Via Daily Dharma: Cultivate Spaciousness

 

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Cultivate Spaciousness The important thing is not to try to have an experience of spaciousness. The important thing is to be spacious with whatever’s happening, to cultivate the capacity to be easy with what’s here, open to what’s here, spacious around what’s here. Martin Aylward, “The Power of Not Knowing” CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE COURSE

Breaking Open Instead of Breaking Down By Scott Tusa Compassion allows us to bear witness in a way that softens us and opens us, rather than breaks us down. Read more »

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)   When feeling a neither-pleasant-nor-painful feeling, one is aware: "Feeling a neither-pleasant-nor-painful feeling" … one is just aware, just mindful: "There is feeling." And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection Pleasant and painful feelings are apparent enough, but the third kind of feeling, one that is neither pleasant nor painful but neutral, can be harder to detect. Some say most feeling is neutral, and only a few feelings are obviously pleasant or painful. Others say that most feelings are either pleasant or painful, only appearing neutral with insufficient attention, and that with greater discernment they will resolve into pleasant or painful. Try out both points of view and decide for yourself. Daily Practice Feeling tone is a component of every mind moment. While breathing in and out, notice the changing textures of feeling throughout the body. Feelings are fleeting, numerous, and varied. It is against the backdrop of pleasant and painful feelings that you can begin to notice feelings like tingling, perhaps, that don't register as obviously pleasant or unpleasant yet still make up the strands of experience.  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) Reflection Trying to attain these stages as some form of accomplishment is actually antithetical to the states of mind accessed by jhāna. One of the reasons the jhānas have not been emphasized in western meditation circles until recently is precisely because of the danger inherent in the striving or comparing mind. Never mind stage one, two, three, or four—just sit quietly and allow the contentment of the tranquil mind to formlessly arise.  Daily Practice As you sit quietly and your mind becomes increasingly calm and stable, it is natural for the pleasant sensations that arise from the mind being free of the hindrances to gradually morph into the pleasant sensations that come simply from the mind being focused. This unified tranquility is actually a natural state for the mind, which is much more at home in serenity than it is in our hectic, multitasking life. 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: Lessons from the Mata Sutta

 

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Lessons from the Mata Sutta Looking deeply into yourself as a reality, you see you’re connected with everyone. In your self, I see your father. In your self, I see your mother. In your self, I see your ancestors. Cuong Lu, “The Collective Dimensions of Happiness”  CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE TALK

Why Should I Appreciate Life? By Dale S. Wright Practicing gratitude is not easy, but according to Maezumi Roshi and Friedrich Nietzsche, loving our fate is essential. Read more »

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Via Daily Dharma: Projecting Permanence

 

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Projecting Permanence ​​The way things appear is not always an accurate reflection of the way things really are. We unwittingly project the qualities of stability and permanence onto a reality that is constantly in flux.  Andrew Holecek, “Dream Yoga” CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE COURSE

On Ajaan Lee’s ‘Keeping the Breath in Mind’ By Thanissaro Bhikkhu Theravada monk Thanissaro Bhikkhu on the timeless importance of a classic Forest Tradition meditation guide.

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Living: Abstaining from Taking What is Not Given

 

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RIGHT LIVING Undertaking the Commitment to Abstain from Taking What is Not Given Taking what is not given is unhealthy. Refraining from taking what is not given is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning the taking of what is not given, one abstains from taking what is not given; one does not take by way of theft the wealth and property of others. (MN 41) One practices thus: "Others may take what is not given, but I will abstain from taking what is not given." (MN 8) One is to practice thus: "Here, regarding things seen by you, in the seen there will be just the seen." When, firmly mindful, one sees a form, one is not inflamed by lust for forms; one experiences it with a dispassionate mind and does not remain holding it tightly. (SN 35.95)

Reflection The precept against stealing is pretty straightforward and obvious, but here a more subtle aspect of that teaching is being addressed. Beyond the obvious—taking an object that has not been given—there are ways in which any object can serve as the launching point of a complex narrative about ourselves. Objects, such as a casual remark overheard, can be appropriated by the self and turned into things way beyond what they actually are. Daily Practice When you look at (or hear or think of) an object, practice seeing it only for what it is, without attachment and without automatically regarding it in terms of how it relates to you and what it can do for you, or otherwise entangling the object with your own sense of self. Instead of allowing an object to trigger a whole process of "stealing" it for your own story, practice just letting it be what it is. Bare attention to an object avoids unnecessary proliferation. Tomorrow: Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States One week from today: Abstaining from Misbehaving Among Sensual Pleasures Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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© 2024 Tricycle Foundation 89 5th Ave, New York, NY 10003