Buddhists

ananda8 · July 2010

The Noble Eightfold Path is more like a circle rather than a straight line. As you develop skill in one area it helps develop skill in another. Here is the list with short comments but there are many suttas for each section of the path.

Right View - this is a catch all that basically states with right view one understands how clinging and aversion cause suffering.

Right Resolve (Intention) - freedom from ill will - non harming

Right Speech - This is a very big deal in Buddhism and surprisingly difficult to practice.

Right Action - Abstaining from taking life, abstaining from stealing, abstaining from unchastity

Right Livelihood - the proper way to earn a living

Right Effort - to develop skillful behaviors and eliminate unskillful behaviors.

Right Mindfulness- to be aware of ones actions, emotions and thoughts in order to maintain Right Effort.

Right Concentration - to focus the mind in such a way that one is relieved from stress (meditation)

I guess if I had to describe the Path it would be a training tool to develop self control with the result of a reduction of stress and an increase in peace. This is a process of gradual training, training with effort but without strain. Here is a sutta.

Just as the ocean has a gradual shelf, a gradual slope, a gradual inclination, with a sudden drop-off only after a long stretch, in the same way this Doctrine and Discipline (dhamma-vinaya) has a gradual training, a gradual performance, a gradual progression, with a penetration to gnosis only after a long stretch.

- Ud 5.5

By the way, I changed the pronouns in the Metta sutta to "I" an "me". The revised sutta reads "May I be able and upright... May I not do the slightest thing..." It makes the teaching very personal to me.

Your PS is very wise to know that you need a rest from all the trauma. Pamper yourself. Be the child that is cared for by the mother in the Metta sutta. Radiate kindness to yourself.

3monstmama · July 2010

I tend to think of the 8 fold path as the way to structure your life so that you ultimately achieve nirvana --- right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration.

Sometimes my brain is just not that efficient at processing the details of complicated philosophical and spiritual beliefs. So instead of trying to read something "big" like Thich nhat han or beck or whatever, I "cheat" and read things directed at kids. Right now I am reading a book called "wide awake; a Buddhist guide for teens" by Diana Wilson, forward by Noah Levine. I am finding it helpful in helping me both to distill down concepts to explain to my monsters AND to fully grasp things myself.

My big monsters are back from Dharma camp, they had a great time and I am trying very hard to keep up the good habits they launched. We did meditate yesterday morning and they did communal chores without balking. Woo, woo, woo!

3jaysmom · July 2010

3MonstaMomma; curios to know how you got from there, to here..anglican to buddhism.briefly, of course, i know it mustv'e been ahuge road..have been travelling thhru religions for many years now. my beliefs r quite a mish mash; but keep retutning to the (seeming) simplicity of Buddhism, altho christianity has a hold on me, as well. Dont see a great leap between the two; like many migh...NIOTSEF thank you so much for the overview. I printed the sheets you referenced. ran out of ink doimg it, but got it all lighty.. figuratively, and relatively. understood your explanation much clearer.Ii especially (for me) noted the word abstaining from rather than using the word dont..to me, who can be vilolent ( if only inwardly) at times, a very imp. distinction. not that im not killing, but abstaining from /... usually a viloent reaction in emotion. i understand, and accept abstaining from even entertaining that emotion, rather than denying its existance... thank you so much for the last little bit about the PS, and the Metta. felt like, recieved it as such, a benediction that a friend, who is a minister in a presb. church reads me. am REALLY going to try to practice it for awhile.mindfully... thank you again. light and love, 3jaysmom

molly52 · July 2010

Thanks Notself, I find your explanations very inviting. By that, I mean I feel I understand and also feel I would like to know more. I like getting new ideas in small doses. I too, also like the "abstaining" it leaves room for being human.

3JaysMom, your comment about your violent reaction in emotion makes me think you might like Jon Kabat-Zinn "Full Catastrophe Living". I am not sure if he is actually buddhist, but he has studied buddhism and incorporates some of it into his process. For many years he ran a Stress Reduction Clinic in a Boston Hospital with the purpose to help patients live with untreatable pain. Through meditation helps people to be curious about why they are feeling what they are feeling and what is it that they are feeling. The process is not so much about abstaining from an emotion or denying it, but rather embracing the emotion to study and learn more about it. (I hope that makes sense.)

I have the book as well as the CD's (can be ordered on line). The CD's have some guided meditations and some Mindeful Yoga exercises. I have found them very helpful and have been surprised with how much better I can feel afterwards.

