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
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Next Week's Meditation
Reminder - Our next meditation, January 27th, will be held at the Shining Dawn Bed and Breakfast located at 224 Broadway in Hanover.
With Loving Kindness,
Robert
With Loving Kindness,
Robert
Meditation - January 20th, 2008
Our Sunday evening meditation was very powerful for me. As Helen said at the end of our session there was a good energy and it has been with me for the past two days now.
Helen, Jenny, and Myself(Robert) participated.
We began with are usual bell gatha, stretching and mindfulness contemplation:
Mindfulness of the breath
Mindfulness of the body
Mindfulness of feelings
Mindfulness of the Mind and objects of Mind
We transformed our minds to joyfulness and happiness
We again contemplated a phone gatha used in last weeks meditation.
Words can travel thousand of miles.
May my words create mutual understanding and love.
May they be as beautiful as gems,
as lovely s flowers.
He raises three questions:
What does it mean to be enlightened?
How do you achieve it?
How can you tell when it happens?
He then goes on to say that we cannot answer these questions in any logical sense or in any sense that relies on conditions. Buddhism and Zen in particular present us with many paradoxes because to experience the ultimate we need to leave ordinary mind and ordinary thinking. Otherwise we could not take the Four Noble Vows:
Sentient beings are numberless. I vow to save them.
Desires are endless. I vow to put an end to them.
The Dharmas are boundless. I vow to master them.
The Buddha way is unattainable. I vow to attain it.
Yet many of us have had glimpses during meditation of a higher state of energized bliss in which dualism fails to exist. In this state we clearly understand the emptiness of all form. We can understand the purity of the absolute. The terms good and bad don't pertain. Maguire says this state can be described as a state of complete freedom. We go beyond self and we open to a new demension beyond what self experiences. Here is oneness with the absolute.
We had 15 minutes of silent meditation.
We had another reading from Zen and the Art of happiness by Chris Prentiss - pg. 35
Prentiss discusses happiness as an everyday experience. We create happiness with our minds based on the way we see things. He talks about some fans being happy and some unhappy at the end of a sporting event based on which team they favored or the city the team represents, etc.
This is one of the practical benefits of studying Buddhism. We learn to understand our mind and our feelings and once we are aware we gain a higher perspective on things. We no longer need to suffer as victims of external circimstances. We have the ability to take charge of our feelings. In the open discussion I explained how I've taken up the practice of saying internally:
Breathing in I make my self happy.
Breathing out I experience Joy.
Just by being mindful of my breath for a minute or say and contemplating these words changes my emotional state to one of Joy and Happiness. The first time We practiced the Sutra on the Full awareness of Breathing kara remarked how just saying the words changes how we feel.
We concluded with open discussion.
With Loving Kindness,
Robert
Helen, Jenny, and Myself(Robert) participated.
We began with are usual bell gatha, stretching and mindfulness contemplation:
Mindfulness of the breath
Mindfulness of the body
Mindfulness of feelings
Mindfulness of the Mind and objects of Mind
We transformed our minds to joyfulness and happiness
We again contemplated a phone gatha used in last weeks meditation.
Words can travel thousand of miles.
May my words create mutual understanding and love.
May they be as beautiful as gems,
as lovely s flowers.
(pg. 69 – Present Moment, Wonderful Moment: Mindfulness verses for Daily Living).
Walking Meditation
We had a reading on Enlightment from Essential Buddhism by Jack Maguire - pg. 77He raises three questions:
What does it mean to be enlightened?
How do you achieve it?
How can you tell when it happens?
He then goes on to say that we cannot answer these questions in any logical sense or in any sense that relies on conditions. Buddhism and Zen in particular present us with many paradoxes because to experience the ultimate we need to leave ordinary mind and ordinary thinking. Otherwise we could not take the Four Noble Vows:
Sentient beings are numberless. I vow to save them.
Desires are endless. I vow to put an end to them.
The Dharmas are boundless. I vow to master them.
The Buddha way is unattainable. I vow to attain it.
Yet many of us have had glimpses during meditation of a higher state of energized bliss in which dualism fails to exist. In this state we clearly understand the emptiness of all form. We can understand the purity of the absolute. The terms good and bad don't pertain. Maguire says this state can be described as a state of complete freedom. We go beyond self and we open to a new demension beyond what self experiences. Here is oneness with the absolute.
We had 15 minutes of silent meditation.
We had another reading from Zen and the Art of happiness by Chris Prentiss - pg. 35
Prentiss discusses happiness as an everyday experience. We create happiness with our minds based on the way we see things. He talks about some fans being happy and some unhappy at the end of a sporting event based on which team they favored or the city the team represents, etc.
