Welcome to our sixth online suggested practise for this week. We are now broadcasting a live teaching each Monday evening. If you would like to participate please contact us using the contact form on the homepage.
1.0) If you feel so inclined, begin by reciting the usual prayers (please follow below links for text). Alternatively, try to think or articulate a wish for all beings to achieve liberation from suffering, etc .
- Four Thoughts: contemplating each in turn – http://northantsbuddhists.com/the-four-thoughts/
- Refuge Prayer: twice in Tibetan, once in English – http://northantsbuddhists.com/the-refuge-prayer/
2.0) Dharma – Zen and Mindfulness
2.1) Shunryu Suzuki: Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind:
“The true purpose of Zen is to see things as they are, to observe things as they are, and to let everything go as it goes… Zen practice is to open up our small mind.”
“Now it is raining, but we don’t know what will happen in the next moment. By the time we go out it may be a beautiful day, or a stormy day. Since we don’t know, let’s appreciate the sound of the rain now.”
Elsewhere, he writes that if you wake up during the night and you hear the rain pelting against your window, you might think, Oh, no: I’m going to get soaked on the way to work today… etc. He tells us: It is not your business(!) to think what will happen later on; in any case, for all you know it might be a beautiful morning when you go to work.
“But as long as you think, “I am doing this,” or “I have to do this,” or “I must attain something special,” you are actually not doing anything… when you do not try to do anything special, then you do something. When there is no gaining idea in what you do, then you do something.”
2.2) Thich Nhat Hanh:
“But as long as you think, “I am doing this,” or “I have to do this,” or “I must attain something special,” you are actually not doing anything… when you do not try to do anything special, then you do something. When there is no gaining idea in what you do, then you do something.”
“If while washing dishes, we think only of the cup of tea that awaits us, thus hurrying to get the dishes out of the way as if they were a nuisance, then we are not “washing the dishes to wash the dishes.” What’s more, we are not alive during the time we are washing the dishes. In fact we are completely incapable of realizing the miracle of life while standing at the sink. If we can’t wash the dishes, the chances are we won’t be able to drink our tea either. While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things, barely aware of the cup in our hands. Thus we are sucked away into the future -and we are incapable of actually living
“Your body is your first home. Breathing in, I arrive in my body. Breathing out, I am home.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
“Anger is like a storm rising up from the bottom of your consciousness. When you feel it coming, turn your focus to your breath.”
“Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present moment I know this is the only moment.”
“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.”
“Making an Appointment with Life”
2.3) TNH – Guided Meditation on the breath (read through first with comments, and then do practice…):
- Breathing in, I know I am breathing in; breathing out, I know I am breathing out… ‘In….Out’ (Very important practice – distinguishing in-breath from out-breath… reducing thoughts, joining mind and body, being in the present moment, the only moment…)
- Breathing in, my breath grows deep; breathing out, my breath grows slow…. ‘Deep……… Slow’
- Breathing in, I feel calm; breathing out, I feel ease…. ‘Calm………..Ease’
- Breathing in, I smile; breathing out, I release…. ‘Smile…………..Release’
- Breathing in, I dwell in the present moment; breathing out, I know it is a wonderful moment….. ‘Present moment……………Wonderful Moment’
3.0) Recommended other online meetings:
Venerable Canda is doing an online Zoom meeting (Saturday mornings, Sunday and Wednesday evenings ).
Amravati are also doing online Zoom Saturday 2pm and Sunday 2pm.