I TEACH ONE THING; THE TRUTH OF SUFFERING AND THE END OF SUFFERING. Siddhartha Gautama. The Buddha. B u d d h i s t M e d i ta t i o n Services

Transcription

1 I TEACH ONE THING; THE TRUTH OF SUFFERING AND THE END OF SUFFERING. Siddhartha Gautama The Buddha B u d d h i s t M e d i ta t i o Services

2 Buddhist Service Leader: Welcome. Let us begi Buddhist meditatio service ad bow i reverece to the Three Treasures: the Buddha (rig bell, all bow) the Dharma (rig bell, all bow) the Sagha (rig bell, all bow) Leader: Fortuate it is to be bor ito huma life, Now we are livig it. Rare is it to ecouter the Teachigs of the Buddha, Now we hear it. If we do ot have Faith ad seek the Truth of the Dharma i this life, i what life shall we fid it? Let us reveretly take refuge i the Three Treasures of the Truth. All repeat 3 times: I take refuge i the Buddha I take refuge i the Dharma I take refuge i the Sagha I take refuge i the Buddha I take refuge i the Dharma I take refuge i the Sagha I take refuge i the Buddha I take refuge i the Dharma I take refuge i the Sagha

3 The Four Noble Truths All: I uderstad there is sufferig i life. I uderstad there are causes for all sufferig. I uderstad there is a fial state of o sufferig. I uderstad there are paths to overcome sufferig ad the way to overcome sufferig is by followig the Noble Eightfold Path. The Noble Eightfold Path Goig aroud the circle, each sagha member reads oe of the factors of the path: I shall see thigs as the are - Right View I shall be coscious of my itetios - Right Itetio I shall speak truthfully ad with compassio - Right Speech I shall act uselfishly - Right Coduct I shall live hoestly - Right Livelihood I shall follow the teachig of the Buddha with patiece - Right Effort I shall cultivate awareess i the preset momet - Right Midfuless I shall stregthe midfuless through meditatio - Right Cocetratio - 1 -

4 The Five Precepts Leader: The Five Precepts are the basis for a happy life. They have the capacity to protect life ad to make it beautiful ad worth livig. They are also the door that opes to elightemet ad liberatio. Please liste to each precept, ad aswer Yes siletly every time you see that you have made the effort to study, practice ad observe it. Leader: The First Precept - Kidess ad Compassio I strive to practice ot killig or harmig other livig beigs. Sagha: Aware of the sufferig caused by the destructio of life, I strive to cultivate compassio ad lear ways to protect the lives of people ad all livig beigs. I am determied ot to kill or harm others, ot to let others kill or harm others, ad ot to codoe ay act of harm i the world, i my thikig, ad i my way of life. Leader: This is the first of the Five Precepts. Have we each made the effort to study ad practice it durig the past (week, two weeks or moth)? Pause to reflect ad reply siletly. Leader rigs bell. Leader: The Secod Precept - Geerosity ad No-Attachmet I strive to practice takig oly what is freely give. Sagha: Aware of the sufferig caused by exploitatio, social ijustice, stealig ad oppressio, I strive to cultivate lovig kidess ad lear ways to work for the well-beig of all livig beigs. I strive to practice geerosity by sharig my time, eergy ad material resources with those who are i real eed. I am determied ot to steal ad ot to possess aythig that should belog to others. I will respect the property of others, ad I will prevet others from profitig from huma sufferig or the sufferig of other species o earth. Leader: This is the secod of the Five Precepts. Have we each made the effort to study ad practice it durig the past (week, two weeks or moth)? Pause to reflect ad reply siletly. Leader rigs bell. Leader: The Third Precept - Restrait I strive to practice resposible sexual coduct. Sagha: Aware of the sufferig caused by sexual miscoduct, I strive to cultivate resposibility ad lear ways to protect the safety ad itegrity of idividuals, couples, families ad society. I am determied ot to egage i sexual relatios that cause harm to others. I will do everythig i my power to protect others from sexual abuse. Leader: This is the third of the Five Precepts. Have we each made the effort to study ad practice it durig the past (week, two weeks or moth)? Pause to reflect ad reply siletly. Leader rigs bell

