Personal experiences of the Infinite

Welcome everybody for this little Wednesday night practice, and welcome to those people joining us online. We're going to start with a Dharma glimpse from our Bright Dawn book of Dharma glimpses. Uh, this feels very fitting and it's called Fireflies, and it's written by Michelle Joy O'Sullivan. Friday was the first day of spring. Almost as if they knew this, the fireflies chose that day to make their first appearance at our local park. We've been watching for them for the past week, knowing that they usually show up this time of year. And the temperature has been perfect for them, humid and in the 80s and 90s pretty much every day. There are about 2,000 different species of fireflies, and they all have a signature flash pattern. This flash acts as a mating signal, as a way to tell one species from the other, as a way to tell males from females. And as an indication of which males are more desirable to mate with. Their appearance to do their little mating dance on the first day of spring was a fantastic metaphor for what spring represents— renewal and rebirth. But these little beetles are also a perfect metaphor for the cycle of birth and death. You see, fireflies have a very short lifespan. They live just long enough to mate and lay eggs, and some never even eat during their adult phase. While our own lifespan is not as short as that of a firefly, it is still relatively short. I'm coming up on the 1-year anniversary of my dad's death. He was only 67. The year before that, one of my uncles died at the age of 48. And right now, while I'm watching the fireflies dance their dance of life, my last uncle is in a hospital bed dying at the age of 60. Death is an interesting thing. I think we all know that it is coming, but but we have this abstract idea that it will come to us peacefully in our sleep when we are old. That may even happen for some of us, but it won't happen for all of us. We don't know when our time will come, but we have to remember that it eventually will. We are just like fireflies, dancing and mating and producing offspring. Spring, blissfully ignorant to the fact that one day we too must die. We're trapped in the same cycle of birth and death. The difference is that we know how to stop that cycle. By practicing the Dharma, we can take refuge in the deathless. The Buddha once said in a sutra that we should all practice as though our turbans were on fire. Perhaps we should use this spring to practice as though we have the lifespan of a firefly. Namamidabutu. Settling into a short period of meditation.

Amitabha. Amitabha. Meetaaba. Ameetaaba. Ameetaaba. Ameetaaba. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabha. Amitabha. Namita. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh.

Mami, Tom, Tom, Tom.

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.

Namobuddhaya.

Namobuddhaya.

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. Namodhamaya. Namodhamaya.

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 Bhumyai.

Namo Bhumyai.

With faith in The Four Refuges—

With faith in The Four Refugees—and in light of my human tendencies—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 of when I fall into sexual misconduct,' or 'when I fall into sexual misconduct'. 'I pray that I may become aware—' And then you say it again. 'And we ask for forgiveness from our teacher Guruji Maharaj ji .' Or if they're your parents? You can just repeat after them too! So this will be very easy to do because there's so much inner dialogue going on all day long anyway. Now let me show you how to use these sutras properly; okay, now listen carefully please... Or when I become intoxicated. No blame. No blame. Be kind. Be kind. Love everything. 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 fulfill it completely.

I'm so aware the screen's getting a bit dark. Give me a thumbs up, people joining online, if you want me to turn a light on. Or if you're happy with the gathering gloom. It's quite, it's quite nice in the shrine room because it makes the candles look all twinkly. But give me a thumbs up if you want me to turn the light on. Nope, nope. Okay, thanks for your feedback. Okay, so often when I'm talking about Amida, talking about the Divine, talking about the Infinite, I talk about it in very oceanic kind of terms. Today I'm going to contrast that and talk about a bit more, more kind of more personal relationship that it's also possible to have. So some years ago, when I was less— not involved here, before, before I was here And I was more involved in the bhakti yoga scene, and there, there were two main gurus that were around, one of them being Amma, the hugging saint, and the other one being Babaji. So One night when I was living in a hut in the forest, and I was there chanting by myself with my shruti box, and I was chanting Amma's mantra, and the, the hut suddenly lit up and was filled with a very powerful, very loving presence. And Amma's picture on my shrine kind of suddenly became animated, and that was around for a few moments and then did this— disintegrated, moved on, passed on. And I was like, wow, I just had an experience of Amma. Amma's energy came to visit me through her mantra. And so a year or two later, I went— she'd come over to this country, so I went to visit her and I received her darshan, which is the hug. This is just the hugging saint. I received the mantra from her, and it's a mantra that I still do. I don't do it as often as, um, other mantras like than Mbutsu, although I do kind of view them all as the Mbitsi. But, um, it's still there. And she hadn't come to this country for a while, quite a few years. And then I knew she was coming last autumn, but I didn't know quite when she was coming. And I had a dream one night that me and her were sat on the floor somewhere and we were doing some kind of very simple, mindful, repetitive crafting activity. Like, I'm not quite sure what, but some kind of craft was sat together on the floor and she was telling me a story and I could understand it because although I— she obviously doesn't speak English, but in the dream, obviously I could understand what she was saying. And she was telling a story about a little girl and her experience in her life. And I can't, I can't remember the content of the story beyond that. And what was really— but I knew that it was resonating with me. And the whole dream was filled with that same powerful, loving energy that I experienced in my hut years ago. And that stayed with me for quite a while after waking up. And Babaji, Babaji was— Babaji is thought to have reincarnated various times. His last one, last time he was like in the body, was, uh, he died like in the Oh, I can't remember. In the '90s, I think he died in the '90s. And K was like, I don't know, I'm not sure.

