Practice - sangha as a lifeboat & the Buddha's flower

Good morning if you're joining us live in person in the shrine room. I don't know what Satya's giggling at. Good morning to Marky and Philip on Zoom. Lovely to see you both. Good whatever time of the day it is if you're watching on YouTube later on. We'll begin as usual with a Dharma glimpse this week written by Dhyame, who is not well and can't be here, but Shraddha is going to read it out for us. So I will move the microphone and hand over to you. Thank you.

Um, Dhyame has entitled his Dharma glimpse, Sangha is a Lifeboat. I recently had an interesting conversation with a fellow community member about the value of community, Sangha in Buddhist terms. As is often the case in these community discussions, Tantalizing questions and ideas came up that made me think about how important the sangha is as a spiritual model for the world at large and as a practical method of survival in a time of planetary emergency. Every now and then I am inclined to stop and evaluate my place in the world. I've lived in community for a long time now. And sometimes wonder whether it's time for a change, whether there might be a home somewhere out there waiting to accommodate and fulfill me in ways that my current situation can't, whether I might be taking up space that would better serve somebody else, or just simply outstaying my welcome. And as usual, the more I think about leaving, the implications of independent living and the potential benefits in most aspects of the idea, the more absurd it seems. It is not even necessary to turn on the news anymore in order to see or even feel the deterioration that is unfolding on a daily basis out there. The world is getting darker. The Buddha's prediction of Mapo The Dark Age, or age of the Dharma decline, has never been more relevant than it is today, which makes the model of the harmonious sangha even more important. We are charged with the responsibility of demonstrating an alternative to apathy, ignorance, and the superficial values of a broken culture. The phrase that came up for me in our conversation was 'Sangha is a lifeboat.' It was inspired by imagery that was used in teachings to describe to me and others the vital importance of exemplifying a way of life that reflects sanity and stability amid an ocean of chaos and turbulence. Those of us lucky enough to be aboard the lifeboat have to take turns to row and navigate towards a brighter horizon. We have to bail out the water as the leaks spring up and plug the holes that appear as our human dramas rock the vessel. Of course, this ideal doesn't come naturally or sit intuitively with most of us. We have been indoctrinated into a social climate that sells us individualism and presents arrogance as some kind of a virtue. To transcend this corrosive trend is to risk alienation and isolation. Our spiritual practice, both individual and collective, is cohesive and unifying. As is our friendship and companionship. They help us to join in a vision of a better world, which is always possible if we can prioritize the needs of the collective rather than contributing towards the fragmentation that threatens to capsize us. Namo Amida Butsu.

Thank you. Thank you, Jyamai, for sending that in. As always, if you're inspired to write Dharma glimpses, feel free to send them in to us. Lots of examples on our website. So we'll move now into a period of meditation. And the invitation, as on Wednesday evening, to have a soft, open awareness. Often in meditation, we have a single-pointed concentration on one thing, on the breath or sensations in the body. Today, noticing anything that comes into your awareness, like, uh, like noticing the things that come into your peripheral vision, but today would be perhaps peripheral hearing, peripheral body sensations, peripheral, etc. And if you find you get caught in any one particular thing, inviting yourself to step back and come back into this space of a soft, wide noticing. In a moment, we'll chant the name Amitabha together. Amitabha is the Buddha of infinite light, and the light is love. Wise clear seeing, unconditional love. So as we recite the name, you can think of this as invoking that quality, or perhaps if you prefer, remembering that that quality is already here. Om Mitabhba.

Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha.

Amitabha.

Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha.

Now we'll recite the refuges and precepts and three remembrances and Bodhisattva vows together. And as we've said before, many of these words go back generations and we say them in the same way every week, but just because, well, we say them in the same way because doing things in a ritualized way can help build community. But saying exactly the same words isn't an invitation to rigidity or to following, oh, these are the rules I must follow, beep beep beep, I'm an ethical robot, but rather an invitation to go deeper. They invite us to find what is truly loving, a truly loving response moment. To moment, but we kind of don't always know, and maybe it's helpful to have some sense of what the shape of that is. So these are the words that we say. Please repeat after me. 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. 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 Dhammaya.

Namo Dhammaya.

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 Sangha.

Namo Sangha!

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

With faith in the Three Jewels—

I pray that I may not steal. With faith in the Three Jewels— I pray that I may not fall into sexual misconduct.

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 Three Jewels—

With faith in the Three Jewels—

I pray that I may avoid intoxication.

