Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Speech: Refraining from Frivolous Speech

 

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RIGHT SPEECH Refraining from Frivolous Speech Frivolous speech is unhealthy. Refraining from frivolous speech is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning frivolous speech, one refrains from frivolous speech. One speaks at the right time, speaks only what is fact, and speaks about what is good. One speaks what is worthy of being overheard, words that are reasonable, moderate, and beneficial. (DN 1) One practices thus: “Others may speak frivolously, but I shall abstain from frivolous speech.” (MN 8)

Reflection This guideline for speech can sound more oppressive than it is. We are not all teaching Buddhas, and much of what we say may not be directly contributing to the edification of the world. The call is for us to use speech that is "reasonable, moderate, and beneficial. " This is practical advice to laypeople who will naturally speak of daily affairs but are encouraged to do so in a way that is healthy. Daily Practice When you speak, see that your words are weighty and worthwhile. Speak up when people are listening, and refrain from interrupting others. Always speak the truth, and try your best to emphasize what is positive and helpful rather than being overly critical and saying things that would hurt people. You have to be mindful to speak carefully. The practice of mindful speech is worthwhile in its own right and conducive to well-being. Tomorrow: Reflecting upon Social Action One week from today: Refraining from False 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: Giving Up, Opening Up

 

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Giving Up, Opening Up By giving up our attachments in life, we open ourselves up to more opportunities, more spontaneity, and more chances to cultivate deeper connections with others. Lama Tsomo, “The Depth of Generosity” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Via White Crane Institute //

 

This Day in Gay History

November 22 Born Andre Gide 1869 - ANDRÉ GIDE, French writer and Nobel laureate was born (d. 1951); French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1947. Gide's career spanned from the symbolist movement to the advent of anti-colonialism in between the two World Wars. Known for his fiction as well as his autobiographical works, Gide exposes to public view the conflict and eventual reconciliation between the two sides of his personality, split apart by a straight-laced education and a narrow social moralism. Gide's work can be seen as an investigation of freedom and empowerment in the face of moralistic and puritan constraints, and gravitates around his continuous effort to achieve intellectual honesty. His self-exploratory texts reflect his search of how to be fully oneself, even to the point of owning one's sexual nature, without at the same time betraying one's values. His political activity is informed by the same ethos, as suggested by his repudiation of communism after his 1936 voyage to the Soviet Union. In 1908, Gide helped found the literary magazine Nouvelle Revue Francaise (The New French Review). In 1916, Marc Allégret, 16, became his lover. He was the son of Elie Allegret, best man at Gide's wedding. Of Allegret's five children, Andre Gide adopted Marc. The two eloped to London, in retribution for which his wife burned all his correspondence, "the best part of myself," as he was later to comment. In 1918, he met Dorothy Bussy, who was his friend for over thirty years and who would translate many of his works into English. In the 1920s, Gide became an inspiration for writers like Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre. In 1923, he published a book on Fyodor Dostoyevski; however, when he defended homosexuality in the public edition of Corydon (1924) he received widespread condemnation. He later considered this his most important work. |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 Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation //

For my spiritual work, I had to hear what Alan Watts used to say to me: "Ram Dass, God is these forms. God isn't just formless. You're too addicted to formlessness." I had to learn that. I had to honor my incarnation. I've got to honor what it means to be a man, a Jew, an American, a member of the world, and a member of the ecological community. I have to figure out how to do that - how to be in my family and honor my father. All of that is part of it. That is the way I come to God, by acknowledging my uniqueness. That's an interesting turnabout in a way. That brings spiritual people back into the world. - Ram Dass

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Intention: Cultivating Equanimity

 

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RIGHT INTENTION Cultivating Equanimity 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 equanimity, for when you develop meditation on equanimity, all aversion is abandoned. (MN 62)

Reflection Equanimity is the fourth of the brahma-viharas, the sublime states of mind, and is the secret ingredient of mindfulness, indeed of the entire Buddhist approach to practice. Like the clutch of a car, which disengages the engine from the wheels, freeing them to revolve independently, equanimity disengages us from the compulsion of the pleasure/pain reflex, freeing us to experience a range of sensations without craving. Daily Practice Cultivate the experience of feeling pleasure without getting hooked by it and experiencing displeasure without needing to be rid of it. Notice how pleasure and pain are on one channel, so to speak, and our loving and hating of them are on another. Normally we are forced to respond to pleasure with attachment and to pain with aversion, but equanimity replaces these forms of craving, liberating the mind from them.  Tomorrow: Refraining from Frivolous Speech One week from today: Cultivating Lovingkindness 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: Grappling with Tradition

 

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Grappling with Tradition The word tradition stems from the Latin word traditio, which translates to “delivery, surrender, a handing down, a giving up.” Maybe it’s time to realize that surrendering, or letting go, is very much a part of tradition.  Lauren Krauze, “Confronting Family Dynamics During the Holidays” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

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[GBF] New Talk: Who Does "I Am" Refer To? - Dorothy Hunt

The latest dharma talk has been added to the GBF podcast and website.

Who or what do we refer to when we say, "I am..."?

In this talk, Dorothy Hunt explores the difference between the 'home ground' of just being, before we add definitions of 'I am.'

Our pure being, or Buddha nature, is always becoming something, and often underlies the doing that we experience. However, as we focus more on doing, it draws us into a need for accomplishment and doing more, of clinging and aversion.

Dorothy goes on to define the ground of being as emptiness or "that which is empty of definition and empty of self."
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Listen using your favorite podcast/music app or on our website:

https://gaybuddhist.org/podcast/who-does-i-am-refer-to-dorothy-hunt/

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Enjoy 800+ free recorded dharma talks at www.gaybuddhist.org/podcast/
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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right View: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Way to the Cessation of Suffering

 

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RIGHT VIEW Understanding the Noble Truth of the Way to the Cessation of Suffering And what is the way leading to the cessation of suffering? It is just this noble eightfold path: that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right living, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. (MN 9)

Reflection Understanding that suffering has a cause and can be cured is one thing, but managing to bring about that cure is a formidable challenge: “Just stop craving, and your suffering will disappear! How hard can that be?” As it turns out, it can be very hard indeed. The way out of suffering, woven from the elements of the eightfold path, needs to be crafted anew by each culture, each generation, each person. Daily Practice The practice of walking the path leading to the cessation of suffering has always been a creative project. Since every moment of every person’s experience is new and unique, the blueprint of the eightfold path has to be interpreted flexibly. Find your own distinctive way of understanding these timeless universal principles and applying them to the many challenges of your life and its unique set of changing circumstances. Tomorrow: Cultivating Equanimity One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth 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: Defamiliarization in Spiritual Life

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Defamiliarization in Spiritual Life A sense of defamiliarization is a recurring feature of spiritual life, and it can come to us in many ways—in art, in travel, in practice. However it comes, it offers an opportunity for openness and intimacy, [even] both if one can allow themselves to fall into it. Henry Shukman, “Far from Home” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

[GBF] Larry Robinson / Rumi's Caravan

Here is contact information for Larry Robinson, following mention in his talk yesterday about Rumi's Caravan, his organization devoted to celebrating poetry and its recitation.

Here is Larry Robinson's email:

lrobpoet@sonic.net

Rumi's Caravan web site:

https://rumiscaravan.com/

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