Satya Robyn leads a group Buddhist practice session with guided meditation, chanting of Om Mani Padme Hum, and refuge vows. The speaker shares reflections on grief and a personal vigil for the Earth, centered on compassion and the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.
Chapters
Namomi dabu. Welcome everybody, lovely to see a couple of people from the house. And welcome also— oh, ja ne, Philip— and welcome also Beth, Judith, Ian, Chris, and Becky. Um, yeah, it's good to be practicing with so many of you this evening. I wanted to talk this evening about my vigil today, my daily vigil, which I've been— it's day 66 or something, 65— I've been doing since the beginning of November. I've been sitting for an hour outside with grief and love for the Earth. And since the lockdown a couple of days ago, I've moved it to the temple car park so that I'm within the limits of our property and nice and far away from the roads, but people can still see me as they go past. And this morning when I woke up, I felt really grumpy and a bit depressed. And so watching the snow come down before I was due to go and sit for an hour in the car park, I wasn't feeling great. And it was quite a difficult sit today. Mostly I've been really enjoying it, and it's just been wonderful to sit and feel the weather on my face. But today my body reached a point where it was getting ready to shiver. I could feel my core temperature sort of dropping and a little kind of shiver and, and, um, I had a little panic, I guess, about what would happen if I started shivering violently quarter of an hour before the end of my hour. Would I manage to stay? And irrational thoughts, but, you know, would I be able— how would it be to get back into the house where it's warm? Kind of primal instincts probably kicking in. And there was a few minutes when I opened my eyes and the snow started falling again, big thick flakes, beautiful flakes. And I felt happy for a few minutes, but most of the sit was pretty miserable today. And I did survive, and I came back around the side of the temple and into our flat and found in my inbox an email from a local man who said that— well, I really, as soon as I read the way that he wrote, there was something about the way that he was writing, I felt fond of him. Like the spelling was a bit all over the place, and there were, you know, kind of spaces where there shouldn't be. And he said that just before midday, he'd walked along the path and seen me next to our big stone Buddha in the car park, and he'd kneeled down because the information— I've written a page of information about what I'm doing and what and why is on an A-board, so it's quite low to the ground— so he knelt on the pavement to read it, and he said that as he read it, he felt emotional, he felt moved, and he agreed with me that the ice caps are melting and that that it's all, you know, going to pot. And as I read his email, I just received this, this love, this care from this random stranger who was inspired and appreciated what I was doing. And I just cried. I just really broke down. And I've been thinking about how important it is that we are recognized, that our efforts are recognized, and it's not a common thing that we receive it either from outside, from other people, or maybe even especially from ourselves. That, you know, life has been more difficult this year for many people And what happens when it gets hard is different parts of us just, just work harder. They work harder to distract us or to keep us away from feelings of depression or fear. They maybe, they maybe do things that, that are unhelpful in some way, like, I don't know, being mean to other people or making us angry, or— but all of these parts are just trying to keep our system steady. And this is the bit where I make this talk Buddhist, that we're lucky when we receive it from each other or from ourselves. But what we can remember as Buddhists is that as I was sitting there in the snow, the Buddha was aware of me the whole time, and the Buddha was appreciating me the whole time. The Buddha could see how hard I was having to work, appreciated the intention behind what I was doing, saw that I was grumpy, understood that, and that all we need to do to receive that love and care and attention is to open a channel or to ask or to even let a tiny crack appear, and then the light comes in. So when we sit silently in a minute, and when we chant, you can just imagine the Buddha sending you those emails like that man did today, just really seeing you and feeling inspired by your ordinary life, because Actually, to live an ordinary life is hard enough, never mind doing anything else, and never mind pandemics. But yeah, it's not easy to be alive. So I hope you can receive some appreciation from the Buddha, and I will also pass on the appreciation that I received from him to all of you. As he knelt there on the pavement in the snow. So now, Maimitabhu, we'll go into silence, and then we will be chanting Om Mani Padme Hum Hri. And I'm just going to put the words in the chat box because it's a bit hard to hear sometimes. And the chant is a way of summoning the the Bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteshvara, Kwan Yin, who is especially skilled at loving us in this way. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
Oh, oh. Om Mani Padme Hum Hri.
