causes of it. There will be something that you want to hold on to because it feels good and you are afraid of it slipping away. Or there will be something that you want to have happen or come into being. Or something you wish would just disappear. Suffering is created anew each moment from these forms of craving. Tomorrow: Cultivating Compassion One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering 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: Enjoy Sitting

Finding a way to enjoy just sitting is key. Sitting meditation is a refuge, not a test.

Narayan Helen Liebenson, “The Refuge of Sitting”

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Body and the First Jhāna

 

RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Body 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)

Reflection We often forget that the practice of mindfulness meditation is the practice of contentment. We are ardent because we are interested in what is happening, fully aware because we are looking openly at it, and mindful because we are examining our experience with equanimity rather than under the influence of desire. When we no longer desire what is happening to be any different than it is, we are content. Daily Practice Practice mindfulness as an exercise in contentment. Mindfulness begins with bringing deliberate attention to the objects of experience and thereby bringing heightened awareness to the moment. Mindfulness proceeds by disengaging the habit of favoring some things and opposing others, and then regarding all phenomena equally. When desire is replaced by an attitude of equanimity, contentment settles in the mind. RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the First Phase of Absorption (1st Jhāna) Having abandoned the five hindrances, imperfections of the mind that weaken wisdom, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, one enters and abides in the first phase of absorption, which is accompanied by applied thought and sustained thought, with joy and the pleasure born of seclusion. (MN 4) Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and Abiding in the Second 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: Unfreezing Our Perceptions

We can have this view of ourselves as frozen—and we can have frozen opinions of others as well—but that’s just based on a misunderstanding.

Pema Chödrön, “What Goes Through the Bardos?”

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