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Via Tricycle // The Myth of the Historical Buddha

 

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
The Myth of the Historical Buddha
By James Shaheen

In his quarterly letter from the editor, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, considers the value of stories and mythic narratives—in Buddhism and in life.

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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 unhealthy states, and then one’s mind inclines toward 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 Sluggishness, also sometimes called sloth and torpor, is one of the five hindrances that prevent the mind from becoming tranquil and alert. Like any natural system, the mind operates best within a certain range, and its effectiveness drops off when there is too much or too little energy. Here we are being encouraged to take what steps we can, such as rest and nutrition, to ensure that the mind is working optimally. Daily Practice Explore in your own experience the distinction between tranquility and sluggishness. The mind can get sleepy or lazy or dull, but this is very different from the calm tranquility of a peaceful mind. To be relaxed, you must also be alert. When you start to feel sluggish, take a deep breath or open your eyes wide or do something to stir up energy. Then put that energy to work, paradoxically toward calming the mind. Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Body and the First Jhāna One week from today: Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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© 2023 Tricycle Foundation 89 5th Ave, New York, NY 10003

 

Via Daily Dharma: Releasing Blame

 A person who is not loving has not experienced love. It is not his fault. Realizing this gives rise to forgiveness. We vow that suffering will stop with us.

Guo Jun, “A Special Transmission”

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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 with compassion toward all living beings. (MN 41) One practices thus: "Others may harm living beings, but I will abstain from the harming of living beings." (MN 8) A layperson is not to engage in the livelihood of trading in weapons. (AN 5.177)

Reflection Everyone has to earn a living somehow, and all human activities involve some form of harm to others. The Buddha encouraged his followers to abstain from certain trades that do the most harm, including involvement with weapons of warfare. He did not condemn them as morally wrong but pointed out that the harm caused by weapons rebounds on the worker and has a cumulative unhealthy effect on the mind. Daily Practice Think about what you do professionally and reflect on how much harm to other beings is intrinsic to the job. If there are ways to mitigate this harm, try to implement changes in how things are done. If you are engaged in a job that is fundamentally harmful, such as making or deploying weapons that are used to kill, then it would contribute to your welfare to look for another line of work.  Tomorrow: Restraining Unarisen Unhealthy States One week from today: Abstaining from Taking What is Not Given Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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© 2023 Tricycle Foundation 89 5th Ave, New York, NY 10003

Via Daily Dharma: Stopping Craving at the Source

 If you have mindfulness enabling you to read yourself and understand yourself, craving will have a hard time forming. In whatever guises it arises, you can read it, know it, extinguish it, let it go.

Upasika Kee Nanayon, “A Glob of Tar”

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Two from Tricycle // Happiness

 

A Satisfying State of Happiness
By Gil Fronsdal

While tranquility can be conducive to sleepiness, well-developed tranquility is an invigorated state similar to waking up refreshed from a good nap. Read more about how tranquility supports our meditation practice and well-being.

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The Evolution of Happiness By Joseph Goldstein

Meditation teacher Joseph Goldstein explains the different kinds of happiness associated with various stages on the unfolding path of awakening.

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Via L. A. Times // "Being homosexual isn’t a crime," Pope declares

 

Via NPR // Pope Francis tells AP that he believes homosexuality is a sin but not a crime

 

Via Apple News / The Atlantic: The Key to Lifelong Happiness

 

The Key to Lifelong Happiness

And, no, it’s not career achievement or healthy eating.

The Atlantic

Via Buddhist Geeks // You’re invited to Welcome to Pragmatic Dharma (February 1, 2023)

 

Pragmatic Dharma You're invited to join dharma teachers Kenneth Folk & Vince Fakhoury Horn for a free interactive introduction to the theory & practice of Pragmatic Dharma.

Wednesday, February 1, 2023 2:00 PM

Welcome to Pragmatic Dharma

Register

Via Tricycle // One-Breath Meditation

 

One-Breath Meditation
By Ken McLeod

This simple one-breath meditation is good to do any time, but is particularly helpful when you’re feeling agitated or dull.

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Via Tricycle // Meditation with the Breath

 

Meditation with the Breath
Buddhism for Beginners

There’s a reason why mindfulness of breathing is one of the oldest forms of Buddhist meditation. Learn more about breath meditation on Buddhism for Beginners, our website geared specifically to beginners.

Read more »

Via White Crane Institute // QUAL BENEFITS TO SAME-SEX PARTNERS

 

Noteworthy

2009 -

Nearly 2,200 government employees involved in foreign policy issues signed a letter delivered to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton calling on the government to give EQUAL BENEFITS TO SAME-SEX PARTNERS.

The Bush administration had eased some rules, opening up some training to same-sex partners, but had resisted efforts to treat homosexual partners the same as married couples. But Clinton, during her confirmation hearings, indicated a greater willingness to explore the issue.

"I think that we should take a hard look at the existing policy," Clinton said in response to a question from Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.). "My understanding is other nations have moved to extend that partnership benefit." The issue achieved prominence in 2007 when a respected ambassador, Michael Guest, resigned after 26 years in the Foreign Service to protest the rules and regulations that he argued gave same-sex partners fewer benefits than family pets. Guest said he was forced to choose "between obligations to my partner, who is my family, and service to my country," which he called "a shame for this institution and our country.

With the overturning of the Defense of Marriage Act by the Supreme Court in 2013, these benefits are now available to married Gay and Lesbian partners.

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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 White Crane Institute // Angela Davis

 

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LGBT ally Angela Davis

1944 -

Angela Davis was born on this date in Birmingham, Alabama. The American socialist organizer and professor was associated with the Black Panther Party and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Davis was also a notable activist during the Civil Rights Movement, and a prominent member and political candidate of the Communist Party USA. In recent years, she no longer identifies as a Communist, but rather a democratic socialist, and is currently a member of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism.

She first achieved nationwide notoriety when a weapon registered in her name was linked to the murder of Judge Harold Haley during an effort to free a black convict who was being tried for the attempted retaliatory murder of a white prison guard who killed three unarmed black inmates. Davis fled underground and was the subject of an intense manhunt. Davis was eventually captured, arrested, tried, and then acquitted in one of the most famous trials in recent U.S. history.

Davis is currently a graduate studies Professor of History of Consciousness at the University of California and Presidential Chair at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She works for racial and gender equality and for Gay rights and prison abolition. She is a popular public speaker, nationally and internationally, as well as a founder of the grassroots prison-industrial complex-abolition organization Critical Resistance.

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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 Daily Dharma: Stopping Thoughts

If you do not feed the brain words, if you have trained it to avoid verbalizing, the silence will come.

Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, “Do Thoughts Ever Stop?”

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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 on that same bodily action thus: "Has this action I have done with the body led to my own affliction?" If, on 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 While the practice has to do with being present in the moment, we are also encouraged to reflect on past action with the same diligence we apply to present action and intention for future action. If we have done harm in the past, it is healing to bring it out in the open by revealing it to another. Not necessarily a religious figure with the power to forgive—there is no such person in Buddhism—but simply a person you trust. Daily Practice Practice having no secrets. Whenever you do something, even a very small thing, that you feel was wrong or hurtful in some way, make a point of "coming clean" about it to someone. Perhaps you apologize to someone you’ve harmed or confess your errors to a trusted friend. With this as an ongoing practice, you may find yourself feeling lighter, unburdened by the things you do that are not quite right. Tomorrow: Abstaining from Harming Living Beings One week from today: Reflecting upon Verbal Action 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 »

© 2023 Tricycle Foundation 89 5th Ave, New York, NY 10003