Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Developing Unarisen Healthy States

 

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RIGHT EFFORT Developing Unarisen Healthy States Whatever a person frequently thinks about and ponders, that will become the inclination of their mind. If one frequently thinks about and ponders healthy states, one has abandoned unhealthy states to cultivate healthy states, and then one’s mind inclines to healthy states. (MN 19) Here a person rouses the will, makes an effort, stirs up energy, exerts the mind, and strives to develop the arising of unarisen healthy mental states. One develops the unarisen awakening factor of energy. (MN 141)

Reflection Energy is a word with many different meanings in English. Here it refers to a mental state that may or may not co-arise with other mental states. Its presence or absence determines how much effort we put into whatever we are doing in any given moment. Energy levels can be adjusted by intention. Sometimes we need to put more effort into what we are doing; sometimes we need to back off and stop trying so hard. Daily Practice Since our concern here is developing healthy states, working with energy is a means of supporting such things as practicing when you don't feel like it, being patient when your impulses are urging otherwise, and looking more closely at a situation to see where the wisdom is to be found in it. Think of energy as an impersonal factor you can either dial up or dial down, depending on the situation. Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and Abiding in the Third Jhāna One week from today: Maintaining Arisen 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: Being a Patient Patient

 

Being a Patient Patient

Patience is key to your mental health when you are physically ill. It is one of the few virtues you can actively cultivate when your body ceases to cooperate. Shozen Jack Haubner, “Expiration Date” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

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"More Than Only | LGBTQ+ Feature Film | Official (re-colored)" on YouTube

 

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Living: Abstaining from Misbehaving Among Sensual Pleasures

 

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RIGHT LIVING Undertaking the Commitment to Abstain from Misbehaving Among Sensual Pleasures Sensual misconduct is unhealthy. Refraining from sensual misconduct is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning sensual misconduct, one abstains from misbehaving among sensual pleasures. (MN 41) One practices thus: “Others may engage in sensual misconduct, but I will abstain from sensual misconduct.” (MN 8) Odors cognizable by the nose are of two kinds: those to be cultivated and those not to be cultivated. Such odors as cause, in one who cultivates them, unhealthy states to increase and healthy states to diminish, such odors are not to be cultivated. But such odors as cause, in one who cultivates them, unhealthy states to diminish and healthy states to increase, such odors are to be cultivated. (MN 114)

Reflection The point here is not that some things smell good and some smell bad. Rather it is that some odors provoke unhealthy states in us and some incline us toward healthy states. As usual, the emphasis is on the mental and emotional response to sensory input and not on the quality of that data. The key is to avoid the tendency for the odor to give rise to craving, either craving for more pleasure or craving for pain to go away. Daily Practice Here you have another invitation to abide in your experience with equanimity, to be acutely aware of something, in this case an odor, without being driven by that information into responding with attraction or aversion. Smells are a good way to practice equanimity, since it is so easy to observe the mind being automatically hijacked by pleasure or displeasure into liking or not liking the smell. Tomorrow: Developing Unarisen Healthy States One week from today: Abstaining from Intoxication 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: Sadness and Openness

 

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Sadness and Openness

Although they appear to be quite different, sadness and openness are in fact intimately connected. The profound sadness that overwhelms us when we understand the impermanent nature of all phenomena opens us up to the world around us. Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche, “The Secret Strength of Sadness” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

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Via Daily Dharma: Discovering What We Never Lost

Discovering What We Never Lost

Whatever we have been searching for, whatever we have been striving for—all unnecessary! Equanimity means that we discover something immeasurable that we have never actually lost. Guo Jun, “Zen’s Seven Wonders” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Action: Reflecting upon Mental Action

 

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RIGHT ACTION Reflecting Upon Mental 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 mental action is to be done with repeated reflection. (MN 61) When you have done an action with the mind, reflect upon that same mental action thus: “Has this action I have done with the mind led to both my own affliction and 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 Mental action is at least as important and influential as physical and verbal action. Every thought, memory, or image that goes through your mind constitutes a mental act, and it is based on these mental events that other actions are put into play. It is okay to reflect from time to time on what has gone through your mind and inquire whether on the whole it has been healthy or unhealthy. This is a form of mental housekeeping. Daily Practice Now and then, step out of merely thinking thoughts and reflect on them. A mirror creates an image of whatever passes before it and reveals what it looks like from another perspective. Learn to do that with your own mind by stepping back and gazing on your thoughts rather than “inhabiting” them, as you normally do. This is one way of understanding the practice of mindfulness—becoming aware of what is happening. Tomorrow: Abstaining from Misbehaving Among Sensual Pleasures One week from today: Reflecting upon Social Action Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - July 26, 2023 💌

 

"The melodrama of fanaticism is a form of spiritual materialism: you make spiritual life into something else to acquire, like a new car or television set. Just do your practices; don't make a big deal out of them. The less you dramatize, the fewer obstacles you create. Romanticism on the spiritual path is just another attachment that will have to go sooner or later."

- Ram Dass -