Tuesday, June 11, 2024

Via GBF: "The Thousand Natural Shocks" with Laura Burges

How can Buddhist philosophy help us address the everyday suffering we encounter in a human body - the accidents, falls, missteps, mistakes, broken bones and broken hearts?

In this talk, Laura Burges recounts her own experience following a recent fall and injury.  She shares practices and reminders that can be helpful when we experience "The thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to" of which Hamlet spoke. 

Among these are:
1. Notice that you are safe in this moment.
2. Love your inner child and past.
3. Remember impermanence and that our troubles will change
4. Respond rather than react - stop and take 3 deep breaths.
5. Don't take things personally.
6. Find the things you can say yes to.   
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Listen to the talk on your favorite podcast player or our website:

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Enjoy 800+ free recorded dharma talks at www.gaybuddhist.org/podcast/

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Intention: Cultivating Lovingkindness

 


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RIGHT INTENTION
Cultivating Lovingkindness
Whatever you intend, whatever you plan, and whatever you have a tendency toward, that will become the basis upon which your mind is established. (SN 12.40) Develop meditation on lovingkindness, for when you develop meditation on lovingkindness, all ill will will be abandoned. (MN 62) 

The purpose of lovingkindness is warding off ill will. (Vm 9.97)
Reflection
Our capacity for lovingkindness is one of the great resources we have as human beings. Yes, we can be nasty and feel ill will toward one another, but this can always be replaced by lovingkindness, at least in principle. Learning how to do this is both a challenge and an opportunity. Here we are told that if we are able to arouse and maintain a feeling of kindness, our minds will be immune, at least for the time being, from all aversion.

Daily Practice
Practice lovingkindness, if only as a protection from ill will. It is easy to get annoyed, to be bothered by people and things, to be surly and sour as you go through the day. But this is unhealthy, does not feel good, and infects the people around you. Look instead at others with goodwill and benevolence and kindness, even if this is difficult to do. You will not only release ill will toward others but also shield yourself from others' ill will toward you.      

Tomorrow: Refraining from False Speech
One week from today: Cultivating Compassion

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Questions?
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Via Daily Dharma: A Simple Acknowledgment

 

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A Simple Acknowledgment 

Whether or not we feel comfortable bowing, all of us can find a way to nod, a way to acknowledge someone else’s presence without assuming we know everything about that presence.

Leora Fridman, “Healthy Boundaries” 


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Warriors of the Mind
By Chakung Jigme Wangdrak
Kyoto has more than a thousand temples, but Otagi Nenbutsu-ji, in the hills west of the city, stands out for its 1,200 individually carved stone figures.
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Monday, June 10, 2024

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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)

Despair is suffering. The trouble and despair, the tribulation and desperation of one who has encountered some misfortune or is affected by some painful state. (MN 9)
Reflection
We don't need to look deeply to understand what this text is pointing to. The human condition is laced with despair, as people regularly encounter misfortune and are constantly affected by painful states. The goal of these teachings and practices is not to avoid the difficult aspects of life but to see them clearly, understand them thoroughly, and pass through them (rather than around them) to the peace lying on the other side.

Daily Practice
When you encounter despair, do not be afraid of it and do not try to push it away or hide from it. It is just a mental state, just a passing condition of the mind and of the emotional life. It is okay to turn toward it and examine it, because that is just what is happening right now. Take heart in the knowledge that the Buddha is only pointing us toward suffering because he will go on to show how it can be brought to an end.

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.



Tricycle is a nonprofit and relies on your support to keep its wheels turning.

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

Via Daily Dharma: Shed Your Egoism

 

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Shed Your Egoism

No matter how egoistic we may be, I think each of us will find that we’re happier when we shed our egoism and discover that the world is full of sources of happiness, and most of them aren’t me.

Jay Garfield, “To Be or Not To Be” 


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Sacred Sites: Memories in Stone
By The Editors
Kyoto has more than a thousand temples, but Otagi Nenbutsu-ji, in the hills west of the city, stands out for its 1,200 individually carved stone figures.
Read more »

The Good Life
An Online Course with John Peacock and Akincano Weber
You may have heard Buddhist ethics summarized as a list of precepts or as a precondition for deep meditation. But ethics is so much richer than that. This brand new online course will offer an enlivening journey to discover how to utilize Buddhist ethics in our everyday lives. 
Enroll today »

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