Satya Robyn leads an online Pure Land Buddhist evening service with chanting, a Dharma talk on the three marks of existence (anicca, samskara, anatta), and prostrations. Attendees joined from multiple countries during the coronavirus lockdown.
Chapters
So we'll begin with some Nembutsu like we do at the start of service. We don't have a mokujō down here, but we'll do some— we'll just do some rhythmic chanting.
Looking for something to bang.
Slight— okay.
Namo Amitabha.
Namo Amitabha. Namo Amitabha. Namo Amitabha.
Namamitabhu. We're not going to walk in the space that we have here. You're welcome to walk as we chant Amitabha if you want to, otherwise just sitting and chanting Amitabha using the tune that we usually use for the evening walking meditation.
Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabh. Amitabh.
I'm not sure what that bell means, and we're already sitting down.
It's just to signal the last walking round.
Doesn't make any sense.
Some people might be walking.
Okay, thank you, Satya Robyn. It's really lovely to have people from 4 countries joining us for service, one of the silver linings of these strange times. I can't hear your voices, and it really, really sounds awful if we all turn our sound on and chant together because of the time delay. But I know what each of you sound like, so I was really imagining you all singing here with me. I've been thinking about the three marks of existence today, I think because I just found Dharma Vijja's chapter on it in one of his books. Now I looked through about 4 of his books because I was looking for a quote for somebody, so I can't tell you which one it's from, but they are— let me see if I can remember the Sanskrit or the Pali. Anicca, Samskara, Anicca, Sava Samskara Dukkha, Sava Dhamma Anattma.
All—
thank you, I'll get a gold star later. All conditioned things are impermanent, all conditioned things cause suffering, and all dharmas are not self. Samskara doesn't really refer to— it's often translated as conditioned things, or conditioned things are impermanent. But a samskara is not a conditioned thing, it's a conditioned habit of thought and feeling. It's to do with the mind. The Buddha was somebody who was interested in practice. In how it is to be human. He was less interested in describing how the world works, although a lot of the theories, uh, and the ways that he spoke about how it is to be human, interconnectedness and so on, cause and effect, do have their mirrors in the natural world. So samskara is conditioned thought, really anything that sort of floats past your consciousness. It might be something minor like, 'What am I having for dinner?' Or it might be something like anxiety that's been triggered by the current situation with the coronavirus. It might be frustration, might be depression, might be Happiness at finally getting that really nice chocolate that you promised yourself. All of these things are conditioned thoughts. They're conditioned because they come into existence on the back of other thoughts and feelings. Bless you.
Coffee.
On the back of reacting to things in the world. And conditioned thoughts and feelings and states of mind are all impermanent. We can find this out through just sitting and noticing our state of mind for a moment, and noticing how it changes and shifts. In really subtle practice, we can notice it changing and shifting from moment to moment, but it's really easy to notice over the course of a day. You wake up in one mood, at lunchtime you're in a different mood, by the evening it's changed again. 'All samskaras create suffering.' These sort of thoughts all have negative impacts because they're about keeping ourselves safe. And when we put ourselves at the center of the universe, even with the best of intentions, Ultimately, we trip ourselves up. That's how it is to be human, by reacting against impermanence and trying to make things permanent, by trying to manipulate the world to get what we want, by trying to change ourselves to get what we want to make us feel safe. And many of these strategies work really well in the short term, but in the long term cause trouble. You know, when I'm stressed, I eat more, but— and then I feel better. In the long term, that's not such a good strategy. And I'm sure we can all think of both less severe and more severe examples. And finally, in the last line, there is Dharmas are not self. So all of these thoughts, these conditioned thoughts and habit patterns and feelings, the busyness of the mind, this is what we think of as ourselves usually. Oh, I reacted like this, I like that sort of thing, I don't like that sort of thing, I really don't like that sort of thing. And this teaching, these three marks of existence, say there is something beyond all of that. Suzuki— I think it was D.T. Suzuki— translated samskara as confections. And there is something about that kind of sense of something frothy, like the white foam on the top of waves. Our minds are a bit like that. There's something They can appear very serious, but when we examine them, actually it's often quite frivolous and frothy and insubstantial. There is something beyond that that the Buddha called Dharma, that is real and true and timeless. And Dharma is Loving is kind. Dharma is what feeds all of those Buddhist virtues that we're encouraged to inhabit. It is often spoken of as the teaching of the Buddha, but more accurately we can say it's the spirit that moved the Buddha to give those teachings, and that spirit is available to us today in the form of Amida Buddha. And that spirit is what is referred to by Buddha nature. It is that sense that inside us there is somewhere hidden underneath all that frothiness, there is something of the same quality, some reflection of the Buddha's light, like the moonlight reflected in a puddle on the ground. You might— when the water is perfectly still, you can see a perfect reflection of the moon. It isn't the same as the moon, but it has the same qualities. When all of that froth settles down, which occasionally happens, we can reflect the Buddha's light in the same way that puddle reflects the perfect moon. And there's a lot going on at the moment. It's very easy to get triggered into conditioned thought. The things that we usually rely on have been taken away. It's completely understandable that our minds have become a bit frothy, a bit like confection. And yet it's also important to remember that those confections are impermanent. Ultimately, they don't serve us in the long run. Although they've often got good intentions, always got good intentions. And that beyond all of that, there is something that is unconditionally loving, unconditionally wise, and always present despite what's happening on the surface. And this is what we take refuge in. In this teaching, it's called the Dharma, but we can just as easily say Amida Buddha, Nirvana, the Pure Land. So just remembering there is something real to take refuge in.
