Bodhi Day Practice

So we're welcoming Chris, Beth, and Philip on soon. You can see he's in the shrine here.

It's on the wrong microphone.

Is that better?

Is that better?

Yes, everyone's saying that's already better.

Sorry guys, can't get the staff these days.

Entirely true.

So over to Fi.

I'm going to read See the Now, written by Jeff Wayo Ward. I am Buddha, stated my 3-year-old the other day, without provocation or any lead-up, just out of the blue and quite matter-of-factly. Now, he is only 3, so I haven't discussed metaphysical issues with him, such as Buddha nature or how each sentient being is a potential Buddha. Right now, the definition of the word potential may be a bit outside his vocabulary, but there he was, just singing and dancing, being a kid, when he suddenly stopped, looked up, and made this profound statement, and then went right back to playing without missing a beat. I mean, who knows how much more of the universe a child understands before we set the weight of the world upon those little shoulders. A child truly sees the world with such wonderment and joy. His little cherubic face lights up and radiates joy at something as simple as a butterfly or a bird in flight. It's amazing how the little things mean so much to him. The other day he found a box of crayons that had been pushed to the back of the drawer of his Fisher-Price desk. And it was, "Daddy, Daddy, look what I found!" with such excitement. I thought it must be incredible to see the world through those eyes. Right then, I made a decision to try and make a conscious effort on occasion to look at the world with childlike wonderment. On the way to work this morning, it was snowing, but rather than grumble, I set aside my adult eyes and saw the snow as he would. It was a truly beautiful sight, quite thrilling, a blanket of pure white that made me crack a smile. My advice to everyone is to take a moment every now and then to examine the world through your inner child. Embrace that remnant of innocence and laugh out loud. That is my Darwin-isms.

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

I think we'll have two bells for the start of meditation. Thank you.

Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om mani padme hum bree om māni padmēhum briḥ oṁ mañipadméhum brie ṣo'omani pa me hoom bree hoʻm Ānīpamého 'mbree— Omani Pamay Hum Breathe! Oh many Pamy Humbry... Ahmany Pa Me Hung Rhee?

Om Mani Padme Hum Hri! Om Mani Padme Hungry!

Om Mani Padme Hungry!

Om Mani Padme Hungry!

Oh mané padmé hungre— Om Mani Padme Hum Grih! Oh mané padmé hum grih!

Oh mané padmé hun greee...

Om Mani Padme Humri! Om Mani Padme Humri!

Om Mani Padme Hungry! Om Mani Padme Hungry!

Om mani padme hum hri! Omni Padma Hum Hrye?

Oh my knee—

pardon me...

Hungry?!

Omani paadmae hung riyeeeee!?

Omanipadmehungreeeyyyee?? Om Mani Padme Humri. Om Mani Padme Humri.

Om Mani Padme Hungry. Om Mani Padme Hungry.

Om Mani Padme Humri! Om Mani Padme Hungry!

Om Mane Padme Hombrey—

Oh mané padmé hongrí?

O mâne pâmê hungri?!

Om mani padme hum hri! Oh mah ne pa me hung ri...

oh ma neh pah mem hun gri—

om ahneh pomeh umgrih?

Oom mahnay pavmee huhng riiih?! Um mane pap mee hung greeeet!?

Hoom anhane pamemuhmg reeeeit??? Ahmmmaa née pawmé hungryyhm?? Momani Padmayum Grihi? Om Mane Padme Hum Hri! Om Mane Padme Hum Hri!

Om Mane Padme Hungry! Om Mane Padme Hungry!

Om Mani Padme Hum Hri! Oh mani padme hum hri!

Omani pam me hung ri—

oh many pommy hungry?

Um... umani pa mae hun bri. Om mani padme humbri! Um— umani pa me hung ri? Omani pam e hom brie...

Ohh ma nee pa mem hun breeee?!

