Practice - Positive Change

before we do it even. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Welcome everybody to our Wednesday evening service, and this evening our celebrant is Jhame, who is our colleague who lives in the temple, so he's 3 floors above us, and I will hand over to Jhame.

Thanks, Satya Robyn.

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Meena boom, welcome everybody. Um, so tonight we're going to be, um, I'll open up with a little, uh, a bit of Dharma talk, and then we'll do from, go from that into some, um, silent sitting.

Um, and from the silent sitting, I'll, uh, start a chant and, uh Once the, the chart—

I'll basically bring the chant to a, uh, um, I'll quieten the chant down and we'll all sit still for another couple of minutes, and then I'll bring some bells and we'll continue. So we'll be doing some taking, um, some refuge vows and precepts, um, and the Bodhisattva vows at the end, and then a few prostrations, 3 prostrations at the very end, and I'll just sort of talk us through it as we go along.

Yeah, so this is the first time I've done this online and I'm feeling really anxious about it actually. I do suffer with Zoom anxiety. It just, it feels worse than it is in a room full of people to me for some reason. I think just because it feels you know, I don't know, I just feel somehow more sort of exposed like this.

Um, so I've been—

I've actually had quite a good day with it. I normally have a day full of, um, really bad anxiety, and it's been okay right up until this point.

And now I feel a bit sort of shaky, so bear with me. And if I don't make any sense, just, just sort of ignore me.

Um, so yeah, I've been, uh thinking about change, and change feels like the, the obvious thing to talk about really for me at the moment. I know we're all undergoing or subject to these massive changes that are going on, and I had an incident the other day actually at work that sort of, um, brought my attention to a way that I've grown that I hadn't really seen before, I hadn't really experienced before. And normally when I have these sort of mirror mind experiences, they tend to show sort of more negative, uh, aspects of me and sort of reflect that back at me.

And I see that and I can sort of, um, you know, something that I've got to work on. And so this was something that was quite positive, and it made me think about, um, all the practice that I've done or the work that I've put in over the years, and, and how I'm not very—

I'm not very often aware of, um, the changes that I believe are quite subtle a lot of the time happen. And then every once in a while I get a little glimpse of it.

So I'll just tell you the story, um, and, uh, you can make of it what you will.

So I was at work and I was working with one of my colleagues and, uh, and we were just chatting away while we were working.

And it turns out this chap is a born-again Christian. And, um, obviously from, from that it led to the conversation that I'm a Buddhist and we got talking.

Talking a little bit about the religion, and he sort of started asserting this idea, um, obviously that he picked up, um, from someone else, that, uh, it's all about energy in Buddhism, which is not entirely erroneous. But, um, his, his assertion was that you don't have beings in Buddhism, you just have energy. So Buddhas somehow don't, don't count, uh, in the whole, whole show in his way of thinking. And, um, so, you know, I mean, I, I immediately felt this sort of urge to, to put him straight.

And I thought, well, what I'll do is have my phone in my pocket and I've got a big picture of a golden Amida on the front of it. So I thought, I'll get my phone out and show him that and just, you know, see how he feels about that.

So I got my phone up, went, oh, this is—

we're devotional Buddhists, so this is Amida Buddha and this is the Buddha that we revere, and the Buddha that's the center of our faith and our practice.

And he just looked at it and went, yeah, it's not beings, mate, it's energy. I sort of, again, I sort of felt this little urge to just, you know, put him right.

And, uh, and just to say, well, this is what we believe, and, you know, that might be.

But I could just sort of see that his need to be right was greater than mine, you know. And there was all this, this anxious, angry energy going on, um, in him that I could quite clearly see.

And so I just sort of backed down and, and just, and, and let it go.

And I thought You know, I came away from there thinking, that's amazing, that, you know, for me that's such a marked shift from how it would have been even sort of 5 years ago.

I mean, I would have really dug my heels in and made—

let him know that that's not the case, that, you know, I've been a Buddhist for this long, you know, and this is what the experiences that I have, that doesn't make sense, and so on and so forth.

So So, so really, you know, change has been, has been on my mind, and, and I suppose the, um, the conditions that facilitate change.

And one of the things that came up for me was, was alchemy.

Um, and I don't know whether you guys know much about alchemy.

Um, I'll just explain a little bit about what I understand about Um, it's an ancient science that's concerned with transformation, or it's often called transmutation, and it's concerned with taking a very crude or coarse, um, uh, substance and refining it by very sacred spiritual practices. Until it reaches a point where it's no longer coarse and it's no longer crude. So the, the, the main example is usually lead into gold, and the alchemists apparently can perform this, this transmutation, which normally would take millions of years, in a matter of days or weeks. Um, and so it's, it it goes from this, from this state of being, um, almost— I sort of compare it with the, um, the human to Buddha journey or transformation, where it starts off as being very ignorant, if you like, or just very vulnerable, prone to making mistakes, or—

but over the course of potentially millions of lifetimes, it turns into something that's resonating in its optimum state, um, and is wise, um, and so on and so forth.

And, um, it's one of the things that really sort of fascinates me about alchemy is that the, the process is considered a journey for both the substance, um, and the practitioner. So the practitioner grows in the process of refining the material, whatever it be. Um, and obviously the, the, the material itself is considered to have a life as well, and so is being refined to a higher stage so that it can reach another stage of enlightenment.

And, um, obviously this has, has parallels in Buddhism, in that we are all impressed with the notion of causes and conditions as being central to, um, uh, how our lives play out and how our spiritual lives play out, what happens to us in this world.

