Good morning, Welcome to the meditation class on Saturday with me.
Let us Begin. May all sentient beings be free of suffering and receive the compassion and wisdom energy from all the Buddhas in the ten directions.
Let’s put the right hand on top of the left hand. The right hand we name the wisdom hand. The left hand we name the compassion hand. We just relax.
Like every Saturday we sit down together we practice mindfulness meditation with the two mantras compassion and wisdom mantra. That helps us to connect with all buddhas, the awakened ones to receive the energy from the Buddha and to awaken our own energy to let it flow for us to live as we are here on earth.
We are ready to receive the energy through the mindful breathing technique with the mantra. So just follow me please. We breathe in expanding our belly, hold it right there for three seconds, concentrate on the heaven gate point, breathe out, sunken the belly, chanting the mantra:
Mu A Mu Sa, Na Mo Ta Mo Ta Mo Da Ra Houng (7x)
We just relax. Maintaining your sitting position and keep doing the breathing techniques and chanting silently the mantra. Observing the energy. Receiving and allow the energy to transform into our body physically it is really important to help us balance physically, mentally, and spiritually. We practice every Saturday to receive a good energy throughout the week. If during the weekday you have time to practice that is best. We have to take care of ourselves to receive the energy and transform and motivate us to know ourselves much better every day.
What we talk about today is that we all look at the sunrise. Naturally every one of us loves the sunrise. I know like everyone. At our temple Su Co Bao Co loves to take pictures early in the morning when the sun rises. I believe we all love the sunrise. Early in the morning we look at the sunrise and we feel so good. We know that the day has come. We feel a lot of energy ready to provide to all living beings. We all feel in touch, so calm, so relaxed, so beautiful. It fills us all. We see that the hopes and dreams will come true because the sunrise gives us the sign that we are Ok. But as time goes by the sun will be down. We call it sunset. Sunrise, and sunset. Look the sunset is also the most beautiful. Even though we know in a few more hours the sun will be gone, the darkness will take over, but the sunset is beautiful. We love to see the sunrise and the sunset. The beginning and the ending is all beautiful. A lot of good energy. The beginning of the sunrise tells us the day is just beginning and the ending of the day the sunset tells us the day is gone.
Sunrise is beautiful when it rises. Sun rise and sunset, two different points of the day but most beautiful. From that we reflect on what comes and goes. Different because we always expect that what comes it will stay for ever, but when it goes away we feel sad. Why couldn’t we meditate what comes like a sunrise, what goes is just like the sunset. We are all happy, welcome when it comes, and we are happy when it goes away. With a very positive energy like the sunrise and sunset. We have no expectations because we know this comes and goes. Buddhas discovered whatever comes goes. If you go around and around we will see it. By this meaning we meditate to know that whatever comes will go.
Sun shines when it rises, still shines when it sets. If we know the circle of the sun. If we know the cycle of life we are happy. Attachment is that we always think something is permanent, but when it is gone it creates a great suffering. That suffering will make our life miserable. In mindfulness meditation we practice understanding the way of life comes and goes. It is all impermanent, but it is never gone forever. It is moving from one to another. Like the sun shines when it rises, it still shines when it sets.
There is a light within us, compassion and wisdom, which is like the sunrise and sunset. It never lasts, is moving, when we can feel it, when we can see it, that is our sensation, our feeling. But when it sets, we need to get deeper in our subconscious, but it is never gone.
Within us the compassion and the wisdom energy are always deep within us. We need to practice mindfulness meditation to turn on our subconscious to know there is the special energy always with us. We forget because we couldn’t feel it. That is because life is so busy, leading us away from our subconscious.
The end of the year is coming very soon. It is about three weeks. We are going to sit down at the table, individual families and make our resolutions for the new year. We wish we do this, we have this, for the new year, and we wish we are going to stop this and that for what we have done for the past. That is very good for us to make a special way for the new year to come to clear things up and make it easy to move forward. To be with our subconscious and be with our wisdom and compassion. To know the truth, the circle of live. The sunrise and sunset is never gone but will be transformed. Impermanence does not mean it is gone forever. Impermanence is always transformed. It never stays still in the way you wish. It will transform to be perfect in how it can be used to benefit for all. This is the point I wish and I love all of you to think about. Impermanence does not mean it will come and then be destroyed forever. Impermanence in Buddhism means transformation. It also means that things never remain in one form. It moves from one form to another. Form that you can see, feel, and touch, and form that are invisible that you cannot see or touch, but you are filled with that. Transformation is always there it expressed in the way which is shaping us to be better in the present in life. Although everything is impermanent or whatever is there will be gone. So, we just don’t care, let go, because the impermanent, meaning transformation, is in the now, here, to live for the best. When it transforms, all of us need to transform to be with. Not to stand still and hold onto what is transforming. It will distance us away from the reality. Reality is not for a hundred years, a thousand years. Reality is with the moment we live with the breath in and out. You breathe in and you breathe out, if you never return, you die. If you bet on the point of living within the breathing techniques in and out that you enjoy to be fully aware of, happiness will come from there. So, grow up and offer to all.
We are counting down for the year. But we are not counting less for what we have done good. It is still with us within the form of a good energy. But what we have done wrong is sill in the form of a bad energy. WE can inject into our life a good energy to motivate us to do much better so we can transform the negative energy within us because of what we have done. We can stand up and transform even though the thing is gone, but still forever within the energy. If we don’t transform the negative energy from the past that energy will make us sad. Let’s stay together practicing. Transform the negative energy from what we have done from the past. To be prepared to face our family and loved ones with a fresh new energy from what we practiced today.
We love to think about all our family and community, we love to offer our best merit energy to all. Especially at the end of the year for all to stand strong together for family and loved ones. By transforming all the negative energy within us and our family and our friendships to be together, well prepared to be actively with the positive and good energy which we call compassion and wisdom energy through the practice.
Look at the sunrise, it is all Beautiful. Don’t forget the sun will set. It is also beautiful. What comes is beautiful as it is. When it goes away it is also beautiful as a sunset. Break through all our perspectives of what we think is most beautiful to share the nature within and nature around us, and let everybody enjoy together. The sun rises, it is beautiful, it is beautiful, the most beautiful too. For all what has come to our life, and what has gone, is always beautiful. If we don’t attach to what we hold onto with our own perspective, but with the blessing of the compassion and wisdom lighting up, we all loosen up all our attachment and stand up together with our loved ones to share the most beautiful, joyful, peaceful moment within our breathing techniques. Breathing out, breathing in, it is wonderful, that is life. So now we go back to the breathing techniques again seven times chanting the mantra. This time together with me we all are thinking about our parents, husband and wife, family friends, community, sangha, friends. For what has come like the sunrise is beautiful. For what is going away like the sunset is also beautiful. Life is that way. Things come and things go. Impermanence is transformation. It is never gone.
May all be blessed and peaceful, healthy and enjoy life with the moment we are still here on earth. Breathe in, expanding your belly, hold it there for three seconds. Concentrate on the heave gate point. Breathe out, sunken your belly, chanting the mantra and receiving the energy.
Mu A Mu Sa, Na Mo Ta Mo Ta Mo Da Ra Houng (7x)
Thank you, that is all we do every Saturday, and fully receive the energy for our life and also to offer to our loved ones. May all be blessed and continue practicing through out the week. Once again, thank you, and have a good weekend.
