Gina Sharpe

About Gina Sharpe

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So far Gina Sharpe has created 85 blog entries.

Beginning Again

2018-01-16T08:58:06-05:00

When it comes to generosity it seems there’s always an internal battle going on in my mind. Why do I offer to do things? How much should I give? What are my real intentions? I can honestly say that I have never really been at peace with my relationship to gift. There are a great deal of entanglements here for me.

Beginning Again2018-01-16T08:58:06-05:00

Awakening Together in Wisdom

2018-01-16T09:01:35-05:00

The Buddha called the faculty of wisdom, the fifth and final Spiritual Faculty, the crowning virtue among all the requisites of enlightenment, as it illuminates the meaning of karma (the weaving of causes and effects in our interdependent world) and the characteristics of phenomena—naggingly incomplete, impermanent and without self. Wisdom also includes establishing intentions of good will and harmlessness in all actions of body, speech and mind.

Awakening Together in Wisdom2018-01-16T09:01:35-05:00

Intending the Beautiful Life

2017-01-08T23:29:49-05:00

Wise Intention is the fundamental basis of a beautiful mind/heart and consequently a beautiful life. Every mind moment involves an intention. Each decision and every action is born of intention. Each movement, word and thought is preceded by a volitional impulse, frequently unnoticed. Just as drops of water eventually fill a bucket, so the accumulation of our intentional choices shapes our life.

Intending the Beautiful Life2017-01-08T23:29:49-05:00

Understanding Can Deepen

2017-01-08T23:32:21-05:00

Wise Understanding is the first aspect of the Wisdom limb of the Noble Eightfold Path. Albert Einstein wisely said "A human being is a  part of the whole, called by us 'universe,' yet we experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is really a prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires, and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of understanding and compassion, to embrace all living creatures in the whole of nature and its beauty."

Understanding Can Deepen2017-01-08T23:32:21-05:00

Walk the Path

2017-01-08T23:34:32-05:00

That there is a path to the end of suffering, to freedom, is the Fourth Noble Truth. We walk the Path as our life practice—to cultivate and develop WISDOM, live in INTEGRITY with Wise Speech, Wise Action (harmlessness) and Wise Livelihood and in MEDITATION (cultivating continuous wise presence in all activity, feeling directly the body and breath, knowing intimately our emotions and thought process). The Noble Eightfold Path is a Middle Path, a path of balance.

Walk the Path2017-01-08T23:34:32-05:00

Let Freedom Ring

2017-01-08T23:35:32-05:00

The purpose of the teachings and practice is freedom, the “sure heart’s release.” It is the cooling and extinguishing of the fires of greed, hatred and delusion that rage in the heart. Knowing the genuine possibility of freedom for every being, the Buddha taught that the heart can be free and loving in every circumstance. And he assured us that if it were not possible, he would not ask us to realize and embody it. This is the Third Noble Truth—suffering can cease and that sure heart’s release must be, and has been, realized: freedom, right here, in the midst of the 10,000 joys and the 10,000 sorrows known in every human life.

Let Freedom Ring2017-01-08T23:35:32-05:00

Greed, Hatred and Delusion

2017-01-08T23:41:53-05:00

The Second Noble Truth is that the clinging mind—grasping, hatred and ignorance—protecting what we think is “ours” from loss—are the cause of suffering, individual and worldwide, internally and externally.

Greed, Hatred and Delusion2017-01-08T23:41:53-05:00

The Way Things Are

2017-01-08T23:43:09-05:00

I’ve been reflecting lately on the profundity of the Four Noble Truths. These Truths underpinned all 45 years of the Buddha’s teachings. We sometimes think we already know this as a beginners’ teaching. And we want the juicy stuff, the more complex and meaty philosophical or intellectual challenges. My experience with these Four seemingly simple Truths is that as our practice settles and we reflect more deeply, they reveal the profound reality of being human in unexpected ways. This is not surprising, as they have endured as a guide leading to the liberation of the heart/mind for 2600 years.

The Way Things Are2017-01-08T23:43:09-05:00

Unselfish Joy

2017-01-08T23:46:02-05:00

Mudita, a Pali and Sanskrit word, has no precise counterpart in English. The third Brahma Vihara, it is variously translated as sympathetic, altruistic or unselfish joy, finding joy in the good fortune of others, or pure joy unadulterated by self interest. HH the Dalai Lama observed that if we cultivate mudita, "our chances for happiness multiply by 7 billion!" Yet mudita is perhaps the least discussed and practiced Brahma Vihara. Is it that difficult?

Unselfish Joy2017-01-08T23:46:02-05:00

The Tender Raw Heart

2017-01-08T23:47:55-05:00

Compassion (Pali: karuna) is the second of the four Brahmavihara or Boundless States. Suffering is universal and not foreign to human experience. How we relate and respond is the very essence of our Buddhist mind/heart training. Often we recoil and armor the heart, believing that something has gone terribly wrong, or someone is to blame for this very human experience. Yet, the heart can be trained to respond with compassion, based on mutual resonance and natural connectedness in the face of loss and pain. Compassion is sensitivity, not grounded in pity, repulsion or fear, arising from the heart’s fearless inclusive capacity to recognize universal kinship and belonging, especially in suffering.

The Tender Raw Heart2017-01-08T23:47:55-05:00
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