Keema shares a story from a walking retreat about losing a backpack cover to explore impermanence and non-attachment. The session includes guided meditation, chanting of the nembutsu, and reflective remarks on how pride precedes a fall.
Chapters
Morning everybody, welcome to David joining us on Zoom. And this morning we will begin with a Dharma glimpse by Kema. Read by Keema.
Over to you. Oh, this one.
Ah, it's a beautiful day.
Morning.
The One That Got Away and the Art of Non-Attachment. So I've written previously of the annual walking retreat or yatra that when I wrote this I'd not long returned from. It was April. A yatra means to walk or pilgrimage, to pilgrimage to a holy place or places. The walking is in silence and not usually a rush to get there, so the journey is as important as the destination. I had lots of inspiration for Dharma glimpses during this week, and I'm kind of annoyed with myself that I didn't write enough down as the weeks pass and the memories fade a little. But one very memorable day was the one when we walked up Kadda Idris, all 893 meters We had been warned, warned that a storm may hit at midday, so we left early in an attempt to at least be at the summit before it arrived. I think we were probably 50 meters from the summit when the mist dropped and the wind and the rain started, but thankfully no snow as had been forecast. I look back at the photo I took at this point, and Caroline is standing there, her poncho blowing around her, No beautiful view, just looking out into the mysterious mist. This was just like an earlier jaunt up Helvellyn in the Lake District when I too was deprived of that supposedly stunning view due to the cloud. I suppose I'll have to climb again if I'm to see this view. Several days later, I was on a website where people post about their mountain climbing activities, top tips, photos, and I was gutted to literally see that 2 days later, those that climbed the mountain were gifted that stunning view as a reward. Timing is everything. Having made it to the summit, we ate our lunch all crowded together in the little stone hut, not the nicest of shelters, but we were all very grateful on this occasion. A small group poked their head in halfway through, halfway through lunch, to be greeted by 30 or plus hungry and rather damp Buddhists all crammed in, Standing room only. On our descent, the wind was 60 miles per hour, I was told at a later time. It was still raining, so I was wearing my trusty poncho to try and save my coat a little. At one point, the wind got underneath this and it took me off my feet, and I was holding on to everything tightly whilst trying to navigate the steep, rocky, and slippy pathway. Caroline lost her hat. I watched it fly off into the mist, then a backpack cover. I was glad I tied mine on tightly. I removed my poncho to try and gain some balance and stop the wind from buffering me from side to side. I'd just have to get wet. And not 2 minutes later, on a rather exposed outcrop of rocks, I felt the wind pick me up again, and then a flash of luminous yellow shot past me as my new my backpack cover disappeared over the edge and into the mist.
Oh no!
I was so annoyed with myself. Had I not tied it on properly? Now everything inside my rucksack was going to get wet. I started to worry about what I'd got in my bag, what might get damaged, and I thought of nothing else for 30 minutes as we descended. I really do hate losing things, even in extreme weather conditions. How much was it going to cost to replace? I got to wondering about where all the items that had blown off today and other days, where they'd be blown to. Where would their final resting place be? I'd be very happy if I found an Osprey backpack cover and Caroline's lovely hat. Had someone else set up an eBay account selling all the lost items claimed by the mountain? We had a little laugh about it later as we broke our silence.
I realized that I had to let go of my attachment to this belonging.
It was preventing me from being in the present. I'd been preoccupied in these thoughts rather than being immersed in this unique experience. I needed to let go of my annoyance of the wind. After all, it was my fault it blew off. I can't have tied it on tightly enough, and wind is wind. The fundamental Buddhist teaching of impermanence relays that we will not find sustained happiness through clinging. Only suffering.
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. So we will have some silence together, and in the silence today, invitation if you want to accept it, is to allow the Nembutsu to accompany you to accompany your breath. And there's different ways of doing this. You can either have the words 'namo ah' as you breathe in and 'mida bu' as you breathe out, or 'ami taba.' And don't try to change the length of your breaths, just imagine the nenbutsu floating on top or floating with your breath. And when your mind wanders, you can bring it back to your breath and to the nembutsu.
