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

 

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RIGHT VIEW Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering What is the origin of suffering? It is craving, which brings renewal of being, is accompanied by delight and lust, and delights in this and that: that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for being, and craving for non-being. (MN 9) When one does not know and see the five aggregates as they actually are, then one is attached to the five aggregates. When one is attached, one becomes infatuated, and one’s craving increases. One’s bodily and mental troubles increase, and one experiences bodily and mental suffering. (MN 149)

Reflection Previous passages have focused on each of the aggregates in turn: material form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness. Here we are invited to look at them as a whole and notice the way they can all act as the place in our experience where attachment that leads to suffering is born and develops. When we understand the aggregates as the fleeting processes they are, non-attachment is easier.  Daily Practice Use the three-part analysis of craving as a practical tool. Notice when you have a craving for sensual pleasures, for the things that you like to persist or increase. Notice too when you have a craving for being, wishing for something gratifying to happen. And notice when you have a craving for non-being: that is, when you want something to go away that you do not like or want. These are the textures of craving; practice being aware of them as they occur. Tomorrow: Cultivating Compassion One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering 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: Recognize Suffering

Recognize Suffering

To recognize suffering is the beginning of healing.  Dr. Bokin Kim, “Sweets and Suffering” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

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Via [GBF] New Talk: A Funny Thing Happened in My Practice of Awareness - Bill Weber

 Do we have the ability to laugh at ourselves? 

Bill Weber shares that this is a terrific way to work with one of the foundations of Buddhist wisdom: the concept of Non-self. The allure of our sense of self can easily lead us to become overly attached to our identity. We become competitive, demanding, and obsessive about the way we are treated.  

To counter this, Bill encourages us to instead find humor in the demands that our ego makes of us (and others). If we observe our mind playing these games, it allows us to lighten up and disconnect from our sense of self. We gain the ability to laugh at embarrassing situations rather than see them as personal failures. It helps us connect with who we really are behind our social facade - the observer, rather than the performer of acts. 

This ability to find the absurdity in the human condition is actually a deep practice, one perfected by the late Wes Nisker, a teacher, author and Buddhist comedian. 

Bill speaks about the tradition of Crazy Wisdom and its role in breaking through the illusion of reality. He encourages us to find the clown, the trickster, the jester and the fool within and learn how not to take ourselves so seriously. 

He also mentions the organization, "Clowns Without Borders" and reflects on the work of Bernie Glassman, founder of the New York Zen Center. Although Glassman founded a retreat where participants lived among the homeless, and one that took place in Nazi concentration camps, he later pursued humor and went on to found the "Order of Disorder" and the "Zen Peacemakers." 

Bill closes with Wes Nisker's poem "Why I Meditate"
https://inquiringmind.com/article/2301_50_nisker_why-i-meditate/

LISTEN TO THE FULL TALK HERE: 

https://gaybuddhist.org/podcast/a-funny-thing-happened-in-my-practice-of-awareness-bill-weber/

Love & Light,

Tom Bruein

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Body and Abiding in the First Jhāna

 

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RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Body 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)   Full awareness: when walking, standing, sitting, falling asleep, waking up, talking, and keeping silent . . . one is just aware, just mindful: “There is body.” And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection Mindfulness of the body can take place at any time and with any activity. We practice it formally seated on a meditation cushion to become familiar with a certain range of sensations, and then we can extend it to other areas of daily life. Acting with full awareness is particularly well suited to ordinary activities requiring a sense of continuity over time, such as walking or dressing yourself. Full awareness is mindfulness in motion. Daily Practice All skills are gradually learned by practicing them again and again. When sitting still we tend to focus on the bodily sensations associated with the breath; when walking mindfully we notice the sensations of the rhythmic moving of certain muscles. See if you can extend the scope of these practices by becoming aware of the sensations of other bodily motions, such as those associated with taking a sip of tea, for example.  RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the First Phase of Absorption (1st Jhāna) Having abandoned the five hindrances, imperfections of the mind that weaken wisdom, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, one enters and abides in the first phase of absorption, which is accompanied by applied thought and sustained thought, with joy and the pleasure born of seclusion. (MN 4) Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and Abiding in the Second Jhāna 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 Vastness of What’s Inside

The Vastness of What’s Inside

When we practice, we don’t just do it for ourselves. That’s, of course, the first step, but there is a greater vision. When we shine the light inwards, settle the thoughts, and truly tap into our true self, there is vastness. Rev. Grace Song, “How You Think Today is How You Live Your Life” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Via White Crane Institute // Today's Gay Wisdom: Rev. Nancy Wilson

 

Today's Gay Wisdom

Reverend Nancy Wilson

2017 -

"In such a toxic environment, the poor, the minorities, and the politically vulnerable populations will be the first to exhibit signs and symptoms of the deteriorating immunological picture. It is the canary-in-the-mines syndrome. When miners wanted to know if a particular mineshaft was safe from poisonous gases, they sent a canary in first. If the canary returned, the miners felt safe to go in. On our planet today, poor people, people of color, women and children, and gays and lesbians are the canaries (or sitting ducks if you prefer). Those who have any kind of privilege (gender, race, class, sexuality, age) are better able, for a time, to buffer and insulate themselves from the toxic environment — from AIDS, cancer, and other diseases. But not forever.

"There is also a moral and religious toxicity in reaction to so much upheaval, change, and worldwide political challenges. This phenomenon is called in many religions fundamentalism. In a century of increasing relativity in values, morality, and religion, fundamentalism provides absolutes and identifies the enemies. It is a kind of collective mental illness that includes obsessive thinking, tunnel vision, and functions much like other addictions." 

- Rev. Nancy Wilson, Our Tribe: Queer Folks, God, Jesus and the Bible

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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 Daily Dharma: Patience is Multifaceted

Patience is Multifaceted

You can think of patience and its steadying power as a gem with many, many facets—patience as forbearance, patience as gentle perseverance, and patience as acceptance of the truth.  Dawn Scott, “Patience is a Journey” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Restraining Unarisen Unhealthy States

 

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RIGHT EFFORT Restraining Unarisen 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 restrain the arising of unarisen unhealthy mental states. One restrains the arising of all five unarisen hindrances. (MN 141)

Reflection Having gone through the five hindrances individually—sense desire, ill will, restlessness, sluggishness, and doubt—we are now encouraged to work with all five of them as the opportunity arises. Instead of looking at each in turn and exploring how it might be inhibited from arising (not suppressed once arisen!), we allow ourselves to guard against any of them erupting by learning to avoid the conditions giving rise to them. Daily Practice The hindrances are a natural part of our everyday lives, but we need not feel at their mercy. They are mental qualities that obstruct our ability to focus and relax our minds, and they can be resisted with some understanding of what sets them off and how to avoid triggering them. Cultivating equanimity, for example, will inhibit the arising of sense desire and ill will. The other hindrances too have antidotes that can be deployed. Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Body and Abiding in the First Jhāna One week from today: Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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