5 Leader: The Fourth Precept - Hoesty ad Truthfuless I strive to practice speakig truthfully. Sagha: Aware of the sufferig caused by umidful speech ad the iability to liste to others, I strive to cultivate lovig speech ad deep listeig i order to brig joy ad happiess to others ad relieve others of their sufferig. Kowig that words ca create happiess or sufferig, I strive to lear to speak truthfully usig words that ispire self-cofidece, joy ad hope. I am determied ot to spread ews that I do ot kow to be certai ad ot to criticize or codem thigs of which I am ot sure. I will refrai from utterig words that ca cause divisio or discord, or that ca cause the family or the commuity to break. I will make every effort to recocile ad resolve all coflicts, however small. Leader: This is the fourth of the Five Precepts. Have we each made the effort to study ad practice it durig the past (week, two weeks or moth)? Pause to reflect ad reply siletly. Leader rigs bell. Leader: The Fifth Precept - Health ad Midfuless I strive to protect my metal health through midful cosumptio ad to avoid itoxicats. Sagha: Aware of the sufferig caused by umidful cosumptio, I strive to cultivate good health, both physical ad metal, for myself ad others by practicig midful eatig, drikig, ad cosumig. I order to safeguard my mid ad cultivate awareess ad clarity of mid, I strive to igest items to preserve peace, well-beig ad joy i my body, i my cosciousess, ad i the collective body ad cosciousess of my commuity. I am determied ot to use ay items that cotai toxis, such as may be foud i certai TV programs, magazies, books, films ad coversatios. I will work to trasform violece, fear, ager ad cofusio i myself ad i society by practicig Dharma, for myself ad for society. I uderstad that practicig Dharma is crucial for self-trasformatio ad for the trasformatio of society. Leader: This is the fifth of the Five Precepts. Have we each made the effort to study ad practice it durig the past (week, two weeks or moth)? Pause to reflect ad reply siletly. Leader rigs bell. Leader: We have recited the Five Precepts, the foudatio of happiess for the idividual, the family, ad society. We should recite them regularly so our study ad practice of the precepts ca deepe withi us day by day. Hearig the bell, please bow three times to the Three Treasures to show your gratitude. Bell - bow i silece to the Buddha Bell - bow i silece to the Dharma Bell - bow i silece to the Sagha - 3 -

6 Takig Refuge We take refuge, or shelter, i what has traditioally bee called the Three Jewels i order to establish a foudatio of trust ad respect from which our practice ca grow. To take refuge i the Buddha is to remember that the Buddha was a huma beig, like us, who through his ow efforts became fully awake. He persoifies the potetial for wisdom ad compassio each of us ca experiece. To take refuge i the Dharma is to see the truth of how life lawfully ufolds through the teachigs ad practices taught by the Buddha. To take refuge i the Sagha is to seek the support of the commuity of people who share Buddhist practice. This icludes our priso Sagha ad the millios of other practitioers, as well as wise ad compassioate people i our lives ad i the world. May of the reflectios i Buddhist services are spoke three times. This is because the origial discourses of the Buddha were memorized ad ot writte dow. Traditioally, umerous recitatios was the method of settig these statemets firmly i the mid. Meaig of the 4 Noble Truths Rather tha focusig o metaphysical questios such as the origi of the uiverse, the cocept of God the Buddha addressed the practical issue of What is the basic problem with life that causes distress, ad how ca it be fixed? He used the medical model of makig a diagosis (1st truth), describig the cause (2d truth), givig the chaces for recovery (3rd truth), ad prescribig treatmet (4th truth). The First Noble Truth is the reality of the sufferig we brig o ourselves by the behavior ad attitudes we choose to act o. The First Noble Truth icludes the sufferig we create i how we respod to physical ad emotioal pai ad other challeges i our lives. The Secod Noble Truth is the reality of the origi of this sufferig: cravig. Whe we react to life with aversio or cligig, justificatio or codematio, we add complicatios ad additioal sufferig to our lives. The Third Noble Truth is the reality of the possibility of the ed of this additioal sufferig. This is the good ews of Buddhism. The Fourth Noble Truth is the reality that the cessatio of this additioal sufferig ca be attaied through observace of the Noble Eightfold Path

