Sunday Meditation Group
November 9
-"The Jhana Qualities: Singleness of Mind"
"Over there are the roots of trees; over there, empty dwellings. Practice jhana, monks. Don't be heedless. Don't later fall into regret. This is our message to you." (MN 19)
-the first jhana quality is 'singleness of mind." singleness of mind is focus. when developed in this quality we're able to put our mind where we choose to put it. and keep it there. we develop singleness of mind by practicing mindfulness of breathing. each of the steps of breath meditation supports the development of this jhana quality. in the first step, we practice directed thought. we train the mind to focus on the breath. much of the effort in meditation practice goes into this step. however in order to develop singleness, there must be insight. in keeping the mind on the breath, seeing the drawbacks of thinking is essential. asking questions such as 'is it useful?" support our ability to cultivate this insight. when singleness of mind is developed, we're able to put aside thinking. we're able to abandon greed and distress with reference to the world. this is a profound benefit of being developed in this quality of jhana. we're able to stay in the body, present, close to the heart.
-some things to to remember as we learn to develop "singleness of mind"...
1-singleness of mind is focus..
-when developed in singleness of mind....
-we have the ability to put the mind where we choose to put it ... and keep it there.....
-we're able to keep the mind on the breath....
-we're able to keep the mind on the body....
-we have strength of mind.....
2- we develop singleness of mind through the practice of mindfulness of breathing.....
-in developing singless of mind, we practice mindfulness of breathing.....
-we develop the steps of mindfulness of breathing (anapanasati), as the Buddha taught....
-we practice accordingly....
-we follow the steps of breath meditation....
-step one....
-we train the mind to stay on the meditation object (breath)....
-we use directed thought....
-internal verbal fabrication....
-step two....
-we cultivate an easeful breath....
-as the breath becomes more easeful, the mind inclines to the breath....
-strength of mind develops....
-the breath conditions the body....
-step three.....
-we cultivate a pleasant abiding in the full body....
-when we have a pleasant abiding, we become less interested in thoughts....
-we're able to put aside 'greed & distress' with reference to the world....
-we incline to the breath....
-strength of mind develops.....
3-practicing directed thought is essential to developing singleness of mind.......
-the use of directed thought is essential to training the mind....
-internal verbal fabrication....
-we're proactive in this effort....
-using directed thought, we dig tracks in the mind....
-we cultivate our ability to focus....
-we develop strength of mind....
-just as a person lifting weights develop physical strength....
-for this reason we shouldn't use meditation apps/guided meditations in our practice...
4-to develop singleness of mind we have to bring insight to the practice......
-as the Buddha tells us, jhana won't develop without insight....
-in meditation, bringing insight to the practice of developing singleness of mind includes....
-bringing insight to thinking.....
-seeing the drawbacks in unskillful thinking....
-to this end, when caught in thinking, it is helpful to ask questions such as: "is it useful....?"
-in all postures....
-we maintain singleness of mind by recognizing the consequences of pursuing unskillful thinking....
5-singleness of mind, when developed, enables us to abandon unskillful thinking......
-when we're involved in thinking, in all postures, having singleness of mind enables us to put aside thinking and stay focused on the breath & body.....
-when there is 'greed & distress with reference to the world' we are generally pursuing thinking about the world.....
-illness/aging/death/separation....
-jobs/relationships/apartments....
-the dharma student, developed in the jhana qualities, is able to put aside this thinking....
-keep the mind on the breath/body....
-maintain ease of being....
-stay close to the heart....
-in all postures, when caught in unskillful thinking....
-we see the thinking....
-we bring insight, recognizing the consequences of the unskillful thinking....
-we keep the mind on the breath/body.....
-when singleness of mind is developed we're able to keep the mind there....
-reading.....
-"Steps of Mindfulness of Breathing" (full set of instructions)
-"The Jhana Qualities: Singleness of Mind"
"Over there are the roots of trees; over there, empty dwellings. Practice jhana, monks. Don't be heedless. Don't later fall into regret. This is our message to you." (MN 19)
-the first jhana quality is 'singleness of mind." singleness of mind is focus. when developed in this quality we're able to put our mind where we choose to put it. and keep it there. we develop singleness of mind by practicing mindfulness of breathing. each of the steps of breath meditation supports the development of this jhana quality. in the first step, we practice directed thought. we train the mind to focus on the breath. much of the effort in meditation practice goes into this step. however in order to develop singleness, there must be insight. in keeping the mind on the breath, seeing the drawbacks of thinking is essential. asking questions such as 'is it useful?" support our ability to cultivate this insight. when singleness of mind is developed, we're able to put aside thinking. we're able to abandon greed and distress with reference to the world. this is a profound benefit of being developed in this quality of jhana. we're able to stay in the body, present, close to the heart.
-some things to to remember as we learn to develop "singleness of mind"...
1-singleness of mind is focus..
-when developed in singleness of mind....
-we have the ability to put the mind where we choose to put it ... and keep it there.....
-we're able to keep the mind on the breath....
-we're able to keep the mind on the body....
-we have strength of mind.....
2- we develop singleness of mind through the practice of mindfulness of breathing.....
-in developing singless of mind, we practice mindfulness of breathing.....
-we develop the steps of mindfulness of breathing (anapanasati), as the Buddha taught....
-we practice accordingly....
-we follow the steps of breath meditation....
-step one....
-we train the mind to stay on the meditation object (breath)....
-we use directed thought....
-internal verbal fabrication....
-step two....
-we cultivate an easeful breath....
-as the breath becomes more easeful, the mind inclines to the breath....
-strength of mind develops....
-the breath conditions the body....
-step three.....
-we cultivate a pleasant abiding in the full body....
-when we have a pleasant abiding, we become less interested in thoughts....
-we're able to put aside 'greed & distress' with reference to the world....
-we incline to the breath....
-strength of mind develops.....
3-practicing directed thought is essential to developing singleness of mind.......
-the use of directed thought is essential to training the mind....
-internal verbal fabrication....
-we're proactive in this effort....
-using directed thought, we dig tracks in the mind....
-we cultivate our ability to focus....
-we develop strength of mind....
-just as a person lifting weights develop physical strength....
-for this reason we shouldn't use meditation apps/guided meditations in our practice...
4-to develop singleness of mind we have to bring insight to the practice......
-as the Buddha tells us, jhana won't develop without insight....
-in meditation, bringing insight to the practice of developing singleness of mind includes....
-bringing insight to thinking.....
-seeing the drawbacks in unskillful thinking....
-to this end, when caught in thinking, it is helpful to ask questions such as: "is it useful....?"
-in all postures....
-we maintain singleness of mind by recognizing the consequences of pursuing unskillful thinking....
5-singleness of mind, when developed, enables us to abandon unskillful thinking......
-when we're involved in thinking, in all postures, having singleness of mind enables us to put aside thinking and stay focused on the breath & body.....
-when there is 'greed & distress with reference to the world' we are generally pursuing thinking about the world.....
-illness/aging/death/separation....
-jobs/relationships/apartments....
-the dharma student, developed in the jhana qualities, is able to put aside this thinking....
-keep the mind on the breath/body....
-maintain ease of being....
-stay close to the heart....
-in all postures, when caught in unskillful thinking....
-we see the thinking....
-we bring insight, recognizing the consequences of the unskillful thinking....
-we keep the mind on the breath/body.....
-when singleness of mind is developed we're able to keep the mind there....
-reading.....
-"Steps of Mindfulness of Breathing" (full set of instructions)
| breath_meditation_complete_notes_january_2024.pdf |
-"Strength of Mind" (from Skillful Pleasure)
| skillful_pleasure_strength_of_mind_pdf.pdf |
-Skillful Pleasure (Peter Doobinin)
"There is the case where a monk — having gone to the wilderness, to the shade of a tree, or to an empty building — sits down folding his legs crosswise, holding his body erect and setting mindfulness to the fore. Always mindful, he breathes in; mindful he breathes out.
"Breathing in long, he discerns, 'I am breathing in long'; or breathing out long, he discerns, 'I am breathing out long.' Or breathing in short, he discerns, 'I am breathing in short'; or breathing out short, he discerns, 'I am breathing out short.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to the entire body.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to the entire body.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe in calming bodily fabrication.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out calming bodily fabrication.' And as he remains thus heedful, ardent, & resolute, any memories & resolves related to the household life are abandoned, and with their abandoning his mind gathers & settles inwardly, grows unified & centered. This is how a monk develops mindfulness immersed in the body."
(MN 119)
"There is the case where a monk — quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful qualities — enters and remains in the first jhana: rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought and evaluation. He permeates and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal.
"Just as if a skilled bathman or bathman's apprentice would pour bath powder into a brass basin and knead it together, sprinkling it again and again with water, so that his ball of bath powder — saturated, moisture-laden, permeated within and without — would nevertheless not drip; even so, the monk permeates, suffuses and fills this very body with the rapture and pleasure born of withdrawal. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal."
(AN 5.28)
There's no jhana
for one with no discernment,
no discernment
for one with no jhana.
But one with both jhana
& discernment:
he's on the verge
of Unbinding.
(Dhp 372)
In keeping your awareness inside your body, don't try to imprison it there. In other words, don't try to force the mind into a trance, don't try to force the breath or hold it to the point where you feel uncomfortable or confined. You have to let the mind have its freedom. Simply keep watch over it to make sure that it stays separate from its thoughts. If you try to force the breath and pin the mind down, your body is going to feel restricted and you won't feel at ease in your work. You'll start hurting here and aching there, and your legs may fall asleep. So just let the mind be its natural self, keeping watch to make sure that it doesn't slip out after external thoughts.
When we keep the mind from slipping out after its concepts, and concepts from slipping into the mind, it's like closing our windows and doors to keep dogs, cats, and thieves from slipping into our house. What this means is that we close off our sense doors and don't pay any attention to the sights that come in by way of the eyes, the sounds that come in by way of the ears, the smells that come in by way of the nose, the tastes that come in by way of the tongue, the tactile sensations that come in by way of the body, and the preoccupations that come in by way of the mind. We have to cut off all the perceptions and concepts — good or bad, old or new — that come in by way of these doors.
Cutting off concepts like this doesn't mean that we stop thinking. It simply means that we bring our thinking inside to put it to good use by observing and evaluating the theme of our meditation. If we put our mind to work in this way, we won't be doing any harm to ourself or to our mind. Actually, our mind tends to be working all the time, but the work it gets involved in is usually a lot of nonsense, a lot of fuss and bother without any real substance. So we have to find work of real value for it to do — something that won't harm it, something really worth doing. This is why we're doing breath meditation, focusing on our breathing, focusing on our mind. Put aside all your other work and be intent on doing just this and nothing else. This is the sort of attitude you need when you meditate.
The Hindrances that come from our concepts of past and future are like weeds growing in our field. They steal all the nutrients from the soil so that our crops won't have anything to feed on and they make the place look like a mess. They're of no use at all except as food for the cows and other animals that come wandering through. If you let your field get filled with weeds this way, your crops won't be able to grow. In the same way, if you don't clear your mind of its preoccupation with concepts, you won't be able to make your heart pure. Concepts are food only for the ignorant people who think they're delicious, but sages don't eat them at all.
The five Hindrances — sensual desire, ill will, torpor & lethargy, restlessness & anxiety, and uncertainty — are like different kinds of weeds. Restlessness & anxiety is probably the most poisonous of the lot, because it makes us distracted, unsettled, and anxious all at the same time. It's the kind of weed with thorns and sharp-edged leaves. If you run into it, you're going to end up with a stinging rash all over your body. So if you come across it, destroy it. Don't let it grow in your field at all.
Breath meditation — keeping the breath steadily in mind — is the best method the Buddha taught for wiping out these Hindrances. We use directed thought to focus on the breath, and evaluation to adjust it. Directed thought is like a plow; evaluation, like a harrow. If we keep plowing and harrowing our field, weeds won't have a chance to grow, and our crops are sure to prosper and bear abundant fruit.
The field here is our body. If we put a lot of thought and evaluation into our breathing, the four properties of the body will be balanced and at peace. The body will be healthy and strong, the mind relaxed and wide open, free from Hindrances.
When you've got your field cleared and leveled like this, the crops of your mind — the qualities of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha — are sure to prosper. As soon as you bring the mind to the breath, you'll feel a sense of rapture and refreshment. The four bases of attainment (iddhipada) — the desire to practice, persistence in the practice, intentness, and circumspection in your practice — will develop step by step. These four qualities are like the four legs of a table that keep it stable and upright. They're a form of power that supports our strength and our progress to higher levels.
To make another comparison, these four qualities are like the ingredients in a health tonic. Whoever takes this tonic will have a long life. If you want to die, you don't have to take it, but if you don't want to die, you have to take a lot. The more you take it, the faster the diseases in your mind will disappear. In other words, your defilements will die. So if you know that your mind has a lot of diseases, this is the tonic for you.
(Ajaan Lee from Keeping the Breath in Mind)
November Daylong Retreat
with Peter Doobinin
Saturday, November 15
PS 3, Hudson & Grove Streets, NYC
10am – 5pm
fee by donation
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November 2
-"The Jhana Qualities"
"Over there are the roots of trees; over there, empty dwellings. Practice jhana, monks. Don't be heedless. Don't later fall into regret. This is our message to you." (MN 19)
-the development of concentration, the Buddha teaches, is the heart of the path. the Buddha's concentration, the concentration that he learned to develop and then taught is known as jhana. we develop jhana, as the Buddha did, by the practice of mindfulness of breathing. in doing so, it is in our best interests to focus our efforts on developing the 'qualities of jhana.' we're not concerned with the so-called levels of jhana (first jhana, second jhana, etc. but rather these specific qualities. the jhana qualities are singleness of mind, ease, pleasure, and equanimity. if we practice accordingly and put in the effort we can, as householders, develop these qualities. we can develop a concentration that is maintainable in all postures.
-some things to to remember as we learn to develop "the jhana qualities"...
1-we learn, as dharma students, to develop the qualities of jhana..
-the jhana qualities include....
-singleness of mind.....
-physical ease...
-mental ease/pleasure.....
-equanimity.....
2- we develop the jhana qualities through the practice of mindfulness of breathing.....
-in developing the jhana qualities, we practice mindfulness of breathing.....
-we develop the steps of mindfulness of breathing (anapanasati), as the Buddha taught....
-we practice accordingly....
-we put in the effort....
-as householders, we can develop these jhana qualities....
-if we practice accordingly, follow the instructions....
-if we put in a certain amounts of wholehearted effort....
-a prescription for an appropriate meditation practice includes....
-daily meditation....
-daylong retreats....
-residential retreats....
3-our effort, in meditation, is put toward developing the jhana qualities........
-we're not concerned with attaining the levels of jhana (first jhana, second jhana, etc)....
-we're concerned, instead, with developing the four jhana qualities....
-this is our goal....
-this is a do-able goal for householders....
-if we do think in terms of the levels of jhana, our objective is to develop the first jhana....
-see below for description....
-this is a do-able goal for householders.....
4-a key mark of attainment in terms of the jhana qualities is the ability to 'call up' these qualities at will......
-in meditation....
-in our daily practice, we're able to consistently develop these qualities.....
-in all postures....
-we're able, to some degree, to maintain these qualities of jhana.....
-if we're able to maintain, in all postures, the qualities of jhana....
-we're able to stay close to the heart.....
5-the proximate cause of jhana is joy/brightness.......
-as the Buddha teaches, appreciative joy is the proximate cause of concentration/jhana....
-brightness.....
-if there is brightness in the mind/heart, concentration will develop.....
-we will be able to develop the four jhana qualities.....
-we develop this proximate cause, brightness by....
-generosity....
-practicing generosity/non-greed....
-reflecting on our goodness....
-virtue/skillful action....
-developing virtue/skillful action....
-reflecting on our goodness....
-mental training....
-making an effort to train the mind and open the heart....
-reflecting on our goodness as its expressed in our effort & determination....
-the practice of developing the jhana qualities, then, is an expression of our goodness....
-the practice is joyful.....
-reading.....
-"Steps of Mindfulness of Breathing" (full set of instructions)
-"The Jhana Qualities"
"Over there are the roots of trees; over there, empty dwellings. Practice jhana, monks. Don't be heedless. Don't later fall into regret. This is our message to you." (MN 19)
-the development of concentration, the Buddha teaches, is the heart of the path. the Buddha's concentration, the concentration that he learned to develop and then taught is known as jhana. we develop jhana, as the Buddha did, by the practice of mindfulness of breathing. in doing so, it is in our best interests to focus our efforts on developing the 'qualities of jhana.' we're not concerned with the so-called levels of jhana (first jhana, second jhana, etc. but rather these specific qualities. the jhana qualities are singleness of mind, ease, pleasure, and equanimity. if we practice accordingly and put in the effort we can, as householders, develop these qualities. we can develop a concentration that is maintainable in all postures.
-some things to to remember as we learn to develop "the jhana qualities"...
1-we learn, as dharma students, to develop the qualities of jhana..
-the jhana qualities include....
-singleness of mind.....
-physical ease...
-mental ease/pleasure.....
-equanimity.....
2- we develop the jhana qualities through the practice of mindfulness of breathing.....
-in developing the jhana qualities, we practice mindfulness of breathing.....
-we develop the steps of mindfulness of breathing (anapanasati), as the Buddha taught....
-we practice accordingly....
-we put in the effort....
-as householders, we can develop these jhana qualities....
-if we practice accordingly, follow the instructions....
-if we put in a certain amounts of wholehearted effort....
-a prescription for an appropriate meditation practice includes....
-daily meditation....
-daylong retreats....
-residential retreats....
3-our effort, in meditation, is put toward developing the jhana qualities........
-we're not concerned with attaining the levels of jhana (first jhana, second jhana, etc)....
-we're concerned, instead, with developing the four jhana qualities....
-this is our goal....
-this is a do-able goal for householders....
-if we do think in terms of the levels of jhana, our objective is to develop the first jhana....
-see below for description....
-this is a do-able goal for householders.....
4-a key mark of attainment in terms of the jhana qualities is the ability to 'call up' these qualities at will......
-in meditation....
-in our daily practice, we're able to consistently develop these qualities.....
-in all postures....
-we're able, to some degree, to maintain these qualities of jhana.....
-if we're able to maintain, in all postures, the qualities of jhana....
-we're able to stay close to the heart.....
5-the proximate cause of jhana is joy/brightness.......
-as the Buddha teaches, appreciative joy is the proximate cause of concentration/jhana....
-brightness.....
-if there is brightness in the mind/heart, concentration will develop.....
-we will be able to develop the four jhana qualities.....
-we develop this proximate cause, brightness by....
-generosity....
-practicing generosity/non-greed....
-reflecting on our goodness....
-virtue/skillful action....
-developing virtue/skillful action....
-reflecting on our goodness....
-mental training....
-making an effort to train the mind and open the heart....
-reflecting on our goodness as its expressed in our effort & determination....
-the practice of developing the jhana qualities, then, is an expression of our goodness....
-the practice is joyful.....
-reading.....
-"Steps of Mindfulness of Breathing" (full set of instructions)
| breath_meditation_complete_notes_january_2024.pdf |
-Skillful Pleasure (Peter Doobinin)
-'Jhana Not By the Numbers" (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
There is the case where a monk — quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful qualities — enters and remains in the first jhana: rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought and evaluation. He permeates and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal.
"Just as if a skilled bathman or bathman's apprentice would pour bath powder into a brass basin and knead it together, sprinkling it again and again with water, so that his ball of bath powder — saturated, moisture-laden, permeated within and without — would nevertheless not drip; even so, the monk permeates, suffuses and fills this very body with the rapture and pleasure born of withdrawal. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal. This is the first development of the five-factored noble right concentration."
(AN 5.28)
Get up!
Sit up!
What's your need for sleep?
And what sleep is there for the afflicted,
pierced by the arrow (craving),
oppressed?
Get up!
Sit up!
Train firmly for the sake of peace,
Don't let the king of death,
— seeing you heedless --
deceive you,
bring you under his sway.
(Sn 2.10)
October 26
-"The Benefits of Equanimity"
-the path that leads to true happiness is the path of generosity, virtue & concentration. in developing these three qualities, we develop our goodness. our goodness shines in the world. concentration is the heart of the path. we cultivate concentration by practicing mindfulness of breathing. in doing so, we learn to 'put aside greed & distress with reference to the world.' this is essential to the development of concentration. we learn to be able to put aside the things of the world. including greed & distress with regard to politics. accordingly, we develop in equanimity. when there is equanimity, we're not weakened by emotional states. when we put aside greed & distress with reference to the world, we're able to keep the heart open. from the open heart, we take action. the fruition of the path, therefore, is action informed by the heart. to know happiness, it is essential that we take this kind of action.
-some things to to remember as we develop in our ability to cultivate "the benefits of equanimity"...
1-the dharma is a path on with we develop in generosity, virtue & concentration..
-our practice, as dharma students, comprises these three elements......
-it is through developing these qualities that we develop our goodness.....
-it is through developing these qualities that we're able to know true happiness....
2- concentration is the heart of the path.....
-in developing concentration, we practice mindfulness of breathing.....
-mindfulness of breathing enables us to develop the jhana qualities....
-singleness of mind.....
-physical ease...
-mental ease/pleasure.....
-equanimity.....
3-in practicing mindfulness of breathing, we learn to 'put aside greed & distress with reference to the world'........
-the 'world' in the Buddha's teachings has two meanings....
1-the experiences of the senses.....
2-the world of things....
-jobs/relationships/apartments....
-politics....
-it is essential, in developing jhana qualities, that we learn to put aside the "world'.....
4-equanimity enables us to meet the world skillfully......
-we're able to meet the experiences of the world in a non-reactive manner....
-non-emotional....
-with space....
-we're able to keep the heart open ... and take action in regard to the world from the heart....
5-action informed by the heart is the fruition of the path.......
-we should remember two important principles....
1-concentration enables us to take action from the heart....
2-action is the fruition of the path....
-from the heart ... we take action....
-to this end, we might ask certain questions....
-are we taking action informed by the heart....?
-what are the actions I can take....?
-how can I help...? what can I do to make the world a better place....?
-it is by taking action informed by the heart that we come to know a greater happiness in life......
-reading.....
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying among the Kurus. Now there is a town of the Kurus called Kammāsadhamma. There the Blessed One addressed the monks, “Monks.”
“Lord,” the monks responded to him.
The Blessed One said: “This is the direct path for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow & lamentation, for the disappearance of pain & distress, for the attainment of the right method, & for the realization of unbinding—in other words, the four establishings of mindfulness. Which four?
“There is the case where a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world. He remains focused on feelings… mind… mental qualities in & of themselves—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world.
“And how does a monk remain focused on the body in & of itself?
[1] “There is the case where a monk—having gone to the wilderness, to the shade of a tree, or to an empty building—sits down folding his legs crosswise, holding his body erect and establishing mindfulness to the fore. Always mindful, he breathes in; mindful he breathes out.
“Breathing in long, he discerns, ‘I am breathing in long’; or breathing out long, he discerns, ‘I am breathing out long.’ Or breathing in short, he discerns, ‘I am breathing in short’; or breathing out short, he discerns, ‘I am breathing out short.’ He trains himself, ‘I will breathe in sensitive to the entire body’;7 he trains himself, ‘I will breathe out sensitive to the entire body.’ He trains himself, ‘I will breathe in calming bodily fabrication’;8 he trains himself, ‘I will breathe out calming bodily fabrication.’ Just as a dexterous turner or his apprentice, when making a long turn, discerns, ‘I am making a long turn,’ or when making a short turn discerns, ‘I am making a short turn’; in the same way the monk, when breathing in long, discerns, ‘I am breathing in long’; or breathing out long, he discerns, ‘I am breathing out long.’ … He trains himself, ‘I will breathe in calming bodily fabrication’; he trains himself, ‘I will breathe out calming bodily fabrication.’
“In this way he remains focused internally on the body in & of itself, or externally on the body in & of itself, or both internally & externally on the body in & of itself. Or he remains focused on the phenomenon of origination with regard to the body, on the phenomenon of passing away with regard to the body, or on the phenomenon of origination & passing away with regard to the body. Or his mindfulness that ‘There is a body’ is maintained to the extent of knowledge & remembrance. And he remains independent, unsustained by [not clinging to] anything in the world. This is how a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself."
(MN 10)
The non-doing of any evil,
the performance of what's skillful,
the cleansing of one's own mind:
This is the Buddhas' teaching.
Not disparaging, not injuring,
restraint in line with the Pāṭimokkha,
moderation in food,
dwelling in seclusion,
commitment to the heightened mind:
This is the Buddhas' teaching.
(Dhp 183)
This goes to show that even though the goodness we develop doesn't meet with our expectations right away, we shouldn't underestimate it. Goodness is like fire. You shouldn't underestimate fire, for a single match can destroy an entire city. Goodness has power in just the same way. This is why the Buddha taught us not to underestimate the goodness we develop. Even though it seems to be just a tiny bit, it has the power to ward off unfortunate events, to turn heavy into light, and to keep us safe and secure. This is one point to remember.
Another point is that people are like plants. Say that you plant some squash seeds in the ground: You want the seeds to grow and give you squash right away, but they can't do that. Still, the nature of what you've planted will grow bit by bit, and after a while will give you the squash you want. But if you sit there and watch it to see how much the squash plant grows in a day, an hour, a minute, to see how many centimeters the shoot will grow, can you measure it? No, of course not. But do you believe that it's growing every day? Sure. If it weren't growing, how would it get so long over time? The same holds true with however much or little goodness we develop: Even though we don't see the results right away, they're sure to come. You can't measure how much good you've done in a day, or how much goodness has resulted from your actions in a day, but if you ask whether there are results, you have to answer Yes. It's like the squash plant: You can't see it growing, but you know that it grows. Even though the goodness you've been doing doesn't seem to be developing, you shouldn't underestimate it.
***********************************
So you shouldn't underestimate the power of goodness. As long as you've got the time and the opportunity, then whenever you notice the chance to do goodness of which you're capable, you should hurry up and make the effort, trying to develop that goodness as soon as you can. If death were to come right now, what would you have left? Nothing. All you could do is wrap up the trail mix you've put aside — in other words, the goodness you've done in the past. When you remember it, that goodness will nourish your spirit, helping you reach one of the good destinations in the heavenly worlds. If you've developed your mind in strong concentration, you'll be able to gain release from the range of worldliness and take your heart to the transcendent.
So those of us who haven't yet developed the goodness we've hoped for: Don't underestimate what you've got. Regard what you've done as your wealth. This wealth of yours is what will prevent your life from falling into low places. As long as you stay in this world, you can depend on the good you've done to determine the course of your life. If you leave this world, your goodness will follow you like a shadow at all times.
(Ajaan Lee/from "The Power of Goodness")
-"The Benefits of Equanimity"
-the path that leads to true happiness is the path of generosity, virtue & concentration. in developing these three qualities, we develop our goodness. our goodness shines in the world. concentration is the heart of the path. we cultivate concentration by practicing mindfulness of breathing. in doing so, we learn to 'put aside greed & distress with reference to the world.' this is essential to the development of concentration. we learn to be able to put aside the things of the world. including greed & distress with regard to politics. accordingly, we develop in equanimity. when there is equanimity, we're not weakened by emotional states. when we put aside greed & distress with reference to the world, we're able to keep the heart open. from the open heart, we take action. the fruition of the path, therefore, is action informed by the heart. to know happiness, it is essential that we take this kind of action.
-some things to to remember as we develop in our ability to cultivate "the benefits of equanimity"...
1-the dharma is a path on with we develop in generosity, virtue & concentration..
-our practice, as dharma students, comprises these three elements......
-it is through developing these qualities that we develop our goodness.....
-it is through developing these qualities that we're able to know true happiness....
2- concentration is the heart of the path.....
-in developing concentration, we practice mindfulness of breathing.....
-mindfulness of breathing enables us to develop the jhana qualities....
-singleness of mind.....
-physical ease...
-mental ease/pleasure.....
-equanimity.....
3-in practicing mindfulness of breathing, we learn to 'put aside greed & distress with reference to the world'........
-the 'world' in the Buddha's teachings has two meanings....
1-the experiences of the senses.....
2-the world of things....
-jobs/relationships/apartments....
-politics....
-it is essential, in developing jhana qualities, that we learn to put aside the "world'.....
4-equanimity enables us to meet the world skillfully......
-we're able to meet the experiences of the world in a non-reactive manner....
-non-emotional....
-with space....
-we're able to keep the heart open ... and take action in regard to the world from the heart....
5-action informed by the heart is the fruition of the path.......
-we should remember two important principles....
1-concentration enables us to take action from the heart....
2-action is the fruition of the path....
-from the heart ... we take action....
-to this end, we might ask certain questions....
-are we taking action informed by the heart....?
-what are the actions I can take....?
-how can I help...? what can I do to make the world a better place....?
-it is by taking action informed by the heart that we come to know a greater happiness in life......
-reading.....
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying among the Kurus. Now there is a town of the Kurus called Kammāsadhamma. There the Blessed One addressed the monks, “Monks.”
“Lord,” the monks responded to him.
The Blessed One said: “This is the direct path for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow & lamentation, for the disappearance of pain & distress, for the attainment of the right method, & for the realization of unbinding—in other words, the four establishings of mindfulness. Which four?
“There is the case where a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world. He remains focused on feelings… mind… mental qualities in & of themselves—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world.
“And how does a monk remain focused on the body in & of itself?
[1] “There is the case where a monk—having gone to the wilderness, to the shade of a tree, or to an empty building—sits down folding his legs crosswise, holding his body erect and establishing mindfulness to the fore. Always mindful, he breathes in; mindful he breathes out.
“Breathing in long, he discerns, ‘I am breathing in long’; or breathing out long, he discerns, ‘I am breathing out long.’ Or breathing in short, he discerns, ‘I am breathing in short’; or breathing out short, he discerns, ‘I am breathing out short.’ He trains himself, ‘I will breathe in sensitive to the entire body’;7 he trains himself, ‘I will breathe out sensitive to the entire body.’ He trains himself, ‘I will breathe in calming bodily fabrication’;8 he trains himself, ‘I will breathe out calming bodily fabrication.’ Just as a dexterous turner or his apprentice, when making a long turn, discerns, ‘I am making a long turn,’ or when making a short turn discerns, ‘I am making a short turn’; in the same way the monk, when breathing in long, discerns, ‘I am breathing in long’; or breathing out long, he discerns, ‘I am breathing out long.’ … He trains himself, ‘I will breathe in calming bodily fabrication’; he trains himself, ‘I will breathe out calming bodily fabrication.’
“In this way he remains focused internally on the body in & of itself, or externally on the body in & of itself, or both internally & externally on the body in & of itself. Or he remains focused on the phenomenon of origination with regard to the body, on the phenomenon of passing away with regard to the body, or on the phenomenon of origination & passing away with regard to the body. Or his mindfulness that ‘There is a body’ is maintained to the extent of knowledge & remembrance. And he remains independent, unsustained by [not clinging to] anything in the world. This is how a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself."
(MN 10)
The non-doing of any evil,
the performance of what's skillful,
the cleansing of one's own mind:
This is the Buddhas' teaching.
Not disparaging, not injuring,
restraint in line with the Pāṭimokkha,
moderation in food,
dwelling in seclusion,
commitment to the heightened mind:
This is the Buddhas' teaching.
(Dhp 183)
This goes to show that even though the goodness we develop doesn't meet with our expectations right away, we shouldn't underestimate it. Goodness is like fire. You shouldn't underestimate fire, for a single match can destroy an entire city. Goodness has power in just the same way. This is why the Buddha taught us not to underestimate the goodness we develop. Even though it seems to be just a tiny bit, it has the power to ward off unfortunate events, to turn heavy into light, and to keep us safe and secure. This is one point to remember.
Another point is that people are like plants. Say that you plant some squash seeds in the ground: You want the seeds to grow and give you squash right away, but they can't do that. Still, the nature of what you've planted will grow bit by bit, and after a while will give you the squash you want. But if you sit there and watch it to see how much the squash plant grows in a day, an hour, a minute, to see how many centimeters the shoot will grow, can you measure it? No, of course not. But do you believe that it's growing every day? Sure. If it weren't growing, how would it get so long over time? The same holds true with however much or little goodness we develop: Even though we don't see the results right away, they're sure to come. You can't measure how much good you've done in a day, or how much goodness has resulted from your actions in a day, but if you ask whether there are results, you have to answer Yes. It's like the squash plant: You can't see it growing, but you know that it grows. Even though the goodness you've been doing doesn't seem to be developing, you shouldn't underestimate it.
***********************************
So you shouldn't underestimate the power of goodness. As long as you've got the time and the opportunity, then whenever you notice the chance to do goodness of which you're capable, you should hurry up and make the effort, trying to develop that goodness as soon as you can. If death were to come right now, what would you have left? Nothing. All you could do is wrap up the trail mix you've put aside — in other words, the goodness you've done in the past. When you remember it, that goodness will nourish your spirit, helping you reach one of the good destinations in the heavenly worlds. If you've developed your mind in strong concentration, you'll be able to gain release from the range of worldliness and take your heart to the transcendent.
So those of us who haven't yet developed the goodness we've hoped for: Don't underestimate what you've got. Regard what you've done as your wealth. This wealth of yours is what will prevent your life from falling into low places. As long as you stay in this world, you can depend on the good you've done to determine the course of your life. If you leave this world, your goodness will follow you like a shadow at all times.
(Ajaan Lee/from "The Power of Goodness")
October 19
-"Joy of Simplicity"
-the Buddha's path, the dharma, is a countercultural path. we follow a way of life that goes against the current. to this end we follow a path of generosity, virtue, and simplicity. and we come to know the joy of this path. our capacity to develop simplicity asks that we come to see the drawbacks in sense pleasure and, in turn, the joys of renunciation. this is a practice. we look to see the drawbacks, the consequences of seeking after sense pleasure. and we learn to know the joy of simplicity. in our day and age, it's important to study our relationship to the sense experiences provided by technology, media, entertainment. we must learn to ask, what are the consequences of engaging in these technologies? which is to say, what are the consequences in terms of the heart?
-some things to to remember as we develop in our ability to know the "joy of simplicity"...
1-the dharma is a path in which we 'go against the current'...
-in following this path, it's essential that we learn to know....
-the joy of generosity....
-the joy of virtue....
-the joy of simplicity....
2- there is joy in simplicity.....
-as dharma students, we learn to know this joy.....
-we make an effort to practice simplicity....
-we incline to knowing the joy of simplicity....
-in the body....
-in the heart.....
3-in practicing simplicity, we seek to lessen our involvement in sense experience........
-we make an effort to abandon certain sense pleasures....
-it is important, in contemporary culture, to consider our relationship to technological sources such as the smart phone and internet...
4-the practice of simplicity ask that we see the drawbacks in chasing after sense pleasures......
-we learn to see the drawbacks that arise when there is "too much activity at the sense doors"....
-when there is too much sense experience....
-we're less able to be mindful.....
-we're less able to be heedful....
-we're less able to be mindful of dukkkha/clinging....
-we're more apt to find ourselves in an agitated state....
-we're less able to be in tune with the heart....
-the drawback of sense pleasure, when all is said and done, is that is blocks us off from the heart....
5-in practicing simplicity, we're making a 'skillful trade".......
-in making this trade, we abandoning a 'lesser happiness' for a 'greater happiness'.....
-as dharma students we learn to see that, in fact, this is a skillful trade....
-asking the questions.....
-our task, in developing simplicity, is to ask the questions....
-in considering our involvement with certain sense pleasures, we ask....
-what are the consequences....?
-is it in my best interests....?
-is partaking in this sense pleasure leading me away from the heart....?
-reading.....
-"Seeing the Drawbacks in Feeding on Sense Pleasure" (from The Skill of Living)
-"Joy of Simplicity"
-the Buddha's path, the dharma, is a countercultural path. we follow a way of life that goes against the current. to this end we follow a path of generosity, virtue, and simplicity. and we come to know the joy of this path. our capacity to develop simplicity asks that we come to see the drawbacks in sense pleasure and, in turn, the joys of renunciation. this is a practice. we look to see the drawbacks, the consequences of seeking after sense pleasure. and we learn to know the joy of simplicity. in our day and age, it's important to study our relationship to the sense experiences provided by technology, media, entertainment. we must learn to ask, what are the consequences of engaging in these technologies? which is to say, what are the consequences in terms of the heart?
-some things to to remember as we develop in our ability to know the "joy of simplicity"...
1-the dharma is a path in which we 'go against the current'...
-in following this path, it's essential that we learn to know....
-the joy of generosity....
-the joy of virtue....
-the joy of simplicity....
2- there is joy in simplicity.....
-as dharma students, we learn to know this joy.....
-we make an effort to practice simplicity....
-we incline to knowing the joy of simplicity....
-in the body....
-in the heart.....
3-in practicing simplicity, we seek to lessen our involvement in sense experience........
-we make an effort to abandon certain sense pleasures....
-it is important, in contemporary culture, to consider our relationship to technological sources such as the smart phone and internet...
4-the practice of simplicity ask that we see the drawbacks in chasing after sense pleasures......
-we learn to see the drawbacks that arise when there is "too much activity at the sense doors"....
-when there is too much sense experience....
-we're less able to be mindful.....
-we're less able to be heedful....
-we're less able to be mindful of dukkkha/clinging....
-we're more apt to find ourselves in an agitated state....
-we're less able to be in tune with the heart....
-the drawback of sense pleasure, when all is said and done, is that is blocks us off from the heart....
5-in practicing simplicity, we're making a 'skillful trade".......
-in making this trade, we abandoning a 'lesser happiness' for a 'greater happiness'.....
-as dharma students we learn to see that, in fact, this is a skillful trade....
-asking the questions.....
-our task, in developing simplicity, is to ask the questions....
-in considering our involvement with certain sense pleasures, we ask....
-what are the consequences....?
-is it in my best interests....?
-is partaking in this sense pleasure leading me away from the heart....?
-reading.....
-"Seeing the Drawbacks in Feeding on Sense Pleasure" (from The Skill of Living)
| skill_of_living_drawbacks_sense_pleasure.pdf |
If, by forsaking
a limited ease,
he would see
an abundance of ease,
the enlightened man
would forsake
the limited ease
for the sake
of the abundant.
(Dhp 290)
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying among the Mallans near a Mallan town named Uruvelakappa. Then early in the morning the Blessed One, having put on his robes and carrying his bowl and outer robe, went into Uruvelakappa for alms. Having gone into Uruvelakappa for alms, after his meal, on his return from his alms round, he said to Ven. Ananda, "Stay right here, Ananda, while I go into the Great Wood for the day's abiding."
"As you say, lord," Ven. Ananda responded.
Then the Blessed One went into the Great Wood and sat down at the root of a certain tree for the day's abiding.
Then Tapussa the householder went to Ven. Ananda and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to Ven. Ananda: "Venerable Ananda, sir, we are householders who indulge in sensuality, delight in sensuality, enjoy sensuality, rejoice in sensuality. For us — indulging in sensuality, delighting in sensuality, enjoying sensuality, rejoicing in sensuality — renunciation seems like a sheer drop-off. Yet I've heard that in this doctrine & discipline the hearts of the very young monks leap up at renunciation, grow confident, steadfast, & firm, seeing it as peace. So right here is where this doctrine & discipline is contrary to the great mass of people: i.e., [this issue of] renunciation."
"This calls for a talk, householder. Let's go see the Blessed One. Let's approach him and, on arrival, tell him this matter. However he explains it to us, we will bear it in mind."
"As you say, sir," Tapussa the householder responded to Ven. Ananda.
Then Ven. Ananda, together with Tapussa the householder, went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to the Blessed One: "Tapussa the householder, here, has said to me, 'Venerable Ananda, sir, we are householders who indulge in sensuality, delight in sensuality, enjoy sensuality, rejoice in sensuality. For us — indulging in sensuality, delighting in sensuality, enjoying sensuality, rejoicing in sensuality — renunciation seems like a sheer drop-off. Yet I've heard that in this doctrine & discipline the hearts of the very young monks leap up at renunciation, grow confident, steadfast, & firm, seeing it as peace. So right here is where this doctrine & discipline is contrary to the great mass of people: i.e., [this issue of] renunciation.'"
"So it is, Ananda. So it is. Even I myself, before my Awakening, when I was still an unawakened Bodhisatta, thought: 'Renunciation is good. Seclusion is good.' But my heart didn't leap up at renunciation, didn't grow confident, steadfast, or firm, seeing it as peace. The thought occurred to me: 'What is the cause, what is the reason, why my heart doesn't leap up at renunciation, doesn't grow confident, steadfast, or firm, seeing it as peace?' Then the thought occurred to me: 'I haven't seen the drawback of sensual pleasures; I haven't pursued [that theme]. I haven't understood the reward of renunciation; I haven't familiarized myself with it. That's why my heart doesn't leap up at renunciation, doesn't grow confident, steadfast, or firm, seeing it as peace.'
"Then the thought occurred to me: 'If, having seen the drawback of sensual pleasures, I were to pursue that theme; and if, having understood the reward of renunciation, I were to familiarize myself with it, there's the possibility that my heart would leap up at renunciation, grow confident, steadfast, & firm, seeing it as peace.'
"So at a later time, having seen the drawback of sensual pleasures, I pursued that theme; having understood the reward of renunciation, I familiarized myself with it. My heart leaped up at renunciation, grew confident, steadfast, & firm, seeing it as peace. Then, quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful qualities, I entered & remained in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation.”
(AN 9.41)
October 12
-"A Learning Experience"
-as dharma students, when confronted with illness, aging, death, we're asked to make it a learning experience. this learning is experiential, rather than intellectual. it's cultivated by paying attention to our experience. as it is. with equanimity. as dharma students, we develop qualities that enable us to look at illness, aging, death and to see clearly. seeing clearly entails discerning the nature of our experience, including seeing that the body, like all conditioned things, is impermanent, not-self, and inherently unsatisfactory. it includes seeing clearly our relationship to the body and it's vulnerabilities. and it includes seeing that there is that which lies beyond the body, beyond the conditioned realm. there is that which is not subject to birth and death. there is a reliable happiness. the happiness of heart. as dharma students we learn to nurture the emotion of pasada, the confidence and enthusiasm that comes as we recognize that there is a greater happiness and that we have the ability to know it.
-some things to to remember as we develop in our ability to make certain things "a learning experience"...
1-the dharma student, confronted with illness, aging death, makes it a learning experience...
-this is elemental to what it is to be a dharma student: we see the experience of illness, aging, death, as a learning experience....
2- in making illness, aging, death a learning experience, our learning is experiential.....
-our learning is based on the reality of our experience.....
-paying attention to our experience....
-as it is....
-in the moment.....
-in the body....
-with equanimity.....
-our ability to pay attention skillfully to our experience depends on the development of....
-our goodness.....
-having a bright mind.....
-having some connection to the heart....
-concentration.....
-equanimity.....
-when there is equanimity, we're able to see clearly.....
3-we learn to discern the truth of our experience and our relationship to it........
-seeing clearly, we discern that the body is....
-impermanent.....
-subject to birth and death.....
-not self.....
-the body arises out of conditions ... changes ... passes.....
-there is no fixed self....
-the body is made of the elements....
-the body is unreliable.....
-the body is out of our control.....
-unsatisfactory.....
-given its impermanent, not self nature, the body can't bring a reliable happiness.....
-if we look for a lasting, consistent happiness in the body, we will suffer.....
-seeing clearly, we discern our relationship to the body....
-our relationship to the experiences of illness, aging, death....
-we see our disliking ... fear ... stories....
-we see that our unskillful relationship to the body is the cause of dukkha/the heart that is burdened.....
4-we learn to discern that lies beyond the body.......
-seeing clearly, we discern that there is that which transcends the body ... that which transcends conditioned experience....
-there is a happiness that is not dependent on the body.....
-there is dhamma...
-goodness....
-the heart.....
5-we nuture pasada, the positive emotion that is a response to seeing clearly.......
-seeing clearly, recognizing that there is a happiness that is not dependent on the body ... on conditioned things....
-we feel confidence....
-we feel enthusiasm.....
-as dharma students, it is essential that we cultivate this positive emotion....
-it will fuel our efforts to practice ... to move beyond the stream, to the further shore.....
-reading.....
-"Affirming the Truths of the Heart" (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
We rarely think of Buddhism as an emotional religion. Early Buddhism in particular is often depicted as centered more in the upper left quadrant of the head than in the heart. But if you look closely at the tradition, you’ll find that from the very beginning it has been fueled by a deeply felt emotional core.
Think back for a moment on the story of the young Prince Siddhartha and his first encounters with aging, illness, death, and a wandering forest contemplative. It’s one of the most accessible chapters in the Buddhist tradition, largely because of the direct, true-to-the-heart quality of the young prince’s emotions. He saw aging, illness, and death as an absolute terror, and pinned all his hopes on the contemplative forest life as his only escape. As Asvaghosa, the great Buddhist poet, depicts the story, the young prince had no lack of friends and family members to try to talk him out of those perceptions, and Asvaghosa was wise enough to show their life-affirming advice in a very appealing light. Still, the prince realized that if he were to give in to their advice, he would be betraying his heart. Only by remaining true to his honest emotions was he able to embark on the path that led away from the ordinary values of his society and toward an Awakening into what lay beyond the limitations of life and death.
This is hardly a life-affirming story in the ordinary sense of the term, but it does affirm something more important than living: the truth of the heart when it aspires to a happiness that’s absolutely pure. The power of this aspiration depends on two emotions, called in Pali samvega and pasada. Very few of us have heard of them, but they’re the emotions most basic to the Buddhist tradition. Not only did they inspire the young prince in his quest for Awakening, but even after he became the Buddha he advised his followers to cultivate them on a daily basis. In fact, the way he handled these emotions is so distinctive that it may be one of the most important contributions his teachings have to offer to our culture today.
Samvega was what the young Prince Siddhartha felt on his first exposure to aging, illness, and death. It’s a hard word to translate because it covers such a complex range—at least three clusters of feelings at once: the oppressive sense of shock, dismay, and alienation that comes with realizing the futility and meaninglessness of life as it’s normally lived; a chastening sense of our own complicity, complacency, and foolishness in having let ourselves live so blindly; and an anxious sense of urgency in trying to find a way out of the meaningless cycle. This is a cluster of feelings that we’ve all experienced at one time or another in the process of growing up, but I don’t know of a single English term that adequately covers all three. Such a term would be useful to have, and maybe that’s reason enough for simply adopting the word samvega into our language.
But more than providing a useful term, Buddhism also offers an effective strategy for dealing with the feelings behind it—feelings that modern culture finds threatening and handles very poorly. Ours, of course, is not the only culture threatened by feelings of samvega. In the Siddhartha story, the father’s reaction to the young prince’s discovery stands for the way most cultures try to deal with these feelings: He tried to convince the prince that his standards for happiness were impossibly high, at the same time trying to distract him with relationships and every sensual pleasure imaginable. Not only did he arrange an ideal marriage for the prince, but he also built him a palace for every season of the year, bought him only the best clothes and toiletries, sponsored a constant round of entertainments, and kept the servants well paid so that they could put at least a semblance of joy into their job of satisfying the prince’s every whim. To put it simply, the father’s strategy was to get the prince to lower his aims and to find satisfaction in a happiness that was less than absolute and far from pure. If the young prince were alive today, the father would have other tools for dealing with the prince’s dissatisfaction—including psychotherapy and religious counseling—but the basic strategy would be the same: to distract the prince and dull his sensitivity so that he could settle down and become a well-adjusted, productive member of society.
Fortunately, the prince was too eagle-eyed and lion-hearted to submit to such a strategy. And, again fortunately, he was born into a society that offered him the opportunity to find a solution to the problem of samvega that did justice to the truths of his heart.
The first step in that solution is symbolized in the Siddhartha story by the prince’s reaction to the fourth person he saw on his travels outside of the palace: the wandering forest contemplative. Compared to what he called the confining, dusty path of the householder’s life, the prince saw the freedom of the contemplative’s life as the open air. Such a path of freedom, he felt, would allow him the opportunity to find the answers to his life-and-death questions, and to live a life in line with his highest ideals, “as pure as a polished shell.”
The emotion he felt at this point is termed pasada. Like samvega, pasada covers a complex set of feelings. It’s usually translated as “clarity and serene confidence”—mental states that keep samvega from turning into despair. In the prince’s case, he gained a clear sense of his predicament, together with confidence that he had found the way out.
As the early Buddhist teachings freely admit, the predicament is that the cycle of birth, aging, and death is meaningless. They don’t try to deny this fact and so don’t ask us to be dishonest with ourselves or to close our eyes to reality. As one teacher has put it, the Buddhist recognition of the reality of suffering—so important that suffering is honored as the first noble truth—is a gift. It confirms our most sensitive and direct experience of things, an experience that many other traditions try to deny.
From there, the early teachings ask us to become even more sensitive, until we see that the true cause of suffering is not out there—in society or some outside being—but in here, in the craving present in each individual mind. They then confirm that there is an end to suffering, a release from the cycle. And they show the way to that release, through developing noble qualities already latent in the mind to the point where they cast craving aside and open onto Deathlessness. Thus the predicament has a practical solution, a solution within the powers of every human being.
It’s also a solution open to critical scrutiny and testing—an indication of the Buddha’s own confidence in his handling of the problem of samvega. This is one of the aspects of authentic Buddhism that most attracts people who are tired being told that they should try to deny the insights that inspired their sense of samvega in the first place.
In fact, Buddhism is not only confident that it can handle feelings of samvega but it’s one of the few religions that actively cultivates them in a thorough-going way. Its solution to the problems of life demands so much dedicated effort that only strong samvega will keep the practicing Buddhist from slipping back into his or her old ways. Hence the recommendation that all men and women, lay or ordained, should reflect daily on the facts of aging, illness, separation, and death—to develop feelings of samvega—and on the power of one’s own actions, to take samvega one step further, to pasada.
For people whose sense of samvega is so strong that they want to abandon any social ties that interfere with the path to the end of suffering, Buddhism offers both a long-proven body of wisdom to draw on, as well as a safety net: the monastic sangha, an institution that enables them to leave lay society without having to waste time worrying about basic survival. For those who can’t leave their social ties, Buddhism offers a way to live in the world without being overcome by the world, following a life of generosity, virtue, and meditation to strengthen the noble qualities of the mind that will lead to the end of suffering. The close, symbiotic relationship maintained between these two branches of the Buddhist parisa, or following, guarantees that the monastics don’t turn into misfits and misanthropes, and that the laity don’t lose touch with the values that will keep their practice alive.
So the Buddhist attitude toward life cultivates samvega—a strong sense of the meaninglessness of the cycle of birth, aging, and death—and develops it into pasada: a confident path to the Deathless. That path includes not only time-proven guidance, but also a social institution that nurtures and keeps it alive. These are all things that we and our society desperately need. As we look into the Buddha’s teachings to see what they offer to the mainstream of our modern life, we should remember that one source of Buddhism’s strength is its ability to keep one foot out of the mainstream, and that the traditional metaphor for the practice is that it crosses over the stream to the further shore.
-"A Learning Experience"
-as dharma students, when confronted with illness, aging, death, we're asked to make it a learning experience. this learning is experiential, rather than intellectual. it's cultivated by paying attention to our experience. as it is. with equanimity. as dharma students, we develop qualities that enable us to look at illness, aging, death and to see clearly. seeing clearly entails discerning the nature of our experience, including seeing that the body, like all conditioned things, is impermanent, not-self, and inherently unsatisfactory. it includes seeing clearly our relationship to the body and it's vulnerabilities. and it includes seeing that there is that which lies beyond the body, beyond the conditioned realm. there is that which is not subject to birth and death. there is a reliable happiness. the happiness of heart. as dharma students we learn to nurture the emotion of pasada, the confidence and enthusiasm that comes as we recognize that there is a greater happiness and that we have the ability to know it.
-some things to to remember as we develop in our ability to make certain things "a learning experience"...
1-the dharma student, confronted with illness, aging death, makes it a learning experience...
-this is elemental to what it is to be a dharma student: we see the experience of illness, aging, death, as a learning experience....
2- in making illness, aging, death a learning experience, our learning is experiential.....
-our learning is based on the reality of our experience.....
-paying attention to our experience....
-as it is....
-in the moment.....
-in the body....
-with equanimity.....
-our ability to pay attention skillfully to our experience depends on the development of....
-our goodness.....
-having a bright mind.....
-having some connection to the heart....
-concentration.....
-equanimity.....
-when there is equanimity, we're able to see clearly.....
3-we learn to discern the truth of our experience and our relationship to it........
-seeing clearly, we discern that the body is....
-impermanent.....
-subject to birth and death.....
-not self.....
-the body arises out of conditions ... changes ... passes.....
-there is no fixed self....
-the body is made of the elements....
-the body is unreliable.....
-the body is out of our control.....
-unsatisfactory.....
-given its impermanent, not self nature, the body can't bring a reliable happiness.....
-if we look for a lasting, consistent happiness in the body, we will suffer.....
-seeing clearly, we discern our relationship to the body....
-our relationship to the experiences of illness, aging, death....
-we see our disliking ... fear ... stories....
-we see that our unskillful relationship to the body is the cause of dukkha/the heart that is burdened.....
4-we learn to discern that lies beyond the body.......
-seeing clearly, we discern that there is that which transcends the body ... that which transcends conditioned experience....
-there is a happiness that is not dependent on the body.....
-there is dhamma...
-goodness....
-the heart.....
5-we nuture pasada, the positive emotion that is a response to seeing clearly.......
-seeing clearly, recognizing that there is a happiness that is not dependent on the body ... on conditioned things....
-we feel confidence....
-we feel enthusiasm.....
-as dharma students, it is essential that we cultivate this positive emotion....
-it will fuel our efforts to practice ... to move beyond the stream, to the further shore.....
-reading.....
-"Affirming the Truths of the Heart" (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
We rarely think of Buddhism as an emotional religion. Early Buddhism in particular is often depicted as centered more in the upper left quadrant of the head than in the heart. But if you look closely at the tradition, you’ll find that from the very beginning it has been fueled by a deeply felt emotional core.
Think back for a moment on the story of the young Prince Siddhartha and his first encounters with aging, illness, death, and a wandering forest contemplative. It’s one of the most accessible chapters in the Buddhist tradition, largely because of the direct, true-to-the-heart quality of the young prince’s emotions. He saw aging, illness, and death as an absolute terror, and pinned all his hopes on the contemplative forest life as his only escape. As Asvaghosa, the great Buddhist poet, depicts the story, the young prince had no lack of friends and family members to try to talk him out of those perceptions, and Asvaghosa was wise enough to show their life-affirming advice in a very appealing light. Still, the prince realized that if he were to give in to their advice, he would be betraying his heart. Only by remaining true to his honest emotions was he able to embark on the path that led away from the ordinary values of his society and toward an Awakening into what lay beyond the limitations of life and death.
