Via Daily Dharma: The First Buddhist Women

 

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The First Buddhist Women The women of the Therigatha are not limited by their suffering, nor does it define them. The wonder of it all is that, despite the pain (and perhaps in part because of it), these women tried for something more. Vanessa R. Sasson, “When Women Showed Up” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

The Chain of Being By Jane Naomi Iwamura The Shin tradition of grave remembrance connects the living and the dead. Read more »  The Lama’s Son Directed by Kesang Tseten This month's film pick illuminates the lesser-known practices and beliefs of Bon followers, and the challenges they face in ensuring the survival of their heritage in today’s rapidly globalizing world. 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 Mind and the Third Jhāna

 

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RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Mind 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 the mind is devoid of aversion, one is aware "the mind is devoid of aversion" … One is just aware, just mindful: "There is mind." And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection Mindfulness can be established and sustained by focusing on the quality of consciousness itself. Consciousness is colored in every moment by subtle or obvious emotional tones, in particular by various forms of greed, hatred, and delusion. These states are toxic, but the mind is often free of them for fleeting moments. Here we are invited to notice when the mind is free from hatred in its many forms.     Daily Practice Aversion is a quality of mind that comes and goes. Sometimes we are annoyed at something, and sometimes we are not. Sometimes we hate something and wish it would go away, and sometimes we do not. This is a practice of noticing the flickering moods of the mind, of becoming aware of the emotional strands that arise in the mind and then vanish. In particular, notice when your mind is free of any trace of aversion. RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the Third Phase of Absorption (3rd Jhāna) With the fading away of joy, one abides in equanimity; mindful and fully aware, still feeling pleasure with the body, one enters upon and abides in the third phase of absorption, on account of which noble ones announce: "One has a pleasant abiding who has equanimity and is mindful." (MN 4) When one sees oneself purified of all these unhealthy states and thus liberated from them, gladness is born. When one is glad, joy is born; in one who is joyful, the body becomes tranquil; one whose body is tranquil feels pleasure; in one who feels pleasure, the mind becomes concentrated. (MN 40) Reflection Pleasure is as natural and inevitable a part of human experience as pain, and like pain it is not to be feared or avoided. The challenge is to not be carried away by either, and to abide with both with equanimity. The unhealthy pursuit of pleasure can lead to all sorts of problems, but there are some cases, like this one, when pleasure is an ally. There is a healthy pleasure that comes simply from the experience of a tranquil body. Daily Practice Pleasure can be a gateway leading from tranquility to concentration. Allow yourself to feel how pleasant it is to be calm. Temporarily free from the rush of restlessness, and not, for the moment, driven by all kinds of pressures to do and accomplish things, take some time to allow yourself to fully feel the deep pleasure of a calm and tranquil moment. This is the pleasure of being, not doing. Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Way to the Cessation of Suffering One week from today:  Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects and the Fourth Jhāna 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: The Light of Reality

 

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The Light of Reality The sense of self creates a feeling of solidity, like the apparent solidity of the clouds veiling the face of the sun, but at certain moments a gap is opened up, through which we may receive a glimpse of the light of reality. Francesca Fremantle, “The Luminous Gap in Bardo” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

What Do Buddhists Think of Fort Worth’s “Walk for Peace” Monks? By Tricycle Looking back on this historic journey, Tricycle talks with teachers and authors about the significance of Walk for Peace 2026. Read more »  The Lama’s Son Directed by Kesang Tseten This month's film pick illuminates the lesser-known practices and beliefs of Bon followers, and the challenges they face in ensuring the survival of their heritage in today’s rapidly globalizing world. Watch now » Follow Us Forward today's wisdom to a friend »

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Developing Unarisen Healthy States

 

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RIGHT EFFORT Developing Unarisen Healthy States Whatever a person frequently thinks about and ponders, that will become the inclination of their mind. If one frequently thinks about and ponders healthy states, one has abandoned unhealthy states to cultivate healthy states, and then one’s mind inclines to healthy states. (MN 19) Here a person rouses the will, makes an effort, stirs up energy, exerts the mind, and strives to develop the arising of unarisen healthy mental states. One develops the unarisen joy-awakening factor. (MN 141)

Reflection Happiness is a skill that can be learned, and it can be practiced again and again as a living presence. We are all capable of experiencing happy and healthy states of mind, but sometimes we need to remember to experience them as a conscious and deliberate act. At any point, we can in principle draw out of a pool of latent tendencies the active manifestation of a positive state such as joy, thus waking it up and bringing it to life.  Daily Practice Try the exercise of deliberately cultivating joy as an active and present state of mind. This does not mean pretending to be joyful as a kind of false overlay to feelings that are not joyful. It means consciously developing actual joy and allowing it to replace whatever other feeling might be in the mind at the moment. Joy is accessible; it is just a matter of remembering to get in touch with it as a living emotion. Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and Abiding in the Third Jhāna One week from today: Maintaining Arisen Healthy States Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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