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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and Abiding in the Second Jhāna

 

RIGHT MINDFULNESS
Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling

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 feeling a common painful feeling, one is aware: “Feeling a common painful feeling.” When feeling an uncommon painful feeling, one is aware: “Feeling an uncommon painful feeling”. . . One is just aware, just mindful: “There is feeling.” And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection

Common feelings are those that come with ordinary experience, while uncommon feelings are connected with more subtle psychological and meditative experience. Remember, feelings in this context are not what we commonly think of as emotions; rather feelings refer to physical and mental sensations of pleasure and pain. Here we are directed to take note of the painful sensations with the equanimity of mindfulness.

Daily Practice

Pay close attention to what it feels like when something is painful, both physically and mentally, as a way of practicing the second foundation of mindfulness. This means you are not resenting or resisting the pain but merely taking an interest in it and investigating its nuances with a balanced mind. Pain need not be seen as “bad,” but rather can be explored as a different texture on the continuum of lived experience.

RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the Second Phase of Absorption (2nd Jhāna)

With the stilling of applied and sustained thought, one enters upon and abides in the second phase of absorption, which has inner clarity and singleness of mind, without applied thought and sustained thought but with joy and the pleasure born of concentration. (MN 4)

Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering
One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and Abiding in the Third Jhāna

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Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

Via Daily Dharma: Renunciation to Reveal Wisdom

 We need to give up what obscures the abiding wisdom and the abiding reality that is already here.

Tim Olmsted, “The Great Experiment”

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Via Emergence Magazine // Behold the Land

 

GALLERY Behold the Land by Sheila Pree Bright  “I feel it in the air, a new start, a new foundation  The beauty of Mother Earth” Deepening our relationship to a place can sometimes be painful, especially in landscapes that have witnessed human brutality and violence. But engaging the earth in this way can open spaces of receptivity, where reclamation and healing become possible. As we continue our exploration of Roots, we follow photographer Sheila Pree Bright through her home state of Georgia. Inspired by W.E.B. Du Bois’s speech “Behold the Land,” Sheila focuses her portrait lens on the Southern landscape where she encounters personhood and spirit in the presence of the land. As her camera reveals layers of darkness and light, she is guided through the past, across the present, and into the future. VIEW GALLERY

"Hino" ao Inominável

Via White Crane Institute // THE NEW YORK TIMES

 

Noteworthy

1857 Edition of the new York Times

1851 -

The first edition of THE NEW YORK TIMES was published on this date. Since 1918, at last count, the Gray Lady has won 133 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other news organization. 

The New York Times resisted the word gay until 1987, preferring homosexual (now, it prefers the word gay in most contexts). In the early 2000s, when same-sex marriage was a brand-new concept, gays were routinely described in mainstream media as homosexuals. Today, use of the word is less and less frequent. A Google Books scan shows a sharp decline in its use in recent years after peaking around 1995.

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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

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Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - September 18, 2022 💌

 

"You couldn’t possibly be lonely, because where could you go? Do you think if I go in my bathroom and lock the door I can be lonely? I can’t be. It’s always one thought away: The living spirit, the community of our consciousness, that guru inside, is always one thought away."

- Ram Dass -

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States

 

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) Abandoning doubt, one abides having gone beyond doubt; unperplexed about healthy states, one purifies the mind of doubt. (MN 51) Just as a person, laden with goods and wealth, who undertakes a long journey across a dangerous wilderness, would make it safely through with their goods to safety, so would one rejoice and be glad about the abandoning of doubt. (DN 2)

Reflection

Our text likens doubt to the insecurities felt while undertaking a dangerous journey, something that would have been commonplace to the merchants of ancient India. It is a sense of uneasiness around vague but real threats, and the image describes very well what today we might call anxiety. Might anxieties be regarded as unhealthy states, and might it be possible to simply abandon them, as described here?

Daily Practice

Notice when you feel anxious about or wary of little things in your daily experience, and see if you can just abandon them. I'm not referring to a diagnosed anxiety disorder here but to the many small worries we have that might respond to this sort of approach. Ask yourself if these doubts are helpful, and when you realize they are not, see if you can let go of them simply by deciding "not to go there” just now.

Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and Abiding in 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.

Via Daily Dharma: Imperfection Doesn’t Limit Us

 Imperfect, limited, and vulnerable as I am, the sun still shines upon me, things do work out, food appears, rain falls, wonderful conversations take place, and the grass grows without any help from me.

Dharmavidya David Brazier, “Unconditional Love”

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Via Tricycle // 5 Meditation Tips for Beginners

 

5 Meditation Tips for Beginners
By The Editors

Establishing a meditation practice isn’t always easy. Take some advice from the experts with these tips, resources, and guided meditations for beginners.

Read more »

Via Tricycle // Living Well in Difficult Times: Perspectives on Buddhism and Human Flourishing

 

Living Well in Difficult Times: Perspectives on Buddhism and Human Flourishing
With Kaira Jewel Lingo, Stephen Batchelor, Sylvia Boorstein, David Nichtern, Dr. Nida Chenagtsang, and others

How can Buddhist teachings help us to thrive during times of crisis? Join us for a weeklong virtual summit featuring conversations on dharma and human flourishing.

Sign up now »

Via White Crane Institute // Elvira, Mistress of the Dark

 

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Cassandra Peterson AKA Elvira, Mistress of the Dark

1951 -

CASSANDRA PETERSON is an American actress, writer and singer born on this date. She is best known for her portrayal of the horror hostess character Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Peterson gained fame on Los Angeles television station KHJ-TV in her stage persona as Elvira, hosting Elvira's Movie Macabre, a weekly B movie presentation.

