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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and the Third Jhāna

 

RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Body 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)

Reflection The third foundation on which mindfulness is established, mindfulness of mind, involves noticing the impact of various emotions and attitudes on the mind. Consciousness simply reflects whatever object comes before it, but then we respond to the object with love or hate, wanting or not wanting, and all kinds of judgments favoring or opposing it. With mindfulness we are content with watching this as it occurs. Daily Practice After you gain skill in observing the bodily sensations that accompany breathing in and out and then bringing mindfulness to bear on pleasant and unpleasant feeling tones, next focus on the influence craving and aversion may or may not have on your mind in any given moment. When you like something, be aware of that. When you dislike something, be aware of that. This is the starting point of mindfulness of mind.  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) Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Way to the Cessation of Suffering One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects and Abiding in 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 Body Is a Gift

 Through the lens of the dharma, the body is revealed to be a precious gift with which we may pursue the great opportunity of awakening. 

Matthew Gindin, “The Body in Buddhadharma: Three Perspectives”

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Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - November 20, 2022 💌

 
 

Spiritual practices, compared to having sex or compared to taking coke or something, is more like delayed gratification versus immediate gratification. So when you start to stand back and see your predicament and see what you’re doing, there’s a way, from a spiritual perspective, in which you begin with that slight bit of awareness to extricate yourself from the chain of reactivity that we’re talking about.


From Here & Now Podcast - Ep. 186 – The Chain of Reactivity

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Developing Unarisen Healthy States

 

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)

Reflection What do you do when you are in the grip of an unhealthy mood, filled with a steady stream of unhealthy mental and emotional states? Sometimes you just have to take the initiative and change the channel, so to speak. Just as you might decide to prepare and eat a meal if you are hungry or take a walk if you are restless, so too you can decide to develop healthy states and, by various means, invite them to arise in your mind. Daily Practice You might adopt the practice of each day choosing a healthy state to develop and then working to deliberately bring it to mind. Maybe generosity one day, kindness another, or compassion all week. It is just a matter of making a decision to call to mind that particular positive quality. Choose to think kind thoughts about someone or decide to do a kind act, and you will find that the emotional state of kindness will naturally arise. Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and 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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Via Daily Dharma: Listening Without Distinction

 Our minds, not our hearing organs, make the distinction between sound and silence. But if you practice listening until you no longer make distinctions, you develop a power that is liberating. 

Dharma Master Hsin Tao, “Listening to Silence”

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Living: Abstaining from Misbehaving Among Sensual Pleasures

 

RIGHT LIVING Undertaking the Commitment to Abstain from Misbehaving Among Sensual Pleasures  Sensual misconduct is unhealthy. Refraining from sensual misconduct is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning sensual misconduct, one abstains from misbehaving among sensual pleasures. (MN 41) One practices thus: “Others may engage in sensual misconduct, but I will abstain from sensual misconduct.” (MN 8)

Reflection There are so many ways it is possible to misbehave among sensual pleasures. Anything that feels good has the power to seduce us, and it does not take much for us to want more and more of almost anything. It is not that such pleasures are bad or evil, just that the pursuit of them can expand out of proportion and distort our behavior. It is empowering to understand this and temper our relationship to pleasure accordingly. Daily Practice Notice when something feels pleasurable and examine the texture of that sensation closely. Then let it go, as all transitory episodes of experience will inevitably cease. It is okay to welcome pleasure into your house as a guest, so to speak, as long as you also escort it to the door and wave goodbye when the time comes. It is when we chase after pleasure or try to hold on to it that we are in danger of misbehaving.  Tomorrow: Developing Unarisen Healthy States One week from today: Abstaining from Intoxication 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: How Sitting Posture Helps Us

 The sitting posture itself can be a kind of crucible for burning off the tensions and restrictions to body and breath that all too often keep us lost in thought and unaware of feeling presence.

Will Johnson, “Full Body, Empty Mind”

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Action: Reflecting upon Mental Action

 

RIGHT ACTION Reflecting Upon Mental Action However the seed is planted, in that way the fruit is gathered. Good things come from doing good deeds; bad things come from doing bad deeds. (SN 11.10) What is the purpose of a mirror? For the purpose of reflection. So too mental action is to be done with repeated reflection. (MN 61)

Reflection To be alive is to take action every moment. Even when we are not moving our bodies or speaking out loud, our minds are always doing something. (You may have noticed this in the meditation hall.) Moreover, what the mind does in one moment sets the stage for what it will do the next moment. This is why it is so important to be consciously aware of what is happening in your mind—that allows you to direct the process somewhat. Daily Practice Develop the habit of noticing what your mind is doing as it does it. And when appropriate, do not be shy about consciously directing what actions your mind undertakes. If you are in the grips of an unhealthy state, do what you can to abandon it. If a healthy mental or emotional state is arising, work on maintaining it. Plant your seeds carefully, and you will harvest healthy fruit. Good things come from right action. Tomorrow: Abstaining from Misbehaving Among Sensual Pleasures One week from today: Reflecting upon Social Action Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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