Satya Robyn leads a Wednesday evening Buddhist practice with multiple speakers, including group chanting and refuge recitations. The session weaves together a story about rescuing a scruffy dog named Pumpkin and a reflection on badger tracks as an analogy for discovering the spiritual path, emphasizing compassion and care for living beings.
Chapters
Welcome to this highly select Wednesday evening practice. We have Dave and Jami in the shrine room, and we have Rob and Jack joining us online. And the shrine room's looking very gorgeous because it's all candlelit. And it's very dark outside because we're only just into the new moon. We're going to start with a Dharma glimpse from our Bright Dawn Book of Dharma Glimpses. One is one I haven't heard before, which is good because I have this weird habit of opening it on pages where I've already read. This whole book. Yeah, so this is called Scruffy. It's by Michelle Joy O'Sullivan. We had a visitor to our house a few weeks ago. Our visitor came to us in the form of a stray dog that my husband picked up at the park. She was apparently old, very scruffy, and badly in need of a bath or 10. She smelled like she might have rolled around in trash, eaten it, vomited it back up, and then rolled in it again. We bathed her and it took 3 shampoos before the layers of dirt coming off her were no longer the consistency of mud. And she still smelled bad. She had missing teeth, had infections in both eyes, and was badly infested with fleas. But she was also incredibly sweet and really wanted affection. Whenever we came near her, she'd jump up to greet us. I loved this dog after only having her with us for less than a day. I knew we wouldn't really be able to keep her because she really deserved a home where she could get lots of attention. We have two very high-maintenance dogs already who act like attention-seeking missiles. So we took a photo of her and posted it on Facebook seeking either the owner or a good foster home. We got many inquiries, but after learning that she would be a project dog, a dog badly in need of some serious vet care and potentially carrying unknown illnesses, most people just backed out or stopped returning our calls. They were really looking for a cute little dog, and it wasn't obvious from the photo that it might— she might be sick or old. Many times, without realizing it, people treat each other the way they treated this dog. We go through our lives sometimes not realizing the impact that we have on others. We tend to gravitate towards vibrant, lively people who look and seem healthy and attractive. We often turn our backs on the scruffy people of the world, the homeless, the poor, the old, the sick. In fact, we like to lock many of these people away where we don't have to look at them, as though hiding them somehow makes the fact of them go away. When you spend any amount of time cultivating the brahmaviharas loving kindness, metta, compassion, karuna, empathetic joy, mudita, and equanimity, upekkha. You learn that you can no more turn your back on the scruffy people of the world anymore than you can turn your back on your own suffering. We start to recognize the true meaning of oneness. What gives us hope is that there are people in the world who spend their lives tirelessly working to help those who can't help themselves. Those people society has chosen to forget. Just as these people exist, so did someone who actually wanted to take on Scruffy. She went to a good home, and the couple who took her had already made arrangements for care with their vet. We were able to let her go knowing we'd left her in good hands. She had a happy ending. It turns out she wasn't very old at all. In fact, she was a purebred dog who was microchipped, but the chip was never activated. She didn't even have any major health problems either, just the eye infections and the fleas. It turned out she just needed a little TLC, and she's now thriving under the care of her new family. They don't call her Scruffy, by the way. They've named her Pumpkin. Namo Amida Butsu.
Thai, Thai, Thai. Thai ataram bacon je bacon je ma bacon je ratsa samangate soha. Thai ataram bacon je bacon je ma bacon je ratsa samangate soha. Thai, Thai, Thai. Bhikkhunji, Ratthasamangatte Soha. Thayatta Rom Bhikkhunji, Bhikkhunji. Maha Bhikkhunji, Ratthasamangatte Soha. Thayatta Rom Bhikkhunji, Bhikkhunji. Maha bhekenje ratsa samungate soha. Tayata wom bhekenje, bhekenje. Maha bhekenje ratsa samungate soha. Tayata wom bhekenje, bhekenje. Mahabekunje ratsasamungateso. Tayatha om bekunje bekunje mahabekunje ratsasamungateso.
For refuge I go to the Buddha.
For refuge I go to the Buddha.
The one who is awake and full of love.
The one who is awake and full of love.
Namo Buddhaya.
Namo Buddhaya.
For refuge I go to the Dharma.
For refuge I go to the Dharma.
All that guides us to wisdom and compassion.
For all that guides us to wisdom and compassion.
Namo Dharmaya.
Namo Dharmaya.
For refuge I go to the Sangha.
For refuge I go to the Sangha.
Those who live in the Buddha's light.
Those who live in the Buddha's light.
Namo Sangha.
Namo Sangha.
For refuge I go to the Earth.
For refuge I go to the Earth.
The holy ground of awakening.
The holy ground of awakening.
Namobumiye.
Namobumiye.
With faith in the Four Refuges.