Om Mani Padme Hum Hri.
Om Mani Padme Hum Hri.
Om Mani Padme Humri!
Oh my name—
oh manny pad me humry?
Omani patmehumreee...
om many path may hungry omany pa-may-hung-reeee...
umani-pa-me-hun-gre-eem-rey-oom-man-yepad-me-hum-brie... Umami-pad-me-humbrey... Om Mani Padme Humri! Oh mani padme hum ri— oh many paad me hun gri—
om many padme hung ree?
Omani pahmehungree... umani pamuhumreemamanaipadmihungriswamiyai namaha shivaya nithyananda maheshwaranamaa hamarneepadamehungri. Ummanyapadmehungri.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
Om Mani Padme Humri!
Oh my name—
oh manny padmy humry... om many pod me um rey?
Um any pom e hoom ri?
Omani pomehumree?!
Om mani padme hum ri om mani padme hum ri—om mani Padme Hum Ri!
Oh Mané Pabmé Hungry? Ooh... Mâné pâmê hung riiiii?!
Hô mâné paad mé hunnggriiiiiii!? Ômãnepadmehungwreee? Om mani padme hum hri!
Oh my name Padma Hum Hrye—
oh many Pabmay Hungreey... om any Patmehung Reeey?
Omany Papmeyhung Reemee?! Homani Pamay Hong Ruiiiieeee!? Om mani padme hum hri!
Humane Padmé Hungry— Hume...
Mane Pâdmé Hommerye? Oh my nepalmehungreyy?!
Ooh mah neh pahmmee hungreyyeee!?
Ho ma neh paad me hunghreeeyye? Omanepadmehumbrayyyyyyyy?? Om mani padme hum hri!
Om mani padme hum hri! Om mani pam me hung ri!
Om mane padme hun gree— Om mani padme humbri!
Oh my name Padme Humbley— oh Mané Pabllo Marie...
om Mane Padmé Humbry... Om Mani Padme Hum Brih! Om Mani Padme Hum Brih! Om Mani Padme Hum Brih! Om Mani Padme Hum Rihi— Um... um... Oh my God! I'm so sorry for that one.
Sorry about this. Okay? So we're gonna do it again from here on out because you guys have been doing great work today.
Thank you very much.
And let's go ahead and begin our meditation now by saying together "Om." O-M-A-N-I P-A-D-M-E H-U-M-B-R-I-H. OM MANI PADME HUM BRIH.
OM MANI PADME HUM RIHI. Om Mani Padme Humri!
Oh my name— oh manny pad me humry? Oh many pa ma um ri...
ommanye pab mayum brie. Om mani padme hum hri!
Oh my God— oh many Padma Hungry...
That's so cute! Om mani padme humbri! Humanae Padma Hungry... Oh my name Pab May Hongree? Ooh ma ne pa me hung rey—
I am hungry by God's grace of satyasatyananda ramachandra prabhupada we pray for you all always to be happy healthy wealthy blessed now forevermore Aum Annapadmayung Reyyam!
