Tuesday, July 4, 2023

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Intention: Cultivating Equanimity

 


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RIGHT INTENTION
Cultivating Equanimity
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 equanimity, for when you develop meditation on equanimity, all aversion is abandoned. (MN 62) 

The near enemy of equanimity is the ordinary indifference of the uninformed. (Vm 9.101) When a person, hearing a sound with the ear, is not attached to pleasing sounds and not repelled by unpleasing sounds, they have established mindfulness and dwell with an unlimited mind. For a person whose mindfulness is developed and practiced, the ear does not struggle to reach pleasing sounds, and unpleasing sounds are not considered repulsive. (SN 35.274)
Reflection
The idea of a near enemy is used in Buddhist commentaries to help define the meaning of words. A near enemy is something that seems like the right definition of a word (hence near), but is actually missing the mark and steering us in a wrong direction (hence enemy). What is being said here is that equanimity can easily be misconstrued as indifference, while in fact these two are miles apart. Real equanimity is fully engaged.

Daily Practice
Working with sound, see if you can hear sounds without favoring or opposing what you hear, without preferring some sounds and feeling aversion toward others. You will notice that this requires paying close attention and is thus far from indifference. When hearing a sound (bird calls, traffic, the refrigerator), just be aware of hearing the sound with an attitude of true equanimity: attentive but unattached.

Tomorrow: Refraining from Frivolous Speech
One week from today: Cultivating Lovingkindness

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Monday, July 3, 2023

Via White Crane Institute // DOG DAYS

 

Noteworthy
2018 -

According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac today marks the beginning of the DOG DAYS most commonly experienced in the months of July and August, which typically observe the warmest summer temperatures. In the Southern hemisphere, they typically occur in January and February, in the midst of the austral summer. The Almanac lists the traditional period of the Dog Days as the forty days beginning July 3rd and ending August 11th, coinciding with the ancient heliacal (at sunrise) rising of the Dog Star, Sirius. These are the days of the year with the least rainfall in the Northern Hemisphere.


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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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ia Daily Dharma: Nurturing a Virtuous Mind

 

Nurturing a Virtuous Mind

Every time we refrain from callously expressing irritation, every time we restrain ourselves from consuming more than we need, and every time we offer dharma nourishment and material sustenance to one another, our minds grow in virtue.

Shinge Sherry Chayat Roshi, “Deepening Our Resolve”


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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right View: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Way to the Cessation of Suffering

 


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RIGHT VIEW
Understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering
And what is the way leading to the cessation of suffering? It is just this noble eightfold path: that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right living, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. (MN 9)

One perfects their ethical behavior by abandoning intoxication . . . (DN 2)
Reflection
Once again the importance of ethical behavior is emphasized, as the heart of walking the path toward the cessation of suffering, and so too is the particular value of keeping the mind clear and alert. Intoxication leads to a muddling of the mind, and the negligence that ensues can be the source of a lot of trouble. Sobriety in its many forms is a skill that can be learned, developed, strengthened, and ultimately perfected.

Daily Practice
Look at the many ways your diligence of mind is diminished throughout the day and becomes negligent. We get distracted by petty things, interrupted by random circumstances, confused by stray thoughts, or addled by any number of befuddling substances. The path to awakening winds its way among these obstacles. See if the image of gradually perfecting your ethical behavior can be useful in countering this.

Tomorrow: Cultivating Equanimity
One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth of Suffering

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Sunday, July 2, 2023

Via Daily Dharma: See Beyond Partial Views

 

See Beyond Partial Views

Neither we ourselves nor the world around us can be saved unless we learn to see both sides of things, learn to pull as well as push, and learn to maintain a broad and lofty view of the truth.

Masahiro Mori, “Back Up and Take Another Look”


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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and the Third Jhāna

 


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RIGHT MINDFULNESS
Establishing Mindfulness of Mind
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 the mind is uplifted, one is aware: “The mind is uplifted”. . . One is just aware, just mindful: “There is mind.” And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)
Reflection
An uplifted mind is one made more noble by the presence of an ennobling mental factor or combination of factors. Buddhist psychology measures the mind in moments that quickly come and go, so a mind that is uplifted in one moment by kindness, for example, might be the opposite the very next moment if ill will or selfishness shows up. Among other things, mindfulness involves noticing the quality of the mind moment by moment. 

Daily Practice
Closely examine your mind—not the content of your mind but the quality of your mind. By quality we mean whether it has healthy mental factors like kindness, generosity, and wisdom. Many mind moments do not have such uplifting factors, but many of them do, and it is important to recognize your own good qualities when they are present. This allows you to not only appreciate your good qualities but also encourage their arising in the future.


