Friday, July 14, 2023

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Action: Reflecting upon Bodily Action

 


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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 upon that same bodily action thus: “Has this action I have done with the body led to both my own affliction and the affliction of another?” If, upon 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
Here we have a rare invitation to reflect on the past in a tradition that generally encourages us to keep our attention focused on the present moment. This is not an ancient form of psychotherapy but rather the recognition that reflecting on all our actions of body, speech, and mind in the past, present, and future can be a valuable learning tool. We refine our understanding of cause and effect in this way.

Daily Practice
See if you can get in the habit of looking at what you have done immediately after you do it. Notice the effect your actions have on your surroundings and particularly on other people. Notice if you seem to have caused someone harm or if you have hurt yourself in some way. If you are aware of causing affliction, be honest in admitting that and undertake a commitment to refrain from such an action in the future.

Tomorrow: Abstaining from Harming Living Beings
One week from today: Reflecting upon Verbal Action

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Via Daily Dharma: Practices of Purification

 

Practices of Purification

The anger is no more mine than is the breeze on my skin or the sound of a dog barking across the street.

Amaro Bhikkhu, “Practices of Purification” 


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Thursday, July 13, 2023

Via Daily Dharma: Seeing the Present Moment

Seeing the Present Moment

Our brains have evolved to keep us alive. They’re really good at being anxious, seeing the negative, and what can go wrong, and really bad at seeing the present moment just as it is.

Anthony Tshering, “How the Concept of Impermanence Can Help Anxiety-Ridden Millennials” 


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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Living: Abstaining from Harming Living Beings

 

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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 compassionate to all living beings. (M 41) One practices thus: “Others may harm living beings, but I will abstain from the harming of living beings.” (MN 8)

This is something that leads to the welfare and happiness of a person in this present life: accomplishment in protection. Here a person sets up protection and guards over the resources one has acquired . . . [thinking], “How can I prevent thieves from carrying it off, fire from burning it, floods from sweeping it away, and dishonest people from taking it?” (AN 8.54)
Reflection
There is a practical side to the teachings of the historical Buddha that can be easy to overlook. He didn't just guide monks and nuns toward awakening; he also advised laypeople on how to live wisely. Here the emphasis is on the value of guarding the things you own and the beings under your protection. Life is precious, and the duty of a householder to protect their family, animals, and possessions was taken quite seriously. 
Daily Practice
It is easy to cause harm to living beings by neglecting to be careful in all you do. Now more than ever a commitment to non-harming means developing ways not only to avoid hurting living beings but also to nurture and protect them. Look at yourself and your life through the eyes of another: a pet, a wild animal, an ocean, an eco-system. And ask yourself, What more can I do to ensure their safety and well-being?
Tomorrow: Restraining Unarisen Unhealthy States
One week from today: Abstaining from Taking What is Not Given

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Wednesday, July 12, 2023

Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - July 12, 2023 💌


 

"If you follow your heart there is nothing to fear. As long as your actions are based on your pure seeking for God, you are safe. And any time you are unsure or frightened about your situation, there’s a beautiful and very powerful mantra: 'The power of God is within me. The grace of God surrounds me,' which you can repeat to yourself. It will protect you.


Experience the power of it, it’s like a solid steel shaft that goes from above the top of your head down to the base of your being. Grace will surround you like a force field. Through an open heart one hears the universe."

- Ram Dass -

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Speech: Refraining from False Speech

 



RIGHT SPEECH
Refraining from False Speech
False speech is unhealthy. Refraining from false speech is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning false speech, one dwells refraining from false speech, a truth-speaker, one to be relied on, trustworthy, dependable, not a deceiver of the world. One does not in full awareness speak falsehood for one’s own ends or another’s ends, or for some trifling worldly end. (DN 1) One practices thus: “Others may speak falsely, but I shall abstain from false speech.” (MN 8)

When one knows covert speech to be true, correct, and beneficial, one may utter it, knowing the time to do so. (MN 139)
Reflection
There is nothing wrong with speaking privately and even secretly to someone as long as what is said is true and beneficial. There are times when discretion is entirely appropriate. The thing to guard against is resorting to covert speech as a way of hiding something that is not worthy of being spoken in the open. A good rule of thumb is to refrain from saying anything in private you would be ashamed of saying publicly.