This is hardly a life-affirming story in the ordinary sense of the term, but it does affirm something more important than living: the truth of the heart when it aspires to a happiness that’s absolutely pure. The power of this aspiration depends on two emotions, called in Pali samvega and pasada. Very few of us have heard of them, but they’re the emotions most basic to the Buddhist tradition. Not only did they inspire the young prince in his quest for Awakening, but even after he became the Buddha he advised his followers to cultivate them on a daily basis. In fact, the way he handled these emotions is so distinctive that it may be one of the most important contributions his teachings have to offer to our culture today.
Samvega was what the young Prince Siddhartha felt on his first exposure to aging, illness, and death. It’s a hard word to translate because it covers such a complex range—at least three clusters of feelings at once: the oppressive sense of shock, dismay, and alienation that comes with realizing the futility and meaninglessness of life as it’s normally lived; a chastening sense of our own complicity, complacency, and foolishness in having let ourselves live so blindly; and an anxious sense of urgency in trying to find a way out of the meaningless cycle. This is a cluster of feelings that we’ve all experienced at one time or another in the process of growing up, but I don’t know of a single English term that adequately covers all three. Such a term would be useful to have, and maybe that’s reason enough for simply adopting the word samvega into our language.
But more than providing a useful term, Buddhism also offers an effective strategy for dealing with the feelings behind it—feelings that modern culture finds threatening and handles very poorly. Ours, of course, is not the only culture threatened by feelings of samvega. In the Siddhartha story, the father’s reaction to the young prince’s discovery stands for the way most cultures try to deal with these feelings: He tried to convince the prince that his standards for happiness were impossibly high, at the same time trying to distract him with relationships and every sensual pleasure imaginable. Not only did he arrange an ideal marriage for the prince, but he also built him a palace for every season of the year, bought him only the best clothes and toiletries, sponsored a constant round of entertainments, and kept the servants well paid so that they could put at least a semblance of joy into their job of satisfying the prince’s every whim. To put it simply, the father’s strategy was to get the prince to lower his aims and to find satisfaction in a happiness that was less than absolute and far from pure. If the young prince were alive today, the father would have other tools for dealing with the prince’s dissatisfaction—including psychotherapy and religious counseling—but the basic strategy would be the same: to distract the prince and dull his sensitivity so that he could settle down and become a well-adjusted, productive member of society.
Fortunately, the prince was too eagle-eyed and lion-hearted to submit to such a strategy. And, again fortunately, he was born into a society that offered him the opportunity to find a solution to the problem of samvega that did justice to the truths of his heart.
The first step in that solution is symbolized in the Siddhartha story by the prince’s reaction to the fourth person he saw on his travels outside of the palace: the wandering forest contemplative. Compared to what he called the confining, dusty path of the householder’s life, the prince saw the freedom of the contemplative’s life as the open air. Such a path of freedom, he felt, would allow him the opportunity to find the answers to his life-and-death questions, and to live a life in line with his highest ideals, “as pure as a polished shell.”
The emotion he felt at this point is termed pasada. Like samvega, pasada covers a complex set of feelings. It’s usually translated as “clarity and serene confidence”—mental states that keep samvega from turning into despair. In the prince’s case, he gained a clear sense of his predicament, together with confidence that he had found the way out.
As the early Buddhist teachings freely admit, the predicament is that the cycle of birth, aging, and death is meaningless. They don’t try to deny this fact and so don’t ask us to be dishonest with ourselves or to close our eyes to reality. As one teacher has put it, the Buddhist recognition of the reality of suffering—so important that suffering is honored as the first noble truth—is a gift. It confirms our most sensitive and direct experience of things, an experience that many other traditions try to deny.
From there, the early teachings ask us to become even more sensitive, until we see that the true cause of suffering is not out there—in society or some outside being—but in here, in the craving present in each individual mind. They then confirm that there is an end to suffering, a release from the cycle. And they show the way to that release, through developing noble qualities already latent in the mind to the point where they cast craving aside and open onto Deathlessness. Thus the predicament has a practical solution, a solution within the powers of every human being.
It’s also a solution open to critical scrutiny and testing—an indication of the Buddha’s own confidence in his handling of the problem of samvega. This is one of the aspects of authentic Buddhism that most attracts people who are tired being told that they should try to deny the insights that inspired their sense of samvega in the first place.
In fact, Buddhism is not only confident that it can handle feelings of samvega but it’s one of the few religions that actively cultivates them in a thorough-going way. Its solution to the problems of life demands so much dedicated effort that only strong samvega will keep the practicing Buddhist from slipping back into his or her old ways. Hence the recommendation that all men and women, lay or ordained, should reflect daily on the facts of aging, illness, separation, and death—to develop feelings of samvega—and on the power of one’s own actions, to take samvega one step further, to pasada.
For people whose sense of samvega is so strong that they want to abandon any social ties that interfere with the path to the end of suffering, Buddhism offers both a long-proven body of wisdom to draw on, as well as a safety net: the monastic sangha, an institution that enables them to leave lay society without having to waste time worrying about basic survival. For those who can’t leave their social ties, Buddhism offers a way to live in the world without being overcome by the world, following a life of generosity, virtue, and meditation to strengthen the noble qualities of the mind that will lead to the end of suffering. The close, symbiotic relationship maintained between these two branches of the Buddhist parisa, or following, guarantees that the monastics don’t turn into misfits and misanthropes, and that the laity don’t lose touch with the values that will keep their practice alive.
So the Buddhist attitude toward life cultivates samvega—a strong sense of the meaninglessness of the cycle of birth, aging, and death—and develops it into pasada: a confident path to the Deathless. That path includes not only time-proven guidance, but also a social institution that nurtures and keeps it alive. These are all things that we and our society desperately need. As we look into the Buddha’s teachings to see what they offer to the mainstream of our modern life, we should remember that one source of Buddhism’s strength is its ability to keep one foot out of the mainstream, and that the traditional metaphor for the practice is that it crosses over the stream to the further shore.
October 5
-"A Home for the Mind"
-the practice of meditation, at bottom, is a practice of coming out of the head and, in turn, coming into the body. we put aside our thinking, our stories, and we put our mind on the body. specifically, in following the Buddha's instructions, on the breath. the breath, as the Thai Ajaans tells us, is a home for the mind. in formal 'on the cushion' breath meditation practice, we make an effort to establish this home for the mind. and in all our postures, all our activities, we make an effort to maintain it. this practice of natural meditation is elemental to the skill of meditation, as the Buddha teaches it. as we develop this skill, the breath becomes a reliable home for the mind. we're able, as we go through our days, to put down our burdens, and put our mind on the breath. in doing so, we know ease of being. we bring ourselves closer to the heart. we're safe and protected from harm, external and internal. we understand that there is a goodness in this life, in being here, right here, right now.
-some things to to remember as we develop in our ability to develop "a home for the mind"...
1-meditation is a process of coming out of the head to the body...
-we learn, in making an effort to keep the mind on the breath, to put aside our thinking, stories....
-instead of being lost in thought, in states of becoming, we come to the body ... to the breath....
-we learn to develop the perception that the breath is a good home for the mind....
-vihara-dhamma....
-mindfulness of breathing, as taught by the Buddha, is the main skill for establishing ourselves in the body....
2- it is essential to develop the ability to maintain mindfulness of the the breath in all postures.....
-we learn to maintain mindfulness of the breath in all postures, sitting, standing, moving, lying down....
-we learn to keep the mind on the breath in all our activities.....
-the breath is our center....
3-we learn to develop the skill of natural meditation........
-natural meditation is the practice for keeping the breath in mind in the 'natural' setting ... in all postures, all activities....
-the basic elements of the skill include:
-developing the resolve to maintain mindfulness of breath/body in all postures/all activities....
-understanding that we will not be perfect in our efforts, that we are making this effort 'to the best of our ability'.....
-being mindful of the breath.....
-using directed thought....
-reminding ourselves to keep the mind on the breath....
-being mindful of an easeful breath, when possible....
-being mindful of the full body, at times, when appropriate....
-in being mindful of the breath, it is extremely helpful to have "your spot" ... a place in the body where you usually feel the breath ... this spot becomes a place you know, a place you're accustomed to being mindful of ... you're eventually able to feel the breath at the this spot rather automatically....
-in being mindful of the breath, it is suggested to feel the breath in the lower part of the body, somewhere in the abdomen or chest area.....
-somewhere at a distance from the sense doors (eyes, ears, mouth)....
-somewhere at a distance from the head (thinking).....
-somewhere that enables you to maintain a center of gravity....
-in natural meditation, it is critical to develop a skillful attitude....
-determination....
-compassion/metta....
-we abandon self judgment, impatience....
-we see the benefits in keeping the mind on the breath....
-we take joy in our wholehearted effort.....
4-practicing natural meditation, we cultivate ease of being.......
-we abandon thinking, narratives....
-we put down our burdens....
-we develop ease of being....
-physical ease....
-mental ease.....
5-practicing natural meditation, we come closer to the heart.......
-we cultivate ease of being....
-we cultivate the wish to be safe and protected from external and internal harm....
-this wish is elemental to the sublime attitude of metta.....
-we develop in understanding that despite the vicissitudes of life and the conditioned realm ... there is ease, peace....
-there is goodness....
-there is love....
-we have a sense that 'it's okay'.....
-we develop confidence in our goodness and the goodness in life.....
-reading.....
-"Natural Meditation" (from The Skill of Living)
-"A Home for the Mind"
-the practice of meditation, at bottom, is a practice of coming out of the head and, in turn, coming into the body. we put aside our thinking, our stories, and we put our mind on the body. specifically, in following the Buddha's instructions, on the breath. the breath, as the Thai Ajaans tells us, is a home for the mind. in formal 'on the cushion' breath meditation practice, we make an effort to establish this home for the mind. and in all our postures, all our activities, we make an effort to maintain it. this practice of natural meditation is elemental to the skill of meditation, as the Buddha teaches it. as we develop this skill, the breath becomes a reliable home for the mind. we're able, as we go through our days, to put down our burdens, and put our mind on the breath. in doing so, we know ease of being. we bring ourselves closer to the heart. we're safe and protected from harm, external and internal. we understand that there is a goodness in this life, in being here, right here, right now.
-some things to to remember as we develop in our ability to develop "a home for the mind"...
1-meditation is a process of coming out of the head to the body...
-we learn, in making an effort to keep the mind on the breath, to put aside our thinking, stories....
-instead of being lost in thought, in states of becoming, we come to the body ... to the breath....
-we learn to develop the perception that the breath is a good home for the mind....
-vihara-dhamma....
-mindfulness of breathing, as taught by the Buddha, is the main skill for establishing ourselves in the body....
2- it is essential to develop the ability to maintain mindfulness of the the breath in all postures.....
-we learn to maintain mindfulness of the breath in all postures, sitting, standing, moving, lying down....
-we learn to keep the mind on the breath in all our activities.....
-the breath is our center....
3-we learn to develop the skill of natural meditation........
-natural meditation is the practice for keeping the breath in mind in the 'natural' setting ... in all postures, all activities....
-the basic elements of the skill include:
-developing the resolve to maintain mindfulness of breath/body in all postures/all activities....
-understanding that we will not be perfect in our efforts, that we are making this effort 'to the best of our ability'.....
-being mindful of the breath.....
-using directed thought....
-reminding ourselves to keep the mind on the breath....
-being mindful of an easeful breath, when possible....
-being mindful of the full body, at times, when appropriate....
-in being mindful of the breath, it is extremely helpful to have "your spot" ... a place in the body where you usually feel the breath ... this spot becomes a place you know, a place you're accustomed to being mindful of ... you're eventually able to feel the breath at the this spot rather automatically....
-in being mindful of the breath, it is suggested to feel the breath in the lower part of the body, somewhere in the abdomen or chest area.....
-somewhere at a distance from the sense doors (eyes, ears, mouth)....
-somewhere at a distance from the head (thinking).....
-somewhere that enables you to maintain a center of gravity....
-in natural meditation, it is critical to develop a skillful attitude....
-determination....
-compassion/metta....
-we abandon self judgment, impatience....
-we see the benefits in keeping the mind on the breath....
-we take joy in our wholehearted effort.....
4-practicing natural meditation, we cultivate ease of being.......
-we abandon thinking, narratives....
-we put down our burdens....
-we develop ease of being....
-physical ease....
-mental ease.....
5-practicing natural meditation, we come closer to the heart.......
-we cultivate ease of being....
-we cultivate the wish to be safe and protected from external and internal harm....
-this wish is elemental to the sublime attitude of metta.....
-we develop in understanding that despite the vicissitudes of life and the conditioned realm ... there is ease, peace....
-there is goodness....
-there is love....
-we have a sense that 'it's okay'.....
-we develop confidence in our goodness and the goodness in life.....
-reading.....
-"Natural Meditation" (from The Skill of Living)
| skill_of_living_natural_meditation_pdf.pdf |
-"A Home for the Mind" (Ajaan Suwat)
"Mindfulness of in-&-out breathing, when developed & pursued, is of great fruit, of great benefit. Mindfulness of in-&-out breathing, when developed & pursued, brings the four frames of reference to their culmination. The four frames of reference, when developed & pursued, bring the seven factors for awakening to their culmination. The seven factors for awakening, when developed & pursued, bring clear knowing & release to their culmination."
(MN 118)
From what I've observed in my own practice, there is only one path that is short, easy, effective, and pleasant, and at the same time has hardly anything to lead you astray: the path of keeping the breath in mind, the same path the Lord Buddha himself used with such good results. I hope that you won't make things difficult for yourself by being hesitant or uncertain, by taking this or that teaching from here or there; and that, instead, you'll earnestly set your mind on getting in touch with your own breath and following it as far as it can take you. From there, you will enter the stage of liberating insight, leading to the mind itself. Ultimately, pure knowing — buddha — will stand out on its own. That's when you'll reach an attainment trustworthy and sure. In other words, if you let the breath follow its own nature, and the mind its own nature, the results of your practice will without a doubt be all that you hope for.
Ordinarily, the nature of the heart, if it isn't trained and put into order, is to fall in with preoccupations that are stressful and bad. This is why we have to search for a principle — a Dhamma — with which to train ourselves if we hope for happiness that's stable and secure. If our hearts have no inner principle, no center in which to dwell, we're like a person without a home. Homeless people have nothing but hardship. The sun, wind, rain, and dirt are bound to leave them constantly soiled because they have nothing to act as shelter. To practice centering the mind is to build a home for yourself: Momentary concentration (khanika samadhi) is like a house roofed with thatch; threshold concentration (upacara samadhi), a house roofed with tile; and fixed penetration (appana samadhi), a house built out of brick. Once you have a home, you'll have a safe place to keep your valuables. You won't have to put up with the hardships of watching over them, the way a person who has no place to keep his valuables has to go sleeping in the open, exposed to the sun and rain, to guard those valuables — and even then his valuables aren't really safe.
So it is with the uncentered mind: It goes searching for good from other areas, letting its thoughts wander around in all kinds of concepts and preoccupations. Even if those thoughts are good, we still can't say that we're safe. We're like a woman with plenty of jewelry: If she dresses up in her jewels and goes wandering around, she's not safe at all. Her wealth might even lead to her own death. In the same way, if our hearts aren't trained through meditation to gain inner stillness, even the virtues we've been able to develop will deteriorate easily because they aren't yet securely stashed away in the heart. To train the mind to attain stillness and peace, though, is like keeping your valuables in a strongbox.
(Ajaan Lee)
Ajaan Fuang once said you have to be crazy about the meditation in order to be really good at it. In the course of the day, whatever spare minute you can find to keep your mind on the breath, you want your mind to head there, again and again. It's almost as if you were addicted to it. They say that when alcoholics go into a house, one of the first things they pick up on is where the alcohol is kept. They're very conscious of that. Their minds incline in that direction, so that without even thinking they can detect the signs. Well, you want to be a breath-a-holic. Wherever there's breath, you want your mind to head there. Of course, you find that it's everywhere if you're really interested, if you really want to pursue it.
(Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, remembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now, always–
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flame are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.
(TS Eliot/Four Quartets)
October Daylong Retreat
with Peter Doobinin
Saturday, October 11
PS 3, Hudson & Grove Streets, NYC
10am – 5pm
fee by donation
September 28
-"A Greater Happiness"
-the law of karma tell us that our happiness depends on our actions. if actions are skillful, informed by the heart, we'll know happiness. happiness of heart. however, as the Buddha realized, it's often difficult for take action informed by the heart. because the heart is burdened. we're cut off from the heart. this state in which the heart is burdened is known as dukkha. in order for us to develop our potential, to take action that is wholehearted, we have to free the heart of its burdens. the tasks for doing just this are laid out in the Buddha's teaching on the four noble truths. first and foremost, we have to comprehend dukkha. we have to bring awareness to it. the simple practice of awareness, as suggested by the acronym ABC is a profound practice of comprehending dukkha. as we free the heart of its burdens we're more and more able to take action informed by love and compassion. awakened action. we awaken by taking awakened action.
-some things to to remember as we develop in our ability to know "a greater happiness"...
1-in an effort to develop our ability to take skillful action, we must free the heart of it's burdens...
-in his awakening the Buddha came to three insights....
-#1 - our happiness depends on our actions....
-#2 - if our actions are informed by the heart, we'll know a greater happiness in life.....
-#3 - the heart is burdened, afflicted ... to take skillful action, to know a greater happiness ... we have to free the heart sof its burdens.....
2- in this teaching on the four noble truths the Buddha suggest four task that we should understand in an effort to free the heart.....
-#1 ...
-to comprehend dukkha....
-to be aware of the state in which the heart is burdened....
-to see that we cause the heart to be burdened through our craving/clinging.....
-#2 ...
-to abandon craving/clinging...
-#3 ...
-to realize cessation of clinging....
-to know the state in which the heart is free....
-to know the heart....
-#4.....
-to cultivate the path that leads us to be able to abandon craving/clinging....
-the heart of the path is the cultivation of concentration....
-jhana.....
3-we learn in an effort to comprehend dukkha, to bring awareness to dukkha........
-we bring awareness to the truth of dukkha, the state in which the heart is burdened....
-our craving/clinging....
-practicing bringing simple awareness to dukkha....
-ABC
-awareness....
-breath....
-compassion.....
4-as we free the heart of its burdens we're able to take awakened action..............
-awakened action has two elements....
-what we do.....
-the choices we make.....
-how we do it....
-the quality of the mind/heart that informs action....
5- the five subjects for frequent recollection support our efforts to take awakened action.....
-we cultivate equanimity....
-we accept the impermanent nature of life and all conditioned things....
-we are not preoccupied with conditioned things ... with the limited happiness that comes from conditioned things....
-we understand that happiness is found in action....
-action that is an expression of the heart will lead to happiness ... despite the unsatisfactoriness of conditioned experience, we can know happiness.... ..
-we have a sense of urgency....
-we know that our time is short in which to take awakened action....
-we know joy.....
-we recognize the blessing of the time we have.....
-we recognize the blessing of this life.....
-we recognize the blessing that it is to have this opportunity to develop our goodness ... to know a greater happiness....
-reading.....
-"Subjects for Contemplation" (AN 5.57)
"Monks, I lived in refinement, utmost refinement, total refinement. My father even had lotus ponds made in our palace: one where red-lotuses bloomed, one where white lotuses bloomed, one where blue lotuses bloomed, all for my sake. I used no sandalwood that was not from Varanasi. My turban was from Varanasi, as were my tunic, my lower garments, & my outer cloak. A white sunshade was held over me day & night to protect me from cold, heat, dust, dirt, & dew.
"I had three palaces: one for the cold season, one for the hot season, one for the rainy season. During the four months of the rainy season I was entertained in the rainy-season palace by minstrels without a single man among them, and I did not once come down from the palace. Whereas the servants, workers, & retainers in other people's homes are fed meals of lentil soup & broken rice, in my father's home the servants, workers, & retainers were fed wheat, rice, and meat.
"Even though I was endowed with such fortune, such total refinement, the thought occurred to me: 'When an untaught, run-of-the-mill person, himself subject to aging, not beyond aging, sees another who is aged, he is horrified, humiliated, & disgusted, oblivious to himself that he too is subject to aging, not beyond aging. If I — who am subject to aging, not beyond aging — were to be horrified, humiliated, & disgusted on seeing another person who is aged, that would not be fitting for me.' As I noticed this, the [typical] young person's intoxication with youth entirely dropped away.
"Even though I was endowed with such fortune, such total refinement, the thought occurred to me: 'When an untaught, run-of-the-mill person, himself subject to illness, not beyond illness, sees another who is ill, he is horrified, humiliated, & disgusted, oblivious to himself that he too is subject to illness, not beyond illness. And if I — who am subject to illness, not beyond illness — were to be horrified, humiliated, & disgusted on seeing another person who is ill, that would not be fitting for me.' As I noticed this, the healthy person's intoxication with health entirely dropped away.
"Even though I was endowed with such fortune, such total refinement, the thought occurred to me: 'When an untaught, run-of-the-mill person, himself subject to death, not beyond death, sees another who is dead, he is horrified, humiliated, & disgusted, oblivious to himself that he too is subject to death, not beyond death. And if I — who am subject to death, not beyond death — were to be horrified, humiliated, & disgusted on seeing another person who is dead, that would not be fitting for me.' As I noticed this, the living person's intoxication with life entirely dropped away."
(AN 3.38)
"When the mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilement, pliant, malleable, steady, & attained to imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of recollecting my past lives. I recollected my manifold past lives, i.e., one birth, two... five, ten... fifty, a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand, many eons of cosmic contraction, many eons of cosmic expansion, many eons of cosmic contraction & expansion: 'There I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose there. There too I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose here.' Thus I remembered my manifold past lives in their modes & details.
"This was the first knowledge I attained in the first watch of the night. Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed; light arose — as happens in one who is heedful, ardent, & resolute.
"When the mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilement, pliant, malleable, steady, & attained to imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of the passing away & reappearance of beings. I saw — by means of the divine eye, purified & surpassing the human — beings passing away & re-appearing, and I discerned how they are inferior & superior, beautiful & ugly, fortunate & unfortunate in accordance with their kamma: 'These beings — who were endowed with bad conduct of body, speech & mind, who reviled the Noble Ones, held wrong views and undertook actions under the influence of wrong views — with the break-up of the body, after death, have re-appeared in the plane of deprivation, the bad destination, the lower realms, in hell. But these beings — who were endowed with good conduct of body, speech, & mind, who did not revile the Noble Ones, who held right views and undertook actions under the influence of right views — with the break-up of the body, after death, have re-appeared in the good destinations, in the heavenly world.' Thus — by means of the divine eye, purified & surpassing the human — I saw beings passing away & re-appearing, and I discerned how they are inferior & superior, beautiful & ugly, fortunate & unfortunate in accordance with their kamma.
"This was the second knowledge I attained in the second watch of the night. Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed; light arose — as happens in one who is heedful, ardent, & resolute.
"When the mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilement, pliant, malleable, steady, & attained to imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of the ending of the mental fermentations. I discerned, as it had come to be, that 'This is stress... This is the origination of stress... This is the cessation of stress... This is the way leading to the cessation of stress... These are fermentations... This is the origination of fermentations... This is the cessation of fermentations... This is the way leading to the cessation of fermentations.' My heart, thus knowing, thus seeing, was released from the fermentation of sensuality, released from the fermentation of becoming, released from the fermentation of ignorance. With release, there was the knowledge, 'Released.' I discerned that 'Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.'
"This was the third knowledge I attained in the third watch of the night. Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed; light arose — as happens in one who is heedful, ardent, & resolute."
(MN 19)
Bhikkhus, if a bhikkhu cultivates loving-kindness for as long as a fingersnap, he is called a bhikkhu. He is not destitute of jhana meditation, he carries out the Master's teaching, he responds to advice, and he does not eat the country's alms food in vain. So what should be said of those who make much of it?
(AN 1.53)
Better than a hundred years
lived without virtue, uncentered, is
one day
lived by a virtuous person
absorbed in jhana.
And better than a hundred years
lived undiscerning, uncentered, is
one day
lived by a discerning person
absorbed in jhana.
And better than a hundred years
lived apathetic & unenergetic, is
one day
lived energetic & firm.
And better than a hundred years
lived without seeing
arising & passing away, is
one day
lived seeing
arising & passing away.
And better than a hundred years
lived without seeing
the Deathless state, is
one day
lived seeing
the Deathless state.
And better than a hundred years
lived without seeing
the ultimate Dhamma, is
one day
lived seeing
the ultimate Dhamma.
(Dhp VIII)
The Buddha's doctrine of kamma takes the fact of skillful action, which can be observed on the ordinary sensory level, and gives it an importance that, for a person pursuing the Buddhist goal, must be accepted on faith. According to this doctrine, skillful action is not simply one factor out of many contributing to happiness: it is the primary factor. It does not lead simply to happiness within the dimensions of time and the present: if developed to the ultimate level of refinement, it can lead to an Awakening totally released from those dimensions. These assertions cannot be proven prior to an experience of that Awakening, but they must be accepted as working hypotheses in the effort to develop the skillfulness needed for Awakening. This paradox — which lies at the heart of the act of taking refuge in the Triple Gem — explains why the serious pursuit of the Buddhist path is a sustained act of faith that can become truly firm and verified only with the first glimpse of Awakening, called stream-entry. It also explains why a strong desire to gain release from the stress and suffering inherent in conditioned existence is needed for such a pursuit, for without that desire it is very difficult to break through this paradox with the necessary leap of faith.
(Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
-"A Greater Happiness"
-the law of karma tell us that our happiness depends on our actions. if actions are skillful, informed by the heart, we'll know happiness. happiness of heart. however, as the Buddha realized, it's often difficult for take action informed by the heart. because the heart is burdened. we're cut off from the heart. this state in which the heart is burdened is known as dukkha. in order for us to develop our potential, to take action that is wholehearted, we have to free the heart of its burdens. the tasks for doing just this are laid out in the Buddha's teaching on the four noble truths. first and foremost, we have to comprehend dukkha. we have to bring awareness to it. the simple practice of awareness, as suggested by the acronym ABC is a profound practice of comprehending dukkha. as we free the heart of its burdens we're more and more able to take action informed by love and compassion. awakened action. we awaken by taking awakened action.
-some things to to remember as we develop in our ability to know "a greater happiness"...
1-in an effort to develop our ability to take skillful action, we must free the heart of it's burdens...
-in his awakening the Buddha came to three insights....
-#1 - our happiness depends on our actions....
-#2 - if our actions are informed by the heart, we'll know a greater happiness in life.....
-#3 - the heart is burdened, afflicted ... to take skillful action, to know a greater happiness ... we have to free the heart sof its burdens.....
2- in this teaching on the four noble truths the Buddha suggest four task that we should understand in an effort to free the heart.....
-#1 ...
-to comprehend dukkha....
-to be aware of the state in which the heart is burdened....
-to see that we cause the heart to be burdened through our craving/clinging.....
-#2 ...
-to abandon craving/clinging...
-#3 ...
-to realize cessation of clinging....
-to know the state in which the heart is free....
-to know the heart....
-#4.....
-to cultivate the path that leads us to be able to abandon craving/clinging....
-the heart of the path is the cultivation of concentration....
-jhana.....
3-we learn in an effort to comprehend dukkha, to bring awareness to dukkha........
-we bring awareness to the truth of dukkha, the state in which the heart is burdened....
-our craving/clinging....
-practicing bringing simple awareness to dukkha....
-ABC
-awareness....
-breath....
-compassion.....
4-as we free the heart of its burdens we're able to take awakened action..............
-awakened action has two elements....
-what we do.....
-the choices we make.....
-how we do it....
-the quality of the mind/heart that informs action....
5- the five subjects for frequent recollection support our efforts to take awakened action.....
-we cultivate equanimity....
-we accept the impermanent nature of life and all conditioned things....
-we are not preoccupied with conditioned things ... with the limited happiness that comes from conditioned things....
-we understand that happiness is found in action....
-action that is an expression of the heart will lead to happiness ... despite the unsatisfactoriness of conditioned experience, we can know happiness.... ..
-we have a sense of urgency....
-we know that our time is short in which to take awakened action....
-we know joy.....
-we recognize the blessing of the time we have.....
-we recognize the blessing of this life.....
-we recognize the blessing that it is to have this opportunity to develop our goodness ... to know a greater happiness....
-reading.....
-"Subjects for Contemplation" (AN 5.57)
"Monks, I lived in refinement, utmost refinement, total refinement. My father even had lotus ponds made in our palace: one where red-lotuses bloomed, one where white lotuses bloomed, one where blue lotuses bloomed, all for my sake. I used no sandalwood that was not from Varanasi. My turban was from Varanasi, as were my tunic, my lower garments, & my outer cloak. A white sunshade was held over me day & night to protect me from cold, heat, dust, dirt, & dew.
"I had three palaces: one for the cold season, one for the hot season, one for the rainy season. During the four months of the rainy season I was entertained in the rainy-season palace by minstrels without a single man among them, and I did not once come down from the palace. Whereas the servants, workers, & retainers in other people's homes are fed meals of lentil soup & broken rice, in my father's home the servants, workers, & retainers were fed wheat, rice, and meat.
"Even though I was endowed with such fortune, such total refinement, the thought occurred to me: 'When an untaught, run-of-the-mill person, himself subject to aging, not beyond aging, sees another who is aged, he is horrified, humiliated, & disgusted, oblivious to himself that he too is subject to aging, not beyond aging. If I — who am subject to aging, not beyond aging — were to be horrified, humiliated, & disgusted on seeing another person who is aged, that would not be fitting for me.' As I noticed this, the [typical] young person's intoxication with youth entirely dropped away.
"Even though I was endowed with such fortune, such total refinement, the thought occurred to me: 'When an untaught, run-of-the-mill person, himself subject to illness, not beyond illness, sees another who is ill, he is horrified, humiliated, & disgusted, oblivious to himself that he too is subject to illness, not beyond illness. And if I — who am subject to illness, not beyond illness — were to be horrified, humiliated, & disgusted on seeing another person who is ill, that would not be fitting for me.' As I noticed this, the healthy person's intoxication with health entirely dropped away.
"Even though I was endowed with such fortune, such total refinement, the thought occurred to me: 'When an untaught, run-of-the-mill person, himself subject to death, not beyond death, sees another who is dead, he is horrified, humiliated, & disgusted, oblivious to himself that he too is subject to death, not beyond death. And if I — who am subject to death, not beyond death — were to be horrified, humiliated, & disgusted on seeing another person who is dead, that would not be fitting for me.' As I noticed this, the living person's intoxication with life entirely dropped away."
(AN 3.38)
"When the mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilement, pliant, malleable, steady, & attained to imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of recollecting my past lives. I recollected my manifold past lives, i.e., one birth, two... five, ten... fifty, a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand, many eons of cosmic contraction, many eons of cosmic expansion, many eons of cosmic contraction & expansion: 'There I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose there. There too I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose here.' Thus I remembered my manifold past lives in their modes & details.
"This was the first knowledge I attained in the first watch of the night. Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed; light arose — as happens in one who is heedful, ardent, & resolute.
"When the mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilement, pliant, malleable, steady, & attained to imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of the passing away & reappearance of beings. I saw — by means of the divine eye, purified & surpassing the human — beings passing away & re-appearing, and I discerned how they are inferior & superior, beautiful & ugly, fortunate & unfortunate in accordance with their kamma: 'These beings — who were endowed with bad conduct of body, speech & mind, who reviled the Noble Ones, held wrong views and undertook actions under the influence of wrong views — with the break-up of the body, after death, have re-appeared in the plane of deprivation, the bad destination, the lower realms, in hell. But these beings — who were endowed with good conduct of body, speech, & mind, who did not revile the Noble Ones, who held right views and undertook actions under the influence of right views — with the break-up of the body, after death, have re-appeared in the good destinations, in the heavenly world.' Thus — by means of the divine eye, purified & surpassing the human — I saw beings passing away & re-appearing, and I discerned how they are inferior & superior, beautiful & ugly, fortunate & unfortunate in accordance with their kamma.
"This was the second knowledge I attained in the second watch of the night. Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed; light arose — as happens in one who is heedful, ardent, & resolute.
"When the mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilement, pliant, malleable, steady, & attained to imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of the ending of the mental fermentations. I discerned, as it had come to be, that 'This is stress... This is the origination of stress... This is the cessation of stress... This is the way leading to the cessation of stress... These are fermentations... This is the origination of fermentations... This is the cessation of fermentations... This is the way leading to the cessation of fermentations.' My heart, thus knowing, thus seeing, was released from the fermentation of sensuality, released from the fermentation of becoming, released from the fermentation of ignorance. With release, there was the knowledge, 'Released.' I discerned that 'Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.'
"This was the third knowledge I attained in the third watch of the night. Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed; light arose — as happens in one who is heedful, ardent, & resolute."
(MN 19)
Bhikkhus, if a bhikkhu cultivates loving-kindness for as long as a fingersnap, he is called a bhikkhu. He is not destitute of jhana meditation, he carries out the Master's teaching, he responds to advice, and he does not eat the country's alms food in vain. So what should be said of those who make much of it?
(AN 1.53)
Better than a hundred years
lived without virtue, uncentered, is
one day
lived by a virtuous person
absorbed in jhana.
And better than a hundred years
lived undiscerning, uncentered, is
one day
lived by a discerning person
absorbed in jhana.
And better than a hundred years
lived apathetic & unenergetic, is
one day
lived energetic & firm.
And better than a hundred years
lived without seeing
arising & passing away, is
one day
lived seeing
arising & passing away.
And better than a hundred years
lived without seeing
the Deathless state, is
one day
lived seeing
the Deathless state.
And better than a hundred years
lived without seeing
the ultimate Dhamma, is
one day
lived seeing
the ultimate Dhamma.
(Dhp VIII)
The Buddha's doctrine of kamma takes the fact of skillful action, which can be observed on the ordinary sensory level, and gives it an importance that, for a person pursuing the Buddhist goal, must be accepted on faith. According to this doctrine, skillful action is not simply one factor out of many contributing to happiness: it is the primary factor. It does not lead simply to happiness within the dimensions of time and the present: if developed to the ultimate level of refinement, it can lead to an Awakening totally released from those dimensions. These assertions cannot be proven prior to an experience of that Awakening, but they must be accepted as working hypotheses in the effort to develop the skillfulness needed for Awakening. This paradox — which lies at the heart of the act of taking refuge in the Triple Gem — explains why the serious pursuit of the Buddhist path is a sustained act of faith that can become truly firm and verified only with the first glimpse of Awakening, called stream-entry. It also explains why a strong desire to gain release from the stress and suffering inherent in conditioned existence is needed for such a pursuit, for without that desire it is very difficult to break through this paradox with the necessary leap of faith.
(Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
September 21
-"Discernment: The Practice of Heedfulness"
-as the law of karma indicates that our happiness depends on our actions. if actions are skillful, informed by metta and compassion, we'll know happiness. happiness of heart. the skill of heedfulness enables us to take skillful action. in practicing heedfulness, as the Buddha instructed his son Rahula, we make an effort to bring wise attention to our actions before we take action, while we're taking action, and after we've acted. it is especially important, in considering our actions, to discern whether actions will be for our long-term welfare. which means what are the consequences, going forward, for the heart. as actions become more skillful, we become more in tune with the heart, and, in turn, we're more able to take skillful action. we're able to take action that is an expression of the dharma inside. we're able to make the most of our lives.
-some things to to remember as we develop the skill of "discernment; the practice of heedfulness"...
1-in an effort to take skillful action, we develop the skill of heedfulness...
-heedfulness is a practice of discernment....
-in practicing heedfulness, we pay attention to our actions ... we bring discernment to our actions....
-in being heedful we pay attention to our actions....
-our bodily actions (our deeds)....
-our verbal actions (our speech)....
-our mental action (our thinking.....
-we consider our actions....
-before we act....
-when we're taking action....
-after we act.....
2- following five steps for taking skillful action, we develop heedfulness.....
-the five steps are.....
-#1 ...
-before we take action, we look to see what the quality of the intention is...
-is it unskillful....?
-informed by desire/aversion....
-is it skillful....?
-informed by metta/compassion.....
-#2 ...
-we set a skillful intention...
-intention informed by metta/compassion.....
-using fabrication....
-connecting, if possible, to a felt sense of the heart....
-#3 ...
-we act...
-while we're taking action we continue to check in on our action....
-is the quality of mind skillful....?
-informed by metta/compassion.....
-#4.....
-having taken skillful action, we see the benefits....
-#5....
-having taken skillful action, we take joy in our goodness.....
3-if, on considering our action, we see that we've acted unskillfully, we make it a learning experience........
-the elements of 'making it a learning experience' include....
-seeing the drawbacks in our unskillful action....
-looking objectively at our actions....
-cultivating compassion....
-for our unskillful actions....
-making a vow to do better next time....
-to make an effort to be skillful.....
4-in being heedful, it is crucial that we consider whether the actions will be for our long-term welfare..............
-in being heedful, we reflect:
-is this action for my long-term welfare....?
-essentially, we're asking: what are the consequences, going forward, for the heart....?
-is this action good for the heart....?
-is this action leading me to the heart ... or away from the heart....
5- heedfulness enables us to cultivate skillful actions......
-as we abandon unskillful intention/action.....
-we lessen the influence of past karma....
-we become more in tune with the heart....
-we are in better position to take skillful action....
-as dharma students, the fruit of the past is found in taking skillful action....
-action that is an expression of the heart....
-action that is an expression of our dharma....
-as Ajahn Chah says, we seek to "be dharma"....
-as we learn to take skillful action, we should reflect:
-what can I do that is an expression of the heart....?
-what can I do in an effort to bring meaning to my life....?
-what actions will enable me to make the most of my life....?
-as the Thai Ajaans say, we learn to ask: "the days and nights are passing, how am I spending my time....?"
-reading.....
-"Instructions to Rahula" (MN 61)
-"Heedfulness" (from The Skill of Living)
-"Discernment: The Practice of Heedfulness"
-as the law of karma indicates that our happiness depends on our actions. if actions are skillful, informed by metta and compassion, we'll know happiness. happiness of heart. the skill of heedfulness enables us to take skillful action. in practicing heedfulness, as the Buddha instructed his son Rahula, we make an effort to bring wise attention to our actions before we take action, while we're taking action, and after we've acted. it is especially important, in considering our actions, to discern whether actions will be for our long-term welfare. which means what are the consequences, going forward, for the heart. as actions become more skillful, we become more in tune with the heart, and, in turn, we're more able to take skillful action. we're able to take action that is an expression of the dharma inside. we're able to make the most of our lives.
-some things to to remember as we develop the skill of "discernment; the practice of heedfulness"...
1-in an effort to take skillful action, we develop the skill of heedfulness...
-heedfulness is a practice of discernment....
-in practicing heedfulness, we pay attention to our actions ... we bring discernment to our actions....
-in being heedful we pay attention to our actions....
-our bodily actions (our deeds)....
-our verbal actions (our speech)....
-our mental action (our thinking.....
-we consider our actions....
-before we act....
-when we're taking action....
-after we act.....
2- following five steps for taking skillful action, we develop heedfulness.....
-the five steps are.....
-#1 ...
-before we take action, we look to see what the quality of the intention is...
-is it unskillful....?
-informed by desire/aversion....
-is it skillful....?
-informed by metta/compassion.....
-#2 ...
-we set a skillful intention...
-intention informed by metta/compassion.....
-using fabrication....
-connecting, if possible, to a felt sense of the heart....
-#3 ...
-we act...
-while we're taking action we continue to check in on our action....
-is the quality of mind skillful....?
-informed by metta/compassion.....
-#4.....
-having taken skillful action, we see the benefits....
-#5....
-having taken skillful action, we take joy in our goodness.....
3-if, on considering our action, we see that we've acted unskillfully, we make it a learning experience........
-the elements of 'making it a learning experience' include....
-seeing the drawbacks in our unskillful action....
-looking objectively at our actions....
-cultivating compassion....
-for our unskillful actions....
-making a vow to do better next time....
-to make an effort to be skillful.....
4-in being heedful, it is crucial that we consider whether the actions will be for our long-term welfare..............
-in being heedful, we reflect:
-is this action for my long-term welfare....?
-essentially, we're asking: what are the consequences, going forward, for the heart....?
-is this action good for the heart....?
-is this action leading me to the heart ... or away from the heart....
5- heedfulness enables us to cultivate skillful actions......
-as we abandon unskillful intention/action.....
-we lessen the influence of past karma....
-we become more in tune with the heart....
-we are in better position to take skillful action....
-as dharma students, the fruit of the past is found in taking skillful action....
-action that is an expression of the heart....
-action that is an expression of our dharma....
-as Ajahn Chah says, we seek to "be dharma"....
-as we learn to take skillful action, we should reflect:
-what can I do that is an expression of the heart....?
-what can I do in an effort to bring meaning to my life....?
-what actions will enable me to make the most of my life....?
-as the Thai Ajaans say, we learn to ask: "the days and nights are passing, how am I spending my time....?"
-reading.....
-"Instructions to Rahula" (MN 61)
-"Heedfulness" (from The Skill of Living)
| heedfulness_skill_of_living_pdf.pdf |
On one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Kusinara in Upavattana, the Sal Tree Grove of the Mallans, on the occasion of his total Unbinding. Then the Blessed One addressed the monks, "I exhort you, monks: All fabrications are subject to decay. Bring about completion by being heedful." Those were the Tathagata's last words."
(SN 6.15)
"Just as the footprints of all legged animals are encompassed by the footprint of the elephant, and the elephant's footprint is reckoned the foremost among them in terms of size; in the same way, all skillful qualities are rooted in heedfulness, converge in heedfulness, and heedfulness is reckoned the foremost among them.”
(AN 10.15)
Heedfulness: the path to the Deathless.
Heedlessness: the path to death.
The heedful do not die.
The heedless are as if
already dead.
Knowing this as a true distinction,
those wise in heedfulness
rejoice in heedfulness,
enjoying the range of the noble ones.
The enlightened, constantly
absorbed in jhana,
persevering,
firm in their effort:
they touch Unbinding,
the unexcelled rest
from the yoke.
Those with initiative,
mindful,
clean in action,
acting with due consideration,
heedful, restrained,
living the Dhamma:
their glory
grows.
(Dhp II)
"Abandon what is unskillful, monks. It is possible to abandon what is unskillful. If it were not possible to abandon what is unskillful, I would not say to you, 'Abandon what is unskillful.' But because it is possible to abandon what is unskillful, I say to you, 'Abandon what is unskillful.' If this abandoning of what is unskillful were conducive to harm and pain, I would not say to you, 'Abandon what is unskillful.' But because this abandoning of what is unskillful is conducive to benefit and pleasure, I say to you, 'Abandon what is unskillful.'
"Develop what is skillful, monks. It is possible to develop what is skillful. If it were not possible to develop what is skillful, I would not say to you, 'Develop what is skillful.' But because it is possible to develop what is skillful, I say to you, 'Develop what is skillful.' If this development of what is skillful were conducive to harm and pain, I would not say to you, 'Develop what is skillful.' But because this development of what is skillful is conducive to benefit and pleasure, I say to you, 'Develop what is skillful.'"
(AN 2.19)
"There are these four courses of action. Which four? There is the course of action that is unpleasant to do and that, when done, leads to what is unprofitable. There is the course of action that is unpleasant to do but that, when done, leads to what is profitable. There is the course of action that is pleasant to do but that, when done, leads to what is unprofitable. There is the course of action that is pleasant to do and that, when done, leads to what is profitable.
"Now as for the course of action that is unpleasant to do and that, when done, leads to what is unprofitable, one considers it as not worth doing for both reasons: because the course of action is unpleasant to do... and because the course of action, when done, leads to what is unprofitable...
"As for the course of action that is unpleasant to do but that, when done, leads to what is profitable, it's in light of this course of action that one may be known... as a wise person or a fool. For a fool doesn't reflect, 'Even though this course of action is unpleasant to do, still when it is done it leads to what is profitable.' So he doesn't do it, and thus the non-doing of that course of action leads to what is unprofitable for him. But a wise person reflects, 'Even though this course of action is unpleasant to do, still when it is done it leads to what is profitable.' So he does it, and thus the doing of that course of action leads to what is profitable for him.
"As for the course of action that is pleasant to do but that, when done, leads to what is unprofitable, it's in light of this course of action that one may be known... as a wise person or a fool. For a fool doesn't reflect, 'Even though this course of action is pleasant to do, still when it is done it leads to what is unprofitable.' So he does it, and thus the doing of that course of action leads to what is unprofitable for him. But a wise person reflects, 'Even though this course of action is pleasant to do, still when it is done it leads to what is unprofitable.' So he doesn't do it, and thus the non-doing of that course of action leads to what is profitable for him.
"As for the course of action that is pleasant to do and that, when done, leads to what is profitable, one considers it as worth doing for both reasons: because the course of action is pleasant to do... and because the course of action, when done, leads to what is profitable...
"These are the four courses of action."
(AN 4.115)
September 14
-"Transcending Past Karma"
-as dharma students we're asked, in developing right view, to understand the law of karma. as the law of karma indicates that the quality of our intention informs the quality of our actions. actions have consequences in the short term and long term. in any moment, when taking action, we are affected by our past karma. our habitual tendencies. our habits of mind. our past karma, as the Buddha notes, is like a river. the run-of-the-mill individual simply allows himself to be carried along by the river of past karma. the dharma student, on the other hand, seeks to pull himself out of the river and to make skillful karma. the problem, however, is that the river of karma is often moving very fast and is difficult to remove ourselves from. the Buddha's teachings provide a way out. we develop parami and concentration so that we're gradually able to find our way out of the river of past karma. and, in turn, move toward a greater happiness.
-some things to to remember as we develop the practices for "transcending past karma"...
1-in taking action, we will be affected by the consequences of our past actions: past karma...
-our actions, unskillful or skillful, lead to consequences, in the short term ... and in the long term.....
-as we take action we will be affected by the consequences of past action: our past karma....
-our conditioning....
-our habitual tendencies....
-our habits of mind.....
2- to change and move toward a greater happiness we learn to change our karma.....
-our past karma, the Buddha notes, is like a river.....
-the "run of the mill" person simply allows himself to be carried along by past karma .......
-the dharma student is resolved to abandon past karma and cultivate a skillful way forward....
-the dharma student....
-recognizes past karma....
-climbs out of the river of past karma.....
-changes his course ... changes his intention ... action....
3-the river of past karma is often moving fast, making it difficult to remove ourselves from........
-when the river is moving too fast...
-we often don't recognize that we're being carried by past karma...
-we're often not able to pull ourselves out of the river of past karma, even when we recognize it....
-the Buddha, recognizing this dilemma, offers a way out of the river of past karma.....
-it includes:
4-the dharma student seeks to refrain from actions that have the most harmful long term consequences..............
-we seek to refrain from making more unskillful karma....
-to this end, we make an effort to develop parami....
-we make an effort to follow the five precepts....
-we make an effort to take skillful action, whenever possible.....
-we make an effort to practice generosity.....
5- the dharma student develops concentration, in an effort to create space......
-we cultivate concentration ... specifically the qualities of jhana ....
-we practice mindfulness of breathing....
-we develop the jhana qualities, which enable us to begin to meet past karma and not be carried away by it....
-#1 ... one-pointedness (samadhi)....
-we develop the ability to separate from past karma (intention)....
-we develop the ability, in focusing on a point in the body, to put aside past karma....
-we put aside "greed & distress with reference to the world"....
-we focus on the breath "in & of itself"......
-when we develop in this quality, we ease fixation.....
-#2 .... ease (piti).....
-we develop an easeful abiding in the body....
-we cultivate full body awareness ... and ease/pleasant energy in the body....
-in doing so, we expand the field of awareness ... we ease fixation ... we become aware of other experience ... there is a quality of spaciousness.....
-#3 .... pleasure (sukkha).....
-we develop mental ease ... contentedness.....
-ease of mind.....
-our experience is spacious, easeful ... not limited to the experience of past karma.....
-#4 ... equanimity (upekkha).....
-we have the ability to remain separate from past karma ... even when past karma is strong....
-we don't engage with past karma....
-we remain steady, even-tempered....
-there is space (non-fixation)....
-we have a "mind like the Earth" .... "a mind like the River Ganges"....
-there is separation ... from past karma.....
-there is ease of being....
-there is a developing awareness, in the bigger field, of our goodness....
-the heart.....
-when these qualities of concentration/jhana are developed.....
-we are not thrown by past karma.....
-we are not reactive....
-we are in a position of strength....
-in position to bring wisdom to past karma....
-to find release from past karma....
-reading.....
Phenomena are preceded by the heart,
ruled by the heart,
made of the heart.
If you speak or act with a corrupted heart,
suffering follows you,
as the wheel of the cart
the track of the ox
that pulls it.
Phenomena are preceded by the heart,
ruled by the heart,
made of the heart.
If you speak or act with a calm, bright heart,
then happiness follows you,
like a shadow
that never leaves.
(Dhp 1)
"When this is, that is. From the arising of this comes the arising of that. When this isn't, that isn't. From the stopping of this comes the stopping of that."
(An 10.92)
"And how is one made pure in three ways by bodily action? There is the case where a certain person, abandoning the taking of life, abstains from taking life. He dwells with his rod laid down, his knife laid down, scrupulous, merciful, compassionate for the benefit of all living beings. Abandoning the taking of what is not given, he abstains from taking what is not given. He does not take, in the manner of a thief, things in a village or a wilderness that belong to others and have not been given by them. Abandoning illicit sex, he abstains from illicit sex. He does not get sexually involved with those who are protected by their mothers, their fathers, their brothers, their sisters, their relatives, or their Dhamma; those with husbands, those who entail punishments, or even those crowned with flowers by another man. This is how one is made pure in three ways by bodily action.
"And how is one made pure in four ways by verbal action? There is the case where a certain person, abandoning false speech, abstains from false speech. When he has been called to a town meeting, a group meeting, a gathering of his relatives, his guild, or of the royalty, if he is asked as a witness, 'Come & tell, good man, what you know': If he doesn't know, he says, 'I don't know.' If he does know, he says, 'I know.' If he hasn't seen, he says, 'I haven't seen.' If he has seen, he says, 'I have seen.' Thus he doesn't consciously tell a lie for his own sake, for the sake of another, or for the sake of any reward. Abandoning false speech, he abstains from false speech. He speaks the truth, holds to the truth, is firm, reliable, no deceiver of the world. Abandoning divisive speech, he abstains from divisive speech. What he has heard here he does not tell there to break those people apart from these people here. What he has heard there he does not tell here to break these people apart from those people there. Thus reconciling those who have broken apart or cementing those who are united, he loves concord, delights in concord, enjoys concord, speaks things that create concord. Abandoning abusive speech, he abstains from abusive speech. He speaks words that are soothing to the ear, that are affectionate, that go to the heart, that are polite, appealing & pleasing to people at large. Abandoning idle chatter, he abstains from idle chatter. He speaks in season, speaks what is factual, what is in accordance with the goal, the Dhamma, & the Vinaya. He speaks words worth treasuring, seasonable, reasonable, circumscribed, connected with the goal. This is how one is made pure in four ways by verbal action."
(AN 10.176)
"Monks, for anyone who says, 'In whatever way a person makes kamma, that is how it is experienced,' there is no living of the holy life, there is no opportunity for the right ending of stress. But for anyone who says, 'When a person makes kamma to be felt in such & such a way, that is how its result is experienced,' there is the living of the holy life, there is the opportunity for the right ending of stress.
"There is the case where a trifling evil deed done by a certain individual takes him to hell. There is the case where the very same sort of trifling deed done by another individual is experienced in the here & now, and for the most part barely appears for a moment.
"Now, a trifling evil deed done by what sort of individual takes him to hell? There is the case where a certain individual is undeveloped in [contemplating] the body, undeveloped in virtue, undeveloped in mind, undeveloped in discernment: restricted, small-hearted, dwelling with suffering. A trifling evil deed done by this sort of individual takes him to hell.
"Now, a trifling evil deed done by what sort of individual is experienced in the here & now, and for the most part barely appears for a moment? There is the case where a certain individual is developed in [contemplating] the body, developed in virtue, developed in mind, developed in discernment: unrestricted, large-hearted, dwelling with the immeasurable. A trifling evil deed done by this sort of individual is experienced in the here & now, and for the most part barely appears for a moment.
"Suppose that a man were to drop a salt crystal into a small amount of water in a cup. What do you think? Would the water in the cup become salty because of the salt crystal, and unfit to drink?"
"Yes, lord. Why is that? There being only a small amount of water in the cup, it would become salty because of the salt crystal, and unfit to drink."
"Now suppose that a man were to drop a salt crystal into the River Ganges. What do you think? Would the water in the River Ganges become salty because of the salt crystal, and unfit to drink?"
"No, lord. Why is that? There being a great mass of water in the River Ganges, it would not become salty because of the salt crystal or unfit to drink."
"In the same way, there is the case where a trifling evil deed done by one individual [the first] takes him to hell; and there is the case where the very same sort of trifling deed done by the other individual is experienced in the here & now, and for the most part barely appears for a moment.
'Now, a trifling evil act done by what sort of individual takes him to hell? There is the case where a certain individual is undeveloped in the body, undeveloped in virtue, undeveloped in mind [i.e., painful feelings can invade the mind and stay there], undeveloped in discernment: restricted, small-hearted, dwelling with suffering. A trifling evil act done by this sort of individual takes him to hell.
'Now, a trifling evil act done by what sort of individual is experienced in the here & now, and for the most part barely appears for a moment? There is the case where a certain individual is developed in the body, developed in virtue, developed in mind [i.e., painful feelings cannot invade the mind and stay there], developed in discernment: unrestricted, large-hearted, dwelling with the immeasurable. A trifling evil act done by this sort of individual is experienced in the here & now, and for the most part barely appears for a moment."
(AN 3.99)
"Rahula, develop the meditation in tune with earth. For when you are developing the meditation in tune with earth, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind. Just as when people throw what is clean or unclean on the earth — feces, urine, saliva, pus, or blood — the earth is not horrified, humiliated, or disgusted by it; in the same way, when you are developing the meditation in tune with earth, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind.
"Develop the meditation in tune with water. For when you are developing the meditation in tune with water, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind. Just as when people wash what is clean or unclean in water — feces, urine, saliva, pus, or blood — the water is not horrified, humiliated, or disgusted by it; in the same way, when you are developing the meditation in tune with water, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind.
"Develop the meditation in tune with fire. For when you are developing the meditation in tune with fire, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind. Just as when fire burns what is clean or unclean — feces, urine, saliva, pus, or blood — it is not horrified, humiliated, or disgusted by it; in the same way, when you are developing the meditation in tune with fire, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind.
"Develop the meditation in tune with wind. For when you are developing the meditation in tune with wind, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind. Just as when wind blows what is clean or unclean — feces, urine, saliva, pus, or blood — it is not horrified, humiliated, or disgusted by it; in the same way, when you are developing the meditation in tune with wind, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind.
"Develop the meditation in tune with space. For when you are developing the meditation in tune with space, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind. Just as space is not established anywhere, in the same way, when you are developing the meditation in tune with space, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind."
