Practice with Kaspa

Welcome everybody. Quiet in the shrine room this evening, very quiet on Zoom. People making the most of the last couple of weeks of their summer holidays, maybe. I'm going to begin with a reading from the Pali Canon. The Pali— the Buddhist teachings were transmitted orally for a few generations, and then they were written down. They were written down by people from different groups who had slightly different biases and emphases, and the Pali Canon is the oldest collection survives in the complete form, in complete written form. And I was thinking about the sort of saying that grass is always greener on the other side. I don't think there's any real equivalent in Buddhism, but there is a— the Buddha does talk about jealousy and envy being a hindrance So this is one of those texts translated by Bhikkhu Sujjato. It's called The Shorter Analysis of Deeds. So I've heard, at one time the Buddha was staying near Savati in Jetta's Grove and at Upindika's monastery. Then this student Subba Todeyya's son approached the Buddha and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side and said to the Buddha, 'What is the cause, worthy Gotama? What is the reason why even among those who are human beings, some are seen to be inferior and superior? For people who are seen who are short-lived and long-lived, sickly and healthy, ugly and beautiful, insignificant and illustrious, poor and rich, from low and eminent families, witless and wise? What's the reason why even among those who are human beings, some are seen to be inferior and some superior? Student, the Buddha said, sentient beings are the owners of their deeds. An heir to their deeds. Deeds are their womb, their relative, and their refuge. It is deeds that divide beings into inferior and superior, which is a topic, which is a theme the Buddha returns to time and time again. I don't understand the meaning of what the worthy Gotama has said in brief without explaining the details. Worthy Gotama, please teach me this matter in detail so I can understand the meaning. Well then, student, listen and apply your mind. I will speak. Yes, worthy sir, replied Subba. And the Buddha said this. And then the Buddha goes through a list of all the hindrances and what it is that means that people are reborn into poor families or rich families or illustrious families or insignificant families. And one of those he describes is jealousy. Take some woman or man who is jealous. They envy, resent, and begrudge the possessions, honor, respect, reverence, homage, and veneration given to others. Because of undertaking such deeds, when their body breaks up after death, they're reborn in a place of loss, a bad place. The underworld, hell. If they're not reborn into a place of loss but return into the human realm, then wherever they're born, they're insignificant. But take some woman or man who is not jealous because of undertaking such deeds. When their body breaks up after death, they're reborn into a good place, a heavenly realm. If they're not reborn in a heavenly realm but return to the human realm, then wherever they're reborn, they will be illustrious. So it is the way that people live that makes them how they are: short-lived or long-lived, sickly or healthy, ugly or lovely. You know, I'm not sure I believe all of that completely, but this is where the Buddha's coming from. Poor or rich, in a low-class eminent family or witless or wise. 'Sentient beings are the owners of their deeds and heir to their deeds. Deeds are their womb, their relative, and their refuge. It is deeds that divide beings into inferior and superior.' When he had spoken, Subba said to him, 'Excellent, worthy Gotama, excellent! As if he were writing the overturned, revealing the hidden, or pointing out the path to the lost, lighting a lamp in the dark so people with clear eyes can see what's there. Worthy Gotama has made the teaching clear in many ways. I go for refuge to the worthy Gotama, to the teaching, and to the mendicant sangha. From this day forth, may the worthy Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge for life. So we'll explore what some of that means a little bit later. But it's the basic sense of cause and effect that you find in Buddhism. When your mind tends in one direction or another direction, that creates the conditions for how you will be in the future. Now, as we move into meditation, an opportunity to watch our minds, noticing what arises without adding energy into it, without ignoring it, just paying attention to what's arising, what's falling. Chant the name of Amitābha Buddha, the Buddha of infinite light who accepts us just as we are. Amitābha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. A, ta, a, mi, ta, a, mi. I want to invite you to repeat the refuges and precepts and bodhisattva vows after me, which you can also find written on the liturgy sheet. 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 Dharmaya. 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.

Namobu myai.

Namobu myai.

With faith in the Four Refuges.

With faith in the Four Refuges.

And in light of my human tendencies.

And in light of 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. I pray that I may become aware— of when I fall into sexual misconduct. I pray that I may become aware of when I fall into wrong speech. I pray that I may become aware of when I become intoxicated. No blame.

No blame.

Be kind.

Be kind.

Love everything. Love everything. Innumerable sentient beings, we vow to save them all.

Inexhaustible are the Vedic passions.

We vow to transform them all.

Immeasurable are the Dharma teachings.

