Via Daily Dharma: Healing Grief

 

Healing Grief

Grief is a catalyst for healing. Healing grief carves the landscape of your heart in ways that open up deeper pathways of connection to others. Paula Arai, “Where Fear and Love Meet” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right View: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering

 

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RIGHT VIEW Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering What is the origin of suffering? It is craving, which brings renewal of being, is accompanied by delight and lust, and delights in this and that: that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for being, and craving for non-being. (MN 9) When one does not know and see formations as they actually are, then one is attached to formations. When one is attached, one becomes infatuated, and one’s craving increases. One’s bodily and mental troubles increase, and one experiences bodily and mental suffering. (MN 149)

Reflection The aggregate of formations comprises all the volitional and emotional factors that make up our mental states, that guide our actions of body, speech, and mind, and that shape our deeper character and personality traits. These provide the basis for suffering because we so easily become attached to and infatuated with them. Formations are not a problem in themselves, but craving for them is the very cause of our suffering. Daily Practice Practice being aware of your mental states without being attached to them. Observe them with equanimity as they pass through your mind, rather than sorting them into what you welcome and what you resent. Do the same with your intentions and deepest underlying dispositions. Notice how easily any of these can become “sticky” and induce you to cling to it. This is how suffering arises. It is important to see and know this. Tomorrow: Cultivating Compassion One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering 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: Anger as a Revealer

 

Anger as a Revealer

In Buddhism, we work to illuminate the fundamental truth of our self-nature. When anger arises, it is pointing to something. Our anger is a clue to our underlying beliefs about ourselves. It can help to reveal our constructed sense of self-identity. Jules Shuzen Harris, “Uprooting the Seeds of Anger”  CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Restraining Unarisen Unhealthy States

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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 to 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 doubt. (MN 141)

Reflection Unhealthy mental states can erupt at any time, and it is prudent to be on guard against them. The best defense is to not allow them to arise in the first place, and there are ways to help with that. Faith or trust is the antidote to doubt, and if you are capable of cultivating trusting confidence, debilitating doubt will find no foothold in your mind. If you make an effort to think and ponder with trust, the hindrance of doubt will not arise. Daily Practice It is always possible to be doubtful of oneself, of others, of what you think you know or what you are doing. And there is a place for honest questioning of your assurances. But doubt can also be crippling, preventing you from moving forward. See if you can gain confidence through faith in the teachings and the value of mindfulness and use that to hold yourself in such a way that doubt does not penetrate your mind. Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Body and Abiding in 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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Via Daily Dharma: Generosity Awakens Freedom

 

Generosity Awakens Freedom

To act generously is to awaken a certain kind of freedom: freedom from the stranglehold of self-concern, and, consequently, freedom to choose a level of responsibility beyond the minimal charge most of us have for ourselves. Dale S. Wright, “The Bodhisattva’s Gift” CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

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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 with compassion toward 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 layperson in this present life: balanced living. Here, a person knows their wealth coming in and their wealth going out, and leads a balanced life, being neither too extravagant nor too frugal, [knowing that] “in this way my income exceeds my expenditures, and my expenditures do not exceed my income.” (AN 8.54)

Reflection Indian culture is deeply rooted in commerce, as its early civilizations seem to have flourished on trade, and many of the Buddha’s followers were merchants. He thus had respect for commercial life, and the economic balance he mentions here can be seen as a middle-way lifestyle for the layperson. Just as a monk lives being neither too indulgent nor too ascetic, so also a layperson should live a financially balanced life. Daily Practice Right living for a householder or layperson involves prudence, self-control, and a balanced lifestyle. Notice the negative psychological effect when you are in debt or living beyond your means, and notice also the harmful effects of extravagance and self-indulgence. Contrast these to the sense of contentment and security that comes from living in equilibrium, when your income and expenses are in harmony with each other. 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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Via Daily Dharma: Embrace Uncertainty

 

Embrace Uncertainty 

"Since uncertainty prevails, why can’t we come to terms with it? ... Uncertainty is freedom."  Rebecca Solnit with Roshi Joan Halifax and Christiana Figueres in a video series called  "Uncertainty and Possibility: Meeting the Climate Future" CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE VIDEO SERIES

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