Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and the Third Jhāna

 

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RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Mind 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 the mind is devoid of aversion, one is aware "the mind is devoid of aversion" … One is just aware, just mindful: "There is mind." And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection Mindfulness can be established and sustained by focusing on the quality of consciousness itself. Consciousness is colored in every moment by subtle or obvious emotional tones, in particular by various forms of greed, hatred, and delusion. These states are toxic, but the mind is often free of them for fleeting moments. Here we are invited to notice when the mind is free from hatred in its many forms.     Daily Practice Aversion is a quality of mind that comes and goes. Sometimes we are annoyed at something, and sometimes we are not. Sometimes we hate something and wish it would go away, and sometimes we do not. This is a practice of noticing the flickering moods of the mind, of becoming aware of the emotional strands that arise in the mind and then vanish. In particular, notice when your mind is free of any trace of aversion. RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the Third Phase of Absorption (3rd Jhāna) With the fading away of joy, one abides in equanimity; mindful and fully aware, still feeling pleasure with the body, one enters upon and abides in the third phase of absorption, on account of which noble ones announce: "One has a pleasant abiding who has equanimity and is mindful." (MN 4) When one sees oneself purified of all these unhealthy states and thus liberated from them, gladness is born. When one is glad, joy is born; in one who is joyful, the body becomes tranquil; one whose body is tranquil feels pleasure; in one who feels pleasure, the mind becomes concentrated. (MN 40) Reflection Pleasure is as natural and inevitable a part of human experience as pain, and like pain it is not to be feared or avoided. The challenge is to not be carried away by either, and to abide with both with equanimity. The unhealthy pursuit of pleasure can lead to all sorts of problems, but there are some cases, like this one, when pleasure is an ally. There is a healthy pleasure that comes simply from the experience of a tranquil body. Daily Practice Pleasure can be a gateway leading from tranquility to concentration. Allow yourself to feel how pleasant it is to be calm. Temporarily free from the rush of restlessness, and not, for the moment, driven by all kinds of pressures to do and accomplish things, take some time to allow yourself to fully feel the deep pleasure of a calm and tranquil moment. This is the pleasure of being, not doing. Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Way to the Cessation of Suffering One week from today:  Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects and the Fourth Jhāna Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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© 2025 Tricycle Foundation 89 5th Ave, New York, NY 10003

Via Daily Dharma: Let Go of Mistakes

 

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Let Go of Mistakes We don’t stop practice when we make a mistake, we don’t stop to think it should be otherwise. We keep practicing and let go of each mistake—apologizing when necessary.  Grace Schireson, “Humility and Humiliation” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

The Zen Rancher By Jack Pearson Cattle rancher, conservationist, and Zen priest Reverend Bill Milton speaks on his relationship with the dharma. Read more » 2025 Tricycle Film Festival March 14–27, 2025 We invite you to join us for the second annual virtual Tricycle Film Festival from March 14–27, offering five feature-length films and five short films that you can watch all festival long, plus a live event with Ed Bastian, director of The Dalai Lama’s Gift. Get your ticket »

Via White Crane Institute \\ ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE

 

Died Robert Mapplethorpe 1989 - ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE, American artist, died on this date (b. 1946); An American photographer, known for his large-scale, highly stylized black & white portraits, photos of flowers and male nudes. The frank, erotic nature of some of the work of his middle period triggered a more general controversy about the public funding of artworks. Mapplethorpe made most of his photographs in the studio. Common themes were flowers, especially orchids; portraits of famous individuals, including Andy Warhol, Deborah Harry. Richard Gere, Peter Gabriel, Grace Jones and Patti Smith (Patti Smith's portrait  was inspired by Durer's 1500 self-portrait) and nude works that include homoerotic imagery from classic nudes to BDSM acts. Mapplethorpe is best known for his Portfolio X series, which sparked national attention because of its explicit content and the funding of the effort by the National Endowment for the Arts, including a self-portrait with a bullwhip inserted in his anus. The title of this photograph given to it by its creator is Self-Portrait, 1978. From the late summer of 1990 forward, some commentators writing about the Portfolio X and NEA controversies for audiences unlikely to have extensive prior knowledge of Mr. Mapplethorpe's work refer to this photograph as Indiana Jones & The Tunnel of Doom. Likewise the triptych Jim and Tom, Sausalito, 1977-1978, the one involving urination, as Recycled Lemonade and the photograph Helmut and Brooks, N.Y.C, 1978, involving fisting as Iron Fist and others as Into The Wiener Tunnel etc. His photographs of black men have been criticized as exploitative. Singer Patti Smith writes eloquently and movingly of their early relationship in her 2010 National Book Award-winning book, Just Kids. It can be obtained here.

