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) On hearing a sound with the ear, one does not grasp at its signs and features. Since if one left the ear faculty unguarded, unwholesome states of covetousness and grief might intrude, one practices the way of its restraint, one guards the ear faculty, one undertakes the restraint of the ear faculty. (MN 51)

Reflection This is another encouragement to be with what is happening without going beyond the experience and taking more than is given in the moment. The image of guarding the sense doors, as a watchman might guard the gate to a city, suggests the ability to choose what gets into the mind and what is turned away. It is a way of gaining some power and claiming some freedom over what happens to you. Daily Practice Practice along these lines: “In what is heard, there will be only what is heard.” As we work with each of the sense modalities in turn, we learn to be fully present with what is occurring without embellishing it or projecting our desires onto it. Can we hear without grasping? What does this feel like? Mindfulness practice involves being fully aware of what is presenting at the sense doors without getting swept away by it or swept beyond it.  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 White Crane Institute // ALAN MATHISON TURING OBE, FRS

 

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Alan Turing

1912 -

ALAN MATHISON TURING OBE, FRS was born on this date (d: 1954); An English mathematician, logician and cryptographer. Turing is considered to be the father of modern computer science. Turing provided an influential formalization of the concept of the algorithm and computation with "the Turing machine," formulating the now widely accepted "Turing" version of the Churq-Turing thesis, namely that any practical computing model has either the equivalent or a subset of the capabilities of a Turing machine.

With the Turing Test, he made a significant and characteristically provocative contribution to the debate regarding artificial intelligence: whether it will ever be possible to say that a machine is conscious and can think. 

The "standard interpretation" of the Turing Test, in which player C, the interrogator, is given the task of trying to determine which player – A or B – is a computer and which is a human. The interrogator is limited to using the responses to written questions to make the determination.

He later worked at the National Physical Laboratory, creating one of the first designs for a stored-program computer, although it was never actually built. In 1948 he moved to the University of Manchester to work on the Manchester Mark I, then emerging as one of the world's earliest true computers.

During WWII Turing worked at Bletchley Park, Britain's code-breaking center, and was for a time head of Hut 8, the section responsible for German naval crypto-analysis. He devised a number of techniques for breaking German ciphers, including the method of the “bombe,” an electromagnetic machine that could find settings for the Enigma machine.

The 2014 film, The Imitation Game is Turing's story. The title refers to Turing's proposed test of the same name, which he discussed in his 1950 paper on artificial intelligence entitled "Computing Machinery." In 1952, Turing was convicted of "acts of gross indecency" after admitting to a sexual relationship with a man in Manchester. He was placed on probation and required to undergo estrogen therapy to achieve temporary chemical castration. The treatment caused him great anxiety and physical pain. An avid runner, he was no longer able to enjoy this exercise.

Turing died after eating an apple laced with cyanide in 1954. His death was ruled a suicide, but this was controversial and many think he may have been murdered to silence him.

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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 are doing an action with speech, reflect upon that same verbal action thus: “Does this action I am doing with speech lead to both my own affliction and the affliction of another?” If, upon reflection, you know that it does, then stop doing it; if you know that it does not, then continue. (MN 61)

Reflection Human speech is actually a complex and remarkable phenomenon. There are many ways in which we are monitoring our own speech as we utter it, if only to know how to end the sentence we have started. We can make use of this power of self-observation to improve the ethical quality of our verbal behavior. It is largely a matter of becoming more conscious of what we are accustomed to doing automatically. Daily Practice You can be aware of what you are saying before, during, and after saying it. Here the emphasis is on active mindfulness of speech—awareness of what you are saying in the present moment. It can be helpful to speak somewhat more slowly, to allow yourself time and space to both create and monitor your words. Perhaps a synonym for mindfulness in this context would be thoughtfulness. Practice speaking thoughtfully. Tomorrow: AAbstaining 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: Meditation’s Purpose

Meditation is not merely a useful technique or mental gymnastic, but part of a balanced system designed to change the way we go about things at the most fundamental level.

Judy Lief, “Is Meditation Enough?”

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OCTAVIA E. BUTLER

 

o survive,
Know the past.
Let it touch you.
Then let
The past
Go.

—From "Earthseed: The Books of the Living," Parable of the Talents.

Via Them // 9 LGBTQ+ People Explain How They Love, Hate, and Understand the Word "Queer"

 

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Speech: Refraining from Malicious Speech

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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) Disputes occur when a person is angry and revengeful. Such a person dwells disrespectful and undeferential towards others, causing harm and unhappiness for many. If you see any such root of a dispute either in yourself or externally, you should strive to abandon it. And if you do not see any such root of dispute either in yourself or externally, you should practice in such a way that it does not erupt in the future. (MN 104)

Reflection Anger is considered in Buddhist thought to be an unhealthy emotion. It may be justified, and it may even be effective, but indulging anger always comes at a cost. It harms you as much as or more than the person to whom it is directed. One famous Buddhist image is of a person who tries to hurt someone with a burning torch while facing into the wind and ends up burning himself even more. Something similar happens when we exact revenge, another unhealthy state. Daily Practice Learn to recognize anger when it arises in your mind and to discern the many ways it can damage yourself and others. Is anger really necessary in this situation, and is it helpful? It is hard to see how destructive anger is as we get caught up in it in the moment and swept away. But if we can manage to pause and examine carefully what is going on, the danger and harmfulness of anger can become apparent. 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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