Via Dhamma Wheel | Right View: Understanding the Noble Truth of Suffering

 

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RIGHT VIEW Understanding the Noble Truth of Suffering When people have met with suffering and become victims of suffering, they come to me and ask me about the noble truth of suffering. Being asked, I explain to them the noble truth of suffering. (MN 77) What is suffering? (MN 9) Sorrow and lamentation are suffering: the sorrow, sorrowing, sorrowfulness, inner sorrow, inner sorriness of one who has encountered some misfortune or is affected by some painful state. (MN 9)

Reflection The first noble truth, the truth of suffering, is described in some detail in these texts. Here the experience of loss and sorrow is highlighted. Elsewhere we might be able to make a distinction between sorrow as a form of mental pain and suffering as a state of emotional affliction, but here we are simply directed to the universal human experience of the pain of loss or misfortune. It hurts a lot to lose someone you love.  Daily Practice The truth of suffering is not meant to encourage us to wallow in our afflictions, but it does not let us try to escape them through some kind of denial. The first noble truth is a starting point. Only when the suffering is acknowledged can the healing begin. Look at some aspect of your own suffering with courage and without fear and decide that you can and will undertake a path to heal the pain by understanding it and letting it go. Tomorrow: Cultivating Lovingkindness One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin 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: Turning Sleep into Practice

 

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Turning Sleep into Practice  When we are asleep, our consciousness is more detached from the perceptions and sensations that come to us through the senses. Through devoted practice, we can discover the 'clear light' of consciousness that is not bound to the physical body, and that is not extinguished when we die. Noelle Oxenhandler, “Making Friends with the Night” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Prioritizing Human Flourishing By Matthew O'Connell How Aristotle, the Buddha, and Confucius can inform a renewal of virtue ethics.  Read now »

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Poet Wilfred Owen

1893 -

On this date the soldier and iconic war poet WILFRED OWEN was born (died 1918).  Regarded by many as the leading poet of the First World War, his shocking, realistic war poetry on the horrors of trench and gas warfare was heavily influenced by his friend Siegfried Sassoon and sat in stark contrast to both the public perception of war at the time, and to the confidently patriotic verse written earlier by war poets such as Rupert Brooke. Some of his best-known works—most of which were published posthumously—include "Dulce Et Decorum Est", "Insensibility", "Anthem for Doomed Youth", "Futility" and "Strange Meeting". His preface intended for a book of poems to be published in 1919 contains numerous well-known phrases, especially 'War, and the pity of War', and 'the Poetry is in the pity'. He is perhaps just as well-known for having been killed in action at the Battle of the Sambre just a week before the war ended, causing news of his death to reach home as the town's church bells declared peace.

Robert Graves and Sacheverell Sitwell (who also personally knew him) have stated Owen was homosexual, and homo-eroticism is a central element in much of Owen's poetry. Through Sassoon, Owen was introduced to a sophisticated homosexual literary circle which included Oscar Wilde's friend Robbie Ross, writer and poet Osbert Sitwell, and C. K. Scott-Moncrieff, the translator of Proust. This contact broadened Owen's outlook, and increased his confidence in incorporating homoerotic elements into his work.

The account of Owen's sexual development has been somewhat obscured because his brother, Harold Owen, removed what he considered discreditable passages in Owen's letters and diaries after the death of their mother. Owen also requested that his mother burn a sack of his personal papers in the event of his death, which she faithfully did.

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Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects and the Fourth Jhāna

 

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RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects 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 restlessness is internally present, one is aware: "Restlessness is present for me." When restlessness is not present, one is aware: "Restlessness is not present for me." When the arising of unarisen restlessness occurs, one is aware of that. And when the abandoning of arisen restlessness occurs, one is aware of that … One is just aware, just mindful: "There is a mental object." And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection As we move into practicing with the fourth foundation of mindfulness, mindfulness of mental objects, the instructions become somewhat more detailed. The first section goes through each of the five hindrances and invites us to notice not only whether they are present or not but also how they arise in the mind. The teaching also points out that each hindrance can be abandoned once it has arisen. Observing this is important. Daily Practice Sometimes when you are sitting in meditation you will notice that the mind is restless. That’s okay; just notice it. And other times the mind will be calm and without restlessness. Notice this as well. Once familiar with these two modes, you can look more closely at the transition from one state to the other—watching the arising and passing away of restlessness. It is just a mental factor that comes and goes. Looking carefully, you’ll see that. RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the Fourth Phase of Absorption (4th Jhāna) With the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous disappearance of joy and grief, one enters upon and abides in the fourth phase of absorption, which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure and purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. The concentrated mind is thus purified, bright, unblemished, rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability. (MN 4) When one sees oneself purified of all these unhealthy states and thus liberated from them, gladness is born. When one is glad, joy is born; in one who is joyful, the body becomes tranquil; one whose body is tranquil feels pleasure; in one who feels pleasure, the mind becomes concentrated. (MN 40) Reflection Concentration is not something we do to the mind, but is something we allow the mind to do. The mind would naturally be far more concentrated than it usually is if we could just stop interfering with it. The states of restlessness, sluggishness, sense desire, ill will, and doubt act as obstacles or hindrances preventing the mind from reaching a natural state of great tranquility, clarity, unity, and strength. Daily Practice Once you are able to experience this particular kind of pleasure, the pleasure born of freedom, gladness, and joy, it is only a small step to develop a deep and stable concentration. The pleasure morphs into equanimity and allows for a profound seeing of things as they actually are, without distortion. Approach concentration in your practice in this way, as uncovering a natural state of mind. Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of Suffering One week from today:  Establishing Mindfulness of Body and Abiding in the First 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: Care Underpins All

 

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Care Underpins All  We can’t live ethically without caring about ourselves as well as others. And we can’t be mindful without caring about what is happening here and now. Care underpins the radical attention that dharma practice accentuates. Winton Higgins, “Treading the Path with Care” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

The Lost Robe By Michael O'Keefe A journey from losing a robe to reevaluating priesthood and how to best embody spiritual status.  Read now »

Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation \\ Words of Wisdom - March 17, 2024 💌

 

In most of our human relationships, we spend much of our time reassuring one another that our costumes of identity are on straight.

 - Ram Dass -