lotusinthemud

buddha's dogs

                              Buddha's Dogs

I'm at a day-long meditation retreat, eight hours of watching my mind with my mind,
and I already fell asleep twice and nearly fell out of my chair, and it's not even noon yet.

In the morning session, I learned to count my thoughts, ten in one minute, and the longest
was to leave and go to San Anselmo and shop, then find an outdoor cafe and order a glass

of Sancerre, smoked trout with roasted potatoes and baby carrots and a bowl of
      gazpacho.
But I stayed and learned to name my thoughts; so far they are: wanting, wanting, wanting,

wanting, wanting, wanting, wanting, wanting, judgment, sadness. Don't identify with your
thoughts, the teacher says, you are not your personality, not your ego-identification,

then he bangs the gong for lunch. Whoever, whatever I am is given instruction
in the walking meditation and the eating meditation and walks outside with the other

meditators, and we wobble across the lawn like The Night of the Living Dead.
I meditate slowly, falling over a few times because I kept my foot in the air too long,

towards a bench, sit slowly down, and slowly eat my sandwich, noticing the bread,
(sourdough), noticing the taste, (tuna, sourdough), noticing the smell, (sourdough, tuna),

thanking the sourdough, the tuna, the ocean, the boat, the fisherman, the field, the grain,
the farmer, the Saran Wrap that kept this food fresh for this body made of food and desire

and the hope of getting through the rest of this day without dying of boredom.
Sun then cloud then sun. I notice a maple leaf on my sandwich. It seems awfully large.

Slowly brushing it away, I feel so sad I can hardly stand it, so I name my thoughts; they
      are:
sadness about my mother, judgment about my father, wanting the child I never had.

I notice I've been chasing the same thoughts like dogs around the same park most of my
      life,
notice the leaf tumbling gold to the grass. The gong sounds, and back in the hall,

I decide to try lying down meditation, and let myself sleep. The Buddha in my dream is me,
surrounded by dogs wagging their tails, licking my hands. I wake up

for the forgiveness meditation, the teacher saying, never put anyone out of your heart,
and the heart opens and knows it won't last and will have to open again and again,

chasing those dogs around and around in the sun then cloud then sun.

~ Susan Browne

Peace is Every Step

 

 

Talks from the Bodhi Retreat, December 2019

Here are the links to the audio and video recordings of talks from our recent Bodhi gathering in Malvern. The theme for the retreat was In Less Than a Day

1. Rev Master Dharmavidya: Post-Mappo and Innocence of Heart
   audio link – YouTube link
2. Acharya Susthama: Queen Vaidehi’s Vision of the Pureland
   audio link – YouTube link
3. Acharya Kaspalita: Outside Practice and Just as You Are
   audio link – YouTube link
4. Rev Master Dharmavidya: Regaining Innocence
   audio link – YouTube link

Rev Master Dharmavidya: Regaining Innocence

audio link

The final talk of our Bodhi gathering 2019. In this talk Dharmvidya speaks about how the path to innocence is through the nembutsu and reflection on the precepts. He also answers a question about the language of Buddhism, and one on dealing with trauma.

 

 

Video of Post-Mappo and the Innocent Heart by Dharmavidya David Brazier

Bodhi gathering 2019 - talk one. Rev Master Dharmavidya David Brazier gives the first talk of our Bodhi gathering.

"In this time of materialism it is not even possible for people to follow the path of faith with any ease. In fact, many people have become inoculated against faith by exposure to its degenerate forms. What can possibly avail us in these latter days? Life has become immensely complicated. People are under pressure from all sides to conform to the path of worldly success." "The innocent heart is unselfconscious. Through innocence one can find faith renewed. Through faith renewed one can find the real meaning of the practices. In these real forms one can meet the Tathagata. Meeting the Tathagata one can receive the transmission. It all unfords naturally. We are in the fourth age, the Post-Mappo, and a return to the simplicity of innocence is now the only gate that is not locked."

:: audio link

 

 

Post-Mappo Rediscover Innocence ~ Dharmavidya

The first Dharma talk of the 2019 Bodhi Retreat at Amida Mandala. Dharmavidya writes:

In my Dharma talk today I suggested that we are now in the fourth age of the Dharma. In the first age of the Dharma Buddha Shakyamuni was still in this world or had recently passed away and people became enlightened by direct encounter with him or with one of his great disciples. This was the age of direct inspiration.

