Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Action: Reflecting upon Bodily Action

 

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RIGHT ACTION Reflecting Upon Bodily 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 bodily action is to be done with repeated reflection. (MN 61)

Reflection The image of planting seeds and harvesting their fruits is widespread throughout the world. It is a simple model of cause and effect, and it lies at the heart of the Buddhist understanding of karma. As embodied beings we are always engaging with the world, and we are invited here to notice this fact and engage with care. If we want good things to come our way, we need to do good deeds to ensure that they do. Daily Practice Think of meditation as similar to looking in a mirror, but instead of regarding your external form you are observing the quality of your inner life. When you act in certain ways, how does it make you feel? If you regularly feel bad about what you do, then you are planting the wrong seeds. Gradually learn to act in ways that will result in healthier and more beneficial outcomes for yourself and others.  Tomorrow: Abstaining from Harming Living Beings One week from today: Reflecting upon Verbal 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: Sit with Care

 

Sit with Care

When we sit well, everything else takes care of itself. So whether we have been sitting [for] five years or twenty years or are just beginning, it is important to sit with great, meticulous care.

Charlotte Joko Beck, “Life Being As It Is” 

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Speech: Refraining from False Speech

 

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RIGHT SPEECH Refraining from False Speech False speech is unhealthy. Refraining from false speech is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning false speech, one dwells refraining from false speech, a truth-speaker, one to be relied on, trustworthy, dependable, not a deceiver of the world. One does not in full awareness speak falsehood for one’s own ends or for another’s ends or for some trifling worldly end. (DN 1) One practices thus: “Others may speak falsely, but I shall abstain from false speech.” (MN 8)

Reflection Refraining from false speech has both external and internal consequences. By becoming a “truth-speaker” you become trusted and respected by others, and they will consider you dependable. Internally, you avoid the harm to your character that is inflicted by false speech, for in being untruthful you hurt yourself as much as others. Notice that you need not try to change others but only commit to being the best person you can be. Daily Practice Undertake a commitment to always tell the truth. The practice of right speech can be as simple as that. Refrain from even little white lies, petty deceptions, and frivolous, perhaps amusing, deflections from the truth. Try this for a while at least and see what it feels like and what effect it has on you. You may find it feels good to be scrupulously truthful; gradually you may even get in the habit of being a truth-speaker. This is good. Tomorrow: Reflecting upon Bodily Action One week from today: Refraining from Malicious Speech 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: This Is Your Life

 

This Is Your Life

One might argue that the whole purpose of Zen Buddhism is to wake you up to this simple fact: this is your life. This is it. And that’s not a depressing thought, but a joyful one. This is it! This is my life!  Taylor Plimpton, “Groundhog Days” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation //

 

The game isn’t to end up a good meditator; but to end up free. The game isn’t to end up a good Buddhist; it’s to end up Buddha. The game isn’t to end up a good Christian; but to end up Christ. The game isn’t to end up loving; it’s to end up being love. - Ram Dass -

A Special Message to the World from His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Intention: Cultivating Lovingkindness

 

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RIGHT INTENTION Cultivating Lovingkindness Whatever you intend, whatever you plan, and whatever you have a tendency toward, that will become the basis on which your mind is established. (SN 12.40) Develop meditation on lovingkindness, for when you develop meditation on lovingkindness, all ill will will be abandoned. (MN 62)

Reflection The mind is always a work in progress, insofar as it is always changing. This change is not random but is directed by the mind, which both shapes and is shaped by itself. You cannot just decide something once and behave altogether differently ever after, but you can gradually train your mind, like a growing plant, in one direction or another. Training yourself to become kinder, using the power of intention, is a healthy thing to do. Daily Practice You can develop lovingkindness on a regular basis, practicing every day to strengthen your ability to feel kindly, and this will slowly incline your mind toward feeling kindly more often and for longer periods of time. Or you can intentionally practice lovingkindness whenever you feel ill will toward someone, in which case lovingkindness can act as an antidote to the poison of hatred. Or, of course, do both. Tomorrow: Refraining from False Speech One week from today: Cultivating Compassion 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 Illusion of Separateness

The Illusion of Separateness

The problem with interpersonal love is that you are dependent on the other person to reflect love back to you. That’s part of the illusion of separateness. The reality is that love is a state of being that comes from within. Ram Dass, “Tuning The Mind” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

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

 

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RIGHT VIEW Understanding the Noble Truth of Suffering When people have met with suffering and become victims of suffering, they come to me and ask me about the noble truth of suffering. Being asked, I explain to them the noble truth of suffering. (MN 77) What is suffering? (MN 9)

Reflection We often hear it said that the Buddha pronounced that “life is suffering,” but he never actually used such words. As he describes here, people encounter suffering themselves and come to him for help in understanding and alleviating it. What he tells them is that any experience driven by craving or aversion will result in the arising of suffering, and every time you are able to abandon that craving your suffering will subside. Daily Practice The noble truth of suffering recognizes that some things just hurt, both physically and mentally. Other things are psychologically painful, particularly when we don’t get what we want or have to deal with what we don’t want. There is also a subtle existential suffering that comes from the conditioned and fragile nature of all things. See if you can discern all three of these levels of suffering in your own lived experience. Tomorrow: Cultivating Lovingkindness One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin 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: Inner Practice As An Act Of Compassion

Inner Practice As An Act Of Compassion

You can’t leave the system of inter-eating by abusing it. In fact, the more you abuse it, the more it sucks you in. To free yourself, you have to treat it well, and part of treating it well means learning how to develop your own inner sources of food: concentration and discernment.  Thanissaro Bhikkhu, “We Are Not One” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE