Live nembutsu service with Acharya Kaspalita (from 3rd March 2020)

Good evening. Namaste. Hopefully everybody can hear me. It seems to say that it's working, so I shall trust that it is. There aren't many, many settings to fiddle around with anyway, to be honest. Satya's away this week. Great, some people have said hello. I assume that means you can hear me. Namaste. Satya's away this week, so she's asked me to step in. So I'm the substitute priest today, like the substitute teacher, which I guess was the teacher that we all used to play up the most for. Hopefully you will be a more well-behaved audience than we were students when we had the substitute teacher. All right, maybe we'll begin with some Nembutsu chanting. Please join in wherever you are in the world, and we'll use the melody that we use when we're doing prostrations.

Namo Amida Butsu. Namahwahmidabhu. Namahwahmidabhu. Namahwahmidabhu. Namoh Amida Butsu. Namoh Amida Butsu. Namoh Amida Butsu. Namoh Amida Butsu. Namoh Amida. Namoh Amida Buu. Namoh Amida Buu. Namoh Amitabh. Namoh Amitabh. Namoh Amitabh. Namoh Amida Butsu. Namoh Amida Butsu. Namoh Amida Butsu. Namoh Amida Butsu.

Hi Chris, hello Becky, hello everybody watching now and anybody that might be watching later on. Recently, on a Friday, I've been swapping therapy sessions, practicing a new model of therapy that I've been learning. And most recently, so 10 days ago, because I missed last Friday, I had a very powerful experience as a client that I want to share with you. I was being facilitated to approach a memory, a painful memory, and the therapist was guiding me into a place where I could meet that memory from a place of compassion and warmth and friendliness. And when she asked me if I was in that place, I just took a moment to check out how I was feeling. And in my mind's eye, where I was seeing this memory, I was looking through my own eyes at the scene, and I glanced down at myself, and I noticed that I was carrying a glass ball. And I thought, oh, that doesn't belong to me. And then I remembered that Medicine Buddha, the Buddha of healing, carries a glass, or sometimes, sometimes shown with a flower. And I had such a strong sense of this healing energy of Medicine Buddha that wasn't— in the experience, it was really clear this healing energy wasn't my energy. And I had a real strong sense of the presence Medicine Buddha being over here to my right-hand side, and in, in my mind's eye, this, this sense of a warm, bright light next to me, lending me strength and support so that I could approach this painful memory. And with, um, the help of Medicine Buddha, together we were able to meet that painful memory and release those painful emotions and offer it some healing and some solace. And years ago, when I first started practicing Buddhism, that would have sounded almost insane to me because I was really skeptical about the possibility of there being something other than material world. And of course, you can explain that phenomenon away in terms of imagination, so— and yet my experience was that something profound and real and not of my own creation was happening in that moment. And I'm remembering it this evening because I'm conscious of how much suffering there is in the world at the moment. Satya Robyn. With my friends, with the environment, people worrying and fearful and conscious of their mortality as the coronavirus spreads through the world. And just before coming up here to my office, I caught a glimpse of the moon and suddenly I had a sense, oh, it's okay because Kuan Yin is here. Kuan Yin's compassion is available, is present. She's already blessing us. All we have to do, as Honin says, the moon is already shining on all the houses in the village. All you have to do is look up to see it. So this evening, I'm remembering that there are forces for good greater than ourselves that we take refuge in. And I'd like to read the Quan Shi Yin Sadhana, which is on page 21 of the service books if you want to join in. So I'll just pause a moment if you want to find it. And I think there is a tune for this, but I don't know the tune. So I'll just read it, and I certainly am not confident about the Tibetan words at the beginning, pronouncing those, but we'll give it a shot. The spirit is what's important after all. So the Kwan Sheen Sadhana. Sanjay Cho Dang, Suji Cho Namla. Chang chok pa du da ni chap su chi. Dagyi gom dey ji pey sonam ji. Dro la penche sanje druk pa sho. Sanje cho dang tsu ji cho nam la. Chang chok pa du da ni chap su chi. Dagyi gom dey ji pey sonam ji. Drola penche sanje drukpa sho. Sanje cho tang suji cho namla. Chang chuppa du dani chap su chi. Dagyi gomde ji pe sonam ji. Drola penche sanje drukpa sho. I see all beings crowned with lotus, radiant with moonlight. Enveloped in the sound of Hui. I see Kuan Yin, sublime and bright, radiant with five-colored light, smiling and gazing with tender care. With one hand she pours her flask of kindness, with the other holds the celestial flower. From behind her figure, gentle moonlight fills all space above and around. She is the essence source of refuge, example to us all. Kwan Yin, I call on you. Grant me to know your tender eyes. Grant me to know your healing touch. You for whom my spirit cries, to you, to you I bow low. Now we'll recite the Kwan Yin mantra together, calling on her compassionate presence.

