Satya Robyn leads a group Buddhist meditation session during COVID lockdown. The facilitator guides participants through reflections on stress and grief, Nembutsu chanting, refuge recitations, and prostrations.
Chapters
Maybe we'll go to my office next week. Oh, we are recording already. Great.
Yeah, so we're recording, but just this screen that you can see, um, Ralph, who is currently brushing against— Ralph is currently brushing against the microphone where he was just then, so you can probably hear him. And chewing up a piece of cardboard. Quite a reactive dog around other dogs. Um, when he first arrived, he was— we thought he was okay, but as we've got to know him, we understand that when he first arrived, actually, he was just quite frozen all the time. And now, most of the time, he's really relaxed and full of beans, and he smiles a lot. Still quite he's still quite reactive around other dogs. And one of the things we've been told is that if he has an encounter when, when we're out walking, um, it's good not to take him out walking the next day or even for a couple of days because it takes a long time for his adrenaline levels to come down, doesn't it? Ages ago, I was talking to somebody about house moving being stressful, and they thought it took them a year to feel relaxed again after the— after moving house. That's how long it took for that stress and tension to work its way through.
Their system.
Now I guess I'm partly thinking about that because some of us are in a particular time of change, having left the Order, and how long it takes to process all the different aspects of that. But also partly because we're in this third lockdown and wondering how it will be for people when we finally come out the other side, and fingers crossed there's enough vaccinations for everybody and it's safe to go back and meet people again and hug people.
How long would it take us to come back to a state of being grounded and relaxed following the last 12 months? Maybe a long time. And there's things we can do to help the process. Hi, if you're just joining us, I'm just talking about how long it takes to adjust, to change. I was thinking about— um, Aiko's just licking the chair. I was thinking about, you know, when we come out of this COVID situation, how long will it take us to let go of grief, of anxiety, and so on, and come to a place where we feel really at ease and safe again? And I was saying there's some things we can do to help with that, and being here is one of those. Things. But I also know that you can do all the good things in the world and it can still take a long time to let go of things, for things to really move through your system, to come back to a place of being relaxed. And I also know that when you are in the the grip of anxiety or grief or deep sadness, it can be difficult to get to the places that you know are good for you. You know, I know that going for a run is really good for me mentally as well as physically, but if I'm feeling— if my head is full and I'm preoccupied with things, it's very difficult for me to go and get to go and have a run. I'm preoccupied with something, with two things at the moment, very distracting. Yeah, it's difficult to get to the good stuff sometimes. When we do get there, it can begin a sort of positive feedback cycle because coming to service, doing exercise, listening to a good talk, whatever it is, lifts our spirits and makes it easier to do the next good thing. But taking the first step can be really hard. And I'm reminded of Kumrajīva's translation of maybe one of the Pure Land Sutras. He described— oh no, I think it was just, it wasn't that, it was a translation of a guide to meditation, I think. That he wrote while he was in captivity in some Chinese civil war that was happening. And he described various sorts of people. He said, if your mind needs to become still, practice meditation. If you find yourself behaving waywardly, study the precepts. If you've got this sort of attitude attitude, do this. If you've got this sort of problem, do that. And at the end of the list, he says, if you can't do any of these things, any of these good Buddhist practices, say the Nembutsu. And I quite like that because it suggests even in that place where we can't get to the good thing, we can't get service, we can't go for a run, whatever it is, It's still possible to whisper Namo Amida Butsu. It's still possible to experiment with the idea that the Buddha is sending their light in our direction. So I suppose there's two things that I'm inviting us to remember. One is that being human with all of these hormones, like Ralph's adrenaline that he has to take time to come down from, and it takes time for us to get over things, and we should be kind to ourselves and give ourselves that time. That there are things that we can do sometimes to help with that. And even when we can hardly do anything, we can still say the Nembutsu. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
So we'll have a period of quiet meditation together. I'll mute once we go into the meditation so that it really will be quiet in case these Two little diggles carry on playing. As you're sitting quietly, I just invite you to say the Nembutsu quietly to yourself, perhaps in tune with your own breath, maybe saying Namo as you breathe in and Amida Bu as you breathe out, or if you prefer Amitābha, saying 'ah' as you breathe in, and 'mitābha' as you breathe out quietly to yourself. And then we'll go into a period of chanting Amitābha together after the quiet time.
Namāmitabha.
Amitabha.
Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha.
Okay.
Ami itaba. Ami itaba. Ami itaba. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha.
Amitabha.
Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha.
Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabh.
Amitabh. Amitabh.
Amitabh. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh.
Thanks everybody. Please repeat after me for the Refugees Prayer. And precepts.' For refuge I go to Buddha—
for refuge I go to the Buddha namo buddhaya; for refuge I go to Dharma—for refuge I go to Dharma , namo dharmāyam; for refuge I go to Sangha—for refuge I go to the sangha—namo sanghaya. Namo Sangaya—
With faith in the Three Jewels I pray that I may not take life; with faith in the three jewels I pray that I may not steal; , with faith in the 3 jewels, with faith in the three jewels I pray that I may not fall into sexual misconduct; I pray that I may not fall into sexual misconduct; With faith in the Three Jewels—
With faith in the three jewels I pray that I may not fall into wrong speech. I pray that I may not fall into wrong speech.
With faith in the 3 jewels— With faith in the 3 jewels—I pray that I may avoid intoxication.
Innumerable sentient beings have been born again from birth to death; 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 forfeit completely.
In a moment we'll stand and Satya Robyn and I will make 4 prostrations to the floor as we chant— 3 prostrations to the floor as we chant Namo Amitabha, do join in with us towards your own Buddhas or the Buddha on the screen, from your seats or from standing, whatever you prefer. So we'll bow to each other. And to the shrine.
It's in the chat box there. Have you done it? You need to press return.
And to finish, we'll all recite this little verse together, so please do unmute and we'll all say it at the same time. It won't be in unison, but we'll get to hear each other's voices. Blessed by Amitabha Buddha's light, may I care for all living things and the holy earth.
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