With faith in the Four Refuges.
And in light of my human tendencies.
And in light of my human tendencies.
I pray that I may become aware.
I pray that I may become aware.
Of when I take life.
Of when I take life.' 'I pray that I may become aware—' 'And I grant it's time to make me come aware of when I take what is not freely given.' Of one night say "What is up for you?" He didn't?
'I pray that I may become aware—' 'Of when I fall into sexual misconduct.' When I've fallen into sectionless conduct.
'I pray that I may become aware—' My God made him go away!
Of when I fall into wrong speech. Of when I fall into wrong speech. I pray that I may become aware.
I pray that I may become aware.
Of when I become intoxicated.
Of when I become intoxicated.
No blame. No blame. Be kind. Be kind.
Love everything. Love everything. Innumerable awesome human beings.
We vow to save them all.
Inexhaustible are deluded passions.
We vow to transform them all.
Immeasurable are the Dharma teachings.
We vow to master them all. Infinite is the Buddha's way. We vow to fulfill it completely.
Amei muito, please. So I was dog walking yesterday, and I was walking around near my mum's and walking up through a field and into this little copse, and, uh, it had lots of pheasants in it. And there's, there's a lot of bad— it's like a big badger set in the woods, and when it's in this tiny little copse, and it's obviously been there a long time. And every time I go in there, I try and find a freshly dug out one, one that, you know, an entrance that looks like it's still being used. But this time when I went— I know, actually just the day before when I went into that same copse, all I could find was ones that really didn't look like they'd had a lot of activity recently. But this time Yesterday I took a different path through the copse. I dove off down a track that was a lot less distinct than the paths. And as I was walking down it, I was thinking, oh, this is, I think this is an animal track. I don't think this is a human track. 'Cause I was like, you know, I was a bit too tall and it wasn't very well marked out. And as I was thinking, oh, I wonder if this is like a deer, little deer track, because I used to see deer there. I haven't seen deer there for a while, but I thought maybe this is a deer track. And then I spotted some deer footprints in the mud, and I got really excited. I was like, this definitely is a deer track. So then I was like walking along following these little deer prints in the mud. And then I got even more excited because I found some prints that were bigger and more dog-like but had big claw marks. And I was like, there is a badger! There is a badger footprints! And then they led me to a, a freshly dug out Badger set opening! So that felt like a really good find, and I was really pleased to know that the badgers hadn't been driven out by their completely unfounded persecution by farmers of this— of that set. So I was really pleased, and I could see all these loads of little paw prints all around the outside, and it was really exciting for me. And then I carried on walking and I was following a mixture of badger prints and deer prints, and I eventually managed to navigate out of the copse, not quite as easily as normal because obviously they like, they, ditches and fallen trees and loads of brambles don't really bother them. But it was like a bit of a, bit of a trickier thing for me to navigate being such a clumsy human being. And I really felt like I found a treasure there. I mean, obviously there have been other times when I've seen badgers and I've seen fresh badger sets and I've seen fresh badger prints, but it hadn't been for a while, and I really felt like a real sense of joy at finding these. And I thought about that how discovering the spiritual life is a bit like that, how we can be going to the same place we go to every day, and then one day maybe we take a slightly different path, or maybe we have a different interaction with somebody that we don't normally have, or maybe some kind of external change means we are going to the same place by a different route, and we have an interaction, another interaction, or we see a book or a bit of inspiration or a post, and somehow we end up on a spiritual path. And I was reminded of that story It's the Buddhist story of the blind man looking for a jewel in a heap of dung. And the story is saying like, it's as rare and as hard to come across the Dharma as it is for that blind man to find the jewel in the dung heap. And that, and that it's as precious— like, to come across teachings or people who embody values or presence or some kind of connection with the Divine in its many forms, or the Buddha, is as precious as discovering a jewel in a heap of dung when we can't see, or someone in the middle of the night trying to find it. Obviously finding badger prints and a fesh-vee dugout hole is not as rare. It's not as rare at all. But there was something of that. There was something of the, like, level of joy that I experienced at coming across this little treasure in my day-to-day, which was very similar to me to coming across some kind of spiritual teaching or a connection or presence, discovering that jewel in the dung heap. And we never know what a little path or interaction or difference is going to lead us to the next teaching, or back to the same teaching again and again and again, remembering, remembering, remembering our connection to the infinite. Namaste.
Alas, people busily engaged in secular matters make no notice of life wearing away day by day, night by night. Like a lamp in the wind, how long can it last? In the six realms of vast samsara, there is no fixed abode. Until we are emancipated from the sea of affliction, how can we rest in peace? Should we not be afraid? While we still have the strength, let us each hear the Dharma and to strive and diligently seek the path. Good energy.
Have a volunteer hour. It's Saturday. Blessed by Amitabha's light, may we care for all living things on the holy earth.