'80s, '90s. My friend spent time with him. It's probably in the '90s.

Yeah. So he, so by, by the time I'd, um, come into contact with him, he'd already died. Um, but I was coming into contact with him through mantras and through people who, um, considered themselves to be like devotees of, of his, of him. And his, his central message was, was truth, simplicity, and love. And when I was with people who had a very strong connection with him, and when I also was doing certain ceremonies that were very connected to his energy as well, I could really feel a very distinctive kind of presence, kind of energy around that was different from what I felt with Amma. And so I believe it was somehow connected to Babaji. And the same with Amida. So in the, you know, the— in the years that I've been involved in Pure Land Buddhism. I've been many times when a very distinctive flavor or quality of energy, um, has— that I've been in touch with it. And that's come in various forms through, you know, in ceremonies, in, in connection with other people who have deep connections with Amida, out in nature. That kind of thing. And all these experiences really feel like examples of how when we, when we connect with these awakened beings or enlightened teachers, that they're— that, that connection and, and the kind of their, their power can transcend time, it can transcend space, it can be ever-present, and that their energy continues. And it reminded me of how, like, Dharmakara, the bodhisattva Dharmakara in the Pure Land Sutra, said to have been deeply devoted to, um, the benefit and awakening of all beings. And when Dharmakara fulfilled all his bodhisattva vows, he became Amida Buddha. And, um, all the positive merit and the, you know, all that, that powerful, powerful positive energy that he'd acquired through, through a very long time and a huge amount of like service that that energy like transmits and continues and continues through into the Pure Land. And in so that we can access the presence of Amida, we can access the Pure Land and this, um, this space in which it is easy to become enlightened, easier, easier to become enlightened. And that's, that's because of all that merit and all that positive energy that Dharmakara accrued, and then that, that is passing down to us so we can receive it like a blessing, receive it like a gift. So there's really something for me about the continuation of that positive energy and of the power and of our— the connection that can come with awakened beings and awakened teachers in many different forms and many different traditions. I've Neem Karoli Baba, they say, like, once they take your hand, they never let go, even if you let go, which is very, very similar to Shinran saying, once we say Amida's name, we are grasped, never to be abandoned. Like, this energy, this connection is very, very powerful and is transcending space and time all the time. And making it ever-present, ever-contactable. So I was very thankful of all these little experiences of that personal relationship with the infinite coming through and reminding me that, that, that connection is, is always is always there in the personal as well as in the oceanic. Namomi devu.

Namoha mira. Namoha mira. Namoha mira. Ama Amida Butsu. Ama Amida Butsu. Namu Amida Butsu. Namu Amida Butsu.

In gratitude, we make this offering to all Buddhas and bodhisattvas throughout space and time. May it be as fragrant as Earth herself, reflecting our careful efforts, our wholehearted mindfulness. And the fruit 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. We have a volunteer hour this Saturday, 11 till 12, for those people who want to come do something in the garden, or something in the garden, probably things are growing now, but path clearing, or Blessed by Amitabha's light, may we care for all living things and the Holy Earth.