Practice - nothing to say & Pure Land Buddhism

Good morning everybody, so nice to see you all here.

Special welcome if it's your first time or first time for a long time, and we've just been having adventures in the garden with a small girl and Ralph dog.

Uh, who's scared of small girls, and small girls were also scared of Ralph. So, uh, that excitement's all passed now and she's fine. Um, welcome to Matt on Zoom, and there's lots of people in the room. Matt, I'll ask them to come and say hello after practice. Um, so we will begin with, uh, Dharma Gimps. Kindly read by Kayma, and I could leave it anonymous, but the person that wrote it is in this room, so maybe they might want to reveal who it is, or might not.

This is my first time in front of the camera.

No heckling. I'm just glad I brushed my hair.

Dharma glimpse.

Hi.

I haven't shared a Dharma glimpse for a while. It's been on my mind for over a month now, along with a sense of guilt and uncomfortability. I've been busy with a university assignment, which I handed in a couple of weeks ago. So I have a bit more internal space in my mind, but nothing has come, no inspiration or wisdom. I think I have, at least for now, run out of deeper philosophical and spiritual topics to explore and share. These are more my comfort zone, and I don't think if I share more everyday experiences and thoughts, people will be interested, even though that's something I've enjoyed hearing from others. From the beauty and calm of the Malvern Hills, compassion to cockroaches and moving house, I've loved hearing everything others have shared. I went out for a walk along the beach here in Morecambe this afternoon. I decided it was okay to write something about having nothing to say. As soon as I had decided that, I passed an old, small, old rowing boat at the top of a short flight of steps. Up from the promenade that had been made into a flower bed. There seemed to be some new flowers I didn't recognize, red ones with a multitude of intricate overlapping petals.

Wow!

For a brief moment, they took my breath away. By not seeking inspiration in my mind or in nature, and perhaps more importantly, by freeing myself from the self-imposed shackles of expectation and perfectionism, Something opened up like a portal into a kinder, more vivid, and alive world, if only briefly, surrendering a tiny bit more of my ego, surrendering to something wiser, more loving and accepting than I ever, than I will ever be. That's something which could be Amida Buddha. Maybe I was seeing more than my heart, than my mind or my eyes. Whatever it was, it was a beautiful moment that I'm grateful for, and I am grateful, however it is received, to be able to share with you as I conduit through, which is a bit of beauty and dharma seemed to briefly flow. Namaste.

Thank you so much.

Really lovely. So we will now sit quietly together for a while. Wow, I'm just noticing the flowers freshly gathered by Dave this morning. Amazing for this time of year. That's a very appropriate moment to notice the flowers just after that Dharma glimpse. So as we sit quietly this morning together, maybe we'll just pay attention to our breath as an invitation. Just notice the breath as it goes inside you and leaves you. Suzuki Shunryu used to say something about, um, an open door, that we're a bit like an open door that's, um, kind of, uh, impermanent, and, um, that, that the breath goes in and out, but, but we're also permeable in other ways with the living world. We take solids in and solids leave us. We take liquids in and liquids leave us. Um, even our bones are kind of— I can't remember how long it takes, but I think they get completely made anew again, don't they? Every, every so many years. Um, so as you notice the breath coming in and leaving, you might just want to Hold that question. Where, where do I begin? Where do I end? See if there are any moments of relaxation or any tension. And then after some time, we will chant together. Um, haven't decided what we're going to chant yet, so when we start chanting that, if you don't know the words, then they'll be on your little bit of paper. And then we'll have a little bit more silence, so we'll settle in.

Om Mani Padme Hum Vri. Om Mani Padme Hum Vri.

Om mani padme humbri! Oh ma nee pa me hoombree... Ooh mah neh pah mee hoom bree? Oom ahneh pa meh ombreee— Ahm-ma-ne-pah-me-ho-um-brie-eemmm. Om Mani Padme Hum Hri! Om Mani Padme Hum Hri!

Om Mane Padme Hung Hri! Oh manne padme hung hri... oh manné pâd mé hungh ri— 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 Hum. Om Mani Padme Humri! Oh mané pa me hum ri...

om mané pa me hom bri... oh ma ne padmé ho um brie— oom mane pap mé rum riiimmm... Om Mani Padme Hum Vrih! Om Mani Padme Hum Vrih! Om Mani Padme Hom Brih! Oh mané padmé hum vrih! Ooh mah né pa mé hoom brij... Ahm ane pa me hoom brih— Om mani padme hum. Om mani padme hum. Om mani padme hum. Om mani padme hum. Om mani padme hum hri om mane pame hom bri— oh! Mané pa mé hun bry... Oh! Mane pa me hun brim? Oohh! Máne pá mérún brim?! Oh! Mane pa me hon rym!? 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 Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Namah Shivaya. Om Namah Shivaya.

Now we say some words together that Buddhists across the world say, or a variation. If you don't feel like you want to mean these words as you say them, you can say them in support of the people in the room that try to do these things. That'll become clear in a minute. But it's on your bit of paper, but it's also repeat after me. So 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.

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. 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.

I pray that I may not take life. I pray that I may not take life— With faith in The Three Jewels...

—with Faith In The 3 jewels!

...prayer to Buddha Shakyamuni.) "With FAITH IN THE THREE JEWELS..." "...faith in The Three Jewels!) ..."Pray That May Not Fall Into Sexual Misconduct!" " WITH FAITH IN THE THREE JEWELS." "" .

