Satya Robyn leads a Buddhist practice session with chanting, guided meditation, and Bodhisattva vows. Dogs and children make noise in the background. The group dedicates merit for a participant's friend Steve.
Chapters
Namaste. Welcome everybody. Welcome if you're joining us in the future, which will be your present if you're watching the recording. It's a beautiful morning here. The sun is a little bit up in the sky and completely washing out our faces on the webcam. After a year of Zooming, we still don't really know how to get the— get it so we look good on the camera. I was scrabbling around for something to talk about this morning. So many changes in the last year and in the last few weeks. For some of us as well, that I was feeling some internal pressure to say just the right thing that would— I'm not sure really what the intention was— enlighten us all, I think. Because, you know, I don't have— I don't ask a lot of myself. And after reading a couple of Zen poems, which I really enjoyed but weren't quite right for this morning. And looking at a couple of other books, I noticed on the bookshelf Jill Kennett's book How to Grow a Lotus Blossom, which is really quite a piece of work. It describes her inner experience of a particular kind of awakening that she had when she was quite ill. And if you weren't a spiritual person, you'd say that she was writing down her fever dreams, you know, these very vivid visualizations. And yet she's completely present in the dream landscape and navigates it, and then later is able to reflect and understand all the symbolism of that, quite like the shamanic journeys, Sujata, and I guess that that you've been doing really sounds just like that to me when I read it. Anyway, I'm not going to read from that book, but it made me think of the commentary on that by, um, Reverend Koshin Schomburg, who is, uh, was a disciple of Duke Ennitz over in America. He wrote a commentary on the book that she wrote. And one of the things he describes is this journey to the— from this shore of the, of samsara to the other shore of enlightenment. And he uses this image of the boat of training. This is the boat of the precepts. It's the boat of keeping an eye on ourselves. It's the boat of choosing consciously to take good actions in the world and refrain from negative actions, from harmful actions. And I think at New Year, this is often the boat— excuse me— and this is often the boat that we focus on. This year I'm going to do this. We create these resolutions or new precepts for ourselves. This is going to be the thing that takes me from where I am now, the place that I want to be, which for Buddhist practitioners is the Pure Land, or enlightenment, or the other shore. What is it going to be that we put effort into? I think that's the key thing. What is it going to be that we put effort into that carries us across? Even just a few days ago, I was thinking, oh, maybe, maybe I should have a more regular daily practice. I do a lot of chanting in my mind at different times in the day, in the week, but I don't sit down at the same time every day as many books and teachers prescribe. And then he mentions that there are two birds. And that often the second boat is hidden out of sight, or we just catch glimpses of it out of the corner of our eye, but that we need both of them to get from one side of the river to the other. And the second boat will be very familiar to Pure Land Buddhists. Is the boat of the Buddha's compassion. And this is the boat that travels under the power of the Buddha's effort. This is the light that is coming towards us, the love that is coming towards us. It's the thing that holds us when we collapse, when our own efforts collapse, when like Kuan Yin we fall into many pieces. It's this second hidden boat that puts us back together again, the boat of faith. And the point that, uh, I can't remember his name, apologies, Reverend Koshin Schomburg, the point that he's making is not that one boat is better than the other. Because he's a Zen Buddhist and his experience of training was very much focused on following the precepts and sitting in a straight line and so on, that's the boat that he imagines is in most people's awareness. But he's very clear, you need both of the boats to get from one shore to the other. You need the faith and support and love. You need to be open to receiving those things from this source that is beyond us. And you also need to put the work in sometimes as well. This is his position, and, um, I've got a lot of sympathy for that middle way. If you just only look at one of the boats, um, there's a shadow. If you only put your attention on the boat of faith, it's very easy to stop seeing the effects our actions have in the world for others and the negative karma that that creates for ourselves that gets in the way of us reaching the other shore. If you only put your emphasis on the boat of effort when your efforts collapse, as they invariably will, maybe we just give up and never take another step. So both of these things together, faith and practice, looking at the Buddha and looking at our own actions. Namamitabha.
Namamitabha.
So we'll go into a period of quiet reflection together now. In this practice, I invite you to notice what's in your heart and mind. And as you catch sight of something, and perhaps naming what it is, being distracted by the dog barking, feeling a bit greedy for something that's in the fridge, then moving your attention to the Buddha, trusting that the Buddha is also present and sending their love to you. So practicing this movement, noticing yourself— oh, how am I right now? And trusting that the Buddha is also here. Namamitabha.
Amitabha. Amitabha.
Amitabha.
Aami taba. Aami taba. Aami taba.
Amitabha.
Amitabha.
Amitabha. Amitabha.
Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha.
Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha.
Amitabha.
Amitabha.
Amitabha.
Amitabha.
Amitabha.
Amitabha.
Amitabha.
Amitabha. Me ta ba.
Ah, me, me, ta ba.
Ah, me, me, ta ba. Amitabh.
Amitabh.
Amitabh. Ameet sa baa. Ameet sa baa.
Ameet sa baa.
Amitabha.
Amitabha.
Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha.
Amitabha.
Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh.
Amitabha.
Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabha. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabh. Amitabha. Amitabha.
Amitabha. Namamit bhur. What a joy to be joined by two bodhisattvas, or doggy sattvas, if you will. I'm not sure how the noise of them grooming each other, how conducive that is to meditation when it's right in front of the microphone. Okay, so we're going to go through the refuges and precepts in call and response, and then we will recite the Bodhisattva vows together. So please repeat after me. For refuge, I go to the Buddha. For refuge I go to the Buddha, the one who shows me the way in this life.
The one who shows me the way in this life.
Namo Buddha.
Namo Buddha.
For refuge I go to the Dharma.
For refuge I go to the Dharma, the way of understanding and love. The way of understanding and love.
Namo Dhamma.
Namo Dhamma.
For refuge I go to the Sangha. For refuge I go to the Sangha, the community that lives in harmony and awareness.
A community that lives in harmony and awareness.
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. 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.
I pray that I may not fall into sexual misconduct.
With faith in the Three Jewels—
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.
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.
So before we stand and go into prostrations, I want to transfer the merit of this morning's practice to Kusuma's friend Steve, who died in a car accident recently. So we pray that Steve may be reborn into the light, into the loving embrace of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and we pray that his family and friends are able to find solace in that light and go on to live long and happy lives. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. So we stand to make 3 prostrations as we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Namoh Amitabh! Namoh Amitabh!
Namoh Amitabh!
Namoh Amitabhu! Namoh Amida But. Namoh Amida.
Namoh Amida.
Namoh Amida But. Namoh Amida But.
Oh yes, so we're going to, when we're settled, we're going to recite our closing verse, new closing verse, together. Tris, if you want to unmute, you can. As we say this, say this together.
We've put up with lots of background noise today. Oh, so Jatin, did you want to unmute us all?
Just while we say the last verse.
We've got some lovely children noise as well, that's nice to hear. You're welcome.
Blessed by Amma Paramahamsa Maharshi. May we care for all living things and the water, the air, the earth.
Namomi tabu.
Namomi tabu.
Namomi tabu.
