Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Maintaining Arisen Healthy 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 healthy states, one has abandoned unhealthy states to cultivate healthy states, and then one’s mind inclines to healthy states. (MN 19) Here a person rouses the will, makes an effort, stirs up energy, exerts the mind, and strives to maintain arisen healthy mental states. One maintains the arisen energy awakening factor. (MN 141)

Reflection Although it is not acknowledged as much as it could be, much of what goes on in our mind is healthy and beneficial and is helping us along the path of clarification. There are a lot of good people in the world who care for one another, respect one another, and wish each other well. It is important to acknowledge and maintain these beneficial states, which is done by feeding them energy. Daily Practice Next time you are feeling good in an unselfish way, perhaps thinking well of and wishing the best for the people around you, see how long you can sustain the experience. Just as your mind is likely to wander in meditation despite your efforts to keep your attention on your breath, there are all sorts of ways the good will you are feeling might waver or diminish, but the practice here is to give it the energy it needs to keep unfolding. See how long you can keep  up thinking well of people. Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects and the Fourth Jhāna One week from today: Restraining Unarisen Unhealthy States Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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Via Good News from LGBTQNation // A historic week worldwide for same-sex marriage

 

Lesbian couple makes history in Nepal as first to have their marriage recognized by government Love wasn't limited to Valentine's Day this week. Greece legalized same-sex marriage, the first Orthodox country to say they do. Even Volkswagen got in on the action with a wedding-themed Super Bowl ad. While we're on the topic... Did you know that Mildred Loving & W.E.B. Du Bois paved the way for marriage equality?

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Via Tricycle -- A Doorway to Skillful Action

 

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February 17, 2024 A Doorway to Skillful Action   What is equanimity? How do we access it? And how can it help us confront the difficult realities of the current moment?  Tibetan teacher Lama Karma describes equanimity as “a space of freedom that’s not polarized, but also not asleep.” He goes on to describe that “equanimity is the capacity to stand in the middle and to see without bias. When we can see in this way, instead of being pigeonholed into a particular view, a vast spectrum of possibility opens.” When we reach this place of openness, we can respond to the world, no matter the circumstances, with skill and compassion. According to Lama Karma, this is what the Dharma is all about—opening our perspectives beyond constructs we create, and seeing beyond to insight, the basis of freedom. Learn more about equanimity and enjoy a guided practice to help you access it in this month’s Dharma Talk.   Watch now »

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Living: Abstaining from Intoxication

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RIGHT LIVING Undertaking the Commitment to Abstain from Intoxication Intoxication is unhealthy. Refraining from intoxication is healthy. (MN 9) What are the imperfections that defile the mind? Negligence is an imperfection that defiles the mind. Knowing that negligence is an imperfection that defiles the mind, a person abandons it. (MN 7) One practices thus: "Others may become negligent by intoxication, but I will abstain from the negligence of intoxication." (MN 8) One of the dangers attached to addiction to intoxicants is liability to sickness. (DN 31)

Reflection Ever practical and down-to-earth, the Buddha does not moralize about intoxication but points out its practical dangers. Intoxication is anything that evokes negligence, and negligence can mean anything that prevents you from seeing clearly. This is unhealthy, not just in the physical sense but also in mental and emotional ways. Becoming more sensitized to the various obstacles to our own diligence is a valuable practice. Daily Practice Find something you tend to get intoxicated by—it need not be alcohol or drugs, but can be ordinary things like coffee or sugar, the news or other media, or emotions like sadness, self-pity, or envy—and look more closely at your relationship to it. In what ways might the negligence and lack of clarity involved in that intoxication contribute to sickness, whether it be a physical sickness or a less tangible mental or emotional affliction? Tomorrow: Maintaining Arisen Healthy States One week from today: Abstaining from Harming Living Beings 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: Who Is Outraged?

 

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Who Is Outraged?

Buddhism offers a skillful means for relieving feelings of outrage, by shifting the perspective from how outraged one feels to the question of who feels outraged. Mark Epstein, “Are We All Hungry Ghosts?” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Action: Reflecting upon Social Action

 

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RIGHT ACTION Reflecting Upon Social 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 social action is to be done with repeated reflection: (MN 61) One reflects thus: "A person who thinks in hurtful ways is displeasing and disagreeable to me. If I were to think in hurtful ways, I would be displeasing and disagreeable to others. Therefore, I will undertake a commitment to not think in hurtful ways." (MN 15)

Reflection Bodily and verbal actions have obvious effects on others, but in Buddhist teachings even what you think can affect the world around you in significant ways. Every thought plants a seed, and the fruits—both good and bad—can emerge in unexpected ways to do harm or to bring about benefit. This is why it is so important to look inward, using the mirror of mindfulness practice to see and refine the quality of your thoughts and attitudes. Daily Practice It is easy to condemn other people who do not think like us. But we know how it feels to be condemned by others for thinking the way we do. This antagonistic cycle can be broken by having enough empathy to look at things from another’s point of view and to even make a practice of it. Instead of thinking about how other people should change, try as an exercise looking for ways you can change. Learn from others how not to be. Tomorrow: Abstaining from Intoxication One week from today: Reflecting upon Bodily Action Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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