Inspired by Ann-Margret in the film Viva Las Vegas, while on a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, during high school, she convinced her parents to let her see a live show where she was noticed by the production staff; despite being only 17 years old, she convinced her parents to let her sign a contract. Immediately after graduating high school, she drove back to Las Vegas, where she became a showgirl in Frederic Apcar's pioneering "Vive Les Girls!" at The Dunes; there, she met Elvis Presley, with whom she went on a date. She had a small role as a showgirl in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever and played a topless dancer in the film The Working Girls. She is also claimed to have posed for the cover of Tom Waits' album Small Change; Peterson has since described it as "a giant mystery" claiming that while she has no memory of the event, the picture looks enough like her that she feels "pretty sure" it is her.

In the early 1970s, Peterson moved to Italy and became lead singer of the Italian rock bands Latins 80 and The Snails. After being introduced to film director Federico Fellini by the producer of a documentary on Las Vegas showgirls in which she had appeared, she landed a small part in the film Roma. When she returned to the United States, she toured nightclubs and discos around the country with a musical/comedy act, Mammas Boys. In 1979, she joined the Los Angeles-based improvisational troupe The Groundlings, where she created a Valley girl-type character upon whom the Elvira persona is largely based.

Peterson auditioned for the role of Ginger Grant for the third Gilligan's Island television movie in 1981, shortly before KHJ-TV offered her the horror host position. Peterson also was a personality on Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM 106.7 from 1982 to 1983.

In the late spring of 1981, six years after the death of Larry Vincent, who starred as host Sinister Seymour of a Los Angeles weekend horror show called Fright Night, show producers began to bring the show back.

The producers decided to use a female host. They asked 1950s’ horror hostess Maila Nurmi to revive The Vampira Show. Nurmi worked on the project for a short time, but quit when the producers would not hire Lola Falana to play Vampira. The station sent out a casting call, and Peterson auditioned and won the role. Producers left it up to her to create the role's image. She and her best friend, Robert Redding, came up with the sexy punk/vampire look after producers rejected her original idea to look like Sharon Tate's character in The Fearless Vampire Killers.

Shortly before the first taping, producers received a cease and desist letter from Nurmi. Besides the similarities in the format and costumes, Elvira's closing line for each show, wishing her audience "Unpleasant dreams", was notably similar to Vampira's closer: "Bad dreams, darlings..." uttered as she walked off down a misty corridor. The court ruled in favor of Peterson, holding that "'likeness' means actual representation of another person's appearance, and not simply close resemblance." Peterson claimed that Elvira was nothing like Vampira aside from the basic design of the black dress and black hair. Nurmi claimed that Vampira's image was based on Morticia Addams, a character in Charles Addams's cartoons that appeared in The New Yorker magazine.

Peterson's Elvira character rapidly gained notice with her tight-fitting, low-cut, cleavage-displaying black gown. Adopting the flippant tone of a California "Valley girl", she brought a satirical, sarcastic edge to her commentary. She reveled in dropping risqué double entendres and making frequent jokes about her cleavage. 

The Elvira character soon evolved from an obscure cult figure to a lucrative brand. She was associated with many products through the 1980s and 1990s, including Halloween costumes, comic books, action figures, trading cards, pinball machines, Halloween decor, model kits, calendars, perfume and dolls. She has appeared on the cover of Femme Fatales magazine five times. Her popularity reached its zenith with the release of the 1988 feature film Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, on whose script, written directly for the screen, Peterson collaborated with John Paragon and Sam Egan.

Peterson married musician Mark Pierson in 1981, and he soon became her personal manager. They had one daughter, Sadie Pierson, and were divorced in 2003.

In her 2021 memoir, Peterson revealed that she has been in a relationship with a woman, Teresa “T” Wierson, for 19 years. They began their romantic relationship following Peterson's separation from her husband.

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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

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The One Intelligent Thing That Alexander Did - Sadhguru

The unheard story of David and Goliath | Malcolm Gladwell

Is it OK to Masturbate? – Sadhguru Answers

Turn your 🍆 into your Best Friend

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

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) On touching a bodily sensation with the body, one does not grasp at its signs and features. Since if one left the body faculty unguarded, unwholesome states of covetousness and grief might intrude, one practices the way of its restraint, guards the body faculty, and undertakes the restraint of the body faculty. (MN 51)

Reflection

The sense of touch is so basic, so intimate, and so alluring a feature of embodied existence that we generally cannot help reaching for what feels good and recoiling from what feels bad. Yet by doing this we are in a way taking more than is given, as we try to leverage the raw sensations and manipulate the next moment into something more favorable for us. This is, in fact, the source of most of our problems.

Daily Practice

Practice regarding the physical sensations that constantly flow from your body to your mind with detached curiosity. Some feel good, some feel bad—interesting! Resist trying to shape the next moment into something other than what it will naturally become by grasping for more gratification or pushing away any discomfort. This ability to be with what is, rather than yearning for something else, eliminates most suffering.

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.

 

Via Daily Dharma: Assessing Our Actions

 If we are not willing to see and accept those events in which we have been the source of others’ suffering, then we cannot truly know ourselves or the grace by which we live.

Gregg Krech, “Naikan Therapy”

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Via Facebook // wat si chum