Yearly Archives: 2020

Teachings

Never too Late to Learn – Video

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For those who know me personally, you may notice I’m looking and sounding weary and the truth of the matter is, I am! In order to upload this, I had to drop a bin full of vanity’.

And for anybody who, like me, was always being told you are shy when a child there is something here for you. I didn’t go into the matter at any length because of the need to keep the video down to under 3 mins. Recently I’ve come to see that shyness in childhood is most likely a sign of ‘sensitivity’. A sensitivity that goes unnoticed and unaddressed. Having a different perspective is helpful and there is reading do be done to understand oneself better in this area of life. Of course in terms of Buddhism, we attempt to drop labels, of being this way or that way, but labels stick. Meditation and daily life training dissolve the glue.

Information, Teachings

The Medicine Buddha

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Up to now I’ve tended not to write a lot about the more devotional aspect of Buddhism, however here I go! The custom within our religious Order is to celebrate, in the form of a ceremony, a number of Bodhisattvas. Today is the turn of Bhaisajya-guru Tathagata, commonly referred to as the Medicine Buddha.

This is in honour of Bhaisajyaguru, the Buddha of Healing
who sits radiantly in the pure land of this moment.
Whenever we give ourselves in trust
to the mind of meditation we call upon Him
and receive the medicine that ends all suffering.
This medicine He offers is the acceptance
of all causes and conditions
that make our lives what they are.

Such acceptance releases us from grasping
and brings serenity in the face of death.
His teaching removes frustration,
despair and the need for
dreams and unreal hopes.
All activity and purpose is within
the stillness of His heart.
His vows to heal all beings is His true body
and it appears whenever we respond
with compassion to the needs that surround us.

When we give ourselves in trust
our lives are fulfilled.
We cannot judge the worth of our offering,
it is enough that it is made with a pure heart.
For those who give themselves, all questions vanish
and there is nothing to ask for that is not already given.
The body of the Buddha is constantly emerging
and yet it is never moving.

We bow in gratitude for the great compassion of all the Buddhas and for their limitless teaching.

See also this post, The Healing Buddha

Daily Life, Overcome Difficulties, Teachings

Challenges For Change

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Here is a repost from 2009.

Challenge One: Trust
Challenge Two: Face up to change
Challenge Three: Access the source of Trust
Challenge Four: Trust that trust is not…what we think it is.

It’s not always so easy, it’s a personal challenge in terms of trust, to talk about one’s interior world with a monk who they don’t know. However, that’s what people can do when here for a retreat, or at other times too. It’s especially challenging to talk about a life change on the horizon which, on the face of it is life-changing, in every direction. The third challenge is to trust ones own heart while talking. Hearing ones own voice emanating from deep within, knowing that another is listening without judgment, can be life-changing!

Here is some correspondence with a woman I met at a recent introductory retreat. I’m publishing with her permission. Our exchanges, both in person and via email, are an example of how Taking Refuge in the Sangha works.

Dear Rev. Mugo,
The time that I spent at the monastery this weekend has been invaluable. No matter which route my spiritual journey now takes, it will not be the same as I thought it would have been on Friday when I set off. Many thanks to you and the other monks for your inspiration and a special thanks to you for listening and allowing me to honestly explore where I am right now.

My response:

Thanks for this. Glad the retreat helped and thanks for the thanks. As you will have read on Jade, I found being around all of you people this last week inspiring. Here we all are just attempting to take the next wise step in our lives. May your steps take you to the important thing, however that manifests in your daily life as a religious person.

This person has in actual fact made a remarkable step in her religious life. On the eve before going off on holiday for two weeks she asked me if I had any general advice you thought might be appropriate.

I responded thus:

Have a lovely holiday with your family. As for advice generally? I’d say to trust the deepest part of yourself and consult inwardly as you move along in your life. Rather in the way one does when out and about, shopping perhaps, taking a pause in an aisle in a supermarket and then remembering you need eggs and if you hadn’t stopped you’d have had to make an extra trip to get them later. The process is just the same generally. Pausing as you go to give those sideways thoughts and insights a chance to be heard. Maybe a slight adjustment suggests itself regarding ones intended direction. This is probably particularly important when, as you are, taking what seems to be a big change of direction in terms of religion. However, you more than likely already realise it’s not such a big step now because you can see how there have been lots of little steps which have come before this one.

Yes, just keep on with your life and enjoy each day, hour, moment. Perhaps appreciate would be a better word. I think one can’t help but appreciate when one opens ones’ heart and follows where it leads especially when a certain level of ‘leap’ has taken place. A life-changing change.

I’ve never used the example of pausing in the aisle of a supermarket before, it just came up when writing to you and thinking about it you can probably relate to it. Often people divide up there lives between spiritual and ordinary, I think this is a false distinction. Obviously one is not going to check with ones interior about getting white or brown bread or will it be cheese on toast or fish fingers for tea! We use our ‘common’ (sense) obviously.

Back from holiday recently my correspondent made a huge leap in understanding regarding listening. I bow to her continuing insights.

We are back safe and sound. We enjoyed the holiday but I am glad to be home nonetheless. Thank you so much for your reply. Yes, by all means, use your response on Jade. I found the supermarket analogy interesting but it did make me realise an aspect of myself which I have to be careful of, I think. My husband always offers to do the shopping, much preferring that I keep well away from the supermarkets and Costco especially. The reason for this is that ….. I spend too much money. ‘I had better put that in the basket because I may need it sometime in the future’. I never seem to be able to keep to what I have written on the list. It got me thinking that to pause in/for the moment is good but not to pause contemplating what I might need in the future. Your comment re, opening my heart and following where it leads, I am adopting as my motto to remind myself to follow the lead rather than trying to lead where my head says it wants to be. Patience is a virtue!

The leap, just in case you didn’t notice it, was to pause and not contemplate what might be needed in the future.

Teachings

This Too Will Change

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It is not that often we are forced to face our collective mortality. These past weeks have been testing for most of us on many levels locally, nationally and internationally. Anyone else talking about the weather? I have taken to routinely adding a weather report to the end of emails. I know of no other way than to ‘sit this out’. One thing is certain, ‘This too will change’.

Living high up on the Northumbrian moors there is little danger of flooding but the standing water on the roads is lake-like! My thoughts are with those whose homes and business have been flooded repeatedly and for those who await the order to evacuate.

For anybody who is warm and indoors here is this weeks nature video from the US magazine program. Sunday Morning.

Letchworth State Park south of Rochester, New York.

May the merit of our days of meditation and training be offered to all beings and the Great Earth.