Via Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation \\ The Raft: Cultivate Peace and Joy

 

Inspiration from the International Plum Village Community May 2025

"Practicing Buddhism is a clever way to enjoy life. Happiness is available. Please help yourself to it." Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Body and the First Jhāna

 

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RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Body 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 sitting, one is aware: “I am sitting.”. . . One is just aware, just mindful: “There is body.” And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection The Zen meditation practice called zazen means “just sitting.” This is a form of the early Buddhist practice described here. The idea is to always do only one thing at a time. Not sitting and reading, or sitting and watching TV, or sitting at your computer—but just sitting. This is an exercise in being rather than doing. The only activity you are doing while sitting is “being aware.” Aware of what? Aware that you are sitting. Daily Practice Spend some time every day, either regularly or adventitiously, just sitting. At first the tendency might be to “sit and think about stuff,” or “sit and remember,” or “sit and plan.” But this is a mindfulness of the body practice, so it involves being aware of all the microsensations of the body as you sit. There is a lot going on when you just sit and take the time to notice. Notice it all without clinging to anything in the world. RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the First Phase of Absorption (1st Jhāna) Having abandoned the five hindrances, imperfections of the mind that weaken wisdom, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, one enters and abides in the first phase of absorption, which is accompanied by applied thought and sustained thought, with joy and the pleasure born of seclusion. (MN 4) Breathing in long, one is aware: ‘I breathe in long’; or breathing out long, one is aware: ‘I breathe out long.’ This is how concentration by mindfulness of breathing is developed and cultivated, so that it is of great fruit and great benefit. (A 54.8)  Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and Abiding in the Second Jhāna Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right View: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering

 

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RIGHT VIEW Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering What is the origin of suffering? It is craving, which brings renewal of being, is accompanied by delight and lust, and delights in this and that; that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for being, and craving for nonbeing. (MN 9) When one does not know and see material form as it actually is, then one is attached to material form. When one is attached, one becomes infatuated, and one’s craving increases. One’s bodily and mental troubles increase, and one experiences bodily and mental suffering. (MN 149)

Reflection As we proceed with a systematic investigation of the second noble truth—how craving gives rise to suffering—we begin looking at each of the five aggregates in turn: material form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness. Material form includes everything constituted of matter, including the sense organs of the body and the substances in the environment giving rise to incoming data of sense experience.  Daily Practice Pay attention to the point at which the subjective experience of the body meets resistance. Notice the physical sensations of your feet on the floor, your butt on the chair, your skin against your clothing. This is how we encounter material form in lived experience. Experience each of the four great elements: feel earth as resistance, air as movement, water as wetness, fire as heat. Notice how craving arises from each. Tomorrow: Cultivating Compassion One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering 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