Thank You Mahavatar Babaji, thank You Swami Ramchandranath Maharajji from India that taught us this prayer today so beautifully on our video call yesterday night it was such an honor just listening into your words again tonight during meditation time oh mahadeva may umreey om mane pabe hunbreem ah manahe pamay hom breh hooma naipame huhm breehm adham namah shivaya paramashiva bhagavanatha haranama hamaha bahubali mukulakshmi parvati makarani brahma sukhmani madhyamam OM HUM REY AHAM ANAPADME HUMBREEM GURU MUKUL AKSHMI PARVATI MAKARAMAH SHIVAYA HARANAMAHA BHAGAVATA RAMACHANDRA NARADA RAJANIKAH KANTARA RUPINATH ADHYATEEVA SAHIYA VEERABHDAVA SRI PRASANNASAHEBDAKASHIPRANEET JAI SATYA ROBINSON BONESWELL] Um Mane Pa Me Humbrey Ah Mané Pamê Umbrei Aw Ma Ne Pommé Humphrayoomane Pháb Mé umbremoswáramásimí yōmanye phám mé ombrie Ow Manaie Palmée Hoomberee Ou Mama Nepalmee Houng Ree Om mani padme hum ri—
om mani padme hum ri—
om mani padme hunri—
oh my God! Oh Manu Padmé Hum Ri... Umami Pabmehum Rhi? Om mani padme hum ri om mani padme hum ri— oh! Mani Padme Hum Ri... Oh! Mane Pa Me Hungry? Om mani padme hum hri! Oh mah nee paad me hunh reee...
om ah neh pahd mee honk riie— oh maaneee pooap mae hoongreeehm? Oohmahnehpoomemihungreerhm?!
Hooommaanehpawmmeyhoonngereeerm!?
Ho-oma-neepaadmayhum-hrieekham???
Hmm?? Maa-nne-paab-me hom-reecam?
Haumani Padmayoumg Reet Hamana Mano Pab Me Hung Ree. Um-muh-my-e-pob-mei hung-rhee.
Ah-mm-a-man-yip-ab-meooww-groovey-oedgh-am-an-nahe-paubmeyhung-rooriiim? Om Mani Padme Hum Hri! Oh mané padmé hum hri...
oh mané padmé hum hri... om mané padmé hum hri—
Om mani padme hum ri om mani padme hum ri—
oh!
Mani Padme Hum Ri...
Oh! Mane Pa Me Hungry?
Om mani padme hum ri—
om mani padme hum ri—
om mani padme hunri—
oh my name Padmé Humry! Oh ma ne pa me hung ree... Ooh mah neh pah mee hoong riiieee? Om mani padme hum hri! Om mani padme hum hri!
Om mani padme hunghri!
Om mani padme hungry...
Oh my God— Om mani padme humbri!
Oh my name Padme Humbley—
oh Mani Padmi Hungry...
om many part me hungry?
Please repeat after me. For refuge, I go to the Buddha.
For refuge I go to the Buddha.
Namo Buddhaya.
For refuge I go to the Dharma. Namodarmaya.
For refuge I go to the Sangha.
For refuge I go to the Sangha.
Namo sanghaya. With faith in the Three Jewels— With faith in the three jewels I pray that I may not take life—I pray that I may not to take my—with faith in the 3 jewels—with faith in the 3 jewels I pray that I may not fall into wrong speech—I pray that time will have fallen too long speech-with faith in the three tools—the Faithful Teachers-I pray that I may not fall into sexual misconduct—I pray it's all right for me—not falling into sexual misconduct; Conduct—
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 steal—
With faith in the Three Jewels— I pray that I may avoid intoxication—
I pray that I may avoid intoxication— Now we need to wait. Innumerable are sentient beings.
We vow to save them all. Inexhaustible are deluded passions. We vow to transform them all. Immensurable are the Dharma teachings. We vow to master them all.
Infinites the Buddha's way.
We vow to fulfill it completely.
Namoh Amida Buu! Namoh Amida Buu! Namoh Amida Buu!
Namoh Amida. Namoh Amida.
Namoh Amida Bu. Namoh Amida Bu. Namoh Amida Butsu.
Namoh Amida. Namoh Amida. Namoh Amida Butsu. Namoh Amida. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
So we'll now bow to each other. Do we do this first, or the verse first?
And bow to the Buddha.
And then if everyone would like to unmute, we'll finish with a verse. We'll all say together: which is now in your chat box. Michael will also say it with us. Blessed by Amitabha's light, may I care for all living things and the holy earth. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
