A Buddhist group practice led by Satya Robyn that includes guided meditation, chanting to Kwan Yin, and a dharma talk on prostrations and the Nembutsu. Matthew reads Reverend Kobo Sei on simplicity, and the community recites refuges and precepts together before dedicating merit to Leonie Griffiths.
Chapters
Welcome everybody.
I always have this thing where I never really want to talk over the bell. Yeah, so we're going to start this evening's practice. This by a short teaching by Reverend Kobo Sei on simplicity, and it's going to be read by Matthew.
Should I start?
Buddhism means to learn simplicity. Life is simple and therefore beautiful. It is just as the birds sing and the flowers bloom. Very natural, very simple. Life should not be analyzed. The intellect analyzes, but analysis and intellectualization will not bring peace to life. It will not bring enlightenment. Enlightenment is the direct intuitive knowing of, of who is, one is. This is Buddhism. All the teachings can be reduced to Know yourself. To know oneself is to know that there is a very self is constantly changing. Life is continuously becoming. It is not something you possess. Realizing this, you live a new life each day. Live life directly and simply. A flower is beautiful because it blooms without pretentiousness, without artificiality. Blooming is reality. Blooming is life. Blooming is the means to an end. This is how it should be in your life too. This reminds me of a question someone asked Picasso: Why do you paint in such a way? It is hard to understand. Picasso replied, don't ask me. Ask the birds why it sings. Why do birds sing? Why do flowers bloom? Why does the rain fall? It is life's expression. Life is like a spring gushing forth from within the earth. From the bottom of life, continuously new life springs out. So simple, so clean. Live this pure life. Drink at this spring of life and live accordingly, without pretension. Without artificiality. It is this the kind of simplicity that Buddhism teaches.
Thank you very much.
So we're going to move into a short period of meditation. So making any little adjustments that you need to make with the physical body You become as comfortable as you can be while also being kind of alert. To help with settling, it might be helpful just to sense the space around you. So you can internally just clock kind of block the room that you're in now, the space that we're in together, which extends to include the space around the people joining us online. Noticing any sounds that are around you. Just gently letting the awareness come to rest.
Just on the breath.
And whenever you find your mind drifting off, which will happen, just knowing that that's okay. Noticing it and then bringing yourself back. We're going to move into a period of chanting. And as it is the full moon, happy full moon, and we're going to chant the Kwan Yin mantra. And you want to take a little look at the one of the— one of the— we have quite a few Kwan Yins in the room, but that Kwan Yin in the corner, just as a little reference, or simply opening yourself up to her compassionate energy. And if you need to find this on the little liturgy sheet, then you're looking for the mantra that goes Nammo Kwan Shi Yin Bosat.
Nammo Kwan Shi Yin Bosat. Namokwan Shin Bosaat! Namokwan Shin Bosaaat! Namokwan Shin Boosaat— Namo Kuan Chi In Vo Saas? Namokwanji N'Vosat! Namokwantji N'Vossaat? Namokwanchiin Vossaat— Namokwanji N'Vosat! Namokwantji Inbosa— namo kwanchi n'bosasam namokane chi ingozas? I am not sure what it says there...
Okay?!
Um.
Let's try again.
Namokwanji N'vosat! Namokwanji N'bosat! Namokwanji N'Vosa! Namah Kwanchi Hindo Sahib! Namo Kwan Chi hindu sahib namoh— Quan chi hin bo satnamokwanshiin bosaat namokwantshiindosaat? Namokwanji Ngo Saat. Namokwanji Ngo Saat. Namokwanji Ngoo Saat. Namokwanji Ngoo Saat. Namokwanji Ngo Saat! Namokwanji Ngo Saat! Namokwanji Ngo Saat! Namokwanji N'bosat! Namoh Kuan Yin Bosat! Namoh Kwan Sheen Bo Saat! Namoh Kwan Sheein Boo Saat!
Namoh Kwanchi Woo—
So we're going to recite the refuges and precepts, which are on the little liturgy sheets. Most of it is call and response anyway, except for the Bodhisattva vows, which are at the end. And then if you don't know those ones, you can just kind of mumble, or we can just kind of listen to other people. 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, 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 Sangha. With faith in the Three Jewels, 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 was not freely given—
of my attention to it's not free again.
I pray that I may become aware, afraid so I make them away from one eye fall into sexual misconduct—
but when I've fallen into sexual misfortune, I pray that I may become aware— I prayed until they became more aware—
of when I fell into wrong speech before nightfall each other on stage. I pray that I may become aware I pray that I may become aware of when I become intoxicated.
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.
Infinito. The Buddha's way, we vow to forfeit it completely. Namaste.