3jaysmom · July 2010

thanks, , molly im going to look on amazon after this. i assume i'll find them there. you understoodexactly what i was trying to say. its a charecter defect i have been working on/praying on changing for many years. a very long time ago, i lived as an outwardly violent person, had changed thaat, but the emotions still plague me. i think that's where my first attempt in yoga, meditation, and interest in Buddhisismfirst started. thanks again..

ananda8 · July 2010

Violence of course comes from anger and fear. Reduce anger and fear and violence is automatically lessened. Here are some quotes from the Dhammapada. The Dhammapada is like a deeply compacted list of the teachings.

129. All tremble at violence; all fear death. Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.

130. All tremble at violence; life is dear to all. Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.

131. One who, while himself seeking happiness, oppresses with violence other beings who also desire happiness, will not attain happiness hereafter.

132. One who, while himself seeking happiness, does not oppress with violence other beings who also desire happiness, will find happiness hereafter.

133. Speak not harshly to anyone, for those thus spoken to might retort. Indeed, angry speech hurts, and retaliation may overtake you.

134. If, like a broken gong, you silence yourself, you have approached Nibbana, for vindictiveness is no longer in you.

145. Irrigators regulate the waters, fletchers straighten arrow shafts, carpenters shape wood, and the good control themselves.

33. Just as a fletcher straightens an arrow shaft, even so the discerning man straightens his mind - so fickle and unsteady, so difficult to guard.

42. Whatever harm an enemy may do to an enemy, or a hater to a hater, an ill-directed mind inflicts on oneself a greater harm.

43. Neither mother, father, nor any other relative can do one greater good than one's own well-directed mind.

222. He who checks rising anger as a charioteer checks a rolling chariot, him I call a true charioteer. Others only hold the reins.

223. Overcome the angry by non-anger; overcome the wicked by goodness; overcome the miser by generosity; overcome the liar by truth.

231. Let a man guard himself against irritability in bodily action; let him be controlled in deed. Abandoning bodily misconduct, let him practice good conduct in deed.

232. Let a man guard himself against irritability in speech; let him be controlled in speech. Abandoning verbal misconduct, let him practice good conduct in speech.

233. Let a man guard himself against irritability in thought; let him be controlled in mind. Abandoning mental misconduct, let him practice good conduct in thought.

234. The wise are controlled in bodily action, controlled in speech and controlled in thought. They are truly well-controlled.

291. Entangled by the bonds of hate, he who seeks his own happiness by inflicting pain on others, is never delivered from hatred.

3jaysmom · July 2010

thanks, notself. my folder is getting full of lessons from u . they are greatly appreciated. when i read, they go right over my head, but your explanations make sense...eventually. somewhere, i picked up the teaching that anger, ie. violence is always rooted in hurt, fear, or expectations not being met. Bernie Segal saYS THERES ONLY TWO EMOTIONS.. LOVE, OR FEAR. UNFORTUNATELY, ESP. AFTER CANCER, FEAR IS SOMETHING I HAVE TO KEEP AWAreness of mindfulness, as it were....

ananda8 · July 2010

The suttas often read like instructions for the clock on VCR's. At first they are incomprehensible because we are used to skimming rather than reading word for word. Also, a lot of the suttas include Pali or Sanskrit words. It is difficult to remember the translations/definitions.

I finally started using the index to Access to Insight and just read those suttas for the topics I was interested in. I also click on the tiny icon at the top of the page and then click on "random suttas". I only read the short ones. Wink

3monstmama · August 2010

hi universe.

Hope everyone is well. we have been on holiday in vancouver. it was lots of fun but i was dreadful and did not sit once except when I was eatting Wink . . .but now we are back home and I am going back on schedule, well as soon as I recover from my holiday and am able to wake up in time in the morning. This weekend is our family dharma service--my big monsters are having to prepare to give a bit of a talk about their experience at Dharma camp last month.

Notself, Thanks for the info on access to insight. i like the idea of starting my day with a quicky sutra read. Our Chan temple has a bowl with snippets of sutra in it that are rolled up like little fortunes. We grab one post meditating. I have taken them all and glued them into the back pages of my planner [3 cheers for moleskine] and then I can read them on the bus.

