good morning everybody
today is April 8th and the shutdown the
lockdown due to the spread of the corona
virus continues and according to some
statistics that I was able to gather
this morning here in the United States
there so far been 402 thousand cases of
people infected with the virus and
roughly 13,000 deaths and in the United
in New York State as of yesterday there
have been five thousand and five hundred
deaths now we have to remember that the
these deaths are not merely abstract
statistics but these represent the
passing out of this life of real human
beings these were people with lives just
like our own people have to had hoped to
have a long lifespan who had hoped for
good health who had their projects their
wishes their hopes their aspirations
people who had family members who love
them and cherish them who had friends
who also loved them and cherish them and
now as this terrible virus spreads it
robs the world of each of these people
and so we should call them to mind with
thoughts of sympathy particularly for
their friends and relatives and I also
hope that everybody who is watching this
is maintaining good health through this
very trying period very severe tests of
our patience of a determination of our
equanimity
and it's particularly I want to
emphasize again that it's particularly
important to adhere strictly to the
guidelines lay down by the health
authorities to observe what is called
social distant distancing to remain in
one's place of residence to the base
best of one's ability to avoid meeting
with people out in groups and to always
wash one's hands with soap to wash them
for 20 seconds to avoid touching the
face with one's hands and to try to
remain fixed within one's place of
residence to the best of one's ability
today I want to speak about two
particular problems that arise as we are
observing the lockdown as we are
observing these stay at home quarters
one of the problems arises when we're
staying at home in a place in which
there are several other people our
family members or friends or roommates
the other problem is a problem that
arises when we are observing the
lockdown or stay at home alone so each
of these conditions has its own set of
problems and I want to see what we can
find within the Buddhist teachings and
Buddhist practice that can help us deal
with each of these challenges first
comes the challenge of staying in a
fixed residence with other people
family members roommates friends now
what happens under these conditions is
when one is living in close association
with others close
in close quarters with others rubbing
elbows with others throughout the day
without any chance to break out and to
go off on one's own it tends to give
rise to feelings of tension hostility
irritation annoyance and this could lead
to unpleasant incidents outbreaks of
violent speech abusive and aggressive
speech was sometimes in some cases even
to physical violence so how can we avoid
letting the crammed conditions that
we're observing great uh nerves and
become a condition for the arising of
disagreeable behavior okay there are
several measures that we might draw upon
first certain practices that we could
undertake one practice that's useful is
for everybody who is living in the same
residence the same facility at the
beginning of the active day perhaps at
breakfast time or after breakfast to get
together of course observing a certain
distance between yourselves but sitting
around the table or in the same room a
chairs place the comfortable distance
apart and make the determination each
one makes the determination together
that no matter what happens in the
course of the day one is going to remain
patient and peaceful and not allow this
these crammed conditions to give rise to
outbursts of angry speech or of
aggressive behavior so when one makes
that determination everybody making the
pledge to follow those guidelines it
acts on a curb on one's behavior
so naturally feelings of irritation
might arise feelings of annoyance
displeasure with some of your roommates
family members roommates for friends
but when those feelings of irritation
and annoyance arise you recognize them
for what they are and you recall the
pledge the resolution that you all made
together and then you make an effort to
prevent that annoyance from erupting in
the form of disagreeable conduct and so
one of the instruments that one can use
to control the irritation is the
practice of mindfulness and in this case
would be a kind of Cittānupassanā, an
exercise of contemplation of the mind or
perhaps a form of Dhammānupassanā, in a
contemplation of mental factors in this
case the mental factor of ill will
so rather than letting that irritation
and annoyance govern the mind and
control and (hence X??) one's behavior and express
itself in one's behavior one notes the
state of mind irritation annoyance
ill-will and then one can either observe
the state of mind or one makes until it
fades away and disappears or one can
make an active effort to suppress it and
in any case one should control one's
behavior a more direct antidote is to
bring up the feeling of loving kindness
towards the people who are causing the
irritation so instead of letting the
angry resentful thoughts continue to run
through the mind as that irritation
arises you bring forth the thought that
we are all living under the same
conditions these conditions might be
difficult for me but they might also be
difficult for the other person and we
