Satya Robyn leads a Buddhist practice session with guided meditation, chanting, and a teaching on relating to difficult people. The core approach: see them through the Buddha's eyes, recognize them as a Buddha, and remember the Buddha's loving view of both parties.
Chapters
Welcome everybody, good to see you all. A special welcome if it's your first time this evening. And we always begin practice with something we call a Dharma glimpse, which is a little bit of writing done by somebody who practices with us, talking about an experience where they catch a sight of truth. And this evening, the Dharma Glimpse is by Sheila, and Katie will kindly read it for us.
Over to you.
I feel very aware of the seasons changing this week and the approach of September, which always heralds a time of new beginnings and bigger changes. I went to Colwall Orchard Group to pick my husband up from a community meeting and arrived a little early. Initially, I sat on a large stone outside the shed and took out my phone to check messages and generally scroll, a bad habit. I noticed a bat flying past and put my phone away. I watched as two bats— I have no idea what kind— flew in clockwise circles around where I was sitting, and in wider circles taking in the edge of the allotments. I noticed how quiet it was, only a very distant sound of a car somewhere and the quiet tick-ticking of the bats. I felt completely at peace and fascinated by the bats living life on the wing, gaining their sustenance as part of a dance, living their lives in perfect balance, simply part of the natural ecosystem. It reminded me of the teachings of simplicity in awareness and naturi. I felt so lucky to have caught a glimpse of those beautiful creatures. Just getting on with their lives and reflected on the need to put aside distractions and remember to focus on this moment.
Thank you, Satya Robyn.
Thank you so much.
So next we will share some silence together. Sorry that we don't have any bats for you. We have the swoosh of the cars and maybe some birdsong if we're lucky. And as we sit in silence together tonight, maybe my invitation is that you connect in with the Earth underneath us. There's actually two stories below us, so have to imagine going quite far down to get to the Earth, but it's there. And if your mind wanders, just bring it back to remembering the Earth holding us up. The sky above us, the air nourishing us every moment. After some silence together, we'll begin chanting, and the word that we chant is— the word to chant this evening is Amitabha. Amitabha is the Buddha of infinite light, so the Buddha of compassion that radiates without measure. So as soon as you get the tune, do join in with us, and then there'll be a little more silence after that. Namaste.
Amitabha.
Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha.
Amitabha. Ameen. Ta'ala wa ala alihi wa sallam. Ameen.
Amitabha. Amitabha.
Amitabha. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh.
Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha.
Amitabha. Amitabha.
Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amit—
So we now recite the refuges. Vows and precepts together, which are shared by Buddhists across the world. The words are on your little bit of paper, but it's repeat after me, so you don't need to read them if you don't want to. 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 Buddhaya. 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.
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 Buddhaia! Namo Sanghaia! 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— With faith in the three jewels I pray that I may not fall into sexual misconduct.
I pray it's time they don't want to sexually harm them.
With faith in the Three Jewels—I pray that I may not fall into wrong speech. Wrong speech? Faith in the Three Jewels—with hope for you all I pray that I may avoid intoxication. No blame. Be kind. Love everything.
Inhumable sentient beings, we vow to save them all. Inexhaustible are the wisdom teachings, we vow to transform them. Immeasurable are the Dharma teachings, we vow to master them all. Infinite is the Buddha's way, We vow to forfeit completely.
