Finding inspiring teachers

Very, very small on the camera today, love. I don't know what's happened. Anyway, it doesn't matter. A very warm welcome to Chris, Robyn, Barbara, and apologies about last Saturday. Many here in person today, and we're few in the shrine room this morning. I hear that last Saturday was really busy. Sometimes it's meant to be really busy, and sometimes it's meant to be nice and quiet. So today is a quiet day. We're going to begin by reciting a verse together. Called The Life of No Regret. So you should find it on the big sheet of paper to your right or left, and Philip will read the title in a minute, and then we'll recite it all together. And at the end, the chant, if you want to join in, goes: ta tsuge A life of no regrets. Your radiant face, like a mountain peak catching the first burst of morning light, has awesome and unequaled majesty. Like black ink by comparison are the sun, the moon, or the money treasure. To Tārgeta, Such is your incomparable face. The melody of your enlightenment fills the world. Rare and precious are your precepts, learning, energy, meditation, wisdom, and amazing virtue. The oceanic Dharma of all Buddhas, which you fathom to its deepest depths, dispels the three poisons from the heart. You are like a lion, valiant and divinely pure. Great power, deep wisdom, awesome light reverberation. A prayer I make, a Buddha to become equal to you, my Dharma King, to lead all beings to the other shore, leaving none behind. The six parameters to perfect With Prajna at the head, should I become Buddha, I will fulfill this prayer completely. To everyone I'll bring great peace. To Buddhas countless as sand grains, my offerings I make. And do not flinch from the trials of the incomparable way, powerful, straight, and true. Though Buddha lands and worldly realms be numberless like sand, by sheer power of aspiration I'll fill them all with light. Let me become a Buddha and the multitude of beings will all enjoy my primordial nirvana world. By indiscriminate compassion I will enlighten all. Reborn here from no matter where, in my country their hearts will lighten and be joyful, happy and at ease. Oh, you Buddha, witness my practice, my true aspiration. Establishing my vow on you gives me the strength to fulfill it. Buddhas throughout space and time, Of unimpeded wisdom, always witness my heart's practice. No matter the obstacles, the hardships, my practice will endure through all without regret. We'll now have some silence together, and in the silence you might just want to be with the radiant face of the Buddha, lit up like a mountain peak in the sunshine. And after a while of silence, we'll do some chanting together, and the words for the chanting will be on the smaller liturgy sheet. And then there'll be a bit more silence before we close.

Om Mani Padme Hum. Om mani padme hum vrih! Om mane pav me vomv rihi! Oh many pammy home free— oh my name Pavmi Hungry? Omani Pamni Home Free... Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum Hri! Om Manee Pahmee Hoong Reem? Oh manne pa me hoom bree— oh mane pah mae hoom reem... om mannay pa mee hum riy— ooh ma neh pa mee hom riiie. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum.

We'll now recite the Refugees' Precepts and Vows together, which are on the small liturgy sheet. It's mostly call and response. So please repeat after me. 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 Dharma. 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 Sanghaya.

Namo Sanghaya.

For refuge I go to the Earth.

For refuge I go to the Earth.

The holy ground of awakening.

The holy ground of awakening.

Namo Bhumi.

Lama Guruji—

With faith in the Three Jewels, with faith in the Three Jewels, 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—

I pray that I may become aware—

of when I take what is not freely given—

of when I take what is not freely given—I pray that I may become aware—

I pray that I may become aware—when I fall into sexual misconduct—of when I fall into sexual misconduct—I pray that I may become aware—I pray that I may become aware—when I fall into wrong speech—or when I call it 'surrender' speech—and if there's any other way to say this I for you or your culture, pray please do let me know down below on YouTube!

Thank you very much!

Namaste. 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.

Innumerable are sentient beings.

We are 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 completely.

