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Via White Crane Institute // The Wisdom of George Santayana

 

Today's Gay Wisdom

2017 -

The Wisdom of George Santayana

• Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
• To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.
• Never build your emotional life on the weaknesses of others.
• History is a pack of lies about events that never happened told by people who weren't there.
• Friends are generally of the same sex, for when men and women agree, it is only in the conclusions; their reasons are always different.
• Tyrants are seldom free; the cares and the instruments of their tyranny enslave them.
• The Difficult is that which can be done immediately; the Impossible that which takes a little longer.
• Prayer, among sane people, has never superseded practical efforts to secure the desired end.
  
  

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Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute

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Via Dhamma Wheel // Reflecting Upon Mental Action

 

RIGHT ACTION Reflecting Upon Mental 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 mental action is to be done with repeated reflection. (MN 61) When you wish to do an action with the mind, reflect on that same mental action thus: "Would this action I wish to do with the mind lead to my own affliction?" If, on reflection, you know that it would, then do not do it. If you know that it would not, then proceed. (MN 61)

Reflection

We are used to thinking of action as something overt we do with the body or speech, but in fact every single movement of the mind is a form of action. Mental action can be even more consequential than outward forms of action. As the stream of consciousness flows on, each event lays the foundation for ensuing events, and we can see clearly that good things come from good thoughts. Take care of your mind.

Daily Practice

The practice of meditation gives you access to seeing what is actually going on in your mind, whether you meditate formally on the cushion or meditative reflection becomes a habit in everyday life. Paying attention to yourself, to the process of events unfolding in your mind, is of tremendous value. See if you can notice your intentions, the inclinations of your mind toward one thing or another, as they arise but before you act on them.

Tomorrow: Abstaining from Misbehaving Among Sensual Pleasures
One week from today: Reflecting upon Social Action

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Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

Via Tricycle -- Peter Coyote on Transforming the Self

 

Peter Coyote on Transforming the Self
By Hanna Rahilly

Explore the contours of the personality and the self with the prolific actor and Zen priest Peter Coyote.

Read more »

Via Daily Dharma: Let Truth Awaken

 

Truth is seeking to awaken to itself through you, to see itself everywhere through your eyes and taste itself everywhere through your lips.

—Stephan Bodian, “Encountering the Gateless Gate”

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Via Dhamma Wheel // Refraining from Harsh Speech

 

RIGHT SPEECH
Refraining from Harsh Speech

Harsh speech is unhealthy. Refraining from harsh speech is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning harsh speech, one refrains from harsh speech. One speaks words that are gentle, pleasing to the ear, and affectionate, words that go to the heart, are courteous, and are agreeable to many. (DN 1) One practices thus: "Others may speak harshly, but I shall abstain from harsh speech." (MN 8) A person may be extremely kind, extremely gentle, extremely peaceful, so long as disagreeable courses of speech do not touch them. But it is when disagreeable courses of speech touch them that it can be understood whether that person is really kind, gentle, and peaceful. (MN 21)

Reflection

Learning to speak words that are "gentle, pleasing to the ear, and affectionate" is about taking care that the emotion with which they are uttered is not laced with hatred or ill will. It does not mean that we should refrain from stating what is true, only that we take care with what attitude we deliver it. Even very hard truths can be uttered with kindness rather than with an intention to cause harm. Speaking harshly is unhealthy for the speaker as well as for the hearer.

Daily Practice

Pay careful attention to your own patterns of speech and especially be on the lookout for nastiness or an intention to harm. Consider your words before you speak. And when you catch yourself speaking harshly, reflect on whether the same thing might have been said in a more skillful manner. Harsh speech brings out the worst in others. But it can be very challenging to refrain from hurtful speech, even when the other person has provoked it.

Tomorrow: Reflecting upon Mental Action
One week from today: Refraining from Frivolous Speech

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Via Daily Dharma: Return to Nirvana

 

If the deer like to be in the countryside, and the birds like to be in the sky, then the practitioner likes to be in nirvana. We are in nirvana. The only problem is that we are not able to return to it.

—Thich Nhat Hanh, “A Wave in the Water”

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Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation \\ Words of Wisdom - December 15, 2021 💌

 
 

Time is a box formed by thoughts of the past and future.

Dwelling in the moment is dwelling in the soul, which is eternal presence. When we're outside of time, there's no subject or object; it's all just here. The thinking mind deals only with subject and object. But from within here now, you watch time go by. You are not being in time. You be, and time goes by, as if you were standing on a bridge and watching it all go by.

- Ram Dass

Via Daily Dharma: The Light Is Always There

 

 There may be moments when you feel emotionally cold and dark, when it seems that all the light has gone from your life. But your experience and inner truth are not in sync—the light is always there.

—Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, “The Light Is Always There”

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Via Dhamma Wheel // Cultivating Appreciative Joy

 

RIGHT INTENTION
Cultivating Appreciative Joy

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 appreciative joy, for when you develop meditation on appreciative joy, any discontent will be abandoned. (MN 62)  Suppose there were a pond with lovely smooth banks, filled with pure water that was clear and cool. A person scorched and exhausted by hot weather, weary, parched, and thirsty, would come upon the pond and quench their thirst and their hot-weather fever. In just the same way a person encounters the teachings of the Buddha and develops appreciative joy, and thereby gains internal peace. (MN 40)

Reflection

When lovingkindness encounters the good fortune and happiness of another, it transforms into appreciative joy. This is the emotion of feeling good for another person, of being glad that good things are happening for them. Appreciative joy arises easily for the people we care about, but so often its opposite—some form of jealousy, envy, or resentment—comes up for us. The antidote for these forms of discontent is learning how to feel good for others, which generally takes a lot of practice.

Daily Practice

Try reminding yourself on a regular basis that the world is ruled by impersonal laws of cause and effect, also known as karma. Sometimes good things happen, sometimes bad things, and we often have little control over these things. Why not feel happy for other people when they experience good fortune or reap the rewards of their hard work? Like a cool drink on a hot day, feeling happy is more beneficial than feeling bad.

Tomorrow: Refraining from Harsh Speech
One week from today: Cultivating Equanimity

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Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

Via Daily Dharma: Compassionate Transmutation

Buddhism is a path of supreme optimism, for one of its basic tenets is that no human life or experience is to be wasted or forgotten, but all should be transformed into a source of wisdom and compassionate living.

—Taitetsu Unno, “Number One Fool”

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