(MN 62)
-"Transcending Past Karma"
-as dharma students we're asked, in developing right view, to understand the law of karma. as the law of karma indicates that the quality of our intention informs the quality of our actions. actions have consequences in the short term and long term. in any moment, when taking action, we are affected by our past karma. our habitual tendencies. our habits of mind. our past karma, as the Buddha notes, is like a river. the run-of-the-mill individual simply allows himself to be carried along by the river of past karma. the dharma student, on the other hand, seeks to pull himself out of the river and to make skillful karma. the problem, however, is that the river of karma is often moving very fast and is difficult to remove ourselves from. the Buddha's teachings provide a way out. we develop parami and concentration so that we're gradually able to find our way out of the river of past karma. and, in turn, move toward a greater happiness.
-some things to to remember as we develop the practices for "transcending past karma"...
1-in taking action, we will be affected by the consequences of our past actions: past karma...
-our actions, unskillful or skillful, lead to consequences, in the short term ... and in the long term.....
-as we take action we will be affected by the consequences of past action: our past karma....
-our conditioning....
-our habitual tendencies....
-our habits of mind.....
2- to change and move toward a greater happiness we learn to change our karma.....
-our past karma, the Buddha notes, is like a river.....
-the "run of the mill" person simply allows himself to be carried along by past karma .......
-the dharma student is resolved to abandon past karma and cultivate a skillful way forward....
-the dharma student....
-recognizes past karma....
-climbs out of the river of past karma.....
-changes his course ... changes his intention ... action....
3-the river of past karma is often moving fast, making it difficult to remove ourselves from........
-when the river is moving too fast...
-we often don't recognize that we're being carried by past karma...
-we're often not able to pull ourselves out of the river of past karma, even when we recognize it....
-the Buddha, recognizing this dilemma, offers a way out of the river of past karma.....
-it includes:
4-the dharma student seeks to refrain from actions that have the most harmful long term consequences..............
-we seek to refrain from making more unskillful karma....
-to this end, we make an effort to develop parami....
-we make an effort to follow the five precepts....
-we make an effort to take skillful action, whenever possible.....
-we make an effort to practice generosity.....
5- the dharma student develops concentration, in an effort to create space......
-we cultivate concentration ... specifically the qualities of jhana ....
-we practice mindfulness of breathing....
-we develop the jhana qualities, which enable us to begin to meet past karma and not be carried away by it....
-#1 ... one-pointedness (samadhi)....
-we develop the ability to separate from past karma (intention)....
-we develop the ability, in focusing on a point in the body, to put aside past karma....
-we put aside "greed & distress with reference to the world"....
-we focus on the breath "in & of itself"......
-when we develop in this quality, we ease fixation.....
-#2 .... ease (piti).....
-we develop an easeful abiding in the body....
-we cultivate full body awareness ... and ease/pleasant energy in the body....
-in doing so, we expand the field of awareness ... we ease fixation ... we become aware of other experience ... there is a quality of spaciousness.....
-#3 .... pleasure (sukkha).....
-we develop mental ease ... contentedness.....
-ease of mind.....
-our experience is spacious, easeful ... not limited to the experience of past karma.....
-#4 ... equanimity (upekkha).....
-we have the ability to remain separate from past karma ... even when past karma is strong....
-we don't engage with past karma....
-we remain steady, even-tempered....
-there is space (non-fixation)....
-we have a "mind like the Earth" .... "a mind like the River Ganges"....
-there is separation ... from past karma.....
-there is ease of being....
-there is a developing awareness, in the bigger field, of our goodness....
-the heart.....
-when these qualities of concentration/jhana are developed.....
-we are not thrown by past karma.....
-we are not reactive....
-we are in a position of strength....
-in position to bring wisdom to past karma....
-to find release from past karma....
-reading.....
Phenomena are preceded by the heart,
ruled by the heart,
made of the heart.
If you speak or act with a corrupted heart,
suffering follows you,
as the wheel of the cart
the track of the ox
that pulls it.
Phenomena are preceded by the heart,
ruled by the heart,
made of the heart.
If you speak or act with a calm, bright heart,
then happiness follows you,
like a shadow
that never leaves.
(Dhp 1)
"When this is, that is. From the arising of this comes the arising of that. When this isn't, that isn't. From the stopping of this comes the stopping of that."
(An 10.92)
"And how is one made pure in three ways by bodily action? There is the case where a certain person, abandoning the taking of life, abstains from taking life. He dwells with his rod laid down, his knife laid down, scrupulous, merciful, compassionate for the benefit of all living beings. Abandoning the taking of what is not given, he abstains from taking what is not given. He does not take, in the manner of a thief, things in a village or a wilderness that belong to others and have not been given by them. Abandoning illicit sex, he abstains from illicit sex. He does not get sexually involved with those who are protected by their mothers, their fathers, their brothers, their sisters, their relatives, or their Dhamma; those with husbands, those who entail punishments, or even those crowned with flowers by another man. This is how one is made pure in three ways by bodily action.
"And how is one made pure in four ways by verbal action? There is the case where a certain person, abandoning false speech, abstains from false speech. When he has been called to a town meeting, a group meeting, a gathering of his relatives, his guild, or of the royalty, if he is asked as a witness, 'Come & tell, good man, what you know': If he doesn't know, he says, 'I don't know.' If he does know, he says, 'I know.' If he hasn't seen, he says, 'I haven't seen.' If he has seen, he says, 'I have seen.' Thus he doesn't consciously tell a lie for his own sake, for the sake of another, or for the sake of any reward. Abandoning false speech, he abstains from false speech. He speaks the truth, holds to the truth, is firm, reliable, no deceiver of the world. Abandoning divisive speech, he abstains from divisive speech. What he has heard here he does not tell there to break those people apart from these people here. What he has heard there he does not tell here to break these people apart from those people there. Thus reconciling those who have broken apart or cementing those who are united, he loves concord, delights in concord, enjoys concord, speaks things that create concord. Abandoning abusive speech, he abstains from abusive speech. He speaks words that are soothing to the ear, that are affectionate, that go to the heart, that are polite, appealing & pleasing to people at large. Abandoning idle chatter, he abstains from idle chatter. He speaks in season, speaks what is factual, what is in accordance with the goal, the Dhamma, & the Vinaya. He speaks words worth treasuring, seasonable, reasonable, circumscribed, connected with the goal. This is how one is made pure in four ways by verbal action."
(AN 10.176)
"Monks, for anyone who says, 'In whatever way a person makes kamma, that is how it is experienced,' there is no living of the holy life, there is no opportunity for the right ending of stress. But for anyone who says, 'When a person makes kamma to be felt in such & such a way, that is how its result is experienced,' there is the living of the holy life, there is the opportunity for the right ending of stress.
"There is the case where a trifling evil deed done by a certain individual takes him to hell. There is the case where the very same sort of trifling deed done by another individual is experienced in the here & now, and for the most part barely appears for a moment.
"Now, a trifling evil deed done by what sort of individual takes him to hell? There is the case where a certain individual is undeveloped in [contemplating] the body, undeveloped in virtue, undeveloped in mind, undeveloped in discernment: restricted, small-hearted, dwelling with suffering. A trifling evil deed done by this sort of individual takes him to hell.
"Now, a trifling evil deed done by what sort of individual is experienced in the here & now, and for the most part barely appears for a moment? There is the case where a certain individual is developed in [contemplating] the body, developed in virtue, developed in mind, developed in discernment: unrestricted, large-hearted, dwelling with the immeasurable. A trifling evil deed done by this sort of individual is experienced in the here & now, and for the most part barely appears for a moment.
"Suppose that a man were to drop a salt crystal into a small amount of water in a cup. What do you think? Would the water in the cup become salty because of the salt crystal, and unfit to drink?"
"Yes, lord. Why is that? There being only a small amount of water in the cup, it would become salty because of the salt crystal, and unfit to drink."
"Now suppose that a man were to drop a salt crystal into the River Ganges. What do you think? Would the water in the River Ganges become salty because of the salt crystal, and unfit to drink?"
"No, lord. Why is that? There being a great mass of water in the River Ganges, it would not become salty because of the salt crystal or unfit to drink."
"In the same way, there is the case where a trifling evil deed done by one individual [the first] takes him to hell; and there is the case where the very same sort of trifling deed done by the other individual is experienced in the here & now, and for the most part barely appears for a moment.
'Now, a trifling evil act done by what sort of individual takes him to hell? There is the case where a certain individual is undeveloped in the body, undeveloped in virtue, undeveloped in mind [i.e., painful feelings can invade the mind and stay there], undeveloped in discernment: restricted, small-hearted, dwelling with suffering. A trifling evil act done by this sort of individual takes him to hell.
'Now, a trifling evil act done by what sort of individual is experienced in the here & now, and for the most part barely appears for a moment? There is the case where a certain individual is developed in the body, developed in virtue, developed in mind [i.e., painful feelings cannot invade the mind and stay there], developed in discernment: unrestricted, large-hearted, dwelling with the immeasurable. A trifling evil act done by this sort of individual is experienced in the here & now, and for the most part barely appears for a moment."
(AN 3.99)
"Rahula, develop the meditation in tune with earth. For when you are developing the meditation in tune with earth, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind. Just as when people throw what is clean or unclean on the earth — feces, urine, saliva, pus, or blood — the earth is not horrified, humiliated, or disgusted by it; in the same way, when you are developing the meditation in tune with earth, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind.
"Develop the meditation in tune with water. For when you are developing the meditation in tune with water, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind. Just as when people wash what is clean or unclean in water — feces, urine, saliva, pus, or blood — the water is not horrified, humiliated, or disgusted by it; in the same way, when you are developing the meditation in tune with water, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind.
"Develop the meditation in tune with fire. For when you are developing the meditation in tune with fire, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind. Just as when fire burns what is clean or unclean — feces, urine, saliva, pus, or blood — it is not horrified, humiliated, or disgusted by it; in the same way, when you are developing the meditation in tune with fire, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind.
"Develop the meditation in tune with wind. For when you are developing the meditation in tune with wind, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind. Just as when wind blows what is clean or unclean — feces, urine, saliva, pus, or blood — it is not horrified, humiliated, or disgusted by it; in the same way, when you are developing the meditation in tune with wind, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind.
"Develop the meditation in tune with space. For when you are developing the meditation in tune with space, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind. Just as space is not established anywhere, in the same way, when you are developing the meditation in tune with space, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind."
(MN 62)
September 7
-"Law of Karma"
-the path of dharma practice is a path of happiness. in his efforts to discover the greatest happiness possible for a human being, the Buddha awakened to the law of karma. karma is action. as the Buddha came to realize, our happiness in this life depends on the actions we take. if our actions are imbued with love & compassion, we know happiness. the law of karma indicates that it's the intention, or quality of mind/heart, that informs actions that determines whether an action will lead to happiness. as dharma students we seek, as the Buddha did, to awaken to the law of karma. and, in turn, we resolve to take action that is skillful, imbued with love & compassion. our understanding of the law of karma develops as we learn to change our intentions, thusly changing or actions. we come to see that regardless of the conditions of live, we can know a true happiness.
-some things to to remember as we develop an understanding of the "law of karma"...
1-in awakening, we awaken to the law of karma...
-the Buddha, in his efforts to find the greatest happiness, awakened to the law of karma....
-as dharma students, seeking a greater happiness, we're asked to follow the Buddha's lead: to understand the law of karma ... to awaken to it ... and to live in accord with it.....
2- the law of karma comprises two central insights.....
-#1 - our happiness in this life is determined by the actions that we take.....
-#2 - actions imbued with love & compassion will lead us to true happiness .......
-the quality of the intention determines the quality of the action....
-the three components of karma are.....
-intention....
-the quality of mind/heart....
-action.....
-physical, verbal, mental.....
-results....
-short term.....
-long term.....
3-as dharma students, we seek to live in accord with the law of karma........
-our dharma - way of life - is a function of the law of karma...
-the law of karma is the governing principle....
-reflections we might engage in...
-is my dharma - way of life - informed by the law of karma .....?
-to what degree do I live in accord with the law of karma....?
-is the law of karma the governing principle in my life....?
-to what degree am I resolved to live in accord with the law of karma....?
4-we develop conviction in the law of karma by changing our intentions/actions..............
-we practice taking action imbued with skillful intention........
-for example/in meditation, we abandon habitual intentions/qualities of mind ... and we cultivate skillful intention....
-we "adjust the causes"...
-we're recognize the results of taking action imbued with skillful intention.....
5- in abiding by the law of karma, we come to know a true happiness......
-we know a happiness that is not dependent on conditioned things....
-pleasure....
-gain....
-status....
-praise....
-we understand that there is aging/illness/death/separation in this life....
-and we understand that we can know a happiness, regardless of these unavoidable conditions of life....
-as we follow the law of karma ... as we take action informed by love & compassion.....
-we know a greater happiness....
-we know a true happiness....
-reading.....
- "Karma" (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
-"The Road to Nirvana is Paved with Skillful Intentions" (Thanisarro Bhikkhu)
-"Developing Skillful Intention" (from Skillful Pleasure)
| skillful_pleasure_developing_skillful_intention_pdf.pdf |
Five Subjects for Frequent Recollection
Jaraa-dhammomhi jaram anatiito.
I am subject to aging. Aging is unavoidable.
Byaadhi-dhammomhi byaadhim anatiito.
I am subject to illness. Illness is unavoidable.
Marana-dhammomhi maranam anatiito.
I am subject to death. Death is unavoidable.
Sabbehi me piyehi manaapehi naanaa-bhaavo vinaa-bhaavo.
I will grow different, separate from all that is dear & appealing to me.
Kammassakomhi kamma-daayaado kamma-yoni kamma-bandhu kamma-
patisarano.
I am the owner of my actions, heir to my actions, born of my actions,
related through my actions, and live dependent on my actions.
Yam kammam karissaami kalyaanam vaa paapakam vaa tassa daayaado
bhavissaami.
Whatever I do, for good or for evil, to that will I fall heir.
Evam amhehi abhinham paccavekkhitabbam.
We should often reflect on this.
August 24
-"Joyful Daily Practice"
-our ability to cultivate insight depends on having space, equanimity. concentration enables us to see clearly, practice awareness. concentration, the Buddha tells us, is the heart of the path. having a daily meditation practice is the foundation of our path. in our daily practice, we develop breath meditation. we practice according to the Buddha's instructions for mindfulness of breathing. we learn to practice with a skillful, wholehearted attitude. over time, if we practice accordingly, we develop in resolve. and we find joy in our daily practice.
-some things to to remember as we develop a "joyful daily practice"...
1-concentration is the heart of the path...
-as the Buddha describes in his teaching on the Four Noble Truths, we develop the path so that we're able to comprehend the burdens on the heart and know freedom from these burdens ....
-concentration is the heart of the path.....
-concentration leads to insight....
-concentration enables us to develop in awareness.....
2- daily meditation practice is the foundation of the dharma student's path.....
-our task, as dharma students, is to establish and develop a daily practice..
-this daily practice will lead us to finding freedom from suffering .......
-we learn to develop our practice over time ... it is a process....
-it requires determination.....
-if we practice accordingly, in line with what the Buddha taught, daily practice will develop....
-daily practice includes....
-daily practice of breath meditation....
-daily practice of walking meditation.....
3-as dharma students, we develop a daily practice of breath meditation........
-the basic elements of breath meditation include...
(1)-the "technology' of breath meditation...
-the steps.....
-establishing mindfulness of the breath....
-cultivating an easeful breath.....
-cultivating an easeful, pleasurable abiding in the body....
-resting the mind on the breath at one point....
-in developing breath meditation it's important that we learn to...
-cultivate full body awareness....
-develop the 'qualities of jhana".....
-focus....
-ease....
-pleasure....
-equanimity.....
(2)-skillful, wholehearted attitude....
-skillful intention....
-intention informed by compassion & lovingkindness....
-brightness....
-appreciation....
-joy......
4-as dharma students, we develop a daily practice of walking meditation..............
-we should practice at least a few minutes of walking meditation as part of our daily practice........
-keeping the mind on the breath/body...
-cultivating a skillful attitude....
-walking meditation supports our efforts to maintain the qualities of concentration in all postures, as we go through our days.....
5- as we develop in our daily practice, we deepen in resolve.......
-over time, if we practice according, our resolve to practice deepens....
-we understand the benefits of the practice....
-we understand that there are burdens on the heart, that our daily practice, the development of concentration, will lead to the freedom from these burdens....
-we understand that time is short in which to practice....
6- as we develop in our daily practice, practice is joyful.......
-we take joy in 'doing what has to be done'....
-we understand that we are making good use of our time....
-we understand our goodness....
-as we deepen in our commitment to practice, we practice joyfully...
-we give our hearts to our practice....
-reading.....
-"Breath Meditation Instructions"
-"Joyful Daily Practice"
-our ability to cultivate insight depends on having space, equanimity. concentration enables us to see clearly, practice awareness. concentration, the Buddha tells us, is the heart of the path. having a daily meditation practice is the foundation of our path. in our daily practice, we develop breath meditation. we practice according to the Buddha's instructions for mindfulness of breathing. we learn to practice with a skillful, wholehearted attitude. over time, if we practice accordingly, we develop in resolve. and we find joy in our daily practice.
-some things to to remember as we develop a "joyful daily practice"...
1-concentration is the heart of the path...
-as the Buddha describes in his teaching on the Four Noble Truths, we develop the path so that we're able to comprehend the burdens on the heart and know freedom from these burdens ....
-concentration is the heart of the path.....
-concentration leads to insight....
-concentration enables us to develop in awareness.....
2- daily meditation practice is the foundation of the dharma student's path.....
-our task, as dharma students, is to establish and develop a daily practice..
-this daily practice will lead us to finding freedom from suffering .......
-we learn to develop our practice over time ... it is a process....
-it requires determination.....
-if we practice accordingly, in line with what the Buddha taught, daily practice will develop....
-daily practice includes....
-daily practice of breath meditation....
-daily practice of walking meditation.....
3-as dharma students, we develop a daily practice of breath meditation........
-the basic elements of breath meditation include...
(1)-the "technology' of breath meditation...
-the steps.....
-establishing mindfulness of the breath....
-cultivating an easeful breath.....
-cultivating an easeful, pleasurable abiding in the body....
-resting the mind on the breath at one point....
-in developing breath meditation it's important that we learn to...
-cultivate full body awareness....
-develop the 'qualities of jhana".....
-focus....
-ease....
-pleasure....
-equanimity.....
(2)-skillful, wholehearted attitude....
-skillful intention....
-intention informed by compassion & lovingkindness....
-brightness....
-appreciation....
-joy......
4-as dharma students, we develop a daily practice of walking meditation..............
-we should practice at least a few minutes of walking meditation as part of our daily practice........
-keeping the mind on the breath/body...
-cultivating a skillful attitude....
-walking meditation supports our efforts to maintain the qualities of concentration in all postures, as we go through our days.....
5- as we develop in our daily practice, we deepen in resolve.......
-over time, if we practice according, our resolve to practice deepens....
-we understand the benefits of the practice....
-we understand that there are burdens on the heart, that our daily practice, the development of concentration, will lead to the freedom from these burdens....
-we understand that time is short in which to practice....
6- as we develop in our daily practice, practice is joyful.......
-we take joy in 'doing what has to be done'....
-we understand that we are making good use of our time....
-we understand our goodness....
-as we deepen in our commitment to practice, we practice joyfully...
-we give our hearts to our practice....
-reading.....
-"Breath Meditation Instructions"
| breath_meditation_complete_notes_january_2024.pdf |
-"Jhana Not By the Numbers" (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
Work. Keep digging your well.
Don’t think about getting off from work.
Water is there somewhere.
Submit to a daily practice.
Your loyalty to that
Is a ring on the door.
Keep knocking, and the joy inside
Will eventually open a window
And look out to see who’s there.
(Rumi)
"Over there are the roots of trees; over there, empty dwellings. Practice jhana, monks. Don't be heedless. Don't later fall into regret. This is our message to you."
(MN 19)
Insight Meditation Daylong Retreat
with Peter Doobinin
in English
Sunday, 31 August
Lotos Vihara
Neue Blumenstraße 5, Berlin
10:00 – 16:00
fee by donation
August 17
-"Anger"
-in bringing awareness to painful emotions it's very important that we learn to bring awareness to anger. all human beings experience anger. and, of course, over the years, we've attached to anger. for many of us, much of the time, we're not aware of anger. we've pushed it down. or we've chosen to ignore it. we simply don't acknowledge it. as dharma students, we learn to bring anger into the light. we learn, in our efforts, to be truthful with ourselves about anger. in practicing skillfully, we're asked, simply, to be aware of anger. to observe with space. to let our innate wisdom develop in its understanding. if we're able to bring awareness to anger, we move, profoundly, toward freedom. we're more able to know the joy of life.
-some things to to remember as we develop our efforts to be aware of "anger"...
1-the mind state of anger is basic experience of life...
-as human beings, we are subject to anger....
-the degree to which we hold on to anger has a profound effect on our lives.....
-our capacity to know happiness....
-our capacity for ease of being.....
2- we often are not aware of anger.....
-this state of unawareness is known as avija (ignorance)..
-we may have chosen to not be aware of anger.....
-we may suffer denial, when it comes to anger.....
3-our task, as dharma students, is to bring awareness to anger........
-we make an effort to bring anger "into the light" of awareness...
-when anger is buried deeply, we may be supported in our efforts by...
-psychotherapy.....
-journaling....
-reflection.....
-we are asked, in coming out of ignorance, to be sensitive to anger...
-anger may be in the background....
-we choose to make an effort to be aware of it.....
-we "listen" closely....
-truthfulness...
-it is essential that we learn to develop in truthfulness with regard to anger....
-we learn to be truthful with ourselves about ourselves....
4-in being mindful of anger we practice simple awareness.......
-our practice, primarily, is to be aware........
-to observe....
-to observe with space....
-to observe with equanimity, acceptance....
-to allow our innate wisdom to understand.....
5- as we bring awareness to anger, we come to know a greater freedom.......
-anger constricts us, prevents us from the heart, prevents us from taking action that is an expression of our goodness....
-as we "free" ourselves from the fetters of anger...
-we come to know a new freedom....
-the heart is freed....
-we are able to make the most of our lives....
-we are able to live joyfully.....
-reading.....
Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
And frightened. Don’t open the door to the study
And begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are a hundred ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
(Rumi)
"When embraced,
the rod of violence
breeds danger & fear:
Look at people quarreling.
I will tell of how
I experienced
dismay.
Seeing people floundering
like fish in small puddles,
competing with one another --
as I saw this,
fear came into me.
The world was entirely
without substance.
All the directions
were knocked out of line.
Wanting a haven for myself,
I saw nothing that wasn't laid claim to.
Seeing nothing in the end
but competition,
I felt discontent.
And then I saw
an arrow here,
so very hard to see,
embedded in the heart.
Overcome by this arrow
you run in all directions.
But simply on pulling it out
you don't run,
you don't sink.
(Sn 4.15)
"There is the case, where a woman or man is ill-tempered & easily upset; even when lightly criticized, he/she grows offended, provoked, malicious, & resentful; shows annoyance, aversion, & bitterness. Through having adopted & carried out such actions, on the break-up of the body, after death, he/she reappears in the plane of deprivation... If instead he/she comes to the human state, then he/she is ugly wherever reborn. This is the way leading to ugliness: to be ill-tempered & easily upset; even when lightly criticized, to grow offended, provoked, malicious, & resentful; to show annoyance, aversion, & bitterness.”
(MN 135)
"And how is an individual like an inscription in rock? There is the case where a certain individual is often angered, and his anger stays with him a long time. Just as an inscription in rock is not quickly effaced by wind or water and lasts a long time, in the same way a certain individual is often angered, and his anger stays with him a long time. This is called an individual like an inscription in rock.”
(AN 3.130)
'He insulted me,
hit me,
beat me,
robbed me'
— for those who brood on this,
hostility isn't stilled.
'He insulted me,
hit me,
beat me,
robbed me' --
for those who don't brood on this,
hostility is stilled.
Hostilities aren't stilled
through hostility,
regardless.
Hostilities are stilled
through non-hostility:
this, an unending truth.
Unlike those who don't realize
that we're here on the verge
of perishing,
those who do:
their quarrels are stilled.
(Dhp I)
-"Anger"
-in bringing awareness to painful emotions it's very important that we learn to bring awareness to anger. all human beings experience anger. and, of course, over the years, we've attached to anger. for many of us, much of the time, we're not aware of anger. we've pushed it down. or we've chosen to ignore it. we simply don't acknowledge it. as dharma students, we learn to bring anger into the light. we learn, in our efforts, to be truthful with ourselves about anger. in practicing skillfully, we're asked, simply, to be aware of anger. to observe with space. to let our innate wisdom develop in its understanding. if we're able to bring awareness to anger, we move, profoundly, toward freedom. we're more able to know the joy of life.
-some things to to remember as we develop our efforts to be aware of "anger"...
1-the mind state of anger is basic experience of life...
-as human beings, we are subject to anger....
-the degree to which we hold on to anger has a profound effect on our lives.....
-our capacity to know happiness....
-our capacity for ease of being.....
2- we often are not aware of anger.....
-this state of unawareness is known as avija (ignorance)..
-we may have chosen to not be aware of anger.....
-we may suffer denial, when it comes to anger.....
3-our task, as dharma students, is to bring awareness to anger........
-we make an effort to bring anger "into the light" of awareness...
-when anger is buried deeply, we may be supported in our efforts by...
-psychotherapy.....
-journaling....
-reflection.....
-we are asked, in coming out of ignorance, to be sensitive to anger...
-anger may be in the background....
-we choose to make an effort to be aware of it.....
-we "listen" closely....
-truthfulness...
-it is essential that we learn to develop in truthfulness with regard to anger....
-we learn to be truthful with ourselves about ourselves....
4-in being mindful of anger we practice simple awareness.......
-our practice, primarily, is to be aware........
-to observe....
-to observe with space....
-to observe with equanimity, acceptance....
-to allow our innate wisdom to understand.....
5- as we bring awareness to anger, we come to know a greater freedom.......
-anger constricts us, prevents us from the heart, prevents us from taking action that is an expression of our goodness....
-as we "free" ourselves from the fetters of anger...
-we come to know a new freedom....
-the heart is freed....
-we are able to make the most of our lives....
-we are able to live joyfully.....
-reading.....
Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
And frightened. Don’t open the door to the study
And begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are a hundred ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
(Rumi)
"When embraced,
the rod of violence
breeds danger & fear:
Look at people quarreling.
I will tell of how
I experienced
dismay.
Seeing people floundering
like fish in small puddles,
competing with one another --
as I saw this,
fear came into me.
The world was entirely
without substance.
All the directions
were knocked out of line.
Wanting a haven for myself,
I saw nothing that wasn't laid claim to.
Seeing nothing in the end
but competition,
I felt discontent.
And then I saw
an arrow here,
so very hard to see,
embedded in the heart.
Overcome by this arrow
you run in all directions.
But simply on pulling it out
you don't run,
you don't sink.
(Sn 4.15)
"There is the case, where a woman or man is ill-tempered & easily upset; even when lightly criticized, he/she grows offended, provoked, malicious, & resentful; shows annoyance, aversion, & bitterness. Through having adopted & carried out such actions, on the break-up of the body, after death, he/she reappears in the plane of deprivation... If instead he/she comes to the human state, then he/she is ugly wherever reborn. This is the way leading to ugliness: to be ill-tempered & easily upset; even when lightly criticized, to grow offended, provoked, malicious, & resentful; to show annoyance, aversion, & bitterness.”
(MN 135)
"And how is an individual like an inscription in rock? There is the case where a certain individual is often angered, and his anger stays with him a long time. Just as an inscription in rock is not quickly effaced by wind or water and lasts a long time, in the same way a certain individual is often angered, and his anger stays with him a long time. This is called an individual like an inscription in rock.”
(AN 3.130)
'He insulted me,
hit me,
beat me,
robbed me'
— for those who brood on this,
hostility isn't stilled.
'He insulted me,
hit me,
beat me,
robbed me' --
for those who don't brood on this,
hostility is stilled.
Hostilities aren't stilled
through hostility,
regardless.
Hostilities are stilled
through non-hostility:
this, an unending truth.
Unlike those who don't realize
that we're here on the verge
of perishing,
those who do:
their quarrels are stilled.
(Dhp I)
August 10
-"Let It Be"
-the painful emotions in life are part of life. they are elemental conditions of life. we all experience difficult emotions. our problem, the Buddha tells us, is that we feed on these emotions. the problem, then, is not the emotions but the way in which we feed. in turn the way out of suffering is to refrain from feeding. as dharma students, our task is not to get rid of painful emotions but rather to let them be. or, we could say, our task is not to get rid of our burdens, but rather to put them down. we accomplish this task by developing skills in breath meditation. the ability to simply observe, with space. the ability to keep our minds in a good place. we should learn, in our practice, to cultivate this sort of spacious relationship to difficult emotions. and to resolve not to feed on them.
-some things to to remember as we develop our efforts to "let it be"...
1-stressful emotions/mind states are basic conditions of of life...
-as the Buddha indicates in his first sermon, "Setting the Wheel of the Dhamma in Motion" there are certain conditions of life that are stressful....
-we're asked, as dharma students, to acknowledge this noble truth: to practice truthfulness...
-we're asked to discern these emotions when they arise....
-we're asked to understand that they are basic conditions of life....
2- our practice is to refrain from feeding on stressful emotions.....
-we learn, when it comes to these emotions to simply let them be...
-instead of trying to get rid of them...
-our practice is less about "lettting it go" and more so about "letting it be".....
3-in meditation we develop skills that enable us to refrain from feeding on stressful emotions........
-we develop the skills of concentration...
-the qualities of jhana....
-including equanimity.....
-when equanimity is developed...
-there is acceptance of stressful emotions....
-there is the ability to have space.....
-a non-entangled relationship to the emotions....
-when there is space ... we are able to "let it be"....
-the emotion is there ... but we don't feed on it....
4-we should learn to cultivate this way of seeing stressful emotions.......
-we should learn to cultivate a spacious relationship to emotions........
-a relationship in which we observe....
-a relationship in which, when there is space, we resolve to simply let it be....
5- we learn, instead of using the mind to feed on emotions, to keep the mind in a good place.......
-when breath meditation is developed, we're able to put mind where we choose to put it....
-we let emotions be...
-we keep the mind on the breath/body....
-we have a good home for the mind...
-we resolve to keep the mind there....
-as breath meditation develops, the breath/body are a pleasant abiding ... a place where the mind is happy to stay...
-a reliable internal refuge.....
-the ultimate refuge is the dhamma inside....
-the deathless state....
-the state we sometimes know as 'awareness itself'.....
-the more we're able to refrain from feeding on emotions, the more able we are to know the dhamma inside....
-the third noble truth....
-as we practice, we should learn to 'touch into' this quality of dhamma....
-the more we know the dhamma inside ... the less inclined we are to feed on stressful emotions.....
-reading.....
-"A Home for the Mind" (Ajaan Suwat)
Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
And frightened. Don’t open the door to the study
And begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are a hundred ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
(Rumi)
"Now this, monks, is the noble truth of stress: Birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are stressful; association with the unbeloved is stressful, separation from the loved is stressful, not getting what is wanted is stressful. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are stressful.
"And this, monks, is the noble truth of the origination of stress: the craving that makes for further becoming — accompanied by passion & delight, relishing now here & now there — i.e., craving for sensual pleasure, craving for becoming, craving for non-becoming.
"And this, monks, is the noble truth of the cessation of stress: the remainderless fading & cessation, renunciation, relinquishment, release, & letting go of that very craving.
"And this, monks, is the noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress: precisely this Noble Eightfold Path — right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration."
(SN 56.11)
"And furthermore, the monk has his theme of reflection well in hand, well attended to, well-considered, well-tuned by means of discernment.
"Just as if one person were to reflect on another, or a standing person were to reflect on a sitting person, or a sitting person were to reflect on a person lying down; even so, monks, the monk has his theme of reflection well in hand, well attended to, well-pondered, well-tuned by means of discernment. This is the fifth development of the five-factored noble right concentration."
(AN 5.28)
How very happily we live,
free from hostility
among those who are hostile.
Among hostile people,
free from hostility we dwell.
How very happily we live,
free from misery
among those who are miserable.
Among miserable people,
free from misery we dwell.
How very happily we live,
free from busyness
among those who are busy.
Among busy people,
free from busyness we dwell.
How very happily we live,
we who have nothing.
We will feed on rapture
like the Radiant gods.
(Dhp XV)
-"Let It Be"
-the painful emotions in life are part of life. they are elemental conditions of life. we all experience difficult emotions. our problem, the Buddha tells us, is that we feed on these emotions. the problem, then, is not the emotions but the way in which we feed. in turn the way out of suffering is to refrain from feeding. as dharma students, our task is not to get rid of painful emotions but rather to let them be. or, we could say, our task is not to get rid of our burdens, but rather to put them down. we accomplish this task by developing skills in breath meditation. the ability to simply observe, with space. the ability to keep our minds in a good place. we should learn, in our practice, to cultivate this sort of spacious relationship to difficult emotions. and to resolve not to feed on them.
-some things to to remember as we develop our efforts to "let it be"...
1-stressful emotions/mind states are basic conditions of of life...
-as the Buddha indicates in his first sermon, "Setting the Wheel of the Dhamma in Motion" there are certain conditions of life that are stressful....
-we're asked, as dharma students, to acknowledge this noble truth: to practice truthfulness...
-we're asked to discern these emotions when they arise....
-we're asked to understand that they are basic conditions of life....
2- our practice is to refrain from feeding on stressful emotions.....
-we learn, when it comes to these emotions to simply let them be...
-instead of trying to get rid of them...
-our practice is less about "lettting it go" and more so about "letting it be".....
3-in meditation we develop skills that enable us to refrain from feeding on stressful emotions........
-we develop the skills of concentration...
-the qualities of jhana....
-including equanimity.....
-when equanimity is developed...
-there is acceptance of stressful emotions....
-there is the ability to have space.....
-a non-entangled relationship to the emotions....
-when there is space ... we are able to "let it be"....
-the emotion is there ... but we don't feed on it....
4-we should learn to cultivate this way of seeing stressful emotions.......
-we should learn to cultivate a spacious relationship to emotions........
-a relationship in which we observe....
-a relationship in which, when there is space, we resolve to simply let it be....
5- we learn, instead of using the mind to feed on emotions, to keep the mind in a good place.......
-when breath meditation is developed, we're able to put mind where we choose to put it....
-we let emotions be...
-we keep the mind on the breath/body....
-we have a good home for the mind...
-we resolve to keep the mind there....
-as breath meditation develops, the breath/body are a pleasant abiding ... a place where the mind is happy to stay...
-a reliable internal refuge.....
-the ultimate refuge is the dhamma inside....
-the deathless state....
-the state we sometimes know as 'awareness itself'.....
-the more we're able to refrain from feeding on emotions, the more able we are to know the dhamma inside....
-the third noble truth....
-as we practice, we should learn to 'touch into' this quality of dhamma....
-the more we know the dhamma inside ... the less inclined we are to feed on stressful emotions.....
-reading.....
-"A Home for the Mind" (Ajaan Suwat)
Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
And frightened. Don’t open the door to the study
And begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are a hundred ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
(Rumi)
"Now this, monks, is the noble truth of stress: Birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are stressful; association with the unbeloved is stressful, separation from the loved is stressful, not getting what is wanted is stressful. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are stressful.
"And this, monks, is the noble truth of the origination of stress: the craving that makes for further becoming — accompanied by passion & delight, relishing now here & now there — i.e., craving for sensual pleasure, craving for becoming, craving for non-becoming.
"And this, monks, is the noble truth of the cessation of stress: the remainderless fading & cessation, renunciation, relinquishment, release, & letting go of that very craving.
"And this, monks, is the noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress: precisely this Noble Eightfold Path — right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration."
(SN 56.11)
"And furthermore, the monk has his theme of reflection well in hand, well attended to, well-considered, well-tuned by means of discernment.
"Just as if one person were to reflect on another, or a standing person were to reflect on a sitting person, or a sitting person were to reflect on a person lying down; even so, monks, the monk has his theme of reflection well in hand, well attended to, well-pondered, well-tuned by means of discernment. This is the fifth development of the five-factored noble right concentration."
(AN 5.28)
How very happily we live,
free from hostility
among those who are hostile.
Among hostile people,
free from hostility we dwell.
How very happily we live,
free from misery
among those who are miserable.
Among miserable people,
free from misery we dwell.
How very happily we live,
free from busyness
among those who are busy.
Among busy people,
free from busyness we dwell.
How very happily we live,
we who have nothing.
We will feed on rapture
like the Radiant gods.
(Dhp XV)
August 3
-"Time to Let Go"
-dharma practice is a training for letting go. we study the dharma, we develop in skillfulness, we practice meditation, so that we can let go. we seek, as dharma students, to let go of our burdens. on the 'external' or 'mundane' level this may mean letting go of people, places, things. on the 'internal' or 'transcendent' level this means letting go of the burdens on the heart. we learn, as we make our way along the path, that we have to develop in our resolve to let go. we understand that we have just a limited amount of time in this life in which to do this. knowing this, we make a commitment to letting go.
-some things to to remember as we develop our efforts to know that it is "time to let go"...
1-it is useful to study the dharma, but study will take us only so far in our efforts to know a greater happiness ...
-we should remember that dharma student is in the service of taking action....
-to know a greater happiness we have to take action...
-our training, in including study, including meditation itself, is just that: a training....
-we're training, so that we might find freedom from our burdens....
2- our path is a path of letting go...
-we study the dharma, we practice meditation, so that we might let go...
-we seek to let go of our burdens....
-ultimately, we learn, as dharma students to practice the action of letting go....
-letting go is an action.....
-letting go entails.....
1-letting go externally...
-letting go of people, places, things....
2-letting go internally....
-letting go of clinging....
-letting go of the burdens on the heart.....
3-we're asked, as dharma students, to let go of the burdens on the heart........
-we seek to let go of that which we're holding on to....
-clinging, grasping....
-we seek to let go of....
-doubt....
-doubt in ourselves, in our ability to find true happiness....
-doubt in our ability to let go....
-habits & practices.....
-the ways in which he hold on to social conventions....
-our habitual patterns of action...
-self identity views.....
-the notions that "I am this" and "I am that".....
-ultimately, letting go entails letting go of desire & aversion....
-wanting what we don't have....
-not wanting what we have....
4-there is a skill to letting go........
-we can think of the skill of letting go as having these basic steps........
(a)-we ask: what am I holding on to.....?
-we're truthful....
(b)-we ask: can I let go....?
-we consider the possibility of letting go....
-we might ask, what would it be like to let go....?
(c)-we cultivate the resolve to let go....
-we make a resolve, to let go, out of love...
-using fabrication....
5- remembering the truth of death supports our efforts to make a resolve to let go.......
-when we reflect, skillfully, on the truth of death....
-we cultivate a sense of urgency...
-we remember that our time in this life is brief in which to let go....
-we remember that we want to make the most of the time we have in this life ... and that freeing the heart of its burdens is the most beneficial way that we can spend our time...
-listening.....
-"The Resolve to let Go"
-reading.....
If he recites many teachings, but
— heedless man --
doesn't do what they say,
like a cowherd counting the cattle of
others,
he has no share in the contemplative life.
If he recites next to nothing
but follows the Dhamma
in line with the Dhamma;
abandoning passion,
aversion, delusion;
alert,
his mind well-released,
not clinging
either here or hereafter:
he has his share in the contemplative life.
(Dhp I)
"Therefore, Ananda, each of you should remain with your self as an island, your self as your refuge, without anything else as a refuge. Remain with the Dhamma as an island, the Dhamma as your refuge, without anything else as a refuge. And how does a monk remain with his self as an island, his self as his refuge, without anything else as a refuge? How does he remain with the Dhamma as an island, the Dhamma as his refuge, without anything else as a refuge? There is the case where a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself — ardent, alert, & mindful — putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world. He remains focused on feelings... mind... mental qualities in & of themselves — ardent, alert, & mindful — putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world. This is how a monk remains with his self as an island, his self as his refuge, without anything else as a refuge, with the Dhamma as an island, the Dhamma as his refuge, without anything else as a refuge. For those who — now or after I am gone — remain with their self as an island, their self as their refuge, without anything else as a refuge, with the Dhamma as an island, the Dhamma as their refuge, without anything else as a refuge, they will be the highest of the monks who desire training."
(SN 47.13)
Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
And frightened. Don’t open the door to the study
And begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are a hundred ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
(Rumi)
I know I have the best of time and space, and was never measured and never will be measured.
I tramp a perpetual journey, (come listen all!)
My signs are a rain-proof coat, good shoes, and a staff cut from the woods,
No friend of mine takes his ease in my chair,
I have no chair, no church, no philosophy,
I lead no man to a dinner-table, library, exchange,
But each man and each woman of you I lead upon a knoll,
My left hand hooking you round the waist,
My right hand pointing to landscapes of continents and the public road.
Not I, not any one else can travel that road for you,
You must travel it for yourself.
It is not far, it is within reach,
Perhaps you have been on it since you were born and did not know,
Perhaps it is everywhere on water and on land.
Shoulder your duds dear son, and I will mine, and let us hasten forth,
Wonderful cities and free nations we shall fetch as we go.
If you tire, give me both burdens, and rest the chuff of your hand on my hip,
And in due time you shall repay the same service to me,
For after we start we never lie by again.
This day before dawn I ascended a hill and look’d at the crowded heaven,
And I said to my spirit When we become the enfolders of those orbs, and the pleasure and knowledge of every thing in them, shall we be fill’d and satisfied then?
And my spirit said No, we but level that lift to pass and continue beyond.
You are also asking me questions and I hear you,
I answer that I cannot answer, you must find out for yourself.
Sit a while dear son,
Here are biscuits to eat and here is milk to drink,
But as soon as you sleep and renew yourself in sweet clothes, I kiss you with a good-by kiss and open the gate for your egress hence.
Long enough have you dream’d contemptible dreams,
Now I wash the gum from your eyes,
You must habit yourself to the dazzle of the light and of every moment of your life.
Long have you timidly waded holding a plank by the shore,
Now I will you to be a bold swimmer,
To jump off in the midst of the sea, rise again, nod to me, shout, and laughingly dash with your hair.
(Walt Whitman; Song of Myself, #46)
-"Time to Let Go"
-dharma practice is a training for letting go. we study the dharma, we develop in skillfulness, we practice meditation, so that we can let go. we seek, as dharma students, to let go of our burdens. on the 'external' or 'mundane' level this may mean letting go of people, places, things. on the 'internal' or 'transcendent' level this means letting go of the burdens on the heart. we learn, as we make our way along the path, that we have to develop in our resolve to let go. we understand that we have just a limited amount of time in this life in which to do this. knowing this, we make a commitment to letting go.
-some things to to remember as we develop our efforts to know that it is "time to let go"...
1-it is useful to study the dharma, but study will take us only so far in our efforts to know a greater happiness ...
-we should remember that dharma student is in the service of taking action....
-to know a greater happiness we have to take action...
-our training, in including study, including meditation itself, is just that: a training....
-we're training, so that we might find freedom from our burdens....
2- our path is a path of letting go...
-we study the dharma, we practice meditation, so that we might let go...
-we seek to let go of our burdens....
-ultimately, we learn, as dharma students to practice the action of letting go....
-letting go is an action.....
-letting go entails.....
1-letting go externally...
-letting go of people, places, things....
2-letting go internally....
-letting go of clinging....
-letting go of the burdens on the heart.....
3-we're asked, as dharma students, to let go of the burdens on the heart........
-we seek to let go of that which we're holding on to....
-clinging, grasping....
-we seek to let go of....
-doubt....
-doubt in ourselves, in our ability to find true happiness....
-doubt in our ability to let go....
-habits & practices.....
-the ways in which he hold on to social conventions....
-our habitual patterns of action...
-self identity views.....
-the notions that "I am this" and "I am that".....
-ultimately, letting go entails letting go of desire & aversion....
-wanting what we don't have....
-not wanting what we have....
4-there is a skill to letting go........
-we can think of the skill of letting go as having these basic steps........
(a)-we ask: what am I holding on to.....?
-we're truthful....
(b)-we ask: can I let go....?
-we consider the possibility of letting go....
-we might ask, what would it be like to let go....?
(c)-we cultivate the resolve to let go....
-we make a resolve, to let go, out of love...
-using fabrication....
5- remembering the truth of death supports our efforts to make a resolve to let go.......
-when we reflect, skillfully, on the truth of death....
-we cultivate a sense of urgency...
-we remember that our time in this life is brief in which to let go....
-we remember that we want to make the most of the time we have in this life ... and that freeing the heart of its burdens is the most beneficial way that we can spend our time...
-listening.....
-"The Resolve to let Go"
-reading.....
If he recites many teachings, but
— heedless man --
doesn't do what they say,
like a cowherd counting the cattle of
others,
he has no share in the contemplative life.
If he recites next to nothing
but follows the Dhamma
in line with the Dhamma;
abandoning passion,
aversion, delusion;
alert,
his mind well-released,
not clinging
either here or hereafter:
he has his share in the contemplative life.
(Dhp I)
"Therefore, Ananda, each of you should remain with your self as an island, your self as your refuge, without anything else as a refuge. Remain with the Dhamma as an island, the Dhamma as your refuge, without anything else as a refuge. And how does a monk remain with his self as an island, his self as his refuge, without anything else as a refuge? How does he remain with the Dhamma as an island, the Dhamma as his refuge, without anything else as a refuge? There is the case where a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself — ardent, alert, & mindful — putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world. He remains focused on feelings... mind... mental qualities in & of themselves — ardent, alert, & mindful — putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world. This is how a monk remains with his self as an island, his self as his refuge, without anything else as a refuge, with the Dhamma as an island, the Dhamma as his refuge, without anything else as a refuge. For those who — now or after I am gone — remain with their self as an island, their self as their refuge, without anything else as a refuge, with the Dhamma as an island, the Dhamma as their refuge, without anything else as a refuge, they will be the highest of the monks who desire training."
(SN 47.13)
Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
And frightened. Don’t open the door to the study
And begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are a hundred ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
(Rumi)
I know I have the best of time and space, and was never measured and never will be measured.
I tramp a perpetual journey, (come listen all!)
My signs are a rain-proof coat, good shoes, and a staff cut from the woods,
No friend of mine takes his ease in my chair,
I have no chair, no church, no philosophy,
I lead no man to a dinner-table, library, exchange,
But each man and each woman of you I lead upon a knoll,
My left hand hooking you round the waist,
My right hand pointing to landscapes of continents and the public road.
Not I, not any one else can travel that road for you,
You must travel it for yourself.
It is not far, it is within reach,
Perhaps you have been on it since you were born and did not know,
Perhaps it is everywhere on water and on land.
Shoulder your duds dear son, and I will mine, and let us hasten forth,
Wonderful cities and free nations we shall fetch as we go.
If you tire, give me both burdens, and rest the chuff of your hand on my hip,
And in due time you shall repay the same service to me,
For after we start we never lie by again.
This day before dawn I ascended a hill and look’d at the crowded heaven,
And I said to my spirit When we become the enfolders of those orbs, and the pleasure and knowledge of every thing in them, shall we be fill’d and satisfied then?
And my spirit said No, we but level that lift to pass and continue beyond.
You are also asking me questions and I hear you,
I answer that I cannot answer, you must find out for yourself.
Sit a while dear son,
Here are biscuits to eat and here is milk to drink,
But as soon as you sleep and renew yourself in sweet clothes, I kiss you with a good-by kiss and open the gate for your egress hence.
Long enough have you dream’d contemptible dreams,
Now I wash the gum from your eyes,
You must habit yourself to the dazzle of the light and of every moment of your life.
Long have you timidly waded holding a plank by the shore,
Now I will you to be a bold swimmer,
To jump off in the midst of the sea, rise again, nod to me, shout, and laughingly dash with your hair.
(Walt Whitman; Song of Myself, #46)
July 27
-"Make the Most of Every Day"
-we learn, as dharma students, to reflect on the blessing of each day of life. and, in turn, we seek to make the most of each day. as with all that the Buddha teaches, this asks that we develop certain skills. the essential skills, in making an effort to make the most of each day, include (1) being in the body, and (2) staying close to the heart. we learn these skills in meditation and we strive to maintain them in all our activities. if we're able to do this, it will enable us to make the most of our lives, to know happiness of the heart.
-some things to to remember as we develop our efforts to attend to "make the most of every day"...
1-as dharma students, we remember the blessing of each day ...
-we should reflect on the blessing of life ... and the blessing of each day of life....
-in doing so, we cultivate gratitude ... and joy....
-we seek, remembering the blessing of each day, to make the most of each day of life...
2- we develop certain skills in an effort to make the most of each day of life...
-we learn these skills in meditation practice...
-we seek to maintain these skills in all postures, in all our activities, as we go through our days & nights....
-the basic skills we develop entail.....
1-being in the body...
2-staying close to the heart....
3-we seek in all postures to maintain ourselves in the body........
-we maintain ourselves in the present moment....
-in the body....
-we seek to abandon states of becoming, those states that comprise a lack of present moment awareness....
-being caught in sense pleasures....
-being lost in thought....
-we practice mindfulness of the body.....
-we make an effort to keep the mind on....
-breath....
-body.....
-we seek to cultivate an easeful, pleasurable abiding in the body....
-in all postures....
-when we have a pleasant abiding, the mind inclines to the breath/body......
-walking meditation ... in an important element of the skill for learning to maintain mindfulness of the body in all postures.....
4-we seek in all postures to stay close to the heart........
-the more we're able to keep the mind in the breath/body ... the more we'll be able to stay close to the heart........
-we support our efforts to stay close to the heart, cultivating the heart.....
-using fabrication....
-we use the "head" to bring us to the heart....
-developing felt sense....
-in cultivating the heart.....
-we cultivate brightness....
-we keep the mind bright ... in all postures....
-remembering our blessings....
-cultivating gratitude.....
-we cultivate skillful intention....
-intention informed by....
-metta....
-compassion....
-we cultivate skillful intention/action in regard to all our actions....
-blatant & subtle....
-our deeds....
-our speech....
-our thinking.....
5-remembering the truth of death supports our effort to make the most of every day.......
-we reflect, regularly, as the Buddha teaches, on the truth of death....
-in doing so, we cultivate a sense of urgency...
-we remember that our time in this life is brief....
-we remember that we have only so many days...
-we learn to reflect, in the spirit of the Thai Ajaans: "the days & nights are passing, how am I spending my time....?"
-reading.....
-"Life is Short" (from The Skill of Living)
-"Make the Most of Every Day"
-we learn, as dharma students, to reflect on the blessing of each day of life. and, in turn, we seek to make the most of each day. as with all that the Buddha teaches, this asks that we develop certain skills. the essential skills, in making an effort to make the most of each day, include (1) being in the body, and (2) staying close to the heart. we learn these skills in meditation and we strive to maintain them in all our activities. if we're able to do this, it will enable us to make the most of our lives, to know happiness of the heart.
-some things to to remember as we develop our efforts to attend to "make the most of every day"...
1-as dharma students, we remember the blessing of each day ...
-we should reflect on the blessing of life ... and the blessing of each day of life....
-in doing so, we cultivate gratitude ... and joy....
-we seek, remembering the blessing of each day, to make the most of each day of life...
2- we develop certain skills in an effort to make the most of each day of life...
-we learn these skills in meditation practice...
-we seek to maintain these skills in all postures, in all our activities, as we go through our days & nights....
-the basic skills we develop entail.....
1-being in the body...
2-staying close to the heart....
3-we seek in all postures to maintain ourselves in the body........
-we maintain ourselves in the present moment....
-in the body....
-we seek to abandon states of becoming, those states that comprise a lack of present moment awareness....
-being caught in sense pleasures....
-being lost in thought....
-we practice mindfulness of the body.....
-we make an effort to keep the mind on....
-breath....
-body.....
-we seek to cultivate an easeful, pleasurable abiding in the body....
-in all postures....
-when we have a pleasant abiding, the mind inclines to the breath/body......
-walking meditation ... in an important element of the skill for learning to maintain mindfulness of the body in all postures.....
4-we seek in all postures to stay close to the heart........
-the more we're able to keep the mind in the breath/body ... the more we'll be able to stay close to the heart........
-we support our efforts to stay close to the heart, cultivating the heart.....
-using fabrication....
-we use the "head" to bring us to the heart....
-developing felt sense....
-in cultivating the heart.....
-we cultivate brightness....
-we keep the mind bright ... in all postures....
-remembering our blessings....
-cultivating gratitude.....
-we cultivate skillful intention....
-intention informed by....
-metta....
-compassion....
-we cultivate skillful intention/action in regard to all our actions....
-blatant & subtle....
-our deeds....
-our speech....
-our thinking.....
5-remembering the truth of death supports our effort to make the most of every day.......
-we reflect, regularly, as the Buddha teaches, on the truth of death....
-in doing so, we cultivate a sense of urgency...
-we remember that our time in this life is brief....
-we remember that we have only so many days...
-we learn to reflect, in the spirit of the Thai Ajaans: "the days & nights are passing, how am I spending my time....?"
-reading.....
-"Life is Short" (from The Skill of Living)
| life_is_short_skill_of_living_pdf.pdf |
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying in Savatthi, at Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's monastery. There he addressed the monks: "Monks!"
"Yes, lord," the monks responded.
The Blessed One said: "Monks, I will teach you the summary & exposition of one who has had an auspicious day. Listen & pay close attention. I will speak."
"As you say, lord," the monks replied.
The Blessed One said:
You shouldn't chase after the past
or place expectations on the future.
What is past
is left behind.
The future
is as yet unreached.
Whatever quality is present
you clearly see right there,
right there.
Not taken in,
unshaken,
that's how you develop the heart.
Ardently doing
what should be done today,
for — who knows? — tomorrow
death.
There is no bargaining
with Mortality & his mighty horde.
Whoever lives thus ardently,
relentlessly
both day & night,
has truly had an auspicious day:
so says the Peaceful Sage.
(MN 131)
"Monks, whoever develops & pursues mindfulness immersed in the body encompasses whatever skillful qualities are on the side of clear knowing. Just as whoever pervades the great ocean with his awareness encompasses whatever rivulets flow down into the ocean, in the same way, whoever develops & pursues mindfulness immersed in the body encompasses whatever skillful qualities are on the side of clear knowing."
(MN 119)
July 20
-"The Issue at Hand"
-the dharma student learns to develop passion for what the Buddha taught. she develops passion for discernment. in explaining the process of discernment the Buddha explains that the most important factor is appropriate attention. in applying appropriate attention we attend to the issue at hand. we bring awareness to dukkha. we bring awareness to dukkha as it is, in the moment. the felt sense, in the body, of dukkha. the practice of simple awareness, being the observer, enables us to cultivate space from that which we're clinging to. it enables wisdom to develop. from this place, we know freedom. in turn, we're able to move forward, to understand which actions we should take in the service of knowing a greater happiness in our lives.
-some things to to remember as we develop our efforts to attend to "the issue at hand"...
1-in cultivating discernment, we practice appropriate attention ...
-we attend to the issue at hand.....
-dukkha....
-our experience, in the moment, of dukkha....
-as a felt sense.....
