Practice with Bhanu

Morning everybody, lovely day. Hello everyone online. Summer's here. Um, start with a reading which I found in the drawer I like, and it's, uh, it's from the Pali Canon and it's been translated by Thich Nhat Hanh. It's quite just a short piece of writing. This body is not me. I am not caught in this body. I am life without boundaries. I have never been born and I have never died. Over there, the wide ocean and the sky with many galaxies, all manifests from the basis of consciousness. Since beginningless time, I have always been free. Birth and death are only a door through which we go in and out. Birth and death are only a game of hide and seek. So smile to me and take my hand and wave goodbye. Tomorrow we shall meet again, or even before. We shall always be meeting again at the true source, always meeting again on the myriad paths of life. Namaste. And we'll just settle into some meditation. Get comfy.

Om Nidewari. Om Namideva Re. Om Namideva Re. Om Namideva Re. Om Nami Deva Rhi. Om Nami Deva Rhi. Mami de wa ri. Oh, Mami de wa ri. Oh, Mami de wa. Om Amidevare. Om Amidevare. Om Amidevare. Om Amidevare. Om Amidevare. Om Amidevare. Om Amidevare. Om Amidevare. Om.

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.

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 Damaya.

Namo Damaya.

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 Sanghaya.

Namo Sanghaya.

For refuge I go to the Earth.

For refuge I go to the Earth.

The holy ground of awakening.

The holy ground of awakening.

Namo Bhumyay.

Namo Bhumyay.

With faith in the Four Refuges.

With faith in the Four Refuges.

And in light of my human tendencies.

And enlightened my human tendencies—

I pray that I may become aware of when I take life; I pray that I may become aware of when I take what is not freely given; or while I say 'what is not freely given'—

I pray that I may become aware so make them aware when I fall into sexual misconduct; I of when I fall into sexual misconduct.

I pray that I may become aware—

I pray that I may become aware of when I fall into wrong speech— of what I've fallen to on stage.

I pray that I may become aware—

I pray that I may become aware of when I become intoxicated— of why I'm becoming toxic.

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 vow to master them all.

Infinite is the Buddha's way.

We vow to fulfill it completely.

Oh, excuse me.

Um, so I thought I'd share share some of my thoughts with you about faith, um, or my personal experiences of faith, which is the only way I can talk about faith, as it is uniquely a personal subject. I've just finished the Essentials of Bright Earth course, which Casper has been facilitating recently. I decided to take part in the course partly because I always have a niggling doubt in the back of my mind I have missed something vital that I should know about as a minister, and partly because I just really enjoy the way Caspar teaches and wanted to support the new programme. We discussed beforehand whether or not the course is really suitable for me and came to the conclusion that I would probably know most of the content, but the reflection part of the weekly meetings might be useful, and this turned out to be the case. Revisiting subjects that you already know gives you the opportunity to look more deeply into them, which is what I've been doing. The final week was entitled Faith and Practice, so this was what I was reflecting on last Monday. As long as I can remember, I've had quite a deep faith, a faith that everything was going to be all right, everything would work out, and I didn't really need to worry too much about my future as long as I lived a good and honest life. As if something or someone had my back. I've never believed in the Christian version of God and was brought up in a vaguely Christian environment by atheist parents, or at least parents that would refuse to discuss religion or brush over this subject whenever it was mentioned. I later discovered that when my mum was a teenager, her parents, my nan and granddad, were Jehovah's Witnesses, and this had deeply affected my mum in quite a negative way. Which would explain why she was so reluctant to discuss religion when I was a child. So I never had a name for whatever it was I was putting my faith in. Closest I ever came to giving a name was probably Mother Nature. I think I must have inherited my mum's skepticism for organized religion, but always tried to keep an open mind. So when I arrived at Bright Earth and started going to practice and listening to dharma talks, I began to feel for the first time that I had met other people who thought more or less along the same lines as I did. Suddenly there was a name that I could put to this previously unnamed entity that I had so much faith in. Amida Buddha. Infinite light and infinite love. Something that was there for all of us to tap into if we needed or wanted to. Not a creationist God who judged me or dished out punishments and rewards. But a loving essence that witnesses all the good and bad in the world and remains a steady source of love regardless. A source of light that sees and feels me and the rest of the world just as we are. My faith has always been quite vague, so finding Amida gave me something to focus on. This does not mean that my faith has narrowed down in any way, because what I am focusing on is boundless, endless, and infinite.

Satya Robyn.

Many years ago, a friend asked me if I believed in God. My reply was, "That depends on what you mean by God," to which he replied, "What do you think God is?" Up until that point, I had only considered the Christian version of God that I had been taught in school and which I had already rejected. When I started to think about what I personally might think God was, it seemed obvious to me at the time. God is everything. Every living thing on this planet, every non-living thing on this planet, every planet in this universe and every other universe, all of the element— elements: earth, water, air, fire, every feeling or emotion, everything that has ever been explained by science and everything still yet to be discovered. Something so vast that it can never be fully conceived or understood. Just infinite energy, or you could say infinite light. I don't really know where my faith come from— came from, but I think maybe it's a combination of my love and awe of the natural world and the scientific knowledge that energy never dies. This life is infinite in one way or another. We may die, but life itself will go on, even if the human race is wiped out at some point in the future. Life will continue. If our beautiful planet one day implodes, something will continue somewhere in the vastness of everything. But my faith is based on what I know or feel here and now, rather than intellectually speculating on the future of the universe. The more I learn about the natural world, the deeper my faith grows. I find it strange that the theory of evolution is sometimes used by atheists to dismiss faith and religion. And from a personal perspective, the more I understand about the science of nature and ecology, the more I believe in the divine presence of Amida. As I write this, I'm looking out the window in the library. There is a pigeon sitting on the coach house roof. Its iridescent neck feathers are a metallic blue, green, and pink. Those few tiny beautiful feathers alone are enough to convince me of a divine presence. But as it flies off past the birch tree blowing in the wind, with the sun glinting off its silvery white papery bark, I can hear a robin singing and I almost move to tears. For me, having faith in a higher power grows every time I open my heart to nature and take in all of its wonders. I don't fully understand how everything on this planet works, and I never will, but I know that I'm eternally grateful for all these gifts I receive on a daily basis. And I still maintain my belief that not only is everything going to be all right, but that everything already is all right. Namaste.

Gratitude we make this offering to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout space and time. May the fragrance of Earth herself reflect in our careful efforts our wholehearted mindfulness, and the fruits of understanding slowly ripen. May we and all beings be companions of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. May we awaken from forgetfulness and realize our true home. How to each other.

Before the final closing verse, announcements. We have a series of talks coming up, um, which are on the website. I can't remember all the dates or times. The next one is soon. Kaspa's got one.

They're probably looking at me.

And there's some online and there's some in person here. But it's all on the website, um, to check them out.

They should be good.

Um, that's it. Yeah. Okay.

Blessed by Anne Carver's light, may we care for all living things and the Holy Earth.

End recording and come back.