Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and the Second Jhāna

 

TRICYCLE      COURSE CATALOG      SUPPORT      DONATE

RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling 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 feeling a painful bodily feeling, one is aware: “Feeling a painful bodily feeling" … one is just aware, just mindful “there is feeling.” And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection Painful bodily feeling is the most apparent aspect of our experience and is thus the easiest sensation with which to practice. Pain is not an elusive feeling tone. While it can be chronic and excruciating, most of the pain we feel is mild and fleeting. Both pleasure and pain are inevitable aspects of the human condition, and Buddhist practice does not encourage the pursuit of pleasure or the avoidance of pain. Daily Practice As part of the practice of mindfulness, you are invited to simply be aware of pain when it is present. This practice has nothing to do with the natural response of disliking the pain or wishing it were not there but involves simply being aware of the sensation with equanimity. Turn toward the painful sensation, take an interest in its texture, and hold it in mind without pushing it away. Fully aware of the pain, you can still be content. RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the Second Phase of Absorption (2nd Jhāna) With the stilling of applied and sustained thought, one enters upon and abides in the second phase of absorption, which has inner clarity and singleness of mind, without applied thought and sustained thought, with joy and the pleasure born of concentration. (MN 4) Reflection The teachings around right concentration have to do with four phases of absorption, also known as jhānas. When the mind rests steadily on a single object of attention—which is quite difficult to do at first—it gradually disentangles itself from the various hindrances and becomes unified, peaceful, and stable. With this comes inner clarity and the dropping away of the internal use of language. Daily Practice You will know when you have entered into absorption of the jhānas because the state is accompanied at first with a great deal of physical and mental pleasure. The physical pleasure is described as being fundamentally different from any sensual gratification, and the mental pleasure comes naturally when the mind is free of the hindrances (phase one) and when it becomes concentrated or one-pointed (phase two). Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering One week from today:  Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and Abiding in the Third Jhāna Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

Tricycle is a nonprofit and relies on your support to keep its wheels turning. Donate »

© 2023 Tricycle Foundation 89 5th Ave, New York, NY 10003

Via Daily Dharma: Room to Meet the Present

When we’re trying to change ourselves or change the other, we’re essentially rejecting what is arising in the present moment. And if we reject it, we can’t really meet it. And if we can’t meet it, we can’t allow the space for understanding, how come this has arisen?

Laura Bridgman, “The Dharma of Relationships: The Paramis in Action”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - April 2, 2023 💌

 
 

You and I are in training to be conscious and compassionate in the truest, deepest sense - not romantically compassionate, but deeply compassionate. To be able to be an instrument of equanimity, an instrument of joy, presence, love, and availability, and at the same moment, absolutely quiet. 

- Ram Dass -

Via The Raft: How Zen Can Help Save the Planet

News from the International Plum Village Community Issue 74: Week of March 27, 2023 "Collective awakening is our hope and the hope of our planet; and collective awakening is possible." ― Thich Nhat Hanh, Answers From the Heart

5-Minute Dharma How Zen Can Help Save the Planet In this 5 minute video, Brother Phap Dung of Deer Park Monastery explains the meaning of “Zen” and the value in bringing a “Zen flavor” to climate and social action. This is a clip from the upcoming Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet Online Course. Watch

 

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States

 

TRICYCLE      COURSE CATALOG      SUPPORT      DONATE

RIGHT EFFORT Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States Whatever a person frequently thinks about and ponders, that will become the inclination of their mind. If one frequently thinks about and ponders unhealthy states, one has abandoned healthy states to cultivate unhealthy states, and then one’s mind inclines to unhealthy states. (MN 19) Here a person rouses the will, makes an effort, stirs up energy, exerts the mind, and strives to abandon arisen unhealthy mental states. One abandons the arisen hindrance of doubt. (MN 141)

Reflection When a thought or emotion arises that is obviously unhelpful or unhealthy, it is natural to make some effort to get rid of it in order not to encourage the damage that such states can do to oneself and others. “Abandoning” involves a particular kind of effort, one that neither encourages nor rejects the unhealthy state. It is not a matter of repressing or pushing away unhealthy states but of letting them simply “flow through” the mind. Daily Practice While in some circumstances it can be healthy to doubt, the kind of doubt meant here is that which is debilitating and holds us back from practice and understanding. When doubt as an obstacle arises in your experience, simply let it pass without trying to hold on to it or push it away. You can “abandon” doubt by not letting it get a foothold in your mind but instead watching it arise and pass away, as it will naturally do if you let it.  Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and Abiding in the Second Jhāna One week from today: Developing Unarisen Healthy States Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

Tricycle is a nonprofit and relies on your support to keep its wheels turning. Donate »

© 2023 Tricycle Foundation 89 5th Ave, New York, NY 10003

Via Daily Dharma: The Gift of Fearlessness

Finding composure and acting with clarity and resolve, right in the midst of your fears, is a form of generosity that in Buddhism is sometimes referred to as “giving the gift of fearlessness.”

