Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States

 

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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 all five arisen hindrances. (MN 141)

Reflection Having worked through all five hindrances one at a time, we now focus on treating sense desire, ill will, restlessness, sluggishness, and doubt as a group. These are the five kinds of mental states that obstruct the ability of the mind to gather strength and become unified. Unhealthy states breed more unhealthy states, and it is helpful to abandon, not suppress or resist, them when you notice them arising in your experience. Daily Practice Become familiar with these unhealthy states and notice them at any point during your day when they come up—which is bound to be often. Just notice them one by one, recognize each as being not helpful, and let it go. That’s all. Gently guide your mind away from states that obstruct the mind toward states that are free of these obstacles. You will come to know your own mind better, and the practice will become easier to do. Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and 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.

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Via Daily Dharma: Good Listening

 Inseparable from right speech is good listening. 

Mudita Nisker, “Right Speech”

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Heart Sutra- 般若心経 -Buddhist Mantra to remove all obstacles- Tinna Tinh

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

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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 cognized by you, in the cognized there will be just the cognized.“ When, firmly mindful, one cognizes a mental object, one is not inflamed by lust for mental objects; one experiences it with a dispassionate mind and does not remain holding it tightly. (SN 35.95)

Reflection Five of our sense doors open onto the world, while the sixth, the mind door, opens inwardly to draw on sensory experience and mental objects such as memories, imagination, and thoughts. The mental objects are cognized, or known to us, one after another in a stream of consciousness. Here we are encouraged to encounter our thoughts without elaboration, as phenomena arising and passing away. Daily Practice See if you can regard your mental activity—the thoughts and images and words passing through the mind—with equanimity. That is, observe them closely but without becoming entangled in their content and without favoring some and opposing others. Thoughts are merely objects that, like sights and sounds and physical sensations, come and go based on various conditions. See if you can abide without “holding them tightly.” 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.

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Via Daily Dharma: The Paradox of Impatience

 The paradox of impatience is that, in trying to hurry toward enjoyment, we hurry past it. 

Dean Sluyter, “Macbeth Flunks the Marshmallow Test”

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STRANGE WAY OF LIFE (2023) Official Trailer [HD] Pedro Almodóvar, Ethan ...

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Action: Reflecting upon Verbal Action

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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) When you have done an action with speech, reflect upon that same verbal action thus: “Has this action I have done with speech led to the affliction of another?” If, upon reflection, you know that it has, then tell someone you trust about it and undertake a commitment not to do it again. If you know it has not, then be content and feel happy about it. (MN 61)

Reflection Let’s not overlook the last line of this passage. If you reflect upon what you have said to people in the past and on review you realize you have not said anything harmful, you should feel happy about that. Feeling happy and content about your own behavior is not only allowable but encouraged. Positive feedback is as valuable as criticism, and acknowledging your own self-worth is healthy. We forget this sometimes. Daily Practice Confide in a friend some instance in which you have spoken badly in the past and give that misdeed a chance to come into the open and be encountered with awareness. Perhaps you told a lie or spread a rumor or otherwise said something that caused harm. By revealing this openly you are able to acknowledge that it was wrong, that you know better now, and that you undertake a commitment to not do it again. 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: Anything Can Happen

 Anything is possible, which could seem overwhelming in some way. But the only relationship we can have—and which we can develop through a meditative practice—is we actually get more awake, more clear, more cognizant of the fact that anything can happen at any moment.

Martin Aylward, “The Power of Not Knowing”

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Via White Crane Institute // MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT

 

This Day in Gay History

April 27 Born Mary Wollstonecraft 1759 - MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT (d: 1797) was a proto-feminist English writer, philosopher, and advocate of women’s rights. During a brief career, she wrote novels, treatises, a travel narrative, a history of the French revolution, a conduct book, and a children's book. Wollstonecraft is best known for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), in which she argues that women are not naturally inferior to men, but appear to be only because they lack education. She suggests that both men and women should be treated as rational beings and imagines a social order founded on reason. Both of Wollstonecraft's novels criticize what she viewed as the patriarchal institution of marriage and its deleterious effects on women. In her first novel, Mary: A Fiction (1788), the eponymous heroine is forced into a loveless marriage for economic reasons; she fulfils her desire for love and affection outside of marriage with two passionate romantic friendships, one with a woman and one with a man. Maria: or, The Wrongs of Woman (1798), an unfinished novel published posthumously and often considered Wollstonecraft's most radical feminist work, revolves around the story of a woman imprisoned in an insane asylum by her husband; like Mary, Maria also finds fulfillment outside of marriage, in an affair with a fellow inmate and a friendship with one of her keepers. Neither of Wollstonecraft's novels depict successful marriages, although she posits such relationships in the Rights of Woman. At the end of Mary, the heroine believes she is going "to that world where there is neither marrying, nor giving in marriage". |8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8| 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 |8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|

Via Facebook // Daily Stoic

 Daily Stoic

"Were you to live three thousand years, or even a countless multiple of that, keep in mind that no one ever loses a life other than the one they are living, and no one ever lives a life other than the one they are losing. The longest and the shortest life, then, amount to the same, for the present moment lasts the same for all and is all anyone possesses. No one can lose either the past or the future, for how can someone be deprived of what's not theirs?"