In the second age of the Dharma, people were able to become enlightened and enter nirvana by means of self-power practices. It was not that these rituals had an intrinsic power, but they were what still connected practitioners with the original source. By doing what Buddha did, people received the transmission. This continued for eight hundred years or so.

By the third age of the Dharma, called Mappo, things had deteriorated. Although the self-power practices remained a shining example, there were few or no people capable of actually realising them. The times were degenerate. At this time there arose teachers who showed the path of faith as the only available possibility for deluded beings to reach the Buddha and receive the transmission, if not in this life, then in the next.

Now we are in the fourth age, the Post-Mappo. In this time of materialism it is not even possible for people to follow the path of faith with any ease. In fact, many people have become inoculated against faith by exposure to its degenerate forms. What can possibly avail us in these latter days? Life has become immensely complicated. People are under pressure from all sides to conform to the path of worldly success.

Those who still attempt self-power practices do so mostly for the sake of this-worldly benefit. We do not have Shakyamuni nor Shariputra, Kashyapa nor Ananda to show us the way. We are more sophisticated than the people of old, but this very sophistication blocks our way back to the source. What is needed now? What is needed now is a return to innocence.

Only by cutting through the interminable woes and worries of our age can we hope to find the light and this cutting through involves a great simplification and lightening. Lighten your life! Reclaim the innocent eye of the child without letting go of the knowledge gained by maturity. Learn once again to play and skip. Life has become too heavy.

We are all weighed down by possessions and responsibilities, deadlines and protocols, debt and work. Riding the Dharma, leap free. Break out of the prison. Embrace nature. Let the mind expand in wonderment. Talk to the stars and bathe in the light of the moon.

The innocent heart is unselfconscious. Through innocence one can find faith renewed. Through faith renewed one can find the real meaning of the practices. In these real forms one can meet the Tathagata. Meeting the Tathagata one can receive the transmission. It all unfords naturally.

We are in the fourth age, the Post-Mappo, and a return to the simplicity of innocence is now the only gate that is not locked.

:: link

Amida Newsletter #43, announcing a retreat in the UK

Summer Retreat - Dwelling in Entrustment

13th - 18th August in Holland House, Worcestershire, UK



A residential retreat

Spend a week learning to trust, 'lean in' and be held on this Pureland Buddhist retreat led by priests with the Amida Order:
 Rev. Kaspalita, Rev. Jnanamati and Rev. Satyavani.

The perfect opportunity to deepen your connection the sacred. Dharmavidya is not running any retreats in France this year, so come and join us at this beautiful location in the UK. 

This retreat will include silent contemplation, chanting, personal enquiry through the creative process (including writing, poetry and visual art), group sharing and dharma talks. The retreat is open to all - Pure Land Buddhists, Buddhists from other traditions or other spiritual practitioners interested in learning experientially about the Pure Land way and a more faith-based tradition of Buddhism. 

This retreat is an opportunity to enter more deeply into the Pure Land practices. Dharmavidya has referred to Pure Land Buddhism as refuge Buddhism, and explains that rather than being a tradition that encourages the cultivation of practice Pure Land invites us, over time, to deepen our refuge. The various practices we engage in are devotional and are in this context ways of deepening our refuge in Amida Buddha. They are also ways of opening to the grace of tariki or Other Power of the Buddhas.

Venue: The retreat will be held at Holland House near Evesham in Worcestershire, a beautiful retreat centre with lovely gardens with a great kitchen. The cost includes all accomodation, delicious food and dana for the retreat leaders.

Cost: A £40 deposit is required to book your space - this deposit is non-refundable. The earlybird fee (until end Feb 2017) is £365, after this the fee £395. Unwaged fee £345. Payment by installments is also an option. For details of how to pay your deposit and secure your place, contact Satya: [email protected] 
Phone 01684 572444. 

You can read more about the retreat leaders below, read more about the Amida-Shu school of Buddhism at www.amidashu.org, or more about the Amida Mandala temple at www.amidamandala.com. 

