Via Daily Dharma: Choosing Safety

 

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Choosing Safety Locating safety doesn’t mean avoiding the world’s problems. It means meeting them from a place where our choices are not hijacked by fear. Kathy Cherry and Josh Korda, “Safety Resources for Discordant Times” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

What Is Right Speech? By Sensei Dhara Kowal Speaking skillfully can save others from harm and ourselves from embarrassment. Read more » Buddha as Psychologist, Buddha as Somatic Therapist With Will Johnson The Buddha says, “As you breathe in, breathe in through the whole body. As you breathe out, breathe out through the whole body.” In our latest Dharma Talk, author Will Johnson provides instruction on how to breathe in this way to transform our consciousness.  Watch now » Follow Us Forward today's wisdom to a friend »

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

 

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RIGHT VIEW Understanding the Noble Truth of Suffering When people have met with suffering and become victims of suffering, they come to me and ask me about the noble truth of suffering. Being asked, I explain to them the noble truth of suffering. (MN 77) What is suffering? (MN 9) Aging is suffering: "old age, brokenness of teeth, greyness of hair, wrinkling of skin, decline of life, weakness of faculties." (MN 9)

Reflection The wheel has turned one full revolution now, as we looked at each of the path factors four times over the course of a month. We now return to the beginning and go through another cycle over the course of the next 28 days. The noble truth of suffering is not something we "get" once and for all and then move on. It is something to investigate again and again from multiple different angles as our perspective on it changes. Daily Practice We hardly need help understanding the truth of aging, since it is everywhere so  apparent. As our experience with the practice progresses, we learn to observe the signs of aging with greater objectivity and less self-reference. This is just what happens to a body when it ages. It is not that we are being personally persecuted by time. Work on developing the perspective that aging is something to observe rather than to fear. Tomorrow: Cultivating Lovingkindness One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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Via Daily Dharma: Separate Breath and Mind

 

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Separate Breath and Mind The breath is an element, part of the wind element. Awareness of the breath is something else. So you’ve got two things that have come together. Now, when you can separate them—through realizing the breath’s true nature as an element—the mind can stand on its own. Ajaan Fuang Jotiko, “Realization” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

The Lady Buddha Atop Monkey Mountain By Kami Nguyen In central Vietnam, where the mountains meet the sea, there stands a statue of the bodhisattva, Quan Am—the country's tallest Buddha statue.  Read more » Buddha as Psychologist, Buddha as Somatic Therapist With Will Johnson The Buddha says, “As you breathe in, breathe in through the whole body. As you breathe out, breathe out through the whole body.” In our latest Dharma Talk, author Will Johnson provides instruction on how to breathe in this way to transform our consciousness.  Watch now » Follow Us Forward today's wisdom to a friend »

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects and the Fourth Jhāna

 

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RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects 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 sensual desire is internally present, one is aware: "Sensual desire is present for me." When sensual desire is not present, one is aware: "Sensual desire is not present for me." When the arising of unarisen sensual desire occurs, one  is aware of that. And when the abandoning of arisen sensual desire occurs, one is aware of that. . . . One is just aware, just mindful: "There is a mental object." And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection The fourth basis for the establishment of mindfulness is the mindfulness of mental objects. While mindfulness of mind focuses on the quality of consciousness, mindfulness of mental objects turns to the specific contents of consciousness. Every moment is a moment of knowing something, and the mind takes up one object after another just as a monkey takes hold of one branch after another as it swings through the trees. Here we notice this. Daily Practice The text does not direct us to be aware of whatever random thoughts come to mind but leads us through a number of specific mental objects as understood by Buddhist psychology. We center here on the first of the five hindrances. Notice when sensual desire is present in the mind and when it is absent. Notice also how it arises and how you can decide to abandon or let go of it. We are practicing observing mental flux.  RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the Fourth Phase of Absorption (4th Jhāna) With the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous disappearance of joy and grief, one enters into and abides in the fourth phase of absorption, which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure and purity of mindfulness as a result of equanimity. The concentrated mind is thus purified, bright, unblemished, rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability. (MN 4) Reflection The four stages of mental absorption described in the system of jhānas culminate with the attainment of a profound and imperturbable equanimity. In this state the mind is free of both craving and aversion, neither favors nor opposes any mental object, and is able to simply regard things as they actually are, undistorted by our projections and fears. Notice also that such equanimity has the effect of purifying mindfulness. Daily Practice Sitting quietly and allowing the mind to become more and more peaceful, progressively "more unified, and gradually steadier will eventually culminate in the quality of mind described here. This is not a transcendent state but rather a natural, immanent state of mind. See if you can allow your mind to become still like tranquil water and watch the mind reflect whatever comes before it without distortion.  Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of Suffering One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Body and Abiding in the First Jhāna Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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