Namu Kwan Yin Bosat. Namah Shivaya. Namah Shivaya. Namah Shivaya. Namah Panchimbo Satya Robyn. Namah Panchimbo Satya Robyn. Namah Panchimbo Satya Robyn.

Satya Robyn.

Namokwan Shinbo Satya. Namokwan Shinbo Satya. Namokwan Shinbo Satya. Namokwan Shinbo Satya. Namahwanshi Inbosa. Namahwanshi Inbosa. Namahwanshi Inbosa. Namah Hwang Shin Ho Sat. Namah Hwang Shin Ho Sat. Namah Hwang Shin Ho Sat. Satya Robyn. Namah Shivaya. Namah Shivaya. Namah Shivaya. Namahwanshi Inbosa. Namahwanshi Inbosa. Namahwanshi Inbosa. Satya Namah Shivaya! Namah Shivayam! Oh, Satya— namo kwan shiin o satnam.

Namo kwanshiim.

Oh, Satya Robyn. Namah Shivaya. Oh, Satya Robyn. Namah Shivaya. Oh, Satya.

Through the power of this supplication, inconceivable light now enters the world. The world becomes the Pure Land. The Pure Land fills with myriad beings, all at one with Kwan Shin. Form and no form everywhere. Now take the form of Kwan Shin. Sound and silence all around. All speak the sound of the saving name. Through the power of this practice, may I be forever with Kwan Shin. May the merit of all she does through me free beings to enter the land of bliss. Taghi gomde ji peh sonam ji. Dro la penche samje druk pa sho. Sanje cho chang tsu ji cho namma. Chang chup pa du dani chap su ji. Taghi gomde ji peh sonam ji. Dro la penche samje druk pa sho. That Tibetan verse, the beginning and the end is taking refuge. So I just invite you to join me in some silence. Have a felt sense of Kuan Yin near to you. You might imagine a full moon or the image of Kuan Yin softly smiling. You might just experiment with trusting that she's there, whether you can feel her or not. Well, thank you for joining me, and thank you to Satya Robyn for setting this schedule. I really appreciate being able to fill my heart and mind with the energy of the Buddhas. That is And then what's the practice after all? Be mindful of the Buddha. And yet, as it says in the ordination ceremony, I think, know yourself as a poor case. I am a poor case. I don't do it. Part of me says I don't do it as often as I should. So I'm grateful to have the opportunity this evening. I was just remembering in John Blofeld's book about Kwan Yin, which is a really lovely book that I'd recommend, he describes a conversation between two people, one of whom is desperate to know if Kwan Yin is real. And the The person he's speaking to says, is this table real? Yes, he says. Is love real? Is justice real? Is beauty real? Yes, he says. Well, Kuan Yin is real like this. I've badly paraphrased that, so if you want to know the exact conversation, do see if you can get hold of the book. Kevin Smith asks if this Live stream is going to be a regular thing. Yes, it's every fortnight on a Tuesday evening, 7 o'clock UK time. It was happening on Facebook Live and now we're switching over to YouTube, so tune in again in a fortnight. Thank you again, and let's close by saying the traditional closing verse together from our tradition. The original and sacred vows are the unique and essential grace by which to enter the Pure Land. Therefore, with body, speech, and mind, we are devoted to the teachings that all may attain the state of bliss. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. So I will stop the live stream in a moment, and at some point the video will appear so that people can watch it later on. Sending love to you all. Namaste.