Daily Practice
The restraint of false speech is important because what you say has an effect not only on other people but also on yourself. Pay attention to the quality of your mind when you speak covertly to someone and check to make sure that you are not drifting into states of mind that are harmful, such as ill will, hatred, or cruelty. You can learn to be intuitively aware of the quality of your emotions as you speak. 

Tomorrow: Reflecting upon Bodily Action
One week from today: Refraining from Malicious Speech

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Via Daily Dharma: When Troubles Arise

When Troubles Arise

Our problems arise when we subordinate this moment to something else, our self-centered thoughts: not just this moment, but what I want. We bring to the moment our personal priorities, all day long. And so our troubles arise.

Charlotte Joko Beck, “Attention Means Attention”


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Tuesday, July 11, 2023

Via White Crane Institute // DR. TOM WADDELL

 

Died
Dr. Tom Waddell
1987 -

DR. TOM WADDELL was a gay American physician, sportsman and competitor at the 1968 Summer Olympics, who died on this date (b: 1937). Waddell founded the Gay Olympics in 1982 in San Francisco. The international sporting event was later renamed the Gay Games after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) sued Dr. Waddell for using the word "Olympic" in the original name. The Gay Games are held every four years.

Tom Waddell attended Springfield College in Massachusetts on a track scholarship. Originally majoring in physical education, he switched to pre-medicine following the sudden death of his best friend and co-captain of the gymnastics team, an event that moved him deeply. At Springfield, he competed on the gymnastics and football teams. In the summer of 1959, Tom worked at a children's camp in western Massachusetts, where he met his first lover, socialist Enge Menaker, then a 63-year-old man. They remained close for the rest of Menaker's life, which ended in 1985 when he was 90 years old.

Dr. Waddell traveled on a U.S. State Department-sponsored track and field tour of Africa in 1962. At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, he placed sixth among the 33 competitors. He broke five of his own personal records in the 10 events. In 1972, in a track meet in Hawaii, he injured his knee in a high jump, which ended his career as a competitive athlete.

Soon after returning to San Francisco in 1972, Waddell joined a gay bowling league. It inspired him to consider organizing a gay sporting event modeled on the Olympics. He followed through with the idea in the early 1980s. The first "Gay Olympics" was to take place in San Francisco in 1982 in the form of a sports competition and arts festival. But a few weeks before the event was to begin, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) sued the organization over its use of the word "Olympic."

Despite the fact that the IOC had not previously protested when other groups had used the name, they alleged that allowing "Gay Olympics" would injure them. They succeeded in securing an injunction just nineteen days before the first games were to begin.

Nevertheless, the games, now re-christened the "Gay Games," went forward. It was and remains a great success, perhaps because they emphasize sportsmanship, personal achievement, and inclusiveness to a far greater degree than the Olympics. There is a famous story of Waddell meeting Leonard Bernstein at a party in San Francisco, related in Douglass Shand-Tucci's The Crimson Letter. Waddell was telling Bernstein about his plans for the Gay Olympics, to which Bernsteion replied "My god--who needs Gay Olympics?" Waddell related that he turned on his heels and walked away. At which point Bernstein, in a stage voice that pursued Waddell across the room, asked "Who's that fucking queen?" Waddell allowed that, had Bernstein not been drunk, he would have slugged him.

In 1981, while founding the Gay Games, Waddell met two people with whom he formed major relationships. One was public relations man and fundraiser Zohn Artman, with whom he fell in love and began a relationship. The other was lesbian athlete Sara Lewinstein. Both Tom and Sara had longed to have a child, and they decided to have a child together. Their daughter, Jessica, was born in 1983. To protect Jessica's and her mother's legal rights, Tom and Sara married in 1985.

In 1985, he was diagnosed with AIDS. Although dogged by the IOC's lawsuit, Waddell lived to see the success of Gay Games II in 1986, and even participated, winning the gold medal in the javelin event.

Dr. Tom Waddell died from HIV-AIDS on this date, aged 49, in San Francisco, California. His last words were "Well, this should be interesting." His battle against HIV/AIDS is one of the subjects of the award-winning documentary Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt. With sports writer Dick Schaap, Waddell wrote an autobiography titled Gay Olympian.


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Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute

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The Untold Truth about Vikings and Homosexuality

Music Video: Alchemy of the Heart (2D Single) - Ram Dass x David Starfire

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