Revoked

Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Via White Crane Institute \\ Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (Sonnet 18) William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616

Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture since 1989

Today's Gay Wisdom 2018 - TODAY’S GAYWISDOM Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (Sonnet 18) William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616 Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed; But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st, Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade, When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st. So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
\|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 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

Monday, May 19, 2025

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

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Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.