Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects and the Fourth Jhāna

 

RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects 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)

Reflection The fourth foundation of mindfulness involves looking at various aspects of our experience as episodes of phenomena arising and passing away in the stream of consciousness. Unhelpful habits of mind, acting as hindrances to inner clarity, come and go along with helpful mental factors, such as those guiding us to awakening. We learn to observe these changing states with calm and focused equanimity, without grasping. Daily Practice Sit quietly on a regular basis and take an interest in watching what goes on in your mind. The challenge is to observe it all without latching on to the content of your thoughts but simply noting them as events arising and passing away. Become mindful of mental objects rather than becoming entangled in them. If you can do this with ardent energy, fully aware and mindful, you will likely find yourself very content. RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the Fourth Phase of Absorption (4th Jhāna) With the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous disappearance of joy and grief, one enters upon and abides in the fourth phase of absorption, which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure and purity of mindfulness as a result of equanimity. The concentrated mind is thus purified, bright, unblemished, rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability. (MN 4) Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of Suffering One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Body and Abiding in the First 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 Gate of Gratitude

 The gate of gratitude is the threshold of a spiritual life. Being liberated from the need to achieve goodness, we flow naturally toward harmony. 

Rev. Dr. Kenji Akahoshi, “Finding Spirit in the Ordinary”

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Via Daily Dharma: Our Shared History

 We say there is no self, but another way to express it would be to say that when you have a near-death experience, the entire history of the universe ought to flash before your eyes. 

Jeff Wilson, “Born Together with All Beings”

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Maintaining Arisen Healthy States

 

RIGHT EFFORT Maintaining Arisen Healthy States Whatever a person frequently thinks about and ponders, that will become the inclination of their mind. If one frequently thinks about and ponders healthy states, one has abandoned unhealthy states to cultivate healthy states, and then one’s mind inclines to healthy states. (MN 19)

Reflection The mind is always moving, leaning into the future as it flows like a stream through the landscape of the world. What path it takes is guided by neither chance nor a higher power: each moment inclines the mind toward the next moment. This is why it can be so important to maintain healthy mental and emotional states when they arise. The healthier the mind is now, the healthier it is likely to be in the future. Daily Practice Notice when you feel kindness toward someone, and then extend that further by feeling kindly toward someone else. Be aware of generosity when it is present in your mind and look for ways to continue expressing it through other generous actions. When you have moments of insight and understanding, allow yourself to linger on them, ponder their significance, and let the wisdom sink a little deeper into your mind. Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects and Abiding in the Fourth Jhāna One week from today: Restraining Unarisen Unhealthy States Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Living: Abstaining from Intoxication

 

RIGHT LIVING Undertaking the Commitment to Abstain from Intoxication Intoxication is unhealthy. Refraining from intoxication is healthy. (MN 9) What are the imperfections that defile the mind? Negligence is an imperfection that defiles the mind. Knowing that negligence is an imperfection that defiles the mind, a person abandons it. (MN 7) One practices thus: “Others may become negligent through intoxication, but I will abstain from the negligence of intoxication.” (MN 8)

Reflection An intoxicated mind is a negligent mind, no matter what toxin it is under the influence of. Whether alcohol, drugs, misinformation, bigotry, conceit, illusion, or some other harmful influence, all act to distort the functioning of the mind and obscure its capacity to see clearly, thus contributing directly to suffering. Right living requires an honest assessment of and strong commitment to abstaining from negligence in all its many forms. Daily Practice Deliberately undertake the practice of non-intoxication by noticing when you are free of anything that causes negligence. This may not be sustainable for long, given the many things that can diminish our alertness and clarity. But at least be aware of the moments when your mind is alert and clear. Perhaps you can gradually extend those moments, and the skill of right living can grow. Tomorrow: Maintaining Arisen Healthy States One week from today: Abstaining from Harming Living Beings 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: Liberating Ourselves from Judgment

 By liberating our minds from ideas of “better than,” “worse than,” or “the same as,” we liberate ourselves from all views of “self” and “other.”