We vow to master them all. Infinitus the Buddha's way, we vow to fulfill completely. A few weeks ago, someone shared with me, uh, a snippet of a talk they'd heard. I really like to credit people where I hear things, and I didn't make a note of who this was. It was one of the Thai forest teachers, so Ajahn Brahm, maybe Ajahn Sumedho. I think Ajahn Brahm. He was talking about the experience some lay people have when they look at monks and think, oh, they've got a good life. If I was a monk, I wouldn't have any of these problems that I've got in my life right now. And some of those people become monks, and what they discover is, well, they don't have the problems they had when they were lay people. They now have monk's problems. And he said, the monks look at me on my, um, chair and my abbot's chair at the front of the Dharma hall and think, oh, he hasn't got any problems. If I was the abbot, I'd be okay. And then some of them go on to become abbots somewhere, and then they discover, oh, now I've got abbot's problems. This is the first noble truth, right? You can't get away from suffering. Even if you shave your head and put on a robe and you learn a different way of working with it, but you can't escape it. So that's why I was thinking about this thing, oh, the grass is always greener, right? And what role envy and jealousy play in that. And in this teaching that the Buddha gives in the Pali Canon, is really clear. If you are envious of somebody else's possessions or their status— and then there's a few synonyms for status I noticed that follow in the text, which speaks to how anxious people were about their status in the Buddha's time. There was the caste system in India where the family that you were born into sort of determined the type of religious practice you could do, and therefore where you would be born in your next life, and all sorts of discrimination and oppression. It's a lot of status anxiety. And the Buddha undermined that by saying it's not the family you're born into that determines your future rebirth. It's the things that you do, it's the, the way, it's the thoughts that you have. I'm sure that's why I emphasized it so often, because the current culture, the opposite was true. It's just the family you're born into, you can't do anything about it, be content with your lot. You can make offerings, but you can only make offerings if you pay the priest or if you happen to be born into one of the right families. Buddha was saying, no, that's not true. The way you live your life is what makes a difference.. And in this list, jealousy, envy is one of the things that leads to a lower rebirth, which we can say an unhappier life. And ugliness, you know, that's one of the things I was skeptical about. Can jealousy really make you ugly? And of course, we know genetics play a component in how attractive we are, and it's one of the things that Like in Jainism, for example, which was around the same time, they believed that it was only your deeds that set your future, whereas Buddhism allows for other things that work as well, like genetics. But actually, if you are mean, if you are envious, if you are jealous, it affects the way you stand, you hold your body, you hold your face, the way that you speak about others and yourself. And there is a kind of ugliness in that, regardless of how, uh, of how lucky your genetic material is, how symmetrical your face is. But if you're open-hearted and generous and compassionate and kind That's attractive. People notice that and will be drawn to you. And what is jealousy and envy? It isn't simply noticing that somebody has something I don't have, or even noticing that somebody has a better life than I have. Sometimes that can be an accurate assessment. There will be people out there whose lives are easier than mine in certain ways, and I— my life will be easier than other people's in certain ways.

That's—

there is something accurate about that. Jealousy, envy, they are simply a form of grasping. It's not that we shouldn't necessarily work to get things that we want, or to change our lives, or to improve. You know, there are talks where the Buddha tells his lay followers to make successful businesses so that you can donate more money to the monastic sangha. And he wants people to develop good qualities and to be inspired by senior members of the monastic community. There is a kind of moving forward that happens in these early Buddhist stories, but it isn't driven by jealousy or grasping or greed. It's driven by a longing for ease. It's inspired by love, loving kindness for yourself, loving kindness for those around you. There's a different feeling quality. Jealousy and envy lead to self-pity, which is different from genuine self-compassion. We can care for ourselves when we suffer, that's really important, uh, but, but self-pity includes resentment, which is one of the things that blocks compassion, which blocks connection. All of the kleshas, all of the things in that list, which I didn't read— I just read the jealousy and the envy— they're all fear-based responses. They come from a sense of insecurity that I'm not good enough, that I don't have enough, that I'm not enough. It's the kind of fundamental existential problem of humanity. I feel separate, I feel alone, I feel worthless, I feel helpless. I don't want to feel that way, so I will grasp for something else. I will be jealous, I will be envious, I will be greedy. And the antidote to that is compassion. It's both compassion, practicing compassion for others, being pleased when other people— Mudita— being pleased when other people have success. But it is— but the direct antidote is allowing love into our own hearts so that rather than feeling disconnected We begin to feel connected. Rather than feeling worthless, we begin to feel valued. Rather than feeling insecure, we begin to feel secure and safe. Buddhism has lots of practices that help with that, but of course the thing we do most often here is call to Amitābha Buddha, the Buddha of infinite light. Who loves us just as we are. And the more we allow that light of the Buddha into our heart, the less those negative emotions will tend to arise, the less easily that we will get caught in them. And they will still keep arising, and we will still keep getting caught in the midst of life. Long practice of continuing to choose to take refuge in the Buddha instead of taking refuge in grasping. So if it's, if it's good for you to become ordained, to become a monk or a nun, become a monk or a nun. We don't currently have a non-binary word for monk or nun, just ordained person, I guess. But don't think that you won't have any problems. Go on to become the abbot, set up your own Buddhist temple. Trust me, there will be problems. But where— whatever suits you, whatever path suits you, the most important thing is to keep choosing to invite the Buddha into your heart, to allow that sense of connection rather than disconnection, of love rather than Fear.

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Now we'll stand and make prostrations chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which is I take refuge in Amida Buddha, another way of letting love into our hearts.

Alas, people busily engaged in secular matters take no notice of life, wearing away day by day, night by night. Like a lamp in the wind, how long can it last? In the vast realms of— in six realms of vast samsara, There is no fixed abode. Until we are emancipated from the sea of affliction, how can we rest in peace? Should we not be afraid? While we still have strength, let us each hear the Dharma. Let us strive and diligently seek the path to eternity.

Announcements before we finish. In the autumn, Satya's running a book group on Soon George Gaterby's Songs of Light translation of Shinran's verses, wassan, which is very beautiful text. We've got an open day coming up, open morning coming up in September, retreat day as well, and various things. Check out the calendar for more details. We'll finish with the closing verse. Blessed by Amitābha's light, may we care for all living things and the holy earth.