Satya Robyn leads a group Buddhist evening practice on fallibility and peace. The session includes guided reflection, visualization, communal chanting of Om Mani Padme Hum, refuge prayers, and prostrations with both in-person and Zoom participants.
Chapters
Welcome everybody to Wednesday evening practice. Those of you joining us face to face and on Zoom in the shrine room this evening, we've got Satya myself, me, Brian, Philip, Jyame, and Ash. Joining us on Zoom, we've got Chris, Becky, Janice. Nice to see you, and see if you are, and Helen, who is joining us for the first time, I think. Satya Robyn, this evening, tonight's practice.
Namaste. Thank you very much. Welcome, Helen, and hi again, Janice. Before coming into the shrine room, my head was quite sort of swirly, and I just went out onto the balcony for a minute because I could hear our dogs barking, to see if I could see what they were barking at. And I, as I was out there, I just looked across the valley. And for those of you who haven't been to the temple, um, we have the most amazing view from our balcony, which is just behind the Buddha. The, the land just kind of sweeps away, and there's a We can see for a really long way, and it's always different. I'm remembering as I speak when we first walked into the temple when it was a hotel and we were looking around with the crazy idea that the Trust might buy it, and how my eyes were just drawn straight to the windows. Still barking. And it's that view that helps my brain to just settle a little bit and to give me a little bit more space. And then I could also see the back of the Buddha, the golden back of the Buddha, from where I was standing in the living room. And just seeing the Buddha also helped give me a little bit more space and a little bit more peace. I generally think that being a human being is quite tricky. It's a complicated business, and in my experience, certainly I feel like I'm getting my footing finally. Or I feel like I've finally worked out a route from A to B, or I know where I'm heading, or I've got enough of something, or I'm feeling confident, whatever it is, I feel like I'm there, and then something else shifts. Maybe there was something that was always wobbly that I hadn't noticed before because I was too busy wobbling somewhere else, or something new happens in the world, or something new happens inside me. And again, everything's in flux and there's an attempt at finding equilibrium. They can probably hear me speaking, that's probably what's happening. And that's Ralph, I can hear our dog, who's our nervous dog who, who gets unsettled by many things. Blackbirds, or when Aiko, our other dog, barks, even if she just wakes up and barks because she's sort of confused, he'll then, he'll go because he's like, oh, she's worried, I should be worried too. The system's always tipping around. So sometimes I think rather than talking about ideals, rather than talking about this perfect person we're going to become when we do more spiritual practice, or we have more therapy, or we get the thing that we've thought we've wanted for years, we win the lottery, or whatever it is. Today I just want to be with our kind of brokenness and our, um, our fallibility. And our fears and our failings, and know that the Buddha is seeing all of that and loving it, accepting it, offering her love So as we move into silence together, you might want to visualize a Buddha. I like to make my Buddhas, when I'm visualizing them, really big, so I fit in the palm of their hands. So I quite like curling up in the palm of their, their hands, or You might want to have him sitting across you, from you, or however you want him or her to be. And just hang out with the Buddha for a while in the silence. Know that the Buddha is seeing you as you are right now and accepting you and understanding you. And then we'll begin chanting after some silence, and we'll chant Om Mani Padme Hum Hri. Om Mani Padme Hum Hri. You'll get it after a while. Namaste.
Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum Hri! Om Mani Padme Hum Hri!
Om Mane Padme Hungry...
Om Mane Padme Hungry— Um-ma-ne-pad-me-hum-Hri? Oh man-e-pad-me hung-reee?! Om Mani Padme Humri! Oh mané pa me hum ri...
oh mané pa me hum ri...
om many padmé hong rii—
ooh ma nee pah mé hung ri... Omani Pāmē Hungry?
Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Humri. Om Mani Padme Humri. Om Mani Padme Humri.
Om Mani Padme Hum Hri!
Om Mani Padme Hum Hri! Om Mani Padme Hungry! Om Mane Pame Hungry! Oh manne pade me hum hreee— Om Mane Padme Humri! Om Mane Padme Humri! Om Mane Padme Umri! Om Mane Padme Hungry!
Om Mane Padme Humri!
Om Mane Padme Humri! Om Mane Padme Hungry! Om Mane Padme Hungry! Om mani padme hum hri! Om mani padme hum hri! Om mani pam me om gri! Om mane pa me hungris?
Oh my God—
Um... Mané pâmé hungry?!
Om Mani Padme Humri!
Oh my name— oh mané padmé humbríe... om manépame hombryée? Omae pa me hombrie?!
Om mani padme humbri!
Oh my lepa me hungry— oh ma ne pa me umbrim... om ale pa me umbreem...
Om Mani Padme Humri!
Oh mané pa mé hum ri... oh mané pa mé hun gri...
om manépame umgri— Om mani padme humbri!
Oh my name Padme Humbley— oh Mané Pámi Hungry...
om Mane Pa Me Hungry?
Omae pa me hungreem?!
Om Mani Padme Hum.
Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum.
For refuge I go to the Buddha.
For refuge I go to the Buddha.
Namo Buddhaya.
Namah Buddhaya.
For refuge I go to the Dharma.
For refuge I go to the Dharma.
Namo Dharmaya. For refuge I go to the Sangha.
For refuge I go to the Sangha.
Namo sanghaya. With faith in the Three Jewels— we pray that we may not take life.
We pray that we may not steal.
With faith in the Three Jewels— we pray that we may not steal.
We pray that we may not steal—
With faith in The Three Jewels! We pray that we might fall into sexual misconduct?
Pray you will be mindful of this conduct...
Faithful to Your teaching only through your compassion for us all today; please accept our offerings Lord Buddha . Amen." "With prayer then," said Mrinalini Devi Maharajah from Sri Lanka saying her prayers on behalf of everyone involved here at Dharma Talk tonight - 'May I practice right thinking.' "...we do so always having full confidence..." And she continued speaking Tibetan again—"may avoid intoxication?" ...and also someone else began praying something similar but it was very difficult because there were too many people talking over each other anyway—
So now back up once more if anyone wants me just repeat after them or they can continue their offering themselves suffocation.
Innumerable sentient beings, we vow to save them all. Inexhaustible arduous passions, we vow to transform them all. Immeasurable are the Dharma teachings. Rebound to master them all. Infinite is the Buddha's way. Rebound to fulfill it completely.
So we'll now stand and do prostrations to the Buddha. You can do full prostration or just bow, and the words are Namo Amida Butsu. Now we finish by bowing to each other. If you're on Zoom, if you'd like to unmute, we say the closing verse together. I've actually printed it out onto a bit of paper, so if you need the bit of paper, then it's on your seat. It's the 'Let's buy our tava's light.' May we care for all living things. Namami to be. Namami to be. Namami to be. Lovely to hear your voices. So, cup of tea and
