Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Intention: Cultivating Compassion

RIGHT INTENTION
Cultivating Compassion

Whatever you intend, whatever you plan, and whatever you have a tendency toward, that will become the basis upon which your mind is established. (SN 12.40) Develop meditation on compassion, for when you develop meditation on compassion, any cruelty will be abandoned. (MN 62) The near enemy of compassion is ordinary sorrow. (Vm 9.99)

Reflection

Just as physical pleasure and pain are natural and inevitable aspects of human experience, the same is true of mental pleasure and pain. Sorrow can be seen as a form of mental pain, and it is natural to feel such pain, for example, with the death of a loved one. Compassion is also accompanied by sorrow, but it is not ordinary sorrow; it is a higher sorrow, raised beyond the personal to the level of a universal emotion.

Daily Practice

Allow yourself to open to the suffering of another person; there is plenty of opportunity for this these days. See if you can discern a difference between feeling sorry for them and feeling sorrow on account of their pain. See if you can feel the difference between a personal sorrow and a universal sorrow. Practice opening to the suffering of others on this broader, more universal level of experience and meaning.

Tomorrow: Refraining from Malicious Speech
One week from today: Cultivating Appreciative Joy

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Via Daily Dharma: Simplifying Our Choices

 One of the hardest things to remember about practice is that we’ve truly never before experienced this moment. We repeat the same action over and over and over again. And yet in repeating the act of sitting, we give ourselves a structure in which our strategies become obvious and our choices become simple.

-Alex Tzelnic, “How to Resist the Comfort of Repetition”

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Via White Crane Institute -- Say their names! MAHMOUD ASGARI and AYAZ MARHONI

Died

2005 -

The Iranian Government publicly executed two teenage boys on July 19th 2005, in the city of Mashad. Their names were MAHMOUD ASGARI and AYAZ MARHONI, one eighteen and the other seventeen or possibly sixteen-years-old.

They were accused of raping a thirteen-year-old boy, but it has been established that the authorities invented the charge of rape to prevent public sympathy for the true reason for their execution, that they were Gay. After their arrest the two boys endured a year of imprisonment and torture before the high court of Iran upheld their sentence and their execution by hanging was carried out in a public square in the city of Mashad.

International outrage was met with arrogance and impunity by the religious and conservative Iranian government, and a systematic persecution soon began against Gays, which has led to an unverified report of a second execution, and untold numbers of arrests and torture. These events indicate that the worldwide struggle for Gay Freedom has not decreased but has become more violent and inhumane.

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Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute

"With the increasing commodification of gay news, views, and culture by powerful corporate interests, having a strong independent voice in our community is all the more important. White Crane is one of the last brave standouts in this bland new world... a triumph over the looming mediocrity of the mainstream Gay world." - Mark Thompson

Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture since 1989!
www.whitecraneinstitute.org

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

 

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

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Via Daily Dharma: Relax

 Your body reflects your mind. When you feel love for all beings, it shows on your face. Seeing your honest, relaxed face, others will gravitate toward you and enjoy being around you.

-Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, “11 Benefits of Loving-Friendliness Meditation”

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Via FB // Foto via: Mistérios do Espaço

A Terra e a Lua em um único quadro registrado a 5 milhões de quilômetros pela sonda OSIRIS-Rex.

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

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Via Daily Dharma: Emotion and Reason

 In the West, human life is often seen as a struggle between emotion and reason. Buddhist psychology doesn’t distinguish between thought and emotion in a neat way. In fact, there is no word for emotion in the classical Indic languages. There is an understanding that even what seems like a neutral state of mind will have an emotive tone. 

Thupten Jinpa, “The Power of Awareness and Compassion to Transform Our World”

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Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - July 17, 2022 💌

 

The Soul works through a kind of "psychic DNA," which manifests on many planes - our bodies, our personalities, our dreams - using all of it to work out the karma of the Soul.

- Ram Dass -

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Restraining Unarisen Unhealthy States

 

RIGHT EFFORT
Restraining Unarisen 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 the 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 restrain the arising of unarisen unhealthy mental states. One restrains the arising of the unarisen hindrance of sluggishness. (MN 141)

Reflection

Among the five hindrances is the hindrance of sluggishness. More colorfully called “sloth and torpor” in many texts, this is the quality of mind that is lacking energy, is low on enthusiasm, and just generally results in laziness or sleepiness. It is not a moral failing, but it is unhealthy insofar as it obstructs clarity of mind and thereby can contribute to suffering. It helps to make an effort to restrain its arising in the mind whenever possible.

Daily Practice

The practice of restraining the arising of sluggishness is not about repressing it but about understanding the conditions in which it thrives. You can work to limit those conditions so that sluggishness is not inclined to arise. Cultivate its antidote, energy, by raising physical and mental activity before sluggishness gains a foothold. Knowing it is present as a latent or potential trait helps guard against having it flare up in experience.

Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Body and Abiding in the First Jhāna
One week from today: Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States

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Via Daily Dharma: Be Glad for What You Have

 Gratitude, the simple and profound feeling of being thankful, is the foundation of all generosity. I am generous when I believe that I am myself being given what I need. Generosity requires that we relinquish something, and this is impossible if we are not glad for what we have.

-Sallie Jiko Tisdale, “As If There Is Nothing to Lose”

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[GBF] new GBF talks

New talks have been added to the audio archive st the GBF website:

2022_07_10 Anne Gleig Losing Our Religion.mp3

2000_04_30 Mark Marion The Bad Buddhist and the Good Gay Heart.mp3

2000_04_16 Michael McManus Practice of Tonglan.mp3

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Living: Abstaining from Harming Living Beings

 

RIGHT LIVING
Undertaking the Commitment to Abstain from Harming Living Beings

Harming living beings is unhealthy. Refraining from harming living beings is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning the harming of living beings, one abstains from harming living beings; with rod and weapon laid aside, gentle and kindly, one abides compassionate to all living beings. (M 41) One practices thus: “Others may harm living beings, but I will abstain from the harming of living beings.” (MN 8) This is something that leads to the welfare and happiness of a person in this present life: accomplishment in protection. Here a person sets up protection and guards over the resources one has acquired . . . [thinking], “How can I prevent thieves from carrying it off, fire from burning it, floods from sweeping it away, and dishonest people from taking it?” (AN 8.54)

Reflection

There is a practical side to the teachings of the historical Buddha that can be easy to overlook. He didn't just guide monks and nuns toward awakening; he also advised laypeople on how to live wisely. Here the emphasis is on the value of guarding the things you own and the beings under your protection. Life is precious, and the duty of a householder to protect their family, animals, and possessions was taken quite seriously.

Daily Practice

It is easy to cause harm to living beings by neglecting to be careful in all you do. Now more than ever a commitment to non-harming means developing ways not only to avoid hurting living beings but also to nurture and protect them. Look at yourself and your life through the eyes of another: a pet, a wild animal, an ocean, an eco-system. And ask yourself, What more can I do to ensure their safety and well-being?

Tomorrow: Restraining Unarisen Unhealthy States
One week from today: Abstaining from Taking What is Not Given

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Via Daily Dharma: What is the True Self?

 What is the true self? It’s brilliantly transparent like the deep blue sky, and there’s no gap between it and all living beings.

Kodo Sawaki Roshi, “The True Self”

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Action: Reflecting upon Bodily Action

 

RIGHT ACTION
Reflecting Upon Bodily 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 bodily action is to be done with repeated reflection. (MN 61) When you have done an action with the body, reflect upon that same bodily action thus: “Has this action I have done with the body led to both my own affliction and the affliction of another?” If, upon reflection, you know that it has, then tell someone you trust about it and undertake a commitment not to do it again. If you know it has not, then be content and feel happy about it. (MN 61)

Reflection

Here we have a rare invitation to reflect on the past in a tradition that generally encourages us to keep our attention focused on the present moment. This is not an ancient form of psychotherapy but rather the recognition that reflecting on all our actions of body, speech, and mind in the past, present, and future can be a valuable learning tool. We refine our understanding of cause and effect in this way.

Daily Practice

See if you can get in the habit of looking at what you have done immediately after you do it. Notice the effect your actions have on your surroundings and particularly on other people. Notice if you seem to have caused someone harm or if you have hurt yourself in some way. If you are aware of causing affliction, be honest in admitting that and undertake a commitment to refrain from such an action in the future.

Tomorrow: Abstaining from Harming Living Beings
One week from today: Reflecting upon Verbal Action

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Via Daily Dharma: Accepting Pain

 Mindfully accepting our painful feelings is an essential prerequisite to supporting ourselves with kindness and compassion. Accepting our pain means being willing to be present with it, not pushing it away or reacting to it.

Bodhipaksa, “Loving Pain”

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Via Facebook // Exposing homophobia and intolerance online

 

Via Daily Dharma: Sit to Sit

 Anger and fear evaporate through radical acceptance of what is, and through our not demanding or wishing anything else but sitting while sitting.

Jundo Cohen, “The Backwards Wisdom of Shikantaza”

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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 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 covert speech to be true, correct, and beneficial, one may utter it, knowing the time to do so. (MN 139)

Reflection

There is nothing wrong with speaking privately and even secretly to someone as long as what is said is true and beneficial. There are times when discretion is entirely appropriate. The thing to guard against is resorting to covert speech as a way of hiding something that is not worthy of being spoken in the open. A good rule of thumb is to refrain from saying anything in private you would be ashamed of saying publicly.

Daily Practice

The restraint of false speech is important because what you say has an effect not only on other people but also on yourself. Pay attention to the quality of your mind when you speak covertly to someone and check to make sure that you are not drifting into states of mind that are harmful, such as ill will, hatred, or cruelty. You can learn to be intuitively aware of the quality of your emotions as you speak.

Tomorrow: Reflecting upon Bodily Action
One week from today: Refraining from Malicious Speech

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