Via Tricycle // Grounding Through Equanimity

 

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June 27, 2024 Grounding Through Equanimity    Sometimes we’re up, other times we’re down. Some days the sun is shining, other days it’s pouring rain. Certain chapters of our lives bring great success, others seem to bring one failure after another.  Life is defined by these kinds of dualities. It’s a journey through peaks and valleys, highs and lows, challenges and triumphs. In Buddhism, the basic opposing forces of life are what’s known as the eight worldly winds, or the “vicissitudes.”   “Each of our lives will be touched by what are called the winds of the world,” explains meditation teacher Christina Feldman. “Moments of praise and blame, success and failure, pleasure and pain, gain and loss are woven into every human life. In the light of approval and praise, we glow; in the light of disapproval and blame, we find ourselves ashamed and withering.”  These opposing forces can threaten to pull us apart—or challenge us to step up and become stronger, more resilient, and more even-keeled.   While this basic duality is part and parcel of the human experience, it doesn’t have to create unnecessary suffering. We don’t have to be yanked around by every positive and negative experience that comes our way. We can learn to navigate life’s inherent push and pull with a balanced mind and an equanimous heart.  So what does that kind of equanimity look like? How do we keep our feet on the ground and our head held high as great winds of change blow around all around us?  “Equanimity is about being able to deal with difficult, forceful experiences in life, both internally and externally,” says Ethan Nichtern, meditation teacher and author of Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life’s Eight Worldly Winds. “In the Shambhala teachings that I studied for many years, there’s this notion of being able to hold one’s seat in meditation practice but also in life in general… When life knocks you around, you can hold your seat.” This week’s Three Teachings offers guidance on “holding your seat” in the face of the eight worldly winds.

In our upcoming Premium event on July 11 at 2 P.M. ET, movement strategist and Zen priest Cristina Moon joins Tricycle's Editor-in-Chief, James Shaheen, to discuss how training in martial arts such as Kendo and boxing, and fine arts like Japanese tea ceremony and ceramics can aid in developing the spirit. Register today »

Weathering the Eight Worldly Winds With Ethan Nichtern Praise and criticism, success and failure, pain and pleasure are unavoidable. Can we learn to trust ourselves more deeply as we navigate life’s ups and downs? Learn to develop unshakable self-confidence in the face of the worldly winds with meditation teacher and author Ethan Nichtern.

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The Worldly Winds By Christina Feldman  How can we learn to be with both “the lovely and the unlovely” in our lives, in the words of meditation teacher Christina Feldman? She offers a practice for staying present amid life’s many joys and sorrows by untangling the patterns of attachment and aversion that take us out of the moment.

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How Parents and Children Can Learn Balance and Equanimity from the Eight Worldly Winds By Christopher Willard  Family life offers countless opportunities to learn to work with hardships more skillfully and compassionately. Christopher Willard considers how the teachings of the eight worldly winds can offer support for navigating the stress of parenting.

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Action: Reflecting upon Mental Action

 

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RIGHT ACTION Reflecting Upon Mental 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 mental action is to be done with repeated reflection. (MN 61) When you are doing an action with the mind, reflect upon that same mental action thus: “Does this action I am doing with the mind lead to both my own affliction and the affliction of another?” If, upon reflection, you know that it does, then stop doing it; if you know that it does not, then continue. (MN 61)

Reflection Just as you can train yourself to be aware of the inbreath and outbreath moment by moment as you breathe, so also you can learn to be aware of your mind both taking in information and responding outwardly to events. It is more difficult, because the mind is subtle, but the principle is the same. Here we are being asked to take some responsibility for what unfolds in our mind, steering it toward what is healthy. Daily Practice Notice the texture of thoughts as they arise and pass away in the mind. Be aware of them as events occurring and fading, rather than focusing on the content of the thought. The mind is a process and can be carefully observed. Notice also the quality of this activity, whether it is laced with ill will or aversion or selfishness, or if it is accompanied by good will, kindness, and concern for others. Gently guide your mind toward the good. Tomorrow: Abstaining from Misbehaving Among Sensual Pleasures One week from today: Reflecting upon Social Action 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: Turn Over the Reins

 

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Turn Over the Reins When the mind relaxes its grip, the body leads the way. It’s a great relief for the mind, in fact.  Willa Blythe Baker, “The Body Is Already Mindful”  CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Wholeness Is No Trifling Matter By Ruth King In her book Black and Buddhist, Buddhist teacher Ruth King reflects on bias and the path to true freedom. Read more »

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Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - June 26, 2024 💌

 

Your awareness and my awareness are God’s awareness. If you are lodged in your awareness and I am in my awareness, there is only one awareness in the room.

- Ram Dass

Via Daily Dharma: A Refuge of Your Own

 

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A Refuge of Your Own What an extraordinary privilege to know that you have within you a refuge that nobody can ever touch. Nobody can take it away from you. Helen Tworkov, “A Refuge That No One Can Touch”  CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

‘This Mind Itself Is Buddha’ By Yamada Mumon Roshi, Translated by Norman Waddell Learn the Pure Land origins of one of Soto Zen’s most penetrating teaching phrases. Read more »

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Speech: Refraining from Harsh Speech

 

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RIGHT SPEECH Refraining from Harsh Speech Harsh speech is unhealthy. Refraining from harsh speech is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning harsh speech, one refrains from harsh speech. One speaks words that are gentle, pleasing to the ear, and affectionate, words that go to the heart, are courteous, and are agreeable to many. (DN 1) One practices thus: “Others may speak harshly, but I shall abstain from harsh speech.” (MN 8) How does there come to be insistence on local language and overriding of normal usage? In different localities they call the same thing by different words. So whatever they call it in such and such a locality, one speaks accordingly, firmly adhering to that word and insisting: “Only this is correct; anything else is wrong.” (MN 139)

Reflection One way of refraining from harsh speech is to be adaptable to different modes of speech and not insist on your own particular way of stating things. In ancient India the Buddha moved from one region to another and encountered local variations of dialect. Today also we often move in different circles and encounter different populations, and it would help facilitate effective communication if we remained flexible in our speech. Daily Practice Try as a practice reframing your own thoughts and words in the vernacular of another. Today this seems especially important. Each person and each community has their own particular way of perceiving and expressing things, and we can only learn from each other if we are open to different modes of speech. Notice when you restate something said by another, perhaps diminishing their voice, and learn not to do this. Tomorrow: Reflecting upon Mental Action One week from today: Refraining from Frivolous Speech Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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