Christina Feldman, “Long Journey to a Bow”

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Via White Crane Institute // YUKIO MISHIMA

 

Died The head of Yukio Mishima after his ritual suicide. 1970 - YUKIO MISHIMA, Japanese author, dies (b: 1925) Unlike the West, in Japan sex was not viewed in terms of morality, but rather in terms of pleasure, social position, and social responsibility. While modern attitudes to homosexuality have changed, this is frequently true even today. Like the pre-modern West, only sexual acts were seen as being homosexual or heterosexual, not the people performing such acts. The term gay is never used in discussing ancient and historical sources because of the modern, western, political connotations of the word and because the term suggests a particular identity, one with which homosexuals even in modern Japan may not identify. From religious circles, same-sex love spread to the warrior class, where it was customary for a young samurai to apprentice to an older and more experienced man. The young samurai would be his lover for many years. The practice was known as shudo, the way of youth, and was held in high esteem by the warrior class. Like the ancient Greeks, homosexual love was between an older man and an adolescent youth. And like the Greeks, the sexual relationship was expected to end when the youth came of age, at which time he would become the mentor in such a relationship. Just like the Greeks, the Samurai did not practice exclusive homosexuality or exclusive heterosexuality. They were also expected to marry and have children;only this came later in life. Unlike the Greek tradition, it was the younger man's duty to court the older man. Sometimes the mentor and mentee would remain close friends after the mentee came of age, and other times a homosexual relationship would not end despite the custom. While male love in Japan existed both before and after the Samurai, Shudo was introduced to the Samurai by Kukai, also known as Kobo Daishi (the great master from Kobo). Kobo was the founder of a Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism, and also the founder of the Shingon school at Mount Koya in 816 A.D. Legend has it that he learned all about nanshoku from China. Ancient China had a thriving homoerotic tradition, including homosexual marriages. Kobo's school at Mt. Koya became known for Shudo, and its homoerotic literary works. Shudo flourished among the Samurai between the 1200's and the 1600's, and declined after that as the Samurai themselves declined in importance. Before the Samurai, male love existed among Japanese Buddhist monks. It was widely held that their vows of chastity only applied to the opposite sex. After the Samurai, while Japan was in an era of relative peace, male love became more common among the general population and even became commercialized. When it did, male love lost touch with its warrior ideals and sense of honor. Mishima was devoted to the restoration of these ancient Japanese cultural ideals. On November 25, 1970, Mishima and four members of the Tatenokai, under pretext, visited the commandant of the Ichigaya Camp - the Tokyo headquarters of the Eastern Command of Japan's Self-Defense Forces. Inside, they barricaded the office and tied the commandant to his chair. With a prepared manifesto and banner listing their demands, Mishima stepped onto the balcony to address the soldiers gathered below. His speech was intended to inspire a coup d'etat restoring the emperor to his rightful place. He succeeded only in irritating them, however, and was mocked and jeered. He finished his planned speech after a few minutes, returned in to the commandant's office and committed seppuku. The customary kaishakunin duty at the end of this ritual had been assigned to Tatenokai member Masakatsu Morita, but Morita, also known to have been Mishima's lover, was unable to properly perform the task: after several attempts, he allowed another Tatenokai member, Hiroyasu Koga, to do the task. Morita then committed seppuku, and then Koga beheaded him. Another traditional element of the suicide ritual was the composition of jisei (death poems), before their entry into the headquarters. Mishima prepared his suicide meticulously for at least a year and no one outside the group of hand-picked Tatenokai members had any indication of what he was planning. His biographer, translator, and former friend John Nathan suggests that the coup attempt was only a pretext for the ritual suicide of which Mishima had long dreamed. Mishima made sure his affairs were in order, even leaving money for the defense trial of the three surviving Tatenokai members.     Today's Gay Wisdom Yukio Mishima's Death Poem / Calligraphy by KisaragiChiyo 2017 - Yukio Mishima's Death Poem Masurao ga Tabasamu tachi no sayanari ni Ikutose taete Kyo no hatsushimo The sheaths of swords rattle As after years of endurance  Brave men set out  To tread upon the first frost of the year. —Yukio Mishima

|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8| 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 |8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|

