3 posts tagged “pureland”

Saturday I spent the day in London, at a conference organised by the Alister Hardy Trust a research centre for religious experiences.

A long day, in some ways and much too warm for me, but really interesting talks, and great to meet up with Tony from our London Sangha. There were three speakers, Dr. Paul Marshall, Dr. Peter Moore and Dr. Peter Fenwick. Marshall talked about mystical encounters with the natural world, Moore presented critical arguments  regarding the study of  the mystic ('Should it be limited to the mystic event?', 'Can study of events mean anything more than personal?' and so on) and Fenwick, Emeritus consultant Neuropsychiatric at the Maudsley - presented some recent studies of mind/brain correlation, and studies that suggest mind and consciousness is more expansive than the physical. All fascinating stuff.

Perhaps the most interesting event happened on the coach ride home, when I experienced my own 'opening' or mystical event.  Completely unasked for, and not striven for and separate from any specific practice:

I was warm, I still had the headache that had been plaguing me since the morning, and I couldn't settle in to reading any of the texts I had. I was scrolling though my mp3 player, skipping between different songs, I eventually let it rest with They Might be Giants.

I'm not sure which track I was listening to, but gradually I became aware of feeling like my heart was opening like the petals of a lotus flower. I was completely at ease; I thought 'I hadn't realised that I had been tense before..'. I felt a great love for the whole world, I wanted to dance and sing (And I did, a little) and to run and hug everyone on the coach and tell them that everything was okay, just as it was. Better than okay even.

From here I was able to look back at my old, usual self and see what a fool I really was, how I had been caught by traps set by my own mind, and how to be able to love fully was the solution to all of these.  There was a sense of hyper reality.

Although I didn't experience any visual effects, there was a sense of heightened perception and of a great light (no actual light). My  body felt completely alive, high even, and I had the feeling that anything was possible. And that really things were much simpler that I had previously thought.

I also had the sense that a great light, or love was entering me through the top of my head, flowing into me and then being projected from my heart. This was a felt sensation rather than visual, and I almost had a sense that actually that wasn't what was really happening, just a way that I could comprehend the inexplicable.

I was ecstatic, and felt like a new person, connected to, but separate from my normal self, my usual being.  Put simply it felt like I was seeing this world as a Pureland and seeing all the things within as Buddhas.

These feelings, psychical and emotional, lasted for no more than an hour, (perhaps much shorter than this, looking back - I'm not sure) and I returned to my normal self, although feeling a little lighter, and more at ease.

It's difficult to know what triggered this, were the conditions set in place by the conference, and then triggered by the music? Much of what I described is common to many such experiences, although I have had similar before - prior to knowing anything about this are of study. Is the sense of ease I still have with me, an effect of those moments, or other external things which have changed for me, or that I have realised? probably a combination both.

I am left with a greater sense of faith, although I'm not sure in what, and a sense of fluidity, and acceptance  that whatever happens in this life, things really will be okay  in the end. And of course, something to add to the Alister Hardy library, and to our own research project.

Namo Amida Bu
 

Taima Mandala

What's this desire for contact?
This yearning in my heart?
To turn away from silence,
Not to stay apart.

'Surround yourself with voices'
The voice inside me cries.
'Support yourself with bodies,
'A friend on every side'

If I rest in silence,
The only voice is mine,
And all its pained echo's
Across the fields of time.

So here is where the hurt is
And where I see my face
Stripped of every makeup,
In the quiet place.

Where screams are whispered softly
Across an endless sea,
Of all my karmic passions,
Here the dragons be.

This darkness seems unending;
No hope for me unless
There's something that's much greater
Something holy; blessed.

And light breaks through the darkness,
Golden threads of love;
A grace full of compassion,
Falling from above.

And though I cannot see its face,
Or know its truest name,
I hear the sound of Dharma
That sings, and sings again.

A symphony of melodies
From heavenly abodes,
Sweeter than the Deva's song,
The music that unfolds.

So now, in silent places,
Where still the pain lives on,
I know that I am held
By something from beyond.

Namo Amida Bu

Monday mornings we don't usually have a service at The Buddhist House, which means that I can have a somewhat later start to the day - despite this it was still a struggle to pay heed to my alarm clock, and I was later than I intended going down to breakfast, which on Monday's tends to be a make your own affair.

All of which used to give Monday mornings a rather welcome lazy feel, but since January, on Monday's we've been running a multi-faith listening project - the Maitri project - in the centre of Leicester, which means we have to be up and about at a reasonable hour.

The idea for the drop in is pretty simple, we have free tea and coffee, and anybody can drop by and speak to one of our volunteers, who come from many different faith backgrounds. Some people come in because they don't have anybody else to talk to, some because there is something weighing on their minds, and for some it's become a regular event in their weekly schedule - a chance to share ideas with people from different backgrounds, and to make new friends.

The overarching aim of the project is one of community building, and so it's wonderful to see people coming in and now, after weeks of only speaking to perhaps one volunteer, beginning to have conversations with each other.

This afternoon, after a visit to Leicester Market to pick up groceries, I fixed a broken light, found a supplier of educational licences for software and sorted out some email issues.  After a wonderful dinner cooked by Sudhana, we had our regular Sutra Study class, which is open to the public, we began reading the collected works of Shinran, and had lots' of interesting questions around issues of karma, particularly about taking harmful actions to prevent further harm - all fascinating stuff.

Whatever action you take, even if you refrain from action, there will be karmic consequences The very act of living is one which causes harm - the best we can hope for is to live in faith, and eventually, to attain Ojo, rebirth in the Pureland.

Namo Amida Bu