Wednesday, May 31, 2023

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Speech: Refraining from Harsh Speech

 



RIGHT SPEECH
Refraining from Harsh Speech
Harsh speech is unhealthy. Refraining from harsh speech is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning harsh speech, one refrains from harsh speech. One speaks words that are gentle, pleasing to the ear, and affectionate, words that go to the heart, are courteous, and are agreeable to many. (DN 1) One practices thus: “Others may speak harshly, but I shall abstain from harsh speech.” (MN 8)

When one speaks unhurriedly, one’s body does not grow tired and one’s mind does not become excited, one’s voice is not strained and one’s throat does not become hoarse. The speech of one who speaks unhurriedly is distinct and easy to understand. (MN 139)
Reflection
The previous text on right speech emphasized the drawbacks of speaking hurriedly, and this one reverses the focus and speaks to the benefits of taking your time when you have something to say. This can seem out of touch with the pace of modern life, but does that mean we should ignore this advice to fit in with the times? Might it be better to be guided by these wise words and learn to slow down how we communicate?

Daily Practice
How much of the stress in your experience comes from speaking too fast or trying to follow the speech of others who are speaking at a mile a minute? Notice, by paying attention, when this happens and make a conscious effort to slow down the pace of your own speech. This can have the effect of slowing down the people you talk with as well. You don’t have to be swept along by the speaking habits of others. 

Tomorrow: Reflecting upon Mental Action
One week from today: Refraining from Frivolous Speech

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Via Daily Dharma: Your Beloved Is All Around

Pay attention to the world around you, to the leaves and the flowers, to the birds and the rain. If you can stop and look deeply, you will recognize your beloved manifesting again and again in many forms.

Thich Nhat Hanh, “Free from Fear”


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Via White Crane Institute // WALT WHITMAN

This Day in Gay History

May 31

Born
Walt Whitman
1819 -

Today is the birth date of WALT WHITMAN (d: 1892) In our humble opinion, this ought to be a national holiday. The prophetic poet, writer of the visionary homoerotic poetry of Calamus, lover of PETER DOYLE, and many others,

Walter Whitman was an American poet, essayist, journalist, and humanist. Proclaimed the "greatest of all American poets" by many foreign observers a mere four years after his death, he is viewed as the first urban poet.

He was a part of the transition between Transcendentalism and Realism, incorporating both views in his works. His works have even been translated into more than twenty-five languages and he was an early and profound inspiration to many of the earliest Gay theorists, including Edward Carpenter who carried on a correspondence with him and visited Whitman in his Camden, New Jersey home twice. 

For decades after his death historians denied his sexuality, but ironically in the 1950s, when Philadelphia wanted to name a bridge after him, there protests in front of city hall because of his homosexuality.


 

Today's Gay Wisdom
2018 -

TODAYS GAY WISDOM

Excerpt from

Leaves of Grass

"Recorders ages hence,
Come, I will take you down underneath this impassive exterior, I
will tell you what to say of me,
Publish my name and hang up my picture as that of the tenderest lover,
The friend the lover's portrait, of whom his friend his lover was fondest,
Who was not proud of his songs, but of the measureless ocean of love
within him, and freely pour'd it forth,
Who often walk'd lonesome walks thinking of his dear friends, his lovers,
Who pensive away from one he lov'd often lay sleepless and
dissatisfied at night,
Who knew too well the sick, sick dread lest the one he lov'd might
secretly be indifferent to him,
Whose happiest days were far away through fields, in woods, on
hills, he and another wan dering hand in hand, they twain apart from other men,
Who oft as he saunter'd the streets curv'd with his arm the
shoulder of his friend, while the arm of his friend rested upon him also."

