Via LGBTQ Nation

 

Via GBF: Latest Podcast Episode available: Kevin Griffin on Perception

Sangha Members,

A recording of Kevin Griffin's recent talk to GBF, "Perception" is now available on your favorite podcast engine, or by going to our website at:

 

https://gaybuddhist.org/podcast/kevin-griffin-2/

Via Bodhipaksa @ Wildmind

 

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

 

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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 neither-pleasant-nor-painful feeling, one is aware: "Feeling a neither-pleasant-nor-painful feeling" … one is just aware, just mindful: "There is feeling." And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection Pleasant and painful feelings are apparent enough, but the third kind of feeling, one that is neither pleasant nor painful but neutral, can be harder to detect. Some say most feeling is neutral, and only a few feelings are obviously pleasant or painful. Others say that most feelings are either pleasant or painful, only appearing neutral with insufficient attention, and that with greater discernment they will resolve into pleasant or painful. Try out both points of view and decide for yourself. Daily Practice Feeling tone is a component of every mind moment. While breathing in and out, notice the changing textures of feeling throughout the body. Feelings are fleeting, numerous, and varied. It is against the backdrop of pleasant and painful feelings that you can begin to notice feelings like tingling, perhaps, that don't register as obviously pleasant or unpleasant yet still make up the strands of 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, with joy and the pleasure born of concentration. (MN 4) Reflection Trying to attain these stages as some form of accomplishment is actually antithetical to the states of mind accessed by jhāna. One of the reasons the jhānas have not been emphasized in western meditation circles until recently is precisely because of the danger inherent in the striving or comparing mind. Never mind stage one, two, three, or four—just sit quietly and allow the contentment of the tranquil mind to formlessly arise.  Daily Practice As you sit quietly and your mind becomes increasingly calm and stable, it is natural for the pleasant sensations that arise from the mind being free of the hindrances to gradually morph into the pleasant sensations that come simply from the mind being focused. This unified tranquility is actually a natural state for the mind, which is much more at home in serenity than it is in our hectic, multitasking life. Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of  Suffering One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and Abiding in the Third 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 Ship of Karma

 

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The Ship of Karma While delusions compel us to separate ourselves from each other and from the truth of our interdependence, our connectedness endures. The sufferings felt by those we disparage and harm return to us on the ship of karma. Kamilah Majied, PhD, “The Dharma and Kwanzaa” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

In Search of “True” Buddhism By Seth Zuiho Segall Authentic practice means staying faithful to both tradition and ourselves. Read more »

Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation ///Words of Wisdom - February 2, 2025 💠

 

"The moment of awakening, which is the beginning of the process, is the moment when you recognize that what you thought was real isn’t. That there is a reality that lies behind the reality that you were entrapped by. It’s as if you were in a room you have been in all your life. And suddenly a window is opened, and you are aware that there is a vast vista of which this is a tiny part. You have been building your entire universe within this tiny reality which is made up of psychology and body and drama and birth and death and all that stuff. You suddenly see that that is just a little sequence within something very vast. The quality of that moment is that it is not unfamiliar to you even though your adult thinking mind hasn’t experienced it."

>> Want to dive deeper with Ram Dass? Click Here to Receive a Daily Wisdom Text from Ram Dass & Friends.

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Via LGBTQ Nation

 

Via Mother Pelican Journal of Solidarity and Sustainabili

 

Vol. 21, No. 2, February 2025

The Limits of the Human Animal

CONTENTS

Significant Research and Forthcoming Events

Overshoot and the Incredible Shrinking Planet ~ A Many-Faceted Problem
William E. Rees

Green Outside, Red Inside ~ How Environmentalism is Following the Same Path of Communism
Ugo Bardi

A Reality Check on Our 'Energy Transition'
Andrew Nikiforuk

Critical Metals and the Side Effects of Electrification
Bart Hawkins Kreps

What's the Real Problem? And Can We Do Anything About It?
William E. Rees

Love Is Our Only Hope: How Storytelling Can Lead Us Home
Cara Judea Alhadeff

Envisioning a Sustainable Socioecological Future, Part 3
Clifton Ware

Envisioning a Sustainable Socioecological Future, Part 4
Clifton Ware

Bringing About the Bioeconomy
Nolan Monaghan

To Confront Power, One Must First Name It: Neoliberalism and the Sustainability Crisis
Kurt Cobb

Jimmy Carter ~ America's 'Worst President' and Finest Leader
John Meyer

America is Dead. Long Live Gaia!
Tom Ellis

Beyond the Ideological Echo Chamber: A Call for Intellectual Adaptability in Times of Transformation
James Magnus-Johnston

Three-quarters of the World's Land is Drying Out, 'Redefining Life on Earth'
Ayurella Horn-Muller

Los Angeles Wildfires: True Causes & Solutions
Hart Hagan

Rethinking Energy, Productivity, and the Illusion of Endless Growth
Art Berman

The Trump Administration's Agenda and the Likely Economic and Financial Consequences
Rodrigue Tremblay

Pope Francis Still Advocates for Degrowth
Oscar Krüger

Fighting Back for the Earth
Sandy Irvine

From an Eco-spiritual Perspective, Nature Is More than a Material Reality
Michel Maxime Egger

The Biggest, Oldest Economy in the World Is Burning
George Tsakraklides

Beyond Essentialism: Redefining the Gender-Environment Nexus
Sharon Sarah Thawaney

Christianity and Hope ~ When the Pope Does Hopium, What Do the Mystics Do?
Jem Bendell

NOTE: There is a supplement, Critique of Religious Patriarchy. There is also an annotated archive with links to all articles published since May 2005.

Human development in harmony with nature is the existential challenge of our time. The mission of this journal is to foster human development in an integral human ecology.

You are invited to submit comments, suggestions, and articles for publication. Deadline is the 15th of the month to be considered for the following month.

Sincerely,

Luis

Luis T. Gutiérrez

Editor, Mother Pelican Journal of Solidarity and Sustainability

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States

 

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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) Here a person rouses the will, makes an effort, stirs up energy, exerts the mind, and strives to abandon arisen unhealthy mental states. One abandons the arisen hindrance of sluggishness. (MN 141)

Reflection Unhealthy or unhelpful states come up all the time. The early teaching was not simply to be aware of everything but also to discern what is unhealthy and learn how to abandon it. Alertness is a more helpful mental state than sluggishness, and it is therefore beneficial to remain alert as much as possible. Rest and sleep when appropriate, but when you are awake practice being really alert and fully conscious. Daily Practice There is nothing morally wrong with sluggishness of mind. The problem is just that it prevents the mind from working well and is therefore a hindrance to seeing clearly. When you feel drowsy or sleepy, or you feel your mind getting dull, explore how many ways you can dispel this temporary state and restore a sense of alertness. It is a matter of raising the level of energy in the body and/or the mind. Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and 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.

Tricycle is a nonprofit and relies on your support to keep its wheels turning. Donate »

© 2025 Tricycle Foundation 89 5th Ave, New York, NY 10003