A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
Whatever you intend,
whatever you plan, and whatever you have a tendency toward, that will
become the basis on which your mind is established. (SN 12.40) Develop
meditation on equanimity, for when you develop meditation on equanimity,
all aversion is abandoned. (MN 62)
The function of equanimity is to see equality in beings. (Vm 9.93)
Having heard a sound with the ear, one is neither glad-minded nor
sad-minded but abides with equanimity, mindful and fully aware. (AN 6.1)
Reflection
Equanimity is the active ingredient in mindfulness practice. Here we see it as the fourth of the brahma-viharas.
Equanimity means an evenly balanced mind, like a plate on a stick that
inclines neither toward nor away from an object of experience. It is the
midpoint between greed (attraction) and hatred (aversion), and is
therefore a state in which the mind can be free from the influence of
both.
Daily Practice
As we cycle
through the senses, we are encouraged here to work with the sense
modality of sound. So often we reach for the sounds that we like and
make us feel good, and avoid or recoil from the sounds that we don’t
like and make us feel bad. At this basic level of sensory input, can you
practice being mindful and fully aware of a sound without either
favoring or opposing it? Try to let the sound be what it is, without
relating it to yourself and your preferences.
Tomorrow: Refraining from Frivolous Speech One week from today: Cultivating Lovingkindness
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Tricycle Meditation Month 2026 Awakening with Zen Koans with Haemin Sunim
Start the new year exploring your true nature through Zen koan meditation with Tricycle’s free 31-day Meditation Month. When you sign up, you’ll get weekly video teachings, daily meditation prompts, and access to an online sangha for community support. Join today to start from day one.
RIGHT VIEW Understanding the Noble Truth of the Way to the Cessation of Suffering
And what is the way leading to the cessation of suffering? It is just this noble eightfold path: that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right living, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. (MN 9)
It happens that a fully awakened Buddha arises in the world, endowed with wisdom and impeccable behavior. Having realized awakening himself, he teaches the Dhamma, lovely in the beginning, middle, and end, and demonstrates a purified spiritual life. The Dhamma taught by the Buddha is heard by people, who gain trust in the Buddha and his teaching. (DN 2)
Reflection
After the first three noble truths have pointed out the existence of suffering, identified its cause as craving, and attested that craving can be ended, the fourth noble truth focuses on the treatment plan to follow in order to cure suffering. The eightfold path is an integrated path of gradually purifying behavior in the world, developing the mind through meditation, and understanding the nature of things more clearly.
Daily Practice
This path is a call to adventure, an invitation to undertake the process of gradual transformation that will carry anyone from a condition of affliction, moderate or grave, to one of greater happiness and well-being. It starts with hearing the teachings and having just enough trust to take your first steps and begin putting those teachings into practice. The path calls for many small steps taken carefully and mindfully.
Tomorrow: Cultivating Equanimity One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth of Suffering
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Today’s contemplation is to recognize how much is unknown. As you encounter people and ideas, notice the subtle pull to appear as “the expert,” even when it comes to Buddhism. Can you soften the need to know and let life stay open and limitless?
Wisdom is easier to access when the mind is humble. Rest in the understanding that reality is far bigger than any viewpoint. Humility is not a lack of knowledge but a willingness to meet what is, freshly.