Online Retreat: The Heart of Practice
Day 3
Resources for Day 3:
‘ There’s no such thing as meditation, only meditators.’
Paramananda
Tuesday 8am
Welcome to Day 3
Salute to the Three Jewels
Reading
40 min unled meditation with bells marking 5 stages.
‘disposing yourself physically to be calm, as in an empty house the raindrops slowly gather, relax – do not force your mind or body.’
Padmasambhava from Advice to the Three Fortunate Women
Tuesday 10.30am
Talk by Bodhilila
Silent reflection
Bodyscan
Mindfulness of Sounds
Just Sitting
Earth
Let the day grow on you upward
through your feet,
the vegetal knuckles,
to your knees of stone,
until by evening you are a black tree;
feel, with evening,
the swifts thicken your hair,
the new moon rising out of your forehead,
and the moonlit veins of silver
running from your armpits
like rivulets under white leaves.
Sleep, as ants
cross over your eyelids.
You have never possessed anything
as deeply as this.
This is all you have owned
from the first outcry
through forever;
You can never be dispossessed.
Derek Walcott
Tuesday 4pm
Meditation led by Paramananda
Q & A with Paramananda and Bodhilila
Threefold Puja with Refuges and Precepts
Amitabha mantra led by Prajnanita
Einstein on Compassion
A human being is a part of the whole, called by us “Universe”, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.
Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in all its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such an achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.
Einstein (from Letters, quoted in ‘Geometry, Relativity, and the Fourth Dimension’ by Rudolf Rucker)
Three-fold Puja
Opening Reverence
We reverence the Buddha, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the Shower of the Way.
We reverence the Dharma, the Teaching of the Buddha, which leads from darkness to Light. We reverence the Sangha, the fellowship of the Buddha’s disciples, that inspires and guides.
Reverence to the Three Jewels
We reverence the Buddha, and aspire to follow Him. The Buddha was born, as we are born.
What the Buddha overcame, we too can overcome; What the Buddha attained, we too can attain.
We reverence the Dharma, and aspire to follow it, With body, speech and mind, until the end.
The Truth in all its aspects, the Path in all its stages, We aspire to study, practise, realise.
We reverence the Sangha, and aspire to follow it: The fellowship of those who tread the Way.
As, one by one, we make our own commitment, An ever-widening circle, the Sangha grows.
Offerings to the Buddha
Reverencing the Buddha, we offer flowers – Flowers that today are fresh and sweetly blooming, Flowers that tomorrow are faded and fallen.
Our bodies too, like flowers, will pass away.
Reverencing the Buddha, we offer candles.
To Him, who is the Light, we offer light.
From His greater lamp a lesser lamp we light within us: The lamp of Bodhi shining within our hearts.
Reverencing the Buddha, we offer incense,
Incense whose fragrance pervades the air.
The fragrance of the perfect life, sweeter than incense, Spreads in all directions throughout the world.
The Refuges and Precepts
Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammasambuddhassa Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammasambuddhassa Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammasambuddhassa
Buddham Saranam Gacchami Dhammam Saranam Gacchami Sangham Saranam Gacchami
Dutiyampi Buddham Saranam Gacchami Dutiyampi Dhammam Saranam Gacchami Dutiyampi Sangham Saranam Gacchami
Tatiyampi Buddham Saranam Gacchami Tatiyampi Dhammam Saranam Gacchami Tatiyampi Sangham Saranam Gacchami
translation
Homage to Him, the Blessed One, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Enlightened One!
To the Buddha for refuge I go. To the Dharma for refuge I go. To the Sangha for refuge I go.
For the second time to the Buddha for refuge I go. For the second time to the Dharma for refuge I go. For the second time to the Sangha for refuge I go.
For the third time to the Buddha for refuge I go. For the third time to the Dharma for refuge I go. For the third time to the Sangha for refuge I go.
The Five Precepts
Panatipata Veramani Sikkhapadam Samadiyami
Adinnadana Veramani Sikkhapadam Samadiyami
Kamesu Micchacara Veramani Sikkhapadam Samadiyami
Musavada Veramani Sikkhapadam Samadiyami
Surameraya Majja Pamadatthana Veramani Sikkhapadam Samadiyami
sadhu sadhu sadhu
translation
I undertake to abstain from taking life.
I undertake to abstain from taking the not-given. I undertake to abstain from sexual misconduct.
I undertake to abstain from false speech.
I undertake to abstain from taking intoxicants.
The Positive Precepts
With deeds of loving kindness, I purify my body.
With open-handed generosity, I purify my body.
With stillness, simplicity, and contentment, I purify my body. With truthful communication, I purify my speech.
With mindfulness clear and radiant, I purify my mind.
