A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
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 the healthy state, and then
one’s mind inclines to the healthy states. (MN 19)
Here a person rouses the will, makes an effort, stirs up energy, exerts
the mind, and strives to maintain arisen healthy mental states. One
maintains the arisen investigation of states-awakening factor. (MN 141)
Reflection
Because the
mind is inclined in the direction of whatever you frequently think about
and ponder, influencing your own mind becomes the way of changing
yourself for better or worse. When healthy states arise, such as
kindness or insight or mindfulness, or when the factor of awakening
called the investigation of states is present, this is beneficial and
needs to be maintained through the deliberate and skillful application
of effort.
Daily Practice
When
mindfulness is present enough to give rise to the awakening factor of
the investigation of mental and emotional states, do what you can to
strengthen and maintain this quality of mind. Investigating your own
experience is the primary way of gaining wisdom, but like so many other
habits of value in our lives, it does not just happen by itself and
requires the application of effort. This is worthwhile to do, so do it.
Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects and the Fourth Jhāna One week from today: Restraining Unarisen Unhealthy States
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TANABATA,
meaning "Evening of the seventh" is a Japanese star festival, derived
from the Chinese star festival, Qi Xi "The Night of Sevens.” It
celebrates the meeting of Orihime (Vega) and Hikoboshi (Altair). The
Milky Way, a river made from stars that crosses the sky, separates these
lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh
day of the seventh lunar month of the luni-solar calendar.
Since the stars
come out at night, the celebration is held at night. The festival
originated from The Festival to Plead for Skills. In the Edo period,
girls wished for better sewing and craftsmanship, and boys wished for
better handwriting by writing wishes on strips of paper. At this time,
the custom was to use dew left on taro leaves to create the ink used to
write wishes.
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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 by intoxication, but I will abstain from
the negligence of intoxication.” (MN 8)
There are these two worldly conditions: fame and shame. These are
conditions that people meet—impermanent, transient, and subject to
change. A mindful, wise person knows them and sees that they are subject
to change. Desirable conditions do not excite one’s mind nor is one
resentful of undesirable conditions. (AN 8.6)
Reflection
The “worldly
winds” are aspects of life that are as inevitable as the blowing of the
wind, and we are better off accepting and adapting to them rather than
attempting to avoid them. Among these are fame and shame, meaning
sometimes we are a hero and sometimes a chump. In either case, we may
not deserve the label placed on us by others, so the advice here is to
see both fame and shame as the result of changing circumstances and view
them with equanimity.
Daily Practice
One form of
intoxication we are susceptible to is being influenced overmuch by what
other people think of us. If people raise you up unrealistically or put
you down undeservedly, try not to let it sway your own sense of who you
are. As the text says, “A mindful, wise person knows them” to be the
passing opinions of others, subject to capricious change. Practice
remaining balanced, independent of the judgment of others.
Tomorrow: Maintaining Arisen Healthy States One week from today: Abstaining from Harming Living Beings
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[Real
love] is a state where we allow ourselves to be seen clearly by
ourselves and by others, and in turn, we offer clear seeing to the world
around us. It is a love that heals.
In
grief we access parts of ourselves that were somehow unavailable to us
in the past. With awareness, the journey through grief becomes a path to
wholeness.
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)
One reflects thus: “I shall initiate and sustain verbal acts of kindness
toward my companions, both publicly and privately.” One lives with
companions in concord, with mutual appreciation, without disputing,
blending like milk and water, viewing each other with kindly eyes. One
practices thus: “We are different in body but one in mind.” (MN 31)
Reflection
As social
beings we speak a lot in the course of our daily lives. Here is an
invitation to focus on the quality of our verbal actions in a social
setting. The way to live in harmony with others is lubricated, so to
speak, by verbal acts of kindness. As the text says, “Good things come
from doing good deeds,” and this includes the things we say. The skill
of living "without disputing, blending like milk and water," is sorely
needed these days.
Daily Practice
Speak with
kindly intention to your friends, family members, and colleagues. The
quality of mind behind our words is often more important than the words
themselves, and here we are invited to emphasize the feeling of caring
for others when we speak. When we speak with kindly intention we evoke
kindness from others, as well as bring out and strengthen our own
capacity for kindness. This contributes to social well-being.
Tomorrow: Abstaining from Intoxication One week from today: Reflecting upon Bodily Action
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