Little squeaks from the Hamsterwheel

[Alobha]

Hello friends,

Some of you probably remember the Hamsterwheel from last year, where it started as a forum directed towards practitioners and topics related to meditation and virtue.

While the idea of a circle of practitioners who are willing to "do the chores" remained the same, we've moved on to a blogging network among noble friends with Hamsterwheel as our mainsite. The past few months have been very well. We had a dozen of chat sessions at the Dhammawheelchat to stay in touch with the friends dharmagoat, viscid and me made here over time.

Coming to the point, we'd like to share more of our ongoing activities with all our friends and ideally help and encourage them to practice so I'd like to set up a little thread on Dhammawheel.

Also, our mascot doorsy likes to stroll around places.


Of course, also feel free to visit Hamsterwheel.ca for some more information any time

With Metta,
Alobha

[Alobha]

:

Sunday is Sutra-sunday. Which has somehow transformed to Sutroan sunday after we went rogue and discussed a Koan
If you're interested in some Sutta discussion and talk about personal practice, feel free to drop by and take a look.
This Sunday we will be talking about Gaddula Sutta: The Leash (2) and Case 29 of the Mumokan "Not the Wind, Not the Flag"

Time will be 19 UTC @ Hamsterwheel-Chat (although there is a chance we'll switch to Dhammawheel chat if we should experience technical difficulties at Hamsterwheelchat. We still need to figure out this and that but we'll manage that.)

Majj also posted a summary on today's Sutroan Sunday: To the summary

[Alobha]

Dear friends,

I believe the heart of Uposatha is to come together and celebrate the Dhamma. It's a good opportunity to revitalize our practice, to get inspired and to inspire others in return.
Knowing how many buddhists practice in solitude due to lack of a local Sangha, we at HamsterWheel are happy to invite you to celebrate the coming First Quarter Uposatha (19th March) with us.

If you can't take on the eight precepts, don't let this stop you from celebrating, as we want you to enjoy this day with reference to the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha just the way you can. You may spend the Uposatha with us by doing what you see fit: Maybe that means doing an extra sitting of meditation on top, taking time for a chanting session, doing some creative writing on topics of the Dhamma, going for some extra mindful eating or even memorizing a Sutta! The goal is to freely participate and celebrate together and to welcome the variation of all partaking friends and their individual way of approaching things. Key is, that each of us finds something they would like to do, shares this with others and then spends good time with the Dhamma on Uposatha!

Feel free to leave a comment at the page or write me a pm about your plans. That may be better than losing the overview by too many posts here. We're looking forward to hear from you how you're going to celebrate this First Quarter Uposatha with us and I hope we all can make some time on the 19th for recollecting the Dhamma

With Metta,
Alobha



PS: That's a first try on getting more people to do some Uposatha celebration. Personally, I tend to think that Uposatha is not such a big thing for western practitioners because they have no community to share it with. Maybe we can make a little difference and use these days to recollect how precious it is that we stumbled upon the Buddha's teaching in this life

[David N. Snyder]

Thanks for the update for your great work there.

Much metta and mudita for continued success and your encouragement for others in the practice.

[Alobha]

Thanks David!

The Grouposatha idea worked quite well. Precepts were kept and we had more than 10 hours of meditation together.

[Alobha]

Sutras and Poems: Sutroem Sunday!

Dharmagoat and me have been chatting some days ago when I was reminded of the Theragatha and the Therigatha (the verses of the Elder monks and nuns). It contains remarkable verses from Arahants that are transporting the experience and hardships of the earliest disciple of the Buddha very well.

Venerable Sona Potiriyaputta once said:

It’s not for sleeping,
the night garlanded
with zodiac stars.
The night, for one who knows,
is for staying awake.

If I were to fall from my elephant’s shoulder,
and a tusker trampled me,
death in battle would be better for me,
than that I, defeated,
survive.

