Via Daily Dharma: Don’t Become Cynical

 

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Don’t Become Cynical Letting go of expectations and recognizing the nature of cyclic existence do not entail becoming cynical. Derisively thinking “I can’t expect anything of anyone” is not a virtuous or realistic attitude that helps us on the path to enlightenment! Ven. Thubten Chodron, “A Buddhist Antidote to Betrayal” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Blind Passions By Mark Unno Discover how to see clearly… that you’re a fool. Read more »

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and Abiding in the Second Jhāna

 

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RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling 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 feeling a common neither-pleasant-nor-painful feeling, one is aware: “Feeling a common neither-pleasant-nor-painful feeling.” When feeling an uncommon neither-pleasant-nor-painful feeling, one is aware: “Feeling an uncommon neither-pleasant-nor-painful feeling.”. . . One is just aware, just mindful: “There is feeling.” And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection A feeling tone accompanies every moment of experience, and it changes at every moment. We generally just accept this and are influenced by it but without conscious awareness. The stream of feelings flows as constantly as the stream of consciousness, and modulates on a spectrum from extremely pleasant through moderately pleasant, mildly pleasant, neutral, mildly painful, and moderately painful to extremely painful. Daily Practice The second of the four foundations on which mindfulness practice is established is the mindful awareness of feeling tones. This requires isolating them in your experience, since they are usually blended in with everything else. Make a point of selecting just the strand of experience that carries a feeling tone—good, bad or neutral. Not whether you like it or not, just how it feels. You will learn with practice how to focus on this regularly. RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the Second Phase of Absorption (2nd Jhāna) With the stilling of applied and sustained thought, one enters upon and abides in the second phase of absorption, which has inner clarity and singleness of mind, without applied thought and sustained thought, with joy and the pleasure born of concentration. (MN 4) Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and Abiding in the Third Jhāna Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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Via Wired \\ Inside Peter Thiel’s Antichrist Obsession

 

Inside Peter Thiel’s Antichrist Obsession

How the billionaire’s apocalyptic beliefs are quietly influencing American politics.

Wired 

Via White Crane Institute \\ 1998 - MATTHEW SHEPARD

 

Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture since 1989
This Day in Gay History
October 12 Died Matthew Shepard 1998 - MATTHEW SHEPARD, American murder victim died (b. 1976) a Gay American student at the University of Wyoming who was fatally attacked near Laramie, on the night of October 6 – October 7, 1998 in what was widely reported by international news media as a savage beating because of his sexuality. Shepard died from severe head injuries at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, on October 12, 1998. His murder brought national attention to the issue of hate crime legislation at the state and federal levels. His two assailants were convicted of the crime and imprisoned One is currently serving two consecutive life sentences and the other is serving the same but without the possibility of parole. On October 26, 2018, Mr. Shepard was interred at the Washington National Cathedral, the neo-Gothic, Episcopal house of worship that is a fixture of American politics and religion. The ceremony was a public service in the morning, and then his ashes were interred privately.  Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde presided over the service alongside the Rev. V. Gene Robinson, who became the first out gay bishop in the Episcopal Church in 2003.  Noteworthy 1681 - A London woman is publicly flogged for the crime of "involving herself in politics" |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 - October 12, 2025 🍁

 

"When you stand back far enough, all of your life experiences, independent of what they are, are all learning experiences. From a human point of view, you do your best to optimize pleasure, happiness, all the nice things in life. From your soul’s point of view you take what comes down the pike. So from the soul’s perspective, you work to get what you want and then if you don’t, ‘ah, so, I’ll work with what I’ve got.’ "

Via LGBTQ Nation \\ SCOTUS may get kids sent to conversion therapy, Alito says marriage is safe while CBS goes anti-woke

 

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Via Daily Dharma: Detach from Thoughts

 

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Detach from Thoughts The thought is the thinker. There is no one behind it. The thought is thinking itself. It comes uninvited. You will see that when there is a strong detachment from the thought process, thoughts don’t last long. Joseph Goldstein, “These Are Not ‘Your’ Thoughts” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Taking the Long View By Ajaan Lee A Thai forest meditation master shares the qualities that protect the heart from inner and outer evils. Read more » Compassion and the Inner Critic With Laura Bridgman Our newest Dharma Talk explores how meditative awareness helps us meet experience, including the inner critic, with curiosity and compassion. Watch now »

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States

 

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RIGHT EFFORT Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States Whatever a person frequently thinks about and ponders, that will become the inclination of their mind. If one frequently thinks about and ponders unhealthy states, one has abandoned healthy states to cultivate unhealthy states, and then one’s mind inclines to unhealthy states. (MN 19) Abandoning all five arisen hindrances, one abides having abandoned all five arisen hindrances. (MN 51)

Reflection If you are often restless, you are practicing restlessness and training yourself to become more restless. The same goes for the other hindrances of sluggishness, sense desire, ill will, and doubt. These mental factors will all arise from time to time; when they do you have the option to indulge them and thereby strengthen them or to abandon them and weaken them. Gradually diminish these unhealthy states by letting go when they arise. Daily Practice When the mind is temporarily free of the influence of the hindrances, it naturally becomes calm, unified, and clear, and thus more capable of seeing with insight. Pay attention to the quality of your inner life, and when one of these hindrances arises simply notice it and let it go. All things that arise in the mind will pass away if you do not “stick” to them by either welcoming them or rejecting them. Just let them pass through.  Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and Abiding in the Second Jhāna One week from today: Developing Unarisen Healthy States Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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