This is one of the practical benefits of studying Buddhism. We learn to understand our mind and our feelings and once we are aware we gain a higher perspective on things. We no longer need to suffer as victims of external circimstances. We have the ability to take charge of our feelings. In the open discussion I explained how I've taken up the practice of saying internally:
Breathing in I make my self happy.
Breathing out I experience Joy.
Just by being mindful of my breath for a minute or say and contemplating these words changes my emotional state to one of Joy and Happiness. The first time We practiced the Sutra on the Full awareness of Breathing kara remarked how just saying the words changes how we feel.
We concluded with open discussion.
With Loving Kindness,
Robert
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Meditation - Sunday, January 13, 2008
Members:
Jenny, and Robert.
Our meditation focused on mindful speech and patience.
We opened with one of the usual bell invitations:
May my words create mutual understanding and love.
May they be as beautiful as gems,
as lovely s flowers.
We had a reading on "right speech" from The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching – Thich Nhat Hanh)
Thich Nhat Hanh covers the traditional teachings that caution against:
1. Speaking falsely
2. Speaking with a forked tongue
3. Speaking cruelly
4. Embellishing or exaggerating the facts
He goes on to explain how our speech is directed by our thoughts so if we are practicing
right thinking we will practice right speech. Right mindfulness is also part of the practice.
Thich Nhat Hanh is constantly pointing out that all of the components of leading an enlightened
life exist together and if we really practice one part of the path properly we will be practicing
the entire path. (See the section on "The Noble Eightfold Path" in The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching - Thich Nhat Hanh).
Bhikkhu Bodhi translates these elements of "Right Speech" as:
1. Abstaining from false speech
2. Abstaining from slanderous speech
3. Abstaining from harsh speech
4. Abstaining from idle chatter
(See The Noble Eightfold Path - by bhikkhu Bodhi).
Silent Meditation: 15 minutes
We had a reading from The Chocolate Cake Sutra by Geri Larkin.
Geri's great at applying our ideals to real life situations. She explains how
a lonely man named Eugene helped teach them tolerance and mindful speech
at Still Point in Detroit. There is a great lesson here in looking deeply into a
real situation and applying love but in a firm manner.
(See The Chocolate Cake Sutra by Geri Larkin, pg. 77. Tolerance).
In our open discussion Jenny and I talked about our own experiences with speaking mindfully and sometimes not as mindfully as we wish we had. Mindful speech is part of what is called skillful means. When we speak mindfully we create unity and can foster reconciliation and healing. When we use harsh words we only fuel hostility and cause increased conflict and division. Once unskillful words leave our mouth we cannot retrieve them and sometimes we are never able to repair the damage.
With Metta,
Robert
Jenny, and Robert.
Our meditation focused on mindful speech and patience.
We opened with one of the usual bell invitations:
May the sound of this bell penetrate deeply
into the cosmos. In even the darkest places may living beings
hear it clearly,
so their suffering will cease,
understanding arise in their hearts,
and they can transcend the path of
anxiety and sorrow.
We followed with a gatha prescribed for phone answering:
May my words create mutual understanding and love.
May they be as beautiful as gems,
as lovely s flowers.
(pg. 69 – Present Moment, Wonderful Moment: Mindfulness verses for Daily Living).
This was followed with walking meditation.We had a reading on "right speech" from The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching – Thich Nhat Hanh)
Thich Nhat Hanh covers the traditional teachings that caution against:
1. Speaking falsely
2. Speaking with a forked tongue
3. Speaking cruelly
4. Embellishing or exaggerating the facts
He goes on to explain how our speech is directed by our thoughts so if we are practicing
right thinking we will practice right speech. Right mindfulness is also part of the practice.
Thich Nhat Hanh is constantly pointing out that all of the components of leading an enlightened
life exist together and if we really practice one part of the path properly we will be practicing
the entire path. (See the section on "The Noble Eightfold Path" in The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching - Thich Nhat Hanh).
Bhikkhu Bodhi translates these elements of "Right Speech" as:
1. Abstaining from false speech
2. Abstaining from slanderous speech
3. Abstaining from harsh speech
4. Abstaining from idle chatter
(See The Noble Eightfold Path - by bhikkhu Bodhi).
Silent Meditation: 15 minutes
We had a reading from The Chocolate Cake Sutra by Geri Larkin.
Geri's great at applying our ideals to real life situations. She explains how
a lonely man named Eugene helped teach them tolerance and mindful speech
at Still Point in Detroit. There is a great lesson here in looking deeply into a
real situation and applying love but in a firm manner.
(See The Chocolate Cake Sutra by Geri Larkin, pg. 77. Tolerance).
