Wednesday, March 13, 2024

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 on 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 proximate cause of equanimity is seeing ownership of deeds. (Vm 9.95) Having tasted a flavor with the tongue, one is neither glad-minded nor sad-minded but abides with equanimity, mindful and fully aware. (AN 6.1)
Reflection
The phrase “seeing ownership of deeds” refers to karma. Recognizing that everything that happens is a matter of cause and effect gives rise to equanimity. It is not raining to spoil your picnic, your toothache is not a form of punishment, and you are not having a bit of luck because you deserve it. When we regard things as the result of conditions rather than as entangled in our own sense of self, equanimity begins to develop. 

Daily Practice
Cycling through the senses, we are practicing today with the tongue and flavors. The aim is to use this sense modality to cultivate equanimity, the state of mind that does not favor pleasure or oppose displeasure. As you eat your food, see if you can relate to the taste with a neutral reaction. Acknowledge the tastiness if it tastes good and be aware of the bad taste if it is bad, but practice looking at each evenly. It is what it is.

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

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Via Daily Dharma: Embracing Our Inner World

 

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Embracing Our Inner World 

When we bury a feeling, we hold it inside and it festers, but if we develop our ability and courage to feel, we can come to a recognition that our inner feeling-world is not something we have to fear and run from.

Scott Tusa, “How to Be in the Body (Without Jumping Out of Your Skin)”


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Sacred Sites: The Garden of One Thousand Buddhas
By Carmen Kohlruss
Seeded two decades ago, A Tibetan Buddhist peace garden continues to flourish under the care of a Tibetan diaspora within the domain of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes on the Flathead Reservation in Arlee, Montana.
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Buddhist Film Festival
Presented by Tricycle
March 15-24, 2024
We invite you to join us for our first-ever Buddhist Film Festival from March 15-24, offering five feature-length films, five short films, and a live screening and Q&A with filmmaker Lana Wilson!
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Via White Crane Institute // The Wit of Jack Kerouac

 

Today's Gay Wisdom
2018 -

The Wit of Jack Kerouac

“Be in love with yr life.”— Belief and Technique for Modern Prose

“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.”—On the Road

“Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.”—On the Road

“It's hard to explain and best thing to do is not be false.”—Big Sur

“One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.”—The Dharma Bums

“One man practicing kindness in the wilderness is worth all the temples this world pulls.” — The Dharma Bums

“No man should go through life without once experiencing healthy, even bored solitude in the wilderness, finding himself depending solely on himself and thereby learning his true and hidden strength. Learning for instance, to eat when he’s hungry and sleep when he’s sleepy.” — Lonesome Traveler

“The only truth is music.” - Jack Kerouac

"Our battered suitcases were were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life."—On the Road

“The best teacher is experience and not through someone’s distorted point of view.” — On the Road

“Maybe that’s what life is...a wink of the eye and winking stars.”—Letter to Alan Harrington


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Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute

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Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture since 1989!
www.whitecraneinstitute.org

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Monday, March 11, 2024

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 Way to 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 the taking of life, dwelling without taking life, with rod and weapon laid aside, gentle and kindly, and with compassion for all living beings. (DN 2)
Reflection
The first and perhaps most important of the basic ethical precepts is committing yourself to the practice of harmlessness. This means not only no deliberate killing but also refraining from any kind of assault against living beings. The phrase used above literally means “laying down the stick” and broadly speaking is construed as not only abandoning any overt acts of violence but also softening the heart internally with kindness and compassion.

Daily Practice
How can you bring more harmlessness to your daily life? It  is an emotional attitude more than anything else. It involves seeing things through the eyes of other beings and recognizing that they do not want and do not deserve to be assaulted. Begin by brushing insects away rather than killing them, slowing down to avoid animals on the road, and in every way increasing your sensitivity to the inherent value of life. 

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

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Via Daily Dharma: A Recipe for Freedom

 

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A Recipe for Freedom 

Freedom takes work. It takes prayer. It takes connecting to the unseen. It takes devotion and trust in the sacred or the divine. But if we can do that, then we will get free.

Lama Rod Owens, “The New Saints”


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A Lie That Is Also True: Birth, Death, and Motherhood in ‘The Boy and the Heron’
By Olivia Q. Pintair
How lessons from the Mata Sutta show up in the latest film from Studio Ghibli. 
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