I pray that I may avoid intoxication.

No blame! Be kind! Love everything!

Love everything. 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 bow to master them all.

Infinite is the Buddha's way, we bow before it completely. When we were walking around the garden before coming up here, I spotted a brand new dahlia, or dahlia, dahlia. I could get stuck in a loop there. Dahlia or dahlia or dahlia. So thank you.

Thank you.

Dali as a person, that's helpful. I'll forget next time. I'm sorry. A brand new dahlia bloom, bright yellow, like the ones in the vase on the shrine, but yellow rather than pale pink, and fresh and new. And it's nearly the last day of October, and it was so cheerful. I was so pleased to see it. And we've been talking about the mild weather before practice, and Satya said it— this warmth is 3 times more likely because of climate change. And I know, uh, in France they're experiencing record, or they're expecting to experience record top temperatures for this time of year. And I was reminded of the Buddha holding up the flower and Maha Kashyapa smiling, which is where the Zen lineage of Buddhism traces itself back to that moment. That's when Maha Kashyapa became enlightened, when he saw a flower that the Buddha was holding up. And, uh, flowers are still used by contemporary Zen teachers today as symbols of awakening. They talk about the natural way a flower exists without any expectations, just being itself. And we're invited by Buddhism, particularly in the language of Zen Buddhism, to wake up to reality as it is. And reality, reality as it is includes all of these things: the cheerful, bright yellow dahlia, The unusually warm weather that is a symptom of the same problem that has displaced hundreds of thousands of people around the world, and people have died in extreme weather events like the recent flooding in Nigeria. And it includes the Buddha's smile and Maha Kāśyapa's smile. And those last two things were the things that I used to leave out when I first started practicing Zen Buddhism 20 years ago. Reality as it is. Well, that just means the things I can see and touch and read about and can measure. The things I can measure.. And my meditation practice helps me come to terms with a sort of pessimistic view of the world. Oh, there's a lot of trouble around, but I can sort of make my peace with this by doing 20 minutes of sitting once or twice a day, which I don't do I don't do that practice now, but that's what I was doing when I first started, for like a very diligent student. And, um, and eventually I came to realize that reality as it is, suchness, which is actually a translation of one of the nicknames of the Buddha, uh, the one who goes to enlightenment, or the one who comes from enlightenment to us, must also include that smile of the Buddha, because that is always present somehow. Reality sucks sometimes, and Yet a loving response is always possible. And as Pure Land Buddhists, we believe that somewhere, somehow, a loving response is being made. It is being sent to us, whatever moment we find ourselves in. Amitābha's name means light, as I said earlier, so you can imagine that Yes, sometimes this life, sometimes the situations in this life are light and joyful, like seeing a bright yellow flower. And sometimes they aren't, they're darker and more painful. But the light of the Buddha is always present within that darkness. Both of those things We have to keep an eye on both of those things if we really want to say that we're seeing things as they are. The suffering, which can be awful, and the bright yellow flowers and the loving response of humans and non-humans and Buddhas. Namaste. So we'll stand to make prostrations, and I will remember to go to the front. I forgot the other night, and what's worse is I didn't even know I forgot until somebody told me after the practice session.

Namoh Amida. Namoh Amida. Namoh Amida. Namoh Amida. Namoh Amida Butsu! Namoh Amida Butsu! Namoh Amida Butsu!

Namoh Amida—

Namoh Amida.

In gratitude, I offer this incense to all beings 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 forgetfulness and realize our true home.

We finished with the closing verse, which you can find in that teaching. Oh yeah, I will do. I thought I might make it through a practice session without forgetting anything, but not today.

So we'll bow to each other first. Thank you, Satya Robyn. We all win each other completely.

And to the Main Shrine, to our seats, and And now we'll finish with the closing verse. Feel free to unmute if you want to, if you want to join in. Blessed by Amitābha's light, may we care for all living things and the holy earth. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. And just a reminder, we've got the retreat day next Saturday, which will, in this slot, that we've just had. We'll have the talk by Nagarjuna, which we're looking forward to. Space is available for the next set of book groups. Do let Satya Robyn or myself know if you're interested.

December Fan by Kiyozawa Manshi. It's just 5 weeks on either on Zoom or here in the temple.

December Fan is a Japanese idiom that means chocolate teapot. And, uh, nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Looks like we've lost Philip.

Philip might be on his way down. Yes.

Oh, he's helping somebody move. Yeah, but he'll be here later. Mikey's gone to work.