Sierra · August 2010

Hello:

I am interested in Buddhism

and where I attend t the dentist

there is a Buddhist Temple

so I shall visit

really find it interesting

tks for your post above as well

Hugs, Sierra

3jaysmom · August 2010

welcome home 3MonstaMomma so sorry you felt bad on holiday...juast wanted to let you all know how much i appreciate you. light and love,3jaysmom

ananda8 · August 2010

Dear Friends,

I thought you would find this article interesting. "Is Buddhism a Religion?"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/is-buddhism-a-religion_b_669740.html

3jaysmom · August 2010

i found it most helpful, since although not buddhist, trying hard to develop some of the rituals..or whatever..have found that metta to be a great tool to slow down, now, just to do it consistently. which i know is the most imp. trait to develop..consistentcy... hope everyone shows up, and keeps this going. hope they're living their life, not thining about b.c....light and love, 3jaysmom

3monstmama · October 2010

The Buddhist thread is so quiet----I guess thats what comes of accepting that things in life happen that we cannot control..... Tongue out

So heres to a kick-start. I just got an Ipod touch [free from the bank if you can believe that]. And I am loading useful things for when sitting in the doctors, on the bus etc. My DH helped me find a bunch of Buddhist apps but I wondered if anyone else had any apps that were "buddhist" that they really liked or really hated. Example I have an app called "Composure Zen Garden" only for the longest time, I was finding I was not so composed raking my sand because I can't figure out how to delete the rocks I put in my garden. But the Access to Insight Readings in Theravada Buddhism is pretty good.

FYI, I nearly choked laughing when I saw that for international dates, the choices are Gregorian, Japanese and Buddhist!!!! So does this mean that Ipod touches are not so popular among Jews, Muslims and Hindus????

Lovegolf · October 2010

Just found this thread. I will go a read full posting to get caught up. I had taken classes at a Shambhala center 2 months before cancer. It helped so much. I listened then and now to Pema Chodron. I have download her audiobooks on iTunes. i also found a good interview with Thich Nhat Hanh which was part of Speaking of Faith. Go to iTunes U. There are so many great free download on all topics.

Namaste

3jaysmom · October 2010

it's great to see you, love golf, welcome.. monstamom, good to see you here again. my anxiety has been very high lately, lifes kickin my butt, but sitting and yoga is helping.. monstamom, look for pm. light and love, 3jays

3monstmama · October 2010

welcome lovegolf. thanks for the tip on the iTunesU. I will have to look for it. I must report that the Mala app doesn't "work" nearly as well as a real mala for calming and focusing when one is getting poked by doctors. I had an aspiration of a cyst yesterday and tried the mala app instead of my mala. blech. When I do my biopsy next week, I will be back with the real mala.

On the bright side, I finally got the rocks out of my virtual zen garden. Wink

Sierra · October 2010

Hi 3 Jays

tks for the post

I shall print it off and read it

say If you like birds go here:

outdoorontario.net

they post lovely px of birds

and nature

click on the birding link

then follow the other links

Sierra

love your Jay!

ananda8 · October 2010

Here is a link to short dhamma/dharma talks by an American monk. Most of the talks are about breath meditation and are about 12-15 minutes long. They work great to get in the right frame of mind for meditation. The first talk is from 2002. Scroll to the bottom of the page if you want to start at the beginning.

http://www.dhammatalks.org/

3monstmama · October 2010

Thanks notself.

Has anyone else ever listened to any of the Buddhist Geeks' podcasts? I have this new itouch toy that my bank gave me so I was persuing the Itunes store for the first time and found these free podcasts. I have only listened to one so far---entitled something like "would buddha have a credit card?" but I found the talk interesting and have downloaded some more for my bus rides. I was wondering if anyone else was familiar with them and had any thoughts.....

ananda8 · October 2010

I have never heard of Buddhist Geek. Of the top of my head I bet he went into the suttas for laypeople when talking about credit cards. Here is a snip of one sutta.

"Just as the goldsmith, or an apprentice of his, knows, on holding up a balance, that by so much it has dipped down, by so much it has tilted up; even so a householder, knowing his income and expenses leads a balanced life, neither extravagant nor miserly, knowing that thus his income will stand in excess of his expenses, but not his expenses in excess of his income."

So reasonable and responsible use of credit cards would be fine. How'd I do?

3jaysmom · October 2010

heysierrathanks for the website. am headed there., when i go thru reading my fav. sites here. i like birds, nature, am real interested in butterflys. the icon, which afriend here, Maya, put up for me, cause i cant figure it out.. any way, i go by(sorry for the caps!) 3jays, cause i have 3 sons, all their names start w/ j.. if you look close its' a momma jay , and 3 little jays in the nest..they just won't stay near that nest, anymore.. da***jays. mi really do love them, but they're all grown up; and too old to listen to their momma anymore. i'm always looking for pics w/ 3's. so far, i have 3 birds, 3tigers, and i think that's it.when i learn how to do the avatar, or post pics to the web, you guys are in for it! Monsta,am so glad to see you, and notselff

ananda8 · October 2010

3jaysmom,

When I volunteered at a wildlife center, I took care of some baby jays. Jays are so smart and playful. I bet your grown children still are.