|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|8|

Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation \\ Words of Wisdom - March 9, 2025 💠

 

"There was a nurse at a retreat that Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and I ran one year. This nurse had cancer. She had had many, many operations. She was thirty-eight years old and had four young children. Got the whole picture? Many cancer surgeries. So she’s in the hospital both as a nurse and as a patient. And she said, “knowing my story now, if you came to visit me at the hospital what would you feel?” Then she wrote on the board what everybody said. Some people said, ‘I feel angry at God.’ Some said, ‘You have four young children, it’s unfair.’ Some people said, ‘I feel pity for you. Some people said, ‘What can I understand about the medical part to help you?’ And so on. She wrote all this stuff. She said, “I’d like you to notice one thing, which is what I experienced.” She said, “Nobody on that list came to be with me.” What I heard her saying was the symbolic value of her predicament was so powerful that it captivated the consciousness of everybody that came in the room. So they came in the room and they saw nurse with four young children dying of cancer. She couldn’t get out of it. She couldn’t escape from that role to say, ‘Hey, I’m in here.’ She couldn’t meet another being."

Source: NPR

 

The album's namesake, Polari, is a set of a few hundred words and phrases that was adopted by gay men as a way of speaking in secret during periods of criminali…

The album's namesake, Polari, is a set of a few hundred words and phrases that was adopted by gay men as a way of speaking in secret during periods of criminali…

Source: NPR
https://search.app/QL5dCYjKXgpcS6vn8

Via Tricycle \\ The Great Buddha of Ibiraçu The largest Buddha statue in the West sits calmly in Brazil.

 

Via FB \\ Kind and Gentle Souls around the World

Every minute someone leaves this world behind.

We are all in “the line” without knowing it.

We never know how many people are before us.

We can not move to the back of the line.

We can not step out of the line.

We can not avoid the line.

So while we wait in line -

Make moments count.

Make priorities.

Make the time.

Make your gifts known.

Make a nobody feel like a somebody.

Make your voice heard.

Make the small things big.

Make someone smile.

Make the change.

Make love.

Make up.

Make peace.

Make sure to tell your people they are loved.

Make sure to have no regrets.

Make sure you are ready.

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Via FB

 

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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 joy-awakening factor. (MN 141)

Reflection Happiness is a skill that can be learned, and it can be practiced again and again as a living presence. We are all capable of experiencing happy and healthy states of mind, but sometimes we need to remember to experience them as a conscious and deliberate act. At any point, we can in principle draw out of a pool of latent tendencies the active manifestation of a positive state such as joy, thus waking it up and bringing it to life.  Daily Practice Try the exercise of deliberately cultivating joy as an active and present state of mind. This does not mean pretending to be joyful as a kind of false overlay to feelings that are not joyful. It means consciously developing actual joy and allowing it to replace whatever other feeling might be in the mind at the moment. Joy is accessible; it is just a matter of remembering to get in touch with it as a living emotion. 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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© 2025 Tricycle Foundation 89 5th Ave, New York, NY 10003

Via Daily Dharma: Manifesting Wisdom

 

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Manifesting Wisdom Wisdom is not merely something to be gained with old age. One can be wise in every stage of one’s life. To manifest wisdom means simply to step back and see—to reflect, inquire, be aware, be disciplined, and be focused not once in a while, but all of the time, moment to moment. Seido Ray Ronci, “The Examined Life” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Leaving Home By Shinkyū Brian Cote A Zen priest explores the history and present-day practice of going forth and attaining the Way. Read more »

Via White Crane Institute \\ INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY (IWD)

 

Noteworthy 2022 - Today is INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY (IWD), originally called International Working Women's Day. It is celebrated on March 8 every year. In different regions the focus ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation, and love towards women for women's economic, political, and social achievements. The original International Women's Day started as a Socialist political event event, the holiday blended the culture of many countries, primarily in Europe, especially those in the Soviet Bloc. In some regions, the day lost its political flavor, and became simply an occasion for people to express their love for women in a way somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day. In other regions, however, the political and human rights theme designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner. Some people celebrate the day by wearing purple ribbons. Because, you know, it isn’t a thing until you have a ribbon.

|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|8|