Friday, March 22, 2024

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 for 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)

A layperson is not to engage in the livelihood of trading in meat. (AN 5.177)
Reflection
Vegetarianism is an important issue in contemporary Buddhist discussion. The Buddha was famously not a vegetarian, although he spoke of the importance of not harming living beings. His perspective was that as beggars, the monks and nuns had to accept all offerings put in their bowls without making distinctions between what they liked or didn't like, or between what they thought was rightly or wrongly procured. 

Daily Practice
Whether or not you are a practicing vegetarian, the matter raised here is about the livelihood of a layperson. Trading in meat was singled out as an inappropriate profession because it involves the killing of living beings every day in great numbers. This is just not a healthy thing to be doing. Give the matter some attention today and reflect upon how much harm or lack of harm results from what you do for a living.

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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89 5th Ave, New York, NY 10003

Via Daily Dharma: Peaceful Abandon

 

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Peaceful Abandon 

Try turning off the radio, the phone, the computer, and the TV; sit comfortably in a quiet place, relaxing the body and mind; mindfully breathe in, mindfully breathe out, and abandon—just for now—any thought or response that tends to disperse and divide your awareness.

Andrew Olendzki, “Busy Signal”


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On ‘Music for Zen Meditation’
By Stephan Kunze
On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Tony Scott’s groundbreaking spiritual jazz album, Tricycle looks back at Zen’s enduring influence on modern music.
Read now »


My Buddha Is Punk
Directed by Andreas Hartmann
In this film, twenty-five-year-old Burmese punk musician Kyaw Kyaw is on a mission to travel through Myanmar playing music and organizing demonstrations to raise awareness about the persecution of the country’s ethnic minorities. Subscribers can stream the film on Tricycle’s Film Club all month long.
Watch now »

Via White Crane Institute // ROSA BONHEUR


 
White Crane Institute Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture since 1989
 

This Day in Gay History

March 22

Born
Rosa Bonheur wearing the Legion of Honor
1822 -

ROSA BONHEUR, French painter born (d: 1899); a French animalière and realist artist, one of few female sculptors. As a painter she became famous primarily for two chief works: Plowing in the Nivernais (in French Le labourage nivernais, le sombrage ), which was first exhibited at the Salon of 1848, and is now in the Musee D'Orsay in Paris depicts a team of oxen plowing in a field while attended by peasants set against a vast pastoral landscape; and, The Horse Fair (in French Le marché aux chevaux ), which was exhibited at the Salon of 1853 (finished in 1855) and is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York City.

Bonheur is widely considered to have been the most famous woman painter of the 19th century. Writers used to explain Bonheur’s penchant for dressing in men’s clothing by saying that the famous painter of animals needed disguises to paint unmolested in the markets she frequented for her subjects. It’s a nice thought, but untrue. Rosa Bonheur, who lived together with Nathalie Micas for most of her life, dressed as a man because she wanted to.

She drank, she smoked, she became one of the most popular painters in the world and a member of the French Legion of Honor. She was, in short, very much her own person. As she once said to a male friend who was concerned about her movement through the world of men (gasp!) unchaperoned, “Oh my dear Sir, if you knew how little I care for your sex, you wouldn’t get any ideas in your head. The fact is, in the way of males, I only like the bulls I paint.”

 


 

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Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute

"With the increasing commodification of gay news, views, and culture by powerful corporate interests, having a strong independent voice in our community is all the more important. White Crane is one of the last brave standouts in this bland new world... a triumph over the looming mediocrity of the mainstream Gay world." - Mark Thompson

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

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Via FB // RFK


 

Via FB

 


Via FB

 


Thursday, March 21, 2024

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 are doing an action with the body, reflect upon that same bodily action thus: "Does this action I am doing with the body lead to the affliction of another?" If, upon reflection, you know that it does, then stop doing it; if you know that it does not, then continue. (MN 61)
Reflection
Mindfulness practice involves being fully aware of what we are doing while it is being done. It has to do with the mind being in the present moment rather than recalling what has just happened or anticipating what will happen next. It also includes being attentive to the ethical quality of our actions. It is important to be aware of whether we are causing harm or contributing to the good and to adjust our actions accordingly.

Daily Practice
This is a day to reflect upon your actions as you are doing them. Be aware of the unfolding of cause and effect as you go through the day. Notice the look on people’s faces as you are interacting with them; notice whether people are benefitted or hurt by what you are doing. Make the extra effort to be conscious as you act in the world, rather than just doing things automatically.

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

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.

© 2024 Tricycle Foundation
89 5th Ave, New York, NY 10003

Via Daily Dharma: True Nature Is Beyond

 

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True Nature Is Beyond 

Awakening means a fundamental shift takes place. It is a shift from looking for ourselves outside in the ten thousand things to recognizing that our true nature is beyond definition. 

Kittisaro, “Tangled in Thought”


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Are We Having Fun Yet?
By Alex Tzelnic
Both parenting and practice may not always be the most “fun.” Yet, we get to exchange a promise for a good time for something that may be deeper.
Read now »

Via White Crane Institute // THE VERNAL EQUINOX

 

Noteworthy
2024 -

THE VERNAL EQUINOX -- also known as The March equinox – marks the beginning of the spring season in the Northern Hemisphere and the autumn season in the Southern Hemisphere. The March 2023 equinox arrived yesterday, March 20 at 10:37 UTC or 5:37 a.m. Central Daylight Time.

On the dates of the equinox, the sun rises due east and sets due west as it crosses the celestial equator. If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, start watching the sun this month, and watch every night as the sun sets just a bit farther north on the horizon each evening until the summer solstice.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the March equinox will bring earlier sunrises, later sunsets, softer winds, sprouting plants. Meanwhile, you’ll find the opposite season – later sunrises, earlier sunsets, chillier winds, dry and falling leaves – south of the equator.

The equinoxes and solstices are caused by Earth’s tilt on its axis and ceaseless motion in orbit. You can think of an equinox as happening on the imaginary dome of our sky, or as an event that happens in Earth’s orbit around the sun.

Owing to the pandemic, and in the interests of public health, there was no Spring Equinox gathering at Stonehenge lin 2022.  People wanting to watch the sunrise to mark the first day of spring were  told not to travel to Stonehenge. English Heritage maintains it cannot host the usual celebrations at the prehistoric monument due to safety concerns.


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Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute

"With the increasing commodification of gay news, views, and culture by powerful corporate interests, having a strong independent voice in our community is all the more important. White Crane is one of the last brave standouts in this bland new world... a triumph over the looming mediocrity of the mainstream Gay world." - Mark Thompson

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

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