are all observing these regulations this
stay-at-home practice in order to
protect ourselves from contracting the
disease caused by the virus
and so you would think that we are all
vulnerable to this illness and in this
way one generates a feeling of loving
kindness towards everybody in one's
household generating the wish may they
all be well may they all be happy may
they all be safe may they all be healthy
and if there's one person in particular
that's causing the irritation you can
direct that contemplation towards the
person who's responsible for the
irritation so this is a kind of practice
that one could ( who?? do, there) are actually several
practices simple mindful observation of
the mind the more forceful suppression
and elimination of the angry resentful
thoughts and the application of the
antidote the antidote in this case being
loving-kindness so these are antidotes
that one can apply in the course of the
day then what one could do at some point
in the evening that everybody gets
together everybody who's living together
comes together meets together again with
sufficient distance between you and you
each offer to all the members of the
group an apology for any kind of
unwholesome behavior that one has
indulged in or any kind of unwholesome
thoughts that might have arisen towards
the others in the course of the day
this is a common practice within the
Buddhist monastic community generally
when one has at certain occasions when
we have the evening recitation each
member of the monastic community will
especially towards the elders will make
the determination go Casavant ami ponte
de vara taina cotton sobbing achayan
committed may Ponte and oh come on
Obadiah so he'll say I pay homage to you
venerable one
if I have committed any transgressions
through the three doors of action so
body speech or mind let the venerable
one pardon me out of compassion for me
so this doesn't have to be applied only
by monks but as family members get
together each one could say to the
others I address you all I have respect
and affection for you all and if I have
behaved wrongly in any way through body
through speech also a thought please all
of you
pardon me recognize my fault my
transgression and let us turn over and
make a better start tomorrow so these
are some of techniques that one could
use when living together with others
under confined conditions that tend to
give rise to irritation annoyance
friction friction that might explode in
aggressive speech or bodily behavior the
other type of condition under which
people might be living which causes
problems and that is living alone this
is for people who don't have family
members don't have friends living with
them but they're living in an apartment
to room by themselves and don't have the
opportunity to socialize with others and
they might feel the oppression of
loneliness isolation alienation and this
can cause the ejection irritation they
might turn it inward upon themselves and
started indulging in thoughts of self
depreciation
and this could even lead to deep
depression feeling of being completely
isolated from others so how do we deal
with a condition like this again there
are several tools that the buddhadharma
gives us well first even before turning
to the Buddha Dhamma is a very practical
you know ordinary way in which we can
break out of that cage of isolation and
loneliness living in this modern time we
have access to electronic means of
communication we can use the telephone
to call our friends or family members
speak to them ask how they are you know
express our good wishes for them and
particularly there might be people that
like family members friends that we
haven't communicated with for a long
time but now when we're all living under
these very demanding conditions this
might be the time to contact them again
and to renew old acquaintances and to
express your concern for your family
members for your friends even some
colleagues or acquaintances and through
the means of the telephone sky zoom or
other means of communication you can
establish contact with them communicate
with them and because we're all living
under Fairey challenging conditions this
provides the opportunity for
establishing deeper relationships
whereas when we're living under normal
conditions our contacts our
relationships might be rather
superficial and not really touching the
very depths of our being but when we are
all really staring in the face of the
debilitating illness even an illness
which can turn lethal and take lives
this becomes the chance for us to
establish much deeper
much more personal more intimate
relationships with our family members
and friends and so even though we might
be living physically alone
but through telephone Skype zoom or
other means we can break out of our
loneliness and establish communications
with others but also now coming within
the domain of the buddhadharma we should
see the conditions of confinement and
stay at home
orders under which we're living to be a
precious opportunity an opportunity to
go deeper inside through the cultivation
of the practices of the buddha dhamma
particularly the practice of Bhavana
meditation the buddha says that he this
is shortly before he passed away he
instructed his disciples the monastic
disciples to dwell as islands unto
themselves
refuges unto themselves taking no other
island no other refuge (DN. 16 Mahāparinibbāna Sutta) and what is that
island what is that refuge if Buddha's
as disciples to rely upon it is the four
