Practice - Satya's slightly-too-tight trousers

Welcome to Wednesday evening practice. Joining Satya and myself in the shrine room, we've got Pri, Philip, and Jarnai. On Zoom, we've got Yaz and Dane. They're not— I don't think they live in the same house. That would be something. And Chris, Carol, and Edgar. Welcome everybody. Satya is going to be leading the sequence practice.

Namaste. Thank you. So welcome, Etsuka, and I'll say a little bit about what we're doing as we do it tonight. So we begin with a talk, and the subject of this evening's talk is my trousers, which I ordered on eBay a few weeks ago Kasper and I quite recently decided that we wanted to have a kind of a uniform for practice now that we're out of the Amida shoe, and we picked black as a kind of ordinary, normal colour that's got associations with Buddhism. Dave said it makes us look like ninjas, so I really like that, and I wanted to have a special pair of black trousers, so I ordered some from eBay. I'm wearing them this evening, and they're just slightly too tight. And I was reflecting on what, what conditions led to me wearing slightly too tight trousers, and I think that there are two main things. 2 things that I feel attached to that I haven't quite been able to let go of. One is that I bought them on eBay and spent money on them, and so I like the idea of being able to use them, or them being something that was a good purchase rather than what happens to some of my eBay purchases, which is that they get passed on someone else for various reasons. And the other thing that I am attached to is probably my pre-lockdown weight, because pre-lockdown Satya Robyn would have found these trousers quite comfortable. So what does any of that have to do with Buddhism? For me, Buddhism helps me to remember that seeing things as they are is a helpful thing to do. So being able to see the world through clear eyes and come into closer contact with reality. And the more reality we come into contact with, the more we can let go of our various, um, preferences or aversions or stories or defenses or desires or expectations, all of that stuff that is all understandable and it's all trying to keep us steady and keep us safe. It all comes between us and the world as it is. And it causes us discomfort. The discomfort of slightly too tight trousers is avoidable, you just don't put them on. And as a Bambu being, we're all carrying around a lot of these this baggage all of the time. And seeing clearly includes beginning to see more and more of the layers of our, our delusion, of our greed, hate, and delusion. I have another pair of black trousers. I had another pair of black trousers that were even smaller than these ones, which put them into the category of don't even think about trying to wear them. And a couple of weeks ago, an activist colleague said that they were looking for a pair of black trousers for an action, and so they fitted her perfectly, and they were the pair of black trousers, one of the pairs of black trousers that ran out onto the pitch, not pitch, what's it called, racecourse at Ascot, and put the banner up and sent the message to the Queen. I'm very proud of that, very essential part of the action. And so when we are able to let go of the things that don't fit us or that don't suit us, the Buddha will find a way of making use of them somewhere else. Maybe in not such a dramatic and pleasing way, but everything gets recycled somewhere. So when I finish this evening, after the cup of tea, I will put these trousers into a bag for charity, and who knows where they'll end up. Namaste, Dupree. So as we sit quietly this evening, you might just want to notice anything that comes up that gets between you and reality. If you have thoughts, notice what those thoughts are trying to do for you. If you get stuck on physical sensations, just notice them. And if you are able to let them go, then let them go. If not, just notice that you can't let them go just yet. That's okay too. And over the period of meditation, you may find things settling a little bit. If they do settle, just dwell in that calm space. And then after a while, we'll start chanting together, and we'll chant Amitabha this evening. Namomida Butsu.

Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. 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. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Saba. Ami taba. Ami taba. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha.

So we'll now recite the refuges, precepts, and bodhisattva vows together. So please repeat after me. For refuge I go to the Buddha.

For refuge I go to the Buddha.

Namo Buddhaaya.

Namo Buddhaia—

for refuge I go to the Dharma.

For refuge I go to the Dharma.

Namo Dharmaya—

Namo Dharmaya—

for refuge I go to the Sangha.

For refuge I go to the Sangha.

Namoh Sanghaya—

Namoh 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 three jewels I pray that I may not steal—I pray that I may not steal—with faith in the 3 jewels—I pray that I may not fall into sexual misconduct—I pray that I might not fall into sexual misconduct-with faith in the Three Jewels—in the Faithful One's Jewel-I pray that time may not fall into wrong speech—and then it says "I'm afraid" —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.

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 fulfill it completely. Namoh Amida Butsu! Namoh Amida— namo amida na mo ami da huu! Namoh Amida na mu amida namo amida na mu amida namo amida butsu!

So now we will all bow to each other. And then if you're on Zoom, if you want to unmute, we'll say the closing verse together.

Bless by Amitabha's light may we care for all living things and lay holy earth— Am I muted? So if you're here, we can have a cup of tea!

If you're not here—