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Resting in Spiritual Consciousness Whether I’m engaging with my grandson or whether I’m going to the supermarket and talking to the person checking out my groceries, I try to be in a place of spiritual consciousness all the time. Charles Johnson, “I Must Change My Life”  CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right View: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering

 

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RIGHT VIEW Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering What is the origin of suffering? It is craving, which brings renewal of being, is accompanied by delight and lust, and delights in this and that; that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for being, and craving for non-being. (MN 9) When one does not know and see perception as it actually is, then one is attached to perception. When one is attached, one becomes infatuated, and one’s craving increases. One’s bodily and mental troubles increase, and one experiences bodily and mental suffering. (MN 149)

Reflection Perception is the mental process by which we interpret incoming sensory information and create meaning from it. Perception uses the cognitive faculties of the mind to  weave words and concepts into explanations and stories that help define the world we inhabit and our place in it. The problem is that we often take these stories to be more real than they are, at which point they can become sources of attachment. Daily Practice Learn to hold your perceptions lightly. Perception is a useful tool and can be used by wisdom to disengage us from suffering. But as with any tool, if we mishandle it we can cause harm to ourselves and others. Practice reminding yourself that your perceptions are only creating a map of the world that may or may not depict the terrain accurately. When our stories give rise to craving, they are doing more harm than good. Tomorrow: Cultivating Compassion One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering 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: Practice without Desire

 

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Practice without Desire If you want to free yourself, you have to put all your heart into your practice, patiently developing your mind every day—day in, day out—without desiring results or wisdom. Herman Schreuder, “Don’t Read, Meditate!” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Just the Essentials By Jeff Watt An exploration of Tantric deities' proper form in contemporary art.  Read more » Khata: Purity or Poison? Directed by Huatse Gyal July’s film is available now! “Khata: Purity or Poison?,” directed by Huatse Gyal, explores the paradoxical relationship between the meaning of the Khata, a sacred scarf used in much of the Tibetan Buddhist world, and its materiality, between purity and poison, to raise awareness of the unintended consequences of our good intentions. Watch now »

Via Daily Dharma: The Paradox of You and I

 

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The Paradox of You and I  My life and yours are the unfolding realization of total aloneness and total intimacy. The self is completely autonomous yet exists only in resonance with all other selves. Robert Aitken, “The Nature of the Precepts” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

The Miraculous Functioning of the “I” By Kusan Suryeon A blissful poem by Kusan Suryeon.  Read more » Khata: Purity or Poison? Directed by Huatse Gyal July’s film is available now! “Khata: Purity or Poison?,” directed by Huatse Gyal, explores the paradoxical relationship between the meaning of the Khata, a sacred scarf used in much of the Tibetan Buddhist world, and its materiality, between purity and poison, to raise awareness of the unintended consequences of our good intentions. Watch now »

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Body and the First Jhāna

 

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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)   Full awareness: when going forward and returning, looking ahead and looking away . . . one is just aware, just mindful: “There is body.” And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection Mindfulness involves focusing awareness very precisely on whatever is occurring in the present moment. Its sibling term, full awareness, expands the scope of awareness to encompass the whole sweep of a movement or activity. The two terms work together somewhat like a spotlight and a floodlight to illuminate an activity at the micro level of detail and at the macro level of broader continuity. Daily Practice Cultivate an attitude of full awareness as you go about the ordinary activities of daily life. When you are sipping tea, full awareness takes in the entire motion of lifting the cup, bringing it to the lips, sipping, swallowing, and returning the mug to the table. Many ordinary motions, like “looking ahead and looking away,” can be done every day as a practice of full awareness, complementing rather than replacing mindfulness.  RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the First Phase of Absorption (1st Jhāna) Having abandoned the five hindrances, imperfections of the mind that weaken wisdom, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, one enters and abides in the first phase of absorption, which is accompanied by applied thought and sustained thought, with joy and the pleasure born of seclusion. (MN 4) One practices: “I shall breathe in experiencing the mind;” one practices: “I shall breathe out experiencing the mind.” This is how concentration by mindfulness of breathing is developed and cultivated,  so that it is of great fruit and great benefit. (A 54.8) Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and Abiding in the Second Jhāna Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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