Marcus Aurelius, 121 AD - 180 AD

Via Buddhist Geeks // Living Into the Fourth Turning

 

Living Into the Fourth Turning
A Buddhist Geeks Retreat

📅 June 11th – 18th, 2023
👥 Emily West Horn & Vince Fakhoury Horn

“Form is Emptiness, Emptiness is Evolving.” – Ken Wilber

In the Buddhist Wisdom tradition the symbol of the wheel represents the cyclical process of iterative change. With each turning of the wheel of dharma the teachings are interpreted in more appropriate ways for their time & place. As the world of form evolves, so too does the dharma.  In this week-long virtual retreat we will embrace what has come before–with theory & practice from the first three historical turnings of Buddhism–while going beyond them.

Combining Silent, Guided, & Social Meditation periods, along with teacher-led & peer-supported learning formats, the structure of this retreat reflects the comprehensive nature of Evolving Dharma.

Practitioners of all experience levels are welcome.

Note: This retreat counts toward the retreat prerequisite requirement for the yearly Buddhist Geeks Meditation Teacher Training (next cohort begins: January, 2024). 

🥳 Features

• Integrate intensive retreat practice into your home life

• A daily hour-and-a-half Large Group Retreat Meeting with dharma teachings & facilitated breakout discussions.

• A daily hour-long teacher-led meeting, limited to 16 people per cohort

• A 15-minute private teacher meeting with your small group leader

• Multiple, daily Teacher-led Guided Meditation sessions

• Regularly facilitated Multiplayer Meditation periods

• Round-the-clock peer-led Silent Sitting periods

• Build your own retreat schedule around the practice modules offered

• Additional retreat resources for more in-depth study

• Recordings of the Large Group Teacher Talks and Guided Meditations

Register Here*

*Current Buddhist Geeks Network Members:
Click Here to Join the Retreat

Via DailyChatter // Shiny, Happy People

 

Need to Know

Shiny, Happy People

Bhutan

In Bhutan, the law states that “if the government cannot create happiness for its people, there is no purpose for the government to exist.” The small, constitutional monarchy in the Himalayan mountains, taking the constitutionally enshrined “Gross National Happiness” principle seriously, therefore aims to foster sustainable development, free speech, environmental conservation, and other laudable policy goals. As a result, it’s one of the happiest developing nations in the world.

As RealClearWire wrote, however, Bhutanese citizens also must fulfill their responsibilities in exchange for this happiness. As the Buddhist maxim says, “A little effort on your part will be much more effective than a great deal of effort on the part of the government.”

For example, as the World Bank explained, the Bhutanese government helped support women who have opened businesses in rural villages to preserve local traditions and create jobs to lure younger workers who might otherwise flood into cities. Happiness was the result.

“The whole process of planning the revival of our community has given us an opportunity to listen to each other and set a new vision for the stewardship of our culture, and the nature around us,” said Madam Pem, who started a restaurant that serves almost-forgotten traditional food in Nobgang, a village in the country’s west.

Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck is likely one reason why Pem and her fellow citizens might be joyful about their country. Soon after he ascended to the throne in 2006, he launched a democratization process, including scrapping anti-homosexuality laws in 2021.

The king in theory wanted to distance himself from the harsher periods in his country’s history. Political prisoners who allegedly suffered torture while in Bhutan are still in jail, for example. Most are from Bhutan’s crackdown on citizens who spoke Nepali in the 1990s. The government drove these people, who represented around 16 percent of the population at the time, into exile, argued Human Rights Watch.

Bhutan faces a bigger problem with its two titanic neighbors, India and China. The three countries have been engaging in negotiations in recent years over land claims in the space where their three borders meet, India Express explained. China has been trying to separate Bhutan from India, its traditional ally, ThePrint argued, citing an anti-India commentary in the Global Times, an English-language mouthpiece for the Chinese Communist Party.

Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering recently said China has an equal say in resolving the dispute. Objectively, he was probably correct. But many in India thought his comments were extremely concerning.

Maybe they should not worry and just be happy.