Monday, August 26, 2024

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

 

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RIGHT VIEW
Understanding the Noble Truth of the Way to 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 practices guarding the sense doors . . . (DN 2)
Reflection
Guarding the sense doors is a practice protecting the mind from the unwanted intrusion of the kind of sense objects that can cause harm. Just because a violent image flashes in front of you, you don’t have to watch it, and you need not pursue an ugly remark. When inclined toward hurtful or hateful thoughts, you can guide them away and take a different direction. You need not feel helpless but can exercise some skillful control.
Daily Practice
Imagine yourself a gatekeeper, carefully watching all the information flowing in through your senses and the thoughts passing through the gateway of your mind. You know intuitively what is helpful and what is harmful. Welcome in what is helpful and carefully steer harmful content away from infiltrating your mind. This is not suppression but the wise use of attention to protect and enhance the inner environment of your mind.
Tomorrow: Cultivating Equanimity
One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth of Suffering 

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Via Daily Dharma: Sitting with Uncertainty

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Sitting with Uncertainty

Emptiness invites us to look uncertainty in the eye. So if fear or resistance arises, take your time with it. 

Cortland Dahl, “Exploring Emptiness”


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Sunday, August 25, 2024

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Via Daily Dharma: Let Go of What Is Passing

 

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Let Go of What Is Passing

In Buddhism, the fundamental analysis is that most of our human suffering comes from grasping after that which is passing.

James Ishmael Ford, “Finding the Ox’s Footprints”


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Let Come, Let Go
By His Eminence the Seventh Dzogchen Rinpoche
A Dzogchen teaching on shamatha (calm abiding) and a three-part practice for recognizing our thoughts.
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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and the Third Jhāna

 


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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 composed, one is aware: “The mind is composed”. . . One is just aware, just mindful: “There is mind.” And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)
Reflection
A composed mind is unified, peaceful, steady, and clear. We can access such states of mind when engaged in the practice of meditation, and mindfulness of mind is established when you are aware of what a composed mind feels like and you are able to sustain it over time. The mind becomes like a mirror, reflecting itself. 

Daily Practice
Sit quietly, relaxing the body while gently holding it erect, and allow the mind to gradually become more and more composed. With every outbreath, sink deeper and more comfortably into the serenity of the moment. It is like untangling knots, one after another, until the mind becomes smooth. Allow yourself to feel the composed mind, aware simply that awareness is aware of itself, without clinging to anything in the world.


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 contemplating cessation";
one practices: “I shall breathe out contemplating cessation.”
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

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Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation \\ Words of Wisdom - August 25, 2024 💌

 

You may protest if you can love the person you are protesting against as much as you love yourself.

- Ram Dass -

Saturday, August 24, 2024

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Developing Unarisen Healthy States


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RIGHT EFFORT
Developing Unarisen Healthy States
Whatever a person frequently thinks about and ponders, that will become the inclination of their mind. If one frequently thinks about and ponders healthy states, one has abandoned unhealthy states to cultivate healthy states, and then one’s mind inclines to healthy states. (MN 19)

Here a person rouses the will, makes an effort, stirs up energy, exerts the mind, and strives to develop the arising of unarisen healthy mental states. One develops the unarisen awakening factor of joy. (MN 141)
Reflection
Buddhism sometimes gets a reputation for not being joyful enough, with all the emphasis on suffering and the calm emotional balance of equanimity. There may be only the hint of a smile on the face of a Buddha statue, but we can be assured that inwardly the Buddha is experiencing great joy. Joy is one of the seven awakening factors and is therefore a beneficial capacity to develop. Make an effort to stir up joy; it is good for you.

Daily Practice
The way to develop the arising of joy that has not arisen on its own is by rousing the will or generating an intention to be joyful. This is done by thinking of something, either through memory or imagination, that you find joyful. Even when fleeting, a joyful moment is a moment devoid of its opposite mental states, such as unhappiness or dejection. The effects are amplified greatly if you are able to sustain joy for some time.

Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and Abiding in the Third Jhāna
One week from today: Maintaining Arisen Healthy States

Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media
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Questions?
Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.



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

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