Practice

Welcome everybody. Nshyamun. Welcome to Matt joining us online.

So this evening we're going to begin with a very short reading, 2 sentences, and this is by Daishonin Morgan, Reverend Daishonin Morgan, who's part of the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives. You may know Reverend Master Gyu Kenneth, who has influence over our practice here, and this is in a chapter called The Mind of Zazen. So here are the two sentences: Our lives are really an offering. The willingness to let go of personal desires and to give in the way that comes to us is the heart of the path. Thanks, Dave. So I'll read those two sentences again. That feels like that should be the bell that just wakes us all up. Our lives are really an offering. The willingness to let go of personal desires and to give in the way that comes to us is the heart of the path. So we will sit quietly together for a while, and in the silence, you might just want to pay attention to your breath. Just notice the breath as it comes into your body and leaves your body. Not trying to change it. And there may be a side effect of a settling, a calming, a reduction in the agitation in your brain. And then after some silence, we will chant together, so do join in when you get the hang of the tune, and then we'll have some more silence before the final bell and move on to something else. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. So the Buddha that we will be summoning today And I hesitate because it feels like somehow they're already around. In the shrine room is Medicine Buddha, and the words of the trant are a little more complex, so you might want to look at your liturgy sheet which is next to you for the words to start with. And the words are: Thaiyatha Om Begun Jai Bhagavan Jay, Maha Bhagavan Jay, Radhasamudgataye Soha. So do join in when you roughly get it.

Thaiya tra oom, baken je, baken je, maha baken je, ratsa sammut kha tse so ha. Thaiya tra oom, baken je, baken je, maha baken je, ratsa sammut kha tse so ha. Thai Atsao Om Lekheng Jai Pekheng Jai Maha Pekheng Jai Ratsasamudgatse Soha. Thai Atsao Om Lekheng Jai Pekheng Jai Maha Pekheng Jai Ratsasamudgatse Soha. Satya Robyn, bhagavanji, bhagavanji, mahabhagavanji, rasa samudgatse soha. Satya Robyn, bhagavanji, bhagavanji, mahabhagavanji, rasa samudgatse soha. Thaiyatha Om Bekken Je, Bekken Je Maha Bekken Je Ratsasammutkathesuha. Thaiyatha Om Bekken Je, Bekken Je Maha Bekken Je Ratsasammutkathesuha.

I will now recite the refuges, vows, and precepts together, so please repeat after me. For refuge I go to the Buddha, the one who is awake and full of love. Namo Buddha. For refuge I go to the Dharma, all that guides us to wisdom and compassion. All that guides us to wisdom and compassion. Namo Dharmaya. For refuge I go to the Sangha. Those who live in the Buddha's light. Namo Sanghaya. With faith in the Three Jewels and in light of my human tendencies, I pray that I may become aware. I pray of when I take life. I pray that I may become aware of when I take what is not freely given. I pray that I may become aware. Of when I fall into sexual misconduct, I pray that I may become aware. Of when I fall into wrong speech, I pray that I may become aware. Of when I become intoxicated, no blame. Be kind, love everything.

Innumerable sentient beings, we vow to save them all. Inexhaustible deluded passions, we vow to transform them all. Immeasurable old Dharma teachings, we vow to master them all. Infinite Buddha's way, we vow to fulfill it completely.