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
So now we'll have a period of quiet sitting. You might begin by noticing the breath. How it enters and leaves the body. And then bringing the Buddha to mind in however that speaks to you, whatever that means to you. It might be the felt sense of the earth beneath you. It might be an image of the Buddha, or just a sense of a light. And then whatever distracts you, whatever appears in your mind or your heart, just noticing it. Perhaps naming it and then returning attention to the Buddha, to the light. Now we're going to stand and do prostrations. I'm just going to move the mic so we don't trip over it, so apologies for any mic noise. Feel free to join us.
Namah Amitabhu. Namah Amitabhu.
Namah Amitabhu.
Namoh Amida. Namoh Amida.
Namoh Amida bu.
Namoh Amida bu. Namoha mida. Namoha mida. Namoha mida. Namoha mida.
Namoha mi tabu.
Namoha mi tabu. Namoha mi tabu. Namoha mi tabu.
We will now recite Evening Service, which is on page 13 of your service books.
With body, speech, and mind humbly I prostrate and make offerings both set out and imagined. I confess my wrong deeds from all time and rejoice in the virtues of all. Please stay until samsara ceases and turn the wheel of Dharma for us. I dedicate all virtues to Great Enlightenment. The ground sprinkled with perfume and spread with flowers, the great mountain full and sun and moon, seen as a Buddha land and offered thus. May all beings enjoy such pure lands. Idam guru ratnam and alakam nirjatsayami. By the grace of Tairisi through Amitabha's vows, may I be moved to deeds for the benefit of all. By the grace of Tairisi through Amitabha's vows, may I be moved to deeds for the benefit of all. By the grace that I receive through Amitabha's vows, may I be moved to deeds for the benefit of all. The purpose of our practice is to be a pure container wherein the common passions mature as higher wisdom. The preliminary outlook comes with bowing and contrition, facing up to my obstructions and seizing life's first essence. Devotion to my teacher ends my smugness and ejection. Held by his compassion, I will find a straight direction. By refuge vows and precepts, recitation of the sutras, we grow through every challenge. Timbodhisattva aspiration, cooperation in a sangha brings so many joys and freedoms. Through gentle words and gestures comes collective transformation. Settled faith and inner cleansing brings us home to life's great meaning. In the Four Divine Abidings, Buddha's light is always with us. Multitudes are disconcerted by impermanence and difference. With Dharma as true refuge, we dwell within the Pure Land. Now gratitude is overflowing, going forth, returning richly. I offer gifts of Dharma, Buddha's path, bliss bestowing.
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.
Invocation of Akalanatha.
Hail to the mandala. Let our soul be engulfed within its praises evermore. That by our own wills and vigilance may we our fetters cut away. May we within the temple of our own hearts dwell. Amidst the myriad mountains.
Heu, heu, heu, heu.
Invocation of Maha Kala.
Let us be engulfed within the mandala of the Sangha of Buddha. Heu, heu, heu. The Arrow of Emptiness.
Hail, hail.
The Invocation of Vairochana Buddha.
Hail, the Beneficent Mystic, the Treasure.
Hail, hail.
The Golden Bell That Rings But Once.
Namaste, everybody. Thank you for joining us. For details and links to the listening circle and other online events, including a talk on Saturday afternoon called— can't remember what it's called— How Buddhism is Helpful in Difficult Times, something like that, that Satya Robyn and I will be doing live streaming on Saturday afternoon. Anyway, details of all of those are on the website amida-mandala.com.
Are you gonna bow to each other?
Yes, I was gonna stop the recording, but yeah, let's do that first and then I'll do it. Sao Bao to each other.
And the Buddha.
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
You're gonna stop? Oh, how do I stop?
Okay.
