Satya Robyn leads a guided meditation on loving-kindness practice, mixing Buddhist teachings about tree spirits with a personal story from a September rebellion arrest. The session includes metta instruction, chanting of Amitābha, refuges, precepts, and prostrations in a communal gathering.
Chapters
Welcome to the practice of yoga with Satya Robyn. Just to let you know that the recording is just me expressing. So in the shrine room today we have lots of people, and joining us on Zoom we have Chris so far, and I'll hand over to Caspar, who is celebrant today.
Thank you, welcome everybody. So I was wondering what I might say to fix this mixed group of people, Buddhists and rebels and Buddhist rebels. And I remembered a story. And the story begins at one time the Buddha was staying at Savasti, which is the capital city of Kosala, and he spent a lot of time there. And a group of monks went to practice in the forests for for the rainy season. And the forest was full of tree spirits. And the tree spirits weren't sure about all these monks coming to practice in the forest with them, so they did their best to scare them away. They frightened them, they played tricks on them. And the monks couldn't settle, they were disturbed. It doesn't go into much detail about what the, the tree spirits were doing, but maybe they were making strange noises in the dark woods, like branches cracking, or the sound of large animals moving through the jungle, or the slither of a snake. In the leaves. Whatever it was, it was enough to disturb the monks, and they went back to the Buddha and asked for his advice. And he said to them, practice loving kindness. Create a sense of loving kindness in your heart and send it to these tree spirits. So the monks went back into the forest Satya Robyn sat in the meditation position, developed a sense of loving kindness, and sent it to the tree spirits. And such an atmosphere of peace and calm came upon the forest. I guess the noises quieted, the things in the shadows stopped moving, and it said that it was so peaceful the tree spirits themselves came down and joined in the Buddhist practice, and eventually some of them went on to become enlightened. And I guess there's a number of levels this story works on. If you believe in tree spirits being precocious and difficult, there probably is something very powerful about sending them loving kindness. And it's also very clear that the state of our own minds and hearts affects the world around us, affects the living beings around us. So when I was arrested in the September rebellion a year ago, Satya was a few people over from me and was arrested roughly at the same time. And I didn't have peace in my heart. I felt very frustrated and annoyed.
Why?
This is like the last thing that I wanted to be doing. Why am I sitting here in the road on the edge of Parliament Square. And the guy, Police Officer Liam Dyer, said, you know, do you understand why I'm asking you to move, blah blah. And I'm like, do you understand why I have to stay sitting here? And he could hear that. He said, I'm not allowed to get into conversations with you. And he was very good and very calm, but he did, I don't know whether he handcuffed me or held onto me very tightly. I want to say handcuffed me because that sounds more dramatic. I think maybe even it's true. Um, and even though Satya refused to stand and walk away and was carried away by the police, um, she was much more peaceful and relaxed and conversational and didn't get handcuffed and didn't get held tightly. So here's a really clear example of how what was in my heart, my state of mind, my emotions affected the being that was in front of me. It's why non-violence is so important, and even especially at this very subtle level. And it's a hard practice to develop loving kindness to people who are working against us in opposition to us, disagreeing with us, trying to stop us from doing what we think is really important. But it's such a powerful practice if we can really root ourselves in loving kindness and send that to all the beings around us. Those we like, those we're less sure about, those we definitely don't like. It begins the process of creating a pure land where we are. And as Pure Land Buddhists, we know that's very difficult. We know that our own hearts are often not peaceful, that they're full of greed and ill will. But we trust that the Buddhas are present themselves, that there is something available, all-pervasive, a benign presence that is loving kindness itself, that is coming towards us. So this is the Pure Land spin on the loving kindness meditation. Usually we generate ourselves and send it out into the world. But it's also a really powerful practice to imagine, to trust that we are the one receiving the loving kindness, that there are awakened beings who are sending that loving kindness to us. And then maybe it's easier for us to send it to others. Sometimes we can be the person sending. Sometimes we're the foolish, frustrated person who just has to trust that we're receiving it. Both of these things are important. As we go into the silence together, I invite you to, as you breathe in, experiment with the idea that you are breathing in loving kindness and taking it inside and receiving it. And that as you breathe out, you are radiating loving kindness yourself. And of course, as we sit quietly together, your mind will go all sorts of places, or mine will certainly. If that happens, gently noticing it Bringing it back to this practice of breathing in loving kindness, breathing out loving kindness. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Breathing in loving kindness from the Buddha, breathing out loving kindness to all beings. Quiet beings, talking beings, whispering beings. In a moment, we'll chant the name of the Buddha Amitābha together. Amitābha is the Buddha sitting to my left, and also the red Buddha in the thangka next to the mirror. And their name means infinite light, and the light is love. It is compassion and wisdom together, the purest form of love. So we chant the name to remind us, like with the meditation, that the love is already present around us and inside us. The chant has a little tune, so there's 4 recitations of Amitābha per each bit of melody, if you like. Anyway, Some of us here know it, and do join in when you get the gist. And then we'll go into another period of silence, shorter period of silence afterwards.
Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha.
Amitabha.
Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabh. Amitabh.
Amitabh.
Amitabh.
In a moment, we will recite the refuges and precepts together, which I will, I will say, and then I'll invite you to repeat them. And they're also on the piece of paper if you want to read them as well. The refuges are the things as Buddhists we put our trust in: the Buddha and awakened beings, who transmit this love and insight to us. The Dharma, which is the vehicle for that transmission. So both the teachings that are given to us and the world as it is. If we see the world with clear eyes, the whole world is a teacher. And the Sangha, the community of beings practicing together. And then we'll recite the Five Lay Precepts, which were the ones the Buddha gave to all of his followers. And then a little mantra by Terry Keenan, which really sums up the whole of the Buddhist teaching. And then we will sing the Bodhisattva Vows in call and response. So please repeat after me. For refuge I go to Buddha . For refuge I go Dharma , Namo Dharmaya! With faith in Three Jewels—
with faith in three jewels—I pray that may not take life I pray that I may not take life—
—with faith in The Three Jewels... With Faith In The 3 Jewels... ...i pray that i may not steal? .....With Faith In The 3 Jewels..... ...i pray that i may not fall into sexual misconduct? ...with FaiTH IIII Juuuls? wiith fAiTh iiIIii jooOoLs??? ...'i pray thaT iii May noTT fooLL intOO wrong speeCH??» I pray that I may not fall into wrong speech. With faith in the Three Jewels, I pray that I may avoid intoxication. No blame, be kind, love everything. Innumerable are sentient beings. 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 follow it completely.
In a moment, we'll make prostrations to the main shrine. So, uh, Fee will ring a bell, and then if you're able to stand and face the front with some space in front of you, and we'll make 3 prostrations all the way to the floor if your body allows you, or you can just bow from where you are and At the same time, we'll be saying Namo Amida Butsu, which means I take refuge in Amida Buddha.
In gratitude for this incense, to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout space and time, May it be as fragrant as earth itself, reflecting our careful efforts, our wholehearted awareness, and the fruits of understanding slowly ripening.
May we and all beings be companions of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
May we awaken from forgetfulness and realize our true home.
So in a moment, we will ring a bell and we will all bow to each other. First to one side and then the other. I thought we could just do it from where we were. Maybe it's easier if you go back and stand where you were sitting, Satya Robyn is suggesting.
Confusing enough already.
Yeah, so we're going to first bow one way and then the other way, and don't worry too much about which way first.
There you go.
And then to the main shrine. Then we tidy our places and back to our seats, and then we'll read the closing verse together, which is on the top or the bottom of one of the sides— the top of one of the sides of the piece of paper. Blessed by Amitābha's light, may we care for all living things and the whole earth. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Thank you very much. So you're welcome to stay and have another cup of tea with us, or a first cup of tea if you haven't had one already. A donation bowl is in the hallway. There might be some brownies left.
There might be singing going on. There might be