7 The Three Traiigs ad The Noble Eightfold Path The Buddha s teachigs are practical ad aimed directly at the goal of edig sufferig i our lives. To achieve this goal the Buddha taught three traiigs: ethical coduct, meditatio practice, ad isight, or seeig thigs as they really are. These three traiigs are divided ito the eight areas of practice The Noble Eightfold Path. TRAINING Ethical Coduct Meditatio Practice Wisdom Practice NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH FACTOR Right Speech Right Coduct Right Livelihood Right Effort Right Midfuless Right Cocetratio Right View Right Itetio The Five Precepts Ethical coduct i Buddhism does ot advocate uquestioig obediece of rules ad regulatios. The Precepts are cosidered traiig tools which are a aid i remidig each of us to pay attetio to our motivatios ad actios i daily life. Midfuless of daily life situatios is the key to begiig to see where we are off track. The Precepts are guidelies to help us develop effective habit patters for a calmer ad happier life. Practicig the Precepts meas that we study how we ca follow them i our daily lives ad the pay attetio to the effects i how we feel, thik ad act. May prisoers make observig the precepts a primary focus of their practice. It is the practice of midfuless ad awareess i everyday life

8 Meditatio Practice Before embarkig o a meditatio practice it is useful to reflect o your reasos for watig to meditate. Cultivatig a regular practice of meditatio requires a commitmet of time ad eergy. Although most people fid immediate ad log-term beefits to meditatio, there ca also be periods of difficulty, paiful isights ad boredom. You will also otice sigificat iteral ad exteral chages i your life resultig from meditatio practice. Most people who ivest the time i developig the skill of meditatio fid it a highly worthwhile edeavor. The followig is a list of some of the beefits of meditatio. It is importat to kow that ot everyoe experieces all of these beefits. 1) improves physical ad metal health 2) improves cocetratio ad memory 3) allows us to be kider to ourselves ad others 4) reduces stress, fear, ad axiety 5) reduces chroic pai ad helps i copig with chroic ailmets 6) improves coectivity to family ad frieds 7) provides a belief system ad a blueprit for livig that may people fid comfortig ad skillful 8) shifts the focus from a chaotic ad umaageable exteral world towards a peaceful ad stable iteral oe 9) promotes self-awareess ad self-acceptace 10) reduces isomia, helpig people to sleep more deeply, ad to require less sleep 11) icreases oe s appreciatio for life

9 The meditatio process asks you to egage your experiece i a ew, direct, o-judgmetal way. The emphasis is o uderstadig your experiece at a body-based, sesatio-based level rather tha a coceptualizig, metal-cetered level. Meditatio is ot about learig how to avoid, suppress, maage, cope with, or merely tolerate what is difficult i our lives. It is about learig how to eter ito a ew relatioship with what our mids tell us is problematic. It is about learig how to egage what is troublig, cofusig, ad paiful i our lives. It is about learig how to live with what we perceive as adversity ad still feel well, whole, ad healthy. This is oe of the true gifts of a meditatio practice, because there are may realities i our lives that we caot avoid or chage. I additio to attedig the weekly Buddhist Services i the chapel, you are ecouraged to establish a daily meditatio practice. This may require creativity ad determiatio. Fid a time whe there is the least amout of oise ad distractio i your cell. Some imates have foud ear plugs helpful. Begi with 10 miutes ad evetually work up to 30 or 40 miutes. Ideally, you wat to have a upright posture while meditatig. You ca either sit o the edge of your bed or create a floor cushio from blakets. If there is o possibility of sittig upright, the meditate lyig dow. Sice it is very easy to fall asleep this way, raise ad lower oe arm throughout the meditatio. Have the arm at your side, bedig the elbow to raise ad lower the forearm. Oce you have established your posture, put your attetio o your breath. Take a few deep breaths, exhalig fully. The let your breath settle ito its atural rhythm. Sit still ad keep your focus o your breath. Whe your attetio waders, brig it back to the breath agai ad agai ad agai. Whe you otice your mid racig with thoughts, emotios, or sesatios, make a simple ote of what is happeig i the mid ad simply retur to your breath comig i ad out of the ostrils, or the rise ad fall of the chest or abdome. So-called good or bad thoughts are all the same - you could be havig a thought about hittig someoe or about playig with a puppy - all are just thoughts. Trai your mid like this ad you will soo realize that you do t eed to act o every thought that appears. You ll see that thoughts come ad go ad you do t eed to latch o to them or make a big deal out of them. Thoughts are atural. They arise like clouds i the sky ad slowly drift from view

