Meditation - January 27th, 2008

Sunday's Meditation was held at the Shining Dawn Bed and Breakfast. It was a beautifull setting for meditation - A big Thank You to Helen and Bruce.

We began with our usual preliminaries: Bell gatha, stretching, finding center.

Our first meditation was done in guided meditation style. I read a paragraph on each of the Four Noble Abodes and we followed the reading with a few minutes of silent contemplation. The readings can be found in the "Core Beliefs" section of the "Learning Center" on www.rightviewonline.org
They consist of:
Loving Kindness
Compassion
Joy
Equanimity

We had walking meditation and then read the Thich Nhat Hanh version of the five precepts which he calls "The Five Mindfulness Trainings". They can be found in The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching on page 94. I received the transmission from Thich Nhat Hanh at a retreat in 1999.

This was followed by a reading from Song of Mind by Niutou Farong, and translated by Chan Master sheng yen. Farong was a disciple of the fourth patriot. I also read a section from Master sheng yen's introduction to the text. He explains Farong's teaching that our mind is originally pure but it's purity is lost with the rise of even one thought. When we learn to practice stillness we dwell in no-mind or enlightenment. After we are able to achieve no-mind we can live in the ordinary world just like anyone else but without attachment or discrimination. There are thoughts but no thinker. You no longer practice to achieve anything. Practicing is just what we do. If we practice with a goal we cannot achieve the no-mind state. I've been working on this teaching for several months now and it's been very helpful to me.

With Loving Kindness,

Robert