Satya Robyn leads a Zen practice session with facilitators Caspar and Helen. Helen reflects on missing something with a gym pedal story, while Caspar teaches on Dōgen's idea that practice matters more than explanation. The group does guided meditation, chanting, and prostrations.
Chapters
Namaste.
Hi everybody, welcome. If you're joining us on Zoom, we're going to begin listening to a Dharma glimpse by Helen this evening, so I'll hand the microphone over.
Thanks, Caspar. I wrote this a little while ago, actually, so it's quite interesting to read it again. The push pedal flips over. For as long as I can remember, there's always been a part of me that has believed I'm missing something. That everyone else is walking around going about their daily— their day fully actualized and so— and safe in the knowledge that they're fully intact with everything that they need to proceed. But here I am with a nagging suspicion that I was in the— I was in the canteen when the Divine was handing out some integral part that would track. I don't know what that part would be, of course, it's intangible, but it's something that isn't— some great knowledge that isn't present. I know I'm not alone in this thought. I've had many conversations over the years with various people describing a similar feeling, some describing it as feeling that at a certain age some invisible piece of themselves would simply appear and everything would make complete sense. I know that from a religious or philosophical perspective I'm talking about a question which has plagued great thinkers from— for millennia, the perceived separation between oneself and everyone else's and everyone, everything else. Heck, I'm in a Buddhist temple. Wasn't that the whole, the whole journey of his life's work? Anyway, I digress. Sometimes the latent feeling lays dormant, and other times it rears up to visceral levels which can best be described as imposter syndrome. There are moments, however, when the Divine Mother plays a startlingly simple trick on me. A glitch in the matrix occurs, usually to hilarious effect. One such moment occurred this week at the gym. I sat across from a fellow gym goer and noticed them on a piece of equipment I've been perplexed by for quite a few months. It's a leg and glute machine with a pedal on one side which the user pushes backwards and pushes back to create tension in the upper leg muscles. But the thing is, it makes no sense. Everyone knows that in order to— you have to work both limbs on an exercise or you'll be a wonky donkey. You have to be able to do both sides. So how can this machine work since it's only possible to pedal on one side because that's how it's orientated? I've consoled myself that this must just be some science I don't understand and it's somehow cleverly working both sides. So you can imagine my amazement then when without a second's thought this gut gym user just flips the pedal over. Silly, I know, but I thought my heart— but it brought my heart to a smile with warmth to know that I'm not crazy or missing anything. I just didn't know that the pedal flipped over. Namaste. Thank you.
So coming into silent meditation. And as we come out of the meditation, we'll chant the Kwan Yin mantra. Namah Kwan Chien Bosat.
Namah Kwan Shin Bosat. Namah Kwan Shin Bosat. Namah Kwan Shin Bosat. Namah Kwan Shin Bosat. Namah Kwan Shin Bosat. Namah Kwan Shin Bosat. Satya Robyn. Namah Kwan Chi in Bursat. Namah Kwan Chi in Bursat. Namah Kwan Chi in Bursat. Namah Kwan Shin Po Sat. Namah Kwan Shin Po Sat. Namah Kwan Shin Namokwanji in Bursat. Namokwanji in Bursat. Namokwanji in Bursat. Namokwanji in Bosats. Namokwanji in Bosats. Namokwanji in Bosats. Namah Kwan Shin Bosat. Namah Kwan Shin Bosat. Namah Kwan Shin Bosat. Namokwanji in Bursat. Namokwanji in Bursat. Namokwanji in Bursat. Namah Kwan Chi Inbo Sat. Namah Kwan Chi Inbo Sat. Namah Kwan Chi Inbo Sat. Namah Kwan Shin Bo Sat. Namah Kwan Shin Bo Sat. Namah Kwan Shin Bo Sat. Namah Kwan Shin Bo Sat. Namah Kwan Shin Bo Sat.
Namah Kwan Shin For refuge I go to the Buddha—
for refuge I go to the one who is awake and full of love—
the one who is awake and full of love.
Namo Buddhaya! For refuge I go to the Dharma— all that guides us to wisdom and compassion—
all that guides us to wisdom and compassion.
Namo Tamaya. For refuge I go to the Sangha, those who live in the Buddha's light. Namo Sangaya. 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. 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. No blame. Be kind.
Be kind.
Love everything.
Love everything.
Innumerable sentient beings, we vow to save them all. Inexhaustible outlandish passions, we vow to transform them all. Immeasurable other dharma teachings, We vow to master them all. We vow to fulfill completely.
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
I was scrambling around earlier trying to think of something to think about, what was going to impress everybody, what would make me look good, what would bring me lots of reassurance. What was it, the Shinran that— what Satya Robyn quoted on Saturday? I'm just teaching Buddhism for the fame and the profit. And I was flicking through this book of stories, koans or stories, that Dogen collected when he was in China. And this one stood out. And I mean, it's not even a story really, it's just somebody saying something. But I'll read it out. The great Master Shoku on Mount Daiji in the Kō district preached to an assembly, "It is better to practice one foot than to explain 10 feet. It is better for us to practice one inch than to explain 10 inches." Master Tōzan said, "We explain what we cannot practice." and we practice what we cannot explain. It was quite a relief to read this. Oh yeah, of course, the talk is not the most important thing. I remember listening to a talk by Zenju Earthlyn Manuel recently, and she was saying like, that's what we want. We want to just rush through the ritual and the meditation so we can listen to the talk. That's how Westerners approach practice and Zen groups a lot of times in her experience. She's a Zen teacher in the States. But then you're missing, you're missing the experience, which is where the real transmission happens. I mean, listening to a talk is also a form of practice. Let's not undermine that, but You know, I've said before that, that when we do like an introduction, the first timers practice, and I say, well, we do this for this reason and we do this for that reason, it's not really all the reasons. I can't give you all the reasons. I can say prostrating, when we prostrate 3 times, is to the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, and we do that This putting our hands above our heads means with my whole body, and here means with my speech and words, and here with my heart and emotions. And we can describe why we do prostrations, we can attempt a description of why we do prostrations, but you only find out by doing them. Some of us did quite a few prostrations on Sunday, of course. British camp. And, you know, 6 o'clock in the morning, I did not understand why I was doing frustrations. I couldn't put that into words. And then later, as, as my head rested on the earth, I was like, oh, okay, there's something profound in this that I can I could put a few words to, but I— you can't possibly capture the whole thing. That's the point of doing practice. We discover the meaning of it as we do it, and we trust that these things that have been handed down to us are meaningful. Yeah, that's what Tosa and Master Tosa means. We explain what we cannot practice and we practice what we cannot explain. The words can't completely match the experience. Dogen really was known for doing short talks, so I guess he also took this advice to heart. Um, so I'll also stop there and just say this: Keep Practicing.
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
I mean, I don't know if Dogen was known for doing short talks. What I noticed about his talks in the collection of talks that I've got is that most of them are quite short. So I know him for that, but I don't know if that's like what people thought of when they thought of Dogen. Namaste.
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. May we and all beings be companions to Buddha, Sangha, and Sapphas. May we awaken from forgetfulness and realize our true nature.
Saturday morning, after practice, doing a bit of gardening. Weather currently forecast to be dry, so do feel free to come and join us for that.
Anything else?
That's all for now. Namaste. Blessed by Amitābha's light, may we care for all living things and the holy earth.
Namaste.