In our open discussion Jenny and I talked about our own experiences with speaking mindfully and sometimes not as mindfully as we wish we had. Mindful speech is part of what is called skillful means. When we speak mindfully we create unity and can foster reconciliation and healing. When we use harsh words we only fuel hostility and cause increased conflict and division. Once unskillful words leave our mouth we cannot retrieve them and sometimes we are never able to repair the damage.
With Metta,
Robert
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Meditation - Sunday, January 6, 2008
Members:
Jenny, Helen, and Robert.
We began with the bell invitation and a gatha from Thich Nhat Hanh:
"Body, speech, and mind held in perfect oneness,
I send my heart along with the sound of the bell.
May the hearers awaken from forgetfulness
and transcend all anxiety and sorrow".
(from Chanting From the Heart: Buddhist Ceremonies and Daily Practices by
Thich Nhat Hanh and the Monks and Nuns of Plum Village)
We did our usual sitting quietly and settling in followed by a few simple stretches.
We looked deeply into the precepts as presented by Diane Eshin Rizzetto in Waking up to what you do.
Helen read from The Long Road Turns to Joy: A Guide to Walking Meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh. These readings included thoughts on how we heal the earth and ourselves when we touch the earth mindfully with each step. There was a visualization of flowers blooming each place we step as the Lotus flowers that grew in each of the first steps taken by the Buddha. There was instruction on following our breathing as we step as well as being aware of each step.
After Helen's reading we practiced walking meditation.
This was followed by a reading from Bodhidharma's "Breakthrough Sermon" translated by Red Pine. The reading explained how there is an impure and a pure aspect to our minds and we alternate between these aspects depending on conditions. Sages are those unaffected by the impure aspect. Those who understand the mind find it easy to achieve enlightenment but those who do not continue on in darkness life after life. This is why we must meditate and look into our minds which are the root from which all things grow.
Our silent meditation followed. We sat for 15 minutes.
We had a final reading from the introduction to WAKE UP TO YOUR LIFE by Ken McLEOD.
In this section Ken explains that the book is not about mystical states but deals with overcoming the illusion that we are separate from the world. He advises us not to try to avoid suffering and death by searching for meaning but to enter fully into the the mystery of life.
We concluded with open discussion and comments.
Our Closing Circle Ceremony:
May the hearts of all beings be filled with loving-kindness.
May the hearts of all beings be filled with compassion for those suffering.
May the hearts of all beings be filled with co-rejoicing and joy for those who have found the path out of suffering
May all beings live in equanimity
May our practice be beneficial to all beings.
With Metta,
Robert
Jenny, Helen, and Robert.
We began with the bell invitation and a gatha from Thich Nhat Hanh:
"Body, speech, and mind held in perfect oneness,
I send my heart along with the sound of the bell.
May the hearers awaken from forgetfulness
and transcend all anxiety and sorrow".
(from Chanting From the Heart: Buddhist Ceremonies and Daily Practices by
Thich Nhat Hanh and the Monks and Nuns of Plum Village)
We did our usual sitting quietly and settling in followed by a few simple stretches.
We looked deeply into the precepts as presented by Diane Eshin Rizzetto in Waking up to what you do.
Helen read from The Long Road Turns to Joy: A Guide to Walking Meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh. These readings included thoughts on how we heal the earth and ourselves when we touch the earth mindfully with each step. There was a visualization of flowers blooming each place we step as the Lotus flowers that grew in each of the first steps taken by the Buddha. There was instruction on following our breathing as we step as well as being aware of each step.
After Helen's reading we practiced walking meditation.
This was followed by a reading from Bodhidharma's "Breakthrough Sermon" translated by Red Pine. The reading explained how there is an impure and a pure aspect to our minds and we alternate between these aspects depending on conditions. Sages are those unaffected by the impure aspect. Those who understand the mind find it easy to achieve enlightenment but those who do not continue on in darkness life after life. This is why we must meditate and look into our minds which are the root from which all things grow.
Our silent meditation followed. We sat for 15 minutes.
We had a final reading from the introduction to WAKE UP TO YOUR LIFE by Ken McLEOD.
In this section Ken explains that the book is not about mystical states but deals with overcoming the illusion that we are separate from the world. He advises us not to try to avoid suffering and death by searching for meaning but to enter fully into the the mystery of life.
We concluded with open discussion and comments.
Our Closing Circle Ceremony:
May the hearts of all beings be filled with loving-kindness.
May the hearts of all beings be filled with compassion for those suffering.
May the hearts of all beings be filled with co-rejoicing and joy for those who have found the path out of suffering
May all beings live in equanimity
May our practice be beneficial to all beings.
