Wednesday, October 18, 2023

Via GBF // A milestone in spreading the dharma

After launching our library of 800+ dharma talks as an 

online podcast in March, we hit a milestone this week: 

10,000 online plays. 


In just 8 months, GBF is moving closer to realizing our vision o
helping to share insightful perspectives on the dharma 
and its application in modern times, especially for 
LGBTQIA+ audiences.

It's available on more than 20 podcast platforms. 
If you have not done so, be sure to subscribe 
using your favorite player on your phone or tablet, 
and spread the word. 


--
Enjoy 800+ free recorded dharma talks at www.gaybuddhist.org/podcast/

Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation //


It's only when the caterpillarness is done that you become a butterfly. That is part of this paradox. You cannot rip away the caterpillarness. The whole trip occurs in an unfolding process over which you have no control. - Ram Dass

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Speech: Refraining from Harsh Speech

 

RIGHT SPEECH
Refraining from Harsh Speech
Harsh speech is unhealthy. Refraining from harsh speech is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning harsh speech, one refrains from harsh speech. One speaks words that are gentle, pleasing to the ear, and affectionate, words that go to the heart, are courteous, and are agreeable to many. (DN 1) One practices thus: “Others may speak harshly, but I shall abstain from harsh speech.” (MN 8)

It is a mistake to return anger with anger. Not giving anger for anger, one wins a double victory. One behaves for the good of both oneself and the other person. Knowing well the other’s anger, be mindful and remain calm. In this way you are healing both yourself and the other person. (SN 11.14)
Reflection
This call for calm in the face of anger is timeless—and timely. Anger can be an effective emotion, but it is also toxic. Not only can things escalate and get seriously out of hand when you return anger with anger, but cultivating anger has a corrosive effect on your own heart and mind. If you regard the angry person as caught up by a hostile force, you can feel compassion for them rather than anger. This contributes to healing both of you.
Daily Practice
Make a point of remaining calm when someone else is angry and see what it feels like. You may feel the impulse to get angry in return, but you can recognize that this is an impulse you can abandon when it arises. By not giving in to anger when it is provoked by others, you are not only protecting yourself from the harmful effects of the toxic emotion but also helping the other person, who often, like you, is a victim of anger.
Tomorrow: Reflecting upon Mental Action
One week from today: Refraining from Frivolous Speech

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

Via Daily Dharma: Release Your Attachments

Release Your Attachments 

If we let go of attachment to this life, we will remain untainted by the eight mundane concerns. Only then will whatever we do become a path to liberation.

Thupten Jinpa, “Wouldn’t it be better if you practiced the dharma?” 


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Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Intention: Cultivating Appreciative Joy

 

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RIGHT INTENTION
Cultivating Appreciative Joy
Whatever you intend, whatever you plan, and whatever you have a tendency toward, that will become the basis on which your mind is established. (SN 12.40) Develop meditation on appreciative joy, for when you develop meditation on appreciative joy, any discontent will be abandoned. (MN 62) 

Appreciative joy is like a mother with a son who is young, for she just wants him to long enjoy the benefits of youth. (Vm 9.108)
Reflection
Appreciative joy is what lovingkindness transforms into when we witness something good and beneficial happening to another person, just as it turns to compassion when we see harm being done. Appreciating the good fortune of others is a readily available source of joy, as there are many blessings that can be counted. You can choose to focus on the harm or the good in the world around you and thereby feel either joy or sorrow.
Daily Practice
Practice focusing on the good things around you, the many ways other people can experience good fortune and well-being. Notice how your mind is uplifted when you appreciate the positive aspects of others' experience. This is a skill that can be developed with practice. It is not about shutting out the misfortunes that abound in the world but about balancing them with recognizing the many blessings that also exist.
Tomorrow: Refraining from Harsh Speech
One week from today: Cultivating Equanimity

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

Via Daily Dharma: Meditate Your Ideologies Away

Meditate Your Ideologies Away

Meditation practice is a way of loosening our solidity. Without practice, even the most inspired view can become rigid ideology. The practice of meditation brings out the futility and limitations of holding any rigid view.

Judy Lief, “Meditation Alone is Not Enough”


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Monday, October 16, 2023

Vua Dhamma Wheel | Right View: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering

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RIGHT VIEW
Understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering
What is the cessation of suffering? It is the remainderless fading away and ceasing, the giving up, relinquishing, letting go, and rejecting of craving. (MN 9)

When one knows and sees the five aggregates as they actually are, then one is not attached to the five aggregates. When one abides unattached, one is not infatuated, and one’s craving is abandoned. One’s bodily and mental troubles are abandoned, and one experiences bodily and mental well being. (MN 149)
Reflection
The five aggregates are the medium in which human experience unfolds, like the water in which fish swim or the air in which birds fly. At every moment all five aspects of experience co-arise: material form, feeling tones, perceptions, volitional and emotional formations, and consciousness. The skill to learn is how to be in this world without attachment, without infatuation, and with craving and troubles abandoned. 
Daily Practice
When you know and see these aggregates as they actually are—that is, as impermanent and interdependently conditioned processes with no essential core—it is natural to no longer feel attached to them and thereby driven by them. Try deconstructing your troubles by recognizing the extent to which they all eventually boil down to experiential components of the aggregates and as such are inherently empty.
Tomorrow: Cultivating Appreciative Joy
One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Way to the Cessation of Suffering


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

Via Daily Dharma: Know Your Boundaries

Know Your Boundaries

​​Preserving yourself and knowing your boundaries is not the same thing as exclusively seeking your own happiness. It’s about the healing process of learning to skillfully discern what will and will not serve all beings, yourself included.

Pilar Jennings, “Boundaries Make Good Bodhisattvas”


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Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation //



"What grace turns out to be is all the forces that exist in the universe that are free agents, that are available to support the process of your going back into the source. All the gurus, all the beings on astral planes, all of the elements, all of the forces in the universe."

 - Ram Dass -

From Here & Now Ep. 236 - The Relationship Between Karma & Grace

Sunday, October 15, 2023

Via Tricycle // Practicing Mindfulness of Death


Practicing Mindfulness of Death
With Nikki Mirghafori

Pulling from the Buddha’s discourse in the Maranassati Sutta, dharma teacher Nikki Mirghafori leads a guided meditation on mindfulness of death.
Watch now »

 

Via Daily Dharma: Forget Dualistic Ideas

Forget Dualistic Ideas

When you forget all your dualistic ideas, everything becomes your teacher, and everything can be the object of worship.

Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, “Bowing”


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