Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Action: Reflecting upon Bodily Action

 

TRICYCLE      COURSE CATALOG      SUPPORT      DONATE

RIGHT ACTION Reflecting Upon Bodily 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 bodily action is to be done with repeated reflection. (MN 61) When you wish to do an action with the body, reflect upon that same bodily action thus: "Would this action I wish to do with the body lead to the affliction of another?" If, upon reflection, you know that it would, then do not do it; if you know that it would not, then proceed. (MN 61)

Reflection How much of our bodily action is intentional, done with full awareness, and how much of what we do is done out of habit? Seeing what you do as you do it, as when you observe yourself in a mirror, is one of the metaphors used for mindfulness.  Daily Practice Practice acting with full awareness. Even simple tasks like breathing and walking and eating can be fields for training the capacity for mindfulness. Then the ability will be available when more ethically challenging situations arise. It is a matter of becoming more sensitive to the implications of acting, and being more aware of everything we do. In this way we can plant healthy fruit, rather than just dealing with whatever arises.  Tomorrow: Abstaining from Harming Living Beings One week from today: Reflecting upon Verbal Action 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 »

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

Via Daily Dharma: Gratitude Transforms

 

Support Tricycle with a donation »

Gratitude Transforms Gratitude for things to clean can sweeten the task, transforming a chore into a joy-filled communion with beloved items that support your life and enliven your home. Paula Arai, “Healing Glistens on Carefully Washed Windows” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Enlightenment Is Broadway By Matthias Esho Birk Matthias Esho Birk explores what it means to be in love with Zen, how each and every moment is an opportunity to awaken, and stripping away the ritual to find Zen at the checkout line. Read more »

Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - February 21, 2024 💌

 

Look at your relationships, and notice at which point you figure that you have too much to lose to let go into The One. I have sat in relationships and watched with horror that what I wanted I couldn’t have. Because what I wanted was getting in the way of it. My desires with regard to the relationship were getting in the way of sharing awareness with another human being, which was going to be the ultimate intimacy. My yearning for intimacy was making me grab for intimacy relationally. And it was destroying the exact thing I wanted.

- Ram Dass -

  Excerpt from Ram Dass Here & Now – Ep. 134 – Relationships and Living Impeccably

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Speech: Refraining from False Speech

 

TRICYCLE      COURSE CATALOG      SUPPORT      DONATE

RIGHT SPEECH Refraining from False Speech False speech is unhealthy. Refraining from false speech is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning false speech, one dwells refraining from false speech, a truth-speaker, one to be relied on, trustworthy, dependable, not a deceiver of the world. One does not in full awareness speak falsehood for one’s own ends, or for another’s ends, or for some trifling worldly end. (DN 1) One practices thus: "Others may speak falsely, but I shall abstain from false speech." (MN 8) Such speech as you know to be true and correct but unbeneficial, and which is welcome and agreeable to others—do not utter such speech. (MN 58)

Reflection Speaking truthfully is a habit that can be learned, even if we have previously learned the habit of speaking untruthfully. It is a matter of bringing full awareness to your speech and its consequences. Often there may appear to be a short-term benefit from speaking falsely, but the Buddha is pointing out the long-term harm that false speech does to your character. In the long run the lack of integrity is unhealthy. Daily Practice This passage is urging us to speak only when what we say is likely to have a beneficial effect on another person or on the situation at hand. It is not enough to say things that are agreeable to others, even if they are true. Flattery, for example, might have an unbeneficial effect on someone by inflating their sense of themselves. Practice speaking only those words that are going to be helpful. Tomorrow: Reflecting upon Bodily Action One week from today: Refraining from Malicious Speech 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 »

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

Via Daily Dharma: Meet Anger with Awakened Compassion

 

Support Tricycle with a donation »

Meet Anger with Awakened Compassion Turn to that place in you that knows you are angry. What knows you are angry is itself not angry. Connect with that part of you and let the spirit of awakened compassion come into you. Ken McLeod, “Anger” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

On Love, Loss, and Feeling at Home in the World Interview with Lorrie Moore by Ann Tashi Slater In her latest novel, ‘I Am Homeless if This Is Not My Home,’ American writer, critic, and essayist Lorrie Moore takes a meditative look at love and death, passion and grief, and the bardo states that exist there within.  Read more » Writing as a Spiritual Practice An Online Course with Sallie Tisdale Cultivate an attitude of open heartedness, curiosity, wonder, and fearlessness through writing with the help of author and Zen teacher Sallie Tisdale. Enroll now » Follow Us Forward today's wisdom to a friend »