Indeed, there is great poetry in many traditions (Zen, Mahamudra, Theravada,..) and poetry seems to be something that transcends the perceived borders of schools and traditions.

Coming this Sutroem Sunday: Join up and bring some Poems you see relating to the Dhamma. Poems coming from your own heart and experience on the path are most welcome, but Poems that you just read and found great are good, too!

Where and when?: Coming Sunday 24th March, 19 UTC @ Hamsterwheel-Chat.

[Alobha]

We've got an interesting topic on the plate: It's food! Majj made a nice Mandarin Mandala and indeed:

There is a reason behind the name “culinary arts.” Cooking, eating can be done artfully, mindfully, and with the greatest patience, attention, and gratitude.

So: What is your approach to mindful eating? How does food fit into your practice and daily life? What are some of your favorite dishes to mindfully prepare (and eat!)?
Leave a comment and check out the menu right here: Hungry Body, Hungry Mind

Meal chants and chopsticks included!

[Ben]

Hi Alobha,

Thank you for your update. Its great to hear of Hampsterwheel's ongoing success as support and outreach to meditators world-wide. Much merits to you and your colleagues.
kind regards,

Ben

[Alobha]

Thanks Ben. I feel it's a good thing that we can offer some more practical support and friendship. Much merit to Viscid who pulled the idea off and is taking care of the technical side of things We still look for a few more practitioners to expand the circle but it seems like that will take some more time. It's either because people don't see just how well we're doing as we really do; having close friends who practice along with you, who you can regulary talk to about your daily insights and issues is invaluable and helps so much in establishing a steady practice. The Grouposatha and regulary talking to each other about the practice is sort of bonding and our activities serve as regular inspirations to practice. I'm glad to spread the word about this because well, kalayana mittas are indeed the whole spiritual life!
... though maybe we look too good so people hesitate, I don't know

I'll just look forward to the Dhammapoems on Sunday for now We're currently also thinking about having a regular discussion round on practice topics on Dhammawheel chat (like the food topic) to encourage people to practice. People regulary drop by to see what's going on on Dhammawheelchat so that's good. Scheduling a good time that fits most DW-users might be difficult though. 17:30 UTC might not be the best time for that.
Do you have any idea when most people are around on Dhammawheel chat (day and time specifically?). That would help

[Alobha]

Wind in the west
fallen leaves
gathering in the east
- Buson

Here is an excerpt from last sunday’s poems: Open textfile

[Ben]

Thanks Ben. I feel it's a good thing that we can offer some more practical support and friendship. Much merit to Viscid who pulled the idea off and is taking care of the technical side of things We still look for a few more practitioners to expand the circle but it seems like that will take some more time. It's either because people don't see just how well we're doing as we really do; having close friends who practice along with you, who you can regulary talk to about your daily insights and issues is invaluable and helps so much in establishing a steady practice. The Grouposatha and regulary talking to each other about the practice is sort of bonding and our activities serve as regular inspirations to practice. I'm glad to spread the word about this because well, kalayana mittas are indeed the whole spiritual life!
... though maybe we look too good so people hesitate, I don't know

I'll just look forward to the Dhammapoems on Sunday for now We're currently also thinking about having a regular discussion round on practice topics on Dhammawheel chat (like the food topic) to encourage people to practice. People regulary drop by to see what's going on on Dhammawheelchat so that's good. Scheduling a good time that fits most DW-users might be difficult though. 17:30 UTC might not be the best time for that.
Do you have any idea when most people are around on Dhammawheel chat (day and time specifically?). That would help

Hi Alobha,
My apologies for the delay in my response. To be honest with you - I don't know when most people are on in the chatroom or are likely to be there. Perhaps you can schedule a few different sessions on different days for the same discussion topic to cover the Americas; Australia, New Zealand and Asia; and Europe.
kind regards,

Ben

[Alobha]

Majj posted a good article on noble friendship. The company of noble friends is truly an immeasurable treasure.