foundations of mindfulness so when we
take up the practice of developing the
four foundations of mindfulness which
means it affects the systematic formal
methodical practice of meditation then
we see the chance to live in solitude to
be staying alone to be as a kind of
liberation from our obligations to
others and a chance to look more deeply
inside to dwell deep inside ourselves
and to experience a peace a joy a
happiness that is only possible when
dwelling inwardly in solitude
and even when can join if one doesn't
want to practice meditation exclusively
by oneself
there are various opportunities over the
Internet to join meditation groups or
Dhamma discussion groups what to listen
to Dhamma discourses and so one could be
practicing alone but in communic
communion with others in association
with others and as one comes to dwell
was in through the practice of
meditation then one comes to enjoy the
solitude to cherish it and this becomes
a kind of ideal way of dwelling sits
well fixed within the body to dwell with
in one's own feelings to dwell within
one's mind descending into deeper more
peaceful more tranquil states of mind
and to come to know and to understand
more clearly the contents the workings
the operation of one's mind and so in
this way one finds dwelling in solitude
to be a precious opportunity to discover
the peace the joy of was called "nekkhamma
sukha the Bliss of renunciation the
Bliss of solitude and while we dwell in
solitude through our practice we could
develop at a deep level
communion with others through the
practice especially the development of
meta and karuṇā (loving-kindness and
compassion)
so through loving-kindness we generate
we spread our mind out over first our
place of residence the building in which
we're living in my case the monastery
where I'm living
could be your apartment building your
your street your neighbourhood extending
to everyone the wish that they might be
well happy and safe and then you spread
that mind of loving kindness further
throughout the whole country wishing all
the people in the u.s. be well happy and
safe and then extended to the whole
world wishing that everyone in the world
is well happy safe and able to preserve
good health so that is the practice of
loving kindness and then when you think
about the people who are fallen ill who
are suffering from the virus who might
be lying in a hospital bed attended by
nurses having difficulty breathing and
you think about the relatives who are
looking after them anxiously then you
develop the mind of compassion thinking
of all the people afflicted with
suffering and generate the wish they all
be free from suffering and then one
could bring to mind all of the people
who are sacrificing their own time even
their own health and even putting their
own life on the line to serve others to
serve complete strangers we think of the
doctors the nurses the other hospital
staff the service workers and the
different service industries who are
working to keep the economy running now
we could generate towards them a mind of
great appreciation this would be a kind
of
mudita altruistic joy rejoicing in their
dedication the selfless service their
activities even self sacrificial
activities putting their health and
well-being at risk to serve others and
we rejoice and in in their activities
and this way we generate a very pure
wholesome mind of altruistic joy and so
in this way through loving kindness
compassion and altruistic joy even when
we're living alone
we are stablishing very deep very strong
powerful connections with others
connections which are founded upon the
fact that our own life even though we
might feel lonely and isolated but never
alone never isolated but we live within
this very intricate infinitely complex
web of mutual dependencies and so by
generating loving kindness and
compassion and altruistic joy we are
sending our mental waves out along the
fibers of these Nets of relationships
and we are strengthening the well-being
the vibrancy the Solidarity of the whole
and this should give us a reason to be
joyful
even in our solitude okay with this I
will end this short presentation today
and again I want to extend to everybody
my best wishes for your well-being and
health and I'll end with some verses of
blessing calling upon the Anubhāva
the spiritual power of the Triple Gem to
promote the well-being and happiness and
safety of all of you
Sabbītiyo vivajjantu Sabba-rogo vinassatu (May all calamities be avoided, may all diseases disappear)
Mā te bhavatvantarāyo Sukhī dīghā
yuko bhava. (may there be no obstacle[s] for you, [and may] you be happy and have long life.)
Bhavatu sabba-maṅgalaṁ Rakkhantu
sabba-devatā, (May all blessings be [yours], may all the deities protect [you];)
Sabba-buddhānubhāvena Sadā sotthi bhavantu te. (by the power of all the Buddhas, may you have well-being always.)
Bhavatu sabba-maṅgalaṁ (May all blessings be [yours], may all the deities protect [you];)
Rakkhantu sabba-devatā, Sabba-dhammānu
bhāvena Sadā sotthi bhavantu te. (by the power of all the Dhammas, may you have well-being always.)
Bhavatu sabba-maṅgalaṁ Rakkhantu sabba-devatā (May all blessings be [yours], may all the deities protect [you])
Sabba-saṅghānubhāvena Sadā sotthi bhavan (by the power of all the Saṅghas, may you have well-being always.)
tu te. by the spiritual power of the
Buddha Dharma and Sangha
may the Devas protect you and may you
all be well and healthy and may you all
be safe