Buddhist practice session with guided meditation, chanting, and a Dharma story about a car breakdown that illustrates impermanence. Includes recitation of refuges and precepts, prostrations, and closing verses led by community members.
Chapters
Welcome everybody on this beautiful spring morning. It's the— it's also our retreat day as well as being a beautiful day. It's also Svara Trikṣṭhā. So the schedule's on the door for the dining room next door, but it's practice at the moment. Then 10:30, Satya Robyn is going to give some input on the theme Foolish Beings, and we'll have some time for discussion. 12 o'clock, we'll be doing an outside sit for the Earth in the center of town. 1 till 2 will be a lunch break. We've asked people to either bring their own or you can nip out and get something and then come back. And at 2, we'll meet in the car park for the mindful walk on the hills, and then back at 4 for a sharing circle. Feel free to stay for the whole thing or go away and then come back for something.
It's a pretty flexible day.
Um, toilets at the top of the stairs, donation bowls on the table in the hallway. Any other questions? Prabhupāda or myself or Jāmē, maybe even Izzy, uh, if you want, or Dave, if you want to be pointed to where things are, or any, anyone that surrounds you. Somebody will know the answer. We'll begin practice as always with a Dharma glimpse, which is an experience recorded by a member of the community that, that brought some insights or understanding into Dharma. Dharma meaning the way things really are. And this morning, Dharma is going to read for us.
Thank you. More about impermanence. My car broke down yesterday while I was taking my elderly client shopping, boot full of bags, middle of a busy street, you know, that sort of thing. I never get used to that feeling of helplessness when the reality of my dependence on material things, and also how fragile they are, really hits home. I remember the last time it happened was in the center of Bristol, and as the car came to a grinding halt in an equally inappropriate place, I became aware of some graffiti scrawled on the wall, somewhat carelessly, but visible and coherent enough to stop me in my self-obsessed state of panic and captured my attention long enough to completely change my attitude towards the situation. The graffiti read, "Nothing lasts forever and all things decay." The irony, coincidence, and synchronicity of me breaking down exactly the spot where somebody had felt inspired to discourse the general public on impermanence did not escape my attention. I heard the word impermanent spoken I hear the word impermanent spoken and the concept invoked quite a lot in my day-to-day Buddhist-centered business, almost to the extent where it can sort of lose some of its meaning and power. But in this instance, the impact was live, raw, and in my face, like the universe had identified a lack of comprehension or a detachment on my part from the depth of the principle. And decided to thrust it onto me in no uncertain terms. When physical fact and conceptual understanding coincide, a deeper experience with reality can prevail. In pure land Buddhist terms, I would count this as an other power intervention, because not only did it jolt me out of my self-pity, it helped to align me with the core spiritual teaching that points towards something greater than the relatively trivial everyday dramas that I find myself caught up in. It showed me the meaning that is intrinsic to the experience. Fortunately, this time I was a bit closer to home and managed to get my client back mercifully quickly with the help of some kind people— more of the power— who went out of their way for us, and in doing so also showed me how uncomfortable I still am at receiving. I do still like to indulge in the illusion of self-sufficiency despite many years of training and general life experience which testify to the the contrary. So it is in this spirit that I'm choosing to approach these latest challenges. It is the action of the other on my life, in my mind and my heart, that brings me the ongoing insight and inspiration which keeps my faith fresh and my willingness alive.
Thank you. So we'll move into a period of meditation together. Before moving into chanting, which I'll introduce when we get to it. In the meditation, an invitation to become aware of your physical self, noticing the connection between the floor and your body, the chair and your body. How your weight meets the solidity of the earth. Noticing physical sensations, noticing anywhere where the muscles are held strongly, anywhere they're relaxed. Noticing how the body changes with each breath. This morning we will chant the mantra Om Amidaewa Kri, which is written down on the A5 liturgy sheet.
It is the Tibetan form of Nembutsu, calling to Amida Buddha. Amida, the Buddha of infinite light, and the light is wisdom, and the light is love. So calling out to the infinite love and wisdom of the Buddha.
Om Mani Deva Re. Om Amitewari.
Om Amitewari.
Om Amitewari. Omami de wa ri.
Omami de wa ri.
Omami de wa ri. Om Ami Te Wa Rii.
Om Ami Te Wa Rii.
Om Ami Te Wa Rii. Oh, ma mi te wa ri.
Oh, ma mi te wa ri.
Oh, ma mi te wa ri.
Oh, ma mi te wa ri.
Oh, ma mi te wa ri.
Oh, ma mi te wa ri. Om Amitewari.
Om Amitewari.
Om Amitewari.
Omami te wa ri.
Omami te wa ri.
Omami te wa ri.
Om Amitewari.
Om Amitewari.
Om Amitewari. Omari te waari.
Omami te waari.
Omari te waari.
Om Ami Deva Hari.
Om Ami Deva Hri.
Om Ami Deva Hari. Om Ami Devi waari.
Om Ami Devi waari.
Om Ami Devi waari. Oh, Mami Tehuari.
Oh, Mami Tehuari.
Oh, Mami Tehuari.
Om Mani Deva Hari.
Om Mani Deva Hari.
Om Mani Deva Hari.
Oh, Mami te wa ri.
Oh, Mami te wa ri.
Oh, te wa ri.
