Rick & Marge will facilitate on the fourth of the Five Mindfulness Trainings:
Loving Speech and Deep Listening
Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others, I am committed to cultivating loving speech and compassionate listening in order to relieve suffering and to promote reconciliation and peace in myself and among other people, ethnic and religious groups, and nations. Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering, I am committed to speaking truthfully using words that inspire confidence, joy, and hope. When anger is manifesting in me, I am determined not to speak. I will practice mindful breathing and walking in order to recognize and to look deeply into my anger. I know that the roots of anger can be found in my wrong perceptions and lack of understanding of the suffering in myself and in the other person. I will speak and listen in a way that can help myself and the other person to transform suffering and see the way out of difficult situations. I am determined not to spread news that I do not know to be certain and not to utter words that can cause division or discord. I will practice Right Diligence to nourish my capacity for understanding, love, joy, and inclusiveness, and gradually transform anger, violence, and fear that lie deep in my consciousness.
Here are some Dharma talks by Thay and some articles about loving speech and deep listening.
practicing mindfulness in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh
Sunday, January 28 at UU
Nick will facilitate the recitation the Five Mindfulness Trainings, which may include some of the ceremonial chanting (Incense Offering, Touching the Earth, Opening Verse, The Heart Sutra, The Three Refuges, Closing Verse) in the Plum Village tradition.
Tuesday, January 23 @ DBT
Pete will share on the third of the Five Mindfulness Trainings.
True Love
Aware of the suffering caused by sexual misconduct, I am committed to cultivating responsibility and learning ways to protect the safety and integrity of individuals, couples, families, and society. Knowing that sexual desire is not love, and that sexual activity motivated by craving always harms myself as well as others, I am determined not to engage in sexual relations without true love and a deep, long-term commitment made known to my family and friends. I will do everything in my power to protect children from sexual abuse and to prevent couples and families from being broken by sexual misconduct. Seeing that body and mind are one, I am committed to learning appropriate ways to take care of my sexual energy and cultivating loving kindness, compassion, joy and inclusiveness – which are the four basic elements of true love – for my greater happiness and the greater happiness of others. Practicing true love, we know that we will continue beautifully into the future.
True Love
Aware of the suffering caused by sexual misconduct, I am committed to cultivating responsibility and learning ways to protect the safety and integrity of individuals, couples, families, and society. Knowing that sexual desire is not love, and that sexual activity motivated by craving always harms myself as well as others, I am determined not to engage in sexual relations without true love and a deep, long-term commitment made known to my family and friends. I will do everything in my power to protect children from sexual abuse and to prevent couples and families from being broken by sexual misconduct. Seeing that body and mind are one, I am committed to learning appropriate ways to take care of my sexual energy and cultivating loving kindness, compassion, joy and inclusiveness – which are the four basic elements of true love – for my greater happiness and the greater happiness of others. Practicing true love, we know that we will continue beautifully into the future.
Sunday, January 21 @ UU
Keith will share about True Love.
Enjoy this short video of Thay answering "What is true love?"
Enjoy this short video of Thay answering "What is true love?"
Tuesday, January 16 at DBT
Tree will share about the second of the Five Mindfulness Trainings, True Happiness:
Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing, and oppression, I am committed to practicing generosity in my thinking, speaking, and acting. I am determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others; and I will share my time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need. I will practice looking deeply to see that the happiness and suffering of others are not separate from my own happiness and suffering; that true happiness is not possible without understanding and compassion; and that running after wealth, fame, power and sensual pleasures can bring much suffering and despair. I am aware that happiness depends on my mental attitude and not on external conditions, and that I can live happily in the present moment simply by remembering that I already have more than enough conditions to be happy. I am committed to practicing Right Livelihood so that I can help reduce the suffering of living beings on Earth and stop contributing to climate change.
Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing, and oppression, I am committed to practicing generosity in my thinking, speaking, and acting. I am determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others; and I will share my time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need. I will practice looking deeply to see that the happiness and suffering of others are not separate from my own happiness and suffering; that true happiness is not possible without understanding and compassion; and that running after wealth, fame, power and sensual pleasures can bring much suffering and despair. I am aware that happiness depends on my mental attitude and not on external conditions, and that I can live happily in the present moment simply by remembering that I already have more than enough conditions to be happy. I am committed to practicing Right Livelihood so that I can help reduce the suffering of living beings on Earth and stop contributing to climate change.
Sunday, January 14 at UU
Karen will share on the Five Remembrances.
Here is a link to the Five Remembrances chant.
I am of the nature to have ill-health. There is no way to escape having ill-health.
I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.
All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.
My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand.
Here is a link to the Five Remembrances chant.
The Five Remembrances
I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.I am of the nature to have ill-health. There is no way to escape having ill-health.
I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.
All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.
My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand.
Tuesday, January 9 at DBT
Heather will facilitate on the first of the Five Mindfulness Trainings:
Reverence For Life
Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I am committed to cultivating the insight of interbeing and compassion and learning ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to support any act of killing in the world, in my thinking, or in my way of life. Seeing that harmful actions arise from anger, fear, greed, and intolerance, which in turn come from dualistic and discriminative thinking, I will cultivate openness, non-discrimination, and non-attachment to views in order to transform violence, fanaticism, and dogmatism in myself and in the world.
Click here for a Dharma talk by Thay that includes the first Mindfulness Training.
Reverence For Life
Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I am committed to cultivating the insight of interbeing and compassion and learning ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to support any act of killing in the world, in my thinking, or in my way of life. Seeing that harmful actions arise from anger, fear, greed, and intolerance, which in turn come from dualistic and discriminative thinking, I will cultivate openness, non-discrimination, and non-attachment to views in order to transform violence, fanaticism, and dogmatism in myself and in the world.
Click here for a Dharma talk by Thay that includes the first Mindfulness Training.
Sunday, January 7 at UU
Please Note: The parking lot is likely to fill up early as the UU Church is having a large event.
Buddhist Notions of the Self/Manas
This is what I heard on September 29, 2005. As she lead Touching the Earth in the Ocean of Peace Meditation Hall, Sister Chan Khong said, "We only know about 15-20% about the people closest to us: our parents, our spouse, our best friend. And we only know 35-40% about ourselves."And this is what I have read in "Understanding Our Mind" by Thich Nhat Hanh:
"...manas is described as "love of self"..." p.93
"Even though manas is blind and its functioning creates so much suffering for us, all the other consciousnesses are at the same time present in it. If we try to eliminate manas, it would be like destroying ourselves...In Buddhism, there are no external enemies-there is only ourselves. The object of manas is just a representation, an image in our minds, not something real outside of us." p.101
"The object of manas is the mark of a self, found in the realm of representations, created at the point where manas and store consciousness touch. At that point, the object called "self" appears. It is the product of the constructed mind, based on ignorance and delusion." p.104
As we pass through the season of resolutions of self improvement, remember that Zen Buddhism teaches us that we already have Buddha Nature. Our practice is to release ignorance and delusion and negative habit energy to find that we already have what we are searching for.
Be well,
Dijana
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