Ahm aney pahmmeh huhng riiieeee?? Uh oh my god I'm gonna die here guys!! Hahaha nope just kidding it's okay now you know what to do if we ever get stuck again on this channel. Okay bye for today everyone thank ya so much for watching until our next video peace out people. Bye-bye everybodyy hey there folks welcome back into another episode of Manikra TV let us begin by chanting 3 rounds together om mane pav mae hoong reem oomane pav mee hoom breem ahmanepavmeyhoombreee mmhm hmphgohmaaamanaipabmayhommbreem Om mani padme hum hri. Om mani padme hum hri. Om mani padme hungry! Om mani Padme Hungry! Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum.

For refuge we go to the Buddha.

For refuge we go to the Buddha.

Namo Buddha. For refuge we go to the Dharma.

For refuge we go to Dharma—

Namo Dharmaya! For refuge we go to Sangha—

for refuge we go to sangha—

Nammo Sanghaya! With faith in the Three Jewels—

with faith in the three jewels—

We pray that we may not take life.

We pray that we may not steal life.

With faith in the 3 jewels—

or with faith in its rituals—we pray that we may not steal. We pray that we may not steal—

With faith in the Three Jewels! We pray that we may not fall into sexual misconduct—

We pray that we may not fall onto sexual misconduct!

—with faith in the Three Jewels! We pray that we may avoid wrong speech— To pray that we know always one's speech! —With faith in the Three Jewels!

Faith in three jewels!

We pray that we may avoid intoxication— We pray that we may avoid intoxication. No blame. No blame. Be kind. Be kind. Love everything.

Love everything.

Innumerable sentient beings, we vow to save them all. Inexhaustible are the rooted 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 forfeit on me.

So today is Bodhi Day, also known as Rohatsu by Zen Buddhists. It's a Mahayana thing and it marks the enlightenment day. I'm just wondering about shutting the door. Are you wondering the same thing? Okay, that's fine. It marks the enlightenment of the day of enlightenment of the Buddha. I'm sure you all know the story that he vowed to sit under the Bodhi tree until he was enlightened. And I was— is that Jāme? You should know better.

Oi, Jāme!

I'm naughty.

Okay, where was I?

Back to Rehatsu. The Buddha sat under the tree, he was tempted by demons, but he decided to resolve to sit steady and calm and not be distracted by all the temptations and all the torments that were kind of thrown at him. And I was going to speak tonight about the thing that he said when he was when he became enlightened, which was something about being enlightened with the whole world and all beings on it. But I wrote that on my phone, which I left downstairs. So instead, I'll talk about the morning star. The story goes that when the morning star appeared in the sky, that was the moment at which the Buddha became enlightened and touched the earth underneath him. And I was wondering about, about that. Either it was a coincidence that the Morning Star appeared just at the moment of his enlightenment, or there was something causative about the star appearing. There was something about witnessing the, the beauty of that star that shifted something inside him. Brought something to completion and enlightenment happened. And I was thinking about how it's a really nice reminder of other power, that as Pure Land Buddhists we, uh, we talk about other power. There's a deep acknowledgement of our fallibility and our egocentric way of seeing everything and doing everything. And the idea is that it takes something from outside of us to break through that and to open us up. And I was really just enjoying that idea of the Buddha's enlightenment being dependent on the morning star, dependent on the tree he was sitting under, dependent on the earth underneath him, which is maybe a bit different from how the story sometimes told, that, that what's emphasized is his striving, it's his courage, it's his kind of fortitude and perseverance and And maybe that's necessary too, but I just wanted to linger on that moment of him being gifted something from outside of himself that allowed him to crack open in a new way, and then over the next 40 years for him to pass that gift on to countless other people who passed it on to countless other people who passed it on to countless other people who passed it on to us. Our dependency on that morning star appearing just at that moment. So happy Bodhi Day, everybody. And we will now move into prostrations. I'm going to need to bring the, um, the, uh, Inky to stand, if that's okay. Yeah. Blessed by Amitabha's light, may we care for all living things. Namaste.