10 Midfuless Midfuless is a skill that ca be itetioally developed ad usefully applied to every aspect of our lives. It is o-judgmetal, preset-momet awareess. This is a quality of attetio that is based i the preset momet that is free from iterpretatios, commetaries, judgmets, memories, plaig, ad the graspig or avoidace that we usually brig to our experiece. Usig midfuless we coect with our bare experiece ad are attetive to the costat chage occurrig i each momet. We to lear to become free from our usual habitual reactivity i order to experiece ad to be preset for whatever is happeig with a calm, balaced mid. We begi to have a choice about our actios ad this brigs freedom. The most challegig aspect of practicig midfuless is to remember to do it. Like ay skill (such as playig a sport or musical istrumet), developig midfuless requires practice. As with all skills, the results obtaied are proportioal to the amout of effort ivested. Here are some ways to work o developig midfuless: Be a Witess to Your Ow Mid. Make a habit of checkig i ad witessig the thoughts that pop up throughout your day. Stop ad otice that you are thikig before you act. Remember, do t believe everythig you thik! If you recogize that your thoughts are ot peaceful - stop, look at the thought like a witess ad pause. Trai your mid to see what kid of thoughts lead to differet kids of actios. The more you do this, the more you will realize the cause ad effect reality of what happes whe you impulsively act o your thoughts. Thoughtfuless will begi to replace reactivity. Remember to Pause. A example of pausig may be a itese coversatio. Stop, take a deep breath, ad focus o the preset momet. These ordiary gaps will help grow your disciplie ad will help you relax i the momet. Notice Body Tesio. Develop a habit to stop several times a day ad check for physical tesio. Sca your body for tese areas. Siletly tell the tese muscle to relax. Take a few deep breaths as you do this. Grow Everyday Awareess. Durig the day, otice how you eat food, how fast or slow you walk, how fast you talk, how you hold your body, etc. Every time you brig your attetio to what you are doig i the preset momet, your midfuless ad awareess will grow

11 Movemet Meditatio BENEFITS OF MOVEMENT MEDITATION The Buddha said there are four positios for meditatio: sittig, stadig, walkig ad lyig dow. I otherwords, ay positio or activity is a opportuity to practice midfuless. I our priso saghas, we ofte do qigog, yoga or walkig meditatio together. Movemet prior to sittig meditatio has may beefits. Here are a few you might keep i mid: - It is sometimes much easier, especially whe you are just startig a meditatio practice, to be midful of large movemets rather tha the smaller more subtle movmet of the breath. Qigog, yoga ad walkig are great opportuities to practice stayig aware of just movemet without goig ito the past or the future. The body ca oly stay i the preset! - Movemet brigs calmess ad quietude to the body AND to the mid. The body ad mid are itimately coected ad whe our body is calm, the mid follows. - Our bodies were built to move. I our Wester culture, we igore the eeds of our bodies to the detrimet of our health. Movemet brigs a sese of well-beig ad appreciatio of the body s ability to support our efforts. WALKING MEDITATION Walkig meditatio is a traditioal method for practicig midfuless while movig. Durig walkig mediatio focus o movemet of the feet. Whe you otice you are lost i thought, simply brig your attetio back to your feet ad their movemet. You do t eed to look at your feet simply be aware of how your feet feel oe step at a time as they lift ad move through the air. Heel, sole, toe, heel, sole, toe. I particular, pay attetio to the actio of the foot touchig the groud, ad the sesatios of cotact with the earth. Experiece each step as it happes. Keep your posture upright, alert, ad relaxed. Keep your eyes ope, cast dow, ad slightly ahead. Experimet with how fast to walk. Fid the pace where you feel most preset ad aware. You ca do this i a way that does ot draw attetio to you. No oe will kow that you are meditatig