3monstmama · October 2010

Notself, yes the speaker did hit that sutra in the discussion.

FYI, Buddhistgeeks is not one single person, it is interviews with LOTs of teachers from all different traditions. It has been running since January 2007 and there are nearly 200 podcasts. I am finding the discussions very interesting. check out www.buddhistgeeks.com

On the topic of sitting, I have been sitting every morning for 5 minutes with my nearly 13 year old son before we head out to the bus. Its not nearly as much sitting as I need or would like but we are focussing on the habit of sitting and as he has to leave for the bus at 6:55 am, its the best we can do. I was delighted when my 10.5 year old daughter joined us. She was disappointed that it was "so short!"

ananda8 · October 2010

What a wonderful habit to form and what a good experience for the kids. I'll check out Buddhistgeeks. Thanks for posting the link.

3jaysmom · October 2010

hey ladies. i've missed you. the three j's do still give me a run for my money.monsta momi tink the thing i admire about you, is that you do try to walk the walk, and talk the talk. sitting with your children is teaching them by example..how many of us got that ?! i sure didn't. i still am tring to do thast with my grown sons. but they are grown, and i don't see much of their childhood teachings in them YET>> i keep telling myself to trust the process they will get back there again.they're inundated with what the world deems important. i know they all are lost to that right now. i'm still trying to instill the need for family in them, esp. with my 2 beloveds, Fish, and Fin, my GKids, whom i adore.! (and thank you , its' mutual! thinking often wishing you well, 3jaysmom

3monstmama · November 2010

bumping us up with another post.

This weekend I am going to my first retreat. Its a four day retreat--starts today and runs through Sunday--though I am only doing one day of it, Sunday. I figure best to start small plus I've had to do 3 business trips in the last 7 weeks and I don't feel up to missing that much time with my monsters. I am pretty excited and happy to be going.

Still doing the morning sit with my son--missed a couple of days for my surgery and his cold but this morning he was handing me my coffee cup and saying "lets go sit" at 6am sharp!

By the way, for a timer, we are using a free app called Equanimity. You can set a preparation time from 30 secs to 2 minutes and then a sitting time. At the beginning, you get a gong and at the end you get three. It has been working very well for us. We found another one called Soto Timer which I imagine will also be pretty useful if I get beyond five minutes a day. That one lets you set up different sessions for different amounts of time.

The biopsy at the end of October turned out to be B9 but I got the results when I was on a trip and didn't really get to post. Only after we met with the surgeon did I realize how stressed I was. I can only imagine how bad I would have felt if I hadn't been doing my minimal sits.

ananda8 · November 2010

Wonderful news about your biopsy. I have had two biopsies since my initial diagnosis and the waiting can be tough.

I just ran across a series of short videos on YouTube that you might enjoy. I have always resisted counting during meditation but Ajahn Jaysaro made some great points and now I am counting. The other sections of the video are equally useful to anyone interested in meditation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w--B7ecNl40&p=768ACC9E7E2740DB&index=2&playnext=1

Best wishes for a very enjoyable retreat.

3monstmama · November 2010

and bumping us up with another post.

The single day of the retreat went well. I enjoyed it even though I messed everyone up with walking meditation by my inability to walk the same as everyone else.

In connection with our sangha I am on a group to develop lesson plans for our family Zen practice. Our group is focussed on buddhist 101 or all the things one should basically know as a Buddhist. My section will be talking about all kinds of buddhism--Buddhism 'round the world so to speak. Anyone with any thoughts or ideas of what would be important to show/teach/explan to kids, feel free to speak up.

ananda8 · November 2010

The one universal teaching is Metta, loving kindness. Anything you can teach on Metta will help children throughout their lives. Metta is a topic that can never be overdone.

Here is some science on how meditation on Metta changes the brain.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080326204236.htm

Here are some links on Metta by various monks.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/buddharakkhita/wheel365.html

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/price/bl124.html

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/lee/goodwill.html

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nanamoli/wheel007.html

Here are links for kids on various topics

http://www.firstschoolyears.com/re/buddhism/buddhism.htm

http://lekshe.typepad.com/nyingje_/2005/08/web_site_with_w.html

http://www.mrdonn.org/religions.html