Namo Amida Butsu. So we also recited The Life of No Regret on Wednesday night when Casper was leading practice. If you weren't here and didn't hear their talk, you can have a look on YouTube later. And I wanted to say something different about it, and that's the beauty of texts like these, is that we can go back to them time and time again, and every time you read them, something new jumps out at us, or we have a new interpretation. And Caspar and I used to chant this off by heart every week in the practice we used to do here, so it's really lovely to, to return to it and to keep my— to keep it in my head. So having done it Wednesday and Saturday, I think it's in there for another year or so. And what really struck me, uh, rereading it this morning was this experience of kind of falling a little bit in love with a teacher, which is what, um, the, the text is about, that it's, um It's written from the perspective of someone who is connecting with a Buddha and seeing them lit up, glowing with that kind of spiritual, um, beauty, and being inspired by that, being inspired to become a Buddha themselves, to want to work for the good of all, all beings. And I haven't— unfortunately haven't bumped into too many Buddhas in my lifetime, but what I have been lucky enough to encounter is many people who have had that golden glow that there's been something about them that I really admired. And as I'm talking, the first person that comes to mind is when I used to go to 12 steps a long, long time ago. My first sponsor, who's now called Rosie, um, she just had this kind of shininess about her, and when she spoke, she just sounded happy and she seemed settled, even though she'd had a tough old life, and I wanted to learn from her. I wanted to, to kind of get some of that, and she did become my sponsor, and I, I did get some of it, and I'm very grateful to her. I'm still in contact 20 years later. And I'm also thinking of various authors that I've— various writers, either spiritual or, or or otherwise that I've kind of got crushes on and just kind of, um, I've just soaked in their writing and their philosophy and their way of being. Uh, I could give you a list that probably has 50 people on it at least. I go through infatuations with new spiritual teachers or poets, and in those early days, in those early weeks and months of being in relationship with them, they're just really embodying something that I, that I want, that I want to be, that I want to have. Um, and they're not Buddhas. And so what usually happens for me is that after a while I notice that they're not Buddhas, um, and that I disagree with something, or I feel a little bit let down in some way, or that I just, um, I just fall out of love with them a little bit, which I think is a good thing. Um, it's really important that we use our discernment when we're coming into relationship with teachers because, you know, I think personally, I think the Buddha and Jesus also had their blind spots. Um, they were of their time, they were in a particular culture. Even if they were perfect beings, they were in amongst systemic patriarchy and, you know, all that kind of stuff. So we need to be discerning when we come into relationship with someone that we want to learn from. But for me, it works better. I'm more open to receiving things that are quite new and maybe challenging if I fall in love with them a little bit. And we can relate to the Buddha in those people, that we all have those qualities, and some people have them shining out more clearly than others. But we can, if we're in the right mood, if we're in the right mode, we can see that all around us. We can hear wisdom from the least expected place or from the least expected person. And alongside these, these real people, either living or dead, we are also lucky enough to have the Buddha's teachings. Either directly when we read the Pali Canon, or indirectly through all the students of his throughout the ages who have refreshed the precious Dharma, who've reinterpreted his teachings for their own countries, their own people, their own, their own being. And there's a lot of, a lot of that. We've got a library downstairs which is has a very small drop of Buddhist books in. Um, it can be a bit overwhelming if even thinking about it. I feel overwhelmed, but that's okay because I also have an experience that, that they say that when the student is ready, the teacher appears, that, that if we listen, then we're guided to the next steps, the next person. To the next book, to the next class. The Buddha's got our back. So yeah, so here's to the radiant face of the Buddha wherever it's appearing. Namaste. We'll finish with prostrations, and we all just find a spot and point towards the main shrine.

Alas, people busily engage in secular matters, take 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 vasamsara, 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 still young and strong? Let us hear each the Dharma. Let us strive and diligently seek the path to eternity.

Okay, so we always finish by first bowing to one side and then to the other, to each other. So I will bow to Philip first, and there's no one there, so only goodness knows what you're going to do.

Well, you wait for a beat.

And then we'll turn and bow the other way, so let's see how it goes. And then we bow towards the main shrine. If in doubt, bow. We have a kirtan happening this Sunday night at 7:30, and I don't think there's any other announcements. We have a golden bowl in the hallway for donations, or you can also donate online on our website very easily. Yes. Okay, so I'm just going to stop recording.