So, Peter and Sophie, you missed today's reading. I'm gonna do it again because it's only two sentences. Our lives are really an offering, the willingness to let go of personal desires and to give in the way that comes to us. Is the heart of the path. So what does that mean? In Buddhism, we are encouraged to begin to see that most of what we do, if not All of what we do is driven by our, our ego, our little self, our greed, our hate, our delusion, our needs, our preferences, our dislikes. And that one way of cutting through that, one way of finding a way of living which is, is a, is freedom, is of making offerings. And we make offerings in the shrine room in all sorts of different ways. I made a water offering at the start of practice. We have an offering on the shrines of light and incense and flowers. We make an offering to each other by being in this room together. And when we smile at each other or we bow to each other, we hopefully make an offering in the golden bowl in the hallway to keep the temple running. Buddhism invites us to expand that sense of offering to our whole lives, that we see everything we do as an offering to the Buddhas. When I first encountered Buddhism, I really didn't like that. Because I encountered it as someone who was already probably offering too much, or offering the wrong kinds of things, or offering in order to get certain things back, or offering so other people liked me, or so they did not like me. So this idea that I would offer more was really not attractive. And I also really like, um, I really liked my preferences. I wanted to keep my preferences. I wanted to keep my enjoyment of cake and, uh, dodgy murder mysteries on TV. And I couldn't see that this way of offering would make me feel better or help anyone. Um, and it took me quite a long time to notice what Daishonin Morgan says in his second sentence, and he talks of the willingness to let go of personal desires and to give in the way that comes to us. And I realized over time that what the Buddha isn't asking us to do is more ought, is more if I do this then I'll get that back, or this is what a good person would do, this is what a good Buddhist would be like. The Buddha is happy for us to do that if we want to, but that's not what really makes them happy. What really makes them happy is for us to begin to trust that we can give— how does he put it— give in the way that comes to us, that we can trust an instinct to offer. And when we feel that instinct to offer, then we offer. And it's not a sacrifice, it's not a deal, it's not self-protective. It comes from love, it comes from abundance. And when we offer in this way, we don't need anything back, just makes us feel good. And maybe this doesn't happen very often, um, and that's really okay. But we begin to notice when it does happen, when we open ourselves to be a channel for that love. The Buddha's love. And we get a taste for what it feels like to just pass it on, to just let it flow through us and flow through us onto someone else, or to an animal, or to the planet. And how, how delicious that is. And what helps us to open to more of that, to be more of— to be a clearer, cleaner channel, is to take refuge in the Buddha, is to know that actually we don't need to protect ourselves because we are already held. And life goes up and down, and this, you know, pain is a thing. We move in and out and through pain, but all the time there is something bigger holding us, which is the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha. And we begin to trust that a little bit, and we begin to relax, and we begin to allow our strong desires to transmute into preferences that we can just hold lightly. We can still, um, we can still love things, we can still delight in things. It's not about detaching from the world, but it's about being able to really enjoy them, and then just if they go, just let them go, because we trust that something else will be along. And as Pure Land Buddhists, we open ourselves up to the Buddhas by, by just saying the name of the Buddha Amitabha, calling out Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. And even if we don't really know if there's anything there or not, even if we don't quite trust it, or if we don't trust it at all, we just see what happens. I over time and see if we become kinder people or not. And if we don't become kinder, then we should probably try a different religion. But bit by bit, we get worn down, our jagged edges get worn away, and we can experience more of the, the variousness of life and appreciate it. So our lives are really an offering. The willingness to let go of personal desires and to give in the way that comes to us is the heart of the path. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. So now we will offer our bodies to the Buddha, and if you are willing to join us in prostrations, then find a bit of floor in front of you in a minute when Phoebe rings the bell, and we'll chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

In gratitude, we make this offering to all Buddhas and bodhisattvas throughout space and time. May it be fragrant as Earth herself. Reflecting our careful efforts, our wholehearted mindfulness, and the fruits once standing slowly ripening. May we and all beings be companions of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. May we awaken from forgetfulness and realize our true home.

So if you'd like to return to stand at your seats. It's a bit where we get to smile and bow each other, and then the Buddha. Tidy our seats and bow to our seats. Our announcements: we will be doing a bit of gardening on Saturday morning. Let me know if you want to come because Casper is going to be teaching bookkeeping, and I've got to go and do something, so let me know if you are free and you'd like to come. Um, also we'll be having a handover ceremony here on Saturday, the 7th of September, to hand over from me and Casper to the stewards. So if you're here that Saturday, yeah, special one. Hope you join us for a cup of tea.

Golden Bowl is in the hallway.

And we finish as we always do with the closing verse, which is on your liturgy sheets, if you'd like to join us. Starts blessed at the top, one of the sides. Blessed by Amitabha's light, may we care for all living things and the holy earth. Hi, Ma.

Hi, F.