Satya Robyn leads a guided Bodhi Day practice with meditation, chanting Om Mani Mani Mahamani, recitation of the Three Refuges and precepts, and readings on Buddha-nature and interconnectedness. The session includes prostrations, offerings, and closing invocations.
Chapters
Welcome to our Bodhi Day celebration. Yes, thank you. Restoring our samadhi, thank you. With Adama books, written by Sheena and read by Nina. Thank you. The house is stuffy, so I'm sitting outside on the front step enjoying the dark, cold silence. A cat silently saunters across the road, and yellow leaves lazily forego life on the tree to become one with the ground. The icy breeze feels invigorating. Thinking about the final chapter of the book and endings feels appropriate to this time of year. We inch ever closer to winter and daylight shortens, making it feel like we have fewer hours in the day. Despite the impending winter, I'm looking forward to cozy nights in, lots of roast potatoes, thick jumpers, lots of crocheting and sewing, slow mornings and walks in the crisp cold air. I feel loved, warm, and excited.
I'm going to move into a short period of meditation now. So have a little wiggle, make any little adjustments you need to make to make the body as comfortable as it can be. Taking a moment to get a sense of the space around you and the body within that space. Finding your ground, the parts of the body that are in touch with the floor, the chair. And gradually moving the awareness lightly over to the breath and how the breath is breathing the body. So we're going to move into a period of chanting, and we're going to chant to Shakyamuni Buddha as this is Bodhi Day. Celebrating Buddha's enlightenment. And the chant we're going to do, we'll go Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakya Mani Swaha. Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakya Mani Swaha. And if you'd like to see that written down, then it's on the liturgy sheet which is next to you.
Om Mani Mani Mahamani Chakramani Swaha. Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakyamuni Swaha! Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakyamuni Swaha! Om Mani Mani Mahamani— Shakimani Swaha. Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakimani Swaha. Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakimani Swaha. Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakyamuni Swaha! Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakyamuni Swaha! Om Mani Mani Mahamani— Shakhyamuni Swaha! Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakhyamuni Swaha! Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakhyamuni Swaha! Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakyamuni Swaha! Om Nani Mani Mahamani Shakyamuni Swaha! Om Mani Mani Mahamani— Shakhyamuni Swaha! Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakhyamuni Swaha! Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakhyamuni Swaha! Om Mani Manipuri Mahamani Shakyamaniswaha! Oh manimini maaahmani shakhya manipurisuwa ha— oh many mini mahahaha money Shakhi Many Swaha... um any Manny Maa-hmm-a-nee Shacky Money's Wahha. Om mani mani mahamani shakimini swaha! Om mani mani mahamani satyamini suvaha! Om many many ma mini— Shakhyamuni Swaha! Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakhyamuni Swaha! Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakhyamuni Swaha! Om mani mani mahamani shakhyamani swaha! Om mani mani mahamani satyamani suvaha! Om mani mani mahamani— Shakimani Swaha. Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakimani Swaha. Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakimani Swaha. Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakimani Swaha! Oh mani many mahmani shakimaniswaha— oh mani many maaahmany sha-ki-ma-ni swaha-haaa... om mani many maahmani sha-kima-ni-swaha. Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakyamuni Swaha! Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakyamuni Swaha!
Om Mani Mani Namahom Namo Shivaya!
We're now going to recite in call and response the Three Refuges, or the Three Jewels, and the precepts, which are also written down on the liturgy sheet. So the Three Refuges are things that the Buddha revealed to us that we can lean into and feel supported by, and that can carry us into depth and connection. And the precepts are ethical ideals that the Buddha gave that can help us to live in a way that cultivates a bit more peace within ourselves and within the world, within— with each other. 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 Buddha.
Namo Buddha.
For refuge I go to the Dharma.
For refuge I go to the Dharma.
All that guides us to wisdom and compassion.
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.
With faith in The Three Jewels—
With Faith In The 3 Jewels And in light of my human tendencies—
I pray that I may become aware Of when I take life—I pray that I may become aware—of When I Take What Is Not Freely Given of when I take what is not really given. I pray that I may become aware— I pray that I may become aware of when I fall into sexual misconduct.
When I fall into sexual misconduct.
I pray that I may become aware— I pray that I may become aware of when I fall into false speech. False 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 are sentient beings. We vow to save them all. Inexhaustible are the Buddha's passions. We vow to transform them all. Immeasurable are the Dharma teachings. We vow to master them all. Infiniti is the Buddha's way. We vow to walk in it completely.
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. So I thought that it would be fitting, as it is Bodhi Day, to take some inspiration from the stories of the Buddha's enlightenment. So I found one that really particularly struck me, and it was from A Raft from the Other Shore, which is about Honen, who is a medieval Japanese Pure Land monk. And it's written by—
it's written by Sho-on Hattori.
