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.
Whatever you intend,
whatever you plan, and whatever you have a tendency toward, that will
become the basis on which your mind is established. (SN 12.40) Develop
meditation on equanimity, for when you develop meditation on equanimity,
all aversion is abandoned. (MN 62)
When a person, thinking a mental object with the mind, is not attached
to pleasing mental objects and not repelled by unpleasing mental
objects, they have established mindfulness and dwell with an unlimited
mind. For a person whose mindfulness is developed and practiced, the
mind does not struggle to reach pleasing mental objects, and unpleasing
mental objects are not considered repulsive. (SN 35.274)
Reflection
Some objects in
the world are naturally pleasing, and some are displeasing. This goes
for our thoughts and other mental objects as well. Of course it feels
good to think about some things and it feels bad to think of others, but
whether we experience stress or suffering depends not on these facts
but on our response to them. When attached, we struggle, and when we
abide in our minds with equanimity, we are at peace.
Daily Practice
When you are
settled for some time in a quiet place, turn your awareness to the
thoughts and images that may be streaming through your mind. When you
are caught by the content of these, you are swept along by the mental
flow, but if you regard what is happening with equanimity, as a process
of arising and passing mental objects, your mindfulness is developed and
you are no longer favoring some thoughts over others.
Tomorrow: Refraining from Frivoulous Speech One week from today: Cultivating Lovingkindness
Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel
May I be free from mental suffering
May I be free from physical suffering
May I take care of myself happily
May my parents
teacher relatives and friends
fellow Dhamma farers
be free from enmity and danger
be free from mental suffering
be free from physical suffering
may they take care of themselves happily
May all yogis in this compound
be free from enmity and danger
be free from mental suffering
be free from physical suffering
May they take care of themselves happily
May all monks in this compound
novice monks
laymen and laywomen disciples
be free from enmity and danger
be free from mental suffering
be free from physical suffering
May they take care of themselves happily
May our donors of the four supports: clothing, food, medicine and lodging
be free from enmity and danger
be free from mental suffering
be free from physical suffering
May they take care of themselves happily
May our guardian devas
in this monastery
in this dwelling
in this compound
May the guardian devas
be free from enmity and danger
be free from mental suffering
be free from physical suffering
may they take care of themselves happily
May all beings
all breathing things
all creatures
all individuals (all beings)
all personalities (all beings with mind and body)
may all females
all males
all noble ones (saints)
all worldlings (those yet to attain sainthood)
all devas (deities)
all humans
all those in the four woeful planes
be free from enmity and dangers
be free from mental suffering
be free from physical suffering
may they take care of themselves happily
May all being be free from suffering
May whatever they have gained not be lost
All beings are owners of their own Kamma
in the eastern direction
in the western direction
in the northern direction
in the southern direction
in the southeast direction
in the northwest direction
in the northeast direction
in the southwest direction
in the direction below
in the direction above
May all beings
all breathing things
all creatures
all individuals (all beings)
all personalities (all beings with mind and body)
may all females
all males
all noble ones (saints)
(those yet to attain sainthood)
all devas (deities)
all humans
all those in the 4 woeful planes
be free from enmity and dangers
be free from mental suffering
be free from physical suffering
may they take care of themselves happily
May all beings be free from suffering
May whatever they have gained not be lost
All beings are owners of their own kamma
As far as the highest plane of existence
to as far down as the lowest plane
in the entire universe
whatever beings that move on earth
may they be free from mental suffering and enmity
may they be free from physical suffering and danger
As far as the highest plane of existence
to as far down as the lowest plane
in the entire universe
whatever beings that move on water
may they be free from mental suffering and enmity
may they be free from physical suffering and danger
As far as the highest plane of existence
to as far down as the lowest plane
in the entire universe
whatever beings that move in air
may they be free from mental suffering and enmity
may they be free from physical suffering and danger
We
invite you to join Judith Simmer-Brown for Being a Bodhisattva:
Exploring the Bodhisattva Vow beginning Saturday, November 30. This
three-session course explores the moment in a person’s life when they
decide to go one step further than “being Buddhist”—and make a profound
commitment to put all others before themselves. It is open to all who
are interested in the Bodhisattva vow, or to anyone who would like to
reconnect with their original inspiration for taking this vow.
Taking the bodhisattva vow is a powerful moment on a Buddhist
practitioner’s path. Join us and explore if this is the right moment for
you—or use this as a powerful opportunity to connect with your original
inspiration for this moment on your personal spiritual path.
This
course is also an excellent follow-up to Being Buddhist: Exploring the
Refuge Vow, however you do not have to have taken the Refuge Vow course
to participate.
Planting
such a seed as the bodhisattva vow undermines ego and leads to a
tremendous expansion of perspective. Such heroism, or bigness of mind,
fills all of space completely, utterly, absolutely. Within such a vast
perspective, nothing is claustrophobic and nothing is intimidating.
There is only the vast idea of unceasingly helping all sentient beings,
as limitless as space, along the path to enlightenment…
Clouds
come out of the sky, rest in the sky, and dissolve back into the sky.
In the same way, all the experiences of ordinary life and transcendent
states such as nirvana appear out of the primordial basis.
Did
you know it's National Estate Planning Awareness Week? The Tricycle
Foundation has partnered with FreeWill to share a free, online estate
planning tool. In just 20 minutes, you can mindfully plan for your
future by protecting your loved ones, safeguarding your assets, and
making a lasting legacy to improve access to Buddhist teachings for
years to come.
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
This
week, Raghu and Anita Sanchez have a compelling conversation on: “80%
of the most biodiverse places left on this earth are lands that...