Satya Robyn leads a Buddhist group practice session with liturgical readings, communal chanting, and refuge vows. The talk explores consolation and nourishing spiritual practice, with practical announcements about temple activities and upcoming events.
Chapters
Good morning everybody, it's a beautiful sunny day and a very warm welcome to Ian, Matt, and Ellie joining us on Zoom. To see you. So this morning we will be— we've run out of Dharma glimpses, so— oh good, Kema's got some on the way. So this morning we will begin with The Life of No Regret, read by Katie. So over to you, Katie.
A Life of No Regret. Your radiant face Like a mountain peak catching the first burst of morning light, as awesome an unequaled majesty, like black ink by comparison are the sun, the moon, or the Mani treasure. Tathagata, such is your incomparable face. The melody of your enlightenment fills the world. Rare and precious are your precepts. Learning, energy, meditation, wisdom, and amazing virtue. The oceanic dharma of all Buddhas, which you fathom to its deepest depths, dispels the three poisons from the heart. You are like a lion, but valiant and divinely pure. Great power, great wisdom, Awesome light reverberation, a prayer I make. A Buddha to become equal to you, my Dharma King, to lead all beings to the other shore, leaving none behind. The six paramitas to perfect, the vijjana at the head. Should I become Buddha, I will fulfill this prayer completely. To everyone I'll bring great peace. To Buddha's kindness As sand grains, my offerings I make and do not flinch from the rich— from the trials of the incomparable way, powerful, straight, and true. Though Buddha lands and worldly realms by new numberless like sand, by sheer power of aspiration I fill them all with light. Let me become a Buddha and the multitude of beings will all enjoy my primordial nirvana world. By indiscriminate compassion, I will enlighten all. Reborn here, no matter where, in my country, their hearts will lighten and be joyful, happy, and at ease. Oh, you Buddha, witness my vow, my true aspiration. Establishing my vow on you gives me the strength to fulfill it. Vajrasattva of space and time, of unimpeded wisdom, always witness my heart's practice. No matter the obstacles, the hardships, my practice will endure through all without regret.
Tan Butsu Ji. Thank you so much, Katie. You want to pass me the sheet as well? Okay, so we will sit quietly together. So nice to have the door to the shrine room open onto the sunshine. So if you're joining us virtually, you'll just have to imagine the breeze kind of wafting around and the sound of birds floating in. We've got some daffodils from the garden picked by Dave on our shrines, so bit of the— and Camellia. Yeah, beautiful Camellia. Um, and so as we sit today, maybe just enjoy the sounds around you wherever you are. Let them, let them be there. You don't need to follow them. Or, or zone in. Just notice them like you might notice a smell or a taste. And when your mind wanders, which it will, just bring it gently back to listening. And as we sit quietly, you may find inside of you begins to settle down. If it does, enjoy it. If it doesn't, just keep paying gentle attention to what you can hear.
Namokwanchi in Bho-sat. Namokwanchi in Bho-sat. Namoh Shivayin Gosha. Namoh Shivayin Gosha. Namoh Shivayin Gosha. Namoh Shivayin Gosat. Namoh Shivayin Gosat. Namoh Shivayin Gosat. Namokwan shi en mosat. Namokwan shi en mosat. Namokwan shi en mosat. Namokwan shi ngo sat. Namokwan shi ngo sat. Namokwan shi ngo sat. Namokwan Shri Namo Satya Robyn. Namokwan Shri Namo Satya Robyn. Namokwan Shri Namo Satya Robyn. Namokwan shi en bo sat. Namokwan shi en bo sat.
Namokwan shi en bo sat.
Namu Kwanchi Namo Satya Robyn. Namu Kwanchi Namo Satya Robyn. Namu Kwanchi Namo Satya Robyn.
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.
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.
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.
