Satya Robyn leads a Buddhist shrine-room teaching and group practice on selfishness and interdependence, drawing from Shunmyo Masuno's How to Let Things Go. The group chants Om Mani Padme Hum, recites the Four Refuges and vows, and dedicates merit to Palestine and protesters.
Chapters
Lovely to be back in the shrine room after 4 weeks. Away, a record, and nice that Amida has arranged just a small group of friendly people to ease me back in. So I'm going to begin with a short reading by Shunmyo Masuno, who wrote this book, 'How to Let Things Go.' is quite mixed. He's quite a character, but there's a lot of really good nuggets of wisdom in there. And this one is 34, Always Reflect on Yourself, subtitled, You may realize that you too were being selfish. Seek the path that will satisfy everyone involved. When I look at how world leaders behave, it's hard not to despair that world peace is an impossible dream. Every country seems to insist on putting their own interests first. Of course, politicians work for the national good, so it's natural for them to prioritize their own country. But since the world is interdependent, it follows that if other countries aren't thriving, our country won't thrive.
Either.
Seeking the path that will satisfy everyone involved is also the path to achieving peace. This is the kind of thinking that Buddhism's Middle Way upholds. It works just as well on an individual level. Whereas the advantages and disadvantages of an agreement vary depending on one's perspective, the key is to look for a solution that is fair with both sides making concessions and sacrifices. Unfortunately, in recent years, an extreme me-first attitude has become more prevalent. But before you criticize someone for selfishness, consider your own actions. By recognizing that you too may have been selfish, perhaps your relationships will improve. Namomi tabu. So we will share some silence together.
Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum Vrih! Om Mani Padme Hum Vrih! Oh mané pa mé hom vrih— oh ma ne pa me om vrhi— ooh māne pabmé om vrih... Om mani padme hum. Om mani padme hum. Om mani padme hum. Om Mani Padme Hum Bree! Oh mané padmé hum breee... oh mâné pa-meh-hum-breée— om-man-ay-pa-me-hum-breeee... ooh ma-nne pah me hooum breeee... umma ne pa me hoom brie? Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Humri! Oh my God— oh man... Um Anipad Me Hungry? Ooh many pad me hungry?! Oo ma nee paap mee hung riyeeeee!
Om Mane Paab Mehung Riieeyye!
Om Mane Paab Meroong Riiieee! Om mani padme hum hri om mani padme hum hri om mani padme hum hri om manye padme hung brie oomane pa me hun bree—
Ooh!
Manya Padma Hum Hree? Oh my God... Um-hmm. Om Mani Padme Hum Hri! Om Mani Padme Hum Hri! Om Mani Padme Hum Hri! Om Mani Padme Um Hri! Oh mané padmé om hri— Om mani padme hum hri! Omni Padma Hum Hrye? Oh my God... Oohh— Mané Pabmé Hom Rhyée?! Ummanépapnéhom hyeeeyyeee?? Omanepadméhonrhiyeemmm. Om Mani Padme Hum.
Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum.
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 Buddhaya.
Namo Buddhaya.
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 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 Bhumi.
Namo Bhumi.
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.
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— When I fall into wrong speech, 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 bodily 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 follow it completely.
So the reading is a good reminder of, um, interdependence, that We think that we can look after ourselves or our family or our country, but actually if we only think about those things and neglect the other, then as Shinmyo Nosuno says, in the long term— that, or the short term— that leads us to a situation where we are affected by the other. I think that there was a lot of talk of that during the pandemic. For the first time, it was really clear how if there was a lot of illness in one part of the world, it didn't matter how careful you were, it was, it was going to come back And I think it's also a really good teaching for, um, as he said, for individuals in our internal families. Um, parts that are self-protective cause harm. They, they cause harm to our whole systems. They cause harm to other parts. Um, it's much better when we think about others as well as ourselves. And I love that little teaching he sneaks in at the end. Japanese people are often good at humility. Um, like, just before you start judging everyone else for how selfish they are, just take a look at yourself before you Comment on the splinter in other people's eyes, take the log out of your own. I think our selfishness can be very subtle. Sometimes we hide it from ourselves, and it's a— I think it's a good teaching. Sometimes it's enough to just remember those things. We, we, we have them pointed out, and we're like, oh yeah, it's good for everyone, it's good for me if I don't just think about myself, so I'll just be less selfish and everything will work out better. That can be helpful, um, to receive. But often with these kinds of teachings, I'm left thinking, well, how? Like, if it was that easy then we'd all just become less selfish and everyone would be fine. It's not, it's not easy, that's the point. So what is it that makes it easier for us to become less selfish? Now I am biased because I am a Buddhist, but my answer would be Buddha. Buddha helps us to become less selfish, not because we listen to Buddhist teachings that tell us that we should be less selfish and we try really hard to be less selfish. That is good to do, but it's tiring and ultimately unsustainable. The Buddha helps us to be less selfish because the Buddha offers us an experience of faith. And as we get more and more of a taste of faith, as we practice leaning in a little bit to faith, as we find our whole systems just kind of slowly relaxing As we trust more— not inappropriate trust, discernment is important— but a kind of a, a long-term trust, then we have less need to be self-protective. We don't have to— this is always the example that comes first— we don't have to keep all the chocolates. Because we know that more chocolate will be coming, so we can give half our chocolate away, or maybe a quarter. But without faith, with that feeling of, oh, there's never going to be enough chocolate, it's really hard to do that. I think that the best Buddhist teachings are the ones that work on us. Without our permission, without our intervention, without our, uh, manipulation, or without our trying, that we just find ourselves feeling a little bit less tight. Or maybe we just find ourselves being a little bit more realistic about where our limits are. And so we don't overextend, we don't overpromise, we don't expect more of ourselves than we're actually able to give. And all of that mixed into the world is a good thing because people do notice it. People notice when other people do small, unselfish things. I'll never forget that when I was about 13— I might have told this story already— um, I was in a supermarket with my, with my nan, my nana, and, um, I picked something up from a shelf somewhere, and then about 5 shelves down the, you know, 5 aisles later, I realized I didn't actually need it, so I put it back in the wrong place. And she— I can't remember if she asked me to do it or if she just did it herself. She just picked it up and took it back to where it should have been. And she did that because she was thinking of the, the poor person who was going to have to do that later. And in my head, well, they were being paid for that, so, you know, wasn't a problem. I was 13. But she had this unselfish view of, of what was best for everyone and saving that person, that unknown person, that bit of work, maybe at the end of a long shift, who knows. And she didn't do that because she wanted to, to show me, you know, give me a lesson, or she didn't do it because she felt she ought to. She just did it. And that's the kind of result that we are hoping for, the kind of result that we don't do on purpose. And of course, we're bamboo beings, so, you know, We're works in progress, but even little tiny shifts in that direction can have a bigger impact on the whole world than we realize.
Namaste. In gratitude, we make this offering to all Buddhas and bodhisattvas throughout space and time. May it be as fragrant as herself, reflecting our careful efforts, our wholehearted mindfulness, and the fruits of understandings where we are. May we and all beings be in harmony of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. May we awaken from forgetfulness and realize our true home. We transfer merit from tonight's practice to Palestine and to the protesters who are getting arrested at the moment.
