Mandala of the Heart – Tuesday
Online Retreat: Mandala of the Heart
Tuesday 27 July
Recordings
8am
10.30 am
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.
(Letters, quoted in ‘Geometry, Relativity, and the Fourth Dimension’ by Rudolf Rucker)
4pm
Heart meditation led by Paramananda
Q&A with Paramananda and Bodhilila
What the Heart is Like
Officially the heart
is oblong, muscular,
and filled with longing.
But anyone who has painted the heart knows
that it is also
spiked like a star
and sometimes bedraggled
like a stray dog at night
and sometimes powerful
like an archangel’s drum.
And sometimes cube-shaped
like a draught-man’s dream
and sometimes gaily round
like a ball in a net.
And sometimes like a thin line
and sometimes like an explosion.
And in it is
only a river,
a weir
and at most one little fish
by no means golden.
More like a grey
jealous
loach.
It certainly isn’t noticeable
at first sight.
Anyone who has painted the heart knows
that first he had to
discard his spectacles,
his mirror,
throw away his fine-point pencil
and carbon paper
and for a long while
walk
outside.
Miroslav Holub
Invocation of Amitabha
Turning to the West,
And the rays of the setting sun,
I bow to the ruby red light
That is the Buddha Amitabha.
Lover of light,
You sit on a rich red lotus,
Floating on the ocean of existence.
Your hands touch together in your lap,
A soft red lotus growing between them.
You are deep in meditation,
Completely at peace with yourself.
Rich red light emanates
From every pore of your skin.
Your red robes are embroidered with gold.
Soft red light and a rainbow surround you,
The wisdom aura of green encircles your head.
You are the rich red light of the setting sun
Sinking into the ocean of existence,
Your rays extending across the sea to meet us.
With your light comes your love,
A warm and passionate love for all that lives,
Suffusing all things,
Nourishing and healing,
Bringing back to life the hurt and wounded.
The red light washes over us,
Melting the ice of our hearts.
Yet always you are deep in meditation,
Your energy drawn inwards,
Moving from the senses
To the riches of your inner world.
From this wholeness and containment,
Your love shines out.
And the lotus growing in your hands,
Each red petal slowly opening
And emanating light,
This lotus echoes the growth in us
Of our own inner life,
Our own aspirations,
The gentle warming and unfolding of our own hearts.
Lover of light,
Your discriminating vision
Sees each person exactly as they are,
Loves each one according to their need.
You perceive clearly the nature of all things,
Seeing with the eye of reality
Beneath the form to the thing itself.
O Amitabha
You are the fire element,
The spark of life,
The warmth and heat that is life itself.
Let the fires of your love burn brightly for all to see.
O Amitabha,
Help us to overcome our selfish greed,
to see clearly what we really need.
Help us to become content,
with what we already have
and be happy wherever we are.
O Amitabha,
Help us to come alive
to a world beyond the senses.
Help us to experience the joy of meditation,
The ever-renewing energies of our own minds.
Help us to enter Sukhavati
The blissful land of your light,
The blissful land of your love.
by Dharmachari Saccanama December 1999 (and Viryabodhi, June 2006)