So now we'll recite the refuges and precepts together. The words are again on the liturgy sheet, but the, um, the refuges and precepts I'll ask you to repeat after me, and the bodhisattva vows are call and response. Versions of these have been said by Buddhists for generations, and they act as guidelines and principles and also as a mirror to how it is to be human. So as well as taking them as perhaps a focus for our training sometimes and considering, oh, how can I do better at this one, they also encourage us to notice our limits as a human being, and that it's impossible to exist. In one sense, it's impossible to exist in this world without breaking these in very subtle ways on a daily basis. 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. For refuge I go to the Dharma. All that guides us to wisdom and compassion.
Namo Dhamma.
For refuge I go to the Sangha. Those who live in the Buddha's light. Namo Sangha.
La Vasunda!
With faith in The Three Jewels— I pray that I may not take life— —with Faith In The Three Jewels—I pray that I may not steal—with Faith In The Three Jewels—I pray that I may not fall into sexual misconduct—and I pray that I may not fall into sexual misconduct— With faith in The Three Jewels... —with Faith In The Three Jewels... I pray that I may avoid wrong-speech...
—I pray that I might avoid Wrong Speech...
—With faith in The Three Jewels...
—With Faith In The Three Jewels...
I pray that I may avoid intoxication...
—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 bow to Master Dhammo. Infinite is the Buddha's way. We vow to fulfill it completely.
As the topic is foolish beings, I thought I'd share a moment when I suddenly felt very foolish this week. On Monday, I'm going to be a guest on Radio 4's Beyond Belief, and we recorded a few days ago. And at one point, I— there were three guests: me, a Buddhist, a Muslim, and a Christian. And at one point, following on from Dr. Cici, the Christian's answer, or referring back to one of her answers, I described God as a metaphor. And then I thought, oh no, you shouldn't say that in front of Christians. And I sort of stumbled and quickly corrected myself, and it was a recording, so I could have said, hold on, can I just answer the whole thing again? And I didn't. So it will be, as far as I know, it will be in the version that goes out on Monday. So I'm just imagining all these memes from Christian sites with my face saying, God is a metaphor. And then later I was thinking about it and thought, oh, maybe there is, maybe I, maybe I slipped into something truthful here, because I— for me, I think, uh, God is both real and a metaphor. Brad Warner, who, who is the, uh, an American Zen priest, once wrote a book called— I think it was called God Is Not Real and He's Always With You, which sort of punctures the thing that I'm also aiming at, which is to say there is a benign process that unfolds in the universe that is wise and loving and kind and meets us. And our experience of it can be that it is much bigger than we are. Sometimes we come into contact with that feeling and it feels like, oh, this is, this is the, uh, the experience of that that sits within my own heart, what Buddhists would call Buddha nature, um, this, you know, which is a seed that we water in some traditions, or something that gets uncovered in other Buddhist traditions, um, the open heart that loves each thing just as it is. Sometimes we feel like, oh yeah, I'm in this place today, I'm feeling relaxed and grounded and very kind and loving, and this is my heart opening. And sometimes we have the spiritual experience of I'm being carried forward by that something that has those same qualities to it that isn't me. I've been met by something outside of myself. And this is the experience of meeting Amida Buddha, or the Pure Land, or any number of Buddhas and bodhisattvas. It can come to us in those forms. And we have to be mindful that we can't completely encapsulate that in words. I'm doing my best this morning. In Buddhism, there's this idea that every Buddha has three bodies: the physical body that exists in this earth, um, Nirmanakaya, the action body it's called. So the one that can actually do actions and lift things up and speak to people. And then the top one is the Dharmakaya, and this is the indescribable body of the Buddha that is ineffable and almost unknowable from the point of view of an ordinary human brain. And in between these two is Someone unmuted. Is the so-called bliss body of the Buddha, which is, you know, when we, when some people experience a felt sense of the Buddha appearing in meditation, in a dream, in a spiritual experience, something that we can comprehend. That we put a shape to, whether it's seeing it or just having a sense of it in our own hearts. And in, and in this moment of meeting, it's so easy for that to be biased by the things that we carry with us, by, by human projections. And this is why, um, this is why we meditate, partly. Uh, it's why we practice noticing how it is for me to be this particular being, so that when, um, I'm coming into relationship with the Buddha, I have a sense of, oh, what I'm bringing. It's why we have the precepts and all the sutras, because they act as useful guides. If a thought appears, oh, I really want to kill that person who just cut me off as I came out of the junction, um, that's probably not the Buddha speaking to us. We can tell that by looking at the precepts. Uh, and that's a very obviously, that's a very obvious example, but we use all of these guides. We can kind of check, oh, is this, is this my reactivity, or, um, am I really in a space where I'm feeling loving and kind and wise? So I suppose to circle back around to the mistake that I made. It was both foolish and I felt very embarrassed, but also I think it helps me to remember this thing about, oh, there is something that we're coming into relationship with, but it isn't something that's possible to completely encapsulate in the human mind.
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
And now we'll stand and make prostrations to the thing that we can only half describe.
So if your body and mind allow, look up down to the ground as we prostrate, and we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, another version of the Nembutsu that we were chanting earlier.
Namur! Namoura— namouramida. Namouramida. Namoha mida.
Namoha mida.
Namoha mida. Namoh Amida. Namoh Amida.
Namoh Amida.
In gratitude, we offer this incense to all Buddhas and bodhisattvas throughout space and time. May it be fragrant as Earth herself, 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.
Namitabut. So we turn to standing in our places, back to each other.
To the main shrine.
Satya Robyn. Satya Robyn.
Back to our seats. We'll finish with the closing verse that's on the literature sheet if you want to join in.
And we'll be back. We're going to have a short break, and if you want to join us, we'll be back in 15 minutes for Satya's talk on foolish beings. Blessed by Amitābha's light, may we care for all beings and the holy earth. Namamé Tathagata.
