A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
If
you accelerate your efforts, if your awareness is continuous, your
mindfulness will become full. Both by day and by night, it’ll keep
staying full like that. It becomes a stream of water.
Ajahn Chah, “Make Your Practice a Continuous Stream”
RIGHT VIEW Understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering
And what is the way leading
to the cessation of suffering? It is just this noble eightfold path:
that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right
living, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. (MN 9)
One perfects their ethical behavior by abandoning intoxication . . . (DN 2)
Reflection
Once again the
importance of ethical behavior is emphasized, as the heart of walking
the path toward the cessation of suffering, and so too is the particular
value of keeping the mind clear and alert. Intoxication leads to a
muddling of the mind, and the negligence that ensues can be the source
of a lot of trouble. Sobriety in its many forms is a skill that can be
learned, developed, strengthened, and ultimately perfected.
Daily Practice
Look at the
many ways your diligence of mind is diminished throughout the day and
becomes negligent. We get distracted by petty things, interrupted by
random circumstances, confused by stray thoughts, or addled by any
number of befuddling substances. The path to awakening winds its way
among these obstacles. See if the image of gradually perfecting your
ethical behavior can be useful in countering this.
Tomorrow: Cultivating Equanimity One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth of Suffering
Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel
RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Mind
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 the mind is uplifted, one is aware: “The mind is uplifted”. . .
One is just aware, just mindful: “There is mind.” And one abides not
clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)
Reflection
An uplifted
mind is one made more noble by the presence of an ennobling mental
factor or combination of factors. Buddhist psychology measures the mind
in moments that quickly come and go, so a mind that is uplifted in one
moment by kindness, for example, might be the opposite the very next
moment if ill will or selfishness shows up. Among other things,
mindfulness involves noticing the quality of the mind moment by moment.
Daily Practice
Closely examine
your mind—not the content of your mind but the quality of your mind. By
quality we mean whether it has healthy mental factors like kindness,
generosity, and wisdom. Many mind moments do not have such uplifting
factors, but many of them do, and it is important to recognize your own
good qualities when they are present. This allows you to not only
appreciate your good qualities but also encourage their arising in the
future.
RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the Third Phase of Absorption (3rd Jhāna)
With the fading away of joy, one
abides in equanimity; mindful and fully aware, still feeling pleasure
with the body, one enters upon and abides in the third phase of
absorption, on account of which noble ones announce: “One has a pleasant
abiding who has equanimity and is mindful.” (MN 4)
One practices: “I shall breathe in experiencing mental formations;”
one practices: “I shall breathe out experiencing mental formations.”
This is how concentration by mindfulness of breathing is developed and cultivated,
so that it is of great fruit and great benefit. (A 54.8)
Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Way to the Cessation of Suffering One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects and the Fourth Jhāna
Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel
Whether
you achieve something spectacular and then feel happy or you just feel
happy because you’re listening to your favorite music, the quality of
your mind is the same.
Haemin Sunim, “Finding Happiness by No Longer Looking for It”