Thursday, November 28, 2024

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Speech: Refraining from False Speech

 

TRICYCLE      COURSE CATALOG      SUPPORT      DONATE
RIGHT SPEECH
Refraining from False Speech
False speech is unhealthy. Refraining from false speech is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning false speech, one dwells refraining from false speech, a truth-speaker, one to be relied on, trustworthy, dependable, not a deceiver of the world. One does not in full awareness speak falsehood for one’s own ends or for another’s ends or for some trifling worldly end. (DN 1) One practices thus: "Others may speak falsely, but I shall abstain from false speech." (MN 8)

Such speech as you know to be untrue, incorrect, and unbeneficial, as well as unwelcome and disagreeable to others—do not utter such speech. (MN 58)
Reflection
Integrity is held to be of great value in Buddhist traditions, and speaking truthfully at all times is an important practice in itself. Notice how it is phrased as a naturally healthy thing to do. Notice also how it is about changing your own behavior rather than trying to change others. We refrain from false speech by noticing whenever the impulse to be untruthful arises and simply abandoning it. Just do not say what is untrue and unbeneficial.
Daily Practice
Working with right speech can be one of the most challenging practices. The closer you observe, the more you can notice subtle impulses to exaggerate, omit, or lead astray when speaking. When you are speaking, bring an extra measure of attentiveness to the moment just before you utter the words. The gap between impulse and speech can be widened gradually with practice, allowing for more conscious communication.
Tomorrow: Reflecting upon Bodily Action
One week from today: Refraining from Malicious Speech

Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media
#DhammaWheel

Questions?
 Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.
Tricycle is a nonprofit and relies on your support to keep its wheels turning.
© 2024 Tricycle Foundation
89 5th Ave, New York, NY 10003

Via Daily Dharma: Knowing Death

 


Support Tricycle with a donation »
Knowing Death

The most effective thing in getting to know death isn’t being with dying people but sensing myself as being a continually dying person.

Sallie Jiko Tisdale, “Travel Guide to the End of Life”


CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Via White Crane Institute // The MOSCONE-MILK ASSASSINATIONS

 

Noteworthy
San Francisco Chronicle front page
1978 - 

The MOSCONE-MILK ASSASSINATIONS occurred in San Francisco; SF Mayor George Moscone and SF Supervisor Harvey Milk were shot and killed in San Francisco City Hall by former Supervisor Dan White. White was angry that Moscone was refusing to re-appoint him to his former Board seat, from which had resigned for personal reasons, and angry with Milk for having lobbied against that re-appointment. These events also launched the political career of Dianne Feinstein, one of White's allies on the Board, who became a United States.Senator fourteen years after these events.

White requested a meeting with the mayor and was allowed to see Moscone as Moscone's meeting with Brown ended. As White entered Moscone's outer office, Willie Brown exited through a different door. Moscone met White in the outer office, with White confronting the mayor about his perceived betrayal. White asked again to be re-appointed to his former seat on the Board of Supervisors. When Moscone declined, their conversation turned into a heated argument over Horanzy's pending appointment.

Wishing to avoid a public scene, Moscone suggested they retire to a private lounge attached to the mayor's office, so they would not be overheard by those waiting outside. Once inside the small room, and realizing his pleas would prove ineffective, White pulled his revolver and shot the mayor twice in the abdomen. White then shot Moscone twice more in the head.

White reloaded his weapon and left the mayor's office, observed by an unwitting Dianne Feinstein — herself a supervisor at the time — who attempted to engage him in conversation. Brushing off her attempts at conversation, White made his way to the opposite side of City Hall and down a corridor to Milk's office. There, he asked for a private conference in an adjacent room.

Behind closed doors, White confronted Milk. According to White, the supervisor smirked at White and told him "too bad" about the Horanzy appointment. White reported that he began to scream at Milk and that Milk then arose from his seat. With that, White pulled his gun and shot the supervisor multiple times: three times in the chest, once in the back and two times again in the head.

