This content was created by Satya Robyn. This content was uploaded by Satya Robyn. This is a YouTube recording titled "Practice: internalised beliefs (sexism)" (uploaded March 13, 2021). The excerpt is a Buddhist practice/service led by a primary facilitator (SPEAKER A) with a second vocal leader (SPEAKER B) leading chants and responses. The facilitator reflects on internalized sexism and recent events (mentioning Sarah Everard), urges inner work and compassionate action, and guides the group through mantra chanting (Kwan Shin), recitation of the refuges, precepts and bodhisattva vows, dedications, and closing verses. Several attendees are named aloud (Dave, Jāme, Satya Robyn, Izzy, Paul, Angela, Desh, Ayla, Alex), and the session draws on Pure Land/Buddhist language and practice.
Chapters
Good morning, everybody.
Hello.
It's not my favourite voice, just my relaxed voice. It's my enjoying the sun streaming into a big Georgian windows voice. In the shrine room this morning we've got Dave, Jāme, Satya Robyn, myself. Just saying that because I know the camera's not pointing at everyone. It's nice to have a sense who's here online. We've got Izzy, nice to see you. Paul, Angela, and Desh, Ayla, and Alex. I've been thinking about Like many people, I've been thinking about Sarah Everardo the last few days, who went missing and then was found to have been killed. And partly I've been reflecting on all the harmful actions that I caused, created, from a very— from the— as a very young child in small ways to the girls in my class joining in with, uh, things, to being a teenager and to be drunk in my 20s and grieving for that harm that was caused out of— mostly out of ignorance. And despite even as a child having a strong sense of wanting to do the right thing and be a good person from all those lessons that I had drummed into me at Sunday school, some things just didn't register as harmful until much later in my life when I was really able to listen to what women were describing. And of course a sort of deep sense of— I'm not sure what the word is really, just— I don't know how it is to suffer in those specific ways, but I know how it is to suffer. A real sense of, I guess, something breaking a bit in my heart. And partly I was reflecting on that because, uh, #NotAllMen was trending on Twitter in Yesterday, and I guess thinking, wow, I can count myself in the number who— yeah, who did cause harm. I can't take any great claim to that hashtag, even though of course today I'm working hard to continually be learning about what causes pain. And it just speaks to how deeply conditioned we all are. Over the last year, I've been involved in and led a few workshops around internalized beliefs around race, for example. I'm really discovering quite subtle beliefs in myself that just seep in from the world around me. Last week I watched an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation which featured a romantic subplot, and watching it now as an adult It was so awful and awkward because of this coercive element that was so clear to me seeing it now. I wouldn't have noticed it all when I watched it as a— I don't know how old I would have been, young teenager. This very charming man presuming to take somebody out for dinner and not really offering them a choice about it, just saying, I'm going to be here and we're going to have dinner at 8 o'clock. No chemistry at all between the actors either. And then the end of the episode, the woman saying, oh, I just knew from the start there was something special about you. So great to see. And that's what I was being drip-fed all the time. Growing up that that kind of charming coercive presumption of entitlement was not just normal but, you know, appropriate and even welcome. Undoing that takes real work. That's the work of all of us to Take the time to deeply investigate our internal beliefs and habits, how we absorb these harmful, oppressive beliefs. And the outer work that follows of creating culture and stories and speaking up, showing, modeling ways of behavior that are wholesome and healthy, not just compassionate but wise and compassionate, as well as doing this deep inner work. I know for myself that all of examining all of these different strands that are oppressive thought and habit that I find in myself can bring up a lot of shame sometimes to know that I've been part of that culture that has created, uh, Now, when there's too much shame, it's impossible to really examine those beliefs and begin to let go of them. We can't get close to them if the shame is everywhere. And this is where faith comes in. In Japanese Pure Land Buddhism, they say that Amida's light shines particularly for those people who are— who carry the worst karma. Some of the medieval Kiran Buddhists even describe themselves as evil. To really try and get at this sense that even for me The Buddha's light is shining, the Buddha's light of love and compassion and wisdom. And coming into that field and feeling some sense of being accepted just as we are begins to peel away the shame or burn away the shame like the sun burning off the mist in the valley. Satya Robyn. And then it allows us to see the landscape clearly and decide what we want to keep and what we want to let go of from a position of understanding, not of blame. And there's always an edge. This isn't an invitation to become perfect. Perfection is impossible, but it is an invitation to stay curious and to keep listening to many different sorts of people and paying attention to many different sorts of living beings and asking How am I contributing to harm? What can I do better? What am I carrying that I need to let go? So we come into the Buddhist presence. And find ourselves held and accepted by that light so that we can do this important work of becoming wiser, of our compassion becoming wiser, and losing our ignorance. So together we'll chant the mantra of Kwan Shin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. I've put the words in the chat box on Zoom, if you're not familiar with them. So opening our hearts to the unconditional compassion. Compassion is loving kindness in action. The English roots of the word compassion mean to suffer with. In Buddhism, it's got a It's got echoes of that, but it's also, it's not so much about suffering with us seeing other people's suffering and wanting to relieve them of it, but it's kind of both of those at different times. So opening ourself to that energy that holds us in compassion and reaches out to us when we are suffering, but also allows us to reach out To others.