Marc Lesser, “Do Less, Accomplish More”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Via Be Here Now Network

  Ram Dass – Here and Now – Ep. 222 – The Dance of Sexual Energy
March 27, 2023

 

“So, finally, sexuality that comes out of a deeper part of your being, that’s what’s called tantra. Because then the sexual energies keep liberating...

Listen Now

Via FB

 

Via FB

 

Via FB

 

Na lógica da meritocracia; se esse homem não se tornar milionário, não conseguir uma casa confortável ou um carro de luxo, é porque não se "esforçou";ou não "ralou" o bastante para chegar ao "sucesso"...

Na camada mais pobre da nossa população, há milhões de pessoas semelhantes a este homem. 

Acordam cedo, embarcam no transporte público, vendem toda sua energia de trabalho para uma empresa e quando chega no final do mês, recebe um salário que na primeira semana do mês seguinte já se esvaiu das mãos, com pagamentos de boletos de água, luz, aluguel, internet, comida e cartão de crédito, etc...

A mão de obra barata é capaz de produzir lucros bilionários, mas essa fortuna toda, acaba concentrada nas mãos de poucos, que são a verdadeira elite desse país.

Essa camada pobre, quando atrasa uma conta, torna-se inadimplente e tem o seu nome negativado em órgãos controladores do crédito, mas a elite bilionária, quando deve, deixa de pagar impostos e credores, negocia com o governo e recebe perdão ou parcelamento de suas dívidas para mais de cem anos.

Esse país só tem um jeito de mudar.

É com o povo entendendo o seu papel proletário e sua classe social e parando de "babar ovo" dessa elite que só tem um único objetivo:  Explorar todos os anos de vida do trabalhador e descartà-lo quando sua força física já não for suficiente para produzir o que se espera dele.

Via FB

 

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Living: Abstaining from Taking What is Not Given

 

TRICYCLE      COURSE CATALOG      SUPPORT      DONATE

RIGHT LIVING Undertaking the Commitment to Abstain from Taking What is Not Given Taking what is not given is unhealthy. Refraining from taking what is not given is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning the taking of what is not given, one abstains from taking what is not given; one does not take by way of theft the wealth and property of others. (MN 41) One practices thus: “Others may take what is not given, but I will abstain from taking what is not given." (MN 8) One is to practice thus: “Here, regarding things sensed by you, in the sensed there will be just the sensed." When, firmly mindful, one senses a sensation, one is not inflamed by lust for sensations; one experiences the sensation with a dispassionate mind and does not remain holding it tightly. (SN 35.95)

Reflection The phrase “what is seen, heard, and sensed” is a shorthand way of referring to the first five of the senses, so the word sensed refers to the sense modalities of smelling, tasting, and touching. It can be challenging to simply be with what is given in direct experience, since we are so easily swept beyond what is given to add layers of judgment and interpretation. Right living involves remaining grounded in experience. Daily Practice When you smell, taste, or touch an object of any kind at any moment, see if you can focus just on the sensation, not allowing thoughts to take over and run rampant. Such proliferation is a way of “taking what is not given,” insofar as you are going beyond the information provided by the senses in the immediate experience and turning it into something different. Practice simply being with what is present—no more, no less. Tomorrow: Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States One week from today: Abstaining from Misbehaving Among Sensual Pleasures Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

Tricycle is a nonprofit and relies on your support to keep its wheels turning. Donate »

© 2023 Tricycle Foundation 89 5th Ave, New York, NY 10003

Via Daily Dharma: The Thread Between Us

 The practice of all awakened ones actualizes the practice of each one of us. And the practice of each one of us actualizes the practice of all awakened ones.

Kazuaki Tanahashi, “Fundamentals of Dogen’s Thoughts”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Via GBF // Rebuilding Trust - Steven Tierney

The latest dharma talk is now published, in which Steven Tierney explores the many ways that our trust has been broken by our upbringing, by society, and even ourselves, especially when we do not fit in or are considered to be different.

Some of the tools we can utilize to repair broken trust include:
1. Mantra practice - to soothe, remain grounded and present in the moment.
2. Cultivate an enlightened witness to our lives (a spiritual friend, or kalyana mitta) who can recount not just our struggles, but remind us of the good that we have done.

Listen on your favorite podcast player or at: https://gaybuddhist.org/podcast/steven-tierney-2/
______________
Steven Tierney is a Professor Emeritus of Counseling Psychology at CIIS. Steven began his Buddhist practice in 1993 and is now an ordained priest in the Soto Zen lineage of Suzuki Roshi. 

He is a licensed psychotherapist in private practice in San Francisco, specializing in addiction and recovery, life transitions and resilience. His therapeutic approaches are grounded in mindfulness-based, trauma-informed therapies. He is the co-founder and CEO of the San Francisco Mindfulness Foundation. 

Dr. Tierney is a certified suicide prevention and intervention trainer and offers community-based workshops to promote safer, healthier communities.

--

Enjoy 750+ free recorded dharma talks at www.gaybuddhist.org

Via FB