Namo Amida Bu

The Retreat Leaders
Rev. Kaspalita runs the Amida Mandala Buddhist Temple in Malvern with his wife Satya. He is a practising psychotherapist and offers mindfulness classes as a part of Mindfully Whole. He co-runs Writing Our Way Home, a mindful writing company, with Satya. 

Rev. Jnanamati is a Pureland Buddhist Priest with the Amida Order. He works as an art therapist and also does chaplaincy work in health care settings. He is the Amida-Shu representative for the Worcestershire Interfaith Network. 

Rev. Satyavani is a Pureland Buddhist Priest, psychotherapist in private practice and a writer. She co-authored 'Just As You Are: Buddhism for Foolish Beings' with Kaspa and has written several novels.

See the Facebook event or get in touch for more information.

:: link

Thinking about the Winter Retreat ~ Dharmavidya

Education
My first thought about the Winter Retreat starting this October is that this is not just 'training'. Many sanghas have adopted the term ‘Dharma training’, but i think that this is a misnomer. There may be elements of training: one might be trained to be bell master, guest master, master of ceremonies, cook, a drummer, a gardener, and so on - in the Dharma life one turns one's hand to many things. These are specific functional roles and, if you live in a spiritual community, any of these roles may be valuable. However, the fundamental aim of the exercise is not training, It is Dharmic Education. 

Being One’s Best
The word education literally means 'to draw out' and the purpose of education is to draw out the true nature in people. By doing so one enhances their character. Along the way they may acquire various skills, but that is incidental and an expression of the basic core which is that the person grow and flourish in the Dharma.

Furthermore, the true nature of being human involves relationship. Dharmic Education is not something merely abstract, it is personal and it is inter-personal. It is an initiation and a transmission and it happens heart to heart.

Buddhism cannot be reduced to a set of skills and protocols, each with an appropriate training and certificate. We may use many exercises and procedures, meditations and ceremonies, roles and responsibilities, but they are all expressions of, or means to, or the medium for Dharmic Education - education for Dharmic life. They are subordinate elements, not the prime phenomenon.

All this means that one cannot keep Dharma in an isolated bubble in one's life. If you get involved in Dharma in a real way then it changes everything. It is not like a skill that can be added on or a hobby that is intermittently interesting. It is an affair of heart and mind.

Character & Liberation
We see progress in the Dharma, not so much in how perfectly a person can make a meal for the community - though this mat, indeed, express their love and care - but rather more in how they respond when the meal goes wrong; not so much in how well they have mastered the ritual, but in how they cope when it is changed, not in how many hours they can sit still in the lotus position, but in whether they genuinely care for the other people present, not in their ability to impress with learning, but in their real concern that others find growth and liberation.

Learning the practical functional things is important because it is a way of implementing care and love for other members of the community. However, it is the growth of love, compassion, gratitude, concern for others, and ease in adversity that are the true fruits. A person who has these things will be naturally keen to learn relevant skills and will be flexible in his or her use of them. They will not use them as a prop to the ego, but rather as a means to enhancing the community life. By creating such a spirit of acceptance and joy, all are liberated together.

Leadership
Education has a good deal to do with leadership and authority. Logically, a person can be in four positions in this respect. One can be in authority over others, one can be  subordinate, one can be a peer, or one can be alone with nobody to depend upon in any of the other three already mentioned positions.

Generally speaking we find that for the great majority of people, one or more of these positions brings to the surface personal problems of a compulsive and unsettled nature that cause difficulties both for the person concerned and for others around them. A person who is liberated from inner compulsions can handle all of these positions in a relaxed way and move between them with ease and dignity. To bring a person to the point where they can do so is, therefore, an evident goal of education. At the same time, we can see from these observations that there is an important interface between education and therapy. 

Accompaniment & Apprenticeship
In the perspective that I am employing here, therapy does not refer to a procedure claiming to be treatment with a quasi-medical aim; it is a process of accompaniment. Taken in this way, education and therapy are very closely related. In a sense they are two ends of one matter. In therapy, one applies general considerations to one's own case whereas in education one starts from one's experience and draws out the universal lesson. Again, both education and therapy are processes in which a person with a particular kind of experience accompanies another who is exploring the arena within which such experiences are to be found. When we think of it this way we can readily see how it was that, in earlier days, education was substantially a matter of apprenticeship. In the spiritual world, this is still the case. The disciple accompanies the master and the master accompanies the disciple. Both are learning. The disciple is not only learning, he or she is learning how to learn. They are learning to apply lessons to their own person, yet, at the same time, they are learning to leave over-personalisation behind.

