Satya Robyn leads a Buddhist practice session with guided sitting, chanting, and a Dharma reading about impermanence. Kusuma reads a reflection called
Chapters
Good morning, everybody. Lovely to see you. Nice that we're all on the floor today, and welcome to Matt and Ian joining us on Zoom from far away. So this morning we will begin with a Dharma glimpse by Luna, which Kusuma will be reading for us. Thank you.
Entitled Pink Petals. Walking home from swimming, Amidst the busy work traffic, underneath a cloud of rain and Birmingham smog, I stopped to admire a beautiful rose bush blooming proudly on an otherwise grey main road. Layers of petals gathered on the front wall, speckled with raindrops and looking rather divine. Later on, after meditating in my sunny room, I noticed the orchid in my bathroom that has been alive for a good 2 months since I purchased her reduced for a quick sale, realizing that every day I see her I have been expecting her to have withered and died. She was reduced, and orchids are hard to care for for amateur plant parents, aren't they? They're perhaps partly helpful to remember impermanence on a deeper level. This was an opportunity for me to look at what I'm choosing to believe. I sense this for other areas of my life, namely the fear and desire to hide that I experience— hide that I experience each time I put out an offering. That means being seen or seizing a new challenge in my work with the intention to share what's alive for me from my heart and do meaningful, aligned work. I meet this part of me gently each time. Validate her fear, reassure her, and do the thing anyway, making sure to allow myself to receive feedback after giving, to cultivate trust for myself and my life. I realized that to live a life that's fit, that feels true for me, I had to stop looking at the situation in front of me and believing I was going to wither, or I wouldn't be where I am. I choose to believe it will go well, that I wouldn't be experiencing something if I wasn't ready. And throughout this process, I'm learning my capacity, my rhythm, learning to communicate my needs and make changes when needed in my schedule to preserve my peace. Waves and ripples of joy and excitement come as thank yous from my body as I honor her and rest. As more bits of me that are programmed to race ahead are liberated through presence and feeling. I remember to be gentle and graceful as a bumble— as I bumble into new, more helpful ways of being, like a toddler learning to walk, and now enjoy freely flowing in my busyness at a faster pace when I have recharged and am moving from a sustainable place. And not from my adrenals. My path becomes clearer and more steady as the distance I scurry away from it each time gets shorter and shorter. It's a beautiful dance, and I'm grateful for the beautiful flowers today for reminding me that I always have a choice, that I can always come to awareness that sometimes things aren't as fleeting as we may think., and we can allow ourselves to enjoy the beautiful moment we find ourselves in, acknowledging but not consumed by fear, and that sometimes even after things pass, they can still be there in a different form, forming the new ground beneath us in this kaleidoscope of life, always changing, always beautiful.
Namami debu. Namami debu. Thank you, Kusuma. So we will sit quietly together for a while, and in the silence you might want to pay attention to the transience that Luna was talking about in your own body. Notice your breath as it goes in and out. Never exactly the same twice. Notice the feelings in your bodies, they come and go. Notice the thoughts that float or get tangled. Notice the feelings, the edge of feelings. And if possible, you can witness those changes as Luna did the flower, just appreciating that they are there. Right now, and knowing that they will change with a light touch. And after some time of sitting in silence, we will chant together. And do join in when you get the hang of the— when you get the hang-ish of the words and the tune.
Om Mami Devi Wari. Om Mami Devi Wari.
Om Ami Te Wa Rii.
Om Ami Te Wa Rii. Om Ami Te Wa Rii.
Om Ami De Wa Re.
Om Ami De Wa Re. Om Ami De Wa Re.
Om Amidevare.
Om Amidevare. Om Amidevare.
Om Ami De Waari.
Om Ami De Waari. Om Ami De Waari.
Om Ami De Wa Rii.
Om Ami De Wa Rii. Om Amidevare.
Om Amidevare.
Om Amidevare. Om Amidevaree.
Om Amidevaree.
Om Amidevaree. Om Amidevaree.
Om Amidevaree.
Om Amidevaree. Om Amidevare.
Om Amidevare.
Om Amidevare. Om Amitewari.
Om Amitewari.
Om Amitewari. Om Amidevare.
Om Amidevare.
Om Amidevare. Om Amidevare.
Om Amidevare.
Om Amidevare. Om Amidevaree.
Om Amidevaree.
Om Amidevaree. Om me te wah re.
Om mah te wah re.
We'll now recite the refuges, vows, and precepts together. And if you're not quite sure about whether you sign up to these things or not, you can say them in support of the people in this room. Who do hold to them. 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 Buddha.
Namo Buddha.
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 of compassion—
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo! For refuge I go to the Sangha; those who live in Buddha's light... With faith in Three Jewels, I pray that may not take life; with faith in The 3 jewels, I pray that might steal; 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.
—Pray that time they're not falling to sexually misconduct.
—With faith in the Three Jewels.
—Faith in the three jewels.
—I pray that I may not fall into wrong speech. —And right at times it's hard for me too long speak each other way through your tools face of free juice? —I pray that I might avoid intoxication.