With faith in the Three Jewels, with faith in the Three Jewels, and in light of our human tendencies, and in light of our human tendencies, I pray that I may become aware, 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 fall into wrong speech—
of when I fall into wrong speech—I pray that I may become aware—
I pray that I may be unaware—of when I fall into sexual misconduct—into sexual misconduct—I pray that I may become aware—may have come away—when I take what is not freely given—and we're going to say "what is not really given"—I pray that I may become aware I pray that I may become aware of when I become intoxicated.
Of 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 the worldly 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 forfeit completely.
Namomi dabu. I was thinking this morning about chocolate Easter eggs. And I was thinking about how the Christian festival, the Christian ritual of Easter, has for most people been reduced to chocolate Easter eggs and hot cross buns. And then I was thinking about Christmas, which is of course all about presents. And Trove Tuesday, which is all about eating pancakes. And I had this kind of thought well up, which was a slightly disapproving thought, that it's like as human beings we've kept all the really nice bits of those religious festivals that go back 2 centuries and have a great deal of meaning for Christians It's like we've skimmed off the cream, we've taken the, the chocolate eggs and left the rest. And then I thought about it a bit more, and I thought maybe it's not so bad that we enjoy a chocolate egg, and that we enjoy receiving presents at Christmas. Because actually, life is hard for most people. Most of the time, life is mixed at best, and for some people, some of the time, it's really bloody hard. For all sorts of different reasons. And I think that one of the things about religion that, um, that certainly drew me to it, drew me to having a spiritual life, a spiritual practice, is consolation. And even saying the word brings emotion to me because I love it so much. Such a beautiful word. Consolation. Consolation and comfort. And that maybe it's not so fashionable to, to appreciate or to seek out consolation. I think that people, for good reason, are often very wary around religion. They think that they're going to be brainwashed into believing something that they'll become dependent on something and that they'll lose their ability to think for themselves. They'll lose their intelligence, their, um, their free thinking. All those qualities that are so prized by neoliberalism, by capitalism, by— well, I think as capitalists don't want us to be free thinking, but that kind of Western ideal of independence and striving, and if we try hard enough then we'll get whatever we want, that there's a real suspicion of finding comfort in something other than our own abilities because it almost smooshes into all those other things that are dangerous, a kind of a blind faith, being driven by the crowd into doing unskillful things, a lack of rigor in terms of thinking. But I don't think that consolation necessarily leads us into those places. I think we can retain our intelligence and also be honest about the fact that life is hard and that we need help, that we would appreciate support, we would appreciate comfort and sweetness wherever we can find it. So maybe rather than the most selfish bits of Christmas and Easter being preserved, maybe it's the most important bits. Maybe it's reminding ourselves that we can enjoy freshly baked hot cross buns, or that we can enjoy giving to each other. And Christmas is associated with being with people. That we can remember that these rituals kind of help us to orient in the year, to look forward to the new seasons, and that in the background maybe there's still still some acknowledgement of the bigger things— death, rebirth, suffering. But this morning I'm speaking up for consolation, and I'm wondering how we can bring some of that to our practice. We've got the camellias and the daffodils on the shrine. We've got the beautiful sounds from outside. We've got our beautiful Buddha on the main shrine and all the objects in here. We've got each other. We've got a nice cup of tea afterwards. We've got the beautiful words of liturgy that has been passed down through hundreds of years. How can we enjoy all that? How can we really just nourish ourselves with the good stuff. Maybe we should introduce some kind of chocolate element. Not for Kema. We'll get something different for Kema. Namaste.
Ammo, amigo.
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.
So announcements, we still have spaces on the temple book group run by Dave. Dharma Breeze by Nobuo Hamida, a really nice introduction to Pure Land Buddhism. So if you're thinking about that, speak to Dave after. And we also have Zen for Challenging Times run by Frankie on Zoom. Which is a really beautiful book. She's just going to pull out chapters, so it's not the whole book. Both of those are running 7 to 8 PM on Mondays from April the 8th, I think. And next Saturday after practice, we'll be doing some gardening or something, see what the weather's like, but we're doing something. If you want to join us, and I will return if you want to say hello and you're here on Zoom. I'll come back when everyone's exited, so do hang on. We'll finish with a closing verse.