RIGHT CONCENTRATION
Approaching and Abiding in the Third Phase of Absorption (3rd Jhāna)
With the fading away of joy, one abides in equanimity; mindful and fully aware, still feeling pleasure with the body, one enters upon and abides in the third phase of absorption, on account of which noble ones announce: “One has a pleasant abiding who has equanimity and is mindful.” (MN 4)

One practices: “I shall breathe in experiencing mental formations;”
one practices: “I shall breathe out experiencing mental formations.”
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 Way to the Cessation of Suffering
One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects and the Fourth Jhāna

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Via White Crane Institute // RICHARD BRUCE NUGENT

 


This Day in Gay History

July 02

Born
1906 -

RICHARD BRUCE NUGENT aka Richard Bruce and Bruce Nugent, born on this date, was a gay writer and painter in the Harlem Renaissance. Despite being a part of a group of many gay Harlem artists, Nugent was among only a few who were publicly out. Recognized initially for the few short stories and paintings that were published, Nugent had a long productive career bringing to light the creative process of gay and black culture.

Nugent was born in Washington, DC to Richard H. Nugent, Jr. and Pauline Minerva Bruce. He completed his schooling at Dunbar High School in 1920, and moved to New York following his father's death. After revealing to his mother that he decided to devote his life to only making art she worried about his lack of interest in getting a stable job, so she sent him to Washington, DC, to live with his grandmother. To earn enough money to sustain the family, Nugent would pass as white to earn higher wages. While there, he also experimented with passing, and went by the name Ricardo Nugen di Dosocta, even going as far as giving an address located in the Spanish legation in Washington. In an interview, he claimed he did this for its "convenience" as it allowed him to avoid "bearing the stigma" of being African American. At that time, he met famous writers like Langston Hughes and Georgia Douglas Johnson. They became friends, influenced each other's works, and collaborated on works.

During his career in Harlem, Nugent lived with writer Wallace Thurman from 1926 to 1928, which led to the publishing of "Smoke, Lilies, and Jade" in Thurman's publication Fire!!. The short story was written in a modernist stream-of-consciousness style. Its subject matter was bisexuality and more specifically interracial male desire. Before committing his life to his art, Bruce Nugent worked several ordinary jobs, including hat seller, delivery boy, and bellhop. During his time as a bellhop he fell deeply in love with a hotel kitchen employee. It is believed that the character of Beauty from "Smoke, Lilies and Jade" is based on this man.

Many of Nugent's illustrations were featured in publications such as Fire!!, along with his short story. Four of his paintings were included in the Harmon Foundation's exhibition of Negro artists, one of the few venues available for black artists in 1931. His only stand-alone publication, Beyond Where the Stars Stood Still, was issued in a limited edition by Warren Marr II in 1945. In 1952, he married Marr's sister, Grace.

His marriage to Grace Marr lasted from 1952 until her suicide in 1969. Nugent’s intentions with the marriage were unclear as they were not romantic due to his clearly stated interest in other men. Thomas Wirth, a contemporary and personal friend of Richard Nugent claimed that Grace loved Richard and was determined to change his sexuality in his book “Gay Rebel of the Harlem Renaissance: Selections from the Work of Richard Bruce Nugent” (2002).

In the late 1930s Nugent worked with other iconic Harlem Renaissance writers, Claude Mckay and Ralph Ellison, on the Federal Writers Project. In this project he was employed to write biographical sketches.

While he was more more well known for his writing and illustrations, Nugent also spent many of his years touring as a dancer. He appeared in shows like Run, Little Chillun (1933) and even toured for two years in a production of Porgy in 1929. In the 1940s he became a member of the William's Negro Ballet Company. He was also a part of other dance companies, including Hemsley Winfield and Asadata Dafora, even dancing in drag with the New Negro Art Theatre Dance Troupe.

Brother to Brother is a film written and directed by Rodney Evans and released in 2004. It debuted at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival before playing the gay and lesbian film festival circuit, with a limited theatrical release in late 2004. The film concerns an art student named Perry (Anthony Mackie) who befriends an elderly homeless man named Bruce Nugent (Roger Robinson), who turns out to have been an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Through recalling his friendships with other important Harlem Renaissance figures such as Langston Hughes, Aaron Douglas, Wallace Thurman and Zora Neale Hurston, Bruce chronicles some of the challenges he faced as a young, black, gay writer in the 1920s. Perry discovers that the challenges of homophobia and racism he faces in the early 21st century closely parallel Bruce's.


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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 Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation /// Words of Wisdom - July 2, 2023 💌



"The stroke got me to appreciate silence as much as I used to appreciate words."

- Ram Dass -

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