Hosted online by Sangha Live on Sunday, 7 February 2021, the following comprises a transcription, edit and adaption on the theme of a 30-minute guided meditation, 30-minute teaching and 30-minute question and answers. …
This week, the news told us more than 100,000 people in the UK have died from Covid-19 in a year. That’s the fourth highest of the 215 nations. One in 63 people in Britain currently have Covid-19. That is more than one million people at any given time.
We might find ourselves thinking about life, death and the end of the world.
Areas of Science give priority to the future and ecological disaster unless we change our behaviour. The end of the world for sentient life could be getting closer as the world slowly gets hotter and hotter.
Areas of religion refer to the end of the world. ‘The end of the world is at hand.’
People regard death as the end of the world for them., whether secular or religious.
The human experience of the ‘world’ consists of consciousness inter-acting with sense objects and the mind.
The world seems to consist of a world of diversity of things and diversity of views about things.
One view might claim we all live in the same world and another views claims we live in different worlds.
Claims of what is true, half true and false abound.
CLICK ON TITLE BELOW to watch or just listen to video given on Sunday 7 February 2021
Dharma teachings point to the ‘end of the world.’
Can a depth of meditation and reflection reveal the end of the world?
This question lies at the heart of the Buddha-Dharma.
Session includes a 30 minute guided meditation on the ‘world’ and pointing to the end of the world.
A Dharma talk follows for 30 minutes on the theme.
A Question and Answer session for the final 30 minutes.
…
We weigh even more than the earth,
a plop, we sink, a stone in lake,
the sludge descends amidst our girth, …
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THIS WORLD? A Poem written in 2012Read More »
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THIS WORLD? A Poem written in 2012 Read More »
Message from a reader of my blog on the Fires in Australia and my teaching schedule in Australia.
Hi Christopher,
This is a heart-breaking post. My heart goes out to the people and wildlife who are suffering in Australia. On the news today there were pictures of the worst flooding for fifty years in Venice and also the flooding in the north of England. We do indeed have to wake up to the new reality and it is up to each one of us to engage in ‘wise action’ in terms of our daily life and habits and I cannot see the justification in flying to the other side of the world to hold a retreat. That now seems to me a luxury the world cannot afford.
Dear Reader,
Thank you for your message.
I do not hold to the view that those who engage in service to others in various parts of the world should stop such service.
Aeroplanes and helicopters provide an important service to tackling the fires in a variety of ways.
Some of us tackle the fires of the mind.
Servants of people, animals and the environment cannot turn our back on others and cut ourselves off.
It is not a luxury the world can afford.
A friend and meditator in Europe emailed me on the support she received from The Summer Day as she explored her current experiences and priorities.
Mary Oliver is a patron saint of the Sangha of Meditators …
The Summer Day. by Mary Oliver. A Commentary. A much loved poem of MeditatorsRead More »
The Summer Day. by Mary Oliver. A Commentary. A much loved poem of Meditators Read More »
