A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
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)
Such speech as you know to be untrue, incorrect, and unbeneficial but
which is welcome and agreeable to others—do not utter such speech. (MN
58)
Reflection
This teaching
is pointing out the unhealthy effects of flattery and other kinds of
hollow speech. Why speak something you know is untrue? Presumably in
this case to make someone else feel good or to like you more. This is a
short-term strategy that will only cause more harm than good in the
longer term. Right speech is about understanding the more subtle aspects
of cause and effect in the realm of human communication.
Daily Practice
The most direct
way to practice right speech is to undertake a serious commitment to
always speak the truth. From the Buddhist perspective, this has more to
do with deeper health than with what you eat or how much exercise you
get. Notice that this practice is not about judging other people for
their wrong speech but is focused on your own dedication to abstaining
from false speech and consistently telling the truth.
Tomorrow: Reflecting upon Bodily Action One week from today: Refraining from Malicious Speech
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SOL INVICTUS("the Unconquered Sun") or, more fully, Deus Sol Invictus
("the Unconquered Sun God") was the late Roman state sun god. The cult
was created by the emperor Aurelian in 274 CE and continued until the
abolition of paganism under Theodosius I. The Romans held a festival on
December 25 called Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, "the birthday of the unconquered sun."
The use of the title Sol Invictus
allowed several solar deities to be worshipped collectively, including
Elah-Gabal, a Syrian sun god; Sol, the patron god of Emperor Aurelian
(270-274); and Mithras. Oh, and a Jewish upstart named Jesus.
December 25th was also considered to be the date of the winter solstice, which the Romans called bruma.
It was therefore the day the Sun proved itself to be "unconquered"
despite the shortening of daylight hours. (When Julius Caesar introduced
the Julian Calendar in 45 B.C.E., December 25th was approximately the date of the solstice. In modern times, the solstice falls on December 21st or 22nd.)
The Sol Invictus festival has a "strong claim on the responsibility" for the date of Christmas, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia. Solar symbolism was popular with early Christian writers as Jesus was considered to be the "sun of righteousness."
The date for
Christmas may also bear a relation to the sun worship. According to the
scholiast on the Syriac bishop Jacob Bar-Salibi, writing in the twelfth
century:
"It was a
custom of the Pagans to celebrate on the same 25 December the birthday
of the Sun, at which they kindled lights in token of festivity. In these
solemnities and revelries the Christians also took part. Accordingly
when the doctors of the Church perceived that the Christians had a
leaning to this festival, they took counsel and resolved that the true
Nativity should be solemnized on that day." (cited in "Christianity and
Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries", Ramsay MacMullen.
Yale:1997, p155)
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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 lovingkindness, for when you develop meditation on
lovingkindness, all ill will will be abandoned. (MN 62)
The characteristic of lovingkindness is promoting welfare. (Vm 9.93)
Reflection
One of the
great insights of Buddhist practice is that who you are at any given
moment is not set in stone, is not a matter of chance, and is not shaped
by others. In every mind moment you are shaping who you will become in
the next moment. Understanding this is profoundly empowering, for it
gives you an opportunity to decide for yourself that you will be a
better person in the future by being a better person now.
Daily Practice
Kindness can
become an ongoing practice, a habit of mind and heart that tries at
every opportunity to wish the best for others. It is not a matter of
liking people as much as wishing them well and caring for their
well-being. Practice targeting random people you encounter throughout
the day and wishing them well. Notice the subtle effect this has on your
own mind, squeezing out any annoyance or resentment you might otherwise
feel.
Tomorrow: Refraining from False Speech One week from today: Cultivating Compassion
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As tenzo
[head cook] you should not be away from the sink when the rice for the
noon meal is being washed. Watch closely with clear eyes; do not waste
even one grain. Wash it in the proper way, put it in pots, make a fire,
and boil it. An ancient master said, 'When you boil rice, know that the
water is your own life.'
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)
Aging is suffering: "old age, brokenness of teeth, greyness of hair,
wrinkling of skin, decline of life, weakness of faculties." (MN 9)
Reflection
The wheel has
turned one full revolution now, as we looked at each of the path factors
four times over the course of a month. We now return to the beginning
and go through another cycle over the course of the next 28 days. The
noble truth of suffering is not something we "get" once and for all and
then move on. It is something to investigate again and again from
multiple different angles as our perspective on it changes.
Daily Practice
We hardly need
help understanding the truth of aging, since it is everywhere so
apparent. As our experience with the practice progresses, we learn to
observe the signs of aging with greater objectivity and less
self-reference. This is just what happens to a body when it ages. It is
not that we are being personally persecuted by time. Work on developing
the perspective that aging is something to observe rather than to fear.
Tomorrow: Cultivating Lovingkindness One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering
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