Namah Kwan Chim Bosat. Namah Kwan Chim Bosat. Namah Kwan Chim Bosat. Namokwan Shinbosa. Namokwan Shinbosa. Namokwan Shinbosa. Namokwan Shinbosa. Namokwan Shinbosa. Namokwan Shinbosa. Namah Kwan Chim Bosa. Namah Kwan Chim Bosa. Namah Kwan Chim Bosa. Namah Kwan Shin Bosat. Namah Kwan Shin Bosat. Namah Kwan Shin Bosat. Namokwan Shinbosa. Namokwan Shinbosa. Namokwan Shinbosa. Namokwan Shinbosa. Namokwan Shinbosa. Namokwan Shinbosa. Namah Kwan Shin Bosat. Namah Kwan Shin Bosat. Namah Kwan Shin Bosat. Namokwan Shinbosa. Namokwan Shinbosa. Namokwan Shinbosa. Namokwan Shinbosa. Namokwan Shinbosa. Namokwan Shinbosa. Namokwanji in bosa. Namokwanji in bosa. Namokwanji in bosa. Namokwanji in bohsa. Namokwanji in bohsa. Namokwanji in bohsa. Namah Kwan Shin Bosha. Namah Kwan Shin Bosha. Namah Kwan Shin Bosha. Namokwanji in Gosha. Namokwanji in Gosha. Namokwanji in Gosha. Namokwanji in Bosa. Namokwanji in Bosa. Namokwanji in Bosa. Namokwan Shinbosa. Namokwan Shinbosa. Namokwan Shinbosa. Namokwanji in bosa. Namokwanji in bosa. Namokwanji in bosa. Namokwanji in bosa. Namokwanji in bosa. Namokwanji in bosa. Namokwanji in bosa. Namokwanji in bosa. Namokwanji in bosa. Namokwanji in Bosa. Namokwanji in Bosa. Namokwanji in Bosa. Namah Kwan Shin Rosan.
So we'll now recite the refuges and precepts and bodhisattva vows. Please repeat after me. For refuge I go to the Buddha. For refuge I go to the Buddha.
Namo Buddha.
Namo Buddha. For refuge I go to the Dharma . Nam-myoho-renge-kyo For refuge I go to the Sangha , nam-myoho-renge-kyo , With faith in the Three Jewels— —I pray that may not take life; , With faith in the Three Jewels— —I pray that might steal; I pray that I may not steal— With faith in the Three Jewels , I pray that I may not fall into sexual misconduct . With faith in the Three Jewels I pray that I may not fall into 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.
Innumerable are sentient beings. We vow to save them all. Inexhaustible are the roots of passion. 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 fulfill it completely.
So before we stand and make our prostrations, We'll dedicate the merit of this morning's service to Sarah Everard and to women across the globe.
By your vows and through your grace, a pure land appears. Namah Amitabhu. Namah Amitabhu. Namah Amitabhu. Amo Amitabhu. Namoh Amitabhu. Namoh Amitabhu. Namoh Amitabhu. Namoh Amitabhu. Amor a mi da. Amor a mi da. Amor a mi da. Amor a mi da. Namoh Amida Butsu. Namoh Amida Butsu.
So we bow to each other. And to the Buddha. We'll tidy our seats, back to our seats. Now we'll finish with the closing verse, which I've put in the chat box for those of us on Zoom. Oh, please do unmute so that we can Hear some of your voice as we read the closing verse together. Blessed by Amitābha's light, may we care for all living things and the holy heavens. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