Om Amidevaree. Om Amidevaree. Om Amidevaree. Om Amitewari. Om Amitewari. Om Amitewari. Om Amidevaari. Om Amidevaari. Om Ami De Wa Rii. Om Ami De Wa Rii. Om Ami De Wa Rii. Omami de wa ri. Omami de wa ri. Om Ami De Wa Ami. Om Ami De Wa Ami. Om Ami De Wa. Om Amidevare. Om Amidevare. Om Amidevare. Oh, how beautiful.
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 love and wisdom. For refuge I go to the Sangha, those who live in the Buddha's light. Namo Sanghaya. 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— I pray that I may not take what is not freely given. With faith in the Three Jewels—I pray that time may not fall into sexual misconduct. And then we'll go to Sexual Misconduct. With faith in the Three Jewels—I pray that I may not fall into wrong speech. I prayed it's all right now for us too long speak?
Yeah!
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. No blame. No blame. Be kind. Be kind. Love everything. Love everything. In your world, blessed 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 fulfill it completely.
So I'm, I'm amused. Because as I was reciting the refuges, I recited the first refuge about the Buddha, and then a thought flitted through my head, 'Oh, I can remember all of these, but if you were learning to do this, it would be really hard to do it.' And then went to pot, forgot what the Dharma verse was, and then did the old precepts first. And yeah, I could say that I'm just, you know, reassuring you all about how even I'm bomboo, but it makes me think of that phrase that I've never liked, that pride comes before a fall. Seems like it's the perfect illustration of that. And I've never liked that phrase because I think it's silly, uh, that thinking something good about yourself would then cause something bad to happen. I just— I'm not going to buy into that. Um, and it also feels a little bit anti- a kind of appropriate kindness to ourselves, or, or sense of achievement, or recognition of something difficult we've done, that I am all for. But I wonder if there is a nugget of truth in there, nugget of wisdom. And I'm just kind of feeling curious about what happened to me just now. And there was something about having the thought that I could do it and that other people might not be able to. And that was a kind thought. It was like, oh, it's gonna be really tough for other people to learn. That took me away from doing it from, from sort of being present in the verse and, um, staying close enough to the words to allow the next words to arrive. And that maybe that is something that in Buddhism we're encouraged to keep an eye on, is when we do things in our brain that kind of take us away from what's actually necessary, what's actually required of us in the moment. And I don't think that just being in the present moment is, is always what's required. Sometimes what's required is dwelling on a memory, or sometimes what's required is planning for the future. Or thinking about the future. So I don't think it's about staying right here all the time, but there is something about what is the next right thing for me to do, and how is it to do that thing? And I think that's why a lot of practice can be helpful Lots of different practices that we do. When we were walking around the garden this morning, I was really noticing, uh, little flying things that were sort of bumping into me. And at one point, I think there was a cobweb that was sort of stretched across the path that it really brought me into my body and into the earth. I was kind of on the ground. And that as we notice our breath going in and out, we're, we're, we're given an opportunity to, to settle into ourselves a little more deeply than we often do as we're going about our daily lives. And as we chant all of these things that we do together. So there's my little lesson for myself today: concentrate when you're doing the verse and, uh, don't worry about other people when you've got something to do yourself. And, and it's also okay. I think the Buddha knew what we meant. Namaste.
Namoha vida. Namoha vida. Namoha vida. Namoha vida.
In gratitude, we offer this incense to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout space and time. May it be fragrant as earth herself, reflecting our careful efforts, our wholehearted awareness, and the fruits of understanding slowly ripening. May we and all beings be companions of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. May we awaken from blackfulness and realize our true home. Blessed by Amitabha's light, may we care for all living things. Amma Moliyo. Amma Nidhibhu. So back in the shrine room for 10:30 if you're joining us for the ancestor shrine workshop— ancestor workshop, um, and which I would like to start on time, which will start on time. And then 12 o'clock we'll be going to sit with the vigil guys. So I can do my permit today. Yes, and then lunch, and then a walk, and then a circle. And then me to bed. And then me to bed. Thank you.
Thank you.