Via White Crane Institute // The Wisdom of Baruch Spinoza

This Day in Gay History

November 24 Born Baruch Spinoza 1632 - BARUCH SPINOZA, Dutch philosopher was born (d.1677); One of the great rationalists of 17th century philosophy, he laid the groundwork for the 18th century Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism. By virtue of his magnum opus, the posthumous Ethics, Spinoza is also considered one of Western philosophy's definitive ethicists. He was raised and educated in the Orthodox Jewish fashion, also studying Latin and was thoroughly familiar with European humanism. What exactly is it that caused him to be excommunicated from the synagogue when he was only twenty-four years old? Many scholars have speculated that the horror Spinoza inspired in the Jewish community may have come not only from his espousal of advanced economic theories, but from his espousal, as well, of "Greek love" among impressionable students in the liberal circle where he taught. A Dutch physician, J. Roderpoort, wrote at The Hague in 1897: “Spinoza excites the youth to respect women not at all and to give themselves to debauchery.”  Was Spinoza merely teaching the Greek and Roman classics, with their inevitable passages on pederasty? What were Roderpoort’s motives for discrediting the Jewish philosopher? Was Spinoza, in fact a pederast? It’s all open to speculation.   Today's Gay Wisdom Spinoza 2017 - The Wisdom of Baruch Spinoza God would say:   Stop praying.   What I want you to do is go out into the world and enjoy your life. I want you to sing, have fun and enjoy everything I've made for you.   Stop going into those dark, cold temples that you built yourself and saying they are my house. My house is in the mountains, in the woods, rivers, lakes, beaches. That's where I live and there I express my love for you.   Stop blaming me for your miserable life; I never told you there was anything wrong with you or that you were a sinner, or that your sexuality was a bad thing. Sex is a gift I have given you and with which you can express your love, your ecstasy, your joy. So don't blame me for everything they made you believe.   Stop reading alleged sacred scriptures that have nothing to do with me. If you can't read me in a sunrise, in a landscape, in the look of your friends, in your son's eyes...you will find me in no book!   Stop asking me "will you tell me how to do my job?" Stop being so scared of me. I do not judge you or criticize you, nor get angry, or bothered. I am pure love.   Stop asking for forgiveness, there's nothing to forgive. If I made you... I filled you with passions, limitations, pleasures, feelings, needs, inconsistencies... free will. How can I blame you if you respond to something I put in you? How can I punish you for being the way you are, if I'm the one who made you? Do you think I could create a place to burn all my children who behave badly for the rest of eternity? What kind of god would do that?   Respect your peers and don't do what you don't want for yourself. All I ask is that you pay attention in your life, that alertness is your guide.   My beloved, this life is not a test, not a step on the way, not a rehearsal, nor a prelude to paradise. This life is the only thing here and now and it is all you need.   I have set you absolutely free, no prizes or punishments, no sins or virtues, no one carries a marker, no one keeps a record. You are absolutely free to create in your life. Heaven or hell.   I can't tell you if there's anything after this life but I can give you a tip. Live as if there is not. As if this is your only chance to enjoy, to love, to exist.   So, if there's nothing after, then you will have enjoyed the opportunity I gave you. And if there is, rest assured that I won't ask if you behaved right or wrong, I'll ask. Did you like it? Did you have fun? What did you enjoy the most? What did you learn?...   Stop believing in me; believing is assuming, guessing, imagining. I don't want you to believe in me, I want you to believe in you. I want you to feel me in you when you kiss your beloved, when you tuck in your little girl, when you caress your dog, when you bathe in the sea.   Stop praising me, what kind of egomaniac God do you think I am?   I'm bored being praised. I'm tired of being thanked. Feeling grateful? Prove it by taking care of yourself, your health, your relationships, the world. Express your joy! That's the way to praise me.   Stop complicating things and repeating as a parakeet what you've been taught about me.   What do you need more miracles for? So many explanations?   The only thing for sure is that you are here, that you are alive, that this world is full of wonders.

|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8| 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 |8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|

 

Via Daily Dharma: Remaining Like a Log

Remaining like a log is neither passive nor pacifist. Rather it describes a state of mind capable of making wise decisions, unplugged from the emotional charge of compulsive reactivity.

Helen Tworkov, “Just Power”

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Action: Reflecting Upon Social Action

 

RIGHT ACTION Reflecting Upon Social 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 [social action] is to be done with repeated reflection. (MN 61)

Reflection The historical Buddha did not talk much about social action, and the field of social action is being artificially added here to the traditional list of the three kinds of action: bodily, verbal, and mental. Social action is an important concern in the modern world, and for decades engaged Buddhists have been addressing issues of how the traditional teachings can inform contemporary concerns for promoting greater social harmony. Daily Practice The quality of intention you put into social action is going to have an effect on the results, much like the planting of seeds affects the harvesting of fruit. It is important to change the inequities and injustices that abound in society but equally important to do so motivated by generosity, kindness, and wisdom rather than by greed, hatred, and delusion. Practice manifesting positive qualities in all the work you do toward social change.  Tomorrow: Abstaining from Intoxication One week from today: Reflecting upon Bodily Action Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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