Steve guided our reflections this Sunday. Here is what he has to say:
The Buddha dharma is rich with lists. The Four Noble Truths. The Five Skandhas. The Five Remembrances. The Noble Eightfold Path.
Long lists. Short lists. One list after another and lists within lists within lists.
Last week Sam encouraged us to consider the Five Remembrances:
- 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. …
- I am of the nature to die. …
- All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. …
- My actions are my only true belongings.
This week I would like to share a short but deep teaching from Thay on the Noble Eightfold Path:
- Right View
- Right Resolve (Thought),
- Right Speech
- Right Action
- Right Livelihood
- Right Effort
- Right Mindfulness
- Right Concentration.
Thay’s teaching picks up on some of the ideas we were discussing last week; in particular, the Fifth Remembrance.
But all these lists speak to the most profound insight, that of the Heart Sutra, the Insight that Brings us to the Other Shore, the Insight that Destroys All Lists: The Five Skandhas are empty.
You’ve traveled up ten thousand steps in search of the Dharma.
Hsu Yun – https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets/Y/YunHsu/index.html
So many long days in the archives, copying, copying.
The gravity of the Tang and the profundity of the Sung
make heavy baggage.
Here! I’ve picked you a bunch of wildflowers.
Their meaning is the same
but they’re much easier to carry.
We then heard part of this talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC23kc4bq8U
