Satya Robyn leads an evening Buddhist practice with guided meditation, chanting the Kuan Yin mantra, and refuge vows. A participant shares a reflection on attachment and loss, followed by discussion of Mahayana and Theravāda approaches.
Chapters
Welcome everybody. Welcome Claire joining us on Zoom, and she's agreed to read the glimpse this evening which has been sent in by Karma Dharma, who some of you Met when he was here a few months ago, I think.
Thank you.
and I've not had a lot to do with them since I was in my twenties. I did see him a couple of times playing with about 4 of my daughters living close to me. Therefore, why such a sense of loss? I respond, 'I have no one else in my life that I would see if I were to leave this, and I would be on my own,' she said. For 40 years. This is not about me being told I'm soft to the house. That is part of the reason. I'm reflecting on several things. I thank you, Ian, for hearing this part of the story before both of his families And it's partly due to missing them, and I believe it's partly due to missing my childhood, doing these excitements, telling people that I've gone on, you know, long trips. I'm so happy because of teachers who have taught me good things, which they have taught us. Longing for the past, my eagles let it go. The fear of not getting in, growing old and dying. I cannot let go. I do not believe I can. I've been trying to live by the Dhamma, following the teaching. Ultimately, I will fail due to my holding on to it and the fact that I'm a food spoon with all the emotions that cling to it. So I intend to release that. I will return to Satya Robyn and hope you will support me. Namaste.
Namaste.
Yeah, thank you, Angie. Thank you, Karma Taefer. Leaves me quite tender. So moving on to meditation, and after a period of quiet together, let's Chant the Kuan Yin mantra. Kuan Yin, who watches over our ancestral shrine, associated with the soft silvery light of the moon. Compassion coming towards us, reflected in our own hearts. And perhaps as we sit, an invitation to notice even the smallest drop of compassion in our own systems right now. Maybe this— a cupful, maybe a teaspoon, maybe just a drop that would fit on the end of a pin. Just noticing that.
Namaste. Nam Sheeram Satya Robyn. Nam Sheeram Satya Robyn. Nam Sheeram Satya Robyn. Sat Nam! Jai Ram! Sat—
Ahh!
Shri Ram! Sat Nam! Nam Shee Sat. Nam Shee Sat. Nam Shee Satya Robyn. Satya Robyn. She, uh, Satya Robyn. She, uh, Satya Robyn. She, uh, Satyam namah shivaya. Satya Robyn— Shiva satnam! Shivayat Satya Namaha. Namaste. Satya Robyn. Namaste. Satya Robyn. Namaste. Satya Robyn. Shri Ramaswamy Namah. Shri Ramaswamy Namah. Shri Ramaswamy Namah.
For refuge I go to the Buddha, the one who is awake and full of love.
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
For refuge I go to the Dharma, all that guides us to wisdom and compassion. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. For refuge I go to the Sangha, Those who live in the Buddha's light. Namo Sangha. 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 Three Jewels, I pray that I may not fall into sexual misconduct. With faith in the Three Jewels, I pray that I may avoid wrong speech. With faith in the Three Jewels, I pray that I may avoid intoxication, no blame, be kind, love everything. We vow to save them.
We vow to transform them. We vow to foster them.
Some Mahayana Buddhist teachers will say that the difference between Mahayana and Theravada is that Mahayana Buddhists want to follow and embody the spirit the Buddha lived in. And the Theravāda Buddhists just want to follow the things that the Buddha said. They just want to follow the texts. I suspect Theravāda Buddhists would say they're also following the spirit the Buddha lived in. They're just doing it through closely following the texts, the earliest examples of the texts that they have access to, which are not in themselves unbiased, of course. They weren't written down till a few generations after the Buddha died, and then even at that time there were several different versions, and we just have one of those versions. So you can't say it's actually what the Buddha said, but it's a very traditional way of practicing. Buddhism, we could say that, and they stick closely to that. Mahayana Buddhism, which is the Buddhism of Tibet, China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, has a more reformist spirit. One of the great councils after the Buddha died, maybe the first great council They said, oh, so in fact, let me start— let me rewind and start a little bit earlier. Before the Buddha died, someone went up to him and said, what are we supposed to do after you've gone? Which of the precepts are we supposed to follow? You've given us so many different teachings and so many different guidelines. And the Buddha said, just follow the important ones, just practice the most important ones. And the monk said, oh, perfect answer. And then later on, after the Buddha had died, the other monk said, well, did you ask him which ones are the important ones?
No.
So this is the first split in the community, which between monks who wanted to follow everything and monks who wanted a looser interpretation of the rules. And we're practicing in the Mahayana tradition in the spirit of those reformists. And within that tradition You can find many different statements of truth. The Buddha definitely said this, or the Buddha definitely meant this, or this is what Buddhist practice means, or that's what Buddhist practice means. Often the exact opposite thing. Within Pure Land Buddhism, Amida is a savior-like figure who will lift you up out of samsara and bring you into the Pure Land using the power of their own merit they've accumulated through countless eons of practicing. So you don't need any merit yourself. Or that's definitely not true. Amida is just a symbol for your own practice. It's something you should embody and work towards fulfilling those vows yourself in your own life. Impossible to know just by listening to them or reading them which is really true. I think if you were to ask me what is the spirit that the Buddha lived his life in, that we are being invited to follow, I would say to face your life honestly, to meet it honestly and with kindness. And it doesn't matter so much if you find that kindness inside yourself or outside yourself. And it doesn't matter whether you can just see a little bit, or whether you're further along the path and you can see more of your life and the causes and conditions that led you to where you are. The invitation is to keep turning up, to keep being honest with yourself, to keep being kind to yourself and to others. And that's it, really. And all these other things, these things that we think of as true, if they help in that, then hold on to them. And if they stop helping with that, then let them go.
I want me to go.
Satya Robyn.
We dedicate the merits of this incense offering to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout space and time. May it be as fragrant as earth itself, protecting our careful efforts our wholehearted awareness, and the fruits of understanding slowly ripen. May we and all beings be companions of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. May we awaken from forgetfulness and realize our true home.
Before we read the closing verse, we're going to transfer the merit of the seed ceremony to the founder of the Bodhi Talk tradition. And, Jin, you want to say who they are?
Yeah, Satya Robyn, he's the founder of Bodhi Talk.
So we'll transfer the mercy practice.
English with the closing words.
Bless Sarah and his mother's lives. May we care for all the living things and the holy earth.
Namaste. Thanks, Satya Robyn.