White then fled City Hall unchallenged as chaos reigned inside and turned himself in to two detectives, one Frank Falzon, who were his former co-workers. He then recorded a statement that has been analyzed as a statement of premeditation, and criticized for the leading questions that set up a defense by his two associates. Feinstein discovered Milk's body, but attempts to resuscitate him were in vain.

White was subsequently convicted of voluntary manslaughter, rather than of first degree murder. The verdict sparked rioting in San Francisco -- the so-called White Night Riots -- and ultimately led to the state of California abolishing the "diminished capacity" criminal defense. The "Twinkie Defense", popular shorthand but incomplete description of the diminished capacity defense, gained currency during the trial.

The unpopular verdict also ultimately led to a change in California state law which ended the diminished capacity defense.

White was paroled in 1984 and committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning, less than two years later, in March 1985. In 1998, the San Jose Mercury News and San Francisco magazine reported that Frank Falzon, a homicide detective with the San Francisco police, claimed to have met with White in 1984. Falzon further claimed that at that meeting, White confessed that not only was his killing of Moscone and Milk premeditated, but that he had actually planned to kill Silver and Brown as well. Falzon quoted White as having said, "I was on a mission. I wanted four of them. Carol Ruth Silver, she was the biggest snake . . . and Willie Brown, he was masterminding the whole thing."

Falzon, who had been a friend of White's and who had taken White's initial statement at the time White turned himself in, said that he believed White's confession.


|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|

Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute

"With the increasing commodification of gay news, views, and culture by powerful corporate interests, having a strong independent voice in our community is all the more important. White Crane is one of the last brave standouts in this bland new world... a triumph over the looming mediocrity of the mainstream Gay world." - Mark Thompson

Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture since 1989!
www.whitecraneinstitute.org

|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O

Tuesday, November 26, 2024

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Intention: Cultivating Lovingkindness

 


TRICYCLE      COURSE CATALOG      SUPPORT      DONATE
RIGHT INTENTION
Cultivating Lovingkindness
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 lovingkindness, for when you develop meditation on lovingkindness, all ill will will be abandoned. (MN 62)

Suppose there were a pond with lovely smooth banks, filled with pure water that was clear and cool. A person scorched and exhausted by hot weather, weary, parched, and thirsty would come upon the pond and quench their thirst and their hot-weather fever. In just the same way a person encounters the teachings of the Buddha and develops lovingkindness, and thereby gains internal peace. (MN 40)
Reflection
Intention has to do with the volitional and emotional states of mind that condition experience and influence the quality of action. Some mental states are helpful and healthy, others are harmful and unhealthy. One of the most beneficial is lovingkindness, which can be developed by generating friendliness and care toward living beings. Compared with the harshness of so many of our other experiences, the practice of lovingkindness feels refreshing and leads to peace. 
Daily Practice
Friendliness and lovingkindness can be practiced at any time. Simply direct the mind to the thought of a particular person or group of people and allow the emotional tone of caring for their well-being to arise in your heart or mind. By thinking of the person steadily, with the help of supporting phrases and images, you can sustain this kindly quality of mind over time. It feels refreshing, like a cool pond on a hot day. Try it.
Tomorrow: Refraining from False Speech
One week from today: Cultivating Compassion

Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media
#DhammaWheel

Questions?
 Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.
Tricycle is a nonprofit and relies on your support to keep its wheels turning.
© 2024 Tricycle Foundation
89 5th Ave, New York, NY 10003

Via Daily Dharma: Overcoming Negative Emotions

 


Support Tricycle with a donation »
Overcoming Negative Emotions

We can overcome our negative emotions not by rejecting them—trying to push them away—but by skillfully using them.

Phakchok Rinpoche, “Creating a Confident Mind”


CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE
Signs of the Unseen
By Vanessa Zuisei Goddard 
What if what we see is not all there is?
Read more »