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) Bodily pain is suffering: bodily pain; bodily discomfort; painful, uncomfortable feeling born of bodily contact. (MN 9)

Reflection We don’t need much help in understanding this point—that suffering can present itself in the form of bodily pain. A natural reaction to this pain is to resist it, push it away, or find a way to either avoid it or avoid being aware of it. While pain is an inevitable part of the human situation, the Buddha teaches that we can modify how much we suffer when experiencing pain by how much awareness we bring to the experience. Daily Practice When you are in pain, try turning toward it and observing it with interest rather than resenting it or trying to avoid it. It is happening, so it won’t help to deny it. Look pain in the face and examine its texture and how it presents itself in your experience. See when it is sharp or dull, fleeting or constant, pulsing or steady. Turning toward the actual sensation of pain is the first step toward mitigating the suffering it brings. 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: The Nonreactive Mind

 

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The Nonreactive Mind  The Buddha says, ideally, you want to make your mind like a broken gong. People can hit it, but there’s no reverberation. Thanissaro Bhikkhu, “The Broken Gong” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Testing Tradition By Pema Tashi Reconceiving spiritual art, Tibetan American artist Palden Weinreb has introduced ambiguity and abstraction into Buddhist iconography, historically defined by traditional methods and rigid, stylized forms. Read more »

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Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - April 14, 2024 💌

 

Every time you’re identified with an attraction or an aversion, you’re identified with your ego. So the job of extricating oneself into one’s soul is slowly cultivating those qualities that allow you to see the whole process and to calm yourself into realizing that your incarnation is about extricating yourself from attractions and aversions so that you are not lost in incarnation any more. But it doesn’t mean pushing against it, because if you push against it, it’s still got ya. The game is to go beyond that to the point where you are fully in the world and fully not in the world.

- Ram Dass - 

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 doubt is internally present, one is aware: “Doubt is present for me.” When doubt is not present, one is aware: “Doubt is not present for me.” When the arising of unarisen doubt occurs, one  is aware of that. And when the abandoning of arisen doubt 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 cycle through the five hindrances as arising and passing mental objects, we come to the last one, doubt. Some doubt is healthy, but this is the sort of doubt that prevents you from seeing clearly and is an obstacle to further progress along the path. It may take the form of self-doubt or doubting that you are practicing correctly. In meditation you can just be aware doubt is there, and let it go without buying in to what it is saying. Daily Practice The next time you feel the kind of doubt that impedes your ability to function well, take some time to examine it phenomenologically. That is to say, pay careful attention to what it feels like and how it is arising and passing away each moment, and learn to recognize it as just another mental factor that comes and goes. Understanding the transient nature of doubt gives you power to “ride out” its influence on your mind. 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) Reflection The four stages of mental absorption described in the system of jhānas culminate with the attainment of a profound and imperturbable equanimity. In this state the mind is free of both craving and aversion, neither favors nor opposes any mental object, and is able to simply regard things as they actually are, undistorted by our projections and fears. Notice also that such equanimity has the effect of purifying mindfulness. Daily Practice Sitting quietly and allowing the mind to become more and more peaceful, progressively more unified, and gradually steadier will eventually culminate in the quality of mind described here. This is not a transcendent state but rather a natural, immanent state of mind. See if you can allow your mind to become still like tranquil water and watch the mind reflect whatever comes before it without distortion.  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: Letting Go Completely

 

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Letting Go Completely If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace. And if you let go completely, you will have complete peace. Ajahn Chah, “Lovingkindness for Control Freaks”  CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

​​Meet a Teacher: Deborah Eden Tull By Haley Barker Learn about the life and story of dharma teacher Deborah Eden Tull through spirituality and service. Read more »

Via GBF // "The Wisdom Within the Heart Sutra" with Prasadachitta

What does it mean to go beyond separation as described in the Heart Sutra?

Prasadachitta prefaces this rich talk by asking us to consider all the ways we are steeped in separation. This is evidenced by our language's practice of adding -ism to a tradition or condition to define ourselves or others -- a practice that can serve as a judgment that fosters separation. 

He goes on to state that the word dharma can have multiple meanings:

1. Realizing the nature of reality as sentient beings experience it. 
2. The teachings of the Buddha 
3. The lifestyle that a practitioner follows after taking precepts. 

He describes 'taking on' precepts as accepting a challenge, an ethical code that is often uncomfortable, but changes how we move through the world.

He then recites and expands upon the Heart Sutra. It describes attaining release from suffering and attachment by letting go of duality. He frames it as a conversation between a fully realized being, the Bodhisattva of Compassion (Avalokiteshvara with 1,000 arms), and Sariputra - a wise student who intellectually knows all the teachings yet is still not free.
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Listen to the full talk on your favorite podcast player or our website:
https://gaybuddhist.org/podcast/the-wisdom-within-the-heart-sutra-prasadachitta/