12 Who Was the Buddha? The Buddha was bor a price i Lumbii, Nepal i the foothills of the Himalayas. The date of his birth is approximately 480 BCE. He was a member of the Sakya cla, oe of may clas located i orther Idia (ow Nepal.) His father, Suddhodaa, was the tribal chief of the cla. His mother was amed Maya. Maya died shortly after the Buddha s birth. He was give the ame Siddhartha Gautama. His father assumed that he would follow i successio as the Sakya tribal chief. A astrologer predicted that Siddhartha would become either the chief of the Sakya cla or a spiritual seeker who would oe day leave his father s kigdom. We are told that he was a very hadsome, athletic ad charismatic perso ad his father did all he could to keep Siddhartha happy ad satisfied. His father ad step-mother raised him i a state of luxury, ad kept all disturbig elemets of life away from him, i the hopes that he would become satisfied with all the fie thigs ad pleasure provided to him. It was ot to be. At the age of 16, as was the custom i Idia, he was married to his wife Yasodhara. Yet, eve with everythig that a huma could possibly wat, he felt a spiritual yearig that the luxurious life he lived did ot satisfy. At 29, shortly after the birth of his so, he took a pivotal jourey outside the tribal affluece to which he was accustomed. He ecoutered what are called the Four Messegers. He saw a old, frail ma; a emaciated ma sufferig from a advaced disease; ad a grievig family carryig the corpse of oe of their ow to a crematio site. Accordig to the leged, these sights which foretell what is i store for all of us paied him deeply. He the saw a religious, reclusive medicat who appeared calm ad seree. These four messegers motivated

13 him to follow the path of a waderig medicat ad fid a spiritual solutio to the problems brought about by beig bor as a huma He left his family ad privileged lifestyle to pursue a life of homelessess. His search for truth led to seve years of practice with various teachers who taught a variety of methods for trascedig the body. They believed this was the method which took us beyod huma sufferig. These methods brought relief for awhile, but did ot brig permaet happiess. Siddhartha determied that he would sit ad meditate for as log as it took to realize complete freedom from greed, aversio ad delusio the three poisos that make life so difficult. Oe ight I 445 BCE, at the age of 35, he was seated udereath a large tree later kow as the Bodhi tree i Bodhgaya Idia. At log last, he saw the path that should be followed, ad wet beyod sufferig. He achieved Nirvaa. He called this path the Four Noble Truths. Siddhartha Gautama became The Buddha, which meas Awakeed Oe. The Buddha iitially could ot decide whether to teach the Dharma (Truth) to the people livig i his time. He kew it was goig agaist the stream of how people live their lives ad he thought very few would uderstad his discovery. His Middle Way wet agaist the prevailig attitude towards life which ofte ecouraged gratifyig all sese desires ad deyig the impermaece of all pheomea. Fortuately, he determied that there were some people who had just a little bit of dust i their eyes ad would uderstad his profoud isights. He taught that a ucoditioed happiess could be achieved by followig the steps he laid out. Thousads of people followed him ad practiced his teachigs ad became elighteed which meas to wake up. After fortyfive years of teachig, the Buddha died i a small tow amed Kusiagara, at the age of 80. His fial words were: Be a lamp uto yourselves. Strive with diligece. The Buddha was ot a god ad did ot rely o a god. He said that he was awake ad what he accomplished could be achieved by ayoe who was sicere ad resolute i his or her practice. We have all had momets of clarity i our lives whe for a momet perhaps loger we were free. The Buddha s teachigs expad o these experieces ad with midful practice, we become permaetly free ad leave all sufferig behid

14 The Buddha s Words o Kidess (Metta Suttra) This is what should be doe by oe who is skilled i goodess, ad who kows the path of peace. Let them be able ad upright, straightforward ad getle i speech, humble ad ot coceited, coteted ad easily satisfied. Uburdeed with duties ad frugal i their ways, peaceful ad calm, ad wise ad skillful. Not proud ad demadig i ature. Let them ot do the slightest thig that the wise would later reprove. Wishig i gladess ad i saftey, may all beigs be at ease. Whatever livig beigs there may be, whether they are weak or strog, omittig oe. The great or the mighty, medium, short or small, the see ad the usee, those livig ear ad far away, those bor ad to-be-bor May all beigs be at ease! Let oe deceive aother, or despise ay beig i ay state. Let oe through ager or ill-will wish harm upo aother. Eve as a mother protects with her life her child, her oly child, so with a boudless heart should oe cherish all livig beigs radiatig kidess over the etire world. Spreadig upwards to the skies, ad dowwards to the depths, outwards ad ubouded, Freed from hatred ad ill-will. Whether stadig or walkig, seated or lyig dow, free from drowsiess, oe should sustai this recollectio. This is said to be the sublime abidig. By ot holdig to fixed views, the pure-hearted oe, havig clarity of visio, beig freed from all sese desires, Is ot bor agai ito this world

