Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Speech: Refraining from Frivolous Speech

 

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RIGHT SPEECH Refraining from Frivolous Speech Frivolous speech is unhealthy. Refraining from frivolous speech is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning frivolous speech, one refrains from frivolous speech. One speaks at the right time, speaks only what is fact, and speaks about what is good. One speaks what is worthy of being overheard, words that are reasonable, moderate, and beneficial. (DN 1) One practices thus: "Others may speak frivolously, but I shall abstain from frivolous speech." (MN 8) When a person commits an offense of some kind, one should not hurry to reprove them but rather should consider whether or not to speak. If you will be troubled, the other person will not be hurt, and you can help them emerge from what is unhealthy and establish them in what is healthy, then it is proper to speak. It is a trifle that you will be troubled compared with the value of helping establish them in what is healthy. (MN 103)

Reflection The guideline to refrain from frivolous speech is a recommendation that we take seriously what we say and say what is meaningful with a sense of purpose and care. It does not mean everything we say has to be profound, just carefully considered. Here we also have guidance for when to speak up and when not to. If we can help someone and make a difference by speaking out, then the fact that it is troublesome is a trifle. Daily Practice As you practice considering carefully the way you speak, the suggestion to "not hurry to reprove" someone who does or says something offensive but rather to "consider whether or not to speak" is an important suggestion. This moment of pause and reflection is itself a powerful practice in daily life and should be followed at every opportunity. Try speaking up only when you really can help a person or situation and not simply from habit or reflex. Tomorrow: Reflecting upon Social Action One week from today: Refraining from False Speech 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: Motivations for Giving

 

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Motivations for Giving When you give to others, you want to give attentively, you want to give with respect, you want to give out of compassion. And the best motivation, of course, is that you want to benefit your mind. Thānissaro Bhikkhu, “Give Before You Get” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

When Am I? By Loch Kelly Contrary to popular belief, you can’t be in the present moment. Read more »

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Via FB // Dr. Candace Linklater

I completed my PhD!!! I am now Dr. Candace Linklater 🤩

Rez kids, you can do ANYTHING 💫💫

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My Heartfelt Acknowledgements:  

To my loving Alex, my sweetheart: you have been my soft landing, my courage, and my steady heart. Your faith in me brought me here, to this moment, and I am endlessly grateful. You are my everything, and every step of my study’s journey was taken with you devotedly beside me.

I extend my heartfelt gratitude to my parents, my sister, and my best friend. Your relentless support and love have been my anchor, and your compassion flows through this work, filling it with care and depth.

To my community, Moose Cree First Nation—the People, Land, and Waters: thank you for keeping me grounded and loved. And of course, I acknowledge, with so much love, all my previous students. You are in every word, every essence of my work.

To those who resisted the birth of this study: I acknowledge you too. I hope that one day, you open yourself to the kind of love that extends beyond walls of bigotry. Despite your resistance, here my work stands—alive, breathing, and complete.

Lastly, to the moss—the inspiration and quiet teacher of my study’s journey. I will keep learning from you, and letting your quiet resilience guide me. This work, like you, stretches forward, rooting, nurturing, and reaching toward light.

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My PhD dissertation’s title is Pedagogy of Moss in School Leadership for Indigenous 2SLGBTQ+ K-12 Students. 

My committee members will be nominating my dissertation for an award, and I can’t wait to share it with you all!

It will be available in the coming weeks–I’ll make an announcement when it’s published! 

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At the core of my study is an invitation to honor humanity and embrace relational growth, understanding that transformation, much like moss, unfolds slowly and steadily, even within moments of disruption. 

Just as moss turns what seems barren into something alive, the process of collective actualization allows us to transmute our shadows—our fears, our discomforts—into alchemy. Growth is holistic; it comes with stumbles, yet we can grow regardless. 

Each student, each educator, and each connection are an essential part of a larger, interconnected whole, like the spectrum of colors that blend into one. If you see only five colors, you’re blind to the full rainbow; if you hear only five sounds, you’re deaf to the full symphony. Similarly, when we restrict human expression and love to rigid binaries, we limit our own humanity, disconnecting ourselves from the oneness of all experiences. 

We must open our eyes, ears, and hearts to the full spectrum of human expression—embracing the complex, fluid, and expansive ways we all exist. By doing so, we create spaces where all forms of expression are celebrated, just as moss nurtures life in its quiet, resilient growth. 

Through honoring each other’s aliveness, we invite a new vision of education and the world: one that nurtures, connects, and transforms. Just like moss.

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I cannot imagine getting upset with moss

For not growing like the trees.

I cannot imagine telling moss

That it needs to look more like the flowers.

 

Gender expression and identity

Attraction and love

Are like the moss.

Expansive. Non-binary. A forest.

 

So why

Oh why

Are you upset

When someone doesn’t grow

The way you want them to?

 

Try getting mad at moss

For not being the grass.

Or yelling at the moss

For not being like the vines.

 

Let moss

Be moss.

Let humans

Be human.

Let love

Be love. 

An Invitation to Love by Dr. Candace Linklater

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Photographer: My sweetheart, Alex Manitopyes @alexmanitopyes

MUO: @amavi_beauty

Hair: @sydironstarbeauty

Set Assistant: @twospiritsonelove

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Intention: Cultivating Equanimity

 

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RIGHT INTENTION Cultivating Equanimity 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)  The function of equanimity is to see equality in beings. (Vm 9.93) Having heard a sound with the ear, one is neither glad-minded nor sad-minded but abides with equanimity, mindful and fully aware. (AN 6.1)

Reflection Equanimity is the active ingredient in mindfulness practice. Here we see it as the fourth of the brahma-viharas. Equanimity means an evenly balanced mind, like a plate on a stick that inclines neither toward nor away from an object of experience. It is the midpoint between greed (attraction) and hatred (aversion), and is therefore a state in which the mind can be free from the influence of both. Daily Practice As we cycle through the senses, we are encouraged here to work with the sense modality of sound. So often we reach for the sounds that we like and make us feel good, and avoid or recoil from the sounds that we don’t like and make us feel bad. At this basic level of sensory input, can you practice being mindful and fully aware of a sound without either favoring or opposing it? Try to let the sound be what it is, without relating it to yourself and your preferences. Tomorrow: Refraining from Frivolous Speech One week from today: Cultivating Lovingkindness 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 Mark of a True Practitioner

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The Mark of a True Practitioner The mark of a true practitioner is not what arises in your life and mind but how you work with what arises. Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, “The Path of Patience” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Voices of Courage and Insight By Susan Moon A new anthology of articles and essays spotlights the lives of Buddhist women who broke convention and shaped the dharma. Read more »

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