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 contentment. (DN 2)

Reflection A simple and elegant instruction: Practice contentment! First, we see that it is something we can attain rather than something that comes to us from outside by chance or grace. Then we find out it is a skill that can be practiced, like playing the piano or learning a language. What does it take to feel content? Appreciating the pleasure instead of the pain, the well-being instead of the illness, the joy instead of the distress. Daily Practice Contentment is an experience, not a set of circumstances. You need not wait until you are wealthy to feel content, or even wait for that headache to go away. Contentment is an experience that can be accessed by settling into the moment and finding the goodness in it. Even in the most challenging of conditions there are positive aspects that can be brought forward in your mind. Suffering is real, but it can be put aside, however briefly. Tomorrow: Cultivating Equanimity One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth of Suffering Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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Listen to this week’s podcasts from the Be Here Now Network

 

A Network of Mindfulness & Spirituality Podcasts

Thank you for listening to our podcasts every week! We truly appreciate your support. Here are the episodes that went out this week.

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Raghu Markus – Mindrolling – Ep. 564 – Mother Earth: A Call to Protect and Reconnect w/ Anita Sanchez, Ph.D
October 18, 2024

This week, Raghu and Anita Sanchez have a compelling conversation on: “80% of the most biodiverse places left on this earth are lands that...

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Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - October 20, 2024 💌

 

"You start doing chanting as technique. You start to sing ‘Shri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Jai Ram.’ You start thinking it means, Honorable Ram, Hail Ram, Hail Hail Ram. Then after an hour you stop thinking about all of that and you are just singing it. You are realizing the aesthetic of the music and how beautiful it is. Then after a while it starts to go deeper until your heart is just singing, it’s singing from inside you.

Then there’s a point where true Bhakti starts - where dualism ends and you become like the chant. You are in a space where it’s not emotional anymore. It’s moved into the deeper, intuitive quality of love. Touching that love leaves you with trust in the method and trust in where the method takes you—trust in the Beloved and trust in how you get there. "

- Ram Dass
 
>> Want to dive deeper with Ram Dass? Click Here to Receive a Daily Wisdom Text from Ram Dass & Friends.

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Via GBF// "Joy & Compassion in the Face of Overwhelm" - JD Doyle

 Here's a 60-second audio preview: "The Components of Compassion" - JD Doyle

(part of our "Dharma Nuggets" series)

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When the world gets to be a little too much for us, how can we keep from shutting down?

JD Doyle shares that the key lies in returning to our interconnectedness. JD ties this beautifully with the practice of the brahmaviharas (the four immeasurables: loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity). JD explains that when we feel overwhelmed by the suffering we witness or experience, turning to these qualities helps us stay grounded. By cultivating loving-kindness and compassion, we can face challenges without closing off emotionally.

JD encourages finding sympathetic joy—the ability to take pleasure in others’ happiness—even when we’re struggling ourselves. This practice shifts our perspective, allowing us to connect with joy rather than being consumed by negativity. JD also emphasizes equanimity, helping us maintain balance and compassion even when we feel like the weight of the world is too much. Through these practices, we develop resilience and stay open-hearted in the face of overwhelm.

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You can watch or listen to the full talk on our website or YouTube: 

Joy & Compassion in the Face of Overwhelm – GBF

Joy & Compassion in the Face of Overwhelm - YouTube

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 equanimity. (MN 141)

Reflection We all have the capacity for generosity, kindness, and wisdom. Some would even say these are more fundamental to our nature than their harmful opposites: greed, hatred, and delusion. All these mental and emotional traits remain dormant until one or another of them is roused into becoming an active mental or emotional state. Instead of waiting passively to see what emerges, take the lead and call up the good stuff. Daily Practice Take a few moments from time to time to “stir up energy” and develop one or more of the healthy states that lie sleeping as healthy traits in your unconscious mind. Make them conscious by deliberately invoking generosity or kindness or equanimity, and see how you can induce these states more or less at will. It is a healthy skill to learn. Arousing equanimity is particularly useful in situations where you are challenged. 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 #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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Via Daily Dharma: The Truth of Fear

 

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The Truth of Fear Buddhism teaches that behind all our fears is our inability to actually appreciate, on a visceral level, the truth of impermanence. Norman Fischer, “No Beginning, No Ending, No Fear” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

The Real Humbling By Santiago Santai Jiménez A Zen monk on the imperfect and yet transformative potential of student-teacher relationships along the spiritual path. Read more »

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