2- when suffering, caught in stress, our tendency to attend to our experience in ways that are not in accord with what the Buddha taught...
-when there is dukkha (suffering/stress) our tendency may be to...
-proliferate aversion to our suffering....
-engage in thinking.....
-analyze our suffering....
-attempt to fix our suffering....
-attempt to 'run away' from our suffering.....
-we tend to think that the thing we're suffering about - the relationship, the life experience, the world - is the issue....
3-when suffering, the issue at hand is the experience of suffering........
-as dharma students, we recognize the issue at hand....
-the experience of suffering....
-as it is, as we experience it, in the body....
-we recognize that the "issue" is not the external condition.....
4-recognizing the issue at hand, we bring awareness to the experience of suffering........
-we bring simple awareness to the felt experience, in the moment, in the body........
-a good way to practice, in this effort is summarized by the acronym ABC:
-ABC.....
-A - we bring awareness to the experience of dukkha....
-in the body.....
-for a few seconds.....
-we're the observer.....
-there is space....
-B - we center our attention in the breath.....
-C - we cultivate compassion....
-recognizing our suffering.....
5-bring appropriate attention to our experience, we're then able to set intention in terms of our actions.......
-bringing appropriate attention to suffering - the issue at hand - we cultivate space....
-there is ease....
-there is some freedom from suffering....
-there is some connection to the heart....
-in this space, centered in the breath, we're able to set an intention, in regard to our actions to come.....
-intention informed by love, compassion.....
-listening.....
-"The Practice of Awareness"
-reading.....
-"Untangling the Present: The Role of Appropriate Attention" (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
"With regard to internal factors, I don't envision any other single factor like appropriate attention as doing so much for a monk in training, who has not attained the goal but remains intent on the unsurpassed safety from bondage. A monk who attends appropriately abandons what is unskillful and develops what is skillful.
Appropriate attention
as a quality
of a monk in training:
nothing else
does so much
for attaining the superlative goal.
A monk, striving appropriately,
attains the ending of stress.
(Iti 16)
I have heard that on one occasion a certain monk was dwelling among the Kosalans in a forest thicket. Now at that time, he spent the day's abiding thinking evil, unskillful thoughts: i.e., thoughts of sensuality, thoughts of ill will, thoughts of harmfulness.
Then the devata inhabiting the forest thicket, feeling sympathy for the monk, desiring his benefit, desiring to bring him to his senses, approached him and addressed him with this verse:
"From inappropriate attention
you're being chewed by your thoughts.
Relinquishing what's inappropriate,
contemplate
appropriately.
Keeping your mind on the Teacher,
the Dhamma, the Sangha, your virtues,
you will arrive at
joy,
rapture,
pleasure
without doubt.
Then, saturated
with joy,
you will put an end
to suffering & stress."
The monk, chastened by the devata, came to his senses.
(SN 9.11)
And what are the fermentations to be abandoned by seeing? There is the case where an uninstructed, run-of-the-mill person — who has no regard for noble ones, is not well-versed or disciplined in their Dhamma; who has no regard for men of integrity, is not well-versed or disciplined in their Dhamma — does not discern what ideas are fit for attention or what ideas are unfit for attention. This being so, he does not attend to ideas fit for attention and attends [instead] to ideas unfit for attention.
"And what are the ideas unfit for attention that he attends to? Whatever ideas such that, when he attends to them, the unarisen fermentation of sensuality arises in him, and the arisen fermentation of sensuality increases; the unarisen fermentation of becoming arises in him, and arisen fermentation of becoming increases; the unarisen fermentation of ignorance arises in him, and the arisen fermentation of ignorance increases. These are the ideas unfit for attention that he attends to.
"And what are the ideas fit for attention that he does not attend to? Whatever ideas such that, when he attends to them, the unarisen fermentation of sensuality does not arise in him, and the arisen fermentation of sensuality is abandoned; the unarisen fermentation of becoming does not arise in him, and arisen fermentation of becoming is abandoned; the unarisen fermentation of ignorance does not arise in him, and the arisen fermentation of ignorance is abandoned. These are the ideas fit for attention that he does not attend to. Through his attending to ideas unfit for attention and through his not attending to ideas fit for attention, both unarisen fermentations arise in him, and arisen fermentations increase.
"This is how he attends inappropriately: 'Was I in the past? Was I not in the past? What was I in the past? How was I in the past? Having been what, what was I in the past? Shall I be in the future? Shall I not be in the future? What shall I be in the future? How shall I be in the future? Having been what, what shall I be in the future?' Or else he is inwardly perplexed about the immediate present: 'Am I? Am I not? What am I? How am I? Where has this being come from? Where is it bound?'
"As he attends inappropriately in this way, one of six kinds of view arises in him: The view I have a self arises in him as true & established, or the view I have no self... or the view It is precisely by means of self that I perceive self... or the view It is precisely by means of self that I perceive not-self... or the view It is precisely by means of not-self that I perceive self arises in him as true & established, or else he has a view like this: This very self of mine — the knower that is sensitive here & there to the ripening of good & bad actions — is the self of mine that is constant, everlasting, eternal, not subject to change, and will stay just as it is for eternity. This is called a thicket of views, a wilderness of views, a contortion of views, a writhing of views, a fetter of views. Bound by a fetter of views, the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person is not freed from birth, aging, & death, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair. He is not freed, I tell you, from suffering & stress.
"The well-instructed disciple of the noble ones — who has regard for noble ones, is well-versed & disciplined in their Dhamma; who has regard for men of integrity, is well-versed & disciplined in their Dhamma — discerns what ideas are fit for attention and what ideas are unfit for attention. This being so, he does not attend to ideas unfit for attention and attends [instead] to ideas fit for attention.
"And what are the ideas unfit for attention that he does not attend to? Whatever ideas such that, when he attends to them, the unarisen fermentation of sensuality arises in him, and the arisen fermentation of sensuality increases; the unarisen fermentation of becoming arises in him, and arisen fermentation of becoming increases; the unarisen fermentation of ignorance arises in him, and the arisen fermentation of ignorance increases. These are the ideas unfit for attention that he does not attend to.
"And what are the ideas fit for attention that he does attend to? Whatever ideas such that, when he attends to them, the unarisen fermentation of sensuality does not arise in him, and the arisen fermentation of sensuality is abandoned; the unarisen fermentation of becoming does not arise in him, and the arisen fermentation of becoming is abandoned; the unarisen fermentation of ignorance does not arise in him, and the arisen fermentation of ignorance is abandoned. These are the ideas fit for attention that he does attend to. Through his not attending to ideas unfit for attention and through his attending to ideas fit for attention, unarisen fermentations do not arise in him, and arisen fermentations are abandoned.
"He attends appropriately, This is stress... This is the origination of stress... This is the cessation of stress... This is the way leading to the cessation of stress. As he attends appropriately in this way, three fetters are abandoned in him: identity-view, doubt, and grasping at precepts & practices. These are called the fermentations to be abandoned by seeing."
(MN 2)
-"The Issue at Hand"
-the dharma student learns to develop passion for what the Buddha taught. she develops passion for discernment. in explaining the process of discernment the Buddha explains that the most important factor is appropriate attention. in applying appropriate attention we attend to the issue at hand. we bring awareness to dukkha. we bring awareness to dukkha as it is, in the moment. the felt sense, in the body, of dukkha. the practice of simple awareness, being the observer, enables us to cultivate space from that which we're clinging to. it enables wisdom to develop. from this place, we know freedom. in turn, we're able to move forward, to understand which actions we should take in the service of knowing a greater happiness in our lives.
-some things to to remember as we develop our efforts to attend to "the issue at hand"...
1-in cultivating discernment, we practice appropriate attention ...
-we attend to the issue at hand.....
-dukkha....
-our experience, in the moment, of dukkha....
-as a felt sense.....
2- when suffering, caught in stress, our tendency to attend to our experience in ways that are not in accord with what the Buddha taught...
-when there is dukkha (suffering/stress) our tendency may be to...
-proliferate aversion to our suffering....
-engage in thinking.....
-analyze our suffering....
-attempt to fix our suffering....
-attempt to 'run away' from our suffering.....
-we tend to think that the thing we're suffering about - the relationship, the life experience, the world - is the issue....
3-when suffering, the issue at hand is the experience of suffering........
-as dharma students, we recognize the issue at hand....
-the experience of suffering....
-as it is, as we experience it, in the body....
-we recognize that the "issue" is not the external condition.....
4-recognizing the issue at hand, we bring awareness to the experience of suffering........
-we bring simple awareness to the felt experience, in the moment, in the body........
-a good way to practice, in this effort is summarized by the acronym ABC:
-ABC.....
-A - we bring awareness to the experience of dukkha....
-in the body.....
-for a few seconds.....
-we're the observer.....
-there is space....
-B - we center our attention in the breath.....
-C - we cultivate compassion....
-recognizing our suffering.....
5-bring appropriate attention to our experience, we're then able to set intention in terms of our actions.......
-bringing appropriate attention to suffering - the issue at hand - we cultivate space....
-there is ease....
-there is some freedom from suffering....
-there is some connection to the heart....
-in this space, centered in the breath, we're able to set an intention, in regard to our actions to come.....
-intention informed by love, compassion.....
-listening.....
-"The Practice of Awareness"
-reading.....
-"Untangling the Present: The Role of Appropriate Attention" (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
"With regard to internal factors, I don't envision any other single factor like appropriate attention as doing so much for a monk in training, who has not attained the goal but remains intent on the unsurpassed safety from bondage. A monk who attends appropriately abandons what is unskillful and develops what is skillful.
Appropriate attention
as a quality
of a monk in training:
nothing else
does so much
for attaining the superlative goal.
A monk, striving appropriately,
attains the ending of stress.
(Iti 16)
I have heard that on one occasion a certain monk was dwelling among the Kosalans in a forest thicket. Now at that time, he spent the day's abiding thinking evil, unskillful thoughts: i.e., thoughts of sensuality, thoughts of ill will, thoughts of harmfulness.
Then the devata inhabiting the forest thicket, feeling sympathy for the monk, desiring his benefit, desiring to bring him to his senses, approached him and addressed him with this verse:
"From inappropriate attention
you're being chewed by your thoughts.
Relinquishing what's inappropriate,
contemplate
appropriately.
Keeping your mind on the Teacher,
the Dhamma, the Sangha, your virtues,
you will arrive at
joy,
rapture,
pleasure
without doubt.
Then, saturated
with joy,
you will put an end
to suffering & stress."
The monk, chastened by the devata, came to his senses.
(SN 9.11)
And what are the fermentations to be abandoned by seeing? There is the case where an uninstructed, run-of-the-mill person — who has no regard for noble ones, is not well-versed or disciplined in their Dhamma; who has no regard for men of integrity, is not well-versed or disciplined in their Dhamma — does not discern what ideas are fit for attention or what ideas are unfit for attention. This being so, he does not attend to ideas fit for attention and attends [instead] to ideas unfit for attention.
"And what are the ideas unfit for attention that he attends to? Whatever ideas such that, when he attends to them, the unarisen fermentation of sensuality arises in him, and the arisen fermentation of sensuality increases; the unarisen fermentation of becoming arises in him, and arisen fermentation of becoming increases; the unarisen fermentation of ignorance arises in him, and the arisen fermentation of ignorance increases. These are the ideas unfit for attention that he attends to.
"And what are the ideas fit for attention that he does not attend to? Whatever ideas such that, when he attends to them, the unarisen fermentation of sensuality does not arise in him, and the arisen fermentation of sensuality is abandoned; the unarisen fermentation of becoming does not arise in him, and arisen fermentation of becoming is abandoned; the unarisen fermentation of ignorance does not arise in him, and the arisen fermentation of ignorance is abandoned. These are the ideas fit for attention that he does not attend to. Through his attending to ideas unfit for attention and through his not attending to ideas fit for attention, both unarisen fermentations arise in him, and arisen fermentations increase.
"This is how he attends inappropriately: 'Was I in the past? Was I not in the past? What was I in the past? How was I in the past? Having been what, what was I in the past? Shall I be in the future? Shall I not be in the future? What shall I be in the future? How shall I be in the future? Having been what, what shall I be in the future?' Or else he is inwardly perplexed about the immediate present: 'Am I? Am I not? What am I? How am I? Where has this being come from? Where is it bound?'
"As he attends inappropriately in this way, one of six kinds of view arises in him: The view I have a self arises in him as true & established, or the view I have no self... or the view It is precisely by means of self that I perceive self... or the view It is precisely by means of self that I perceive not-self... or the view It is precisely by means of not-self that I perceive self arises in him as true & established, or else he has a view like this: This very self of mine — the knower that is sensitive here & there to the ripening of good & bad actions — is the self of mine that is constant, everlasting, eternal, not subject to change, and will stay just as it is for eternity. This is called a thicket of views, a wilderness of views, a contortion of views, a writhing of views, a fetter of views. Bound by a fetter of views, the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person is not freed from birth, aging, & death, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair. He is not freed, I tell you, from suffering & stress.
"The well-instructed disciple of the noble ones — who has regard for noble ones, is well-versed & disciplined in their Dhamma; who has regard for men of integrity, is well-versed & disciplined in their Dhamma — discerns what ideas are fit for attention and what ideas are unfit for attention. This being so, he does not attend to ideas unfit for attention and attends [instead] to ideas fit for attention.
"And what are the ideas unfit for attention that he does not attend to? Whatever ideas such that, when he attends to them, the unarisen fermentation of sensuality arises in him, and the arisen fermentation of sensuality increases; the unarisen fermentation of becoming arises in him, and arisen fermentation of becoming increases; the unarisen fermentation of ignorance arises in him, and the arisen fermentation of ignorance increases. These are the ideas unfit for attention that he does not attend to.
"And what are the ideas fit for attention that he does attend to? Whatever ideas such that, when he attends to them, the unarisen fermentation of sensuality does not arise in him, and the arisen fermentation of sensuality is abandoned; the unarisen fermentation of becoming does not arise in him, and the arisen fermentation of becoming is abandoned; the unarisen fermentation of ignorance does not arise in him, and the arisen fermentation of ignorance is abandoned. These are the ideas fit for attention that he does attend to. Through his not attending to ideas unfit for attention and through his attending to ideas fit for attention, unarisen fermentations do not arise in him, and arisen fermentations are abandoned.
"He attends appropriately, This is stress... This is the origination of stress... This is the cessation of stress... This is the way leading to the cessation of stress. As he attends appropriately in this way, three fetters are abandoned in him: identity-view, doubt, and grasping at precepts & practices. These are called the fermentations to be abandoned by seeing."
(MN 2)
July 13
-"Passion for Dhamma"
-enthusiasm, passion, is essential in making an effort to accomplish whatever we seek to accomplish. as dharma students we develop this sort of passion: skillful desire. this desire, passion will fuel our efforts to know a greater happiness. but this desire must be skillful. our desire, passion, in seeking the heart, is not a desire to "be" a dharma student or a Buddhist or whatever. it is the desire to cultivate the qualities of dhamma.
-some things to to remember as we develop our efforts to develop "passion for dhamma"...
1-it is necessary to develop passion for dhamma if we are to know the happiness of heart ...
-as dharma students, we learn to develop skillful desire.....
-enthusiasm for dhamma....
-passion for dhamma....
-skillful desire, according to the Buddha, is one of the "four bases of power"...
2- we should be mindful of how we might cultivate desire for certain forms of self image...
-misguided desire often takes the shape of desire for some form of self image....
-for example the self identity view: I am a Buddhist ... or I am a dharma student ... or I am part of this group ... or this group is better than that group.....
-this sort of self identity view conduces to clinging and cuts us off from the heart....
-it is a detriment to our practice.....
3-passion for dhamma is passion for practices and qualities that comprise dhamma........
-we develop passion for skillful practice....
-we develop passion for:
a) - skillfulness.....
-the practice of being heedful.....
-paying attention to actions....
-cultivating skillful actions.....
-shaping our lives through heedfulness.....
-in developing skillfulness, we're "heedful, ardent, resolute"......
b) -truthfulness....
-we develop passion for being truthful with ourselves about ourselves....
-we're truthful, with ourselves, about our actions....
-we're truthful, with ourselves, about dukkha....
-our clinging....
-our clinging to desire/aversion.....
c)-peace...
-we develop passion for peace....
-external peace (peace in the world).....
-internal peace.....
-calmness....
-tranquility.....
d)-dhamma itself....
-we develop passion for the dhamma inside us....
-our innate wisdom....
-the heart....
-we develop trust in the dhamma inside.....
-the practice of bringing awareness to our dukkha/clinging leads to developing truth in dhamma, and passion for dhamma....
-ABC....
-awareness. breath, compassion....
-we begin to see that the heart, the dhamma inside, will see us through.....
4-we should reflect on our passion for dhamma........
-we should 'check in' to see if our passion for the dhamma is strong ... if, in fact, it's developing........
-are we developing in our passion for dhamma.....?
-or, conversely, is there lack of enthusiasm ... is there entropy, complacency, laziness....?
-we should ask, how can I develop passion for dhamma....?
-reading.....
-"Heedfulness" (from The Skill of Living)
-"Passion for Dhamma"
-enthusiasm, passion, is essential in making an effort to accomplish whatever we seek to accomplish. as dharma students we develop this sort of passion: skillful desire. this desire, passion will fuel our efforts to know a greater happiness. but this desire must be skillful. our desire, passion, in seeking the heart, is not a desire to "be" a dharma student or a Buddhist or whatever. it is the desire to cultivate the qualities of dhamma.
-some things to to remember as we develop our efforts to develop "passion for dhamma"...
1-it is necessary to develop passion for dhamma if we are to know the happiness of heart ...
-as dharma students, we learn to develop skillful desire.....
-enthusiasm for dhamma....
-passion for dhamma....
-skillful desire, according to the Buddha, is one of the "four bases of power"...
2- we should be mindful of how we might cultivate desire for certain forms of self image...
-misguided desire often takes the shape of desire for some form of self image....
-for example the self identity view: I am a Buddhist ... or I am a dharma student ... or I am part of this group ... or this group is better than that group.....
-this sort of self identity view conduces to clinging and cuts us off from the heart....
-it is a detriment to our practice.....
3-passion for dhamma is passion for practices and qualities that comprise dhamma........
-we develop passion for skillful practice....
-we develop passion for:
a) - skillfulness.....
-the practice of being heedful.....
-paying attention to actions....
-cultivating skillful actions.....
-shaping our lives through heedfulness.....
-in developing skillfulness, we're "heedful, ardent, resolute"......
b) -truthfulness....
-we develop passion for being truthful with ourselves about ourselves....
-we're truthful, with ourselves, about our actions....
-we're truthful, with ourselves, about dukkha....
-our clinging....
-our clinging to desire/aversion.....
c)-peace...
-we develop passion for peace....
-external peace (peace in the world).....
-internal peace.....
-calmness....
-tranquility.....
d)-dhamma itself....
-we develop passion for the dhamma inside us....
-our innate wisdom....
-the heart....
-we develop trust in the dhamma inside.....
-the practice of bringing awareness to our dukkha/clinging leads to developing truth in dhamma, and passion for dhamma....
-ABC....
-awareness. breath, compassion....
-we begin to see that the heart, the dhamma inside, will see us through.....
4-we should reflect on our passion for dhamma........
-we should 'check in' to see if our passion for the dhamma is strong ... if, in fact, it's developing........
-are we developing in our passion for dhamma.....?
-or, conversely, is there lack of enthusiasm ... is there entropy, complacency, laziness....?
-we should ask, how can I develop passion for dhamma....?
-reading.....
-"Heedfulness" (from The Skill of Living)
| heedfulness_skill_of_living_pdf.pdf |
The word enthusiasm originates from the Greek ἐνθουσιασμός from ἐν (en, “in”) and θεός (theós, “god”), meaning "inspired or possessed by [a] god". Applied by the Greeks to manifestations of divine possession, by Apollo (as in the case of the Pythia), or by Dionysus (as in the case of the Bacchantes and Maenads), the term enthusiasm was also used in a transferred or figurative sense. Socrates taught that the inspiration of poets is a form of enthusiasm. The term was confined to a belief in religious inspiration, or to intense religious fervor or emotion.
(Wikipedia)
On one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Kusinara in Upavattana, the Sal Tree Grove of the Mallans, on the occasion of his total Unbinding. Then the Blessed One addressed the monks, "I exhort you, monks: All fabrications are subject to decay. Bring about completion by being heedful." Those were the Tathagata's last words.
(SN 6.15)
“Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. I sat at a table where were rich food and wine in abundance, and obsequious attendance, but sincerity and truth were not; and I went away hungry from the inhospitable board."
(Thoreau)
I have heard that on one occasion Ven. Ānanda was staying in Kosambī, at Ghosita's Park. Then the brahman Uṇṇābha went to where Ven. Ānanda was staying and on arrival greeted him courteously. After an exchange of friendly greetings & courtesies, he sat to one side. As he was sitting there, he said to Ven. Ānanda: Master Ānanda, what is the aim of this holy life lived under the contemplative Gotama?
Ven. Ānanda: The holy life is lived under the Blessed One with the aim of abandoning desire.
Uṇṇābha: But is there a path, is there a practice, for the abandoning of that desire?
Ven. Ānanda: Yes, there is...
Uṇṇābha: What is the path, the practice, for the abandoning of that desire?
Ven. Ānanda: There is the case where a monk develops the base of power endowed with concentration founded on desire & the fabrications of exertion. He develops the base of power endowed with concentration founded on persistence... concentration founded on intent... concentration founded on discrimination & the fabrications of exertion. This, brahman, is the path, this is the practice for the abandoning of that desire.
Uṇṇābha: If that's so, then it's an endless path, and not one with an end, for it's impossible that one could abandon desire by means of desire.
Ven. Ānanda: Well then, brahman, I will cross-question you on this matter. Answer as you see fit... Didn't you first have desire, thinking, 'I'll go to the park,' and then when you reached the park, wasn't the corresponding desire allayed?
Uṇṇābha: Yes, sir.
Ven. Ānanda: Didn't you first have persistence, thinking, 'I'll go to the park,' and then when you reached the park, wasn't the corresponding persistence allayed?
Uṇṇābha: Yes, sir.
Ven. Ānanda: Didn't you first have the intent, thinking, 'I'll go to the park,' and then when you reached the park, wasn't the corresponding intent allayed?
Uṇṇābha: Yes, sir.
Ven. Ānanda: Didn't you first have (an act of) discrimination, thinking, 'I'll go to the park,' and then when you reached the park, wasn't the corresponding (act of) discrimination allayed?
Uṇṇābha: Yes, sir.
Ven. Ānanda: So it is with an Arahant whose mental effluents are ended, who has reached fulfillment, done the task, laid down the burden, attained the true goal, totally destroyed the fetter of becoming, and who is released through right gnosis. Whatever desire he first had for the attainment of Arahantship, on attaining Arahantship the corresponding desire is allayed. Whatever persistence he first had for the attainment of Arahantship, on attaining Arahantship the corresponding persistence is allayed. Whatever intent he first had for the attainment of Arahantship, on attaining Arahantship the corresponding intent is allayed. Whatever discrimination he first had for the attainment of Arahantship, on attaining Arahantship the corresponding discrimination is allayed. So what do you think, brahman? Is this an endless path, or one with an end?
Uṇṇābha: You're right, Master Ānanda. This is a path with an end, and not an endless one.
(SN 51.15)
(Utthana Sutta: Initiative)
Get up!
Sit up!
What's your need for sleep?
And what sleep is there for the afflicted,
pierced by the arrow,
oppressed?
Get up!
Sit up!
Train firmly for the sake of peace,
Don't let the king of death,
— seeing you heedless --
deceive you,
bring you under his sway.
Cross over the attachment
to which human & heavenly beings,
remain desiring
tied.
Don't let the moment pass by.
Those for whom the moment is past
grieve, consigned to hell.
Heedless is
dust, dust
comes from heedlessness
has heedlessness
on its heels.
Through heedfulness & clear knowing
you'd remove
your own sorrow.
(Sn 2.10)
July 6
-"Finding Dhamma"
-as dharma students, practicing in accord with what the Buddha taught, we learn to incline to knowing the dhamma. we learn to know moments of freedom, peace, true happiness. these are moments in which we connect to the dhamma inside. the dhamma is everpresent but we are cut off from it, we don't notice it. in our practice, we're developing skills, including concentration, that enable us to know the dhamma. alertness is an important skill in this effort. as we go through our days, we learn to find dhamma, to be in rhythm with dhamma. there are various ways in which we 'find dhamma' in our days. we should, as dharma students, cultivate these ways of knowing.
-some things to to remember as we develop our practice in "finding dhamma"...
1-we learn, as dharma students, to incline to knowing moments of freedom ...
-we learn to recognize these moments.....
-moments of....
-freedom....
-peace......
-true happiness....
-these are moments in which we come into tune with the deathless...
-that which doesn't die.....
-that which is timeless.....
2- that which is timeless, deathless is always there...
-the deathless, timeless is everpresent....
-but we are cut off from it.....
-we are cut off from the heart.....
-this is dukkha: the condition in which we're cut off from the heart.....
3-we develop skills so that we may know the deathless, timeless........
-as dharma students we cultivate skills so that we may know the deathless, the dhamma inside....
-concentration is the heart of the path....
-concentration enables us to know the dharma inside, the heart....
-concentration enables us to know and let go of that which is blocking us off....
-concentration enables us to know the heart.....
-alertness is a very important element of skill...
-as we develop in alertness, we're more able to notice moments of freedom....
-we learn to be alert, in all postures, to moments of freedom, connection to spiritual truth.....
4-in the course of our days, we learn to be in tune dhamma........
-we learn to incline to dhamma in various ways........
-through connection with other beings.....
-beings in tune with dhamma....
-by being in nature....
-by inclining to forms that connect us to the dhamma inside....
-for each of us these forms may be different....
-these forms may include art, music, literature, etc....
5-we learn to recognize what is leading us to the heart............
-we might ask....
-what brings us into tune with dhamma....?
-what supports our efforts to find dhamma....?
-what 'input' are we putting into the system ... in an effort to be in rhythm with dhamma....?
-what are we letting in through the sense doors....?
-is it leading us to the heart....?
-reading.....
-"Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" (Walt Whitman)
Why should I wish to see God better than this day?
I see something of God each hour of the twenty-four, and each moment then,
In the faces of men and women I see God, and in my own face in the glass,
I find letters from God dropt in the street, and every one is sign’d by God’s name,
And I leave them where they are, for I know that wheresoe’er I go,
Others will punctually come for ever and ever.
(Walt Whitman; from Song of Myself)
3
It avails not, time nor place—distance avails not,
I am with you, you men and women of a generation, or ever so many generations hence,
Just as you feel when you look on the river and sky, so I felt,
Just as any of you is one of a living crowd, I was one of a crowd,
Just as you are refresh’d by the gladness of the river and the bright flow, I was refresh’d,
Just as you stand and lean on the rail, yet hurry with the swift current, I stood yet was hurried,
Just as you look on the numberless masts of ships and the thick-stemm’d pipes of steamboats, I look’d.
5
What is it then between us?
What is the count of the scores or hundreds of years between us?
Whatever it is, it avails not—distance avails not, and place avails not,
I too lived, Brooklyn of ample hills was mine,
I too walk’d the streets of Manhattan island, and bathed in the waters around it,
I too felt the curious abrupt questionings stir within me,
In the day among crowds of people sometimes they came upon me,
In my walks home late at night or as I lay in my bed they came upon me,
I too had been struck from the float forever held in solution,
I too had receiv’d identity by my body,
That I was I knew was of my body, and what I should be I knew I should be of my body.
7
Closer yet I approach you,
What thought you have of me now, I had as much of you—I laid in my stores in advance,
I consider’d long and seriously of you before you were born.
Who was to know what should come home to me?
Who knows but I am enjoying this?
Who knows, for all the distance, but I am as good as looking at you now, for all you cannot see me?
(Walt Whitman; from Crossing Brooklyn Ferry)
“Are you looking for me?
I am in the next seat.
My shoulder is against yours.
you will not find me in the stupas,
not in Indian shrine rooms,
nor in synagogues,
nor in cathedrals:
not in masses,
nor kirtans,
not in legs winding around your own neck,
nor in eating nothing but vegetables.
When you really look for me,
you will see me instantly --
you will find me in the tiniest house of time.
Kabir says: Student, tell me, what is God?
He is the breath inside the breath.”
-Kabir
-"Finding Dhamma"
-as dharma students, practicing in accord with what the Buddha taught, we learn to incline to knowing the dhamma. we learn to know moments of freedom, peace, true happiness. these are moments in which we connect to the dhamma inside. the dhamma is everpresent but we are cut off from it, we don't notice it. in our practice, we're developing skills, including concentration, that enable us to know the dhamma. alertness is an important skill in this effort. as we go through our days, we learn to find dhamma, to be in rhythm with dhamma. there are various ways in which we 'find dhamma' in our days. we should, as dharma students, cultivate these ways of knowing.
-some things to to remember as we develop our practice in "finding dhamma"...
1-we learn, as dharma students, to incline to knowing moments of freedom ...
-we learn to recognize these moments.....
-moments of....
-freedom....
-peace......
-true happiness....
-these are moments in which we come into tune with the deathless...
-that which doesn't die.....
-that which is timeless.....
2- that which is timeless, deathless is always there...
-the deathless, timeless is everpresent....
-but we are cut off from it.....
-we are cut off from the heart.....
-this is dukkha: the condition in which we're cut off from the heart.....
3-we develop skills so that we may know the deathless, timeless........
-as dharma students we cultivate skills so that we may know the deathless, the dhamma inside....
-concentration is the heart of the path....
-concentration enables us to know the dharma inside, the heart....
-concentration enables us to know and let go of that which is blocking us off....
-concentration enables us to know the heart.....
-alertness is a very important element of skill...
-as we develop in alertness, we're more able to notice moments of freedom....
-we learn to be alert, in all postures, to moments of freedom, connection to spiritual truth.....
4-in the course of our days, we learn to be in tune dhamma........
-we learn to incline to dhamma in various ways........
-through connection with other beings.....
-beings in tune with dhamma....
-by being in nature....
-by inclining to forms that connect us to the dhamma inside....
-for each of us these forms may be different....
-these forms may include art, music, literature, etc....
5-we learn to recognize what is leading us to the heart............
-we might ask....
-what brings us into tune with dhamma....?
-what supports our efforts to find dhamma....?
-what 'input' are we putting into the system ... in an effort to be in rhythm with dhamma....?
-what are we letting in through the sense doors....?
-is it leading us to the heart....?
-reading.....
-"Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" (Walt Whitman)
Why should I wish to see God better than this day?
I see something of God each hour of the twenty-four, and each moment then,
In the faces of men and women I see God, and in my own face in the glass,
I find letters from God dropt in the street, and every one is sign’d by God’s name,
And I leave them where they are, for I know that wheresoe’er I go,
Others will punctually come for ever and ever.
(Walt Whitman; from Song of Myself)
3
It avails not, time nor place—distance avails not,
I am with you, you men and women of a generation, or ever so many generations hence,
Just as you feel when you look on the river and sky, so I felt,
Just as any of you is one of a living crowd, I was one of a crowd,
Just as you are refresh’d by the gladness of the river and the bright flow, I was refresh’d,
Just as you stand and lean on the rail, yet hurry with the swift current, I stood yet was hurried,
Just as you look on the numberless masts of ships and the thick-stemm’d pipes of steamboats, I look’d.
5
What is it then between us?
What is the count of the scores or hundreds of years between us?
Whatever it is, it avails not—distance avails not, and place avails not,
I too lived, Brooklyn of ample hills was mine,
I too walk’d the streets of Manhattan island, and bathed in the waters around it,
I too felt the curious abrupt questionings stir within me,
In the day among crowds of people sometimes they came upon me,
In my walks home late at night or as I lay in my bed they came upon me,
I too had been struck from the float forever held in solution,
I too had receiv’d identity by my body,
That I was I knew was of my body, and what I should be I knew I should be of my body.
7
Closer yet I approach you,
What thought you have of me now, I had as much of you—I laid in my stores in advance,
I consider’d long and seriously of you before you were born.
Who was to know what should come home to me?
Who knows but I am enjoying this?
Who knows, for all the distance, but I am as good as looking at you now, for all you cannot see me?
(Walt Whitman; from Crossing Brooklyn Ferry)
“Are you looking for me?
I am in the next seat.
My shoulder is against yours.
you will not find me in the stupas,
not in Indian shrine rooms,
nor in synagogues,
nor in cathedrals:
not in masses,
nor kirtans,
not in legs winding around your own neck,
nor in eating nothing but vegetables.
When you really look for me,
you will see me instantly --
you will find me in the tiniest house of time.
Kabir says: Student, tell me, what is God?
He is the breath inside the breath.”
-Kabir
June 29
-"Moving Beyond Fear: Fear of Death"
-in moving beyond fear, we learn, ultimately, to abandon the fear of death. the fear of death is consonant with the fear of live. to make the most of our lives, these lives in which we'll die, we need to come to a skillful relationship with death. we need to abandon our fear of death. the Buddha describes four conditions that contribute to the fear of death. their converse leads to the letting go of fear. as dharma students, seeking to let of of the fear of death, we'll be well served if we practice with this teaching. in the end, it is the understanding of the true dhamma that enables us to move beyond fear and the fear of death, to meet this life with wisdom, love, joy.
-some things to to remember as we develop our practice in "moving beyond fear: fear of death"...
1-the Buddha describes the characteristics of beings who fear death and those who don't ...
-beings who are afflicted by the fear of death include.....
-beings who haven't developed in skillfulness....
-beings preoccupied with sense pleasure and material gain....
-beings preoccupied with the body....
-beings who don't understand the true dhamma.....
-beings who are not afflicted by the fear of death include.....
-beings who have developed in skillfulness....
-beings who have abandoned the preoccupation with sense pleasure and material gain....
-beings who have abandoned the preoccupation with the body....
-beings who understand the true dhamma.....
2- beings who have developed in skillfulness are not afflicted by fear of death....
-beings developed in skillfulness include....
-beings who've developed the precepts ...
-beings who practice wise speech....
-beings who've made an effort to abandon unskillful thinking....
-beings who've made an effort to purify their actions....
-beings who have not made an effort to develop in skillfulness are afflicted with the fear of death.....
-knowing that they haven't made an effort to develop their goodness
-knowing that they haven't made an effort to make the most of their lives....
-knowing that they've cultivated unskillful karma....
-beings who fear death have a propensity to act unskillfully....
-for example, beings who fear death may have a habit of taking intoxicants....
-beings developed in skillfulness are freed from the fear of death....
-knowing they've developed their goodness....
-knowing that their goodness will be left behind.....
-knowing that they've done what they could to live skillfully, when death arrives, there is joy.....
3-beings who have abandoned the preoccupation with sense pleasure and material gain are not afflicted by the fear of death........
-beings preoccupied with sense pleasure and material gain are afflicted with fear of death........
-they fear not having the things (pleasures, possessions, etc) that are most important to them ... the things that they've looked to find meaning/validation in.....
-beings not preoccupied with sense pleasure and material gain are freed from the fear of death....
-they don't fear losing these things.....
-abandoning this fear, of being separated from sensuality, their hearts are free.....
4-beings who have abandoned the preoccupation with the body are not afflicted by the fear of death........
-beings preoccupied with the body are afflicted with fear of death........
-they fear illness/aging ... the disintegration of the body.....
-because there is fear of death, we don't look at the truth of the body's impermanence.....
-it is essential for dharma student, moving beyond fear of death, to skillfully reflect and understand that they are subject to sickness, aging, death, separation.....
-it is essential for dharma students to practice mindfulness of the impermanent, not-self nature of the body....
-beings not preoccupied with the body are freed from the fear of death........
-we don't cling to the body ... to youth and so forth.....
5-beings who understand the true dhamma are not afflicted by the fear of death............
-beings who've developed wisdom - the true dhamma - understand....
-there is that which is subject to death.....
-there is that which is not subject to birth and death.....
-our task, ultimately, as dharma students, is to know the true dhamma.....
-to know that which doesn't die.....
-this wisdom frees us from fear of death....
-from the place of this wisdom....
-we develop our goodness....
-we develop an understanding of the dhamma inside....
-the heart.....
-we live from the heart.....
-there is happiness of heart.....
-a happiness that doesn't die.....
-reading.....
-"Fear & Terror Sutta" (MN 4)
-"Abhaya Sutta: Fearless" (AN 4.184)
"And who is the person who, subject to death, is not afraid or in terror of death?
"There is the case of the person who has abandoned passion, desire, fondness, thirst, fever, and craving for sensuality. Then he comes down with a serious disease. As he comes down with a serious disease, the thought does not occur to him, 'O, those beloved sensual pleasures will be taken from me, and I will be taken from them!' He does not grieve, is not tormented; does not weep, beat his breast, or grow delirious. This is a person who, subject to death, is not afraid or in terror of death.
"Furthermore, there is the case of the person who has abandoned passion, desire, fondness, thirst, fever, and craving for the body. Then he comes down with a serious disease. As he comes down with a serious disease, the thought does not occur to him, 'O, my beloved body will be taken from me, and I will be taken from my body!' He does not grieve, is not tormented; does not weep, beat his breast, or grow delirious. This, too, is a person who, subject to death, is not afraid or in terror of death.
"Furthermore, there is the case of the person who has done what is good, has done what is skillful, has given protection to those in fear, and has not done what is evil, savage, or cruel. Then he comes down with a serious disease. As he comes down with a serious disease, the thought occurs to him, 'I have done what is good, have done what is skillful, have given protection to those in fear, and I have not done what is evil, savage, or cruel. To the extent that there is a destination for those who have done what is good, what is skillful, have given protection to those in fear, and have not done what is evil, savage, or cruel, that's where I'm headed after death.' He does not grieve, is not tormented; does not weep, beat his breast, or grow delirious. This, too, is a person who, subject to death, is not afraid or in terror of death.
"Furthermore, there is the case of the person who has no doubt or perplexity, who has arrived at certainty with regard to the True Dhamma. Then he comes down with a serious disease. As he comes down with a serious disease, the thought occurs to him, 'I have no doubt or perplexity. I have arrived at certainty with regard to the True Dhamma.' He does not grieve, is not tormented; does not weep, beat his breast, or grow delirious. This, too, is a person who, subject to death, is not afraid or in terror of death.
"These, brahman, are four people who, subject to death, are not afraid or in terror of death."
(AN 4.184)
"There are these five facts that one should reflect on often, whether one is a woman or a man, lay or ordained. Which five?
"'I am subject to aging, have not gone beyond aging.' This is the first fact that one should reflect on often, whether one is a woman or a man, lay or ordained.
"'I am subject to illness, have not gone beyond illness.' ...
"'I am subject to death, have not gone beyond death.' ...
"'I will grow different, separate from all that is dear and appealing to me.' ...
"'I am the owner of my actions,[1] heir to my actions, born of my actions, related through my actions, and have my actions as my arbitrator. Whatever I do, for good or for evil, to that will I fall heir.' ...
"These are the five facts that one should reflect on often, whether one is a woman or a man, lay or ordained.
(AN 5.57)
"Monks, I lived in refinement, utmost refinement, total refinement. My father even had lotus ponds made in our palace: one where red-lotuses bloomed, one where white lotuses bloomed, one where blue lotuses bloomed, all for my sake. I used no sandalwood that was not from Varanasi. My turban was from Varanasi, as were my tunic, my lower garments, & my outer cloak. A white sunshade was held over me day & night to protect me from cold, heat, dust, dirt, & dew.
"I had three palaces: one for the cold season, one for the hot season, one for the rainy season. During the four months of the rainy season I was entertained in the rainy-season palace by minstrels without a single man among them, and I did not once come down from the palace. Whereas the servants, workers, & retainers in other people's homes are fed meals of lentil soup & broken rice, in my father's home the servants, workers, & retainers were fed wheat, rice, and meat.
"Even though I was endowed with such fortune, such total refinement, the thought occurred to me: 'When an untaught, run-of-the-mill person, himself subject to aging, not beyond aging, sees another who is aged, he is horrified, humiliated, & disgusted, oblivious to himself that he too is subject to aging, not beyond aging. If I — who am subject to aging, not beyond aging — were to be horrified, humiliated, & disgusted on seeing another person who is aged, that would not be fitting for me.' As I noticed this, the [typical] young person's intoxication with youth entirely dropped away.
"Even though I was endowed with such fortune, such total refinement, the thought occurred to me: 'When an untaught, run-of-the-mill person, himself subject to illness, not beyond illness, sees another who is ill, he is horrified, humiliated, & disgusted, oblivious to himself that he too is subject to illness, not beyond illness. And if I — who am subject to illness, not beyond illness — were to be horrified, humiliated, & disgusted on seeing another person who is ill, that would not be fitting for me.' As I noticed this, the healthy person's intoxication with health entirely dropped away.
"Even though I was endowed with such fortune, such total refinement, the thought occurred to me: 'When an untaught, run-of-the-mill person, himself subject to death, not beyond death, sees another who is dead, he is horrified, humiliated, & disgusted, oblivious to himself that he too is subject to death, not beyond death. And if I — who am subject to death, not beyond death — were to be horrified, humiliated, & disgusted on seeing another person who is dead, that would not be fitting for me.' As I noticed this, the living person's intoxication with life entirely dropped away."
(AN 3.38)
[4] “And further… just as if a sack with openings at both ends were full of various kinds of grain—wheat, rice, mung beans, kidney beans, sesame seeds, husked rice—and a man with good eyesight, pouring it out, were to reflect, ‘This is wheat. This is rice. These are mung beans. These are kidney beans. These are sesame seeds. This is husked rice,’ in the same way, the monk reflects on this very body from the soles of the feet on up, from the crown of the head on down, surrounded by skin and full of various kinds of unclean things: ‘In this body there are head hairs, body hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, tendons, bones, bone marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, pleura, spleen, lungs, large intestines, small intestines, gorge, feces, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, skin-oil, saliva, mucus, fluid in the joints, urine.’
“In this way he remains focused internally on the body in & of itself, or externally on the body in & of itself, or both internally & externally on the body in & of itself. Or he remains focused on the phenomenon of origination with regard to the body, on the phenomenon of passing away with regard to the body, or on the phenomenon of origination & passing away with regard to the body. Or his mindfulness that ‘There is a body’ is maintained to the extent of knowledge & remembrance. And he remains independent, unsustained by [not clinging to] anything in the world. This is how a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself.
[5] “And further… just as a dexterous butcher or his apprentice, having killed a cow, would sit at a crossroads cutting it up into pieces, the monk reflects on this very body—however it stands, however it is disposed—in terms of properties: ‘In this body there is the earth property, the liquid property, the fire property, & the wind property.’9
“In this way he remains focused internally on the body in & of itself, or externally on the body in & of itself, or both internally & externally on the body in & of itself. Or he remains focused on the phenomenon of origination with regard to the body, on the phenomenon of passing away with regard to the body, or on the phenomenon of origination & passing away with regard to the body. Or his mindfulness that ‘There is a body’ is maintained to the extent of knowledge & remembrance. And he remains independent, unsustained by [not clinging to] anything in the world. This is how a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself.
[6] “And further, as if he were to see a corpse cast away in a charnel ground—one day, two days, three days dead—bloated, livid, & festering, he applies it to this very body, ‘This body, too: Such is its nature, such is its future, such its unavoidable fate.’
“In this way he remains focused internally on the body in & of itself, or externally on the body in & of itself, or both internally & externally on the body in & of itself. Or he remains focused on the phenomenon of origination with regard to the body, on the phenomenon of passing away with regard to the body, or on the phenomenon of origination & passing away with regard to the body. Or his mindfulness that ‘There is a body’ is maintained to the extent of knowledge & remembrance. And he remains independent, unsustained by [not clinging to] anything in the world. This is how a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself.
“Or again, as if he were to see a corpse cast away in a charnel ground, being chewed by crows, being chewed by vultures, being chewed by hawks, being chewed by dogs, being chewed by hyenas, being chewed by various other creatures… a skeleton smeared with flesh & blood, connected with tendons… a fleshless skeleton smeared with blood, connected with tendons… a skeleton without flesh or blood, connected with tendons… bones detached from their tendons, scattered in all directions—here a hand bone, there a foot bone, here a shin bone, there a thigh bone, here a hip bone, there a back bone, here a rib, there a chest bone, here a shoulder bone, there a neck bone, here a jaw bone, there a tooth, here a skull… the bones whitened, somewhat like the color of shells… the bones piled up, more than a year old… the bones decomposed into a powder: He applies it to this very body, ‘This body, too: Such is its nature, such is its future, such its unavoidable fate.’"
(MN 10)
-"Moving Beyond Fear: Fear of Death"
-in moving beyond fear, we learn, ultimately, to abandon the fear of death. the fear of death is consonant with the fear of live. to make the most of our lives, these lives in which we'll die, we need to come to a skillful relationship with death. we need to abandon our fear of death. the Buddha describes four conditions that contribute to the fear of death. their converse leads to the letting go of fear. as dharma students, seeking to let of of the fear of death, we'll be well served if we practice with this teaching. in the end, it is the understanding of the true dhamma that enables us to move beyond fear and the fear of death, to meet this life with wisdom, love, joy.
-some things to to remember as we develop our practice in "moving beyond fear: fear of death"...
1-the Buddha describes the characteristics of beings who fear death and those who don't ...
-beings who are afflicted by the fear of death include.....
-beings who haven't developed in skillfulness....
-beings preoccupied with sense pleasure and material gain....
-beings preoccupied with the body....
-beings who don't understand the true dhamma.....
-beings who are not afflicted by the fear of death include.....
-beings who have developed in skillfulness....
-beings who have abandoned the preoccupation with sense pleasure and material gain....
-beings who have abandoned the preoccupation with the body....
-beings who understand the true dhamma.....
2- beings who have developed in skillfulness are not afflicted by fear of death....
-beings developed in skillfulness include....
-beings who've developed the precepts ...
-beings who practice wise speech....
-beings who've made an effort to abandon unskillful thinking....
-beings who've made an effort to purify their actions....
-beings who have not made an effort to develop in skillfulness are afflicted with the fear of death.....
-knowing that they haven't made an effort to develop their goodness
-knowing that they haven't made an effort to make the most of their lives....
-knowing that they've cultivated unskillful karma....
-beings who fear death have a propensity to act unskillfully....
-for example, beings who fear death may have a habit of taking intoxicants....
-beings developed in skillfulness are freed from the fear of death....
-knowing they've developed their goodness....
-knowing that their goodness will be left behind.....
-knowing that they've done what they could to live skillfully, when death arrives, there is joy.....
3-beings who have abandoned the preoccupation with sense pleasure and material gain are not afflicted by the fear of death........
-beings preoccupied with sense pleasure and material gain are afflicted with fear of death........
-they fear not having the things (pleasures, possessions, etc) that are most important to them ... the things that they've looked to find meaning/validation in.....
-beings not preoccupied with sense pleasure and material gain are freed from the fear of death....
-they don't fear losing these things.....
-abandoning this fear, of being separated from sensuality, their hearts are free.....
4-beings who have abandoned the preoccupation with the body are not afflicted by the fear of death........
-beings preoccupied with the body are afflicted with fear of death........
-they fear illness/aging ... the disintegration of the body.....
-because there is fear of death, we don't look at the truth of the body's impermanence.....
-it is essential for dharma student, moving beyond fear of death, to skillfully reflect and understand that they are subject to sickness, aging, death, separation.....
-it is essential for dharma students to practice mindfulness of the impermanent, not-self nature of the body....
-beings not preoccupied with the body are freed from the fear of death........
-we don't cling to the body ... to youth and so forth.....
5-beings who understand the true dhamma are not afflicted by the fear of death............
-beings who've developed wisdom - the true dhamma - understand....
-there is that which is subject to death.....
-there is that which is not subject to birth and death.....
-our task, ultimately, as dharma students, is to know the true dhamma.....
-to know that which doesn't die.....
-this wisdom frees us from fear of death....
-from the place of this wisdom....
-we develop our goodness....
-we develop an understanding of the dhamma inside....
-the heart.....
-we live from the heart.....
-there is happiness of heart.....
-a happiness that doesn't die.....
-reading.....
-"Fear & Terror Sutta" (MN 4)
-"Abhaya Sutta: Fearless" (AN 4.184)
"And who is the person who, subject to death, is not afraid or in terror of death?
"There is the case of the person who has abandoned passion, desire, fondness, thirst, fever, and craving for sensuality. Then he comes down with a serious disease. As he comes down with a serious disease, the thought does not occur to him, 'O, those beloved sensual pleasures will be taken from me, and I will be taken from them!' He does not grieve, is not tormented; does not weep, beat his breast, or grow delirious. This is a person who, subject to death, is not afraid or in terror of death.
"Furthermore, there is the case of the person who has abandoned passion, desire, fondness, thirst, fever, and craving for the body. Then he comes down with a serious disease. As he comes down with a serious disease, the thought does not occur to him, 'O, my beloved body will be taken from me, and I will be taken from my body!' He does not grieve, is not tormented; does not weep, beat his breast, or grow delirious. This, too, is a person who, subject to death, is not afraid or in terror of death.
"Furthermore, there is the case of the person who has done what is good, has done what is skillful, has given protection to those in fear, and has not done what is evil, savage, or cruel. Then he comes down with a serious disease. As he comes down with a serious disease, the thought occurs to him, 'I have done what is good, have done what is skillful, have given protection to those in fear, and I have not done what is evil, savage, or cruel. To the extent that there is a destination for those who have done what is good, what is skillful, have given protection to those in fear, and have not done what is evil, savage, or cruel, that's where I'm headed after death.' He does not grieve, is not tormented; does not weep, beat his breast, or grow delirious. This, too, is a person who, subject to death, is not afraid or in terror of death.
"Furthermore, there is the case of the person who has no doubt or perplexity, who has arrived at certainty with regard to the True Dhamma. Then he comes down with a serious disease. As he comes down with a serious disease, the thought occurs to him, 'I have no doubt or perplexity. I have arrived at certainty with regard to the True Dhamma.' He does not grieve, is not tormented; does not weep, beat his breast, or grow delirious. This, too, is a person who, subject to death, is not afraid or in terror of death.
"These, brahman, are four people who, subject to death, are not afraid or in terror of death."
(AN 4.184)
"There are these five facts that one should reflect on often, whether one is a woman or a man, lay or ordained. Which five?
"'I am subject to aging, have not gone beyond aging.' This is the first fact that one should reflect on often, whether one is a woman or a man, lay or ordained.
"'I am subject to illness, have not gone beyond illness.' ...
"'I am subject to death, have not gone beyond death.' ...
"'I will grow different, separate from all that is dear and appealing to me.' ...
"'I am the owner of my actions,[1] heir to my actions, born of my actions, related through my actions, and have my actions as my arbitrator. Whatever I do, for good or for evil, to that will I fall heir.' ...
"These are the five facts that one should reflect on often, whether one is a woman or a man, lay or ordained.
(AN 5.57)
"Monks, I lived in refinement, utmost refinement, total refinement. My father even had lotus ponds made in our palace: one where red-lotuses bloomed, one where white lotuses bloomed, one where blue lotuses bloomed, all for my sake. I used no sandalwood that was not from Varanasi. My turban was from Varanasi, as were my tunic, my lower garments, & my outer cloak. A white sunshade was held over me day & night to protect me from cold, heat, dust, dirt, & dew.
"I had three palaces: one for the cold season, one for the hot season, one for the rainy season. During the four months of the rainy season I was entertained in the rainy-season palace by minstrels without a single man among them, and I did not once come down from the palace. Whereas the servants, workers, & retainers in other people's homes are fed meals of lentil soup & broken rice, in my father's home the servants, workers, & retainers were fed wheat, rice, and meat.
"Even though I was endowed with such fortune, such total refinement, the thought occurred to me: 'When an untaught, run-of-the-mill person, himself subject to aging, not beyond aging, sees another who is aged, he is horrified, humiliated, & disgusted, oblivious to himself that he too is subject to aging, not beyond aging. If I — who am subject to aging, not beyond aging — were to be horrified, humiliated, & disgusted on seeing another person who is aged, that would not be fitting for me.' As I noticed this, the [typical] young person's intoxication with youth entirely dropped away.
"Even though I was endowed with such fortune, such total refinement, the thought occurred to me: 'When an untaught, run-of-the-mill person, himself subject to illness, not beyond illness, sees another who is ill, he is horrified, humiliated, & disgusted, oblivious to himself that he too is subject to illness, not beyond illness. And if I — who am subject to illness, not beyond illness — were to be horrified, humiliated, & disgusted on seeing another person who is ill, that would not be fitting for me.' As I noticed this, the healthy person's intoxication with health entirely dropped away.
"Even though I was endowed with such fortune, such total refinement, the thought occurred to me: 'When an untaught, run-of-the-mill person, himself subject to death, not beyond death, sees another who is dead, he is horrified, humiliated, & disgusted, oblivious to himself that he too is subject to death, not beyond death. And if I — who am subject to death, not beyond death — were to be horrified, humiliated, & disgusted on seeing another person who is dead, that would not be fitting for me.' As I noticed this, the living person's intoxication with life entirely dropped away."
(AN 3.38)
[4] “And further… just as if a sack with openings at both ends were full of various kinds of grain—wheat, rice, mung beans, kidney beans, sesame seeds, husked rice—and a man with good eyesight, pouring it out, were to reflect, ‘This is wheat. This is rice. These are mung beans. These are kidney beans. These are sesame seeds. This is husked rice,’ in the same way, the monk reflects on this very body from the soles of the feet on up, from the crown of the head on down, surrounded by skin and full of various kinds of unclean things: ‘In this body there are head hairs, body hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, tendons, bones, bone marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, pleura, spleen, lungs, large intestines, small intestines, gorge, feces, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, skin-oil, saliva, mucus, fluid in the joints, urine.’
“In this way he remains focused internally on the body in & of itself, or externally on the body in & of itself, or both internally & externally on the body in & of itself. Or he remains focused on the phenomenon of origination with regard to the body, on the phenomenon of passing away with regard to the body, or on the phenomenon of origination & passing away with regard to the body. Or his mindfulness that ‘There is a body’ is maintained to the extent of knowledge & remembrance. And he remains independent, unsustained by [not clinging to] anything in the world. This is how a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself.
[5] “And further… just as a dexterous butcher or his apprentice, having killed a cow, would sit at a crossroads cutting it up into pieces, the monk reflects on this very body—however it stands, however it is disposed—in terms of properties: ‘In this body there is the earth property, the liquid property, the fire property, & the wind property.’9
“In this way he remains focused internally on the body in & of itself, or externally on the body in & of itself, or both internally & externally on the body in & of itself. Or he remains focused on the phenomenon of origination with regard to the body, on the phenomenon of passing away with regard to the body, or on the phenomenon of origination & passing away with regard to the body. Or his mindfulness that ‘There is a body’ is maintained to the extent of knowledge & remembrance. And he remains independent, unsustained by [not clinging to] anything in the world. This is how a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself.
[6] “And further, as if he were to see a corpse cast away in a charnel ground—one day, two days, three days dead—bloated, livid, & festering, he applies it to this very body, ‘This body, too: Such is its nature, such is its future, such its unavoidable fate.’