And, um, yeah, so it's sort of not beyond the realms of imagination for me to Imagine that a spiritual journey, a human spiritual journey, is a transmutation from a relatively coarse state to a, to a higher state, to a finer state. And, um, yeah, so I was thinking about the way that we respond, um, to change because Necessarily, especially in my experience, I think it's probably true for most people, a lot of these causes and conditions that facilitate the change, stimulate the change, tend to be hard, difficult, painful circumstances. And, um, It seems to be the case that, uh, our response to changes, whatever form they take, are key to the experience that we have with them. So, um, if we have a, um, a very sort of aggressive rejection response to, um, causes and conditions to change that happens in our life, we're much more likely to have a negative experience with, with the change. And if we are able to embrace it, embrace the change, accept it, and maybe be able to find a perspective that helps to see that it is helping us to grow, um, then that change will be less turbulent and more comfortable for us.

So I mean, I was thinking about, um, the obvious example at the moment is all the COVID restrictions, um, that we're all being subjected to, whether we like it or not. Um, you know, that's happening just in case you haven't noticed.

And, um, I was thinking about how, again, sort of 15 years ago, for me, this would have produced such a painful effect.

Um, that would have really freaked me out, basically, and I would have rebelled, rejected, um, and, uh, yeah, in, in whatever way I could, I would to avoid, um, the, the change, the consequence of the change. And I was thinking about how that's because I've got faith, and because, uh, faith is, um, such a, a, a good container for these powerful feelings that come up in me at times when I feel threatened or unhappy, that it's all held in a media container.

So, you know, COVID comes along and prevents me from doing the things that I like doing, and I'm able to say, 'No more, I need to do some spiritual practice.' Um, you know, my Buddhist career collapses, uh, in a heap of controversy, and, uh, I'm able to sort of embrace that and just say, 'Okay, well, the journey was, was, was one in which I learned a lot.' Um, and, uh, you know, and it's okay.

It turns out okay.

So I suppose that, you know, what I've learned is that, um, if I can give all this to Amida, I'm reminded of the nature of the reality of this world and my predicament in this world as a foolish being.

And I'm reminded of how lucky I am to have such a simplistic practice. Is, um, that's so powerful in my life.

Um, so we will— I'll ring some bells now and we'll go into a meditation, namami dupin, for, um, a little while. And then, as I said, I'll start the chant, um, to bring us out of the meditation.

The chant will get quieter, and then I'll ring some bells again. And then we'll get on with the rest of this. Namaste. Mami ne wa ali.

Oh, Mami ne wa ali. Mami ne wa ali. Oh, ma mi ne wa. Oh, ma mi ne wa li. Oh, ma mi ne wa. Mami ne wai. Mami ne wai. Mami ne wa ri. Oh, Mami ne wa ri. Mami ne wa ri. Mami de wa. Mami de wa. Mami de wa. Oh, Mami Neua. Mami Neua. Mami Neua. Mami ne wa mi. Oh, Mami ne wa mi. Mami ne wa mi. Mami de Wari. Oh, Mami de Wari. Ameen. Omami ne waari. Omami ne waari. Omami ne waari. Om Ami Ne Wari. Om Ami Ne Wan.

Om Ami Ne If you'd like to repeat after me. I take refuge in the Buddha.

I take refuge in the Buddha.

The one who shows me the way in this life.

The one who shows me the way in this life.

Namo Buddhaya.

Namo Buddhaya.

I take refuge in the Dharma.

I take refuge in the Dharma.

The way of understanding and love.

The way of understanding and love.

Namo Dhamma.

Namo Dhamma.

I take refuge in the Sangha.

I take refuge in the Sangha.

The community that lives in harmony and awareness.

The community that lives in harmony and awareness.

Namo Sanghaya.

Namo Sanghaya.

And now we'll, um, if you do the same, we'll recite the precepts. If you want to just repeat after me. With faith in The Three Jewels—

With Faith In 3 jewels I pray that may not take life—I prayer to my May Not Take Life—withfaithinthreejewelswithFaithintheThreeJews I prayed at time when steal—that's how they're taught still-withfaithonthrejewellwithFaithintojawsIpraythatmaynotfallintosexualmisconduct—and I pray that I may not fall into sexual misconduct—

With faith in the Three Jewels! —With faith in the Three Jewels!

I pray that I may not fall into wrong speech—

I pray that I may not fall into wrong speech!

—with Faith In The 3 Jewels!

I pray that I may avoid intoxication—

I pray to have avoided intoxication. Innumerable are sentient beings, we vow to save 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 follow it completely.

Okay, so we'll now do 3 prostrations. If you've got a Buddha, Andy, in your room, it helps to make prostrations to the Buddha. If not, you can make prostrations to my Buddha, which I'll make more visible for you.

Um, you can see that actually. There we go.

So, um, I'll ring a bell and then we'll stand up and I'll start the chant.

Ammo, ammi, damu. Ammo, ammi, damu. Ammo, ammi, damu. Amo amina. Amo amina. Amo amina. Amo amina. Amo amina. Amo amina. Amo amina mu. Amo amina mu. Amo amina. Amo amina. Amo amina. Amo amina.

That's good. So we just do, um, bowing to each other now, don't we?

Yes. Yep.

Okay, so I'll ring, uh, one bell first to bow to each other, to bow— two bells to to bow to the Buddha.

I've just put the final verse in the chat box if you want to.

Right, okay. Yeah, do you want me to just mention the stuff.

Yeah, yeah, final verse first.

Yeah, okay, I can do.

Yeah, so if everyone, if everyone wants to unmute so we can just say that together.

So blessed by Amida's light, may I care for all living things and the holy earth.

Excellent. So, um, what was this?

So I've been asked to mention—

sorry, I'm gonna stop the recording.

I'm in