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Resting in Oneself
Every time we hear the bell, we practice together listening to the bell. We don’t say we hit the bell or ring the bell; we say we invite the bell to sound. Before we invite the bell to sound, we breathe in and out three times to calm our body and mind. The quality of the sound depends very much on the peace inside. The bell master should practice breathing in and out three times before inviting the bell to sound. If you want to be a bell master, you have to learn by heart this verse:
Body, speech, and mind in perfect oneness
I send my heart along with the sound of this bell
May all of you who listen to me awaken from your forgetfulness
And transcend the path of anxiety and sorrow
Breathing in and out like that, you calm your body and your feelings. The sound of the bell will have a higher quality. After that, you will make a half sound. After about 8–10 seconds, we invite a full sound of the bell. Everyone practices mindful breathing three times. You may recite the gatha for listening to the bell:
I listen, I listen
This wonderful sound of the bell brings me back to my true home
My true home is here and now. In a practice center, we consider the sound of the bell as the voice of the Buddha calling us home. The Buddha in our heart is calling us back to our home to ourselves. We come back to the island within ourselves. We all have an island within us. Before the Buddha died, he said, “Dear friends, don’t rely on anyone. Don’t rely on anything. Rely on the island within.” That was the Buddha’s last recommendation.
So every time we hear the bell, we practice mindful breathing and go home to the island within and take refuge. We don’t risk being drowned in the ocean of worries and suffering. In that island, we are protected by our spiritual and blood ancestors. There is the practice of deep listening. You don’t practice just to listen with your ears and your mind. You have to listen with your whole body. It is possible to invite all the cells in your body to join you in listening to the bell. All our ancestors, blood and spiritual, are still alive in every cell of our body. They are still alive. They have not died. You can get in touch with them in every cell in your body. That is why when you listen to the bell, you invite all your ancestors to join you to listen to the bell. Every cell in your body is breathing together with you. When you breathe like that, peace will penetrate into every cell. And transformation and healing can take place. So when I said “I listen, I listen,” that is not very correct. We have to say “We listen, we listen” because all our ancestors are listening to the bell together with us.
In this talk, we learn about taking refuge and exercises 5-8 from the Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing. Thay also teaches on inviting the bell and the four qualities of happiness using Pebble Meditation. When we hear the bell, we practice together listening to the bell. We invite the bell to sound. Before we invite, we breathe in and out to prepare three times. There is a verse to learn to be qualified as a bell master. We calm our body and calm our feelings. The sound of the bell is the voice of the Buddha inside calling us to come home to ourselves. If you are a bell master, then please be generous. When we come home to ourselves, we can discover the island of self. The Buddha recommended, don’t rely on anyone or anything, rely on the island within. Every time we hear the bell, we can practice going home to the island within. We are protected. This is the practice of taking refuge. There is also the practice of deep listening. Every cell of your body can recognize and get in touch with your ancestors within. They can join you in listening to the bell. With this, peace can penetrate every cell. We can feel calm and light.
Last time we spoke of the mental formation called restlessness. The practice of mindful breathing and walking helps us to calm down our feelings. In the Christian tradition, they call this resting in God. This is taking refuge. Taking refuge is an art. If you know how, you can have peace right away. The Buddha, the dharma, and the sangha are something solid. Very much the same idea as the Trinity for Christians. But resting does not mean doing nothing. Many people are looking for someone for refuge, but many have chosen someone who is not stable. Rely on the island of yourself. Cultivate stability and solidity and also look for that in the other person. Learn how to breathe and walk.
We have the practice of pebble meditation to cultivate the four qualities of happiness. The first is freshness - fresh as a flower. The second is stability - solid as a mountain. The third is peace/tranquility - still water. And the fourth is freedom - space. These qualities bring a happy person. The more you can let go, the freer you become.
I take refuge in the Buddha. What does that mean? Do we have an idea of the Buddha? Taking refuge in your in-breath and out-breath - this is much more concrete than an idea. With our breathing, we gain mindfulness, concentration, and insight. Buddha is mindfulness - this is taking refuge. This is the island within yourself. You can also take refuge in your steps. While making that step, you generate concentration and insight. I take refuge in my in-breath. I take refuge in my steps. This is not abstract, and it is our Buddhanature. Nirvana. No birth and no death. We are nirvana in the here and the now.
Review of the first four exercises of mindful breathing. We continue with the next set of exercises. The fifth and sixth exercises are to generate a feeling of joy and happiness. This is the art of happiness. The seventh is to recognize a painful feeling. We should not run away from a painful feeling or emotion. We don’t need to be afraid because we can also generate an energy of mindfulness. And the eighth is to calm our painful feeling.
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