. With faith in the three jewels. faithfulness —with towards them.] ] kha ye') I PRAY THAT I MAY NOT STEAL. 「我祝不盗」I pray at this time they don't fall into sexual misconduct.

「我祈不偷」 «With faith in the three jewels.» 「Mit faidh inn be thuige dhuils» 『con fe de tres tesoros』 .

„I Pray That I May Not Steal" .

„With faith in the three jewels—" 「With fatehin le thrí juwls...」 「على الله تعالى.」 I pray that I may not fall into wrong speech.

With faith in the Three Jewels, I pray that I may avoid intoxication. No blame, be kind, love everything.

Innumerable are sentient beings, we vow to serve them all.

Inexhaustible are 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 fall flat So what we don't do very often in these Dharma talks is talk about— I'm gonna say Buddhism. Is talk about, uh, Buddhism. It's talk about the, uh, where this practice came from, the history, why we do the things in the way that we do them, what we're inspired by here at this temple. And this morning I'm thinking about Honin. Honin Shonin was a Japanese monk who lived in the 11-something— 800 years ago. Yeah, 800 years ago. And he's the first little picture on our ancestor shrine board. So top left, that's Honin. None of us would be here if it wasn't for Honin. Honin had an experience of not being able to do the things that Buddhist texts asked of him. He had an experience of coming to his limit, of, um, of not being enough somehow, not having enough patience, not being disciplined enough. And there are reports of Honin being a very disciplined monk and a very patient monk and a very wise monk. But, but he found that it, it wasn't working for him. And he also lived in a time in Japan when to access Buddhist teachings you had to be special somehow. You had to be born into the right families. You had to have enough money. You had to have free time. You had to live a very ethical life, so it wasn't open to warriors or prostitutes or people that, um, that had to make their living in ways that were seen as unethical. And he didn't like that either. So Honin set himself the task of finding a way of making the essence of Buddhism, the treasure of Buddhism, accessible to everybody regardless of who they were, how good they were at studying, how noble they were, what, um, what family they were born into. And he read— he was a very learned man, and he read very many texts. And he came across a text by Shandao which spoke of a Buddha called Amida. And to cut a long story short, because I've only got another 8 minutes to talk to you, the practice that Honen selected from all the practices across the canon of Buddhism, which is huge because it's not just what the Buddha taught but what all the people after the Buddha taught, The practice that he selected was called the Nembutsu. Nem, remembering. Butsu, Buddha. Remembering the Buddha. And when we practice Nembutsu, we say the name of a particular Buddha, Amida Buddha, who's the Buddha of infinite light. So that all sounds quite complicated, even though that's the simple version. Um, but the, the bottom line is that anyone can do the Nembutsu. You don't need lots of time, you don't need to know anything, you don't even really need to believe anything. You just say the Nembutsu, Namu Amida Butsu, And trust that something magical happens, that, that as you are calling out, you're opening yourself to receive the love of the Buddha and to receive the wisdom of the Buddha. I'm still thinking about Imogen, who is the little girl this morning who had a unicorn, unicorn horn on her head, and who Ralph shouted at and then Onya jumped at. Her mum was saying she's usually fine with dogs, but recently she's just been really traumatized by them. I thought, oh great, two more. Some slightly unpleasant experiences to add to her list. And I said, come back and we'll do some friendly dog introductions. Um, because what I really want is for people to feel welcome here. I want everybody to feel welcome, whether they're 3 or 3 years old and afraid of dogs, or, uh, skeptical in some way, or suffering, or old or young. That's one of the things that me and Casper talk about is how can we make this place accessible and welcoming to different kinds of people. And of course we fail partly because we're both, you know, of a certain— we're in certain categories ourselves and that makes it, that makes it less likely that people from different categories will come. Um, but it's always something that I have in mind. How can I— how can we be friendly and welcoming here? Our old teachers, more than 10 years ago, David and Caroline, said that when they went around Japan visiting all the different types of temple, that the Pure Land temples were the ones where they felt really welcomed in. There was a really different spirit in those temples, and whether that's still true or not, I don't know, but I really want to be that kind of place. I want to be the kind of place where the thing that I have received, which is so precious and that is at the center of everything I do, is kind of underneath me, where we might be able to introduce some people to that. And we'll all have different experiences of that, or different language, but really the Nembutsu is just connecting with love. It's just asking for help, allowing our hearts to open a little bit, and then the flowers appear, the, the beauty appears. And, um, it should be very simple. So thank you to Honin, who worked so hard to find the practice that I find so reliable and simple and nourishing. And to all the people who came after him. And thank you to Imogen, Imogen Unicorn, as I called her, as she left, and she smiled a little bit, so I think we're all right, for inspiring me this morning. Now, mo mi to bu. So in a minute, Kema will ring a bell and we will stand up and make prostrations to the Buddha. So do feel free to— we go down to the floor, so feel free to go as far as your body allows you to go and get up again. So if you just want to stand and bow, that's fine. And as we bow, we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Thank you.

Find a bit of floor in front of you and point towards— Nam ho amida. Nam ho amida. Nam ho amida. Nam ho amida.

We dedicate the merits of this incense offering to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout space and time. Reflecting our careful efforts, our wholehearted awareness, 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. Do you return to stand at your seat? And we, uh, we'll finish with the cozy— oh no, we didn't do the bows first.

Now we're finished with the closing verse, which is on your bits of paper. Starts, blessed— do you want me to do that?

Blessed is Satya Robyn and his harvest white.

May they prepare for all the big things. Now, no need to boo.

So, a couple of announcements.