Leaves of Grass, 1891

" When I heard at the close of the day how my name had been receiv'd
with plaudits in the capitol, still it was not a happy night for me that follow'd,
And else when I carous'd, or when my plans were accomplish'd, still I was not happy,
But the day when I rose at dawn from the bed of perfect health,
refresh'd, singing, inhaling the ripe breath of autumn,
When I saw the full moon in the west grow pale and disappear in the morning light,
When I wander'd alone over the beach, and undressing bathed,
laughing with the cool waters, and saw the sun rise,
And when I thought how my dear friend my lover was on his way
coming, O then I was happy,
O then each breath tasted sweeter, and all that day my food
nourish'd me more, and the beautiful day pass'd well,
And the next came with equal joy, and with the next at evening came
my friend, and that night while all was still I heard the waters
roll slowly continuously up the shores,
I heard the hissing rustle of the liquid and sands as directed to me
whispering to congratulate me,
For the one I love most lay sleeping by me under the same cover in the cool night,
In the stillness in the autumn moonbeams his face was inclined toward me,
And his arm lay lightly around my breast-and that night I was happy."

"I hear it was charged against me that I sought to destroy institutions,
But really I am neither for nor against institutions, (What indeed
have I in common with them? or what with the destruction of them?)
Only I will establish in the Mannahatta and in every city of these
States inland and seaboard,
And in the fields and woods, and above every keel little or large
that dents the water,
Without edifices or rules or trustees or any argument,
The institution of the dear love of comrades."


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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 Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - May 31, 2023 💌


 

"It is important to expect nothing, to take every experience, including the negative ones, as merely steps on the path, and to proceed." 

- Ram Dass -

 

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Intention: Cultivating Appreciative Joy

 


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RIGHT INTENTION
Cultivating Appreciative Joy
Whatever you intend, whatever you plan, and whatever you have a tendency toward, that will become the basis upon which your mind is established. (SN 12.40) Develop meditation on appreciative joy, for when you develop meditation on appreciative joy, any discontent will be abandoned. (MN 62) 

Appreciative joy fails when it produces amusement. (Vm 9.95)
Reflection
The emotion indicated by the term appreciative joy is a deep one and is to be distinguished from mere amusement. Noticing the success of others is not a momentary lift; you are allowing yourself to be profoundly moved by the beneficial aspects of life that do not center on yourself. Once we open to all the ways others have good things happen to them, this becomes a boundless source of our own good feelings.

Daily Practice
Cultivate appreciative joy at every opportunity. Get in the habit of noticing the good things that happen around you, not as they relate to your own gain but as they affect and benefit others. Being happy about other people being happy is a practice in itself. It is good to loosen the habit of always relating what you see to yourself and to develop an appreciation for the perspective of others. Feel the joy you experience from this.

Tomorrow: Refraining from Harsh Speech
One week from today: Cultivating Equanimity

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Via Daily Dharma: Wisdom in Five Minutes

If you pay attention for just five minutes, you know some very fundamental dharma: things change, nothing stays comfortable, sensations come and go quite impersonally.

Sylvia Boorstein, “Body as Body”


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Monday, May 29, 2023

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

 


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RIGHT VIEW
Understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering
What is the cessation of suffering? It is the remainderless fading away and ceasing, the giving up, relinquishing, letting go, and rejecting of craving. (MN 9)

When one knows and sees material form as it actually is, then one is not attached to material form. When one abides unattached, one is not infatuated, and one’s craving is abandoned. One’s bodily and mental troubles are abandoned, and one experiences bodily and mental well-being. (MN 149)
Reflection
We live in a material world, and contact with material things makes up a great deal of our experience. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The issue is whether we allow ourselves to become infatuated with these things, or if instead we are able to “abide unattached” as we make use of them. Knowing ultimately that material objects are impermanent and will change frees us from the suffering attachment to them can bring.

Daily Practice
Notice that you suffer in direct proportion to the amount of attachment you have to a material object. If something you care little about gets damaged, it is no big deal, right? But if something precious to you breaks, it can be the cause of great distress. Practice reminding yourself of everything you touch, This is fragile; it cannot last; it will pass away eventually. That sounds depressing, but it can be liberating.

Tomorrow: Cultivating Appreciative Joy
One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Way to the Cessation of Suffering

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Questions?
Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.



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