Sunday, May 4, 2025

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 confusion, one is aware: “The mind is devoid of confusion.”… One is just aware, just mindful: “There is mind.” And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)
Reflection
There are moments in meditation practice when one stumbles upon a “sweet spot” and the mind becomes clear, if only for a moment. When the mind is not too restless and not too sluggish, not drawn toward or away from whatever is happening, for a moment it seems to emerge from confusion. It is good to acknowledge such moments and abide in them "ardent, fully aware, mindful." It is good to feel content.
Daily Practice
As you sit quietly today for ten or twenty or sixty minutes—or maybe, since it’s Sunday, for much longer—notice the flow of events in your field of experience with heightened awareness. Many different factors arise and pass away, all impermanent. We forget sometimes that confusion too is impermanent; we are not always in its thrall. Notice the times when the mind gets free of confusion and knows and sees things as they are.
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)
Reflection
Remember that jhāna practice is not something that can be undertaken lightly or sporadically and usually requires the protected conditions of a retreat center and the guidance of an experienced teacher. The jhānas are mentioned a lot in the early texts, and form the core discussion of right concentration. But mostly we just hear the standard formula repeated in various contexts, without much detail on how to practice.
Daily Practice
The transition from the second to the third phase of absorption has to do with the mellowing of joy, which is an almost effervescent energetic upwelling of pleasant bodily sensation into the experience of mental and emotional equanimity. The body still experiences pleasure, but the mind settles into an even and balanced awareness of the pleasant feeling tone that is not attached to it in any way.
Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Way to the Cessation of Suffering
One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects and Abiding in the Fourth Jhāna

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Via Daily Dharma: Determination to Be Free


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Determination to Be Free

In Tibetan, one of the main terms for renunciation—nge jung— can be translated as “the determination to be free.” “Free of what?” you might wonder. Free of the suffering that comes when we depend on circumstances outside our control to be content—like a job, another person, or a certain status.

Susan Kaiser Greenland, “Letting Go and Letting Be”


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Beyond Simplicity
Interview with Aaron P. Proffitt by Frederick M. Ranallo-Higgins
An associate professor of Japanese studies at SUNY Albany explains the importance and misunderstandings of Pure Land Buddhism.
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VIa Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation \\ Words of Wisdom - May 4, 2025 💠

 


This love is actually part of you. It is always flowing through you. It’s like the subatomic texture of the universe, the dark matter that connects everything. When you tune into that flow, you will feel it in your own heart, not your physical heart or your emotional heart, but your spiritual heart, the place you point to in your chest when you say, "I am."
 
- Ram Dass

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Saturday, May 3, 2025

YÁ ALLAHU'L MUSTAGHATH


Dearest friends,

One of the most powerful invocations, used by ‘Abdu'l-Baha’ in His times of crisis, (prior to the end of WWI), when the Ottoman soldiers came to take Him to be executed, and when the Holy Family was distraught from the absence of Baha’u'llah in the mountains of Sulaymaniyah. 

The Bab also prescribed His followers to repeat it 2098 times as they never knew which day would be their last!


“`Abdu’l-Bahá told of the time in Bagdad when Bahá’u’lláh Had retired to the mountains. 

His family did not know where He Had gone and were extremely worried. 

‘Abdu’l-Bahá was a boy at that time and the absence of His Father was very difficult. 

One night, `Abdu’l-Bahá recited and supplicated with all his heart saying “‘Ya’ Allah el Mustaghas! 

Ya’ Allah el Mustaghas!” all night. 

In the morning after, at the break of dawn, `Abdu’l -Bahá received a message which he understood to be about the return of Bahá’u’lláh.

Ali Kuli Khan understood that the invocation of “Ya’ Allah el Mustaghas!” would be the Prayer to utter in moments of need.

It seems that `Abdu’l-Bahá used this powerful Prayer at different occasions.“

~ Marzieh Gail ,

Arches of the Years, page 312.


Shoghi Effendi also had the burden of the believers’ personal griefs. 

Florence once asked him for a very powerful prayer, and he answered, ‘What could be better than Yá Allahu’l-Mustaghath?’ … 

It was her ounderstanding that this was the prayer repeated over and over by the Master, as He paced His garden when the Turkish ship was coming to take Him away.


The Universal House of Justice clarifies that the phrase “Yá Allahu’l-Mustaghath”, … is an Invocation Revealed by the Bab. 

He prescribed it for recitation by His followers in times of trouble and difficulty. 

Shoghi Effendi has translated the word “Mustaghath” as “He who is invoked for help”.

~ The Universal House of Justice,

Excerpt from a letter of 25th of November 1999.


In the same letter, The Universal House of Justice clarifies that “In the Writings of the Bab, “Mustaghath” refers to Bahá’u’lláh, and “the time of ‘Mustaghath‘” refers to the time of Bahá’u’lláh’s Dispensation… 

Mustaghath literally means “He Who is invoked”.

