COMMUNITY OF MINDFULNESS/ NEW YORK METRO
With plows the fields are plowed;
With seed the earth is sown;
Thus wives and children feed;
So young men win their wealth.
Then why do I, of virtue pure,
Doing the Master's Teaching,
Not lazy nor proud,
Nibbana not attain?
Having washed my feet,
Then I watched that water,
Noticing the foot-water
Flowing from high to low.
With that the mind was calmed
Just as a noble, thoroughbred horse.
Having taken my lamp,
I went into my hut,
Inspected the sleeping-place,
Then sat upon the couch.
Having taken a pin,
I pushed the wick right down, and
Just as the lamp went out,
So all delusion of the heart went too.
— Theragatha 112-116
The Old Mendicant
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Upasiva's Questions [excerpts]
“Like a flame struck by a sudden gust of wind,
in a flash it has gone out,
and nothing more can be known about it.
It is the same with a wise person
freed from mind and body—
in a flash they have gone,
and nothing more can be known about them;
designation applies to them no more.”
....
“One who has reached the end
has no criterion
by which they can be measured.
That by which they could be talked of
is no more.
You cannot say,‘They do not exist.’
When all modes of being,
all phenomena are removed,
then all means of description
have gone too.”
https://www.dhammatalks.org/
______________________________
Breathe and You Know that You are Alive
Breathe and you know that you are alive.
Breathe and you know that all is helping you.
Breathe and you know that you are the world.
Breathe and you know that the flower is breathing too.
Breathe for yourself and you breathe for the world.
Breathe in compassion and breathe out joy.
Breathe and be one with the air that you breathe.
Breathe and be one with the river that flows.
Breathe and be one with the earth that you tread.
Breathe and be one with the fire that glows.
Breathe and you break the thought of birth and death.
Breathe and you see that impermanence is life.
Breathe for your joy to be steady and calm.
Breathe for your sorrow to flow away.
Breathe to renew every cell in your blood.
Breathe to renew the depths of consciousness.
Breathe and you dwell in the here and now.
Breathe and all you touch is new and real.
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Bahiya Sutta [Excerpts]
"Then, Bahiya, 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, Bahiya, there is no you in terms of that. When there is no you in terms of 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....
Where water, earth, fire, & wind have no footing:
There the stars do not shine,
the sun is not visible,
the moon does not appear,
darkness is not found.
And when a sage,
a brahman through sagacity,
has known [this] for himself,
then from form & formless,
from bliss & pain,
he is freed."
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“When we see there is already a precious jewel in our pocket,
We give up every attitude of craving or coveting…..
Seeing that we are the sun, we give up the candle’s habit of fearing the wind.
Seeing that life has no boundaries, we give up all imprisoning divisions.”
[Breathe! You are Alive, 3rd edition, Kindle location 841]
(Dennis and Jenny practice with the Rock Blossom Sangha [Brooklyn]. Dennis is a Dharma Teacher, receiving Lamp Transmission from Thay in 2011. Jenny was ordained into the Order of Interbeing in 2013.)
Invites you to a Day of Mindfulness Saturday September 19, 2020, 10:00am-1:30pm
Unborn and Indestructible
With David Flint
Enter Zoom beginning 9:55am
email davidrflint@gmail.com for Zoom Link
In our time being wonderfully together, we share the Practices of Sitting and Walking Meditation, Total Relaxation, Dharma Sharing, and more: all grounded in mindful breathing and noble silence.
email davidrflint@gmail.com for Zoom Link
Teachings to Contemplate
“Unborn and indestructible,
Unborn and indestructible,
Beyond time and space,
Beyond time and space.
This body and these feelings,
Were transmitted to me,
By my mother and my father,
By my teachers, my friends and all living beings.
And that which is transmitted,
Is no less than the transmitter,
And I who receive the transmission,
What am I but that which is transmitted to me?
Unborn and indestructible,
Unborn and indestructible,
Beyond time and space,
Beyond time and space
I am my mother, I am my father,
I am my teachers, I am my friends,
I am one and yet I am many,
I am none, I am all, no beginning, no end.
Unborn and indestructible,
Unborn and indestructible,
Beyond time and space,
Beyond time and space
This body is not me,
These perceptions are not me,
And I am not limited by this body,
I am one with all life, I have always been free. “
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LOOKING DEEPLY AT YOUR HAND
Whose hand is this that has never died?
Who is it that was born in the past?
Who is it that will die in the future?
If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of these people. Your hand proves that you have never been born and you will never die. The thread of life has never been interrupted from time without beginning until now. Previous generations, all the way back to single-celled beings [and before] are present in your hand at this moment. You can observe and experience this. Your hand is always available as a subject of meditation.
Since we are never born, how can we cease to be? …. When we have a tangible experience of non-birth and non-death, we know ourselves beyond duality. [This meditation] is one way to pass through the gate of birth and death.”
[From Present Moment, Wonderful Moment, 13-14.]
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Where water, earth, fire, and wind have no footing:
There the stars do not shine,
the sun is not visible,
the moon does not appear,
darkness is not found.
And when a sage,
a brahman through sagacity,
has known [this] for himself,
then from form and formless,
from bliss and pain,
he is freed
[Excerpt from ‘Bahiya Sutta,’ www.accesstoinsight.org]
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“Ræhula, develop meditation that is like space; for when
you develop meditation that is like space, arisen agreeable and
disagreeable contacts will not invade your mind and remain. Just
as space is not established anywhere, so too, Ræhula, develop
meditation that is like space for when you develop meditation
that is like space, arisen agreeable and disagreeable contacts will
not invade your mind and remain.”
~ M 62.17, [accesstoinsight.org]
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“When we see there is already a precious jewel in our pocket,
We give up every attitude of craving or coveting…..
Seeing that we are the sun, we give up the candle’s habit of fearing the wind.
Seeing that life has no boundaries, we give up all imprisoning divisions.”
[Breathe! You are Alive, 3rd edition, Kindle location 841]
___________
“the effect of meditation is the fire under a pot, the sun’s rays on the snow, and the hen’s warmth on her eggs….there is no attempt at reasoning or analysis, just patient and continuous concentration [allowing truth to reveal itself.]” With our patient and continuous practice we will “follow our breathing and meditate on the beginningless and endless nature of ourselves and the world.” [From The Sun, My Heart]”
Breathe and You Know that You are Alive
Breathe and you know that you are alive.
Breathe and you know that all is helping you.
Breathe and you know that you are the world.
Breathe and you know that the flower is breathing too.
Breathe for yourself and you breathe for the world.
Breathe in compassion and breathe out joy.
Breathe and be one with the air that you breathe.
Breathe and be one with the river that flows.
Breathe and be one with the earth that you tread.
Breathe and be one with the fire that glows.
Breathe and you break the thought of birth and death.
Breathe and you see that impermanence is life.
Breathe for your joy to be steady and calm.
Breathe for your sorrow to flow away.
Breathe to renew every cell in your blood.
Breathe to renew the depths of consciousness.
Breathe and you dwell in the here and now.
Breathe and all you touch is new and real.
