Via Daily Dharma: Automatic Stories

 

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Automatic Stories Stories are automatic, and they can carry you away. They can agitate the mind, which in turn agitates the body and shakes up your world in general. Susan Bauer-Wu, “Tuning Into the Body” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

What Am I? By Haemin Sunim Practice with the koan “What is the most precious thing in the world?” Read more »

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) Here a person rouses the will, makes an effort, stirs up energy, exerts the mind, and strives to abandon arisen unhealthy mental states. One abandons the arisen hindrance of sluggishness. (MN 141)

Reflection Unhealthy or unhelpful states come up all the time. The early teaching was not simply to be aware of everything but also to discern what is unhealthy and learn how to abandon it. Alertness is a more helpful mental state than sluggishness, and it is therefore beneficial to remain alert as much as possible. Rest and sleep when appropriate, but when you are awake practice being really alert and fully conscious. Daily Practice There is nothing morally wrong with sluggishness of mind. The problem is just that it prevents the mind from working well and is therefore a hindrance to seeing clearly. When you feel drowsy or sleepy, or you feel your mind getting dull, explore how many ways you can dispel this temporary state and restore a sense of alertness. It is a matter of raising the level of energy in the body and/or the mind. Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and 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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Meditation Month Day 30

 

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PRACTICE PROMPT Nirvana is freedom without a cause.   If there were a cause, nirvana would be conditional and impermanent. This means that no amount of effort can produce nirvana, because it does not arise from causes. If you are practicing with the idea that your effort will engender nirvana, notice that you are still treating it as a special goal to be achieved. In doing so, you are actually reinforcing the grasping that is the defining characteristic of samsara.

Related Content Finding Happiness By No Longer Looking at It In an episode of Tricycle Talks, Haemin Sunim explains how we can let go of superficial notions of happiness and instead relax into the present moment. Listen now » The Path to Awakening Korean nun and Seon master Daehaeng explains that enlightenment is not something to be reached. It is right here if we can rid ourselves of ignorance and defilements.   Read more » Follow Us

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Via Daily Dharma: Belonging to Each Other

 

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Belonging to Each Other With our collective wholesome intentions we can make a world that exists in the truth of what is—or, as author Ruth King would have it, a world where we belong to each other. Camille Shigetsu Goodison, “Letting in All the Ancestors” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Koan Practice: What Was I Before My Parents Gave Birth to Me? By Haemin Sunim In this excerpt from Tricycle’s Meditation Month, revisit different stages in your life and how you once perceived the world to regain a sense of wonder and connection. Read more »

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Living: Abstaining from Taking What is Not Given

 

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RIGHT LIVING Undertaking the Commitment to Abstain from Taking What is Not Given Taking what is not given is unhealthy. Refraining from taking what is not given is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning the taking of what is not given, one abstains from taking what is not given; one does not take by way of theft the wealth and property of others. (MN 41) One practices thus: "Others may take what is not given, but I will abstain from taking what is not given." (MN 8) One is to practice thus: "Here, regarding things seen by you, in the seen there will be just the seen." When, firmly mindful, one sees a form, one is not inflamed by lust for forms; one experiences it with a dispassionate mind and does not remain holding it tightly. (SN 35.95)

Reflection The precept against stealing is pretty straightforward and obvious, but here a more subtle aspect of that teaching is being addressed. Beyond the obvious—taking an object that has not been given—there are ways in which any object can serve as the launching point of a complex narrative about ourselves. Objects, such as a casual remark overheard, can be appropriated by the self and turned into things way beyond what they actually are. Daily Practice When you look at (or hear or think of) an object, practice seeing it only for what it is, without attachment and without automatically regarding it in terms of how it relates to you and what it can do for you, or otherwise entangling the object with your own sense of self. Instead of allowing an object to trigger a whole process of "stealing" it for your own story, practice just letting it be what it is. Bare attention to an object avoids unnecessary proliferation. Tomorrow: Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States One week from today: Abstaining from Misbehaving Among Sensual Pleasures Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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