Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and the Second Jhāna

 

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RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling 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)

Reflection Feeling tones are always present, but we tend to notice only the really strong ones. In between the obvious pleasures and pains of the body, and the more dramatic pleasant and unpleasant mental states, is a midrange of sensation. As pleasure and pain become increasingly subtle, they gradually merge into a neutral state in which a sensation is neither pleasant nor painful. See if you can notice this in your own experience. Daily Practice Learn to become more sensitive to the feeling tones arising and passing away in your mind and body by deliberately becoming aware of them. Notice when sensations in your body hurt and when they feel good; notice also how it feels good to think about some things and painful to think about others. A great deal of our experience is neutral, however. There is still a feeling tone, but it is neither pleasant nor painful. RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the Second Phase of Absorption (2nd Jhāna) With the stilling of applied and sustained thought, one enters upon and abides in the second phase of absorption, which has inner clarity and singleness of mind, without applied thought and sustained thought, with joy and the pleasure born of concentration. (MN 4) Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and Abiding in the Third 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: Everyone Suffers

Everyone Suffers

The personal experience of suffering unites us with other people: it is the dynamo that generates compassion, which, by its nature, is transpersonal. Dean Rolston, “Memento Mori” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation //

If you feel free only when you meditate, you're not really free. Freedom does not come from turning your back on your responsibilities. The game is to be in the world, not of it. Even when you find yourself feeling spaced out, disoriented, or not together, you can make an extra effort to meet the needs of the moment, whether it's the baby's diapers that need changing or your income tax that's due. Don't make meditation a cop-out from life. - Ram Dass

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The Gay Palestinian Men Living In Israel | Invisible Men (LGBT+ Document...

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Via White Crane Institute \\ "AN EARLY FROST"

 

Gena Rowlands and Aidan Quinn 1985 - "AN EARLY FROST" airs on NBC after years of cold feet. Writers Dan Lipman and Ron Cowen (later to produce "Sisters" and "Queer as Folk") attempt to create the first TV movie to deal with both homosexuality and the impact of AIDS on a beleaguered community of Gay men. Starring Aidan Quinn, Gena Rowlands, Sylvia Sidney and Ben Gazzara, the suburban Pierson family not only deals with closeted workaholic son Nick's dual secret (along with the unfaithfulness of his partner Peter), but also the anger, resentment and frustrations of mother Kate and sister Susan. While it draws an amazing 1/3 of the viewing audience, the daring broadcast loses NBC about a half million dollars in ad revenue. And while many consider the broadcast a success, others feel the film's directness stalls nationwide discussion of AIDS, "because it achieved its narrative and informational goals so well."

|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8| 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 |8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|

Via White Crane Institute \\ VETERAN'S DAY

 Noteworthy

Leonard Matlovich's gravestone

0019 -

Today is VETERAN'S DAY. (originally known as Armistice Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans. It was established by President Woodrow Wilson to be observed on the 11th day of the 11th month to mark the ending of World War I a year earlier on this date.  It coincides with other holidays including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day which are celebrated in other countries that mark the anniversary of the end of WWI. Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, when the Armistice with Germany went into effect. At the urging of major U.S. veteran organizations, Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day in 1954.

|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8| 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 |8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|

Via FB // “What the Samaritan did NOT do is just as striking as what he did.”

“What the Samaritan did NOT do is just as striking as what he did.”

You know the story: an expert in Judaic law asks Jesus what is God’s expectation, the “greatest” commandment? 

Jesus replies with “Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. This prompts the follow-up, “Who is my neighbor?” and Jesus tells the story, classically known as “the Good Samaritan.”  

In the parable, the Samaritan stops by the man in need, offers compassion, bandages his wounds, gives him a ride, takes him to a nearby inn, and pays for his room, board, and food. 

He did nothing that we would call “spiritual.”

He did not…

Pray for him,

Anoint him with oil,

Lead him in a sinner’s prayer,

Quote a scripture, 

Take him to church,

Prophesy over him, etc. 

Yet, Jesus said that the Samaritan’s practical actions were what eternal life looks like. 

This will mess with your theology.

 

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States

 

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RIGHT EFFORT Maintaining Arisen 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 unhealthy states, one has abandoned healthy states to cultivate unhealthy states, and then one’s mind inclines to unhealthy states. (MN 19)

Reflection Too many people feel like a helpless victim of their own habits of mind. It may seem inevitable that you get angry or feel hurt or criticize yourself or others: these are automatic responses conditioned by repeated behavior in the past. But you have the ability to change what happens going forward. Abandon unhealthy mental and emotional states that arise; let go of them and turn your mind in healthier directions. Daily Practice Practice being aware of unhealthy states as they arise and make their presence known in your experience. If you are angry, feel that anger. If you are hurt, fully feel that hurt. But then let the feeling pass through your mind by not holding on to it. If you don’t welcome the anger or hurt, or resent it and try to push it away, it will fade of its own accord. Letting go of unhelpful things allows impermanence to work in your favor. Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and Abiding in the Second Jhāna One week from today: Developing Unarisen Healthy Sates Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

Tricycle is a nonprofit and relies on your support to keep its wheels turning. Donate »

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

Via Daily Dharma: Just Sitting?

Just Sitting?

When you’re sitting with different states of mind arising and it seems interminable, trust that this process works. In some ways visibly, in other ways invisibly. Like the invisible melting of the snow, beneath the crust of ice.  Ayya Medhanandi Bhikkhuni, “The Dharma of Snow” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Via FB //

The Lord's Prayer...translated from Aramaic directly into English.

Rather than from Aramaic to Greek to Latin to English (which most of us are used to from the King James version:

O cosmic Birther of all radiance and vibration,

soften the ground of our being and carve out a space within us where your Presence can abide.

Fill us with your creativity so that we may be empowered to bear the fruit of your mission.

Let each of our actions bear fruit in accordance with our desire.

Endow us with the wisdom to produce and share what each being needs to grow and flourish.

Untie the tangled threads of destiny that bind us, as we release others from the entanglement of past mistakes.

Do not let us be seduced by that which would divert us from our true purpose, but illuminate the opportunities of the present moment.

For you are the ground and the fruitful vision, the birth, power, and fulfillment, as all is gathered and made whole once again.

And So It Is!

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