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

RIGHT VIEW Understanding the Noble Truth of Suffering When people have met with suffering and become victims of suffering, they come to me and ask me about the noble truth of suffering. Being asked, I explain to them the noble truth of suffering. (MN 77) What is suffering? (MN 9) Death is suffering. The passing away of beings, their dissolution, disappearance, dying, completion of time, dissolution of aggregates, laying down of the body. (MN 9)

Reflection It is natural that we experience a great deal of mental pain when someone we love dies. Such pain is an inevitable part of life. The Buddha never said there is a way to make pain go away. How much suffering it causes, however, is another matter. Pain is amplified by our resentment of it and our resistance to it, and by our wishing it would go away. Pain is diminished by our turning toward it, accepting it, and attempting to learn from it. Daily Practice Reflect on the poignancy of death, either the death of someone dear to you or your own inevitable death. Allow yourself to feel the sorrow, which is an expression of mental pain. This is natural. Also allow yourself to feel strong, whole, and balanced in the midst of the sorrow. Mental pain, like physical pain, is something to be examined carefully and with equanimity. We need not feel overwhelmed by it.     Tomorrow: Cultivating Lovingkindness One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin 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: The Beauty of Forgiveness

 The reason that remarkable stories of forgiveness take our breath away is that we instantly feel the liberation in the lifting of boundaries, the end of separation, of “inside” and “outside.”

Roshi Nancy Mujo Baker, “The Seventh Zen Precept”

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

 

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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 restlessness is internally present, one is aware: "Restlessness is present for me." When restlessness is not present, one is aware: "Restlessness is not present for me." When the arising of unarisen restlessness occurs, one is aware of that. And when the abandoning of arisen restlessness 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 As we move into practicing with the fourth foundation of mindfulness, mindfulness of mental objects, the instructions become somewhat more detailed. The first section goes through each of the five hindrances and invites us to notice not only whether they are present or not but also how they arise in the mind. The teaching also points out that each hindrance can be abandoned once it has arisen. Observing this is important. Daily Practice Sometimes when you are sitting in meditation you will notice that the mind is restless. That’s okay; just notice it. And other times the mind will be calm and without restlessness. Notice this as well. Once familiar with these two modes, you can look more closely at the transition from one state to the other—watching the arising and passing away of restlessness. It is just a mental factor that comes and goes. Looking carefully, you’ll see that. 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 due to equanimity. The concentrated mind is thus purified, bright, unblemished, rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability. (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 Concentration is not something we do to the mind, but is something we allow the mind to do. The mind would naturally be far more concentrated than it usually is if we could just stop interfering with it. The states of restlessness, sluggishness, sense desire, ill will, and doubt act as obstacles or hindrances preventing the mind from reaching a natural state of great tranquility, clarity, unity, and strength. Daily Practice Once you are able to experience this particular kind of pleasure, the pleasure born of freedom, gladness, and joy, it is only a small step to develop a deep and stable concentration. The pleasure morphs into equanimity and allows for a profound seeing of things as they actually are, without distortion. Approach concentration in your practice in this way, as uncovering a natural state of mind. 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: Each Sit Is New

 One of the hardest things to remember about practice is that we’ve truly never before experienced this moment.

Alex Tzelnic, “How to Resist the Comfort of Repetition”

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Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - February 19, 2023 💌

 

One part of getting free, free into the soul or the witness, is the ability to stand back a little bit because now you are identified with being the witness rather than being the player, and thus you can see the play more clearly. 

- Ram Dass -

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

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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 sluggishness is internally present, one is aware: "Sluggishness is present for me." When sluggishness is not present, one is aware: "Sluggishness is not present for me." When the arising of unarisen sluggishness occurs—one  is aware of that. And when the abandoning of arisen sluggishness 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 Formal practice involves sitting down deliberately for a stretch of time and committing to being aware of all that unfolds in your experience. At its best this is an enterprise of great contentment, even though it requires effort to maintain an ardent and wakeful mind. Even if all you are noticing is that your mind is getting sluggish and you need to generate some energy, it is valuable that you can see that. Daily Practice As we practice becoming aware of the five hindrances in succession, we come to working with sluggishness. Like all the other hindrances, this is just a mental state that is inherently impermanent and that comes and goes under different conditions. When you notice a lethargy of mind, just be aware of it. This is just what is happening now. But notice also that it goes away and that you can help it go away by abandoning it. 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 due to equanimity. The concentrated mind is thus purified, bright, unblemished, rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability. (MN 4) Reflection Equanimity is the attitude and emotional state that is truly transformative. Being able to be entirely neutral while at the same time being fully aware is a special state of mind to be cherished. Neutral is sometimes regarded as a negative word, suggesting disinterest or detachment, but that is not at all how it is used in the Buddhist tradition. Rather it is the pinnacle of the developed mind, the state to which the jhāna practice delivers us. Daily Practice See if you can work with these descriptions of the mind as a living practice. Can you feel what it is like for the mind to be "bright"? Can you relate to how the texts are using words like "unblemished" and "rid of imperfection" not to judge the mind harshly but to appreciate its capacity for luminosity? Can you sit tranquilly in equanimity and feel the mind as "malleable"and "wieldy," imperturbable in the face of any experience? 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: Navigating the Karmic Stream

 While I did not set in motion the karmic stream, it’s nonetheless up to me as to how I negotiate its currents. I can go with the current, swim against it, or seek a shoreline, but the currents and eddies of the stream are forever shifting and leave me no option but to continually decide what to do. 

Tricycle, “Ten Thousand Miles”

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