Today I've been reflecting on prostrations, on making prostrations, on bowing. So we have obviously some frustrations that happen as part of our practices here at Brighter. And you may have done this kind of thing before in other places, or it might be a completely new thing to you. And if it's completely new, it might have initially— it might still feel a bit weird, might feel a bit strange, particularly in this In the West, we're not accustomed to bowing, and it can bring up all sorts of questions like, what am I bowing to? What am I bowing for? Am I bowing to a statue, an inanimate object? Does this mean I'm pledging myself to something? Does this mean I'm making myself less and the other thing more? All sorts of discomforts can arise. I remember when I was at a bhakti yoga event and they had a pair of sandals that Babaji, one of the gurus, had worn. And there's a bit in the ceremony where someone carries these sandals through the hall on a cushion and everyone bows.. And, um, and the people next to me who'd never experienced this before were like, oh yeah, so this is the bit where we bow to a pair of sandals. And I just really appreciated them saying that because I also had a part of me that was going, and now I'm bowing to a pair of sandals. And I also had the part of me that was, you know, feeling that devotion and The embodied expression of that connection made sense, and both of those things were happening alongside each other. And maybe that's— maybe you can relate to that somewhere. Maybe the very first time you came to do that, it felt a bit weird, or maybe you just— maybe it's felt really comfortable from, from the beginning. And there are a lot of, there are a lot of different ways to think about what it means when we prostrate within Buddhism. So some people say that we are bowing to the ideal of enlightenment, to, uh, to that potential, to our own Buddha nature as reflected within the Buddha on the shrine. Some people say that we are surrendering our little ego to something higher, to awakening consciousness. Some people say it's to do with honoring, honoring the teachings, honoring the historical Buddha. Some people say don't think at all about what it means, just do it and find out. Do it and find out through the lived embodied experience and see what that feels like. And then we also have other ways of thinking about it here within Bright Earth. So my favorite time to come into the shrine room is late at night where nobody else is around and it's really quiet and dark and peaceful. And when I come here late at night, I always feel really, really strongly that sense of connection, the Buddhas and with the Bodhisattvas, with the divine, the infinite. And normally one of the first things I wanna do, like, is just prostrate. That's normally, it's pretty much as soon as I come in, my being is just like, just get on the floor. Like, just surrender, surrender. And there's, there's something about, for me, about the earth in my body, the earth as, as the bones, as the muscles. Connecting with the earth under my feet, that deep grounding and anchoring. And it's also very much me surrendering to something much, much bigger than myself. And another way of perceiving the Nembutsu and, and perceiving prostrations is as an embodiment of the Nembutsu. So as an embodiment of our dynamic, ever-evolving, living connection, relationship with Amida Buddha, with the source of love, light, compassion, life. And if you think about what the body does when we prostrate, I feel like actually it really visually really does express that, like, express that opening up. So the body kind of comes down and opens up reaches out. The body physically reaches out and opens our hands open to receive. So the Nembutsu, so, is us reaching out and opening ourselves up to receive, and also knowing at the same time that there is, uh, that a mida, that there is something which is reaching out towards us. And receiving us. And I feel like you literally— there's a kind of simplicity to the fact that the body is really showing that when we prostrate, even if we're doing it from a chair, if our bodies aren't able to get out onto the floor, there's still this movement forward and opening up to receive and reaching out. And knowing that we are held by that. And it may be that when you bow, when you prostrate, that you have a different kind of experience, that a different kind of meaning constellates for you through that embodied experience. It may be that that resonates with some of the things I've been saying, and it may be that for you it's something different. As always, I guess the invitation is simply to see, to do it and see what happens. And even if you've done it thousands of times before, I find that every time is— every time is unique. Every time is unique. Because of every moment being unique and because of our relationship with the Buddha being a living one that is constantly flowing, constantly changing. So we're going to move into frustrations now whilst chanting, and you may be able to do that standing into the floor, and you may wish to do that in your chair. You may want to do both, um, move between the two. Just really go with what your body needs today. Namami debu.
Namoha miho. In gratitude, we make this offering to all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas throughout space and time. May it be as fragrant as earth herself, reflecting our careful efforts, our wholehearted mindfulness, and the fruits from standing, slowly ripening. May we and all beings be companions of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas May we awaken from forgetfulness and realize our true home. Satya Robyn. When the bell dings one way and then the other. And we bow to the main shrine.
We bow to our seats and tidy our seats.
We're going to transfer merit tonight to Leonie Griffiths, who has recently passed. By your vows and through your grace, Where pure angel beings— I'm not aware of any announcements, except for the fact we're having to work out First of every month.
No, we're not. The last, the last Saturday of every month.
Is that— yeah, okay. Um, yeah, and as always, if you're able to give a donation, there's the golden bowl in the hallway, or you can give online.
That's always really appreciated.
It helps us carry on doing what we're doing and offering this service.
