A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
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)
Breathing in and out, experiencing the whole body …one is just
aware, just mindful: "There is body." And one abides not clinging to
anything in the world. (MN 10)
Reflection
As you sit in
formal practice your breath becomes an anchoring object of awareness.
Other objects—sounds, thoughts—will intrude on your attention, but the
breath is a baseline to which you can return. Notice the texture of the
entire breath, from the beginning of the in-breath to the last moment of
the out-breath, with steadiness and no interruption. When the mind is
attentive like this it is naturally content.
Daily Practice
See if you can
experience contentment while breathing. This means not wanting anything
to be different than it is, not having anywhere else to go, not moving
your mind beyond the moment but simply meeting each movement of the
breath with mindful equanimity. You can feel the experience of the
breath permeating your whole body and simply abide without clinging to
anything whatsoever.
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)
Reflection
Jhāna practice
is not for everyone. Some take to it easily, some find it inaccessible.
This is not something for you to succeed or fail at. If you are
seriously interested in undertaking these concentration practices, then
you should find a qualified teacher and practice in a protected space.
Jhāna practice can contribute greatly to your understanding of the
teachings, but is not a universal prerequisite. Lots of Buddhists don’t
practice jhāna.
Daily Practice
Without
striving for any kind of accomplishment, sit quietly at a dedicated time
and place and allow the mind to gradually settle down, sinking through
increasing layers of relaxation and calm. When one of the five
hindrances arises, just gently let go of it and move the mind away from
it. Whenever the mind is able to temporarily free itself of the
hindrances, it naturally drops into the absorption of jhāna.
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
RIGHT LIVING Undertaking the Commitment to Abstain from Harming Living Beings
Harming living beings is
unhealthy. Refraining from harming living beings is healthy. (MN 9)
Abandoning the harming of living beings, one abstains from harming
living beings; with rod and weapon laid aside, gentle and kindly, one
abides with compassion toward all living beings. (MN 41) One practices
thus: "Others may harm living beings, but I will abstain from the
harming of living beings." (MN 8)
A layperson is not to engage in the livelihood of trading in weapons. (AN 5.177)
Reflection
Everyone has to
earn a living somehow, and all human activities involve some form of
harm to others. The Buddha encouraged his followers to abstain from
certain trades that do the most harm, including involvement with weapons
of warfare. He did not condemn them as morally wrong but pointed out
that the harm caused by weapons rebounds on the worker and has a
cumulative unhealthy effect on the mind.
Daily Practice
Think about
what you do professionally and reflect on how much harm to other beings
is intrinsic to the job. If there are ways to mitigate this harm, try to
implement changes in how things are done. If you are engaged in a job
that is fundamentally harmful, such as making or deploying weapons that
are used to kill, then it would contribute to your welfare to look for
another line of work.
Tomorrow: Restraining Unarisen Unhealthy States One week from today: Abstaining from Taking What is Not Given
Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel
When
I surrender to beauty, I’m letting go of the ways in which I’m
protecting and guarding myself. I’m allowing myself to expand, and I’m
letting go of the sense of who I think I am, and then beginning to
experience and touch into the actual expression of spaciousness.
Nearly 2,200
government employees involved in foreign policy issues signed a letter
delivered to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton calling on the
government to give EQUAL BENEFITS TO SAME-SEX PARTNERS.
The Bush
administration had eased some rules, opening up some training to
same-sex partners, but had resisted efforts to treat homosexual partners
the same as married couples. But Clinton, during her confirmation
hearings, indicated a greater willingness to explore the issue.
"I think that we
should take a hard look at the existing policy," Clinton said in
response to a question from Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.). "My
understanding is other nations have moved to extend that partnership
benefit." The issue achieved prominence in 2007 when a respected
ambassador, Michael Guest, resigned after 26 years in the Foreign
Service to protest the rules and regulations that he argued gave
same-sex partners fewer benefits than family pets. Guest said he was
forced to choose "between obligations to my partner, who is my family,
and service to my country," which he called "a shame for this
institution and our country.
With the
overturning of the Defense of Marriage Act by the Supreme Court in 2013,
these benefits are now available to married Gay and Lesbian partners.
|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