“In this way he remains focused internally on the body in & of itself, or externally on the body in & of itself, or both internally & externally on the body in & of itself. Or he remains focused on the phenomenon of origination with regard to the body, on the phenomenon of passing away with regard to the body, or on the phenomenon of origination & passing away with regard to the body. Or his mindfulness that ‘There is a body’ is maintained to the extent of knowledge & remembrance. And he remains independent, unsustained by [not clinging to] anything in the world. This is how a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself.
“Or again, as if he were to see a corpse cast away in a charnel ground, being chewed by crows, being chewed by vultures, being chewed by hawks, being chewed by dogs, being chewed by hyenas, being chewed by various other creatures… a skeleton smeared with flesh & blood, connected with tendons… a fleshless skeleton smeared with blood, connected with tendons… a skeleton without flesh or blood, connected with tendons… bones detached from their tendons, scattered in all directions—here a hand bone, there a foot bone, here a shin bone, there a thigh bone, here a hip bone, there a back bone, here a rib, there a chest bone, here a shoulder bone, there a neck bone, here a jaw bone, there a tooth, here a skull… the bones whitened, somewhat like the color of shells… the bones piled up, more than a year old… the bones decomposed into a powder: He applies it to this very body, ‘This body, too: Such is its nature, such is its future, such its unavoidable fate.’"
(MN 10)
June 22
-"Moving Beyond Fear: The Other Side of Fear"
-we learn, in following the Buddha's path, to meet fear with wisdom and love. life, the conditioned realm, is inherently inconstant, unpredictable, unreliable. our experience from day to day, moment to moment is uncertain. in moving forward, meeting life and its uncertainty, we have the intention to take action informed by love (metta). in meeting fear, in going into the so-called wilderness, we recognize fear, cultivate a relationship to fear in which there's space, we put fear to the side, and we move forward with love/metta. while conditioned experience, the experience of life, blatant and subtle, is unreliable, the heart is reliable, love is reliable. we learn, as dharma students, to rely on that which is reliable. in meeting fearful experience, we set our intention to meet it with love. we move forward with love. love transcends fear. love is greater than fear. love, always, will see us through.
-some things to to remember as we develop our practice in "moving beyond fear: the other side of fear"...
1-as dharma students in meeting fearful experience we practice setting intention informed by love/metta ...
-the basic steps in the skill include....
-in meeting experience that is uncertain, fearful, we.....
-we recognize fear....
-we cultivate space.....
-we might be mindful of the fear, as a felt sense, for a moment, if there is an opening....
-we put the experience, sensation of fear, to the side....
-we find a good home for the mind, in the breath....
-we cultivate an intention to meet our experience with love/metta.....
-in setting intention....
-we fabricate the intention....
-we connect, if possible, to a felt sense of metta.....
2- we understand, as dharma students, that the experiences of life are inherently uncertain....
-conditioned experience is....
-subject to change ...
-inconstant....
-unpredictable....
-unreliable....
-uncertain.....
-conditioned experience is, by its nature, uncertain
-we don't know what's going to happen...
-in life....
-from day to day.....
-from moment to moment....
-as dharma students, developing wisdom, we acknowledge this truth about life....
-equanimity, the ability to have space, is rooted in this wisdom....
3-as dharma students, we learn to rely on what's reliable....
-we don't rely on that which is unreliable....
-we learn to rely, instead, on that which is reliable....
-wisdom.....
-love.....
-love is reliable, true, everpresent....
-love is deathless....
-it is very useful, as a dharma student, to develop metta practice as a way of learning to connect to the heart, to the sublime abiding of metta.....
4-we change our karma by changing our actions ....
-in order to know happiness in life, it is essential that we learn to meet life, in all its uncertainty, with skill, with wisdom & love......
-it is through meeting uncertainty skillfully ... with intention informed by love ... that we change our karma.....
5-we should reflect on our actions in the service of seeing what actions we may be fearful of taking....
-we should ask....
-are there actions that I'm not taking that would be in my best interests to take....?
-are there experiences of life that may be fearful that I'm choosing not to meet....?
-as we look at our relationship to the basic conditions of life, illness, aging, death, and separation, we should ask....
-can i meet these experiences of life with wisdom & love....?
-reading.....
-"Fear & Terror Sutta" (MN 4)
-"Metta Meditation" (from The Skill of Living)
-"Moving Beyond Fear: The Other Side of Fear"
-we learn, in following the Buddha's path, to meet fear with wisdom and love. life, the conditioned realm, is inherently inconstant, unpredictable, unreliable. our experience from day to day, moment to moment is uncertain. in moving forward, meeting life and its uncertainty, we have the intention to take action informed by love (metta). in meeting fear, in going into the so-called wilderness, we recognize fear, cultivate a relationship to fear in which there's space, we put fear to the side, and we move forward with love/metta. while conditioned experience, the experience of life, blatant and subtle, is unreliable, the heart is reliable, love is reliable. we learn, as dharma students, to rely on that which is reliable. in meeting fearful experience, we set our intention to meet it with love. we move forward with love. love transcends fear. love is greater than fear. love, always, will see us through.
-some things to to remember as we develop our practice in "moving beyond fear: the other side of fear"...
1-as dharma students in meeting fearful experience we practice setting intention informed by love/metta ...
-the basic steps in the skill include....
-in meeting experience that is uncertain, fearful, we.....
-we recognize fear....
-we cultivate space.....
-we might be mindful of the fear, as a felt sense, for a moment, if there is an opening....
-we put the experience, sensation of fear, to the side....
-we find a good home for the mind, in the breath....
-we cultivate an intention to meet our experience with love/metta.....
-in setting intention....
-we fabricate the intention....
-we connect, if possible, to a felt sense of metta.....
2- we understand, as dharma students, that the experiences of life are inherently uncertain....
-conditioned experience is....
-subject to change ...
-inconstant....
-unpredictable....
-unreliable....
-uncertain.....
-conditioned experience is, by its nature, uncertain
-we don't know what's going to happen...
-in life....
-from day to day.....
-from moment to moment....
-as dharma students, developing wisdom, we acknowledge this truth about life....
-equanimity, the ability to have space, is rooted in this wisdom....
3-as dharma students, we learn to rely on what's reliable....
-we don't rely on that which is unreliable....
-we learn to rely, instead, on that which is reliable....
-wisdom.....
-love.....
-love is reliable, true, everpresent....
-love is deathless....
-it is very useful, as a dharma student, to develop metta practice as a way of learning to connect to the heart, to the sublime abiding of metta.....
4-we change our karma by changing our actions ....
-in order to know happiness in life, it is essential that we learn to meet life, in all its uncertainty, with skill, with wisdom & love......
-it is through meeting uncertainty skillfully ... with intention informed by love ... that we change our karma.....
5-we should reflect on our actions in the service of seeing what actions we may be fearful of taking....
-we should ask....
-are there actions that I'm not taking that would be in my best interests to take....?
-are there experiences of life that may be fearful that I'm choosing not to meet....?
-as we look at our relationship to the basic conditions of life, illness, aging, death, and separation, we should ask....
-can i meet these experiences of life with wisdom & love....?
-reading.....
-"Fear & Terror Sutta" (MN 4)
-"Metta Meditation" (from The Skill of Living)
| metta_meditation_skill_of_living_pdf.pdf |
"Great king, there are four Dhamma summaries stated by the Blessed One who knows & sees, worthy & rightly self-awakened. Having known & seen & heard them, I went forth from the home life into homelessness. Which four?
"'The world is swept away. It does not endure': This is the first Dhamma summary stated by the Blessed One who knows & sees, worthy & rightly self-awakened. Having known & seen & heard it, I went forth from the home life into homelessness.
"'The world is without shelter, without protector': This is the second Dhamma summary...
"'The world is without ownership. One has to pass on, leaving everything behind': This is the third Dhamma summary...
"'The world is insufficient, insatiable, a slave to craving': This is the fourth Dhamma summary..."
(MN 82)
Metta Sutta
This is to be done by one skilled in aims
who wants to break through to the state of peace:
Be capable, upright, & straightforward,
easy to instruct, gentle, & not conceited,
content & easy to support,
with few duties, living lightly,
with peaceful faculties, masterful,
modest, & no greed for supporters.
Do not do the slightest thing
that the wise would later censure.
Think: Happy, at rest,
may all beings be happy at heart.
Whatever beings there may be,
weak or strong, without exception,
long, large,
middling, short,
subtle, blatant,
seen & unseen,
near & far,
born & seeking birth:
May all beings be happy at heart.
Let no one deceive another
or despise anyone anywhere,
or through anger or irritation
wish for another to suffer.
As a mother would risk her life
to protect her child, her only child,
even so should one cultivate a limitless heart
with regard to all beings.
With good will for the entire cosmos,
cultivate a limitless heart:
Above, below, & all around,
unobstructed, without enmity or hate.
Whether standing, walking,
sitting, or lying down,
as long as one is alert,
one should be resolved on this mindfulness.
This is called a sublime abiding
here & now.
Not taken with views,
but virtuous & consummate in vision,
having subdued desire for sensual pleasures,
one never again
will lie in the womb.
(Sn 1.8)
June 15
-"Moving Beyond Fear: Mindfulness of Fear"
-the dharma student, seeking to move forward, toward a greater happiness, makes an effort to practice mindfulness of fear. this mindfulness must be practiced skillfully. in taking on fear, we are 'skillful warriors'. the Buddha's teachings give us specific instructions for practicing this skill; if we follow these step by step instructions and make an effort to develop our skill, we'll be able to meet fear and move beyond it. an important element of this skill is being able to observe fear with equanimity, space. we choose to be mindful when we're able to observe fear, with space, when there is an opening. in being mindful, we bring awareness to the felt sense of fear, the bodily expression. and, further developing in our skill, we seek to be mindful of the feeling tone; what it feels like. we seek, in this effort to be mindful, to be able to separate the felt sense of fear from the thoughts/stories that the mind adds on. we see the line between the felt experience and what the mind adds on. as we engage in this skill in this fashion we cultivate wisdom. gradually, we're able to abandon fear. and gradually we become more in tune with the heart. and gradually we're able to take action in our lives that is an expression of love for ourselves and all beings.
-some things to to remember as we develop our practice in "moving beyond fear: mindfulness of fear"...
1-as dharma students we seek to learn to develop the skill of mindfulness of fear...
-developed in this skill, we're able to observe fear without becoming overwhelmed by it....
-we're able to change our relationship to fear.....
-we're able to cultivate wisdom .. which will lead to the letting go of fear....
2- we should learn and practice the specific elements of the skill of mindfulness of fear....
-the skill includes....
-being mindful of fear ...
-with equanimity....
-space....
-we're able to look at fear like 'one person looking at another person'.....
- choosing to be mindful of fear, 'when there is an opening'....
-when we're able to be skillful....
-observing fear....
-as a felt sense....
-bodily form.....
-sensation.....
-perhaps choosing to observe just a 'piece' of the experience of form/sensation....
-being mindful of the 'feeling tone'....
-what the experience of form feels like....
-seeing the line between the experience of form/feeling tone ... and the what the mind adds on (perceptions/stories).....
3-being mindful of fear we see into its emptiness....
-we learn to see that fear is just sensation that feels a certain way....
-it is empty....
-not self....
-we begin to understand, gradually, that we can simply let the sensation be, without adding on thoughts/stories....
4-as we develop in our skill, we gradually are able to abandon fear ....
- as we develop in concentration ... and understanding ... we are able, more and more to put fear to the side......
-as we develop our mindfulness of fear ... we are able to see it for what it is, just sensation ... and more and more we able to abandon it, not feed on it ... and leave it to the side.....
5-gradually, as we develop in mindfulness of fear we come closer to the heart....
-as we gradually abandon fear, through concentration and the developing of wisdom, we free the heart....
-as the heart becomes more open, we become more able to act from the heart....
-we are able to take action in support of the heart....
-the wish for happiness for ourselves and all beings....
-reading.....
-"Fear & Terror Sutta" (MN 4)
-"The Factors of Concentration" (AN 5.28)
"And furthermore, the monk has his theme of reflection well in hand, well attended to, well-considered, well-tuned by means of discernment.
"Just as if one person were to reflect on another, or a standing person were to reflect on a sitting person, or a sitting person were to reflect on a person lying down; even so, monks, the monk has his theme of reflection well in hand, well attended to, well-pondered, well-tuned by means of discernment. This is the fifth development of the five-factored noble right concentration.
"When a monk has developed and pursued the five-factored noble right concentration in this way, then whichever of the six higher knowledges he turns his mind to know and realize, he can witness them for himself whenever there is an opening.
"Suppose that there were a water jar, set on a stand, brimful of water so that a crow could drink from it. If a strong man were to tip it in any way at all, would water spill out?"
"Yes, lord."
"In the same way, when a monk has developed and pursued the five-factored noble right concentration in this way, then whichever of the six higher knowledges he turns his mind to know and realize, he can witness them for himself whenever there is an opening.
"Suppose there were a rectangular water tank — set on level ground, bounded by dikes — brimful of water so that a crow could drink from it. If a strong man were to loosen the dikes anywhere at all, would water spill out?"
"Yes, lord."
"In the same way, when a monk has developed and pursued the five-factored noble right concentration in this way, then whichever of the six higher knowledges he turns his mind to know and realize, he can witness them for himself whenever there is an opening."
(AN 5.28)
On one occasion the Blessed One was staying among the Ayojjhans on the banks of the Ganges River. There he addressed the monks: "Monks, suppose that a large glob of foam were floating down this Ganges River, and a man with good eyesight were to see it, observe it, & appropriately examine it. To him — seeing it, observing it, & appropriately examining it — it would appear empty, void, without substance: for what substance would there be in a glob of foam? In the same way, a monk sees, observes, & appropriately examines any form that is past, future, or present; internal or external; blatant or subtle; common or sublime; far or near. To him — seeing it, observing it, & appropriately examining it — it would appear empty, void, without substance: for what substance would there be in form?
"Now suppose that in the autumn — when it's raining in fat, heavy drops — a water bubble were to appear & disappear on the water, and a man with good eyesight were to see it, observe it, & appropriately examine it. To him — seeing it, observing it, & appropriately examining it — it would appear empty, void, without substance: for what substance would there be in a water bubble? In the same way, a monk sees, observes, & appropriately examines any feeling that is past, future, or present; internal or external; blatant or subtle; common or sublime; far or near. To him — seeing it, observing it, & appropriately examining it — it would appear empty, void, without substance: for what substance would there be in feeling?"
(SN 22.95)
-"Moving Beyond Fear: Mindfulness of Fear"
-the dharma student, seeking to move forward, toward a greater happiness, makes an effort to practice mindfulness of fear. this mindfulness must be practiced skillfully. in taking on fear, we are 'skillful warriors'. the Buddha's teachings give us specific instructions for practicing this skill; if we follow these step by step instructions and make an effort to develop our skill, we'll be able to meet fear and move beyond it. an important element of this skill is being able to observe fear with equanimity, space. we choose to be mindful when we're able to observe fear, with space, when there is an opening. in being mindful, we bring awareness to the felt sense of fear, the bodily expression. and, further developing in our skill, we seek to be mindful of the feeling tone; what it feels like. we seek, in this effort to be mindful, to be able to separate the felt sense of fear from the thoughts/stories that the mind adds on. we see the line between the felt experience and what the mind adds on. as we engage in this skill in this fashion we cultivate wisdom. gradually, we're able to abandon fear. and gradually we become more in tune with the heart. and gradually we're able to take action in our lives that is an expression of love for ourselves and all beings.
-some things to to remember as we develop our practice in "moving beyond fear: mindfulness of fear"...
1-as dharma students we seek to learn to develop the skill of mindfulness of fear...
-developed in this skill, we're able to observe fear without becoming overwhelmed by it....
-we're able to change our relationship to fear.....
-we're able to cultivate wisdom .. which will lead to the letting go of fear....
2- we should learn and practice the specific elements of the skill of mindfulness of fear....
-the skill includes....
-being mindful of fear ...
-with equanimity....
-space....
-we're able to look at fear like 'one person looking at another person'.....
- choosing to be mindful of fear, 'when there is an opening'....
-when we're able to be skillful....
-observing fear....
-as a felt sense....
-bodily form.....
-sensation.....
-perhaps choosing to observe just a 'piece' of the experience of form/sensation....
-being mindful of the 'feeling tone'....
-what the experience of form feels like....
-seeing the line between the experience of form/feeling tone ... and the what the mind adds on (perceptions/stories).....
3-being mindful of fear we see into its emptiness....
-we learn to see that fear is just sensation that feels a certain way....
-it is empty....
-not self....
-we begin to understand, gradually, that we can simply let the sensation be, without adding on thoughts/stories....
4-as we develop in our skill, we gradually are able to abandon fear ....
- as we develop in concentration ... and understanding ... we are able, more and more to put fear to the side......
-as we develop our mindfulness of fear ... we are able to see it for what it is, just sensation ... and more and more we able to abandon it, not feed on it ... and leave it to the side.....
5-gradually, as we develop in mindfulness of fear we come closer to the heart....
-as we gradually abandon fear, through concentration and the developing of wisdom, we free the heart....
-as the heart becomes more open, we become more able to act from the heart....
-we are able to take action in support of the heart....
-the wish for happiness for ourselves and all beings....
-reading.....
-"Fear & Terror Sutta" (MN 4)
-"The Factors of Concentration" (AN 5.28)
"And furthermore, the monk has his theme of reflection well in hand, well attended to, well-considered, well-tuned by means of discernment.
"Just as if one person were to reflect on another, or a standing person were to reflect on a sitting person, or a sitting person were to reflect on a person lying down; even so, monks, the monk has his theme of reflection well in hand, well attended to, well-pondered, well-tuned by means of discernment. This is the fifth development of the five-factored noble right concentration.
"When a monk has developed and pursued the five-factored noble right concentration in this way, then whichever of the six higher knowledges he turns his mind to know and realize, he can witness them for himself whenever there is an opening.
"Suppose that there were a water jar, set on a stand, brimful of water so that a crow could drink from it. If a strong man were to tip it in any way at all, would water spill out?"
"Yes, lord."
"In the same way, when a monk has developed and pursued the five-factored noble right concentration in this way, then whichever of the six higher knowledges he turns his mind to know and realize, he can witness them for himself whenever there is an opening.
"Suppose there were a rectangular water tank — set on level ground, bounded by dikes — brimful of water so that a crow could drink from it. If a strong man were to loosen the dikes anywhere at all, would water spill out?"
"Yes, lord."
"In the same way, when a monk has developed and pursued the five-factored noble right concentration in this way, then whichever of the six higher knowledges he turns his mind to know and realize, he can witness them for himself whenever there is an opening."
(AN 5.28)
On one occasion the Blessed One was staying among the Ayojjhans on the banks of the Ganges River. There he addressed the monks: "Monks, suppose that a large glob of foam were floating down this Ganges River, and a man with good eyesight were to see it, observe it, & appropriately examine it. To him — seeing it, observing it, & appropriately examining it — it would appear empty, void, without substance: for what substance would there be in a glob of foam? In the same way, a monk sees, observes, & appropriately examines any form that is past, future, or present; internal or external; blatant or subtle; common or sublime; far or near. To him — seeing it, observing it, & appropriately examining it — it would appear empty, void, without substance: for what substance would there be in form?
"Now suppose that in the autumn — when it's raining in fat, heavy drops — a water bubble were to appear & disappear on the water, and a man with good eyesight were to see it, observe it, & appropriately examine it. To him — seeing it, observing it, & appropriately examining it — it would appear empty, void, without substance: for what substance would there be in a water bubble? In the same way, a monk sees, observes, & appropriately examines any feeling that is past, future, or present; internal or external; blatant or subtle; common or sublime; far or near. To him — seeing it, observing it, & appropriately examining it — it would appear empty, void, without substance: for what substance would there be in feeling?"
(SN 22.95)
June 8
-"Moving Beyond Fear: A Home for the Mind"
-our capacity to work skillfully with fear depends, the Buddha teaches, on having developed certain skills. concentration is one of the most important of these skills. when we're developed in concentration, we're able to meet difficult, fearful circumstances. we have the ability to see fear ... but not be overcome by it. we have the ability to separate from fear. we have a place to put and keep the mind where we choose: a good home for the mind. beings who are not developed in concentration, the Buddha tells us, will have their minds 'plundered' by fear. the dharma student, developed in concentration, through the practice of mindfulness of breathing, is able to meet fear skillfully. she is able, accordingly, to look at the essential truths of life ... and the truth of her own suffering (dukkha). concentration, having a home for the mind, a place where we are safe & protected, enables us to meet dukkha and find freedom from it. it enables to know true happiness.
-some things to to remember as we develop our practice in "moving beyond fear: a home for the mind"...
1-if we are developed in concentration we will be able to meet fear skillfully...
-we develop this concentration through the practice of mindfulness of breathing....
-it is essential, if we are to be able to meet fear skillfully, that we develop strong concentration.....
2- we seek, in developing concentration, to cultivate a good home for the mind....
-when we have a good home for the mind ... in the breath ... we are able to....
-be mindful of fear ...
-with equanimity....
-we have an ability to observe fear, for a moment, without getting caught in it
-separate from fear....
-we are able to put the mind ... and keep the mind ... where we choose to put it (on the breath)....
-keeping the mind in this "home" for the mind ... we are safe & protected from fear....
3-when we have a good, strong home for the mind, we are able to keep the mind there in all circumstances....
-we are able to keep the mind there (on the breath, separated from fear) in the most difficult, fearful circumstances....
-illness/aging/death....
-separation....
-when there are difficult beings....
-amidst the difficulty in the world....
4-developed in concentration, having a home for the mind, we are able to look at the truth about ourselves ....
-we are able to meet our suffering (dukkha) skillfully......
-the internal wilderness....
-we are able to attend to the tasks of the four noble truths....
-we are able to develop in truthfulness....
-as the Buddha teaches, this truthfulness, about ourselves, our suffering, is what will enable us to move forward toward true happiness in this life.....
5-when we have a good home for the mind, we are able to take action that is in support of the heart....
-often, we are blocked off from the heart by fear ... and we aren't able to take action that is in support of the heart....
-when we have a home for the mind, we are able to put aside fear, and move forward....
-we are able to act from the heart....
-with metta, compassion....
-we are able to express our goodness....
-we are able to express our truth....
-we are able to do that which is difficult....
-we are able to "be who we are".....
-reading.....
-"Fear & Terror Sutta" (MN 4)
-"Complete Breath Meditation Instructions"
-"Moving Beyond Fear: A Home for the Mind"
-our capacity to work skillfully with fear depends, the Buddha teaches, on having developed certain skills. concentration is one of the most important of these skills. when we're developed in concentration, we're able to meet difficult, fearful circumstances. we have the ability to see fear ... but not be overcome by it. we have the ability to separate from fear. we have a place to put and keep the mind where we choose: a good home for the mind. beings who are not developed in concentration, the Buddha tells us, will have their minds 'plundered' by fear. the dharma student, developed in concentration, through the practice of mindfulness of breathing, is able to meet fear skillfully. she is able, accordingly, to look at the essential truths of life ... and the truth of her own suffering (dukkha). concentration, having a home for the mind, a place where we are safe & protected, enables us to meet dukkha and find freedom from it. it enables to know true happiness.
-some things to to remember as we develop our practice in "moving beyond fear: a home for the mind"...
1-if we are developed in concentration we will be able to meet fear skillfully...
-we develop this concentration through the practice of mindfulness of breathing....
-it is essential, if we are to be able to meet fear skillfully, that we develop strong concentration.....
2- we seek, in developing concentration, to cultivate a good home for the mind....
-when we have a good home for the mind ... in the breath ... we are able to....
-be mindful of fear ...
-with equanimity....
-we have an ability to observe fear, for a moment, without getting caught in it
-separate from fear....
-we are able to put the mind ... and keep the mind ... where we choose to put it (on the breath)....
-keeping the mind in this "home" for the mind ... we are safe & protected from fear....
3-when we have a good, strong home for the mind, we are able to keep the mind there in all circumstances....
-we are able to keep the mind there (on the breath, separated from fear) in the most difficult, fearful circumstances....
-illness/aging/death....
-separation....
-when there are difficult beings....
-amidst the difficulty in the world....
4-developed in concentration, having a home for the mind, we are able to look at the truth about ourselves ....
-we are able to meet our suffering (dukkha) skillfully......
-the internal wilderness....
-we are able to attend to the tasks of the four noble truths....
-we are able to develop in truthfulness....
-as the Buddha teaches, this truthfulness, about ourselves, our suffering, is what will enable us to move forward toward true happiness in this life.....
5-when we have a good home for the mind, we are able to take action that is in support of the heart....
-often, we are blocked off from the heart by fear ... and we aren't able to take action that is in support of the heart....
-when we have a home for the mind, we are able to put aside fear, and move forward....
-we are able to act from the heart....
-with metta, compassion....
-we are able to express our goodness....
-we are able to express our truth....
-we are able to do that which is difficult....
-we are able to "be who we are".....
-reading.....
-"Fear & Terror Sutta" (MN 4)
-"Complete Breath Meditation Instructions"
| breath_meditation_complete_notes_january_2024.pdf |
"A Home for the Mind" (from The Skill of Living)
| a_home_for_the_mind_skill_of_living_pdf.pdf |
"Yes, brahman, so it is. It's not easy to endure isolated forest or wilderness dwellings. It's not easy to maintain seclusion, not easy to enjoy being alone. The forests, as it were, plunder the mind of a monk who has not attained concentration. Before my Awakening, when I was still an unawakened Bodhisatta, the thought occurred to me as well: 'It's not easy to endure isolated forest or wilderness dwellings. It's not easy to maintain seclusion, not easy to enjoy being alone. The forests, as it were, plunder the mind of a monk who has not attained concentration.'"
(MN 4)
From what I've observed in my own practice, there is only one path that is short, easy, effective, and pleasant, and at the same time has hardly anything to lead you astray: the path of keeping the breath in mind, the same path the Lord Buddha himself used with such good results. I hope that you won't make things difficult for yourself by being hesitant or uncertain, by taking this or that teaching from here or there; and that, instead, you'll earnestly set your mind on getting in touch with your own breath and following it as far as it can take you. From there, you will enter the stage of liberating insight, leading to the mind itself. Ultimately, pure knowing — buddha — will stand out on its own. That's when you'll reach an attainment trustworthy and sure. In other words, if you let the breath follow its own nature, and the mind its own nature, the results of your practice will without a doubt be all that you hope for.
Ordinarily, the nature of the heart, if it isn't trained and put into order, is to fall in with preoccupations that are stressful and bad. This is why we have to search for a principle — a Dhamma — with which to train ourselves if we hope for happiness that's stable and secure. If our hearts have no inner principle, no center in which to dwell, we're like a person without a home. Homeless people have nothing but hardship. The sun, wind, rain, and dirt are bound to leave them constantly soiled because they have nothing to act as shelter. To practice centering the mind is to build a home for yourself: Momentary concentration (khanika samadhi) is like a house roofed with thatch; threshold concentration (upacara samadhi), a house roofed with tile; and fixed penetration (appana samadhi), a house built out of brick. Once you have a home, you'll have a safe place to keep your valuables. You won't have to put up with the hardships of watching over them, the way a person who has no place to keep his valuables has to go sleeping in the open, exposed to the sun and rain, to guard those valuables — and even then his valuables aren't really safe.
So it is with the uncentered mind: It goes searching for good from other areas, letting its thoughts wander around in all kinds of concepts and preoccupations. Even if those thoughts are good, we still can't say that we're safe. We're like a woman with plenty of jewelry: If she dresses up in her jewels and goes wandering around, she's not safe at all. Her wealth might even lead to her own death. In the same way, if our hearts aren't trained through meditation to gain inner stillness, even the virtues we've been able to develop will deteriorate easily because they aren't yet securely stashed away in the heart. To train the mind to attain stillness and peace, though, is like keeping your valuables in a strongbox.
This is why most of us don't get any good from the good we do. We let the mind fall under the sway of its various preoccupations. These preoccupations are our enemies, because there are times when they can cause the virtues we've already developed to wither away. The mind is like a blooming flower: If wind and insects disturb the flower, it may never have a chance to give fruit. The flower here stands for the stillness of the mind on the path; the fruit, for the happiness of the path's fruition. If our stillness of mind and happiness are constant, we have a chance to attain the ultimate good we all hope for.
The ultimate good is like the heartwood of a tree. Other "goods" are like the buds, branches, and leaves. If we haven't trained our hearts and minds, we'll meet with things that are good only on the external level. But if our hearts are pure and good within, everything external will follow in becoming good as a result. Just as our hand, if it's clean, won't soil what it touches, but if it's dirty, will spoil even the cleanest cloth; in the same way, if the heart is defiled, everything is defiled. Even the good we do will be defiled, for the highest power in the world — the sole power giving rise to all good and evil, pleasure and pain — is the heart. The heart is like a god. Good, evil, pleasure, and pain come entirely from the heart. We could even call the heart a creator of the world, because the peace and continued well-being of the world depend on the heart. If the world is to be destroyed, it will be because of the heart. So we should train this most important part of the world to be centered as a foundation for its wealth and well-being.
Centering the mind is a way of gathering together all its skillful potentials. When these potentials are gathered in the right proportions, they'll give you the strength you need to destroy your enemies: all your defilements and unwise mental states. You have discernment that you've trained and made wise in the ways of good and evil, of the world and the Dhamma. Your discernment is like gunpowder. But if you keep your gunpowder for long without putting it into bullets — a centered mind — it'll go damp and moldy. Or if you're careless and let the fires of greed, anger, or delusion overcome you, your gunpowder may flame up in your hands. So don't delay. Put your gunpowder into bullets so that whenever your enemies — your defilements — make an attack, you'll be able to shoot them right down.
Whoever trains the mind to be centered gains a refuge. A centered mind is like a fortress. Discernment is like a weapon. To practice centering the mind is to secure yourself in a fortress, and so is something very worthwhile and important.
Virtue, the first part of the Path, and discernment, the last, aren't especially difficult. But keeping the mind centered, which is the middle part, takes some effort because it's a matter of forcing the mind into shape. Admittedly, centering the mind, like placing bridge pilings in the middle of a river, is something difficult to do. But once the mind is firmly in place, it can be very useful in developing virtue and discernment. Virtue is like placing pilings on the near shore of the river; discernment, like placing them on the far shore. But if the middle pilings — a centered mind — aren't firmly in place, how will you ever be able to bridge the flood of suffering?
There is only one way we can properly reach the qualities of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, and that's through the practice of mental development (bhavana). When we develop the mind to be centered and still, discernment can arise. Discernment here refers not to ordinary discernment, but to the insight that comes solely from dealing directly with the mind. For example, the ability to remember past lives, to know where living beings are reborn after death, and to cleanse the heart of the fermentations (asava) of defilement: These three forms of intuition — termed ñana-cakkhu, the eye of the mind — can arise for people who train themselves in the area of the heart and mind. But if we go around searching for knowledge from sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile sensations mixed together with concepts, it's as if we were studying with the Six Masters, and so we can't clearly see the truth — just as the Buddha, while he was studying with the Six Masters, wasn't able to gain Awakening. He then turned his attention to his own heart and mind, and went off to practice on his own, keeping track of his breath as his first step and going all the way to the ultimate goal. As long as you're still searching for knowledge from your six senses, you're studying with the Six Masters. But when you focus your attention on the breath — which exists in each of us — to the point where the mind settles down and is centered, you'll have the chance to meet with the real thing: buddha, pure knowing.
Some people believe that they don't have to practice centering the mind, that they can attain release through discernment (pañña-vimutti) by working at discernment alone. This simply isn't true. Both release through discernment and release through stillness of mind (ceto-vimutti) are based on centering the mind. They differ only in degree. Like walking: Ordinarily, a person doesn't walk on one leg alone. Whichever leg is heavier is simply a matter of personal habits and traits.
Release through discernment begins by pondering various events and aspects of the world until the mind slowly comes to rest and, once it's still, gives rise intuitively to liberating insight (vipassana-ñana): clear and true understanding in terms of the four Noble Truths (ariya sacca). In release through stillness of mind, though, there's not much pondering involved. The mind is simply forced to be quiet until it attains the stage of fixed penetration. That's where intuitive insight will arise, enabling it to see things for what they are. This is release through stillness of mind: Concentration comes first, discernment later.
A person with a wide-ranging knowledge of the texts — well-versed in their letter and meaning, capable of clearly and correctly explaining various points of doctrine — but with no inner center for the mind, is like a pilot flying about in an airplane with a clear view of the clouds and stars but no sense of where the landing strip is. He's headed for trouble. If he flies higher, he'll run out of air. All he can do is keep flying around until he runs out of fuel and comes crashing down in the savage wilds.
(Ajaan Lee; from Keeping the Breath in Mind)
June 1
-"Moving Beyond Fear: Qualities to Develop"
-the path of the dharma student is a path on which we make a journey to the heart. in making this journey, we're asked to recognize the obstacles to the heart. the burdens on the heart. one of the most profound obstacles to the heart is fear. if we're going to find happiness of heart in this life, we need to learn to work skillfully with fear. because fear is easily grasped and held onto, we need to be prepared if we're going to meet it. as the Buddha teaches, in going into the wilderness - the metaphor for fear - we need to be prepared. we need to be developed in certain skills. if prepared, if we're developed in parami, concentration, discernment, then we'll be able to meet fear move beyond it. it all begins with developing our parami: our goodness. as dharma students, seeking to move beyond fear, it's imperative that we cultivate skillfulness, in terms of our actions, speech, thoughts, and livelihood. our goodness, developed, will see us through.
-some things to to remember as we practice in "moving beyond fear: qualities to develop"...
1-in making the journey to the heart we learn, as dharma students, to meet fear and move beyond it...
-fear is a profound obstacle to the heart....
-fear is a highly clingable mental state.....
-given its highly clingable nature, we often fear becoming overwhelmed by fear....
-fear is particularly difficult to develop a skillful relationship to...
-the Buddha, in his wisdom & compassion, offers specific instructions for working with fear....
2- we should not attempt to meet fear unless we are developed in certain skills....
-as the Buddha tells us, we shouldn't attempt to go into the "wilderness" until we are prepared to do so....
-if not prepared, developed in certain qualities, we will not be able to meet fear skillfully....
-to meet fear skillful, we need to be developed in ...
-parami....
-the elements of goodness....
-concentration....
-discernment......
3-as we become developed in goodness, we're more and more able to meet fear skillfully....
-in becoming developed in goodness we cultivate....
-skillful actions....
-skillful speech....
-skillful thinking....
-skillful livelihood....
-we developed in skillfulness, in the manner the Buddha describes in "The Instructions to Rahula" (MN61)....
-we abandon action informed by greed/hatred.....
-we cultivate action informed by good will.....
4-developed in goodness, we know that whatever happens, we have goodness and it will see us through ....
-our goodness ... inner wealth ... inner worth ... gives us the strength and confidence to meet fear...
-we know that we've made a true effort to do well....
-we know that we have a goodness....
-we know that this goodness - the goodness of the heart - can't be taken from us....
-it is deathless....
-it will see us through....
-we have confidence, conviction, in ourselves.....
5-as dharma students, we meet fear skillfully, remembering our goodness....
-our task as dharma students:
-to develop our goodness....
-skillful action, speech, thought, livelihood....
-to go into the 'wilderness'....
-to meet fear....
-to remember our goodness....
-in going into the wilderness, we remember our goodness...
-we incline to remembering our goodness....
-we remember, our goodness will see us through.....
-reading.....
-"Fear & Terror Sutta" (MN 4)
-"Instructions to Rahula" (MN 61)
"But, Master Gotama, it's not easy to endure isolated forest or wilderness dwellings. It's not easy to maintain seclusion, not easy to enjoy being alone. The forests, as it were, plunder the mind of a monk who has not attained concentration."
"Yes, brahman, so it is. It's not easy to endure isolated forest or wilderness dwellings. It's not easy to maintain seclusion, not easy to enjoy being alone. The forests, as it were, plunder the mind of a monk who has not attained concentration. Before my Awakening, when I was still an unawakened Bodhisatta, the thought occurred to me as well: 'It's not easy to endure isolated forest or wilderness dwellings. It's not easy to maintain seclusion, not easy to enjoy being alone. The forests, as it were, plunder the mind of a monk who has not attained concentration.'
"The thought occurred to me: 'When brahmans or contemplatives who are unpurified in their bodily activities resort to isolated forest or wilderness dwellings, it's the fault of their unpurified bodily activities that they give rise to unskillful fear & terror. But it's not the case that I am unpurified in my bodily activities when I resort to isolated forest or wilderness dwellings. I am purified in my bodily activities. I am one of those noble ones who are purified in their bodily activities when they resort to isolated forest or wilderness dwellings.' Seeing in myself this purity of bodily activities, I felt even more undaunted about staying in the wilderness.
"The thought occurred to me: 'When brahmans or contemplatives who are unpurified in their verbal activities... unpurified in their mental activities... unpurified in their livelihood resort to isolated forest or wilderness dwellings, it's the fault of their unpurified livelihood that they give rise to unskillful fear & terror. But it's not the case that I am unpurified in my livelihood when I resort to isolated forest or wilderness dwellings. I am purified in my livelihood. I am one of those noble ones who are purified in their livelihood when they resort to isolated forest or wilderness dwellings.' Seeing in myself this purity of livelihood, I felt even more undaunted about staying in the wilderness."
(MN 4)
"Furthermore, there is the case where you recollect your own virtues: '[They are] untorn, unbroken, unspotted, unsplattered, liberating, praised by the wise, untarnished, conducive to concentration.' At any time when a disciple of the noble ones is recollecting virtue, his mind is not overcome with passion, not overcome with aversion, not overcome with delusion. His mind heads straight, based on virtue. And when the mind is headed straight, the disciple of the noble ones gains a sense of the goal, gains a sense of the Dhamma, gains joy connected with the Dhamma. In one who is joyful, rapture arises. In one who is rapturous, the body grows calm. One whose body is calmed experiences ease. In one at ease, the mind becomes concentrated.
"Mahanama, you should develop this recollection of virtue while you are walking, while you are standing, while you are sitting, while you are lying down, while you are busy at work, while you are resting in your home crowded with children.
"Furthermore, there is the case where you recollect your own generosity: 'It is a gain, a great gain for me, that — among people overcome with the stain of possessiveness — I live at home, my awareness cleansed of the stain of possessiveness, freely generous, openhanded, delighting in being magnanimous, responsive to requests, delighting in the distribution of alms.' At any time when a disciple of the noble ones is recollecting generosity, his mind is not overcome with passion, not overcome with aversion, not overcome with delusion. His mind heads straight, based on generosity. And when the mind is headed straight, the disciple of the noble ones gains a sense of the goal, gains a sense of the Dhamma, gains joy connected with the Dhamma. In one who is joyful, rapture arises. In one who is rapturous, the body grows calm. One whose body is calmed experiences ease. In one at ease, the mind becomes concentrated.
"Mahanama, you should develop this recollection of generosity while you are walking, while you are standing, while you are sitting, while you are lying down, while you are busy at work, while you are resting in your home crowded with children."
(AN 11.13)
-"Moving Beyond Fear: Qualities to Develop"
-the path of the dharma student is a path on which we make a journey to the heart. in making this journey, we're asked to recognize the obstacles to the heart. the burdens on the heart. one of the most profound obstacles to the heart is fear. if we're going to find happiness of heart in this life, we need to learn to work skillfully with fear. because fear is easily grasped and held onto, we need to be prepared if we're going to meet it. as the Buddha teaches, in going into the wilderness - the metaphor for fear - we need to be prepared. we need to be developed in certain skills. if prepared, if we're developed in parami, concentration, discernment, then we'll be able to meet fear move beyond it. it all begins with developing our parami: our goodness. as dharma students, seeking to move beyond fear, it's imperative that we cultivate skillfulness, in terms of our actions, speech, thoughts, and livelihood. our goodness, developed, will see us through.
-some things to to remember as we practice in "moving beyond fear: qualities to develop"...
1-in making the journey to the heart we learn, as dharma students, to meet fear and move beyond it...
-fear is a profound obstacle to the heart....
-fear is a highly clingable mental state.....
-given its highly clingable nature, we often fear becoming overwhelmed by fear....
-fear is particularly difficult to develop a skillful relationship to...
-the Buddha, in his wisdom & compassion, offers specific instructions for working with fear....
2- we should not attempt to meet fear unless we are developed in certain skills....
-as the Buddha tells us, we shouldn't attempt to go into the "wilderness" until we are prepared to do so....
-if not prepared, developed in certain qualities, we will not be able to meet fear skillfully....
-to meet fear skillful, we need to be developed in ...
-parami....
-the elements of goodness....
-concentration....
-discernment......
3-as we become developed in goodness, we're more and more able to meet fear skillfully....
-in becoming developed in goodness we cultivate....
-skillful actions....
-skillful speech....
-skillful thinking....
-skillful livelihood....
-we developed in skillfulness, in the manner the Buddha describes in "The Instructions to Rahula" (MN61)....
-we abandon action informed by greed/hatred.....
-we cultivate action informed by good will.....
4-developed in goodness, we know that whatever happens, we have goodness and it will see us through ....
-our goodness ... inner wealth ... inner worth ... gives us the strength and confidence to meet fear...
-we know that we've made a true effort to do well....
-we know that we have a goodness....
-we know that this goodness - the goodness of the heart - can't be taken from us....
-it is deathless....
-it will see us through....
-we have confidence, conviction, in ourselves.....
5-as dharma students, we meet fear skillfully, remembering our goodness....
-our task as dharma students:
-to develop our goodness....
-skillful action, speech, thought, livelihood....
-to go into the 'wilderness'....
-to meet fear....
-to remember our goodness....
-in going into the wilderness, we remember our goodness...
-we incline to remembering our goodness....
-we remember, our goodness will see us through.....
-reading.....
-"Fear & Terror Sutta" (MN 4)
-"Instructions to Rahula" (MN 61)
"But, Master Gotama, it's not easy to endure isolated forest or wilderness dwellings. It's not easy to maintain seclusion, not easy to enjoy being alone. The forests, as it were, plunder the mind of a monk who has not attained concentration."
"Yes, brahman, so it is. It's not easy to endure isolated forest or wilderness dwellings. It's not easy to maintain seclusion, not easy to enjoy being alone. The forests, as it were, plunder the mind of a monk who has not attained concentration. Before my Awakening, when I was still an unawakened Bodhisatta, the thought occurred to me as well: 'It's not easy to endure isolated forest or wilderness dwellings. It's not easy to maintain seclusion, not easy to enjoy being alone. The forests, as it were, plunder the mind of a monk who has not attained concentration.'
"The thought occurred to me: 'When brahmans or contemplatives who are unpurified in their bodily activities resort to isolated forest or wilderness dwellings, it's the fault of their unpurified bodily activities that they give rise to unskillful fear & terror. But it's not the case that I am unpurified in my bodily activities when I resort to isolated forest or wilderness dwellings. I am purified in my bodily activities. I am one of those noble ones who are purified in their bodily activities when they resort to isolated forest or wilderness dwellings.' Seeing in myself this purity of bodily activities, I felt even more undaunted about staying in the wilderness.
"The thought occurred to me: 'When brahmans or contemplatives who are unpurified in their verbal activities... unpurified in their mental activities... unpurified in their livelihood resort to isolated forest or wilderness dwellings, it's the fault of their unpurified livelihood that they give rise to unskillful fear & terror. But it's not the case that I am unpurified in my livelihood when I resort to isolated forest or wilderness dwellings. I am purified in my livelihood. I am one of those noble ones who are purified in their livelihood when they resort to isolated forest or wilderness dwellings.' Seeing in myself this purity of livelihood, I felt even more undaunted about staying in the wilderness."
(MN 4)
"Furthermore, there is the case where you recollect your own virtues: '[They are] untorn, unbroken, unspotted, unsplattered, liberating, praised by the wise, untarnished, conducive to concentration.' At any time when a disciple of the noble ones is recollecting virtue, his mind is not overcome with passion, not overcome with aversion, not overcome with delusion. His mind heads straight, based on virtue. And when the mind is headed straight, the disciple of the noble ones gains a sense of the goal, gains a sense of the Dhamma, gains joy connected with the Dhamma. In one who is joyful, rapture arises. In one who is rapturous, the body grows calm. One whose body is calmed experiences ease. In one at ease, the mind becomes concentrated.
"Mahanama, you should develop this recollection of virtue while you are walking, while you are standing, while you are sitting, while you are lying down, while you are busy at work, while you are resting in your home crowded with children.
"Furthermore, there is the case where you recollect your own generosity: 'It is a gain, a great gain for me, that — among people overcome with the stain of possessiveness — I live at home, my awareness cleansed of the stain of possessiveness, freely generous, openhanded, delighting in being magnanimous, responsive to requests, delighting in the distribution of alms.' At any time when a disciple of the noble ones is recollecting generosity, his mind is not overcome with passion, not overcome with aversion, not overcome with delusion. His mind heads straight, based on generosity. And when the mind is headed straight, the disciple of the noble ones gains a sense of the goal, gains a sense of the Dhamma, gains joy connected with the Dhamma. In one who is joyful, rapture arises. In one who is rapturous, the body grows calm. One whose body is calmed experiences ease. In one at ease, the mind becomes concentrated.
"Mahanama, you should develop this recollection of generosity while you are walking, while you are standing, while you are sitting, while you are lying down, while you are busy at work, while you are resting in your home crowded with children."
(AN 11.13)
May 25
-"Living Up to Our Potential"
-in making the path that that Buddha teaches, we're making a journey across the river of suffering to the further shore. the three great pillars in this journey are virtue (parami), concentration, insight. as we develop these elements of the path we come closer to the heart. normally, we're a distance from the heart. we're in states of becoming. in these states of becoming we're out of the body, away from the heart. if we hope to know freedom from suffering, happiness of heart, we should have a clear purpose: to unburden the heart, to know the heart, to live from the heart. as we develop in this purpose, this commitment to the heart, we make an effort to do what is necessary, to free the heart from its burdens. we make a noble effort. this effort, in support of the heart, is what will see us through. it will enable us to live up to our potential in this life.
-some things to to remember as we learn to live in a way in which we're "living up to our potential "...
1-in making our journey to the "further shore" we develop the three pillars of virtue, concentration, insight...
-virtue/parami....
-in developing parami, we develop in our connection to the heart.....
-we practice:
-generosity....
-ethical conduct (non-harming)....
-renunciation.....
2- in developing concentration we come closer to the heart....
-we learn to come to, reside in the body....
-in doing so, we withdraw from sense experience ... we withdraw from unskillful mental qualities....
-as the mind stills ...
-we're more able to connect to the heart....
-breath meditation, as the Buddha teaches, brings us closer to the heart....
3-typically we're not present, in the body....
-typically, we in states of what the Buddha called "becoming"....
-states of becoming include:
-being preoccupied with sense experience....
-being preoccuped with thoughts....
-in states of becoming, we're removed from the body....
-we're removed, thusly, from the heart....
4-the practice of insight brings us closer to the heart ....
-we see states of becoming ... we see that the heart is burdened ... that we're cut off from the heart...
-we abandon states of becoming, understanding their profound drawbacks....
-we come to see the unburdened heart....
-the heart that is free....
-the goodness of the heart....
-we come to understand the happiness of the unburdened heart.....
-the happiness of heart is always there....
-it is available to all of us....
-it is the expression of our potential.....
5-as dharma students, our purpose is to free the heart its burdens and to live in the heart....
-if we hope to know happiness in this life, it's important that we develop this purpose....
-it's important that we make a commitment to the heart....
-to abandon whatever we're doing that's creating a burden on the heart....
-to know the happiness of heart....
-to live up to our potential....
-reading.....
-"Closer to the Heart" (from Skillful Pleasure)
-"Living Up to Our Potential"
-in making the path that that Buddha teaches, we're making a journey across the river of suffering to the further shore. the three great pillars in this journey are virtue (parami), concentration, insight. as we develop these elements of the path we come closer to the heart. normally, we're a distance from the heart. we're in states of becoming. in these states of becoming we're out of the body, away from the heart. if we hope to know freedom from suffering, happiness of heart, we should have a clear purpose: to unburden the heart, to know the heart, to live from the heart. as we develop in this purpose, this commitment to the heart, we make an effort to do what is necessary, to free the heart from its burdens. we make a noble effort. this effort, in support of the heart, is what will see us through. it will enable us to live up to our potential in this life.
-some things to to remember as we learn to live in a way in which we're "living up to our potential "...
1-in making our journey to the "further shore" we develop the three pillars of virtue, concentration, insight...
-virtue/parami....
-in developing parami, we develop in our connection to the heart.....
-we practice:
-generosity....
-ethical conduct (non-harming)....
-renunciation.....
2- in developing concentration we come closer to the heart....
-we learn to come to, reside in the body....
-in doing so, we withdraw from sense experience ... we withdraw from unskillful mental qualities....
-as the mind stills ...
-we're more able to connect to the heart....
-breath meditation, as the Buddha teaches, brings us closer to the heart....
3-typically we're not present, in the body....
-typically, we in states of what the Buddha called "becoming"....
-states of becoming include:
-being preoccupied with sense experience....
-being preoccuped with thoughts....
-in states of becoming, we're removed from the body....
-we're removed, thusly, from the heart....
4-the practice of insight brings us closer to the heart ....
-we see states of becoming ... we see that the heart is burdened ... that we're cut off from the heart...
-we abandon states of becoming, understanding their profound drawbacks....
-we come to see the unburdened heart....
-the heart that is free....
-the goodness of the heart....
-we come to understand the happiness of the unburdened heart.....
-the happiness of heart is always there....
-it is available to all of us....
-it is the expression of our potential.....
5-as dharma students, our purpose is to free the heart its burdens and to live in the heart....
-if we hope to know happiness in this life, it's important that we develop this purpose....
-it's important that we make a commitment to the heart....
-to abandon whatever we're doing that's creating a burden on the heart....
-to know the happiness of heart....
-to live up to our potential....
-reading.....
-"Closer to the Heart" (from Skillful Pleasure)
| skillful_pleasure_closer_to_the_heart_pdf.pdf |
-"The Marvel of the Dhamma" (Ajaan Maha Boowa)
I have heard that on one occasion, the Blessed One was staying at Uruvelā on the bank of the Nerañjarā River at the root of the Bodhi tree — the tree of awakening — newly awakened. And on that occasion he sat at the root of the Bodhi tree for seven days in one session, sensitive to the bliss of release. Then, with the passing of seven days, after emerging from that concentration, he surveyed the world with the eye of an Awakened One. As he did so, he saw living beings burning with the many fevers and aflame with the many fires born of passion, aversion, & delusion.
Then, on realizing the significance of that, he on that occasion exclaimed:
This world is burning.
Afflicted by contact,
it calls disease a 'self.'
By whatever means it construes [anything],
it becomes otherwise than that. Becoming otherwise,
the world is
attached to becoming
afflicted by becoming
and yet delights
in that very becoming.
Where there's delight,
there is fear.
What one fears
is stressful.
This holy life is lived
for the abandoning of becoming.
(Ud 3.10)
The Buddha and the Noble Disciples have Dhamma filling their hearts to the brim. You are a disciple of the Tathagata, with a mind that can be made to show its marvelousness through the practice of making it pure, just like the Buddha and the Noble Disciples. So try to make it still and radiant, because the heart has long lain buried in the mud. As soon as you can see the harm of the mud and grow tired of it, you should urgently wake up, take notice, and exert yourself till you can manage to make your way free. Nibbana is holding its hand out, waiting for you. Aren't you going to come out?
Rebelliousness is simply distraction. The end of rebelliousness is stillness. When the heart is still, it's at ease. If it's not still, it's as hot as fire. Wherever you are, everything is hot and troubled. Once it is still, then it's cool and peaceful wherever you are — cool right here in the heart. So make the heart cool with the practice, because the heat and trouble lie with the heart. The heat of fire is one thing, but the heat of a troubled heart is hotter than fire. Try to put out the fires of defilement, craving, and mental effluents burning here in the heart, so that only the phenomenon of genuine Dhamma remains. Then you will be cool and at peace, everywhere and always.
(Ajaan Maha Boowa)
May 18
-"The Values of the Dharma Student
-our happiness in this life, the Buddha tells us, depends on our actions. if our actions are driven by craving, clinging, wanting, we'll suffer, we'll experience dukkha, we'll be blocked off from the heart. for this reason, we learn, as dharma students, to practice renunciation, to abandon sense pleasures, to abandon our preoccupation with the pleasures of the world, material gain, possessions. we learn to trade a lesser happiness for a greater happiness. abandoning sense pleasures, we know a quality of tranquility. but we're asked to know an even greater happiness: the happiness of the awakened heart. in tune with the heart, we learn to take action from the heart. this is the action that will bring us true happiness in life. what is our intention to act from the awakened state, from the heart? the dharma student, following the path, seeks to ask this question and live accordingly.
-some things to to remember as you learn to cultivate "the values of the dharma student"...
1-action driven by craving leads to suffering...
-most beings act in accord with their inclination toward craving....
-desire....
-wanting....
-wanting sense pleasures ... material things ... financial gain....
2- as dharma students we seek to take action informed by renunciation....
-we seek to abandon sensuality ... the preoccupation with sense pleasure and material things....
-we seek to abandon our intention to accumulation sense pleasure, sense experience, material things....
-as dharma students, we learn to reflect: what is my intention to abandon sensuality....?
3-the path of the dharma is a spiritual path....
-a path of abandoning sensuality....
-the path is a middle path: we cultivate internal pleasure, instead of the pleasure that comes from external sources....
-we trade a lesser happiness for a greater happiness
4-in following the spiritual path we seek to know a happiness that is not dependent on conditioned things ....
-we seek to know the bliss of tranquility...
-but the path goes beyond tranquility....
-the path leads to the transcendent.....
-the state in which the heart is unburdened.....
-the heart...
-as dharma students, we learn to reflect: what is my intention to know the state in which the heart is unburdened....?
5-we learn, in following the path, to take action that is an expression of the awakened heart....
-if we take action that is an expression of the heart ... we'll know happiness in this life....
-as dharma students, we learn to reflect: what is my intention to take action that is an expression of the awakened heart....?
6- we form our values through our intention.....
-what is our intention....?
-is it our intention to take action in support of craving, desire, wanting....?
-or, is it our intention to take action in support of the awakened heart...?
-we begin develop our values, our intention, asking, what can i do, what actions can i take, that are an expression of the heart...?
-we develop our values, intention, setting our intention: I am going to take action that is an expression of the heart...
-reading.....
-"Seeing the Drawbacks of Feeding on Sense Pleasure" (from The Skill of Living)
-"The Values of the Dharma Student
-our happiness in this life, the Buddha tells us, depends on our actions. if our actions are driven by craving, clinging, wanting, we'll suffer, we'll experience dukkha, we'll be blocked off from the heart. for this reason, we learn, as dharma students, to practice renunciation, to abandon sense pleasures, to abandon our preoccupation with the pleasures of the world, material gain, possessions. we learn to trade a lesser happiness for a greater happiness. abandoning sense pleasures, we know a quality of tranquility. but we're asked to know an even greater happiness: the happiness of the awakened heart. in tune with the heart, we learn to take action from the heart. this is the action that will bring us true happiness in life. what is our intention to act from the awakened state, from the heart? the dharma student, following the path, seeks to ask this question and live accordingly.
