Practice - impermanence

Good evening everybody.

That American lady telling us that the recording has started is a new thing. I've been on a couple of Zoom meetings this week and people have been like, whoa, Welcome to Wednesday evening practice. Joining us from the shrine room in real life this evening are Jia Mei, Philip, and Phoebe, and Satya Robyn. And joining us on Zoom are Chris, Beth, Carol, Alex, and Andrew. So welcome. Am I right, Alex, in thinking that this is your first It is here, yes. Thought so, so welcome. And Caspar is celebrating tonight, so he will take over from here.

Thank you. Welcome everybody, thanks for joining us. I've had impermanence on my mind the last few days. Because Satya— and I heard that an old friend of ours and a friend of the temple died this week after being ill for a very long time. And also I've been reading a book about Buddhism, and page after page It just describes the many ways impermanence affects us, from the very mundane, like, oh, I'm irritated by the noise of a car, and oh, now the noise of the car is gone and I'm enjoying the peace, and the peace is impermanent because here's another car coming, to the more painful losses. And the message of the book is Buddhism is about coming to terms with the fact that everything is impermanent. Ultimately we will lose everything, including ourselves. And there is some benefit to this way of thinking, kind of philosophical point of view. Not quite easy come, easy go, but, but really deeply understanding that there's a season for everything, as it says in the Christian Bible. And seasons come and then they go again. But this is only half of the Buddhist teaching. The Buddha said, 'I teach suffering and the way out of suffering.' And as I say, accepting impermanence is part of the way out of suffering, but there is a more profound basis for this, particularly emphasized in Mahayana Buddhism, which is the Buddhism of Tibet, China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan. And this is the truth that The universe is shot through with unconditional love and wisdom, whether it goes by the name of emptiness, which is quite a disarming way of putting it, or emptiness. When we're empty of selfishness, it is love that remains. Or nirvana or the pure land. There is something that we can rest in that is completely loving. And Buddhism teaches us that this exists out there in the world in the form of Buddhas and bodhisattvas. These cosmic figures in all their different colors, however literally you take these descriptions with their many arms and so on, riding on the backs of mythical creatures sometimes. It points to a truth that there is something outside of me, that is loving and wise. And Buddhism also teaches us that deep within each living thing exists that same energy. Because we live in this world of impermanence, We get a bit hard around the edges, and often that love is quite fractured by the time it reaches the surface of a human being, but it is there underneath everything else nonetheless. So here we are, human beings disappointed and reactive to the impermanence and loss. And somewhere underneath all of that, a loving spaciousness. And somewhere outside all of that, a loving spaciousness. And those things are of the same essence. Sometimes when we are trying to encourage fellow feeling for other human beings, we talk about how we're all made of the same stuff. We're all composed of the same physical elements. The air we breathe has been going in and out of human bodies. The minerals that we, you know, that make us up have been swapped in and out of different lives. And all of that came from the stars initially. And the same is true of this loving spaciousness. We all have some of that Buddha nature. The Buddhas have perfected Buddha nature and are just glowing with it all the time. Ours is often a little bit more hidden. So we practice in two ways. We meditate to allow the mind to settle and clear and maybe In that clearing, catch a glimpse of the workings of our own mind, and maybe below the workings of our own mind, notice that loving heart. And we recite the Buddha's name, connecting to that loving energy that is outside of us. Trusting that coming into that relationship is a good thing to do. So this evening we'll do both of these things. We'll sit quietly together in meditation for a little while, and then I'll start to chant the name of the Buddha Amitābha, the Buddha of Infinite Light, and you can join in with that if it's possible from where you are. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. So perhaps an invitation to notice the breath as we sit together, the air entering and leaving at the tip of the nose, cooler air coming in warmer air leaving. And when the mind becomes distracted, as the mind tends to do, noticing that distraction— oh, there I am thinking again— and then bringing attention back to the breath. Amitabhha.

Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Ame Sabaa. Ame Sabaa. Ame Sabaa. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha.

Amitabha.

The one thing that all Buddhist traditions have in common, maybe the only thing, is that we agree to take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. In the Buddha, the one who gives the teachings, both in the form of the person who lived and died in India 2,500 years ago, and also recognizing the existence of other enlightened beings and teachers. So we take refuge in the Buddha. We take refuge in the Dharma, which is both the, the content of those teachings and the spirit of them. We take refuge in the Sangha, which is where originally it referred to the ordained community, particularly those that the Buddha had recognized were enlightened themselves. But these days we think of the whole community of practitioners. So we'll recite the Three Refuges together, and then we will recite the Five Lay Precepts. These are the— they were actually commitments to training that the Buddha encouraged lay people to follow. So the most literal translation is something like, I commit to train in non-killing, I commit to train in non-stealing, and so on. Although our translation is a little different. So I'll speak them and then please repeat. After me. For refuge I go to the Buddha. Namo Buddhaya. For refuge I go to the Dharma. Namodhammāya. For refuge I go to the Sangha. Nama sanghaya.

Malo Sangaya!

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.

I pray that I may not fall into sexual misconduct—

With faith in The Three Jewels! —With Faith In 3 Jewels?... ...with Freedom From Wrong Speech—

praying this time they're all going to wrongs teach—

...with Faith In The 3 Jewels! ...with Pain And The 3 Jules?! I Pray That They May Avoid Intoxication—

I prary dasai me avoid intoxication?

And now we'll recite the Bodhisattva vows, which are common through Mahayana Buddhism. And this really describes the heart of the enlightened person. When we connect with that feeling of love or discover it, naturally we want to bring others into that place, which is an impossible task, but still we are moved to to do it anyway.

Innumerable sentient beings, I, we vow to save them all. Inexhaustible our deluded 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 fathom it completely.

Before we rise for prostrations, we'll transfer merit to Sundari and her loved ones. By your vows and through your grace, a pure land, a peaceful land, So we pray that Sundari may be reborn into Sukhavati, the harmony world of the Buddha Amitabha, and that those who are living continue to live peaceful and long lives. Namamitabhum. So we'll make our 3 prostrations. We do this by going into kneeling and lifting up our palms. 3 times, the whole thing 3 times, as a way of showing our respect for the Three Jewels that we took refuge in earlier. And we chant Namo Amida Butsu, keeping Amida Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, in mind, the Buddha that represents that unconditional love in the universe.

Namoha, miyamu. Namoha, miyamu. Namoha, miyamu.

In gratitude, we offer this incense to Buddha, Sanghoyi, Satya Robyn throughout space and time. May we awaken from forgetfulness and realize the pure land. Goodbye to each other. We bow to the Buddha and we turn to our seats and tidy our seats and bow to our seats. And I think Satya's copied the closing verse into the chat, so we'll recite that together. Please do unmute so our voices can be joined together. Blessed by Amitābha's light, may we care for all living things and the holy earth. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Thank you, everybody. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Thank you.

There's two more lines to that incense offering verse, and the irony is the only one I could remember was maybe— what is it? Maybe waking from forgetfulness. Yeah, maybe awaken from forgetfulness.