15 Q/A About Buddhism IS BUDDHISM A RELIGION? The Buddha developed a method for the alleviatio of sufferig, based o scietific priciples ad ultimate truths that we ca kow for ourselves. These priciples, truths, ad the practices that brig our lives ito harmoy with these truths is called the Dharma. For Buddhists the Dharma is their religio because it provides ultimate meaig, purpose, ad guidace for the way they live their lives. DO BUDDHISTS BELIEVE IN GOD? OR A BUNCH OF GODS? The Buddha did ot address the cocept of god, leavig that reality to each idividual to defie for him or herself. His cocer was the elimiatio of sufferig i this lifetime. WAS THE BUDDHA A REAL PERSON? IS HE A GOD? The historical Buddha was amed Siddhartha Gautama. He was ot a god. He taught that what he achieved could be achieved by ay sicere practitioer. I AM A (CHRISTIAN, MUSLIM, ETC). I THINK IT MAY BE WRONG FOR ME TO COME HERE. WHAT DO YOU THINK? People of all faiths ad of o faith, ca be foud at Buddhist services ad retreats. All are welcome. Buddhism is ot cocered with covertig people to Buddhism. Rather, Buddhism s primary purpose is to alleviate sufferig, both i oeself ad i our social relatioships. If o sufferig is beig caused, Buddhism has o issue with what religio people belog to or what religious beliefs they hold. WHAT DO BUDDHISTS THINK OF JESUS? MOHAMMED? Buddhists have reverece for all beigs who follow a path of wisdom ad compassio. The core teachigs of Jesus ad Mohammed emphasize these qualities. DO BUDDHISTS BELIEVE IN HEAVEN? HELL? Heave ad hell i Buddhist philosophy are ot the same places as evisioed i Christiaity. Most Buddhists believe both are a state of mid. Either of these ca be experieced ad/or alleviated i this lifetime. DO BUDDHISTS BELIEVE IF YOU ARE BAD OR HAVE BAD KHARMA, YOU WILL BE REBORN A WORM OR A FLY? Karma is simply the law of cause ad effect. Rebirth as a theory is a result of past karma. For a perso to be bor as a huma i this lifetime is a result of good karma i the past. Depedig o what oe does with this opportuity of huma life causes the creatio of helpful or harmful karma. ARE BUDDHISTS VEGETARIANS? The Buddha s first precept states, Do ot kill or harm livig beigs. May Buddhists iterpret that as followig a vegetaria lifestyle. Others do ot. I some cultures, such as Tibet, followig a vegetaria lifestyle is impossible. DO BUDDHISTS HAVE/DEVELOP PSYCHIC POWERS? IF I MEDITATE ENOUGH WILL I DEVELOP PSYCHIC POWERS? To become obsessed with psychic powers creates a attitude that keeps a perso i a state of sufferig. Buddhist teachers discourage practitioers from ay pursuit of uusual powers. Whe a perso is truly liberated such a pursuit is either desired or eeded

16 Famous Quotatios from the Buddha Do ot believe i aythig simply because you have heard it. Do ot believe i aythig simply because it is spoke ad rumored by may. Do ot believe i aythig simply because it is foud writte i your religious books. Do ot believe i aythig merely o the authority of your teachers ad elders. Do ot believe i traditios because they have bee haded dow for may geeratios. But after observatio ad aalysis, whe you fid that aythig agrees with reaso ad is coducive to the good ad beefit of oe ad all, the accept it ad live up to it. ~ Kalama Sutra We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we thik. Whe the mid is pure, joy follows like a shadow that ever leaves. ~ The Dhammapada As a solid rock is ot shake by the wid, eve so the wise are ot ruffled by praise ad blame. ~ The Dhammapada Coquer ager by o-ager. Coquer evil by good. Coquer miserliess by liberality. Coquer a liar by truthfuless. ~ The Dhammapada Never ideed is hatred stilled by hatred; it will oly be stilled by o-hatred this is a eteral law. ~ Kakacupama Sutta I exhort you: All compouded thigs are subject to vaish. Strive with earestess! ~ Paraibbaa Sutta