-some things to to remember as you learn to cultivate "the values of the dharma student"...
1-action driven by craving leads to suffering...
-most beings act in accord with their inclination toward craving....
-desire....
-wanting....
-wanting sense pleasures ... material things ... financial gain....
2- as dharma students we seek to take action informed by renunciation....
-we seek to abandon sensuality ... the preoccupation with sense pleasure and material things....
-we seek to abandon our intention to accumulation sense pleasure, sense experience, material things....
-as dharma students, we learn to reflect: what is my intention to abandon sensuality....?
3-the path of the dharma is a spiritual path....
-a path of abandoning sensuality....
-the path is a middle path: we cultivate internal pleasure, instead of the pleasure that comes from external sources....
-we trade a lesser happiness for a greater happiness
4-in following the spiritual path we seek to know a happiness that is not dependent on conditioned things ....
-we seek to know the bliss of tranquility...
-but the path goes beyond tranquility....
-the path leads to the transcendent.....
-the state in which the heart is unburdened.....
-the heart...
-as dharma students, we learn to reflect: what is my intention to know the state in which the heart is unburdened....?
5-we learn, in following the path, to take action that is an expression of the awakened heart....
-if we take action that is an expression of the heart ... we'll know happiness in this life....
-as dharma students, we learn to reflect: what is my intention to take action that is an expression of the awakened heart....?
6- we form our values through our intention.....
-what is our intention....?
-is it our intention to take action in support of craving, desire, wanting....?
-or, is it our intention to take action in support of the awakened heart...?
-we begin develop our values, our intention, asking, what can i do, what actions can i take, that are an expression of the heart...?
-we develop our values, intention, setting our intention: I am going to take action that is an expression of the heart...
-reading.....
-"Seeing the Drawbacks of Feeding on Sense Pleasure" (from The Skill of Living)
| skill_of_living_drawbacks_sense_pleasure.pdf |
-"Trading Candy for Gold" (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
The passion for his resolves is a man's sensuality,
not the beautiful sensual pleasures
found in the world.
The passion for his resolves is a man's sensuality.
The beauties remain as they are in the world,
while the wise, in this regard,
subdue their desire.
(AN 6.63)
If, by forsaking
a limited ease,
he would see
an abundance of ease,
the enlightened man
would forsake
the limited ease
for the sake
of the abundant.
(Dhp 290)
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Anupiyā in the Mango Grove. And on that occasion, Ven. Bhaddiya, Kāḷigodhā's son, on going to the wilderness, to the root of a tree, or to an empty dwelling, would repeatedly exclaim, "What bliss! What bliss!"
A large number of monks heard Ven. Bhaddiya, Kāḷigodhā's son, on going to the wilderness, to the root of a tree, or to an empty dwelling, repeatedly exclaim, "What bliss! What bliss!" and on hearing him, the thought occurred to them, "There's no doubt but that Ven. Bhaddiya, Kāḷigodhā's son, doesn't enjoy leading the holy life, for when he was a householder he knew the bliss of kingship, so that now, on recollecting that when going to the wilderness, to the root of a tree, or to an empty dwelling, he is repeatedly exclaiming, 'What bliss! What bliss!'"
So they went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As they were sitting there, they told him, "Ven. Bhaddiya, Kāḷigodhā's son, lord, on going to the wilderness, to the root of a tree, or to an empty dwelling, repeatedly exclaims, 'What bliss! What bliss!' There's no doubt but that Ven. Bhaddiya doesn't enjoy leading the holy life, for when he was a householder he knew the bliss of kingship, so that now, on recollecting that when going to the wilderness, to the root of a tree, or to an empty dwelling, he is repeatedly exclaiming, 'What bliss! What bliss!'"
Then the Blessed One told a certain monk, "Come, monk. In my name, call Bhaddiya, saying, 'The Teacher calls you, friend Bhaddiya.'"
Responding, "As you say, lord," to the Blessed One, the monk went to Ven. Bhaddiya, Kāḷigodhā's son, and on arrival he said to him, "The Teacher calls you, friend Bhaddiya."
Responding, "As you say, my friend," to the monk, Ven. Bhaddiya, Kāḷigodhā's son, went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there, the Blessed One said to him, "Is it true, Bhaddiya that — on going to the wilderness, to the root of a tree, or to an empty dwelling — you repeatedly exclaim, 'What bliss! What bliss!'?"
"Yes, lord."
"What compelling reason do you have in mind that — when going to the wilderness, to the root of a tree, or to an empty dwelling — you repeatedly exclaim, 'What bliss! What bliss!'?"
"Before, when I has a householder, maintaining the bliss of kingship,[1] lord, I had guards posted within and without the royal apartments, within and without the city, within and without the countryside. But even though I was thus guarded, thus protected, I dwelled in fear — agitated, distrustful, & afraid. But now, on going alone to the wilderness, to the root of a tree, or to an empty dwelling, I dwell without fear, unagitated, confident, & unafraid — unconcerned, unruffled, my wants satisfied, with my mind like a wild deer. This is the compelling reason I have in mind that — when going to the wilderness, to the root of a tree, or to an empty dwelling — I repeatedly exclaim, 'What bliss! What bliss!'"
Then, on realizing the significance of that, the Blessed One on that occasion exclaimed:
From whose heart
there is no provocation,
& for whom becoming & non-becoming
are overcome,
he — beyond fear,
blissful,
with no grief --
is one the devas can't see.
(Ud 2.10)
May 11
-"The Heart of Appreciation" (Mother's Day)
-as the Buddha teaches us, it's essential that we learn to cultivate appreciation. appreciation for goodness. the goodness in ourselves, in others, in the world. a profoundly important, elemental, component of appreciation is appreciation for our parents. including, of course, appreciation for our mother. our relationship with our mother has a profound effect in our lives. the karma of this relationship will greatly effect our capacity to know happiness. we should reflect, often, on our gratitude for our mother. in doing so, we remind ourselves that she gave us the gift of life and took care of us when we couldn't take care of ourselves. she went our of her way to help us. our ability to know happiness in this life is related, directly, and profoundly, to our ability to cultivate this quality of appreciation in the heart.
-some things to to remember as you learn to develop "the heart of appreciation"...
1-the Buddha teaches us that we should develop gratitude for our mother...
-this gratitude ... which leads to the heart, to the quality of appreciation, is essential to our ability to know happiness....
-the nature of the conditioned realm is impermanent, inconstant, unpredictable, subject to birth and death....
-we should reflect often on the blessing of our mother....
2- the Buddha teaches the profound karma of our relationship with our parents....
-in terms of cause & effect, the relationship we have with our parents is profoundly important....
-if there is negativity, aversion, resentment ... this will have detrimental effect in our ability to know happiness....
-to the degree that there is appreciation, we will know happiness in life....
3-in cultivating appreciation for our mother, we remember that she gave us the gift of life....
-we would not be here without our parents....
-they gave us the greatest gift we've been given....
-they took care of us when we could not take care of ourselves....
-because of our mother, we have the opportunity to know the goodness of life...
-we have the opportunity to know happiness of heart....
4-meditation practice us enables us to have the equanimity essential to cultivating appreciation....
-meditation enables us to look clearly, objectively at painful emotions/stories that may be habitual in terms of our parents....
-anger, resentment, etc...
-we're able to develop a skillful relationship to these emotions/stories.......
-we're able, over time, to abandon our clinging to these emotions/stories....
-we're able, thusly, to free the heart of its burdens
-meditation enables us to know the heart....
-to cultivate the quality of appreciation.....
-to recognize the blessing/goodness of our mother....
5-if we're able to cultivate appreciation for the goodness of our parents, we'll be able to develop appreciation for the goodness in life....
-recognizing the goodness of our parents....
-we recognize our own goodness ....
-we recognize the goodness in all beings....
-we recognize the goodness in life.....
6- recognizing the goodness in ourselves, we act accordingly.....
-we 'repay' our parents for giving us the gift of life by making the most of our lives....
-expressing our goodness....
-taking action in support of the goodness of all beings....
-living with generosity, love, wisdom.....
-reading.....
-"Skillful Giving" (from The Skill of Living)
-"The Heart of Appreciation" (Mother's Day)
-as the Buddha teaches us, it's essential that we learn to cultivate appreciation. appreciation for goodness. the goodness in ourselves, in others, in the world. a profoundly important, elemental, component of appreciation is appreciation for our parents. including, of course, appreciation for our mother. our relationship with our mother has a profound effect in our lives. the karma of this relationship will greatly effect our capacity to know happiness. we should reflect, often, on our gratitude for our mother. in doing so, we remind ourselves that she gave us the gift of life and took care of us when we couldn't take care of ourselves. she went our of her way to help us. our ability to know happiness in this life is related, directly, and profoundly, to our ability to cultivate this quality of appreciation in the heart.
-some things to to remember as you learn to develop "the heart of appreciation"...
1-the Buddha teaches us that we should develop gratitude for our mother...
-this gratitude ... which leads to the heart, to the quality of appreciation, is essential to our ability to know happiness....
-the nature of the conditioned realm is impermanent, inconstant, unpredictable, subject to birth and death....
-we should reflect often on the blessing of our mother....
2- the Buddha teaches the profound karma of our relationship with our parents....
-in terms of cause & effect, the relationship we have with our parents is profoundly important....
-if there is negativity, aversion, resentment ... this will have detrimental effect in our ability to know happiness....
-to the degree that there is appreciation, we will know happiness in life....
3-in cultivating appreciation for our mother, we remember that she gave us the gift of life....
-we would not be here without our parents....
-they gave us the greatest gift we've been given....
-they took care of us when we could not take care of ourselves....
-because of our mother, we have the opportunity to know the goodness of life...
-we have the opportunity to know happiness of heart....
4-meditation practice us enables us to have the equanimity essential to cultivating appreciation....
-meditation enables us to look clearly, objectively at painful emotions/stories that may be habitual in terms of our parents....
-anger, resentment, etc...
-we're able to develop a skillful relationship to these emotions/stories.......
-we're able, over time, to abandon our clinging to these emotions/stories....
-we're able, thusly, to free the heart of its burdens
-meditation enables us to know the heart....
-to cultivate the quality of appreciation.....
-to recognize the blessing/goodness of our mother....
5-if we're able to cultivate appreciation for the goodness of our parents, we'll be able to develop appreciation for the goodness in life....
-recognizing the goodness of our parents....
-we recognize our own goodness ....
-we recognize the goodness in all beings....
-we recognize the goodness in life.....
6- recognizing the goodness in ourselves, we act accordingly.....
-we 'repay' our parents for giving us the gift of life by making the most of our lives....
-expressing our goodness....
-taking action in support of the goodness of all beings....
-living with generosity, love, wisdom.....
-reading.....
-"Skillful Giving" (from The Skill of Living)
| skillful_giving_skill_of_living_pdf.pdf |
"And how is a person of integrity a person of integrity in the views he holds? There is the case where a person of integrity is one who holds a view like this: 'There is what is given, what is offered, what is sacrificed. There are fruits & results of good & bad actions. There is this world & the next world. There is mother & father. There are spontaneously reborn beings; there are brahmans & contemplatives who, faring rightly & practicing rightly, proclaim this world & the next after having directly known & realized it for themselves.' This is how a person of integrity is a person of integrity in the views he holds."
(MN 110)
"Monks, I will teach you the level of a person of no integrity and the level of a person of integrity. Listen & pay close attention. I will speak."
"As you say, lord," the monks responded.
The Blessed One said, "Now what is the level of a person of no integrity? A person of no integrity is ungrateful & unthankful. This ingratitude, this lack of thankfulness, is advocated by rude people. It is entirely on the level of people of no integrity. A person of integrity is grateful & thankful. This gratitude, this thankfulness, is advocated by civil people. It is entirely on the level of people of integrity."
"I tell you, monks, there are two people who are not easy to repay. Which two? Your mother & father. Even if you were to carry your mother on one shoulder & your father on the other shoulder for 100 years, and were to look after them by anointing, massaging, bathing, & rubbing their limbs, and they were to defecate & urinate right there [on your shoulders], you would not in that way pay or repay your parents. If you were to establish your mother & father in absolute sovereignty over this great earth, abounding in the seven treasures, you would not in that way pay or repay your parents. Why is that? Mother & father do much for their children. They care for them, they nourish them, they introduce them to this world.
But anyone who rouses his unbelieving mother & father, settles & establishes them in conviction; rouses his unvirtuous mother & father, settles & establishes them in virtue; rouses his stingy mother & father, settles & establishes them in generosity; rouses his foolish mother & father, settles & establishes them in discernment: To this extent one pays & repays one's mother & father."
(AN 2.31)
This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "Living with Brahma are those families where, in the home, mother & father are revered by the children. Living with the first devas are those families where, in the home, mother & father are revered by the children. Living with the first teachers are those families where, in the home, mother & father are revered by the children. Living with those worthy of gifts are those families where, in the home, mother & father are revered by the children. 'Brahma' is a designation for mother & father. 'The first devas' is a designation for mother & father. 'The first teachers' is a designation for mother & father. 'Those worthy of gifts' is a designation for mother & father. Why is that? Mother & father do much for their children. They care for them, nourish them, introduce them to this world."
Mother & father,
compassionate to their family,
are called
Brahma,
first teachers,
those worthy of gifts
from their children.
So the wise should pay them
homage,
honor
with food & drink
clothing & bedding
anointing & bathing
& washing their feet.
Performing these services to their parents,
the wise
are praised right here
and after death
rejoice in heaven.
(Iti 106)
She's now the only mother you have. You've depended on her ever since you were born: to be your teacher, your nurse, your doctor — she was everything for you. This is the benefaction she gave in raising you. She gave you knowledge; she provided for your needs and gave you wealth. Everything you have — the fact that you have children and grandchildren, nice homes, nice occupations, the fact that you can send your children to get an education — the fact that you even have yourself: What does that come from? It comes from the benefaction of your parents who gave you an inheritance so that your family line is the way it is.
The Buddha thus taught benefaction and gratitude. These two qualities complement each other. Benefaction is doing good for others. When we've received that goodness, received that help: Whoever has raised us, whoever has made it possible for us to live, whether it's a man or a woman, a relative or not, that person is our benefactor.
Gratitude is our response. When we've received help and support from benefactors, we appreciate that benefaction. That's gratitude. Whatever they need, whatever difficulty they're in, we should be willing to make sacrifices for them, to take on the duty of helping them. This is because benefaction and gratitude are two qualities that undergird the world so that your family doesn't scatter, so that it's at peace, so that it's as solid and stable as it is.
(Ajaan Chah)
May 4
-"Faith in the Goodness in Life"
-there is difficulty in life. the conditioned realm is impermanent, inconstant, unpredictable, subject to birth and death. as human beings we are subject to aging, illness, death, separation. as dharma students we're asked to acknowledge and understand the difficult nature of the conditioned realm. our tendency may be to fixate on the difficulty in our human experience and, in turn, involve ourselves in wanting things to be different. in understanding our experience, we develop equanimity and insight. this insight includes, importantly, understanding that there is goodness in life. there is a goodness that transcends conditioned things. it is essential, if we are to know happiness in life, that we come to understand the goodness in life. we learn, as dharma students, to incline to knowing the goodness in life. we develop faith in the goodness in life.
-some things to to remember as you learn to develop "faith in the goodness in life"...
1-the Buddha teaches us that we must develop insight into "suffering & the end of suffering"....
-we understand that there is difficulty in life....
-the nature of the conditioned realm is impermanent, inconstant, unpredictable, subject to birth and death....
-we understand that there is goodness in life....
-there is that which transcends conditioned experience....
-true happiness....
2- our tendency is to fixate on that which is difficult....
-if we fixate on that which is inherently difficult ... we will suffer ... we will never know the goodness in life.......
-this tendency to want the conditioned realm to be different than what it is leads to craving....
-wanting....
-wanting what we don't have....
-not wanting what we have....
-craving, the Buddha tells us, is the root of our suffering....
3-as dharma students we shift away from a preoccupation with conditioned things....
-we learn to decrease our involvement with the things of the world: sense pleasure, material gain, etc....
-we understand that a true happiness is not found in these things....
-a mark of development in dharma practice includes the growth of disenchantment with the "things of the world'....
4-we develop in right view: there is goodness in life....
-the Buddha's path leads us to the understanding that there is goodness in life....
-this goodness is everpresent...
-this goodness can be known........
-in the body....
-we learn to be in tune with the dharma inside....
-our inherent goodness.....
-our task, as dharma students, is to incline to knowing this goodness....
5-we develop faith in the goodness in life....
-faith in awakening....
-awakening ... is awakening to the goodness in life ....
-reading.....
-"Faith in Awakening" (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying at Varanasi in the Game Refuge at Isipatana. There he addressed the group of five monks:
"There are these two extremes that are not to be indulged in by one who has gone forth. Which two? That which is devoted to sensual pleasure with reference to sensual objects: base, vulgar, common, ignoble, unprofitable; and that which is devoted to self-affliction: painful, ignoble, unprofitable. Avoiding both of these extremes, the middle way realized by the Tathagata — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
"And what is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding? Precisely this Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding."
(SN 56.11)
"For a lay person, there are these five rewards of conviction. Which five?
"When the truly good people in the world show compassion, they will first show compassion to people of conviction, and not to people without conviction. When visiting, they first visit people of conviction, and not people without conviction. When accepting gifts, they will first accept those from people with conviction, and not from people without conviction. When teaching the Dhamma, they will first teach those with conviction, and not those without conviction. A person of conviction, on the break-up of the body, after death, will arise in a good destination, the heavenly world. For a lay person, these are the five rewards of conviction.
"Just as a large banyan tree, on level ground where four roads meet, is a haven for the birds all around, even so a lay person of conviction is a haven for many people: monks, nuns, male lay followers, & female lay followers."
A massive tree
whose branches carry fruits & leaves,
with trunks & roots
& an abundance of fruits:
There the birds find rest.
In that delightful sphere
they make their home.
Those seeking shade
come to the shade,
those seeking fruit
find fruit to eat.
So with the person consummate
in virtue & conviction,
humble, sensitive, gentle,
delightful, & mild:
To him come those without effluent --
free from passion,
free from aversion,
free from delusion --
the field of merit for the world.
They teach him the Dhamma
that dispels all stress.
And when he understands,
he is freed from effluents,
totally unbound.
(AN 5.38)
-"Faith in the Goodness in Life"
-there is difficulty in life. the conditioned realm is impermanent, inconstant, unpredictable, subject to birth and death. as human beings we are subject to aging, illness, death, separation. as dharma students we're asked to acknowledge and understand the difficult nature of the conditioned realm. our tendency may be to fixate on the difficulty in our human experience and, in turn, involve ourselves in wanting things to be different. in understanding our experience, we develop equanimity and insight. this insight includes, importantly, understanding that there is goodness in life. there is a goodness that transcends conditioned things. it is essential, if we are to know happiness in life, that we come to understand the goodness in life. we learn, as dharma students, to incline to knowing the goodness in life. we develop faith in the goodness in life.
-some things to to remember as you learn to develop "faith in the goodness in life"...
1-the Buddha teaches us that we must develop insight into "suffering & the end of suffering"....
-we understand that there is difficulty in life....
-the nature of the conditioned realm is impermanent, inconstant, unpredictable, subject to birth and death....
-we understand that there is goodness in life....
-there is that which transcends conditioned experience....
-true happiness....
2- our tendency is to fixate on that which is difficult....
-if we fixate on that which is inherently difficult ... we will suffer ... we will never know the goodness in life.......
-this tendency to want the conditioned realm to be different than what it is leads to craving....
-wanting....
-wanting what we don't have....
-not wanting what we have....
-craving, the Buddha tells us, is the root of our suffering....
3-as dharma students we shift away from a preoccupation with conditioned things....
-we learn to decrease our involvement with the things of the world: sense pleasure, material gain, etc....
-we understand that a true happiness is not found in these things....
-a mark of development in dharma practice includes the growth of disenchantment with the "things of the world'....
4-we develop in right view: there is goodness in life....
-the Buddha's path leads us to the understanding that there is goodness in life....
-this goodness is everpresent...
-this goodness can be known........
-in the body....
-we learn to be in tune with the dharma inside....
-our inherent goodness.....
-our task, as dharma students, is to incline to knowing this goodness....
5-we develop faith in the goodness in life....
-faith in awakening....
-awakening ... is awakening to the goodness in life ....
-reading.....
-"Faith in Awakening" (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying at Varanasi in the Game Refuge at Isipatana. There he addressed the group of five monks:
"There are these two extremes that are not to be indulged in by one who has gone forth. Which two? That which is devoted to sensual pleasure with reference to sensual objects: base, vulgar, common, ignoble, unprofitable; and that which is devoted to self-affliction: painful, ignoble, unprofitable. Avoiding both of these extremes, the middle way realized by the Tathagata — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
"And what is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding? Precisely this Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding."
(SN 56.11)
"For a lay person, there are these five rewards of conviction. Which five?
"When the truly good people in the world show compassion, they will first show compassion to people of conviction, and not to people without conviction. When visiting, they first visit people of conviction, and not people without conviction. When accepting gifts, they will first accept those from people with conviction, and not from people without conviction. When teaching the Dhamma, they will first teach those with conviction, and not those without conviction. A person of conviction, on the break-up of the body, after death, will arise in a good destination, the heavenly world. For a lay person, these are the five rewards of conviction.
"Just as a large banyan tree, on level ground where four roads meet, is a haven for the birds all around, even so a lay person of conviction is a haven for many people: monks, nuns, male lay followers, & female lay followers."
A massive tree
whose branches carry fruits & leaves,
with trunks & roots
& an abundance of fruits:
There the birds find rest.
In that delightful sphere
they make their home.
Those seeking shade
come to the shade,
those seeking fruit
find fruit to eat.
So with the person consummate
in virtue & conviction,
humble, sensitive, gentle,
delightful, & mild:
To him come those without effluent --
free from passion,
free from aversion,
free from delusion --
the field of merit for the world.
They teach him the Dhamma
that dispels all stress.
And when he understands,
he is freed from effluents,
totally unbound.
(AN 5.38)
April 13
-"Your True Home"
-dharma practice, as the Buddha explains, is a practice of knowing. knowing the reality of our experience. in real time. according to reality. it's a knowing that transcends intellectual knowing. it's a knowing that can not be accomplish by the "thinking mind." although the thinking mind supports us in developing this knowing. this knowing is developed through the body. and ultimately in the heart. we find, in our journey of exploration, that we have a reliable home in the breath, a pleasant abiding in the body. the breath/body is a good home for the mind. but our true home is the heart. the heart is the place of the truth, wisdom, love. it is always there. and we can know it.
-some things to to remember as you learn to come to "your true home"...
1-the path is a path of knowing things according to reality....
-this knowing transcends the limits of intellectual knowing ... the sort of knowing that can be achieved by thinking....
2- we learn, as dharma students, to know things in the body.....
-we understand the reality of our experience through knowing it in the body....
-in real time....
-as the Buddha teaches, "according to reality"....
3-the development of mindfulness of the body is essential to awakening....
-we learn to develop mindfulness of the body through the practice of breath meditation....
-in our meditation it is very important to develop full body awareness....
-for this reason we should try to practice "step 3" of the steps of breath meditation (establishing an abiding in the body) whenever we practice meditation....
4-remembering what's happened in the past has a certain value....
-in practicing meditation ... and in all the postures of our lives ... we seek to abandon unskillful thinking....
-the so-called fermentations...
-thinking informed by unskillful mental qualities.........
-thinking about ourselves, our lives, and the "world"....
-thinking imbued with restlessness....
-thinking that comprises the wandering, daydreaming mind ... including pleasant thoughts of past & future....
-but certain ways of remembering are important....
-we remember our goodness, the goodness of others, the goodness in life ... and, in turn, we cultivate gratitude.....
-we remember what we've learned, as dharma students....
-we remember how we've learned to "know" things according to reality....
-how we've learned to know the breath ... the body ... the heart....
-how we've learned to observe experience ... how we've learned to bring awareness to experience....
5-we find, as dharma students, a good home for the mind....
-the breath is a good home for the mind....
-having a pleasant abiding in the breath/body ... supports us in our efforts to meet the challenges & difficulties in life ....
-ultimately we have a home in the heart....
-the heart is your true home....
-it's true ... always there ... timeless....
-it can be known (according to reality)....
-in the midst of life, we learn to trust in the heart ... to see us through ... to enable us to know a greater happiness.....
-reading.....
-"Nibbedhika Sutta: Penetrative" (AN 6.63)
They awaken, always wide awake:
Gotama’s disciples
whose mindfulness, both day & night,
is constantly immersed
in the body.
(Dhp 299)
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying in Savatthi at Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's monastery. Now at that time a large number of monks, after the meal, on returning from their alms round, had gathered at the meeting hall when this discussion arose: "Isn't it amazing, friends! Isn't it astounding! — the extent to which mindfulness immersed in the body, when developed & pursued, is said by the Blessed One who knows, who sees — the worthy one, rightly self-awakened — to be of great fruit & great benefit."
(MN 119)
"I will teach you the penetrative explanation that is a Dhamma explanation. Listen & pay close attention. I will speak."
"As you say, lord," the monks responded.
The Blessed One said: "And which penetrative explanation is a Dhamma explanation?
"Sensuality should be known. The cause by which sensuality comes into play should be known. The diversity in sensuality should be known. The result of sensuality should be known. The cessation of sensuality should be known. The path of practice for the cessation of sensuality should be known.
"Feeling should be known. The cause by which feeling comes into play should be known. The diversity in feeling should be known. The result of feeling should be known. The cessation of feeling should be known. The path of practice for the cessation of feeling should be known.
"Perception should be known. The cause by which perception comes into play should be known. The diversity in perception should be known. The result of perception should be known. The cessation of perception should be known. The path of practice for the cessation of perception should be known.
"Fermentations[1] should be known. The cause by which fermentations come into play should be known. The diversity in fermentations should be known. The result of fermentations should be known. The cessation of fermentations should be known. The path of practice for the cessation of fermentations should be known
"Kamma should be known. The cause by which kamma comes into play should be known. The diversity in kamma should be known. The result of kamma should be known. The cessation of kamma should be known. The path of practice for the cessation of kamma should be known.
"Stress should be known. The cause by which stress comes into play should be known. The diversity in stress should be known. The result of stress should be known. The cessation of stress should be known. The path of practice for the cessation of stress should be known."
(AN 6.63)
Where Everything Is Music (Rumi)
Don’t worry about saving these songs!
And if one of our instruments breaks,
it doesn’t matter.
We have fallen into the place
where everything is music.
The strumming and the flute notes
rise into the atmosphere,
and even if the whole world’s harp
should burn up, there will still be
hidden instruments playing.
So the candle flickers and goes out.
We have a piece of flint, and a spark.
This singing art is sea foam.
The graceful movements come from a pearl
somewhere on the ocean floor.
Poems reach up like spindrift and the edge
of driftwood along the beach, wanting!
They derive
from a slow and powerful root
that we can’t see.
Stop the words now.
Open the window in the centre of your chest,
and let the spirits fly in and out.
-"Your True Home"
-dharma practice, as the Buddha explains, is a practice of knowing. knowing the reality of our experience. in real time. according to reality. it's a knowing that transcends intellectual knowing. it's a knowing that can not be accomplish by the "thinking mind." although the thinking mind supports us in developing this knowing. this knowing is developed through the body. and ultimately in the heart. we find, in our journey of exploration, that we have a reliable home in the breath, a pleasant abiding in the body. the breath/body is a good home for the mind. but our true home is the heart. the heart is the place of the truth, wisdom, love. it is always there. and we can know it.
-some things to to remember as you learn to come to "your true home"...
1-the path is a path of knowing things according to reality....
-this knowing transcends the limits of intellectual knowing ... the sort of knowing that can be achieved by thinking....
2- we learn, as dharma students, to know things in the body.....
-we understand the reality of our experience through knowing it in the body....
-in real time....
-as the Buddha teaches, "according to reality"....
3-the development of mindfulness of the body is essential to awakening....
-we learn to develop mindfulness of the body through the practice of breath meditation....
-in our meditation it is very important to develop full body awareness....
-for this reason we should try to practice "step 3" of the steps of breath meditation (establishing an abiding in the body) whenever we practice meditation....
4-remembering what's happened in the past has a certain value....
-in practicing meditation ... and in all the postures of our lives ... we seek to abandon unskillful thinking....
-the so-called fermentations...
-thinking informed by unskillful mental qualities.........
-thinking about ourselves, our lives, and the "world"....
-thinking imbued with restlessness....
-thinking that comprises the wandering, daydreaming mind ... including pleasant thoughts of past & future....
-but certain ways of remembering are important....
-we remember our goodness, the goodness of others, the goodness in life ... and, in turn, we cultivate gratitude.....
-we remember what we've learned, as dharma students....
-we remember how we've learned to "know" things according to reality....
-how we've learned to know the breath ... the body ... the heart....
-how we've learned to observe experience ... how we've learned to bring awareness to experience....
5-we find, as dharma students, a good home for the mind....
-the breath is a good home for the mind....
-having a pleasant abiding in the breath/body ... supports us in our efforts to meet the challenges & difficulties in life ....
-ultimately we have a home in the heart....
-the heart is your true home....
-it's true ... always there ... timeless....
-it can be known (according to reality)....
-in the midst of life, we learn to trust in the heart ... to see us through ... to enable us to know a greater happiness.....
-reading.....
-"Nibbedhika Sutta: Penetrative" (AN 6.63)
They awaken, always wide awake:
Gotama’s disciples
whose mindfulness, both day & night,
is constantly immersed
in the body.
(Dhp 299)
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying in Savatthi at Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's monastery. Now at that time a large number of monks, after the meal, on returning from their alms round, had gathered at the meeting hall when this discussion arose: "Isn't it amazing, friends! Isn't it astounding! — the extent to which mindfulness immersed in the body, when developed & pursued, is said by the Blessed One who knows, who sees — the worthy one, rightly self-awakened — to be of great fruit & great benefit."
(MN 119)
"I will teach you the penetrative explanation that is a Dhamma explanation. Listen & pay close attention. I will speak."
"As you say, lord," the monks responded.
The Blessed One said: "And which penetrative explanation is a Dhamma explanation?
"Sensuality should be known. The cause by which sensuality comes into play should be known. The diversity in sensuality should be known. The result of sensuality should be known. The cessation of sensuality should be known. The path of practice for the cessation of sensuality should be known.
"Feeling should be known. The cause by which feeling comes into play should be known. The diversity in feeling should be known. The result of feeling should be known. The cessation of feeling should be known. The path of practice for the cessation of feeling should be known.
"Perception should be known. The cause by which perception comes into play should be known. The diversity in perception should be known. The result of perception should be known. The cessation of perception should be known. The path of practice for the cessation of perception should be known.
"Fermentations[1] should be known. The cause by which fermentations come into play should be known. The diversity in fermentations should be known. The result of fermentations should be known. The cessation of fermentations should be known. The path of practice for the cessation of fermentations should be known
"Kamma should be known. The cause by which kamma comes into play should be known. The diversity in kamma should be known. The result of kamma should be known. The cessation of kamma should be known. The path of practice for the cessation of kamma should be known.
"Stress should be known. The cause by which stress comes into play should be known. The diversity in stress should be known. The result of stress should be known. The cessation of stress should be known. The path of practice for the cessation of stress should be known."
(AN 6.63)
Where Everything Is Music (Rumi)
Don’t worry about saving these songs!
And if one of our instruments breaks,
it doesn’t matter.
We have fallen into the place
where everything is music.
The strumming and the flute notes
rise into the atmosphere,
and even if the whole world’s harp
should burn up, there will still be
hidden instruments playing.
So the candle flickers and goes out.
We have a piece of flint, and a spark.
This singing art is sea foam.
The graceful movements come from a pearl
somewhere on the ocean floor.
Poems reach up like spindrift and the edge
of driftwood along the beach, wanting!
They derive
from a slow and powerful root
that we can’t see.
Stop the words now.
Open the window in the centre of your chest,
and let the spirits fly in and out.
March 30
-"The Verb of Compassion"
-compassion is a quality of heart & mind that informs skillful action. as such, compassion is a form of action. a verb. we develop this action by following certain steps. it is a skill. the skill includes recognizing when there is suffering, in ourselves and in others. then setting skillful intention, through the use of fabrication. then taking action. in cultivating this skill it is essential that we bring awareness to habitual patterns of mind, our past karma. recognizing past karma, bringing awareness to it, is key in our efforts to change, to change our karma, to change our actions. if we do this, we will be able to change our actions. we will be able to transform our lives.
-some things to to remember as you learn to develop action informed by "the verb of compassion"...
1-compassion is an action....
-we develop compassion by taking skillful action, action informed by compassion....
-action informed by the heart's response to suffering....
-the wish for freedom from suffering....
2- we develop action informed by compassion by practicing a skill.....
-the skill includes:
-recognizing suffering....
-in others ... in ourselves....
-cultivating skillful intention....
-using fabrication....
-taking action.....
-monitoring our action to see to it that we're staying to our skillful intention....
3-we seek to practice this skill in all our postures....
-in blatant and subtle ways....
-in regard to ourselves and others....
4-being aware of the habitual patterns of mind is essential to developing action informed by compassion....
-in developing action informed by compassion we are developing skillful action ... we are seeking to abandon our past karma....
-this asks that we are aware of our past karma...
-our habitual patterns of mind........
-in real time....
-developing meditation/concentration/jhana enables us to change our karma....
-we have ease ... we're not thrown so much by past karma.....
-we able to be mindful and alert ... we're able to see past karma in real time....
-we have equanimity ... we have space .... we're able to bring new skillful intention into this space.....
5-we have the ability to change our karma....
-if we don't abandon past karma ... and learn to take action informed by skillful intention ... our hearts will remain burdened....
-we won't know a greater happiness in our lives....
-the good news is ... we can change our karma....
-by following the skills the Buddha teaches....
-if we learn to abandon past karma ... and to cultivate skillful action, action informed by compassion ... we will move toward a greater happiness....
-happiness of heart....
-reading.....
-"Head & Heart Together" (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
-"Karma" (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
"Furthermore, there is the case where a monk might say, 'Although compassion has been developed, pursued, handed the reins and taken as a basis, given a grounding, steadied, consolidated, and well-undertaken by me as my awareness-release, still viciousness keeps overpowering my mind.' He should be told, 'Don't say that. You shouldn't speak in that way. Don't misrepresent the Blessed One, for it's not right to misrepresent the Blessed One, and the Blessed One wouldn't say that. It's impossible, there is no way that — when compassion has been developed, pursued, handed the reins and taken as a basis, given a grounding, steadied, consolidated, and well-undertaken as an awareness-release — viciousness would still keep overpowering the mind. That possibility doesn't exist, for this is the escape from viciousness: compassion as an awareness-release.'"
(AN 6.13)
So, instead of promoting resigned powerlessness, the early Buddhist notion of karma focused on the liberating potential of what the mind is doing with every moment. Who you are — what you come from — is not anywhere near as important as the mind's motives for what it is doing right now. Even though the past may account for many of the inequalities we see in life, our measure as human beings is not the hand we've been dealt, for that hand can change at any moment. We take our own measure by how well we play the hand we've got. If you're suffering, you try not to continue the unskillful mental habits that would keep that particular karmic feedback going. If you see that other people are suffering, and you're in a position to help, you focus not on their karmic past but your karmic opportunity in the present: Someday you may find yourself in the same predicament that they're in now, so here's your opportunity to act in the way you'd like them to act toward you when that day comes.
(Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
-"The Verb of Compassion"
-compassion is a quality of heart & mind that informs skillful action. as such, compassion is a form of action. a verb. we develop this action by following certain steps. it is a skill. the skill includes recognizing when there is suffering, in ourselves and in others. then setting skillful intention, through the use of fabrication. then taking action. in cultivating this skill it is essential that we bring awareness to habitual patterns of mind, our past karma. recognizing past karma, bringing awareness to it, is key in our efforts to change, to change our karma, to change our actions. if we do this, we will be able to change our actions. we will be able to transform our lives.
-some things to to remember as you learn to develop action informed by "the verb of compassion"...
1-compassion is an action....
-we develop compassion by taking skillful action, action informed by compassion....
-action informed by the heart's response to suffering....
-the wish for freedom from suffering....
2- we develop action informed by compassion by practicing a skill.....
-the skill includes:
-recognizing suffering....
-in others ... in ourselves....
-cultivating skillful intention....
-using fabrication....
-taking action.....
-monitoring our action to see to it that we're staying to our skillful intention....
3-we seek to practice this skill in all our postures....
-in blatant and subtle ways....
-in regard to ourselves and others....
4-being aware of the habitual patterns of mind is essential to developing action informed by compassion....
-in developing action informed by compassion we are developing skillful action ... we are seeking to abandon our past karma....
-this asks that we are aware of our past karma...
-our habitual patterns of mind........
-in real time....
-developing meditation/concentration/jhana enables us to change our karma....
-we have ease ... we're not thrown so much by past karma.....
-we able to be mindful and alert ... we're able to see past karma in real time....
-we have equanimity ... we have space .... we're able to bring new skillful intention into this space.....
5-we have the ability to change our karma....
-if we don't abandon past karma ... and learn to take action informed by skillful intention ... our hearts will remain burdened....
-we won't know a greater happiness in our lives....
-the good news is ... we can change our karma....
-by following the skills the Buddha teaches....
-if we learn to abandon past karma ... and to cultivate skillful action, action informed by compassion ... we will move toward a greater happiness....
-happiness of heart....
-reading.....
-"Head & Heart Together" (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
-"Karma" (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
"Furthermore, there is the case where a monk might say, 'Although compassion has been developed, pursued, handed the reins and taken as a basis, given a grounding, steadied, consolidated, and well-undertaken by me as my awareness-release, still viciousness keeps overpowering my mind.' He should be told, 'Don't say that. You shouldn't speak in that way. Don't misrepresent the Blessed One, for it's not right to misrepresent the Blessed One, and the Blessed One wouldn't say that. It's impossible, there is no way that — when compassion has been developed, pursued, handed the reins and taken as a basis, given a grounding, steadied, consolidated, and well-undertaken as an awareness-release — viciousness would still keep overpowering the mind. That possibility doesn't exist, for this is the escape from viciousness: compassion as an awareness-release.'"
(AN 6.13)
So, instead of promoting resigned powerlessness, the early Buddhist notion of karma focused on the liberating potential of what the mind is doing with every moment. Who you are — what you come from — is not anywhere near as important as the mind's motives for what it is doing right now. Even though the past may account for many of the inequalities we see in life, our measure as human beings is not the hand we've been dealt, for that hand can change at any moment. We take our own measure by how well we play the hand we've got. If you're suffering, you try not to continue the unskillful mental habits that would keep that particular karmic feedback going. If you see that other people are suffering, and you're in a position to help, you focus not on their karmic past but your karmic opportunity in the present: Someday you may find yourself in the same predicament that they're in now, so here's your opportunity to act in the way you'd like them to act toward you when that day comes.
(Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
March 23
-"Four Skills for Cultivating Skillful Thinking"
-as the Buddha realized, if we are going to know a greater happiness, if we are going to make the most of our lives, it is essential to learn to cultivate skillful thinking. all that we are arises, the Buddha teaches us, with our thinking. our path is one of abandoning unskillful thinking and cultivating skillful thinking. the Buddha offers specific guidelines for skillful thinking. the teachings on the four sublime abiding offer a template for cultivate skillful thinking. the practice requires persistence, patience, and resolve. it is a practice that we all can develop; and if we do, it will benefit us greatly.
-some things to to remember as you learn to practice "cultivating skillful thinking"...
1-there are basic guidelines for fabricating skillful thinking....
-as the Buddha explains in the sutta "Two Sorts of Thinking," skill fabrication....
-should be practiced regularly....
-should be kept very simple....
-in fabricating skillful thinking, we should keep the thinking to a few words....
-if we use too much thinking, the mind tires, and there's a tendency to veer into unskillful thinking.....
-the breath is our center....
-we keep the mind on the breath in all postures....
-we fabricate skillful thinking, keeping it simple, when the moment calls for it.....
2- the sublime abidings offer a template for skillful thinking.....
-we seek to cultivate thinking informed by....
-lovingkindness (metta)....
-compassion....
-appreciation....
-equanimity.....
3-skillful thinking includes cultivating skillful intention: intention informed by lovingkindness....
-in cultivating skillful intention....
-in taking action....
-we seek what the mind is like....
-we cultivate skillful intention: intention informed by lovingkindness....
-we fabricate the intention to act with lovingkindness.....
-while acting, we check to see if our intention is informed with lovingkindness....
-when necessary, we re-set the intention.....
4-skillful thinking includes cultivating skillful intention: intention informed by compassion....
-we cultivate skillful intention informed by compassion when there is suffering....
-when we are experiencing suffering....
-when others are experiencing suffering........
-we cultivate skillful intention: intention informed by compassion....
-we fabricate the intention to act with compassion.....
-while acting, we check to see if our intention is informed with compassion....
-when necessary, we re-set the intention.....
5-skillful thinking includes cultivating thinking imbued with appreciation....
-we cultivate thinking informed by appreciation in response to goodness/blessings....
-our goodness....
-the goodness in the world.....
-we remember our blessings....
-in meditation....
-in all postures....
-when we experience goodness ... our own, or the goodness in the world....
-when there is darkness in the mind.....
-the skill includes....
a-reflecting on our blessings....
-the categories of blessings include....
-our goodness....
-generosity....
-virtue....
-skillful effort....
-the goodness of others....
-the goodness of the dharma....
-the preciousness of life....
b-inclining to gratitude.....
c-inclining to appreciation.....
6-skillful thinking includes cultivating thinking imbued with equanimity....
-we cultivate thinking informed by equanimity in response to change/difficulty....
-the inherent difficulty in the conditioned realm....
-illness/aging/death/separation.....
-the skill includes....
-reflecting on the truth of change....
-the truth of illness/aging/death/separation....
-the truth of the inherently unsatisfactory nature of the conditioned realm.....
-reading.....
-"Two Sorts of Thinking" (MN 19)
-"The Road to Nirvana is Paved with Skillful Intentions" (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
-"Taking Joy" (from The Skill of Living)
-"Four Skills for Cultivating Skillful Thinking"
-as the Buddha realized, if we are going to know a greater happiness, if we are going to make the most of our lives, it is essential to learn to cultivate skillful thinking. all that we are arises, the Buddha teaches us, with our thinking. our path is one of abandoning unskillful thinking and cultivating skillful thinking. the Buddha offers specific guidelines for skillful thinking. the teachings on the four sublime abiding offer a template for cultivate skillful thinking. the practice requires persistence, patience, and resolve. it is a practice that we all can develop; and if we do, it will benefit us greatly.
-some things to to remember as you learn to practice "cultivating skillful thinking"...
1-there are basic guidelines for fabricating skillful thinking....
-as the Buddha explains in the sutta "Two Sorts of Thinking," skill fabrication....
-should be practiced regularly....
-should be kept very simple....
-in fabricating skillful thinking, we should keep the thinking to a few words....
-if we use too much thinking, the mind tires, and there's a tendency to veer into unskillful thinking.....
-the breath is our center....
-we keep the mind on the breath in all postures....
-we fabricate skillful thinking, keeping it simple, when the moment calls for it.....
2- the sublime abidings offer a template for skillful thinking.....
-we seek to cultivate thinking informed by....
-lovingkindness (metta)....
-compassion....
-appreciation....
-equanimity.....
3-skillful thinking includes cultivating skillful intention: intention informed by lovingkindness....
-in cultivating skillful intention....
-in taking action....
-we seek what the mind is like....
-we cultivate skillful intention: intention informed by lovingkindness....
-we fabricate the intention to act with lovingkindness.....
-while acting, we check to see if our intention is informed with lovingkindness....
-when necessary, we re-set the intention.....
4-skillful thinking includes cultivating skillful intention: intention informed by compassion....
-we cultivate skillful intention informed by compassion when there is suffering....
-when we are experiencing suffering....
-when others are experiencing suffering........
-we cultivate skillful intention: intention informed by compassion....
-we fabricate the intention to act with compassion.....
-while acting, we check to see if our intention is informed with compassion....
-when necessary, we re-set the intention.....
5-skillful thinking includes cultivating thinking imbued with appreciation....
-we cultivate thinking informed by appreciation in response to goodness/blessings....
-our goodness....
-the goodness in the world.....
-we remember our blessings....
-in meditation....
-in all postures....
-when we experience goodness ... our own, or the goodness in the world....
-when there is darkness in the mind.....
-the skill includes....
a-reflecting on our blessings....
-the categories of blessings include....
-our goodness....
-generosity....
-virtue....
-skillful effort....
-the goodness of others....
-the goodness of the dharma....
-the preciousness of life....
b-inclining to gratitude.....
c-inclining to appreciation.....
6-skillful thinking includes cultivating thinking imbued with equanimity....
-we cultivate thinking informed by equanimity in response to change/difficulty....
-the inherent difficulty in the conditioned realm....
-illness/aging/death/separation.....
-the skill includes....
-reflecting on the truth of change....
-the truth of illness/aging/death/separation....
-the truth of the inherently unsatisfactory nature of the conditioned realm.....
-reading.....
-"Two Sorts of Thinking" (MN 19)
-"The Road to Nirvana is Paved with Skillful Intentions" (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
-"Taking Joy" (from The Skill of Living)
| skill_of_living_taking_joy.pdf |
"Abandon what is unskillful, monks. It is possible to abandon what is unskillful. If it were not possible to abandon what is unskillful, I would not say to you, 'Abandon what is unskillful.' But because it is possible to abandon what is unskillful, I say to you, 'Abandon what is unskillful.' If this abandoning of what is unskillful were conducive to harm and pain, I would not say to you, 'Abandon what is unskillful.' But because this abandoning of what is unskillful is conducive to benefit and pleasure, I say to you, 'Abandon what is unskillful.'
"Develop what is skillful, monks. It is possible to develop what is skillful. If it were not possible to develop what is skillful, I would not say to you, 'Develop what is skillful.' But because it is possible to develop what is skillful, I say to you, 'Develop what is skillful.' If this development of what is skillful were conducive to harm and pain, I would not say to you, 'Develop what is skillful.' But because this development of what is skillful is conducive to benefit and pleasure, I say to you, 'Develop what is skillful.'"
(AN 2.19)
"And as I remained thus heedful, ardent, & resolute, thinking imbued with non-ill will arose in me. I discerned that 'Thinking imbued with non-ill will has arisen in me; and that leads neither to my own affliction, nor to the affliction of others, nor to the affliction of both. It fosters discernment, promotes lack of vexation, & leads to Unbinding. If I were to think & ponder in line with that even for a night... even for a day... even for a day & night, I do not envision any danger that would come from it, except that thinking & pondering a long time would tire the body. When the body is tired, the mind is disturbed; and a disturbed mind is far from concentration.' So I steadied my mind right within, settled, unified, & concentrated it. Why is that? So that my mind would not be disturbed.
"And as I remained thus heedful, ardent, & resolute, thinking imbued with harmlessness arose in me. I discerned that 'Thinking imbued with harmlessness has arisen in me; and that leads neither to my own affliction, nor to the affliction of others, nor to the affliction of both. It fosters discernment, promotes lack of vexation, & leads to Unbinding. If I were to think & ponder in line with that even for a night... even for a day... even for a day & night, I do not envision any danger that would come from it, except that thinking & pondering a long time would tire the body. When the body is tired, the mind is disturbed; and a disturbed mind is far from concentration.' So I steadied my mind right within, settled, unified, & concentrated it. Why is that? So that my mind would not be disturbed.
"Whatever a monk keeps pursuing with his thinking & pondering, that becomes the inclination of his awareness. If a monk keeps pursuing thinking imbued with renunciation, abandoning thinking imbued with sensuality, his mind is bent by that thinking imbued with renunciation. If a monk keeps pursuing thinking imbued with non-ill will, abandoning thinking imbued with ill will, his mind is bent by that thinking imbued with non-ill will. If a monk keeps pursuing thinking imbued with harmlessness, abandoning thinking imbued with harmfulness, his mind is bent by that thinking imbued with harmlessness.
"Just as in the last month of the hot season, when all the crops have been gathered into the village, a cowherd would look after his cows: While resting under the shade of a tree or out in the open, he simply keeps himself mindful of 'those cows.' In the same way, I simply kept myself mindful of 'those mental qualities.'
(MN 19)
"There are these five facts that one should reflect on often, whether one is a woman or a man, lay or ordained. Which five?
"'I am subject to aging, have not gone beyond aging.' This is the first fact that one should reflect on often, whether one is a woman or a man, lay or ordained.
"'I am subject to illness, have not gone beyond illness.' ...
"'I am subject to death, have not gone beyond death.' ...
"'I will grow different, separate from all that is dear and appealing to me.' ...
"'I am the owner of my actions, heir to my actions, born of my actions, related through my actions, and have my actions as my arbitrator. Whatever I do, for good or for evil, to that will I fall heir.' ...
"These are the five facts that one should reflect on often, whether one is a woman or a man, lay or ordained."
(AN 5.57)
We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our
thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the
world.
Speak or act with an impure mind
And trouble will follow you
As the wheel follows the ox that draws
the cart.
We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our
thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the
world.
Speak or act with a pure mind
And happiness will follow you
As your shadow, unshakable.
(Dhp I)
Work. Keep digging your well.
Don’t think about getting off from work.
Water is there somewhere.
Submit to a daily practice.
Your loyalty to that
Is a ring on the door.
Keep knocking, and the joy inside
Will eventually open a window
And look out to see who’s there.
(Rumi)
March 16
-"Four Skills for Abandoning Unskillful Thinking"
-as the Buddha, before he became the Buddha, realized, if we are going to awaken, if we are going to know a greater happiness, if we are going to make the most of our lives, it is essential to learn to abandon unskillful thinking. the path the Buddha lays forth offers very basic, practical skills for us to apply in the service of accomplishing this task. if we follow the skills, if we're heedful, ardent, and resolute in our efforts, we can cut down appreciably on unskillful thinking. and if we do, we will certainly know a greater happiness in this life.
-some things to to remember as you learn to practice "abandoning unskillful thinking"...
1-in all postures, in the course of our days, we can practice certain skills in an effort to abandon unskillful thinking....
-typically the mind is pouring our thinking....
-the Buddha called this ongoing thinking "effluents" or "mental fermentations"....
-the goal of the path is, he said, to "end the mental fermentations"..
-this task can be accomplished by practicing certain basic skills....
-in all postures.....
-in our daily lives....
2- heedfulness is the root of these skills.....
-in abandoning unskillful thinking, we're asked to be heedful....
-to pay attention ... to see when we are pursuing thinking.....
-to discern whether the thinking is skillful or unskillful....
-four basic skills for being heedful of thinking.....
3-skill #1....
a)-seeing when we are pursuing thinking ... in a narrative and so forth....
-being heedful....
b)-putting the mind on the breath/body.....
3-skill #2....
a)-seeing when we are pursuing thinking ... in a narrative and so forth....
-being heedful....
b)-observing the thinking....
-with space....
-for 1 or 2 seconds.....
c)-putting the mind on the breath/body.....
3- skill #3....
a)-seeing when we are pursuing thinking ... in a narrative and so forth....
-being heedful....
b)-observing the thinking....
-for 1 or 2 seconds....
c)-questioning the thinking....
-asking a question, such as "is it useful....?"
d)-putting the mind on the breath/body.....….
4-skill #4.....
a)-seeing when we are pursuing thinking ... in a narrative and so forth....
-being heedful....
b)-asking, "what is the mental quality that is driving the thinking".....
c)-bringing awareness to the mental quality....
-ABC....
-Awareness of the mental quality ... as it manifests as felt sense in the body....
-for 1 or 2 seconds....
-Breath....
-Compassion.....
5-in practicing these skills we are heedful, ardent, and resolute.....
-if we are heedful, ardent, and resolute ... we will gradually cut down on unskillful thinking.......
-we will be able to cultivate disenchantment with unskillful thinking....
-reading.....
-"Two Sorts of Thinking" (MN 19)
-"Instructions to Rahula" (MN 61)
-"Two Sorts of Thinking" (from The Skill of Living...)
-"Four Skills for Abandoning Unskillful Thinking"
-as the Buddha, before he became the Buddha, realized, if we are going to awaken, if we are going to know a greater happiness, if we are going to make the most of our lives, it is essential to learn to abandon unskillful thinking. the path the Buddha lays forth offers very basic, practical skills for us to apply in the service of accomplishing this task. if we follow the skills, if we're heedful, ardent, and resolute in our efforts, we can cut down appreciably on unskillful thinking. and if we do, we will certainly know a greater happiness in this life.
-some things to to remember as you learn to practice "abandoning unskillful thinking"...
1-in all postures, in the course of our days, we can practice certain skills in an effort to abandon unskillful thinking....
-typically the mind is pouring our thinking....
-the Buddha called this ongoing thinking "effluents" or "mental fermentations"....
-the goal of the path is, he said, to "end the mental fermentations"..
-this task can be accomplished by practicing certain basic skills....
-in all postures.....
-in our daily lives....
2- heedfulness is the root of these skills.....
-in abandoning unskillful thinking, we're asked to be heedful....
-to pay attention ... to see when we are pursuing thinking.....
-to discern whether the thinking is skillful or unskillful....
-four basic skills for being heedful of thinking.....
3-skill #1....
a)-seeing when we are pursuing thinking ... in a narrative and so forth....
-being heedful....
b)-putting the mind on the breath/body.....
3-skill #2....
a)-seeing when we are pursuing thinking ... in a narrative and so forth....
-being heedful....
b)-observing the thinking....
-with space....
-for 1 or 2 seconds.....
c)-putting the mind on the breath/body.....
3- skill #3....
a)-seeing when we are pursuing thinking ... in a narrative and so forth....
-being heedful....
b)-observing the thinking....
-for 1 or 2 seconds....
c)-questioning the thinking....
-asking a question, such as "is it useful....?"
d)-putting the mind on the breath/body.....….
4-skill #4.....
a)-seeing when we are pursuing thinking ... in a narrative and so forth....
-being heedful....
b)-asking, "what is the mental quality that is driving the thinking".....
c)-bringing awareness to the mental quality....
-ABC....
-Awareness of the mental quality ... as it manifests as felt sense in the body....
-for 1 or 2 seconds....
-Breath....
-Compassion.....
5-in practicing these skills we are heedful, ardent, and resolute.....
-if we are heedful, ardent, and resolute ... we will gradually cut down on unskillful thinking.......
-we will be able to cultivate disenchantment with unskillful thinking....
-reading.....