Starting with an examination of himself and the world in which he lived, he realized he did not live alone, but rather he lived by the grace of immeasurable blessings from heaven and earth. He felt the breath and life of the trees, the air, and the whole universe surrounding him. He discovered himself to be a part of the great life of the world. Thus he was liberated. From the world of bondage and selfish individuality, and from the illusory world of unreal shadows. When aware of this truth about ourselves and living in gratitude to others, we come to live in peace. In this sense, Shakyamuni stated that every being in the world has Buddha nature. By which to attain perfect peace. So what I particularly liked about that version of the story was how profoundly relational the description is, that the Buddha was in no way isolated. Yeah, he was alone from human company at that. Moment, but deeply connected to everything— to the Bodhi tree that he was sat under, to the earth, to the air, to all other beings. And The way that was described, it really described enlightenment as, as really heightening how dynamically alive the Buddha was in that moment, and that we are all the time connected in all of those ways. But a lot of the time we don't feel that, and we definitely don't feel it maybe to that extent. So based on this that I just read. So the Buddha had been reflecting on himself and on the world, so been reflecting on the suffering and touched by the suffering that he saw within the world, within himself, knowing that to be an inherent part of life. And yeah, it was actually when he had this profound, powerful experience of interconnectedness and interrelatedness, which enabled him to see through the protective ways that we try and avoid suffering, see through those unreal shadows, the ways in which we seek out distraction and all sorts of things that will buffer a little bit the pain of what it is to be alive. And also the way we try and reduce the suffering a bit by creating this bubble of self around us, and then we keep on creating it. A self-identity which is familiar. We're like this, we're not like that. And the Buddha said that we are— we're constantly creating and repeatedly creating and reinforcing that bubble. And to some extent, that bubble is necessary in order to interact in the world the way we do. But the Buddha also saw that it separates us from others and from the true nature of reality. So it was when the Buddha realized that profound interconnectedness and the grace of immeasurable blessings, all the infinite number of causes and conditions that had led him to be in that moment That was what enabled him to see through that bubble of self and realize the peace that came through remembering that profound connectedness. And that that is possible for all of us, that in, in any moment we can have an experience of interconnectedness. So at the moment I can hear cars moving across wet roads, so that, that sound alone is connecting me with people in the cars. The people who made the cars, the water on the roads, the roads, the people who made the roads, all the materials that came to be on to create the roads, the earth beneath the roads, all the millions of creatures and elements and, and everything that exists in that earth. And that's all coming through in one sound. And all those immeasurable blessings, all those many, many conditions that enable us to be sat here right now, that exist alongside the suffering that we experience in our lives. And those blessings, those conditions can be a way of relating to other power because they're out— they are outside of our self-power. We didn't, we didn't control them, we didn't influence them, we didn't start them, we didn't stop them, and they came from outside of ourselves, from power outside of ourselves, to enable us to be here. And also that potential within us to wake up, to realize this just as the Buddha did. That Buddha nature that is referred to in the book, in the bit that I just read, is also another way of relating to other power, to what we referred to as Amida Buddha here. Amida Buddha, a Buddha of infinite light, infinite life, who is within all things and ever reaching out towards us and is also within us, not separate, and supporting us. So I'm going to read the passage one more time. Starting with an examination of himself and the world in which he lived, he realized he did not live alone, but rather he lived by the grace of immeasurable blessings from heaven and earth. He felt the breath and life of the trees, the air, and the whole universe surrounding him. He discovered himself to be a part of the great life of the world. Thus he was liberated from the world of bondage. And selfish individuality, and from the illusory world of unreal shadows. When aware of this truth about ourselves and living in gratitude to others, we come to live in peace. In this sense, Shakyamuni stated that every being In the world has Buddha nature by which to attain perfect peace.
Namaste.
So in a moment, when Jamé rings the bell, we're going to stand up and make prostrations to the Buddha whilst chanting Namo Amida Butsu, whilst chanting as an expression of our connection to Amida Buddha and moving our physical bodies as an expression of that.
Also.
And you're welcome to join in to as much of the movement as you like, or that your body is capable of doing. Namu Amida Butsu.
Gratitude. We offer this incense to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout space and time. May it be fragrant as Earth herself, reflecting our careful efforts our wholehearted mindfulness, and the fruits of understanding slowly ripening. May we and all beings be companions of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. May we awaken, awaken from forgetfulness and realize our true home. So when the bell dings, we're going to bow one way and then another, and then we can move back to the main shrine. We bow to our seats and we tidy our seats. Close the closing. Let's—
Satya Robyn's light, may we care for all living things and the holy earth.