Om Namah Shivaya! We're lucky enough to be in the time of the year where— as as the evening goes on, the light starts to fade into dark blue and the Buddha really shines. So this morning I was interviewed by Mark Westmuggott for a podcast that he, um, runs, and The theme of the podcast is Troublesome Buddhas, um, which is his way of being curious about how we deal with difficult people in our lives. And he's talked to lots of different people and lots of different Buddhists to get their take on it. And we didn't talk about the things I was expecting to talk about at all. Um, and then near the end of the interview, he asked me if I had any kind of final advice for how to deal with troublesome people using my Buddhist experience, my Buddhist faith. And, uh, two things arose in me, and I'll add a third this evening. And I guess they're a kind of a try this, then try that, and then if that fails So the first thing that I suggested is that we try to look at the troublesome person. I hope you all have a troublesome person in mind. I'm sure you've all got one in your life at least. Did you try and look at that person through the eyes of the Buddha? A Buddha is an awakened being, so any, any person or being that has awakened to truth And, and so when we look through the Buddha's eyes, um, what we see is beautiful. What we see is a person who has been wounded in a particular way, who's trying to protect themselves. Or, um, we see the suffering, we see the efforts that, that this person is making, even though it might not seem like it to be otherwise. Um, and our heart naturally opens and we can feel, um, we can feel loving towards the difficult person. That's the first ideal position. The second down the scale is to see the person in front of us as a Buddha. There is a Buddha in the Lotus Sutra called Gadgadasvara, the Stuttering Buddha, and the Stuttering Buddha is known for appearing in whatever form that the person needs you to. So Gadgadasvara may be this candle right here, Uh, maybe the angry driver that shouted at me. It may be our best friend. Um, Gaddhagadasara knows what we need and has the ability to appear in the world in the perfect form to take us nearer to our own enlightenment. Um, and difficult people, in my experience, although I hate to admit it, are often the people that I learn the most from. They're the ones that really kind of bash my rough edges off me. So maybe the difficult person is Gagad Asfar in disguise. If those two things fail— I'm sure they hardly ever will because you're almost Buddhist already— then we remember that after we've lost our temper with this person, or we've, uh, done whatever we've done, that the Buddha is looking at us, and the Buddha loves us just as we are. The Buddha accepts us just as we are. And it's often difficult for us to see ourselves in that way. So when that's difficult, it's extra important to just remember that there is a loving force in the universe, and that loving force can see right inside us and understands why we've responded in the way we have and gets it and feels for us. And loves us and doesn't need us to change. Um, so there's your homework for this week. When you next encounter a troublesome Buddha, see if you can see them through the eyes of the Buddha, if you can see them as a Buddha, and see if you can remember that the Buddha is looking at you both and loving you both. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. It's absolutely pitch black on this video. It clears there. Um, okay, so we finish practice with prostrations to the Buddha and, um, Frustrations, when I came to my first practice maybe a decade ago, were the thing that I found the most strange. And, uh, that, that as Westerners, we maybe are a little bit allergic sometimes to surrendering or being humble. Um, they're now my favorite bit. As we make prostrations to the Buddha, we chant Namo Amida Butsu, which is another way of connecting with Amitabha, the same Buddha that we were chanting to earlier, and there's a tune. Um, and so it's all very complicated if you haven't done it before. So if you are able to— if your body's able to come down to the floor with us, then do that. Don't worry about the chanting. Um, or just stay standing and bow, or seated and bow. Whatever you want to do is fine. Uh, whatever your body's doing, if your mind is willing to lay itself down on the floor, then you can do that. Amei me to be.
So do find a bit of carpet in front of you. I come to the front.
Everyone else, you can stay where you are and sort of reorient.
Namo Amida Butsu. Namo Amida Butsu. Namo Amida. Namo Amida. Namoha Mita. Namoha Mita. Namoha Mita. Namoha.
In gratitude, we offer the merits of this incense to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout space and time. May it be as 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.
Give you time to stand at your seat.
We finish by bowing to each other to express our gratitude to each other for being here to practice with each other. So when Fi rings the bell, Fi and Katie will bow to each other, and me and Casp will bow to each other, and you can all work that out yourselves. And then you turn in the opposite direction and bow at the other person.
Very nice.
And then we bow to the Buddha. We bow to our seats and tidy our seats. Tidy them and then bow to them.
What?
Sorry, what did you say? Um, and then we finish with the closing verse, which is on your bits of paper. Blessed by Amitābha's light, may we care for all living things.
And Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. And Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
So I hope you'll join us for a cup of tea and a white chocolate cookie.
Vegan for.
And the golden bowl for donations is in the hallway. We've also got online donations if that's easier. I'm doing that because that's the forward slash. Forward slash donation. Any other announcements? I think that's probably enough to say.
Hi Claire.
