Via Daily Dharma: Surrender to Impermanence

 

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Surrender to Impermanence

When we surrender the idea that we are a permanent “self,” when we surrender the idea of “I, me, mine,” we—suddenly—merge ourselves with the cosmic eternal buddha and experience awakening. Mark Herrick, “Nichiren Buddhism and the Precepts” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

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Via Daily Dharma: Seeds of Karma

 

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Seeds of Karma

Just as a single seed planted in the right environment and conditions can bring a large tree bearing flowers and fruit every year, the karmic imprints of our actions can lead to multiple results over a long period of time. Kathleen McDonald (Sangye Khadro), “Purification with the Four Powers” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and the Second Jhāna

 

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RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling 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 feeling a pleasant feeling, one is aware: "Feeling a pleasant feeling." . . . One is just aware, just mindful: "There is feeling." And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection The second basis on which mindfulness is established is feeling tone. This does not refer to our emotional life—feelings of affection or anger or dismay—but rather to the valence of feeling as pleasant or unpleasant or neutral (not obviously pleasant or unpleasant). The practice is to sit down deliberately for some time—even five minutes, if that is all you can manage—and simply notice pleasant and unpleasant sensations as they occur. Daily Practice As with mindfulness of breathing, the attitude with which you are aware of feeling tone is of great importance. The text is guiding us to be fully aware of a painful feeling, for example, without analyzing it or wishing it was not happening. Simply notice it as a brief episode of a particular feeling tone, without clinging in any way either to its going away if it is painful or to its coming again if it is pleasant. Just be aware of it. RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the Second Phase of Absorption (2nd Jhāna) With the stilling of applied and sustained thought, one enters upon and abides in the second phase of absorption, which brings inner clarity and singleness of mind, without applied thought and sustained thought but with joy and the pleasure born of concentration. (MN 4) Reflection The teachings around right concentration have to do with four phases of absorption, also known as jhānas. When the mind rests steadily on a single object of attention—which is quite difficult to do at first—it gradually disentangles itself from the various hindrances and becomes unified, peaceful, and stable. With this comes inner clarity and the dropping away of the internal use of language. Daily Practice You will know when you have entered into absorption of the jhānas because the state is accompanied at first by a great deal of physical and mental pleasure. The physical pleasure is described as being fundamentally different from any sensual gratification, and the mental pleasure comes naturally when the mind is free of the hindrances (phase one) and when it becomes concentrated or one-pointed (phase two). Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and Abiding in the Third Jhāna Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation -- Words of Wisdom - December 8, 2024 💌

 

"The three levels of compassionate action that I see are: One is you do compassionate action as best you can as an exercise on yourself to come closer to God, to spirit, to awareness, to One. Next is you start to appreciate that you’re a part of something larger than yourself and you are an instrument of God. No longer are you doing it to get there, you’re now doing it as an instrument. And third is where you lose self-consciousness and you are God manifest. You’re part of the hand of God. Then you’re not doing anything. It’s just God manifest. How do you get to that third one? By honoring others and being patient. So we all relax and we just keep quieting and calming and observing and witnessing. We keep aiming and correcting and cleaning and letting go and opening again and coming back. Just keep quieting and deepening, opening the heart, quieting the mind. The ego gets subtler and subtler. It gets more obvious to the quiet mind and witness how it’s working. You become a connoisseur and an appreciator of your own ego."

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States

 

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RIGHT EFFORT Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States Whatever a person frequently thinks about and ponders, that will become the inclination of their mind. If one frequently thinks about and ponders unhealthy states, one has abandoned healthy states to cultivate unhealthy states, and then one’s mind inclines to unhealthy states. (MN 19) Here a person rouses the will, makes an effort, stirs up energy, exerts the mind, and strives to abandon arisen unhealthy mental states. One abandons the arisen hindrance of sense desire. (MN 141)

Reflection Unhealthy states arise in human experience all the time. This is not your fault; you are not to be blamed for it or to feel guilty about it. What is important is first of all to notice when an unhealthy state is arising—hence the value of mindfulness training—and then to understand that it is unhealthy, which comes gradually with wisdom, and finally to let go of it—not suppress it or ignore it but simply let it pass through the mind and go away.  Daily Practice One of the most persistent and common of the unhealthy states is sense desire. There is a natural tendency for the senses to lean in to experience, to subtly seek out and attach to things that give us a sense of gratification. Make an effort to recognize when this is happening, and respond with letting go. Notice, understand, and release. Repeat often. Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and Abiding in the Second Jhāna One week from today: Developing Unarisen 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: Connected Forever

 

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Connected Forever

We must do all that we can to heal our divisions and to mend our brokenness. Whether we like it or not, our lives are profoundly connected. We can either grow and thrive together or we can wither and die together.

Rev. Blayne Higa, “The Song of the Two-Headed Bird”

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