Thursday, September 5, 2024

Via Daily Dharma: Literature as Spirituality

 

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Literature as Spirituality

Literature models a truth of spiritual life: that there are moments we come to when our thinking is suspended, and when an old knowing has been dropped and the attachment to a new knowing has not yet arisen.

Henry Shukman, “The Art of Being Wrong”


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Wednesday, September 4, 2024

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Speech: Refraining from False Speech

 

RIGHT SPEECH
Refraining from False Speech
False speech is unhealthy. Refraining from false speech is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning false speech, one dwells refraining from false speech, a truth-speaker, one to be relied on, trustworthy, dependable, not a deceiver of the world. One does not in full awareness speak falsehood for one’s own ends or for another’s ends or for some trifling worldly end. (DN 1) One practices thus: “Others may speak falsely, but I shall abstain from false speech.” (MN 8)

When one knows overt sharp speech to be true, correct, and unbeneficial, one should try not to utter it. (MN 139)
Reflection
It is easy for us to admonish other people and point out their faults, especially when we are right about them. The meaning of right speech does not end with the admonition to speak the truth; it also guides us to say only what is beneficial. What is gained by  calling someone a jerk if doing so does not help them become less of a jerk? Skillful speech not only speaks the truth but also works to improve any given situation.
Daily Practice
See if you can discern in any given situation what will be beneficial to say and what will not. Publicly calling out someone’s faults can feel gratifying, especially when it seems entirely justified, but it may do more harm than good. If what you want to say does not contribute in some way to an overall improvement of things, you should resist the temptation to speak out and should try not to utter hurtful speech, even if it is true.
Tomorrow: Reflecting upon Bodily Action
One week from today: Refraining from Malicious Speech

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Via Daily Dharma: The Illusion of Busy

 

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The Illusion of Busy

Everybody complains that they’re so busy they haven’t got any time. But why are they so busy? It’s only their illusions that keep them busy. A person who practices zazen has time. When you practice zazen, you have more time than anyone else in the world.

Kodo Sawaki Roshi, “To You”


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Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation //

 


As long as you have certain desires about how it ought to be you can't see how it is.

 - Ram Dass -

Via FB // Jack Nichols

 



Tuesday, September 3, 2024

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Intention: Cultivating Lovingkindness

 

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RIGHT INTENTION
Cultivating Lovingkindness
Whatever you intend, whatever you plan, and whatever you have a tendency toward, that will become the basis on which your mind is established. (SN 12.40) Develop meditation on loving kindness, for when you develop meditation on lovingkindness, all ill will will be abandoned. (MN 62) 

Lovingkindness is the way to purity for one who has much ill will. (Vm 9.108)               
Reflection
Since every hurtful emotion has a corresponding helpful one that acts as a potential antidote, take advantage of this fact when next you are feeling consumed by aversion. In any moment when you feel ill will, you have the option of feeling kindness in its place, and you will be better off replacing the one with the other. You don’t necessarily have to forgive anyone their actions; you need only to feel different inside yourself.
Daily Practice
Feeling grumpy? Annoyed as all get-out with someone? Furious over somebody’s hurtful words or actions and ready to kill them (figuratively speaking, of course)? Take a closer look: Who is getting hurt here? As much as you might wish for the harm of the other person, it is really only you who is being harmed by your ill will. Take a moment to change the script and see if you can develop some lovingkindness instead. It helps.
Tomorrow: Refraining from False Speech
One week from today: Cultivating Compassion

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Via Daily Dharma: The Need to Love

 

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The Need to Love

The need to love and to be loved is real and present in every one of us. 

Sister Dang Nghiem, “How to Be Your Own Soulmate”


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Monday, September 2, 2024

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

 

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RIGHT VIEW
Understanding the Noble Truth of Suffering
When people have met with suffering and become victims of suffering, they come to me and ask me about the noble truth of suffering. Being asked, I explain to them the noble truth of suffering. (MN 77) What is suffering? (MN 9)

Not to get what one wants is suffering. There comes the wish: “Oh, that we were not subject to birth, aging, sickness, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair! Oh, that birth, aging, sickness, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair would not come to us!” But this is not to be obtained by wishing, and not to obtain what one wants is suffering. (MN 9)
Reflection
What exactly does psychological suffering feel like? It is the raw experience of craving itself, the yearning for something that you cannot have, the desperate need for something to go away that is afflicting you, the primal fear of the existential fragility of the human situation. The noble truth of suffering acknowledges all this, but also recognizes that this suffering can be understood and resolved, and thus holds out hope.
Daily Practice
Allow yourself to feel and explore the psychological pain of not getting what you want. It is not just the yearning for something you feel you need, like thirsting for water, but includes the desperate urge to get free of something afflicting you. Notice also that wishing to get what you want or for what you hate to go away is never effective. There is no escape from suffering except by going directly through the craving that causes it.
Tomorrow: Cultivating Lovingkindness
One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering

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Via Daily Dharma: Grieving with Gratitude

 

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 Grieving with Gratitude

Grief is an ancestor who teaches us to exercise constant and immense gratitude. 

Mimi Zhu, “Grief Is an Ancestor”


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