I pray that I may avoid intoxication.
No blame. No blame. Be kind. Be kind. Love everything.
Love everything. Innumerable are sentient beings.
We vow to save them all.
Inexhaustible are the looted 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.
Hello, me to be. I'm smiling at the impossibility of the bodhisattva vows. So more than 10 years ago now, when I was in a relationship with my ex, who is now no longer with us, I remember being in the garden of our little cottage at the time, having finished reading Crooked Cucumber, which is the biography of Suzuki Shunryu, who wrote Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. And I can remember being in the garden and weeping, kind of at the end of the book, having, having lost him, have him having died. He died before I was born, or maybe soon, I can't remember exactly when he died, but he, he'd already, he'd he'd been gone a long time by the time I was mourning him. But there was something about reading that book that connected me to him in a way that was very profound. And lots of the stories from that book I still remember, and not all of them I— he was Japanese and he had that kind of Japanese kind of thing. One of the stories was— I'm sure you know what I mean if you've been around. Japanese Buddhism. One of the stories in the book is that there was this huge rock on the land, and he wanted to move it, and he was trying, and it was just massive, and everyone left him. And then like 3 hours later, the person who was writing the book came back and found him sort of passed out in his bed, and the stone was moved. He kind of, you know, just found some kind of ridiculous superhuman strength. But the story that I want to tell you about this morning is really fresh. I read it 15, you know, 10, 15 years ago, but it came to me this morning listening to Luna's piece. And it's a story of Suzuki Shinryu. At the end of his life, he had cancer. And there was another little story from earlier on in the book when he got his diagnosis that he'd been ill for a long time and he was finally diagnosed. And he told the person that was writing the book and this person said, "Oh, I'm really sorry to hear that." And he said, "No, it's great. We can eat from the same plate again." 'Cause they hadn't, but he hadn't known whether he had something that was catching. So he felt like he could kind of reconnect in that way. And he was quite near the end of his life. He was very frail, and he was offered a bath, and he was lowered into the bath and tensed, kind of was frightened. I'm imagining that he didn't really have much muscle. By then, and that he was maybe worried about going under, or worried about something. He was frightened. And somebody said, 'It's okay, you can relax.' And he relaxed, and he allowed himself to be held by the hot water and enjoyed the bath. And there's something about that moment that deeply moves me, that, that he He was able to let go of, of that fear, which for all of us will be, I'm sure, pretty intense at that stage in our life, and just allow himself to be held in that moment. And I can almost see him And it's also moving because my dad died a few weeks ago, and he was also, um, he also died of cancer and was very, very thin at the end. So I kind of feel like there's an echo there. There's an echo, um, that there's something about impermanence that, uh, we, we as human beings, we try to avoid a lot of the time. And then sometimes something like this story kind of brings it to us, it brings it to our face, and it gives us an opportunity to trust that even in those moments, even in those moments of, of really, you know, Luna's flower hopefully is still alive, but even in those moments of knowing that, that time is running out, that we're near the end of time, it's possible to be in that moment and relax and enjoy it. And this is the kind of the challenge, I guess, that Buddhism throws down, is can we deeply know impermanence? Can we walk around the garden and enjoy those blossoms on the apple tree that David's daughter donated to us, knowing that, you know, in a few days they're going to be on the ground. And my experience is that when we can do that, and we don't manage it all the time, it's like it's extra beautiful life. It kind of takes on this, this intensity, um, not always intense, um, concentrated, but it can be very deeply calm kind of feeling. But there's something there's something alive about it. It's like we really, we really know, like, we're alive today. Aren't we lucky? Look at these flowers that Dave picked in the temple garden this morning for us. And look at this carpet that Kema donated 8 years ago. And look at this mural that Khyama's friend painted for us. It's like Isn't it amazing? Look at all the stuff we've got. So grateful to Luna for her glimpse, and grateful to Suzuki Shunryu for teaching still. Something fresh about his teaching. I hope you feel that freshness too. And maybe that story will get passed on to someone else and the ripples keep going out. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. So we'll now stand and make prostrations to the Buddha. So do join in as much as you can. And the words are Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. And all of the words that we use in the shrine room are really just a way of connecting with infinite love. Gratitude. Gratitude.
We offer this incense to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout space and time. May these fragrances of the self reflect our careful efforts, our wholehearted awareness, and the fruits of understanding. So may we all beings be companions of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas when we awaken from forgetfulness and realize the pure land.
We always finish practice by first saying thank you to each other for being here and practicing with each other by bowing to one side and then the other. Satya Robyn. We're done. Find our seats and bow to our seats. Say thank you. I don't think I've got any announcements apart from we are terribly short of Dharma glimpses. Had to go into the people that wanted to read their own Dharma glimpses out folder today, so poor Luna, is she gonna get to read hers out? So yeah, Dharma glimpse is welcome, and we finish with the closing verse which is on the bit of paper, starts with blessed, if you want to join. With us. Blessed by Amitabha's light, may we care for all living things and the holy earth. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. If you'll join us for a cup of tea. And does anyone want to come and say hello to Matt and Ian?