-"Two Sorts of Thinking" (MN 19)
-"Instructions to Rahula" (MN 61)
-"Two Sorts of Thinking" (from The Skill of Living...)
| two_sorts_of_thinking_skill_of_living_pdf.pdf |
March 9
-"Important Skills"
-the dharma community is a refuge. and it's a place where we learn skills. where we're reminded of the skills we should practice. in the midst of life, in the midst of change, in the midst of disagreeable, stressful experience, we learn to rely on certain skill. one of these important skills includes the practice of bringing simple awareness to our experience of dis-ease, dukkha. the acronym ABC signifies the elements of the skill. we bring awareness to the experience of dis-ease, as it's felt in the body, for a second or two. we center our attention i the breath. we cultivate compassion. another important skill includes inclining to knowing the condition happiness that is always there. awareness itself. as dharma students we learn to incline to knowing the quality of non-clinging, freedom, peace, in all the circumstances of our live, as we go through our days & nights.
-some things to to remember as you learn to practice two "important skills"...
1-being part of a dharma community is essential to our practice....
-in life ... in times of difficulty ... the dharma community is a refuge....
-in the dharma community we learn skills ... skills for life....
-in the dharma community, we're reminded of these basic skills and the benefit in developing them...
2-in times of difficulty, certain very simple skills will support us....
-two important skills are:
-bringing simple awareness to stress/mental dis-ease....
-inclining to knowing true happiness....
2-an important skill includes bringing awareness to stress/dis-ease....
-ABC....
-ABC … bringing simple awareness to dukkha/clinging … is our main practice, in the daily life posture (natural meditation) for being mindful of dukkha/clinging…..
A-Awareness….
-we bring simple awareness to the experience of dukkha/clinging….
-as it manifests in the body … as form…
-for 2 or 3 seconds….
-we see: “it’s like this….”
-we see: “it feels like this….”
B-Breath….
-we center on the breath….
C-Compassion….
-we cultivate compassion….
3- in the practice of bringing simple awareness to experience, we develop wisdom....
-intuitive wisdom….
-if there is space/equanimity in the second or two in which we're aware ... there is potential for knowing....
-knowing in the heart....
-this knowing includes....
-we see non-clinging…..
-we begin see the potential for non clinging….
-seeing the not self nature of that which we're clinging to…..
-in practicing bringing simple awareness to clinging ... we begin to discern that quality of awareness itself….
4-an important skill includes inclining to knowing moments of true happiness.....
-this is a skill....
-a very simple skill.....
-it includes.....
-in the midst of things....
-including disagreeable experience...
-taking a step back from experience....
-grounding in the body ... in the breath....
-asking, is there a happiness that is true....?
-a happiness that is always there ... reliable ... unconditioned....
-or asking a similar question....
-asking, can i know that happiness....?
-inclining to knowing that quality of happines....
-in the heart....
-this quality of true happiness is sometimes known as "awareness itself".....
5-as we practice bringing awareness to dis-ease, we begin to know the quality of awareness.....
-more and more, we're able to be in tune with the quality of awareness itself.......
-we gradually awaken....
-over time, there is less clinging....
-over time, more and more we know non-clinging....
-over time, there is more space ... equanimity ... we're less entangled in our experience....
-over time, little by slowly, we're more inclined to knowing awareness itself....
-listening.....
-"Trust in Awareness" (Peter Doobinin)
-"Awakened Awareness is Like This" (Ajahn Sumedho)
-reading.....
-"Realization" (Ajaan Fuang)
"Whatever you experience, simply be aware of it. You don't have to take after it. The primal heart has no characteristics. It's aware of everything. But as soon as things make contact, within or without, they cause a lapse in mindfulness, so that we let go of awareness, forget awareness in and of itself, and take on all the characteristics of the things that come later. Then we act out in line with them — becoming happy, sad or whatever. The reason we're this way is because we take conventional truths and latch on to them tight. If we don't want to be under their influence, we'll have to stay with primal awareness at all times. This requires a great deal of mindfulness."
(Ajaan Fuang)
"'Your question should not be phrased in this way: Where do these four great elements — the earth property, the liquid property, the fire property, and the wind property — cease without remainder? Instead, it should be phrased like this:
Where do water, earth, fire, & wind
have no footing?
Where are long & short,
coarse & fine,
fair & foul,
name & form
brought to an end?
"'And the answer to that is:
Consciousness without feature,
without end,
luminous all around:
Here water, earth, fire, & wind
have no footing.
Here long & short
coarse & fine
fair & foul
name & form
are all brought to an end.
With the cessation of [the activity of] consciousness
each is here brought to an end.'"
That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, Kevatta the householder delighted in the Blessed One's words.
(DN 11)
Washing my feet, I noticed
the
water.
And in watching it flow from high
to
low,
my heart was composed
like a fine thoroughbred steed.
Then taking a lamp, I entered the hut,
checked the bedding,
sat down on the bed.
And taking a pin, I pulled out the wick:
Like the flame's unbinding
was the liberation
of awareness.
(Thig. 5.10)
-"Important Skills"
-the dharma community is a refuge. and it's a place where we learn skills. where we're reminded of the skills we should practice. in the midst of life, in the midst of change, in the midst of disagreeable, stressful experience, we learn to rely on certain skill. one of these important skills includes the practice of bringing simple awareness to our experience of dis-ease, dukkha. the acronym ABC signifies the elements of the skill. we bring awareness to the experience of dis-ease, as it's felt in the body, for a second or two. we center our attention i the breath. we cultivate compassion. another important skill includes inclining to knowing the condition happiness that is always there. awareness itself. as dharma students we learn to incline to knowing the quality of non-clinging, freedom, peace, in all the circumstances of our live, as we go through our days & nights.
-some things to to remember as you learn to practice two "important skills"...
1-being part of a dharma community is essential to our practice....
-in life ... in times of difficulty ... the dharma community is a refuge....
-in the dharma community we learn skills ... skills for life....
-in the dharma community, we're reminded of these basic skills and the benefit in developing them...
2-in times of difficulty, certain very simple skills will support us....
-two important skills are:
-bringing simple awareness to stress/mental dis-ease....
-inclining to knowing true happiness....
2-an important skill includes bringing awareness to stress/dis-ease....
-ABC....
-ABC … bringing simple awareness to dukkha/clinging … is our main practice, in the daily life posture (natural meditation) for being mindful of dukkha/clinging…..
A-Awareness….
-we bring simple awareness to the experience of dukkha/clinging….
-as it manifests in the body … as form…
-for 2 or 3 seconds….
-we see: “it’s like this….”
-we see: “it feels like this….”
B-Breath….
-we center on the breath….
C-Compassion….
-we cultivate compassion….
3- in the practice of bringing simple awareness to experience, we develop wisdom....
-intuitive wisdom….
-if there is space/equanimity in the second or two in which we're aware ... there is potential for knowing....
-knowing in the heart....
-this knowing includes....
-we see non-clinging…..
-we begin see the potential for non clinging….
-seeing the not self nature of that which we're clinging to…..
-in practicing bringing simple awareness to clinging ... we begin to discern that quality of awareness itself….
4-an important skill includes inclining to knowing moments of true happiness.....
-this is a skill....
-a very simple skill.....
-it includes.....
-in the midst of things....
-including disagreeable experience...
-taking a step back from experience....
-grounding in the body ... in the breath....
-asking, is there a happiness that is true....?
-a happiness that is always there ... reliable ... unconditioned....
-or asking a similar question....
-asking, can i know that happiness....?
-inclining to knowing that quality of happines....
-in the heart....
-this quality of true happiness is sometimes known as "awareness itself".....
5-as we practice bringing awareness to dis-ease, we begin to know the quality of awareness.....
-more and more, we're able to be in tune with the quality of awareness itself.......
-we gradually awaken....
-over time, there is less clinging....
-over time, more and more we know non-clinging....
-over time, there is more space ... equanimity ... we're less entangled in our experience....
-over time, little by slowly, we're more inclined to knowing awareness itself....
-listening.....
-"Trust in Awareness" (Peter Doobinin)
-"Awakened Awareness is Like This" (Ajahn Sumedho)
-reading.....
-"Realization" (Ajaan Fuang)
"Whatever you experience, simply be aware of it. You don't have to take after it. The primal heart has no characteristics. It's aware of everything. But as soon as things make contact, within or without, they cause a lapse in mindfulness, so that we let go of awareness, forget awareness in and of itself, and take on all the characteristics of the things that come later. Then we act out in line with them — becoming happy, sad or whatever. The reason we're this way is because we take conventional truths and latch on to them tight. If we don't want to be under their influence, we'll have to stay with primal awareness at all times. This requires a great deal of mindfulness."
(Ajaan Fuang)
"'Your question should not be phrased in this way: Where do these four great elements — the earth property, the liquid property, the fire property, and the wind property — cease without remainder? Instead, it should be phrased like this:
Where do water, earth, fire, & wind
have no footing?
Where are long & short,
coarse & fine,
fair & foul,
name & form
brought to an end?
"'And the answer to that is:
Consciousness without feature,
without end,
luminous all around:
Here water, earth, fire, & wind
have no footing.
Here long & short
coarse & fine
fair & foul
name & form
are all brought to an end.
With the cessation of [the activity of] consciousness
each is here brought to an end.'"
That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, Kevatta the householder delighted in the Blessed One's words.
(DN 11)
Washing my feet, I noticed
the
water.
And in watching it flow from high
to
low,
my heart was composed
like a fine thoroughbred steed.
Then taking a lamp, I entered the hut,
checked the bedding,
sat down on the bed.
And taking a pin, I pulled out the wick:
Like the flame's unbinding
was the liberation
of awareness.
(Thig. 5.10)
March 2
-"What is Clinging?"
-as the Buddha taught in his first sermon, there is experience in the conditioned realm that is 'stressful'. but if we don't cling to experience, including the experience of emotions, we won't know dukkha. dukkha is the state in which the heart is burdened. it is caused by clinging. our task, therefore, is to abandon clinging. to do this, ultimately, requires understanding. it's essential that we learn to see that what we're clinging to doesn't have to be clung to, it's not-self. and it's essential to understand that the act of clinging is intentional. it's something that we're doing intentionally. the good news is that we can change our intentions, we can put our attention where we choose to put it. as dharma students we learn to develop the intention to refrain from clinging.
-some things to to remember as you develop in understanding of "what is clinging?"...
1-dukkha is caused clinging....
-experience in life may be difficult, stressful, but if we don't cling, we won't experience dukkha....
-dukkha is the state in which the heart is afflicted....
-when the heart is afflicted we're not able to live skillfully, with love, compassion, joy....
-our task, in freeing the heart of its burdens is to refrain from clinging.....
2-it's important to understand what clinging is....
-clinging, the teachings indicate, includes two components....
-intention....
-the intention to cling....
-this intention may be very subtle, hard to see....
-attention....
-putting our consciousness on the object....
-for example, an emotion like worry or anger.....
3-clinging is a function of intention......
-we learn, as dharma students, to begin to see that clinging is something that, in any moment of clinging, we have the intention to engage in....
-we learn to ask, is this something that I am doing with intention....?
-when I cling do I have the intention to cling....?
4-we can change our intentions.....
-we have the capacity to engender intention....
-intention is not fixed.....
-in learning to abandon clinging, we learn to understand that we can free ourselves from clinging by changing our intentions....
-seeing/understanding that clinging is not fixed ... the mind isn't condemned to cling....
-in learning to abandon clinging, we learn to develop the resolve/intention to not cling....
5-consciousness is not fixed.....
-as dharma students, paying attention to our mind, we learn to see that consciousness is not fixed.......
-consciousness is inconstant/not-self....
-understanding that consciousness is not fixed, we begin to understand that we have the ability to put our attention where we choose....
-we learn this through practice.......
-as an example, in our meditation, there might be a loud noise outside the window ... but we can have the intention to keep the mind on the breath....
-as our concentration, strength of mind, develops we see that we can put 0ur minds where we choose....
-reflection: my happiness in this life depends on my ability to put my mind where I choose.....
-reading.....
Setting the Wheel of the Dhamma in Motion (SN 56.11)
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying at Varanasi in the Game Refuge at Isipatana. There he addressed the group of five monks:
"There are these two extremes that are not to be indulged in by one who has gone forth. Which two? That which is devoted to sensual pleasure with reference to sensual objects: base, vulgar, common, ignoble, unprofitable; and that which is devoted to self-affliction: painful, ignoble, unprofitable. Avoiding both of these extremes, the middle way realized by the Tathagata — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
"And what is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding? Precisely this Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
"Now this, monks, is the noble truth of stress: Birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are stressful; association with the unbeloved is stressful, separation from the loved is stressful, not getting what is wanted is stressful. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are stressful.
"And this, monks, is the noble truth of the origination of stress: the craving that makes for further becoming — accompanied by passion & delight, relishing now here & now there — i.e., craving for sensual pleasure, craving for becoming, craving for non-becoming.
"And this, monks, is the noble truth of the cessation of stress: the remainderless fading & cessation, renunciation, relinquishment, release, & letting go of that very craving.
"And this, monks, is the noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress: precisely this Noble Eightfold Path — right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.
"Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: 'This is the noble truth of stress.' Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: 'This noble truth of stress is to be comprehended.' Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before:' This noble truth of stress has been comprehended.'
"Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: 'This is the noble truth of the origination of stress'... 'This noble truth of the origination of stress is to be abandoned' [2] ... 'This noble truth of the origination of stress has been abandoned.'
"Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: 'This is the noble truth of the cessation of stress'... 'This noble truth of the cessation of stress is to be directly experienced'... 'This noble truth of the cessation of stress has been directly experienced.'
"Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: 'This is the noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress'... 'This noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress is to be developed'... 'This noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress has been developed.' [3]
"And, monks, as long as this — my three-round, twelve-permutation knowledge & vision concerning these four noble truths as they have come to be — was not pure, I did not claim to have directly awakened to the right self-awakening unexcelled in the cosmos with its deities, Maras, & Brahmas, with its contemplatives & brahmans, its royalty & commonfolk. But as soon as this — my three-round, twelve-permutation knowledge & vision concerning these four noble truths as they have come to be — was truly pure, then I did claim to have directly awakened to the right self-awakening unexcelled in the cosmos with its deities, Maras & Brahmas, with its contemplatives & brahmans, its royalty & commonfolk. Knowledge & vision arose in me: 'Unprovoked is my release. This is the last birth. There is now no further becoming.'"
That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, the group of five monks delighted at his words. And while this explanation was being given, there arose to Ven. Kondañña the dustless, stainless Dhamma eye: Whatever is subject to origination is all subject to cessation.
And when the Blessed One had set the Wheel of Dhamma in motion, the earth devas cried out: "At Varanasi, in the Game Refuge at Isipatana, the Blessed One has set in motion the unexcelled Wheel of Dhamma that cannot be stopped by brahman or contemplative, deva, Mara or God or anyone in the cosmos." On hearing the earth devas' cry, the devas of the Four Kings' Heaven took up the cry... the devas of the Thirty-three... the Yama devas... the Tusita devas... the Nimmanarati devas... the Paranimmita-vasavatti devas... the devas of Brahma's retinue took up the cry: "At Varanasi, in the Game Refuge at Isipatana, the Blessed One has set in motion the unexcelled Wheel of Dhamma that cannot be stopped by brahman or contemplative, deva, Mara, or God or anyone at all in the cosmos."
So in that moment, that instant, the cry shot right up to the Brahma worlds. And this ten-thousand fold cosmos shivered & quivered & quaked, while a great, measureless radiance appeared in the cosmos, surpassing the effulgence of the devas.
Then the Blessed One exclaimed: "So you really know, Kondañña? So you really know?" And that is how Ven. Kondañña acquired the name Añña-Kondañña — Kondañña who knows.
-"What is Clinging?"
-as the Buddha taught in his first sermon, there is experience in the conditioned realm that is 'stressful'. but if we don't cling to experience, including the experience of emotions, we won't know dukkha. dukkha is the state in which the heart is burdened. it is caused by clinging. our task, therefore, is to abandon clinging. to do this, ultimately, requires understanding. it's essential that we learn to see that what we're clinging to doesn't have to be clung to, it's not-self. and it's essential to understand that the act of clinging is intentional. it's something that we're doing intentionally. the good news is that we can change our intentions, we can put our attention where we choose to put it. as dharma students we learn to develop the intention to refrain from clinging.
-some things to to remember as you develop in understanding of "what is clinging?"...
1-dukkha is caused clinging....
-experience in life may be difficult, stressful, but if we don't cling, we won't experience dukkha....
-dukkha is the state in which the heart is afflicted....
-when the heart is afflicted we're not able to live skillfully, with love, compassion, joy....
-our task, in freeing the heart of its burdens is to refrain from clinging.....
2-it's important to understand what clinging is....
-clinging, the teachings indicate, includes two components....
-intention....
-the intention to cling....
-this intention may be very subtle, hard to see....
-attention....
-putting our consciousness on the object....
-for example, an emotion like worry or anger.....
3-clinging is a function of intention......
-we learn, as dharma students, to begin to see that clinging is something that, in any moment of clinging, we have the intention to engage in....
-we learn to ask, is this something that I am doing with intention....?
-when I cling do I have the intention to cling....?
4-we can change our intentions.....
-we have the capacity to engender intention....
-intention is not fixed.....
-in learning to abandon clinging, we learn to understand that we can free ourselves from clinging by changing our intentions....
-seeing/understanding that clinging is not fixed ... the mind isn't condemned to cling....
-in learning to abandon clinging, we learn to develop the resolve/intention to not cling....
5-consciousness is not fixed.....
-as dharma students, paying attention to our mind, we learn to see that consciousness is not fixed.......
-consciousness is inconstant/not-self....
-understanding that consciousness is not fixed, we begin to understand that we have the ability to put our attention where we choose....
-we learn this through practice.......
-as an example, in our meditation, there might be a loud noise outside the window ... but we can have the intention to keep the mind on the breath....
-as our concentration, strength of mind, develops we see that we can put 0ur minds where we choose....
-reflection: my happiness in this life depends on my ability to put my mind where I choose.....
-reading.....
Setting the Wheel of the Dhamma in Motion (SN 56.11)
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying at Varanasi in the Game Refuge at Isipatana. There he addressed the group of five monks:
"There are these two extremes that are not to be indulged in by one who has gone forth. Which two? That which is devoted to sensual pleasure with reference to sensual objects: base, vulgar, common, ignoble, unprofitable; and that which is devoted to self-affliction: painful, ignoble, unprofitable. Avoiding both of these extremes, the middle way realized by the Tathagata — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
"And what is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding? Precisely this Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
"Now this, monks, is the noble truth of stress: Birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are stressful; association with the unbeloved is stressful, separation from the loved is stressful, not getting what is wanted is stressful. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are stressful.
"And this, monks, is the noble truth of the origination of stress: the craving that makes for further becoming — accompanied by passion & delight, relishing now here & now there — i.e., craving for sensual pleasure, craving for becoming, craving for non-becoming.
"And this, monks, is the noble truth of the cessation of stress: the remainderless fading & cessation, renunciation, relinquishment, release, & letting go of that very craving.
"And this, monks, is the noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress: precisely this Noble Eightfold Path — right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.
"Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: 'This is the noble truth of stress.' Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: 'This noble truth of stress is to be comprehended.' Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before:' This noble truth of stress has been comprehended.'
"Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: 'This is the noble truth of the origination of stress'... 'This noble truth of the origination of stress is to be abandoned' [2] ... 'This noble truth of the origination of stress has been abandoned.'
"Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: 'This is the noble truth of the cessation of stress'... 'This noble truth of the cessation of stress is to be directly experienced'... 'This noble truth of the cessation of stress has been directly experienced.'
"Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: 'This is the noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress'... 'This noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress is to be developed'... 'This noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress has been developed.' [3]
"And, monks, as long as this — my three-round, twelve-permutation knowledge & vision concerning these four noble truths as they have come to be — was not pure, I did not claim to have directly awakened to the right self-awakening unexcelled in the cosmos with its deities, Maras, & Brahmas, with its contemplatives & brahmans, its royalty & commonfolk. But as soon as this — my three-round, twelve-permutation knowledge & vision concerning these four noble truths as they have come to be — was truly pure, then I did claim to have directly awakened to the right self-awakening unexcelled in the cosmos with its deities, Maras & Brahmas, with its contemplatives & brahmans, its royalty & commonfolk. Knowledge & vision arose in me: 'Unprovoked is my release. This is the last birth. There is now no further becoming.'"
That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, the group of five monks delighted at his words. And while this explanation was being given, there arose to Ven. Kondañña the dustless, stainless Dhamma eye: Whatever is subject to origination is all subject to cessation.
And when the Blessed One had set the Wheel of Dhamma in motion, the earth devas cried out: "At Varanasi, in the Game Refuge at Isipatana, the Blessed One has set in motion the unexcelled Wheel of Dhamma that cannot be stopped by brahman or contemplative, deva, Mara or God or anyone in the cosmos." On hearing the earth devas' cry, the devas of the Four Kings' Heaven took up the cry... the devas of the Thirty-three... the Yama devas... the Tusita devas... the Nimmanarati devas... the Paranimmita-vasavatti devas... the devas of Brahma's retinue took up the cry: "At Varanasi, in the Game Refuge at Isipatana, the Blessed One has set in motion the unexcelled Wheel of Dhamma that cannot be stopped by brahman or contemplative, deva, Mara, or God or anyone at all in the cosmos."
So in that moment, that instant, the cry shot right up to the Brahma worlds. And this ten-thousand fold cosmos shivered & quivered & quaked, while a great, measureless radiance appeared in the cosmos, surpassing the effulgence of the devas.
Then the Blessed One exclaimed: "So you really know, Kondañña? So you really know?" And that is how Ven. Kondañña acquired the name Añña-Kondañña — Kondañña who knows.
February 23
-"The Practice of Letting Go"
-the Buddha, in identifying the cause of our suffering, indicates that it's caused by what we're doing. our craving & clinging. it is our responsibility to do what is necessary so that we can alleviate suffering. the practice of letting go is just that, a practice. the Buddha prescribes a 'course of treatment' through which we're gradually freed from suffering. this gradual awakening comprises skillful action and mental training which brings us closer to the heart. the heart, then, lets go. the practice of bringing simple awareness to the moments of clinging supports us in our efforts to understand clinging and, in turn, to know what it's like when there's freedom from it. as dharma students we learn to cultivate moments of freedom. the more we know these moments, the more we'll be aware of their arising. little by slowly, in this way, we come to know that state of freedom. that state in which the heart is unburdened.
-some things to to remember as you learn to engage in "the practice of letting go"...
1-dukkha is caused by something we are doing....
-we are engaged in craving ... in clinging....
-we cling, the Buddha tells us, to sense pleasures, views, habits, and self image....
-on the moment to moment level, our clinging comprises clinging to the five-clinging aggregates....
2-since we are holding on, letting go is our responsibility....
-the heart will let go of its burdens....
-our task, as dharma students, is to train the mind ... so that we come closer to the heart...
3-letting go is a practice......
-this practice includes....
-generosity....
-ethical conduct....
-letting go of unskillful actions.....
-renunciation....
-seclusion.....
-developing concentration/jhana....
-heedfulness of thinking....
-discernment.....
4-bringing simple awareness to clinging is elemental to the practice of discernment.....
-when we experience dukkha, we bring awareness to the experience....
-ABC (Awareness/Breath/Compassion).....
-for a moment....
-if we're able to be aware of the experience of dukkha/clinging, for a moment, with equanimity/space....
-there is understanding....
-we begin to see what it's like when we're clinging ... and, in the moment of awareness, not clinging....
-we begin, in this way, to know moments of non-clinging....
5-if we practice in accord with the dhamma, we will know moments of freedom.....
-it is our task to be alert to the moments of non-clinging ... moments of freedom...
-these may be glimpses of freedom....
-fingersnaps....
-these glimpses, fingersnaps, have extraordinary power....
-they may seem brief ... but they are timeless moments.......
-as dharma students we learn to turn to these moments ... to know them....
-it is through this practice, knowing these moments, moment by moment, that we come to free the heart of its burdens and know the happiness of heart....
-it is essential, therefore, that we develop conviction in these moments....
-and, in turn, see our doubts....
-reading.....
Thousands
Better
than if there were thousands
of meaningless words is
one
meaningful
word
that on hearing
brings peace.
Better
than if there were thousands
of meaningless verses is
one
meaningful
verse
that on hearing
brings peace.
And better than chanting hundreds
of meaningless verses is
one
Dhamma-saying
that on hearing
brings peace.
Greater in battle
than the man who would conquer
a thousand-thousand men,
is he who would conquer
just one --
himself.
Better to conquer yourself
than others.
When you've trained yourself,
living in constant self-control,
neither a deva nor gandhabba,
nor a Mara banded with Brahmas,
could turn that triumph
back into defeat.
You could, month by month,
at a cost of thousands,
conduct sacrifices
a hundred times,
or
pay a single moment's homage
to one person,
self-cultivated.
Better than a hundred years of sacrifices
would that act of homage be.
You could, for a hundred years,
live in a forest
tending a fire,
or
pay a single moment's homage
to one person,
self-cultivated.
Better than a hundred years of sacrifices
would that act of homage be.
Everything offered
or sacrificed in the world
for an entire year by one seeking merit
doesn't come to a fourth.
Better to pay respect
to those who've gone
the straight way.
If you're respectful by habit,
constantly honoring the worthy,
four things increase:
long life, beauty,
happiness, strength.
Better than a hundred years
lived without virtue, uncentered, is
one day
lived by a virtuous person
absorbed in jhana.
And better than a hundred years
lived undiscerning, uncentered, is
one day
lived by a discerning person
absorbed in jhana.
And better than a hundred years
lived apathetic & unenergetic, is
one day
lived energetic & firm.
And better than a hundred years
lived without seeing
arising & passing away, is
one day
lived seeing
arising & passing away.
And better than a hundred years
lived without seeing
the Deathless state, is
one day
lived seeing
the Deathless state.
And better than a hundred years
lived without seeing
the ultimate Dhamma, is
one day
lived seeing
the ultimate Dhamma.
(Dhp VIII)
Thus have I heard. At one time the Lord was staying at Anupiya in the Mango Orchard. At that time the Venerable Bhaddiya, Kaligodha's son, on going into the forest to the foot of a tree or to an empty place, constantly uttered, "Ah, what bliss! Ah, what bliss!"
A number of bhikkhus heard the Venerable Bhaddiya... constantly uttering, "Ah, what bliss! Ah, what bliss!" and the thought came to them: "No doubt, friend, the Venerable Bhaddiya, Kaligodha's son, is dissatisfied with leading the holy life, since formerly when he was a householder he enjoyed the bliss of royalty. And when recollecting that, on going into the forest... he utters, 'Ah, what bliss! Ah, what bliss!'"
Then a number of bhikkhus approached the Lord, prostrated themselves, sat down to one side, and reported this to the Lord.
Then the Lord addressed a certain bhikkhu: "Come, bhikkhu, in my name tell the bhikkhu Bhaddiya, 'The Teacher calls you, friend Bhaddiya.'"
"Very well, revered sir," the bhikkhu replied and approaching the Venerable Bhaddiya, Kaligodha's son, he said, "The Teacher calls you, friend Bhaddiya."
"Very well, friend," the Venerable Bhaddiya replied, and approaching the Lord he prostrated himself and sat down to one side. The Lord then said to him: "Is it true, Bhaddiya, that on going into the forest... you utter, 'Ah, what bliss! Ah, what bliss!'?"
"Yes, revered sir."
"But, Bhaddiya, what do you see that prompts you to do so?"
"Formerly, revered sir, when I was a householder and enjoyed the bliss of royalty, inside and outside my inner apartments guards were appointed; inside and outside the city guards were appointed; inside and outside the district guards were appointed. But, revered sir, although I was thus guarded and protected, I lived fearful, agitated, distrustful, and afraid. But now, revered sir, on going alone into the forest, to the foot of a tree or to an empty place, I am fearless, unagitated, confident, and unafraid. I live unconcerned, unruffled, my needs satisfied, with a mind become like a deer's. Seeing this, revered sir, prompts me, on going to the forest... to utter constantly, 'Ah, what bliss! Ah, what bliss!'"
Then, on realizing its significance, the Lord uttered on that occasion this inspired utterance:
In whom exist no inner stirrings,
Having passed beyond being this or that,
Free from fear, blissful and sorrowless,
The devas are not capable of seeing him.
(Ud 2.10)
Are you looking for me? I am in the next seat.
My shoulder is against yours.
You will not find me in stupas, not in Indian shrine rooms,
nor in synagogues, nor in cathedrals:
not in masses, nor kirtans, not in legs winding around your own neck, nor in eating nothing but vegetables.
When you really look for me, you will see me instantly-you will find me in the tiniest house of time.
Kabir says: Student, tell me, what is God?
He is the breath inside the breath.
(Kabir)
The Rhythm of Life
A Daylong Retreat with Peter Doobinin
Saturday, March 1
New York Insight, 115 W 29 St, 12th Fl, NYC
10am to 4pm
To find out more details and register, visit the NY Insight website.
-"The Practice of Letting Go"
-the Buddha, in identifying the cause of our suffering, indicates that it's caused by what we're doing. our craving & clinging. it is our responsibility to do what is necessary so that we can alleviate suffering. the practice of letting go is just that, a practice. the Buddha prescribes a 'course of treatment' through which we're gradually freed from suffering. this gradual awakening comprises skillful action and mental training which brings us closer to the heart. the heart, then, lets go. the practice of bringing simple awareness to the moments of clinging supports us in our efforts to understand clinging and, in turn, to know what it's like when there's freedom from it. as dharma students we learn to cultivate moments of freedom. the more we know these moments, the more we'll be aware of their arising. little by slowly, in this way, we come to know that state of freedom. that state in which the heart is unburdened.
-some things to to remember as you learn to engage in "the practice of letting go"...
1-dukkha is caused by something we are doing....
-we are engaged in craving ... in clinging....
-we cling, the Buddha tells us, to sense pleasures, views, habits, and self image....
-on the moment to moment level, our clinging comprises clinging to the five-clinging aggregates....
2-since we are holding on, letting go is our responsibility....
-the heart will let go of its burdens....
-our task, as dharma students, is to train the mind ... so that we come closer to the heart...
3-letting go is a practice......
-this practice includes....
-generosity....
-ethical conduct....
-letting go of unskillful actions.....
-renunciation....
-seclusion.....
-developing concentration/jhana....
-heedfulness of thinking....
-discernment.....
4-bringing simple awareness to clinging is elemental to the practice of discernment.....
-when we experience dukkha, we bring awareness to the experience....
-ABC (Awareness/Breath/Compassion).....
-for a moment....
-if we're able to be aware of the experience of dukkha/clinging, for a moment, with equanimity/space....
-there is understanding....
-we begin to see what it's like when we're clinging ... and, in the moment of awareness, not clinging....
-we begin, in this way, to know moments of non-clinging....
5-if we practice in accord with the dhamma, we will know moments of freedom.....
-it is our task to be alert to the moments of non-clinging ... moments of freedom...
-these may be glimpses of freedom....
-fingersnaps....
-these glimpses, fingersnaps, have extraordinary power....
-they may seem brief ... but they are timeless moments.......
-as dharma students we learn to turn to these moments ... to know them....
-it is through this practice, knowing these moments, moment by moment, that we come to free the heart of its burdens and know the happiness of heart....
-it is essential, therefore, that we develop conviction in these moments....
-and, in turn, see our doubts....
-reading.....
Thousands
Better
than if there were thousands
of meaningless words is
one
meaningful
word
that on hearing
brings peace.
Better
than if there were thousands
of meaningless verses is
one
meaningful
verse
that on hearing
brings peace.
And better than chanting hundreds
of meaningless verses is
one
Dhamma-saying
that on hearing
brings peace.
Greater in battle
than the man who would conquer
a thousand-thousand men,
is he who would conquer
just one --
himself.
Better to conquer yourself
than others.
When you've trained yourself,
living in constant self-control,
neither a deva nor gandhabba,
nor a Mara banded with Brahmas,
could turn that triumph
back into defeat.
You could, month by month,
at a cost of thousands,
conduct sacrifices
a hundred times,
or
pay a single moment's homage
to one person,
self-cultivated.
Better than a hundred years of sacrifices
would that act of homage be.
You could, for a hundred years,
live in a forest
tending a fire,
or
pay a single moment's homage
to one person,
self-cultivated.
Better than a hundred years of sacrifices
would that act of homage be.
Everything offered
or sacrificed in the world
for an entire year by one seeking merit
doesn't come to a fourth.
Better to pay respect
to those who've gone
the straight way.
If you're respectful by habit,
constantly honoring the worthy,
four things increase:
long life, beauty,
happiness, strength.
Better than a hundred years
lived without virtue, uncentered, is
one day
lived by a virtuous person
absorbed in jhana.
And better than a hundred years
lived undiscerning, uncentered, is
one day
lived by a discerning person
absorbed in jhana.
And better than a hundred years
lived apathetic & unenergetic, is
one day
lived energetic & firm.
And better than a hundred years
lived without seeing
arising & passing away, is
one day
lived seeing
arising & passing away.
And better than a hundred years
lived without seeing
the Deathless state, is
one day
lived seeing
the Deathless state.
And better than a hundred years
lived without seeing
the ultimate Dhamma, is
one day
lived seeing
the ultimate Dhamma.
(Dhp VIII)
Thus have I heard. At one time the Lord was staying at Anupiya in the Mango Orchard. At that time the Venerable Bhaddiya, Kaligodha's son, on going into the forest to the foot of a tree or to an empty place, constantly uttered, "Ah, what bliss! Ah, what bliss!"
A number of bhikkhus heard the Venerable Bhaddiya... constantly uttering, "Ah, what bliss! Ah, what bliss!" and the thought came to them: "No doubt, friend, the Venerable Bhaddiya, Kaligodha's son, is dissatisfied with leading the holy life, since formerly when he was a householder he enjoyed the bliss of royalty. And when recollecting that, on going into the forest... he utters, 'Ah, what bliss! Ah, what bliss!'"
Then a number of bhikkhus approached the Lord, prostrated themselves, sat down to one side, and reported this to the Lord.
Then the Lord addressed a certain bhikkhu: "Come, bhikkhu, in my name tell the bhikkhu Bhaddiya, 'The Teacher calls you, friend Bhaddiya.'"
"Very well, revered sir," the bhikkhu replied and approaching the Venerable Bhaddiya, Kaligodha's son, he said, "The Teacher calls you, friend Bhaddiya."
"Very well, friend," the Venerable Bhaddiya replied, and approaching the Lord he prostrated himself and sat down to one side. The Lord then said to him: "Is it true, Bhaddiya, that on going into the forest... you utter, 'Ah, what bliss! Ah, what bliss!'?"
"Yes, revered sir."
"But, Bhaddiya, what do you see that prompts you to do so?"
"Formerly, revered sir, when I was a householder and enjoyed the bliss of royalty, inside and outside my inner apartments guards were appointed; inside and outside the city guards were appointed; inside and outside the district guards were appointed. But, revered sir, although I was thus guarded and protected, I lived fearful, agitated, distrustful, and afraid. But now, revered sir, on going alone into the forest, to the foot of a tree or to an empty place, I am fearless, unagitated, confident, and unafraid. I live unconcerned, unruffled, my needs satisfied, with a mind become like a deer's. Seeing this, revered sir, prompts me, on going to the forest... to utter constantly, 'Ah, what bliss! Ah, what bliss!'"
Then, on realizing its significance, the Lord uttered on that occasion this inspired utterance:
In whom exist no inner stirrings,
Having passed beyond being this or that,
Free from fear, blissful and sorrowless,
The devas are not capable of seeing him.
(Ud 2.10)
Are you looking for me? I am in the next seat.
My shoulder is against yours.
You will not find me in stupas, not in Indian shrine rooms,
nor in synagogues, nor in cathedrals:
not in masses, nor kirtans, not in legs winding around your own neck, nor in eating nothing but vegetables.
When you really look for me, you will see me instantly-you will find me in the tiniest house of time.
Kabir says: Student, tell me, what is God?
He is the breath inside the breath.
(Kabir)
The Rhythm of Life
A Daylong Retreat with Peter Doobinin
Saturday, March 1
New York Insight, 115 W 29 St, 12th Fl, NYC
10am to 4pm
To find out more details and register, visit the NY Insight website.
February 16
-"Ultimate Reality"
-meditation practice enables us to see things, as the Buddha puts it, according to reality. the reality of our experience includes worldly experience, specifically our experience of the six senses. as the teachings indicate, all experience of the sense is impermanent. it is subject to disintegration. this is the truth of things. the world is swept away. we attempt however to look for happiness in the experiences of the world, the experiences of the sense. this effort, put toward wanting our experience to be a certain way, leads to suffering. as dharma students, we learn to see the insufficient, unsatisfactory nature of the conditioned realm. in turn, we seek to know that which is unconditioned. this is ultimate reality. the state of true happiness.
-some things to to remember as you learn to know "ultimate reality"...
1-our experience of the world is found in our experience of the six senses....
-including the sense door of the mind....
2-the world is swept away....
-the experience of the world ... the experiences of senses ... is impermanent....
-as the Buddha indicates, the world "disintegrates"....
-the world is empty....
-insubstantial....
-insufficient....
-simply put, the things of the world arise, change, pass ... they can't, by their nature, bring a reliable, true happiness....
3-because we desire the world to be a certain way, we suffer......
-our craving ... our desire to have experience that's agreeable, to not have experience that disagreeable ... leads to clinging ... and to suffering....
-as dharma students, our task is to abandon this craving....
-understanding that experience is largely out of our control....
-there will always be agreeable & disagreeable experience.....
4-recognizing the insubstantial nature of the conditioned realm, we look toward that which is unconditioned.....
-when Buddha came to realize the truth of illness, aging, death, and separation ... insubstantial nature of the world ... he began to question the way he was living....
-he ask, is there a happiness that is not dependent on conditioned things....
-he set out to find if there was, indeed, a timeless, deathless happiness....
-the tendency we have may be to want to analyze our experience, or fix it, or get rid of it....
5-as dharma students, we learn to ask: "is there a happiness that is not dependent on things of the world, on conditioned things?".....
-it is our habit to look for happiness in the world ... in conditioned things ... in the experiences of the senses....
-we think that is is where happiness is found....
-as dharma students, following the Buddha's example, our task is to explore, to look to see if there is a happiness that is not dependent on conditioned things....
-when we know this happiness, according to reality, we know the ultimate reality.......
-reflection.....
-"Is there a happiness that is not dependent on conditioned things....?"
-reading.....
See it as a bubble,
see it as a mirage:
one who regards the world this way
the King of Death doesn't see.
(Dhp XIII)
Loka Sutta: The World
Then a certain monk went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there, he said to the Blessed One: "'The world, the world' it is said. In what respect does the word 'world' apply?
"Insofar as it disintegrates, monk, it is called the 'world.' Now what disintegrates? The eye disintegrates. Forms disintegrate. Consciousness at the eye disintegrates. Contact at the eye disintegrates. And whatever there is that arises in dependence on contact at the eye — experienced as pleasure, pain or neither-pleasure-nor-pain — that too disintegrates.
"The ear disintegrates. Sounds disintegrate...
"The nose disintegrates. Aromas disintegrate...
"The tongue disintegrates. Tastes disintegrate...
"The body disintegrates. Tactile sensations disintegrate...
"The intellect disintegrates. Ideas disintegrate. Consciousness at the intellect consciousness disintegrates. Contact at the intellect disintegrates. And whatever there is that arises in dependence on contact at the intellect — experienced as pleasure, pain or neither-pleasure-nor-pain — that too disintegrates.
"Insofar as it disintegrates, it is called the 'world.'"
(SN 35.82)
"Great king, there are four Dhamma summaries stated by the Blessed One who knows & sees, worthy & rightly self-awakened. Having known & seen & heard them, I went forth from the home life into homelessness. Which four?
"'The world is swept away. It does not endure': This is the first Dhamma summary stated by the Blessed One who knows & sees, worthy & rightly self-awakened. Having known & seen & heard it, I went forth from the home life into homelessness.
"'The world is without shelter, without protector': This is the second Dhamma summary...
"'The world is without ownership. One has to pass on, leaving everything behind': This is the third Dhamma summary...
"'The world is insufficient, insatiable, a slave to craving': This is the fourth Dhamma summary...
"These, great king, are the four Dhamma summaries stated by the Blessed One who knows & sees, worthy & rightly self-awakened. Having known & seen & heard them, I went forth from the home life into homelessness."
(MN 82)
"'Your question should not be phrased in this way: Where do these four great elements — the earth property, the liquid property, the fire property, and the wind property — cease without remainder? Instead, it should be phrased like this:
Where do water, earth, fire, & wind
have no footing?
Where are long & short,
coarse & fine,
fair & foul,
name & form
brought to an end?
"'And the answer to that is:
Consciousness without feature,
without end,
luminous all around:
Here water, earth, fire, & wind
have no footing.
Here long & short
coarse & fine
fair & foul
name & form
are all brought to an end.
With the cessation of [the activity of] consciousness
each is here brought to an end.'"
That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, Kevatta the householder delighted in the Blessed One's words.
(DN 11)
On April 4, he was strong enough again for me to take him back home. My daughter and I went to pick him up. When we got there, the nurses were helping him get dressed. He was sitting on his bed, and he looked really happy to be going home. He was smiling. He was sitting almost like Buddha, and then he just put his head down. We thought he was meditating, maybe reflecting on his experiences, grateful to be going home. I don't remember who noticed first, who checked his pulse… . In the beginning, of course, I was totally freaked out. There was some kind of code thing, and they brought machines in. I was stunned. But as we realized he was transitioning out of this world and into the next, everything, all of us, just went calm. They turned off the machines, and that room was so peaceful. I put on his music that he liked, Dave Brubeck. We just sat there on the bed together, and I whispered in his ear. I didn't want to leave him. I sat there with him for hours, just holding his hand.
Roger looked beautiful. He looked really beautiful. I don't know how to describe it, but he looked peaceful, and he looked young.
The one thing people might be surprised about—Roger said that he didn't know if he could believe in God. He had his doubts. But toward the end, something really interesting happened. That week before Roger passed away, I would see him and he would talk about having visited this other place. I thought he was hallucinating. I thought they were giving him too much medication. But the day before he passed away, he wrote me a note: "This is all an elaborate hoax." I asked him, "What's a hoax?" And he was talking about this world, this place. He said it was all an illusion. I thought he was just confused. But he was not confused. He wasn't visiting heaven, not the way we think of heaven. He described it as a vastness that you can't even imagine. It was a place where the past, present, and future were happening all at once.
(Chaz Ebert/Esquire Magazine)
-"Ultimate Reality"
-meditation practice enables us to see things, as the Buddha puts it, according to reality. the reality of our experience includes worldly experience, specifically our experience of the six senses. as the teachings indicate, all experience of the sense is impermanent. it is subject to disintegration. this is the truth of things. the world is swept away. we attempt however to look for happiness in the experiences of the world, the experiences of the sense. this effort, put toward wanting our experience to be a certain way, leads to suffering. as dharma students, we learn to see the insufficient, unsatisfactory nature of the conditioned realm. in turn, we seek to know that which is unconditioned. this is ultimate reality. the state of true happiness.
-some things to to remember as you learn to know "ultimate reality"...
1-our experience of the world is found in our experience of the six senses....
-including the sense door of the mind....
2-the world is swept away....
-the experience of the world ... the experiences of senses ... is impermanent....
-as the Buddha indicates, the world "disintegrates"....
-the world is empty....
-insubstantial....
-insufficient....
-simply put, the things of the world arise, change, pass ... they can't, by their nature, bring a reliable, true happiness....
3-because we desire the world to be a certain way, we suffer......
-our craving ... our desire to have experience that's agreeable, to not have experience that disagreeable ... leads to clinging ... and to suffering....
-as dharma students, our task is to abandon this craving....
-understanding that experience is largely out of our control....
-there will always be agreeable & disagreeable experience.....
4-recognizing the insubstantial nature of the conditioned realm, we look toward that which is unconditioned.....
-when Buddha came to realize the truth of illness, aging, death, and separation ... insubstantial nature of the world ... he began to question the way he was living....
-he ask, is there a happiness that is not dependent on conditioned things....
-he set out to find if there was, indeed, a timeless, deathless happiness....
-the tendency we have may be to want to analyze our experience, or fix it, or get rid of it....
5-as dharma students, we learn to ask: "is there a happiness that is not dependent on things of the world, on conditioned things?".....
-it is our habit to look for happiness in the world ... in conditioned things ... in the experiences of the senses....
-we think that is is where happiness is found....
-as dharma students, following the Buddha's example, our task is to explore, to look to see if there is a happiness that is not dependent on conditioned things....
-when we know this happiness, according to reality, we know the ultimate reality.......
-reflection.....
-"Is there a happiness that is not dependent on conditioned things....?"
-reading.....
See it as a bubble,
see it as a mirage:
one who regards the world this way
the King of Death doesn't see.
(Dhp XIII)
Loka Sutta: The World
Then a certain monk went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there, he said to the Blessed One: "'The world, the world' it is said. In what respect does the word 'world' apply?
"Insofar as it disintegrates, monk, it is called the 'world.' Now what disintegrates? The eye disintegrates. Forms disintegrate. Consciousness at the eye disintegrates. Contact at the eye disintegrates. And whatever there is that arises in dependence on contact at the eye — experienced as pleasure, pain or neither-pleasure-nor-pain — that too disintegrates.
"The ear disintegrates. Sounds disintegrate...
"The nose disintegrates. Aromas disintegrate...
"The tongue disintegrates. Tastes disintegrate...
"The body disintegrates. Tactile sensations disintegrate...
"The intellect disintegrates. Ideas disintegrate. Consciousness at the intellect consciousness disintegrates. Contact at the intellect disintegrates. And whatever there is that arises in dependence on contact at the intellect — experienced as pleasure, pain or neither-pleasure-nor-pain — that too disintegrates.
"Insofar as it disintegrates, it is called the 'world.'"
(SN 35.82)
"Great king, there are four Dhamma summaries stated by the Blessed One who knows & sees, worthy & rightly self-awakened. Having known & seen & heard them, I went forth from the home life into homelessness. Which four?
"'The world is swept away. It does not endure': This is the first Dhamma summary stated by the Blessed One who knows & sees, worthy & rightly self-awakened. Having known & seen & heard it, I went forth from the home life into homelessness.
"'The world is without shelter, without protector': This is the second Dhamma summary...
"'The world is without ownership. One has to pass on, leaving everything behind': This is the third Dhamma summary...
"'The world is insufficient, insatiable, a slave to craving': This is the fourth Dhamma summary...
"These, great king, are the four Dhamma summaries stated by the Blessed One who knows & sees, worthy & rightly self-awakened. Having known & seen & heard them, I went forth from the home life into homelessness."
(MN 82)
"'Your question should not be phrased in this way: Where do these four great elements — the earth property, the liquid property, the fire property, and the wind property — cease without remainder? Instead, it should be phrased like this:
Where do water, earth, fire, & wind
have no footing?
Where are long & short,
coarse & fine,
fair & foul,
name & form
brought to an end?
"'And the answer to that is:
Consciousness without feature,
without end,
luminous all around:
Here water, earth, fire, & wind
have no footing.
Here long & short
coarse & fine
fair & foul
name & form
are all brought to an end.
With the cessation of [the activity of] consciousness
each is here brought to an end.'"
That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, Kevatta the householder delighted in the Blessed One's words.
(DN 11)
On April 4, he was strong enough again for me to take him back home. My daughter and I went to pick him up. When we got there, the nurses were helping him get dressed. He was sitting on his bed, and he looked really happy to be going home. He was smiling. He was sitting almost like Buddha, and then he just put his head down. We thought he was meditating, maybe reflecting on his experiences, grateful to be going home. I don't remember who noticed first, who checked his pulse… . In the beginning, of course, I was totally freaked out. There was some kind of code thing, and they brought machines in. I was stunned. But as we realized he was transitioning out of this world and into the next, everything, all of us, just went calm. They turned off the machines, and that room was so peaceful. I put on his music that he liked, Dave Brubeck. We just sat there on the bed together, and I whispered in his ear. I didn't want to leave him. I sat there with him for hours, just holding his hand.
Roger looked beautiful. He looked really beautiful. I don't know how to describe it, but he looked peaceful, and he looked young.
The one thing people might be surprised about—Roger said that he didn't know if he could believe in God. He had his doubts. But toward the end, something really interesting happened. That week before Roger passed away, I would see him and he would talk about having visited this other place. I thought he was hallucinating. I thought they were giving him too much medication. But the day before he passed away, he wrote me a note: "This is all an elaborate hoax." I asked him, "What's a hoax?" And he was talking about this world, this place. He said it was all an illusion. I thought he was just confused. But he was not confused. He wasn't visiting heaven, not the way we think of heaven. He described it as a vastness that you can't even imagine. It was a place where the past, present, and future were happening all at once.
(Chaz Ebert/Esquire Magazine)
February 9
-"Patience to be Aware"
-patience is one of the ten paramis, qualities that we seek to develop that will enable us to realize freedom from suffering. as such, the cultivation of patience is essential to dharma practice. in meditation we develop tranquility. silence. our task, we might say, is to cultivate silence and then to listen. this sort of listening asks for great patience. impatience, on the other hand, creates disturbance and prevents us from hearing what we need to hear. in our practice, we seek to be mindful of impatience. and, in turn, to incline to patience. patience is an aspect of our goodness. we each have the capacity for patience. in learning to be aware of dukka/clinging it is essential that, in practicing this awareness, we are patient. wisdom, like the lotus flower that grows in the mud, will gradually appear above the surface of the water. gradually it will bloom. gradually, wisdom will come to fruition.
-some things to to remember as you make learn to cultivate the "patience to be aware"...
1-in dharma practice, it is essential to cultivate patience....
-patience is a parami....
-many element of dharma practice, in order to develop, require patience...
-dharma practice, in general, develops gradually ... as such, it ask that we cultivate great patience....
2-it our efforts to cultivate patience, we learn to see impatience....
-in cultivating patience....
-we notice when there is impatience....
-when we have the tendency to disturb the silence...
-when we have the tendency to "jump in" and create a disturbance....
-we incline to patience....
-we have a capacity for patience ... we must learn to incline to it....
3-in practicing reflection, we learn to cultivate patience......
-patience is an essential element to the art of reflection....
-in reflecting, we may ask questions....
-such as, 'how can i move forward in my life with love for myself and all beings.....?"...
-and we seek to live the questions....
-instead of trying to answer ... we practice what we might call "listening"....
-we listen for the "answers"....
-this sort of "listening" asks that we practice patience....
4-in bringing awareness to the ways in which we're clinging, we practice patience.....
-ABC....
-when there is dukkha/clinging, we bring awareness to the experience....
-our task is practice simple awareness....
-the tendency we have may be to want to analyze our experience, or fix it, or get rid of it....
-but our practice is to "just be aware"
-we're asked, accordingly, to be patient, understanding that wisdom will develop gradually if we bring this simple awareness to our experience.....
5-the image of the lotus offers an example of the process of awakening.....
-the lotus grows in the mud .. underwater....
-we don't know when it will emerge, bloom, flower....
-gradually it will flower....
-wisdom - the lotus is the symbol in Buddhism for wisdom - develops like the lotus....
-we have to cultivate patience....
-remembering that impatience causes disturbance and is an impediment to the development of wisdom....
-reading.....
-"Enduring the Disgreeable" (from the chapter on Patience in The Skill of Living)
| enduring_the_disagreeable_skill_of_living_pdf.pdf |
| the_ship_by_peter_doobinin.pdf |
The Blooming Lotus (Udayin the Elder)
As the flower of a lotus,
Arisen in water, blossoms,
Pure-scented and pleasing the mind,
Yet is not drenched by the water,
In the same way, born in the world,
The Buddha abides in the world;
And like the lotus by water,
He does not get drenched by the world.
Lotus (Rabindranath Tagore)
On the day when the lotus bloomed, alas, my mind was straying,
and I knew it not. My basket was empty and the flower remained unheeded.
Only now and again a sadness fell upon me, and I started up from my
dream and felt a sweet trace of a strange fragrance in the south wind.
That vague sweetness made my heart ache with longing and it seemed to
me that is was the eager breath of the summer seeking for its completion.
I knew not then that it was so near, that it was mine, and that this
perfect sweetness had blossomed in the depth of my own heart.
February 2
-"The Rhythm of Your Life"
-the dharma student seeks to know moments of freedom. freedom from suffering & clinging. these moments may appear at different times, their arising is unpredictable. therefore, we have to be alert. this knowing, of course, is felt. we know freedom as a felt experience, in the body, in the heart. these moments are deathless, they transcended birth & death, past and future. they are timeless. as dharma students we seek to live from here. instead of living from the place of craving/desire. we strive for our actions to issue from the heart. from the silence. from the place of emptiness. the form our lives/actions take will be determined by our karma. for everyone the expression of the heart's sure release will take a different form. we each have a path, a particular journey. it is up to us to find our way. to make of our lives a work of art. to find the rhythm of our lives. there is great joy in making this effort, in taking this journey.
-some things to to remember as you make an effort to find "the rhythm of your life"...
1-it is essential to remember our goodness....
-we should make an effort regularly to remember our goodness....
-our merit...
-generosity....
-virtue....
-effort we make to train the mind & heart....
-remembering our goodness, we incline to knowing moments of freedom....
2-it is our task as dharma students to know moments of freedom....
-we seek, as per the duties the Buddha puts forth in the noble truths, to know freedom from suffering/clinging....
-this awareness, as we begin, takes the shape of moments of freedom....
-since we do not know when we'll be able to access these moments, we have to be alert...
-knowing is felt....
-we have a felt sense of this freedom....
3-we seek take action in our lives from this place of non-clinging......
-this awakened action, the opposite of action, informed by craving, begins with intention....
-we develop the intention to take awakened action....
-action from the heart.....
-action aligned with our goodness
4-the form that our actions take is determined by our karma.....
-the Buddha's karma led him to be a teacher....
-for each of us, we have a particular karma that will determine actions we take that are an expression of the heart's sure release....
-our task is to find our path....
-or we could say, to find our rhythm....
5-we should begin immediately to find our path.....
-we might begin by having the intention, as described above, to live from the timeless place....
-to live in tune with our truth.....
-we might, in setting intention, seek to live in the questions....
-to reflect: what can I do that is an expression of my goodness ... my heart...?
-what can i do today...?
-what can i do right now...?
-reading.....
I have heard that on one occasion, when the Blessed One was newly Self-awakened, he was staying at Uruvela on the bank of the Nerañjara River, at the foot of the Goatherd's Banyan Tree.
Then, while he was alone and in seclusion, this line of thinking arose in his awareness: "This Dhamma that I have attained is deep, hard to see, hard to realize, peaceful, refined, beyond the scope of conjecture, subtle, to-be-experienced by the wise. But this generation delights in attachment, is excited by attachment, enjoys attachment. For a generation delighting in attachment, excited by attachment, enjoying attachment, this/that conditionality and dependent co-arising are hard to see. This state, too, is hard to see: the resolution of all fabrications, the relinquishment of all acquisitions, the ending of craving; dispassion; cessation; Unbinding. And if I were to teach the Dhamma and if others would not understand me, that would be tiresome for me, troublesome for me."