With Metta,
Robert
Monday, December 31, 2007
Meditation Summary - Sunday, December 30th, 2007
Participants:
Jenny, Helen, Dillon, and Robert.
We began by sitting quietly and practicing awareness of our breath, our bodies, our feelings, and our minds.
We did a few simple stretches and reviewed the basics of posture for meditation.
We did a short meditation following The Full awareness of Breathing. This was followed by a short walking meditation.
I read from An Introduction to Zen Training by Omori Sogen, page 32. The author encourages us to awaken our Bodhisattva longing to save all beings as preparation for meditation.
Our silent meditation followed. We sat for 15 minutes.
We then had a readings from Song of Mind by Xin Ming and translated by Sheng Yen.
This is a very advanced and difficult work. Like the Heart Suttra and the Diamond Suttra it cannot be understood logically. One must transend the ordinary mind used to function in this material world in order to experience the truth of this teaching.
The final reading was from Who ordered this Truckload of Dung by Ajahn Brahm, page 217. The section is titled "When I became enlightened". The author narrates how he had a very intense experience of clarity and enlightenment one night. However the next day at meal time he saw that they were having a delicious pork curry and some rotten fish curry. After taking a large portion of the pork curry for himself the Abbot mixed it in with the rotten fish curry and passed it to him. He became furious and then became aware that now he was not so enlightened.
After the readings we had open discussion. One of the topics was about enlightenment. I shared a view that I had read that there are no enlightened beings only enlightened activity. This is very consistent with the Buddhist belief of impermanence. We are constantly changing. Each moment we are a different person. We are enlightened as long as we are awake and mindful and act in an enlightened manor. Dogen says enlightenment is our practice and our practice is enlightenment. So we must strive diligently to carry our practice into our everyday life, into everything that we say, do, and think.
We concluded with our closing circle:
May the Hearts of all Beings be filled with Loving Kindness.
May the Hearts of all Beings be filled with Compassion.
May the Hearts of all Beings be filled with Joy.
May all Beings live in Equanimity.
May our Practice be Beneficial to All Beings.
Helen offered to do a reading and walking meditation next week.
Robert
Jenny, Helen, Dillon, and Robert.
We began by sitting quietly and practicing awareness of our breath, our bodies, our feelings, and our minds.
We did a few simple stretches and reviewed the basics of posture for meditation.
We did a short meditation following The Full awareness of Breathing. This was followed by a short walking meditation.
I read from An Introduction to Zen Training by Omori Sogen, page 32. The author encourages us to awaken our Bodhisattva longing to save all beings as preparation for meditation.
Our silent meditation followed. We sat for 15 minutes.
We then had a readings from Song of Mind by Xin Ming and translated by Sheng Yen.
This is a very advanced and difficult work. Like the Heart Suttra and the Diamond Suttra it cannot be understood logically. One must transend the ordinary mind used to function in this material world in order to experience the truth of this teaching.
The final reading was from Who ordered this Truckload of Dung by Ajahn Brahm, page 217. The section is titled "When I became enlightened". The author narrates how he had a very intense experience of clarity and enlightenment one night. However the next day at meal time he saw that they were having a delicious pork curry and some rotten fish curry. After taking a large portion of the pork curry for himself the Abbot mixed it in with the rotten fish curry and passed it to him. He became furious and then became aware that now he was not so enlightened.
After the readings we had open discussion. One of the topics was about enlightenment. I shared a view that I had read that there are no enlightened beings only enlightened activity. This is very consistent with the Buddhist belief of impermanence. We are constantly changing. Each moment we are a different person. We are enlightened as long as we are awake and mindful and act in an enlightened manor. Dogen says enlightenment is our practice and our practice is enlightenment. So we must strive diligently to carry our practice into our everyday life, into everything that we say, do, and think.
We concluded with our closing circle:
May the Hearts of all Beings be filled with Loving Kindness.
May the Hearts of all Beings be filled with Compassion.
May the Hearts of all Beings be filled with Joy.
May all Beings live in Equanimity.
May our Practice be Beneficial to All Beings.
Helen offered to do a reading and walking meditation next week.
Robert
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Tranquil Waters Blog - A beginning
Hello All. I hope all of you had a peaceful and pleasant holiday. It's so easy to get caught up in the commercialism that is part of the tangle that we live in. Fortunately we have the Four Noble Truths to guide us out of the frustrating and unsatisfactory nature that is part of living with the deluded mind perspective. At our meditation sessions we enjoy the peace of the present moment. We take time to be mindful of our breath, our bodies, our feelings, and our thoughts. Life is beautiful when we stop thinking we will be happy if we have this or that object, if we have a different job, more money, or live in a different place. There is great peace and joy available here and now if we just practice mindfulness.
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