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 doubt is internally present, one is aware: “Doubt is present for me.” When doubt is not present, one is aware: “Doubt is not present for me.” When the arising of unarisen doubt occurs, one  is aware of that. And when the abandoning of arisen doubt 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 As we cycle through the five hindrances as arising and passing mental objects, we come to the last one, doubt. Some doubt is healthy, but this is the sort of doubt that prevents you from seeing clearly and is an obstacle to further progress along the path. It may take the form of self-doubt or doubting that you are practicing correctly. In meditation you can just be aware doubt is there, and let it go without buying in to what it is saying. Daily Practice The next time you feel the kind of doubt that impedes your ability to function well, take some time to examine it phenomenologically. That is to say, pay careful attention to what it feels like and how it is arising and passing away each moment, and learn to recognize it as just another mental factor that comes and goes. Understanding the transient nature of doubt gives you power to “ride out” its influence on your mind. 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 upon and abides in the fourth phase of absorption, which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure, and purity of mindfulness due to 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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Thank you Ed!

I recently found out a mentor, academic\professional father figure of mine passed away. 

THANK YOU ED, You are and will always be an eternal example for me... 

I can truthfully say that without your mentorship there would not be a Prof. Orey. Your countless acts of patience with me, your civility, kindness, mentorship and guiding are eternally appreciated.  

Your guiding me thru departamental politics, learnign to avoid snakes and lions... Helping juggle my schedule, going through promotion, and encouraging me when things were tough. The times we spent in our office hours just playing board games and discussing mathematics. The card games and poker club, Bay to Breakers, sharing ideas... my heart is full and so very grateful! 

Your coaching of me, especially as a young father was essential.

When I went through a rather dramatic brake up and I was still in Brasil, "he who shall not be named" came to your office (by then you were Department Chair) and he demanded that you fire me, you told him that "if we fired people who divorced we loose 1/2 the faculty". Your civil calm, gentle way of telling people to f#"k off was a lesson forever learned as well. Your helping  me thru that tough time, your helping Milton with his masters... well there are just no words. 

My last  contact with you was after surviving cancer, and trying to decide if I should retire or keep going... you encouraged me to keep going, and I will!

I can say that how I work with students and colleagues, especially now as I reach the end of my career, I use your example, strength through deep kindness and respect.

E=mc²

Thank you dear Prof Arnsdorf!

Edgar Cayce Reveals the Final Plan for Souls Born 1945–1965

 

Watch ""Handel's Messiah in Grace Cathedral" (complete) • Beautiful HD • American Bach Soloists" on YouTube

 

Watch "London LGBT choir celebrates same-sex marriage" on YouTube

 

Watch "Buddhist Mantra on vocal live-looping[meditation/mindfulness/yoga/sleep/exercise]" on YouTube

 

Source: 80,000 Hours Daniel Kokotajlo on what a hyperspeed robot economy might look like | 80,000 Hours

 

Via Alison Marshall \\ Cosmic Conversations Blog

 

Cosmic Conversations Blog Tracing Baha'u'llah's voice across the architecture of thought

How to Find Lawh‑i‑Sarraj (and Why It’s Not Straightforward) Author: Alison Marshall Categories: Distilled Insights A practical guide to navigating the Phelps Project, the Baha’i Library Online, and the AI translations Someone recently told me on Facebook that he couldn’t find the translation of Lawh‑i‑Sarraj, which I have been discussing in recent blog posts. That didn’t surprise me. Finding this tablet, or any tablet in the Phelps AI‑translation collection, is not straightforward. The translations are tucked away, and the tools needed to locate them live across multiple platforms. Unless you know how the system works, nothing is easy to find. This post explains the basics of the Phelps Project, how it connects to the Baha’i Library Online, and finally, how to locate Lawh‑i‑Sarraj (or any other tablet) in the Phelps AI‑translation collection.

Watch "Let Angels Carry You Today - Caleb Walker | The Song That Broke Everyone In Tears" on YouTube

 

Watch "What Cremation Actually Does to Your Atoms — Feynman's Physics of Fire" on YouTube

 

You're made of about 7 billion billion billion atoms. After cremation, only 3–4% stays in the box. So where does the other 96% go — and what were those atoms doing inside you in the first place?

In this video, we follow the physics of fire all the way down to the atomic level, tracing every pound from body to atmosphere and beyond. Inspired by Feynman's explanations of conservation laws, atomic motion, and stellar nucleosynthesis in The Feynman Lectures on Physics and The Character of Physical Law, this lecture rebuilds your understanding of what fire actually does — and what "you" even are, physically.

TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 What is a flame actually made of? 3:30 Your body broken down atom by atom 7:45 Pyrolysis and combustion — what the furnace does 12:20 Following 145 lbs of gas up the chimney 16:00 The energy accounting 18:15 Your atoms were never yours to begin with 21:40 Forged inside a dying star 25:10 You are a pattern, not a thing 📚 SOURCES: • Richard P. Feynman, Robert B. Leighton, Matthew Sands — The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume I (Ch. 1: Atoms in Motion; Ch. 3: The Relation of Physics to Other Sciences; Ch. 4: Conservation of Energy) — 1963 • Richard P. Feynman — The Character of Physical Law (Ch. 3: The Great Conservation Principles) — 1965 • Richard P. Feynman — Six Easy Pieces (Ch. 1: Atoms in Motion) — 1994 • Antoine Lavoisier — Traité Élémentaire de Chimie — 1789 • Fred Hoyle — "On Nuclear Reactions Occurring in Very Hot Stars" — Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 1954 • E. Margaret Burbidge, G.R. Burbidge, W.A. Fowler, Fred Hoyle — "Synthesis of the Elements in Stars" (B²FH paper) — Reviews of Modern Physics, 1957 🎙️ CREDITS: Script: AI-generated in the voice and spirit of Richard Feynman Narration: Synthetic TTS voice Visuals: AI-generated

Knowing your atoms will scatter and become parts of other things — does that change what the word "you" means to you? ⚠️ WARNING: [This video is AI-generated (synthetic voice and visuals). It is an original, fictional lecture inspired by Richard Feynman's teaching style and public ideas, and is not an authentic recording, endorsement, or statement by Richard Feynman or his estate. Any resemblance is for educational/creative purposes]

White Crane Institute \\\ GLENWAY WESCOTT

 

Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture since 1989
This Day in Gay History
April 11 Born Glenway Wescott Photo credit: George Platt Lynes 1901 - GLENWAY WESCOTT, Wisconsin author, born (d: 1987); A major American novelist during the 1920-1940 period and a figure in the American expatriate literary community in Paris during the 1920s Wescott was the model for the character Robert Prentiss in Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. His relationship with longtime companion Monroe Wheeler lasted from 1919 until Wescott's death. If you haven’t read Wescott’s The Grandmothers (1927) you are, quite simply, not really civilized. Not that there’s anything remotely gay about it. There isn’t. It’s simply a beautiful book, well worth discovering. Despite his literary reputation, Wescott published relatively little, but he continued writing his entire life. Having known almost everyone who was anyone in the arts during the past seventy-five years, he kept careful journals of his observations. The eventual publication of these journals will be a literary event. They provide one man’s record of who was who, and who slept with whom, during a good portion of the 20th century. Perhaps they will also explain the meaning of a spectacular Paul Cadmus painting that hung in his house. In it, three men, clearly arranged in a triangle, are sitting on a picnic blanket. The men are the photographer George Platt Lynes, museum curator Monroe Wheeler and Wescott himself. |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 Daily Dharma: Seeing Clearly

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Seeing Clearly

Love sees everything without distortion, and eventually transforms into the third Buddha wisdom, mirror-like wisdom, which sees everything clearly, just the way it is. Anne C. Klein, “The Four Immeasurables” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Maintaining Arisen Healthy States

 

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RIGHT EFFORT Maintaining Arisen 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 the healthy state, 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 maintain arisen healthy mental states. One maintains the arisen tranquility and concentration awakening factors. (MN 141)

Reflection Healthy and positive mental states arise all the time. The idea is to learn how to notice them, recognize their value, and make some effort to sustain them when they arise. This means developing habits that will reinforce qualities like kindness, generosity, compassion, and truthfulness. Slowing down, becoming peaceful, and allowing the mind to unify through focusing is particularly valuable. Daily Practice The two factors of awakening, tranquility and concentration, are considered together here because of their natural affinity with each other. Finding time to slow down, stop doing things, and simply allow the mind to become peaceful and focused is a healthy thing to do. It is not that settling the mind takes effort, but it takes effort to disengage from normal business to give the mind time to focus naturally. Once you do it, you'll see that it’s worth it.   Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects and the Fourth Jhāna One week from today: Restraining Unarisen Unhealthy States Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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