Just then these verses, unspoken in the past, unheard before, occurred to the Blessed One:
Enough now with teaching what only with difficulty I reached. This Dhamma is not easily realized by those overcome with aversion & passion. What is abstruse, subtle, deep, hard to see, going against the flow — those delighting in passion, cloaked in the mass of darkness, won't see.As the Blessed One reflected thus, his mind inclined to dwelling at ease, not to teaching the Dhamma.
Then Brahma Sahampati, having known with his own awareness the line of thinking in the Blessed One's awareness, thought: "The world is lost! The world is destroyed! The mind of the Tathagata, the Arahant, the Rightly Self-awakened One inclines to dwelling at ease, not to teaching the Dhamma!" Then, just as a strong man might extend his flexed arm or flex his extended arm, Brahma Sahampati disappeared from the Brahma-world and reappeared in front of the Blessed One. Arranging his upper robe over one shoulder, he knelt down with his right knee on the ground, saluted the Blessed One with his hands before his heart, and said to him: "Lord, let the Blessed One teach the Dhamma! Let the One-Well-Gone teach the Dhamma! There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are falling away because they do not hear the Dhamma. There will be those who will understand the Dhamma."
That is what Brahma Sahampati said. Having said that, he further said this:
In the past there appeared among the Magadhans an impure Dhamma devised by the stained. Throw open the door to the Deathless! Let them hear the Dhamma realized by the Stainless One! Just as one standing on a rocky crag might see people all around below, So, O wise one, with all-around vision, ascend the palace fashioned of the Dhamma. Free from sorrow, behold the people submerged in sorrow, oppressed by birth & aging.
Rise up, hero, victor in battle! O Teacher, wander without debt in the world. Teach the Dhamma, O Blessed One: There will be those who will understand.
Then the Blessed One, having understood Brahma's invitation, out of compassion for beings, surveyed the world with the eye of an Awakened One. As he did so, he saw beings with little dust in their eyes and those with much, those with keen faculties and those with dull, those with good attributes and those with bad, those easy to teach and those hard, some of them seeing disgrace and danger in the other world. Just as in a pond of blue or red or white lotuses, some lotuses — born and growing in the water — might flourish while immersed in the water, without rising up from the water; some might stand at an even level with the water; while some might rise up from the water and stand without being smeared by the water — so too, surveying the world with the eye of an Awakened One, the Blessed One saw beings with little dust in their eyes and those with much, those with keen faculties and those with dull, those with good attributes and those with bad, those easy to teach and those hard, some of them seeing disgrace and danger in the other world.
Having seen this, he answered Brahma Sahampati in verse:
Open are the doors to the Deathless to those with ears. Let them show their conviction. Perceiving trouble, O Brahma, I did not tell people the refined, sublime Dhamma.
Then Brahma Sahampati, thinking, "The Blessed One has given his consent to teach the Dhamma," bowed down to the Blessed One and, circling him on the right, disappeared right there.
(SN 6.1)
Archaic Torso of Apollo (Rilke)
We cannot know his legendary head
with eyes like ripening fruit. And yet his torso
is still suffused with brilliance from inside,
like a lamp, in which his gaze, now turned to low,
gleams in all its power. Otherwise
the curved breast could not dazzle you so, nor could
a smile run through the placid hips and thighs
to that dark center where procreation flared.
Otherwise this stone would seem defaced
beneath the translucent cascade of the shoulders
and would not glisten like a wild beast’s fur:
would not, from all the borders of itself,
burst like a star: for here there is no place
that does not see you. You must change your life.
Wir kannten nicht sein unerhörtes Haupt,
darin die Augenäpfel reiften. Aber
sein Torso glüht noch wie ein Kandelaber,
in dem sein Schauen, nur zurückgeschraubt,
sich hält und glänzt. Sonst könnte nicht der Bug
der Brust dich blenden, und im leisen Drehen
der Lenden könnte nicht ein Lächeln gehen
zu jener Mitte, die die Zeugung trug.
Sonst stünde dieser Stein enstellt und kurz
unter der Shultern durchsichtigem Sturz
und flimmerte nicht so wie Raubtierfelle;
und brächte nicht aus allen seinen Rändern
aus wie ein Stern: denn da ist keine Stelle,
die dich nicht sieht. Du mußt dein Leben ändern.
-"The Rhythm of Your Life"
-the dharma student seeks to know moments of freedom. freedom from suffering & clinging. these moments may appear at different times, their arising is unpredictable. therefore, we have to be alert. this knowing, of course, is felt. we know freedom as a felt experience, in the body, in the heart. these moments are deathless, they transcended birth & death, past and future. they are timeless. as dharma students we seek to live from here. instead of living from the place of craving/desire. we strive for our actions to issue from the heart. from the silence. from the place of emptiness. the form our lives/actions take will be determined by our karma. for everyone the expression of the heart's sure release will take a different form. we each have a path, a particular journey. it is up to us to find our way. to make of our lives a work of art. to find the rhythm of our lives. there is great joy in making this effort, in taking this journey.
-some things to to remember as you make an effort to find "the rhythm of your life"...
1-it is essential to remember our goodness....
-we should make an effort regularly to remember our goodness....
-our merit...
-generosity....
-virtue....
-effort we make to train the mind & heart....
-remembering our goodness, we incline to knowing moments of freedom....
2-it is our task as dharma students to know moments of freedom....
-we seek, as per the duties the Buddha puts forth in the noble truths, to know freedom from suffering/clinging....
-this awareness, as we begin, takes the shape of moments of freedom....
-since we do not know when we'll be able to access these moments, we have to be alert...
-knowing is felt....
-we have a felt sense of this freedom....
3-we seek take action in our lives from this place of non-clinging......
-this awakened action, the opposite of action, informed by craving, begins with intention....
-we develop the intention to take awakened action....
-action from the heart.....
-action aligned with our goodness
4-the form that our actions take is determined by our karma.....
-the Buddha's karma led him to be a teacher....
-for each of us, we have a particular karma that will determine actions we take that are an expression of the heart's sure release....
-our task is to find our path....
-or we could say, to find our rhythm....
5-we should begin immediately to find our path.....
-we might begin by having the intention, as described above, to live from the timeless place....
-to live in tune with our truth.....
-we might, in setting intention, seek to live in the questions....
-to reflect: what can I do that is an expression of my goodness ... my heart...?
-what can i do today...?
-what can i do right now...?
-reading.....
I have heard that on one occasion, when the Blessed One was newly Self-awakened, he was staying at Uruvela on the bank of the Nerañjara River, at the foot of the Goatherd's Banyan Tree.
Then, while he was alone and in seclusion, this line of thinking arose in his awareness: "This Dhamma that I have attained is deep, hard to see, hard to realize, peaceful, refined, beyond the scope of conjecture, subtle, to-be-experienced by the wise. But this generation delights in attachment, is excited by attachment, enjoys attachment. For a generation delighting in attachment, excited by attachment, enjoying attachment, this/that conditionality and dependent co-arising are hard to see. This state, too, is hard to see: the resolution of all fabrications, the relinquishment of all acquisitions, the ending of craving; dispassion; cessation; Unbinding. And if I were to teach the Dhamma and if others would not understand me, that would be tiresome for me, troublesome for me."
Just then these verses, unspoken in the past, unheard before, occurred to the Blessed One:
Enough now with teaching what only with difficulty I reached. This Dhamma is not easily realized by those overcome with aversion & passion. What is abstruse, subtle, deep, hard to see, going against the flow — those delighting in passion, cloaked in the mass of darkness, won't see.As the Blessed One reflected thus, his mind inclined to dwelling at ease, not to teaching the Dhamma.
Then Brahma Sahampati, having known with his own awareness the line of thinking in the Blessed One's awareness, thought: "The world is lost! The world is destroyed! The mind of the Tathagata, the Arahant, the Rightly Self-awakened One inclines to dwelling at ease, not to teaching the Dhamma!" Then, just as a strong man might extend his flexed arm or flex his extended arm, Brahma Sahampati disappeared from the Brahma-world and reappeared in front of the Blessed One. Arranging his upper robe over one shoulder, he knelt down with his right knee on the ground, saluted the Blessed One with his hands before his heart, and said to him: "Lord, let the Blessed One teach the Dhamma! Let the One-Well-Gone teach the Dhamma! There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are falling away because they do not hear the Dhamma. There will be those who will understand the Dhamma."
That is what Brahma Sahampati said. Having said that, he further said this:
In the past there appeared among the Magadhans an impure Dhamma devised by the stained. Throw open the door to the Deathless! Let them hear the Dhamma realized by the Stainless One! Just as one standing on a rocky crag might see people all around below, So, O wise one, with all-around vision, ascend the palace fashioned of the Dhamma. Free from sorrow, behold the people submerged in sorrow, oppressed by birth & aging.
Rise up, hero, victor in battle! O Teacher, wander without debt in the world. Teach the Dhamma, O Blessed One: There will be those who will understand.
Then the Blessed One, having understood Brahma's invitation, out of compassion for beings, surveyed the world with the eye of an Awakened One. As he did so, he saw beings with little dust in their eyes and those with much, those with keen faculties and those with dull, those with good attributes and those with bad, those easy to teach and those hard, some of them seeing disgrace and danger in the other world. Just as in a pond of blue or red or white lotuses, some lotuses — born and growing in the water — might flourish while immersed in the water, without rising up from the water; some might stand at an even level with the water; while some might rise up from the water and stand without being smeared by the water — so too, surveying the world with the eye of an Awakened One, the Blessed One saw beings with little dust in their eyes and those with much, those with keen faculties and those with dull, those with good attributes and those with bad, those easy to teach and those hard, some of them seeing disgrace and danger in the other world.
Having seen this, he answered Brahma Sahampati in verse:
Open are the doors to the Deathless to those with ears. Let them show their conviction. Perceiving trouble, O Brahma, I did not tell people the refined, sublime Dhamma.
Then Brahma Sahampati, thinking, "The Blessed One has given his consent to teach the Dhamma," bowed down to the Blessed One and, circling him on the right, disappeared right there.
(SN 6.1)
Archaic Torso of Apollo (Rilke)
We cannot know his legendary head
with eyes like ripening fruit. And yet his torso
is still suffused with brilliance from inside,
like a lamp, in which his gaze, now turned to low,
gleams in all its power. Otherwise
the curved breast could not dazzle you so, nor could
a smile run through the placid hips and thighs
to that dark center where procreation flared.
Otherwise this stone would seem defaced
beneath the translucent cascade of the shoulders
and would not glisten like a wild beast’s fur:
would not, from all the borders of itself,
burst like a star: for here there is no place
that does not see you. You must change your life.
Wir kannten nicht sein unerhörtes Haupt,
darin die Augenäpfel reiften. Aber
sein Torso glüht noch wie ein Kandelaber,
in dem sein Schauen, nur zurückgeschraubt,
sich hält und glänzt. Sonst könnte nicht der Bug
der Brust dich blenden, und im leisen Drehen
der Lenden könnte nicht ein Lächeln gehen
zu jener Mitte, die die Zeugung trug.
Sonst stünde dieser Stein enstellt und kurz
unter der Shultern durchsichtigem Sturz
und flimmerte nicht so wie Raubtierfelle;
und brächte nicht aus allen seinen Rändern
aus wie ein Stern: denn da ist keine Stelle,
die dich nicht sieht. Du mußt dein Leben ändern.
The Spiritual Path
An Evening Talk with Peter Doobinin
Friday, February 7
New York Insight, 115 W 29 St, 12th Fl, NYC
6:30pm to 8:30pm
To find out more details and register, visit the New York Insight website.
January 26
-"True Dhamma"
-the tendency we may have is to want to follow a new path or teaching or way of doing things. but the truths of the heart, the dhamma, are timeless and deathless. the dharma has always been there and will always be there. the Buddha didn't invent the dharma. he found it. and, in turn, he taught a way, a path, by which we might find it. we find the dharma inside us. in the body. in the heart. we learn, as dharma students, in being true to the Buddha's path, to know the dharma. we may come to know it, moment by moment. in our meditation. and in the course of our days. our task is to follow the path of generosity, virtue, renunciation, and meditation, and, in turn, to be alert to the dhamma, that timeless quality. it is from this place, that we seek to live.
-some things to to remember as you learn to know the "true dhamma"...
1-the dhamma is timeless....
-it has always been here, it will always be here....
-it is, therefore, true...
2-the path the Buddha taught leads to the true dhamma....
-the spiritual path of generosity, virtue, renunciation, meditation....
-it is the path the Buddha followed....
-the dhamma, truth, that the Buddha came to know is the same dhamma, truth, that we seek to know....
-a question for us to ask is: is what we're doing, how we're practicing, how we're living, leading us to the true dhamma....?
-to that quality of rhythm....
-to the heart....
-to love
3-we find the dhamma inside......
-in the silence ... in the stillness ... in the simplicity of the present moment....
-we know the dhamma in the body....
-we know the dhamma in the heart the heart.....
4-in breath meditation, we may touch in to the dhamma.....
-in those moments, when concentration is developed, when there is "just breathing"....
-when we let go of "I am breathing" or "my breath"....
-in those moments, perhaps for a fingersnap, we know that timeless quality of dhamma....
-similarly, in walking meditation, when there is "just walking".....
-as the Buddha explains to Ven. Bahiya (see sutta), this kind of practice is a way in to the dhamma....
5-as we begin to know the timeless quality, we incline to it.....
-knowing the dhamma is, as Ajahn Chah said, a cause for its rearising....
-in turn, more and more, we live, take action, from this place....
-from the heart....
-this goodness we develop in knowing and living from the true dhamma is what we leave behind....
-reading.....
-"Tradition and the Individual Talent" (TS Eliot)
-"True Dhamma"
-the tendency we may have is to want to follow a new path or teaching or way of doing things. but the truths of the heart, the dhamma, are timeless and deathless. the dharma has always been there and will always be there. the Buddha didn't invent the dharma. he found it. and, in turn, he taught a way, a path, by which we might find it. we find the dharma inside us. in the body. in the heart. we learn, as dharma students, in being true to the Buddha's path, to know the dharma. we may come to know it, moment by moment. in our meditation. and in the course of our days. our task is to follow the path of generosity, virtue, renunciation, and meditation, and, in turn, to be alert to the dhamma, that timeless quality. it is from this place, that we seek to live.
-some things to to remember as you learn to know the "true dhamma"...
1-the dhamma is timeless....
-it has always been here, it will always be here....
-it is, therefore, true...
2-the path the Buddha taught leads to the true dhamma....
-the spiritual path of generosity, virtue, renunciation, meditation....
-it is the path the Buddha followed....
-the dhamma, truth, that the Buddha came to know is the same dhamma, truth, that we seek to know....
-a question for us to ask is: is what we're doing, how we're practicing, how we're living, leading us to the true dhamma....?
-to that quality of rhythm....
-to the heart....
-to love
3-we find the dhamma inside......
-in the silence ... in the stillness ... in the simplicity of the present moment....
-we know the dhamma in the body....
-we know the dhamma in the heart the heart.....
4-in breath meditation, we may touch in to the dhamma.....
-in those moments, when concentration is developed, when there is "just breathing"....
-when we let go of "I am breathing" or "my breath"....
-in those moments, perhaps for a fingersnap, we know that timeless quality of dhamma....
-similarly, in walking meditation, when there is "just walking".....
-as the Buddha explains to Ven. Bahiya (see sutta), this kind of practice is a way in to the dhamma....
5-as we begin to know the timeless quality, we incline to it.....
-knowing the dhamma is, as Ajahn Chah said, a cause for its rearising....
-in turn, more and more, we live, take action, from this place....
-from the heart....
-this goodness we develop in knowing and living from the true dhamma is what we leave behind....
-reading.....
-"Tradition and the Individual Talent" (TS Eliot)
| eliot_tradition.pdf |
-"The Customs of the Noble Ones" (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
“And how does a monk remain focused on the body in & of itself?
[1] “There is the case where a monk—having gone to the wilderness, to the shade of a tree, or to an empty building—sits down folding his legs crosswise, holding his body erect and establishing mindfulness to the fore. Always mindful, he breathes in; mindful he breathes out.
“Breathing in long, he discerns, ‘I am breathing in long’; or breathing out long, he discerns, ‘I am breathing out long.’ Or breathing in short, he discerns, ‘I am breathing in short’; or breathing out short, he discerns, ‘I am breathing out short.’ He trains himself, ‘I will breathe in sensitive to the entire body’; he trains himself, ‘I will breathe out sensitive to the entire body.’ He trains himself, ‘I will breathe in calming bodily fabrication’; he trains himself, ‘I will breathe out calming bodily fabrication.’ Just as a dexterous turner or his apprentice, when making a long turn, discerns, ‘I am making a long turn,’ or when making a short turn discerns, ‘I am making a short turn’; in the same way the monk, when breathing in long, discerns, ‘I am breathing in long’; or breathing out long, he discerns, ‘I am breathing out long.’ … He trains himself, ‘I will breathe in calming bodily fabrication’; he trains himself, ‘I will breathe out calming bodily fabrication.’
“In this way he remains focused internally on the body in & of itself, or externally on the body in & of itself, or both internally & externally on the body in & of itself. Or he remains focused on the phenomenon of origination with regard to the body, on the phenomenon of passing away with regard to the body, or on the phenomenon of origination & passing away with regard to the body. Or his mindfulness that ‘There is a body’ is maintained to the extent of knowledge & remembrance. And he remains independent, unsustained by [not clinging to] anything in the world. This is how a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself."
(MN 10)
"Then, Bāhiya, you should train yourself thus: In reference to the seen, there will be only the seen. In reference to the heard, only the heard. In reference to the sensed, only the sensed. In reference to the cognized, only the cognized. That is how you should train yourself. When for you there will be only the seen in reference to the seen, only the heard in reference to the heard, only the sensed in reference to the sensed, only the cognized in reference to the cognized, then, Bāhiya, there is no you in connection with that. When there is no you in connection with that, there is no you there. When there is no you there, you are neither here nor yonder nor between the two. This, just this, is the end of stress."
Through hearing this brief explanation of the Dhamma from the Blessed One, the mind of Bāhiya of the Bark-cloth right then and there was released from effluents through lack of clinging/sustenance. Having exhorted Bāhiya of the Bark-cloth with this brief explanation of the Dhamma, the Blessed One left.
(Ud 1.1)
Burnt Norton (Four Quartets) (TS Eliot)
I
Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.
If all time is eternally present
All time is unredeemable.
What might have been is an abstraction
Remaining a perpetual possibility
Only in a world of speculation.
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.
Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take
Towards the door we never opened
Into the rose-garden. My words echo
Thus, in your mind.
But to what purpose
Disturbing the dust on a bowl of rose-leaves
I do not know.
Other echoes
Inhabit the garden. Shall we follow?
Quick, said the bird, find them, find them,
Round the corner. Through the first gate,
Into our first world, shall we follow
The deception of the thrush? Into our first world.
There they were, dignified, invisible,
Moving without pressure, over the dead leaves,
In the autumn heat, through the vibrant air,
And the bird called, in response to
The unheard music hidden in the shrubbery,
And the unseen eyebeam crossed, for the roses
Had the look of flowers that are looked at.
There they were as our guests, accepted and accepting.
So we moved, and they, in a formal pattern,
Along the empty alley, into the box circle,
To look down into the drained pool.
Dry the pool, dry concrete, brown edged,
And the pool was filled with water out of sunlight,
And the lotos rose, quietly, quietly,
The surface glittered out of heart of light,
And they were behind us, reflected in the pool.
Then a cloud passed, and the pool was empty.
Go, said the bird, for the leaves were full of children,
Hidden excitedly, containing laughter.
Go, go, go, said the bird: human kind
Cannot bear very much reality.
Time past and time future
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.
January 19
-"The Path of the Heart"
-the Buddha's path is a spiritual path. the elements of this spiritual path include generosity, virtue, renunciation, and meditation. the spiritual path is a path of the the heart. as such, it is a path in which we learn to meet life with love. love is an action. when we take action in this life that is informed by the heart, by love, we know happiness.
-some things to to remember as you develop in your efforts to follow "the path of the heart"...
1-as dharma students we're asked to follow a spiritual path....
-it is by following a spiritual path that we are able to move beyond suffering and know true happiness....
-we seek to live along spiritual lines...
-to this end, we might reflect: what is my commitment to a spiritual path...?
2-there are certain basic elements to the spiritual path....
-the basic elements, as put forth by the Buddha, of the spiritual path....
-generosity....
-abandoning greediness.....
-virtue...
-following, to the best of our ability, the five precepts....
-including the tenets of skillful speech....
-to abandon false speech, divisive speech, abusive speech, idle speech....
-renunciation.....
-to limit or moderate our indulgence in sense pleasure and material gain.....
-to find remove and seclusion from the ways of the world....
-meditation....
-the training of the mind & heart....
-concentration....
-wisdom
3-the purpose of the practice of meditation is to bring us closer to the heart......
-in developing concentration, we come closer to the heart....
-we reside, more and more, in the body....
-we come closer to the heart.....
-in developing wisdom, we come closer to the heart....
-we abandon that which is blocking us from the heart.....
4-the spiritual path is a path of the heart.....
-the path of the heart is a path of love....
-love is not an emotion....
-love is the quality of the heart that informs awakened action....
-love is found in action ... subtle & blatant.....
-reading.....
-"Nobel Peace Prize Lecture" (Dr. Martin Luther King)
This evening I would like to use this lofty and historic platform to discuss what appears to me to be the most pressing problem confronting mankind today. Modern man has brought this whole world to an awe-inspiring threshold of the future. He has reached new and astonishing peaks of scientific success. He has produced machines that think and instruments that peer into the unfathomable ranges of interstellar space. He has built gigantic bridges to span the seas and gargantuan buildings to kiss the skies. His airplanes and spaceships have dwarfed distance, placed time in chains, and carved highways through the stratosphere. This is a dazzling picture of modern man’s scientific and technological progress.
Yet, in spite of these spectacular strides in science and technology, and still unlimited ones to come, something basic is missing. There is a sort of poverty of the spirit which stands in glaring contrast to our scientific and technological abundance. The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually. We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers.
Every man lives in two realms, the internal and the external. The internal is that realm of spiritual ends expressed in art, literature, morals, and religion. The external is that complex of devices, techniques, mechanisms, and instrumentalities by means of which we live. Our problem today is that we have allowed the internal to become lost in the external. We have allowed the means by which we live to outdistance the ends for which we live. So much of modern life can be summarized in that arresting dictum of the poet Thoreau: “Improved means to an unimproved end”. This is the serious predicament, the deep and haunting problem confronting modern man. If we are to survive today, our moral and spiritual “lag” must be eliminated. Enlarged material powers spell enlarged peril if there is not proportionate growth of the soul. When the “without” of man’s nature subjugates the “within”, dark storm clouds begin to form in the world.
********
This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one’s tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all men. This oft misunderstood and misinterpreted concept so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man. When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response which is little more than emotional bosh. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu-Moslem-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the First Epistle of Saint John:
Let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone
that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His
love is perfected in us.
Let us hope that this spirit will become the order of the day. As Arnold Toynbee says: “Love is the ultimate force that makes for the saving choice of life and good against the damning choice of death and evil. Therefore the first hope in our inventory must be the hope that love is going to have the last word.” We can no longer afford to worship the God of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. Love is the key to the solution of the problems of the world.
-from Nobel Lecture (Dr. Martin Luther King)
"Now, Cunda, there are three ways in which one is made pure by bodily action, four ways in which one is made pure by verbal action, and three ways in which one is made pure by mental action.
Skillful Bodily Action
"And how is one made pure in three ways by bodily action? There is the case where a certain person, abandoning the taking of life, abstains from the taking of life. He dwells with his rod laid down, his knife laid down, scrupulous, merciful, compassionate for the welfare of all living beings. Abandoning the taking of what is not given, he abstains from taking what is not given. He does not take, in the manner of a thief, things in a village or a wilderness that belong to others and have not been given by them. Abandoning sensual misconduct, he abstains from sensual misconduct. He does not get sexually involved with those who are protected by their mothers, their fathers, their brothers, their sisters, their relatives, or their Dhamma; those with husbands, those who entail punishments, or even those crowned with flowers by another man. This is how one is made pure in three ways by bodily action.
Skillful Verbal Action
"And how is one made pure in four ways by verbal action? There is the case where a certain person, abandoning false speech, abstains from false speech. When he has been called to a town meeting, a group meeting, a gathering of his relatives, his guild, or of the royalty, if he is asked as a witness, 'Come & tell, good man, what you know': If he doesn't know, he says, 'I don't know.' If he does know, he says, 'I know.' If he hasn't seen, he says, 'I haven't seen.' If he has seen, he says, 'I have seen.' Thus he doesn't consciously tell a lie for his own sake, for the sake of another, or for the sake of any reward. Abandoning false speech, he abstains from false speech. He speaks the truth, holds to the truth, is firm, reliable, no deceiver of the world. Abandoning divisive speech he abstains from divisive speech. What he has heard here he does not tell there to break those people apart from these people here. What he has heard there he does not tell here to break these people apart from those people there. Thus reconciling those who have broken apart or cementing those who are united, he loves concord, delights in concord, enjoys concord, speaks things that create concord. Abandoning abusive speech, he abstains from abusive speech. He speaks words that are soothing to the ear, that are affectionate, that go to the heart, that are polite, appealing & pleasing to people at large. Abandoning idle chatter, he abstains from idle chatter. He speaks in season, speaks what is factual, what is in accordance with the goal, the Dhamma, & the Vinaya. He speaks words worth treasuring, seasonable, reasonable, circumscribed, connected with the goal. This is how one is made pure in four ways by verbal action.
Skillful Mental Action
"And how is one made pure in three ways by mental action? There is the case where a certain person is not covetous. He does not covet the belongings of others, thinking, 'O, that what belongs to others would be mine!' He bears no ill will and is not corrupt in the resolves of his heart. [He thinks,] 'May these beings be free from animosity, free from oppression, free from trouble, and may they look after themselves with ease!' He has right view and is not warped in the way he sees things: 'There is what is given, what is offered, what is sacrificed. There are fruits & results of good & bad actions. There is this world & the next world. There is mother & father. There are spontaneously reborn beings; there are brahmans & contemplatives who, faring rightly & practicing rightly, proclaim this world & the next after having directly known & realized it for themselves.' This is how one is made pure in three ways by mental action.
"These, Cunda, are the ten courses of skillful action. When a person is endowed with these ten courses of skillful action, then even if he gets up at the proper time from his bed and touches the earth, he is still pure. If he doesn't touch the earth, he is still pure. If he touches wet cow dung, he is still pure. If he doesn't touch wet cow dung, he is still pure. If he touches green grass... If he doesn't touch green grass... If he worships a fire... If he doesn't worship a fire... If he pays homage to the sun with clasped hands... If he doesn't pay homage to the sun with clasped hands... If he goes down into the water three times by nightfall... If he doesn't go down into the water three times by nightfall, he is still pure. Why is that? Because these ten courses of skillful action are pure and cause purity. Furthermore, as a result of being endowed with these ten courses of skillful action, [rebirth among] the devas is declared, [rebirth among] human beings is declared — that or any other good destination."
When this was said, Cunda the silversmith said to the Blessed One: "Magnificent, lord! Magnificent! Just as if he were to place upright what was overturned, to reveal what was hidden, to show the way to one who was lost, or to carry a lamp into the dark so that those with eyes could see forms, in the same way has the Blessed One — through many lines of reasoning — made the Dhamma clear. I go to the Blessed One for refuge, to the Dhamma, and to the community of monks. May the Blessed One remember me as a lay follower who has gone to him for refuge, from this day forward, for life.
(AN 10.176)
Choices
We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with an impure mind
And trouble will follow you
As the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart.
We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with a pure mind
And happiness will follow you
As your shadow, unshakable.
"Look how he abused me and hurt me,
How he threw me down and robbed me."
Live with such thoughts and you live in hate.
"Look how he abused me and hurt me,
How he threw me down and robbed me."
Abandon such thoughts, and live in love.
In this world
Hate never yet dispelled hate.
Only love dispels hate.
This is the law,
Ancient and inexhaustible.
You too shall pass away.
Knowing this,
how can you quarrel?
How easily the wind overturns a frail tree.
Seek happiness in the senses,
Indulge in food and sleep,
And you too will be uprooted.
The wind cannot overturn a mountain.
Temptation cannot touch the man
Who is awake, strong and humble,
Who masters himself and minds the dharma.
If a man's thoughts are muddy,
If he is reckless and full of deceit,
How can he wear the yellow robe?
Whoever is master of his own nature,
Bright, clear and true,
He may indeed wear the yellow robe.
Mistaking the false for the true,
And the true for the false,
You overlook the heart
And fill yourself with desire.
See the false as false,
The true as true.
Look into your heart.
Follow your nature.
An unreflecting mind is a poor roof.
Passion, like the rain, floods the house.
But if the roof is strong, there is shelter.
Whoever follows impure thoughts
Suffers in this world and the next.
In both worlds he suffers
And how greatly
When he sees the wrong he has done.
But whoever follows the dharma Is joyful here and joyful there.
In both worlds he rejoices
And how greatly
When he sees the good he has done.
For great is the harvest in this world,
And greater still in the next.
However many holy words you read,
However many you speak,
What good will they do you If you do not act upon them?
Are you a shepherd
Who counts another man's sheep,
Never sharing the way?
Read as few words as you like,
And speak fewer.
But act upon the dharma.
Give up the old ways –
Passion, enmity, folly.
Know the truth and find peace.
Share the way.
(Dhp 1)
-"The Path of the Heart"
-the Buddha's path is a spiritual path. the elements of this spiritual path include generosity, virtue, renunciation, and meditation. the spiritual path is a path of the the heart. as such, it is a path in which we learn to meet life with love. love is an action. when we take action in this life that is informed by the heart, by love, we know happiness.
-some things to to remember as you develop in your efforts to follow "the path of the heart"...
1-as dharma students we're asked to follow a spiritual path....
-it is by following a spiritual path that we are able to move beyond suffering and know true happiness....
-we seek to live along spiritual lines...
-to this end, we might reflect: what is my commitment to a spiritual path...?
2-there are certain basic elements to the spiritual path....
-the basic elements, as put forth by the Buddha, of the spiritual path....
-generosity....
-abandoning greediness.....
-virtue...
-following, to the best of our ability, the five precepts....
-including the tenets of skillful speech....
-to abandon false speech, divisive speech, abusive speech, idle speech....
-renunciation.....
-to limit or moderate our indulgence in sense pleasure and material gain.....
-to find remove and seclusion from the ways of the world....
-meditation....
-the training of the mind & heart....
-concentration....
-wisdom
3-the purpose of the practice of meditation is to bring us closer to the heart......
-in developing concentration, we come closer to the heart....
-we reside, more and more, in the body....
-we come closer to the heart.....
-in developing wisdom, we come closer to the heart....
-we abandon that which is blocking us from the heart.....
4-the spiritual path is a path of the heart.....
-the path of the heart is a path of love....
-love is not an emotion....
-love is the quality of the heart that informs awakened action....
-love is found in action ... subtle & blatant.....
-reading.....
-"Nobel Peace Prize Lecture" (Dr. Martin Luther King)
This evening I would like to use this lofty and historic platform to discuss what appears to me to be the most pressing problem confronting mankind today. Modern man has brought this whole world to an awe-inspiring threshold of the future. He has reached new and astonishing peaks of scientific success. He has produced machines that think and instruments that peer into the unfathomable ranges of interstellar space. He has built gigantic bridges to span the seas and gargantuan buildings to kiss the skies. His airplanes and spaceships have dwarfed distance, placed time in chains, and carved highways through the stratosphere. This is a dazzling picture of modern man’s scientific and technological progress.
Yet, in spite of these spectacular strides in science and technology, and still unlimited ones to come, something basic is missing. There is a sort of poverty of the spirit which stands in glaring contrast to our scientific and technological abundance. The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually. We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers.
Every man lives in two realms, the internal and the external. The internal is that realm of spiritual ends expressed in art, literature, morals, and religion. The external is that complex of devices, techniques, mechanisms, and instrumentalities by means of which we live. Our problem today is that we have allowed the internal to become lost in the external. We have allowed the means by which we live to outdistance the ends for which we live. So much of modern life can be summarized in that arresting dictum of the poet Thoreau: “Improved means to an unimproved end”. This is the serious predicament, the deep and haunting problem confronting modern man. If we are to survive today, our moral and spiritual “lag” must be eliminated. Enlarged material powers spell enlarged peril if there is not proportionate growth of the soul. When the “without” of man’s nature subjugates the “within”, dark storm clouds begin to form in the world.
********
This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one’s tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all men. This oft misunderstood and misinterpreted concept so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man. When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response which is little more than emotional bosh. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu-Moslem-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the First Epistle of Saint John:
Let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone
that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His
love is perfected in us.
Let us hope that this spirit will become the order of the day. As Arnold Toynbee says: “Love is the ultimate force that makes for the saving choice of life and good against the damning choice of death and evil. Therefore the first hope in our inventory must be the hope that love is going to have the last word.” We can no longer afford to worship the God of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. Love is the key to the solution of the problems of the world.
-from Nobel Lecture (Dr. Martin Luther King)
"Now, Cunda, there are three ways in which one is made pure by bodily action, four ways in which one is made pure by verbal action, and three ways in which one is made pure by mental action.
Skillful Bodily Action
"And how is one made pure in three ways by bodily action? There is the case where a certain person, abandoning the taking of life, abstains from the taking of life. He dwells with his rod laid down, his knife laid down, scrupulous, merciful, compassionate for the welfare of all living beings. Abandoning the taking of what is not given, he abstains from taking what is not given. He does not take, in the manner of a thief, things in a village or a wilderness that belong to others and have not been given by them. Abandoning sensual misconduct, he abstains from sensual misconduct. He does not get sexually involved with those who are protected by their mothers, their fathers, their brothers, their sisters, their relatives, or their Dhamma; those with husbands, those who entail punishments, or even those crowned with flowers by another man. This is how one is made pure in three ways by bodily action.
Skillful Verbal Action
"And how is one made pure in four ways by verbal action? There is the case where a certain person, abandoning false speech, abstains from false speech. When he has been called to a town meeting, a group meeting, a gathering of his relatives, his guild, or of the royalty, if he is asked as a witness, 'Come & tell, good man, what you know': If he doesn't know, he says, 'I don't know.' If he does know, he says, 'I know.' If he hasn't seen, he says, 'I haven't seen.' If he has seen, he says, 'I have seen.' Thus he doesn't consciously tell a lie for his own sake, for the sake of another, or for the sake of any reward. Abandoning false speech, he abstains from false speech. He speaks the truth, holds to the truth, is firm, reliable, no deceiver of the world. Abandoning divisive speech he abstains from divisive speech. What he has heard here he does not tell there to break those people apart from these people here. What he has heard there he does not tell here to break these people apart from those people there. Thus reconciling those who have broken apart or cementing those who are united, he loves concord, delights in concord, enjoys concord, speaks things that create concord. Abandoning abusive speech, he abstains from abusive speech. He speaks words that are soothing to the ear, that are affectionate, that go to the heart, that are polite, appealing & pleasing to people at large. Abandoning idle chatter, he abstains from idle chatter. He speaks in season, speaks what is factual, what is in accordance with the goal, the Dhamma, & the Vinaya. He speaks words worth treasuring, seasonable, reasonable, circumscribed, connected with the goal. This is how one is made pure in four ways by verbal action.
Skillful Mental Action
"And how is one made pure in three ways by mental action? There is the case where a certain person is not covetous. He does not covet the belongings of others, thinking, 'O, that what belongs to others would be mine!' He bears no ill will and is not corrupt in the resolves of his heart. [He thinks,] 'May these beings be free from animosity, free from oppression, free from trouble, and may they look after themselves with ease!' He has right view and is not warped in the way he sees things: 'There is what is given, what is offered, what is sacrificed. There are fruits & results of good & bad actions. There is this world & the next world. There is mother & father. There are spontaneously reborn beings; there are brahmans & contemplatives who, faring rightly & practicing rightly, proclaim this world & the next after having directly known & realized it for themselves.' This is how one is made pure in three ways by mental action.
"These, Cunda, are the ten courses of skillful action. When a person is endowed with these ten courses of skillful action, then even if he gets up at the proper time from his bed and touches the earth, he is still pure. If he doesn't touch the earth, he is still pure. If he touches wet cow dung, he is still pure. If he doesn't touch wet cow dung, he is still pure. If he touches green grass... If he doesn't touch green grass... If he worships a fire... If he doesn't worship a fire... If he pays homage to the sun with clasped hands... If he doesn't pay homage to the sun with clasped hands... If he goes down into the water three times by nightfall... If he doesn't go down into the water three times by nightfall, he is still pure. Why is that? Because these ten courses of skillful action are pure and cause purity. Furthermore, as a result of being endowed with these ten courses of skillful action, [rebirth among] the devas is declared, [rebirth among] human beings is declared — that or any other good destination."
When this was said, Cunda the silversmith said to the Blessed One: "Magnificent, lord! Magnificent! Just as if he were to place upright what was overturned, to reveal what was hidden, to show the way to one who was lost, or to carry a lamp into the dark so that those with eyes could see forms, in the same way has the Blessed One — through many lines of reasoning — made the Dhamma clear. I go to the Blessed One for refuge, to the Dhamma, and to the community of monks. May the Blessed One remember me as a lay follower who has gone to him for refuge, from this day forward, for life.
(AN 10.176)
Choices
We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with an impure mind
And trouble will follow you
As the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart.
We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with a pure mind
And happiness will follow you
As your shadow, unshakable.
"Look how he abused me and hurt me,
How he threw me down and robbed me."
Live with such thoughts and you live in hate.
"Look how he abused me and hurt me,
How he threw me down and robbed me."
Abandon such thoughts, and live in love.
In this world
Hate never yet dispelled hate.
Only love dispels hate.
This is the law,
Ancient and inexhaustible.
You too shall pass away.
Knowing this,
how can you quarrel?
How easily the wind overturns a frail tree.
Seek happiness in the senses,
Indulge in food and sleep,
And you too will be uprooted.
The wind cannot overturn a mountain.
Temptation cannot touch the man
Who is awake, strong and humble,
Who masters himself and minds the dharma.
If a man's thoughts are muddy,
If he is reckless and full of deceit,
How can he wear the yellow robe?
Whoever is master of his own nature,
Bright, clear and true,
He may indeed wear the yellow robe.
Mistaking the false for the true,
And the true for the false,
You overlook the heart
And fill yourself with desire.
See the false as false,
The true as true.
Look into your heart.
Follow your nature.
An unreflecting mind is a poor roof.
Passion, like the rain, floods the house.
But if the roof is strong, there is shelter.
Whoever follows impure thoughts
Suffers in this world and the next.
In both worlds he suffers
And how greatly
When he sees the wrong he has done.
But whoever follows the dharma Is joyful here and joyful there.
In both worlds he rejoices
And how greatly
When he sees the good he has done.
For great is the harvest in this world,
And greater still in the next.
However many holy words you read,
However many you speak,
What good will they do you If you do not act upon them?
Are you a shepherd
Who counts another man's sheep,
Never sharing the way?
Read as few words as you like,
And speak fewer.
But act upon the dharma.
Give up the old ways –
Passion, enmity, folly.
Know the truth and find peace.
Share the way.
(Dhp 1)
January 12
-"Moving Beyond Emotions"
-emotions, including painful emotions, are part of life. as conditioned phenomena, they have an "unsatisfactory" nature. which is to say, they can't offer us a reliable happiness and, if we cling to, they conduce to suffering/dukkha. as dharma students, we're asked to understand the impermanent, conditioned, unreliable, unsatisfactory nature of emotions. we learn, as we bring awareness to emotions, to become less invested in them, to give them less weight. we learn, in turn, to put more emphasis on the qualities of the heart. we learn that we can choose, and we learn to choose love.
-some things to to remember as you explore your efforts in "moving beyond emotions"...
1-stressful emotions are unavoidable conditions of life....
-as human beings, we will experience difficult, painful emotions....
-but if we are able to refrain from clinging, our heart will remain open...
-if we don't cling, we won't experience dukkha/suffering....
2-in our practice, we learn to be aware of emotions according to reality....
-we learn to be mindful of emotions, seeing that they are....
-impermanent....
-inconstant.....
-not-self....
-conditioned....
-unreliable....
-unpredictable....
-out of our control.....
-unsatisfactory.....
-they conduce to clinging ... and dukkha/suffering.....
3-as we see into the truth of what emotions are, we cultivate disenchantment......
-we recognize the drawbacks of emotions....
-we don't give so much weight to emotions....
-we become more and more disinclined to grasp on to.....
-we understand that emotions are merely sensations, in the body....
-they are "empty" ... without substance.....
4-it's useful to see how we react to emotions.....
-do we engage in forms of reactivity...?
-disliking the emotion....
-not wanting the emotion....
-despair/anguish about the emotion.....
5- in our practice we learn to move beyond emotions....
-we understand that we're better off, in this life, if we invest in the qualities of the heart....
-compassion....
-love....
-joy.....
-we learn to see that the qualities of the heart are more beneficial....
-reliable....
-true....
-conduce to happiness....
6- we assert the qualities of the heart through intention....
-we choose to abandon emotional states ... and to cultivate the heart....
-we choose the heart through intention.....
-we assert "skillful intention".....
-reading.....
-"Setting the Wheel of the Dharma in Motion" (SN 56.11)
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying at Varanasi in the Game Refuge at Isipatana. There he addressed the group of five monks:
"There are these two extremes that are not to be indulged in by one who has gone forth. Which two? That which is devoted to sensual pleasure with reference to sensual objects: base, vulgar, common, ignoble, unprofitable; and that which is devoted to self-affliction: painful, ignoble, unprofitable. Avoiding both of these extremes, the middle way realized by the Tathagata — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
"And what is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding? Precisely this Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
"Now this, monks, is the noble truth of stress: Birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are stressful; association with the unbeloved is stressful, separation from the loved is stressful, not getting what is wanted is stressful. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are stressful."
(SN 56.11)
"It is not in his personal emotions, the emotions provoked by particular events in his life, that the poet is in any way remarkable or interesting. HIs particular emotions may be simple, or crude, or flat. The emotion in his poetry will be a very complex thing, but not with the complexity of the emotions of people who have very complex or unusual emotions in life. One error, in fact, of eccentricity in poetry is to seek for new human emotions to express; and in this search for novelty in the wrong place it discovers the perverse. The business of the poet is not to find new emotions, but to use the ordinary ones and, in working them up into poetry, to express feelings which are not in actual emotions at all.
***********
Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality. But, of course, only those who have personality and emotions know what it means to want to escape from these things.
-TS Eliot ("Tradition and the Individual Talent")
On one occasion the Blessed One was staying among the Ayojjhans on the banks of the Ganges River. There he addressed the monks: "Monks, suppose that a large glob of foam were floating down this Ganges River, and a man with good eyesight were to see it, observe it, & appropriately examine it. To him — seeing it, observing it, & appropriately examining it — it would appear empty, void, without substance: for what substance would there be in a glob of foam? In the same way, a monk sees, observes, & appropriately examines any form that is past, future, or present; internal or external; blatant or subtle; common or sublime; far or near. To him — seeing it, observing it, & appropriately examining it — it would appear empty, void, without substance: for what substance would there be in form?"
(SN 22.95)
Teacher Support
Donations to support the teacher, Peter Doobinin, can be made via PayPal by using the address: [email protected]
(If using PayPal, this is the preferred method; please use the "personal/family & friends" function.)
Donations can also be made through Zelle using the email address: [email protected]
Information about making a donation using a credit card or by check are found on the Support page.
Thanks for your generosity!
-"Moving Beyond Emotions"
-emotions, including painful emotions, are part of life. as conditioned phenomena, they have an "unsatisfactory" nature. which is to say, they can't offer us a reliable happiness and, if we cling to, they conduce to suffering/dukkha. as dharma students, we're asked to understand the impermanent, conditioned, unreliable, unsatisfactory nature of emotions. we learn, as we bring awareness to emotions, to become less invested in them, to give them less weight. we learn, in turn, to put more emphasis on the qualities of the heart. we learn that we can choose, and we learn to choose love.
-some things to to remember as you explore your efforts in "moving beyond emotions"...
1-stressful emotions are unavoidable conditions of life....
-as human beings, we will experience difficult, painful emotions....
-but if we are able to refrain from clinging, our heart will remain open...
-if we don't cling, we won't experience dukkha/suffering....
2-in our practice, we learn to be aware of emotions according to reality....
-we learn to be mindful of emotions, seeing that they are....
-impermanent....
-inconstant.....
-not-self....
-conditioned....
-unreliable....
-unpredictable....
-out of our control.....
-unsatisfactory.....
-they conduce to clinging ... and dukkha/suffering.....
3-as we see into the truth of what emotions are, we cultivate disenchantment......
-we recognize the drawbacks of emotions....
-we don't give so much weight to emotions....
-we become more and more disinclined to grasp on to.....
-we understand that emotions are merely sensations, in the body....
-they are "empty" ... without substance.....
4-it's useful to see how we react to emotions.....
-do we engage in forms of reactivity...?
-disliking the emotion....
-not wanting the emotion....
-despair/anguish about the emotion.....
5- in our practice we learn to move beyond emotions....
-we understand that we're better off, in this life, if we invest in the qualities of the heart....
-compassion....
-love....
-joy.....
-we learn to see that the qualities of the heart are more beneficial....
-reliable....
-true....
-conduce to happiness....
6- we assert the qualities of the heart through intention....
-we choose to abandon emotional states ... and to cultivate the heart....
-we choose the heart through intention.....
-we assert "skillful intention".....
-reading.....
-"Setting the Wheel of the Dharma in Motion" (SN 56.11)
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying at Varanasi in the Game Refuge at Isipatana. There he addressed the group of five monks:
"There are these two extremes that are not to be indulged in by one who has gone forth. Which two? That which is devoted to sensual pleasure with reference to sensual objects: base, vulgar, common, ignoble, unprofitable; and that which is devoted to self-affliction: painful, ignoble, unprofitable. Avoiding both of these extremes, the middle way realized by the Tathagata — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
"And what is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding? Precisely this Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
"Now this, monks, is the noble truth of stress: Birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are stressful; association with the unbeloved is stressful, separation from the loved is stressful, not getting what is wanted is stressful. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are stressful."
(SN 56.11)
"It is not in his personal emotions, the emotions provoked by particular events in his life, that the poet is in any way remarkable or interesting. HIs particular emotions may be simple, or crude, or flat. The emotion in his poetry will be a very complex thing, but not with the complexity of the emotions of people who have very complex or unusual emotions in life. One error, in fact, of eccentricity in poetry is to seek for new human emotions to express; and in this search for novelty in the wrong place it discovers the perverse. The business of the poet is not to find new emotions, but to use the ordinary ones and, in working them up into poetry, to express feelings which are not in actual emotions at all.
***********
Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality. But, of course, only those who have personality and emotions know what it means to want to escape from these things.
-TS Eliot ("Tradition and the Individual Talent")
On one occasion the Blessed One was staying among the Ayojjhans on the banks of the Ganges River. There he addressed the monks: "Monks, suppose that a large glob of foam were floating down this Ganges River, and a man with good eyesight were to see it, observe it, & appropriately examine it. To him — seeing it, observing it, & appropriately examining it — it would appear empty, void, without substance: for what substance would there be in a glob of foam? In the same way, a monk sees, observes, & appropriately examines any form that is past, future, or present; internal or external; blatant or subtle; common or sublime; far or near. To him — seeing it, observing it, & appropriately examining it — it would appear empty, void, without substance: for what substance would there be in form?"
(SN 22.95)
Teacher Support
Donations to support the teacher, Peter Doobinin, can be made via PayPal by using the address: [email protected]
(If using PayPal, this is the preferred method; please use the "personal/family & friends" function.)
Donations can also be made through Zelle using the email address: [email protected]
Information about making a donation using a credit card or by check are found on the Support page.
Thanks for your generosity!
January 5
-"Beginning to Live"
-as we move forward in life, our view of things often narrows. our view of the world, others, and of course ourselves. our way of looking at things become more and more narrow, the more we cling. in dharma practice, as we learn to abandon clinging, we begin, little by slowly, to widen our view of things. we begin to know the truth of things. we begin to realize the great potential that lies in every moment of life. the potential for unexcelled happiness. the happiness of heart.
-some things to to remember as you embrace the notion that you're "beginning to live"...
1-we may have lost that 'sense of possibility' that we felt when we were younger....
-in our younger days, as we set out in life, we may have been imbued with a sense of possibility....
-the world seemed open...
-life seem filled with possibilities....
-but as time went on, we may have gradually lost that sense of possibility.....
-our view of life, and its potential, may have come more and more limited.....
2-our view of things becomes more and more limited as we engage more and more in clinging....
-what changes, we come to learn, as dharma students, is our view of life, not life itself....
-our view of life becomes more limited as we engage in clinging....
-clinging to....
-sense pleasures.....
-views & opinions....
-social conventions....
-self image.....
3-as we abandon clinging, we come to recognize the truth of the dharma......
-we recognize the boundless potential in every moment....
-the potential for happiness of heart....
4-the happiness of heart is deathless....
-it is deathless ... boundless ... timeless...
-for this reason, life is imbued, by its nature with endless possibility for love, joy, happiness....
-reading.....
April 16. Away! Away!
The spell of arms and voices: the white arms of roads, their promise of close embraces and the black arms of tall ships that stand against the moon, their tale of distant nations. They are held out to say: We are alone—come. And the voices say with them: We are your kinsmen. And the air is thick with their company as they call to me, their kinsman, making ready to go, shaking the wings of their exultant and terrible youth.
April 26. Mother is putting my new secondhand clothes in order. She prays now, she says, that I may learn in my own life and away from home and friends what the heart is and what it feels. Amen. So be it. Welcome, O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.
April 27. Old father, old artificer, stand me now and ever in good stead.
(James Joyce/The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man)
To the sick the doctors wisely recommend a change of air and scenery. Thank Heaven, here is not all the world. The buckeye does not grow in New England, and the mockingbird is rarely heard here. The wild goose is more of a cosmopolite than we; he breaks his fast in Canada, takes a luncheon in the Ohio, and plumes himself for the night in a southern bayou. Even the bison, to some extent, keeps pace with the seasons cropping the pastures of the Colorado only till a greener and sweeter grass awaits him by the Yellowstone. Yet we think that if rail fences are pulled down, and stone walls piled up on our farms, bounds are henceforth set to our lives and our fates decided. If you are chosen town clerk, forsooth, you cannot go to Tierra del Fuego this summer: but you may go to the land of infernal fire nevertheless. The universe is wider than our views of it.
***********
I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one. It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, and make a beaten track for ourselves. I had not lived there a week before my feet wore a path from my door to the pond–side; and though it is five or six years since I trod it, it is still quite distinct. It is true, I fear, that others may have fallen into it, and so helped to keep it open. The surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels. How worn and dusty, then, must be the highways of the world, how deep the ruts of tradition and conformity! I did not wish to take a cabin passage, but rather to go before the mast and on the deck of the world, for there I could best see the moonlight amid the mountains. I do not wish to go below now.
I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings. In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
***********
I do not say that John or Jonathan will realize all this; but such is the character of that morrow which mere lapse of time can never make to dawn. The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us. Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star.
-Thoreau (from Walden/Conclusion)
-"Beginning to Live"
-as we move forward in life, our view of things often narrows. our view of the world, others, and of course ourselves. our way of looking at things become more and more narrow, the more we cling. in dharma practice, as we learn to abandon clinging, we begin, little by slowly, to widen our view of things. we begin to know the truth of things. we begin to realize the great potential that lies in every moment of life. the potential for unexcelled happiness. the happiness of heart.
-some things to to remember as you embrace the notion that you're "beginning to live"...
1-we may have lost that 'sense of possibility' that we felt when we were younger....
-in our younger days, as we set out in life, we may have been imbued with a sense of possibility....
-the world seemed open...
-life seem filled with possibilities....
-but as time went on, we may have gradually lost that sense of possibility.....
-our view of life, and its potential, may have come more and more limited.....
2-our view of things becomes more and more limited as we engage more and more in clinging....
-what changes, we come to learn, as dharma students, is our view of life, not life itself....
-our view of life becomes more limited as we engage in clinging....
-clinging to....
-sense pleasures.....
-views & opinions....
-social conventions....
-self image.....
3-as we abandon clinging, we come to recognize the truth of the dharma......
-we recognize the boundless potential in every moment....
-the potential for happiness of heart....
4-the happiness of heart is deathless....
-it is deathless ... boundless ... timeless...
-for this reason, life is imbued, by its nature with endless possibility for love, joy, happiness....
-reading.....
April 16. Away! Away!
The spell of arms and voices: the white arms of roads, their promise of close embraces and the black arms of tall ships that stand against the moon, their tale of distant nations. They are held out to say: We are alone—come. And the voices say with them: We are your kinsmen. And the air is thick with their company as they call to me, their kinsman, making ready to go, shaking the wings of their exultant and terrible youth.
April 26. Mother is putting my new secondhand clothes in order. She prays now, she says, that I may learn in my own life and away from home and friends what the heart is and what it feels. Amen. So be it. Welcome, O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.
April 27. Old father, old artificer, stand me now and ever in good stead.
(James Joyce/The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man)
To the sick the doctors wisely recommend a change of air and scenery. Thank Heaven, here is not all the world. The buckeye does not grow in New England, and the mockingbird is rarely heard here. The wild goose is more of a cosmopolite than we; he breaks his fast in Canada, takes a luncheon in the Ohio, and plumes himself for the night in a southern bayou. Even the bison, to some extent, keeps pace with the seasons cropping the pastures of the Colorado only till a greener and sweeter grass awaits him by the Yellowstone. Yet we think that if rail fences are pulled down, and stone walls piled up on our farms, bounds are henceforth set to our lives and our fates decided. If you are chosen town clerk, forsooth, you cannot go to Tierra del Fuego this summer: but you may go to the land of infernal fire nevertheless. The universe is wider than our views of it.
***********
I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one. It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, and make a beaten track for ourselves. I had not lived there a week before my feet wore a path from my door to the pond–side; and though it is five or six years since I trod it, it is still quite distinct. It is true, I fear, that others may have fallen into it, and so helped to keep it open. The surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels. How worn and dusty, then, must be the highways of the world, how deep the ruts of tradition and conformity! I did not wish to take a cabin passage, but rather to go before the mast and on the deck of the world, for there I could best see the moonlight amid the mountains. I do not wish to go below now.
I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings. In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
***********
I do not say that John or Jonathan will realize all this; but such is the character of that morrow which mere lapse of time can never make to dawn. The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us. Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star.
-Thoreau (from Walden/Conclusion)
Teacher Support
Donations to support the teacher, Peter Doobinin, can be made via PayPal by using the address: [email protected]
(If using PayPal, this is the preferred method; please use the "personal/family & friends" function.)
Donations can also be made through Zelle using the email address: [email protected]
Information about making a donation using a credit card or by check are found on the Support page.
Thanks for your generosity!