There may be an end to the relationship of accompaniment in practical terms, but there is a sense in which it is endless. My major teachers are still very much with me, even though they are all dead. Their spirit lives with me. It is this transmission of spirit that is the essence of Dharma education.

Wei Wu Wei
Following on from the remarks I made earlier about authority and leadership, I think we can also see that a truly spiritual person is inevitably a leader of some kind. Even when such a person plays a subordinate role in formal terms, they are still a leader in moral terms. This would be true even if they were confined in prison. Their leadership may sometimes show in the obvious way, namely that they can take initiative, guide and protect others, and handle responsibility, but it also shows in their humility and willingness to follow. From the worldly view point this may seem contradictory, but I think those who have even a small grasp of spirituality will know what i mean. Their leadership is by example. The person who is a great teacher, may well be the student with most rapt attention when another teacher is giving the lesson. In this manner they are a leading student. They are not trying to lead, it is simply a function of how they are, and that is the outcome of education. This is an example of the Taoist principle of wei wu wei, of unselfconscious-action-without-affectation being most naturally efficacious.

To Be Continued
In the some subsequent teachings I am going to say a little about some of the things that we might do on the retreat. However, I think it is important to enter this caveat first, because otherwise it is all too easy to lose perspective and ‘to miss seeing the wood for the trees’.

:: link

Dharmavidya: Larger Pureland Sutra Talks ~ Summer 2006

There is a series of  audio recordings of talks that Dharmavidya gave in the summer of 2006 during a retreat in France

:: here

Amida Newsletter 29: Whispers from the Bamboo Grove ~ Satya's report of the Amida Order Retreat

Satyavani

 

Two weeks in France

For those of you who couldn't join us, I wanted to give you all a taste of our two weeks of retreat in Bessait-Le-Fromental at Dharmavidya's hermitage, Eleusis. We were an international bunch - the group was Ganendra (Spain), Modgala, Kaspa, Satya, Adam and Caroline (UK), Prajna and James (Canada), Jan (Hawaii), and Maitrisimha, Annetta, and Floor and Jnanamati (the Hague).

Our first week was a Nei Quan retreat and Dharmavidya asked us to pay attention to any thoughts and feelings which arose during practice or times writing in our journals, chasing them and examining them rather than letting them go. We gave daily 'reports' of our findings to Dharmavidya in front of the group which was helpful for individuals and stimulated thought for the rest of the group. Many of us felt great personal shifts, held by Dharmavidya, the daily practice, the group and the beautiful setting.

The second week was the Order retreat which coincided with a heatwave and so we held most of our meetings in the shade under the walnut tree rather than in the stifling attic room! We heard reports of Amida sanghas in India, Malvern, London, Canada, the Hague, Belgium and Spain. The Order retreat is also a time when those who run groups can get support from others in a similar position, and share ideas and experiences.

We were cooked delicious food by Jnanamati, Adam and Floor, and enjoyed much good conversation over the washing up table, going on walks and gathered by the wall in the evening with a cup of chicory. We also enjoyed a swim!

Maybe we'll see you next year... If you'd like to visit before then to volunteer for Dharmavidya in the house or garden, get in touch with Jnanamati for more information.

Namo Amida Bu.
Reverend Satyavani, secretary for the Order
*****

Dates for your Diary - retreats led by Dharmavidya
 
There are three opportunities to attend a retreat led Dharmavidya over the coming year - do put them in your diaries.

Tues 8th - Sun 13th December 2015 - Bodhi Retreat, Malvern
(12th - all day chanting, 13th - ceremonies)
For more information, look here

*****
Tues 31st May - Saturday 4th June 2016 - Retreat in Malvern
(you can attend part or all of the retreat)

Tues 28th June - Sat 2nd July
Mon 4th July - Fri 8th July 2016
Retreats in Dharmavidya's hermitage, France

More information to follow

Namo Amida Bu