It denotes the cycle of every Divine Manifestation, referred to in the Writings of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh.”

~ The Universal House of Justice,

Excerpt from a letter of 25th November 1999.


“It seems that the One being invoked for help is Bahá’u’lláh. 

Perhaps the following explanation of `Abdu’l-Bahá about the phrase “He is God”, can explain why Bahá’u’lláh is invoked.”

“In Paris, when Shoghi Effendi was on his way to the University in England, he told madam Kahn that shortly before the World War I ended, he used to accompany ‘Abdu’l-Baha’ to Haifa, and each week they would spend 4 days usually looking after the shrines and to see about conditions in general. 

One day the Master closed His door and Shoghi Effendi (he said) knelt outside it, leaning his head against it. 

For 8 continuous hours the Master paced in the room, praying only one prayer ... ‘Ya’ ALLAH-EL-MUSTAGATH!’

When Shoghi Effendi related this to Madame Ali Kuli-Khan she exclaimed ‘Why it was shortly after this that the European War ended!’ 

Shoghi Effendi smiled, but did not reply either yes or no.


In 1924, when she was leaving the presence of the Guardian at Haifa, en-route for Persia to America, she enquired if there were any prayers she could use for special help. 

The Guardian smiled and replied: 

‘Is there any prayer better than ‘Ya’ Allah-el-Mustaghath’ ? …

Showing he recalled their conversation in Paris.”

~ The above was given to Doris Lohse by Madame Khan in her own handwriting.


This is a copy of the original statement.

”Mustaghath literally means ‘He Who is invoked.’ 

It denotes the cycle of every Divine Manifestation, referred to in the Writings of the Bab and Baha’u’llah. 

See also glossary in Kitab-i-Iqan.”


“With regard to the number of times these words are to be repeated, the repetition of this invocation is not definitely fixed, and there is a great deal of flexibility concerning the repetition of this and other Prayers.

While the invocation is prescribed in the Writings of the Báb to be repeated 2098 times during occasions of great need, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in one Tablet states that this verse is to be repeated 95 times and, in another Tablet, 81 times. 

Letters from the Guardian concerning this invocation , as well as other Prayers, indicate that repetition is a matter of individual choice. 

In a postscript added in his own handwriting to a letter to an individual he stated: 

“There is no objection to saying “Yá Ilaha‘l-Mustaghath” any time you like and as often as you like”.”

~ The Universal House of Justice,

Excerpt rom a letter of 25th of November 1999. 


“To be prayed or repeated 1000 times between midnight and dawn for 9 or 19 nights (though to use the prayer once daily or even 9 or 19 times is enough). 

It seems infallible, even marvellous in power. ”


“ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said it for 3 days just before World War I ended: Ya’ Allau’l-Mustagath!

O God Our Deliverer, whom we invoke in times of extreme need, danger, or crisis! 

With regard to the number of times these words are to be repeated, the repetition of this invocation is not definitely fixed, and there is a great deal of flexibility concerning the repetition of this and other Prayers. 

While the invocation is prescribed in the Writings of the Báb to be repeated 2098 times during occasions of great need, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in one Tablet states that this verse is to be repeated 95 times and, in another Tablet, 81 times. 

Letters from the Guardian concerning this invocation , as well as other prayers, indicate that repetition is a matter of individual choice.”


~ The Universal House of Justice,  

Excerpt from a letter of 25th of November 1999.

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 equanimity awakening factor. (MN 141)
Reflection
If you just “go with the flow” of your own mind and let whatever happens happen, often you will drift in the direction of unhealthy or unskillful states. You may have noticed this from time to time. This is why effort is important and right effort is a friend rather than an adversary. When we consciously develop helpful qualities of mind, such as mindfulness and equanimity, we are better off in the long run.
Daily Practice
Equanimity is the last of the seven factors of awakening and completes the preceding series of mindfulness, investigation of states, energy, joy, tranquility, and concentration. Equanimity is the culmination of skillful states of mind because it neutralizes craving, occupying the midpoint between its two forms, greed and hatred. Equanimity is in the middle where one gazes upon what is happening without entanglement.
Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and the Third Jhāna
One week from today: Maintaining Arisen Healthy States

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Via Daily Dharma: Let Go of Results

  

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Let Go of Results

Sitting 10,000 hours on a cushion does not entitle you to any kind of insight or enlightenment. We have to be open to the fact that we may not achieve anything that corresponds to our preconceived idea of what the goal of the practice might be. 

Stephen Batchelor, “Waiting for Something to Happen”


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Mohsen Mahdawi, the Buddhist
By Michael Santi Keezing
Learn more about Buddhist peace activist ​Mohsen Mahdawi, a college student recently abducted by ICE.
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