Buddhist Meditation and Study Group Meeting Online (Zoom)

The meeting starts with 10 minutes of silent meditation. If you already have a meditation practice, please do that. If not, one option would be to focus on your breathing. Some people silently count their in-breaths and out-breaths. For example, count 1 as you inhale, 2 as you exhale, etc., up to 10, and then start over. At some point if you feel focused, you can stop the counting and just be aware of whatever happens in your field of experience (inner and outer) without judgement, analysis or commentary.
For the next hour we study and discuss some aspect of the Buddhist teachings, applying them to our everyday lives. We finish the meeting with 20 minutes of guided meditation using Thich Nhat Hanh's book "The Blooming of a Lotus."

For more information, including how to attend, text Jim Patteson at 772-559-3551.

We recite several chants during the meeting (see below). To avoid a chaotic cacophony, everyone will be muted except Jim and Kathy, who will be leading the chants. Everyone will be muted during the meditations as well.

CHANTS (RECITATIONS)

After the first meditation:
THE BODHISATTVA VOW
A Bodhisattva is someone who is solidly on the spiritual path with the intention of becoming more aware and more loving. This is a version by Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.

However innumerable beings are, I vow to meet them with kindness and interest. However inexhaustible the states of suffering are, I vow to touch them with patience and love. However immeasurable the Dharmas are, I vow to explore them deeply. However incomparable the mystery of interbeing, I vow to surrender to it freely.

In Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We're in Without Going Crazy
Buddhist scholar and environmental activist Joanna Macy introduces the Ecosattva Vow, and we have added it to our chants.

I vow to myself and to each of you:
To commit myself daily to the healing of our world
And the welfare of all beings.
To live on earth more lightly and less violently in the food,
products, and energy I consume.
To draw strength and guidance from the living Earth,
the ancestors, the future generations,
and my brothers and sisters of all species.
To support others in our work for the world
and to ask for help when I need it.
To pursue a daily practice
that clarifies my mind, strengthens my heart,
and supports me in observing these vows.

After the discussion, before the 2nd meditation

THE FIVE REMEMBERENCES

Thich Nhat Hanh highly recommends this chant, which Buddha and his disciples recited daily. It expresses relative truth. Other teachings in Buddhism say that we continue on in some form. This is the ultimate truth. Buddhism has both.

I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old. I am of the nature to have ill-health. There is no way to escape ill-health. I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death. All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them. My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

After the second meditation:

Kathy and I chanted this daily when we studied Zen with Katagiri-Roshi many years ago;
All the Karma ever created by me, born of old through greed, anger and self-delusion, I now make full repentance of it.

This is from Thich Nhat Hanh:
May all beings be peaceful and light in their body and in their mind. May all beings be safe and free from accidents. May all beings be free from anger, unwholesome states of mind, fear and worries. May all beings know how to look at themselves with the eyes of understanding & compassion. May all beings be able to recognize and touch the seeds of joy and happiness in themselves. May all beings learn how to nourish themselves with joy each day. May all beings be able to live fresh, solid and free. May all beings not fall into the state of indifference or be caught in the extremes of attachment or aversion.