Dedication Prayers

The following is an excerpt from my Kopan Prayer Book. It is my contribution to the peace and happiness of all the sentient beings in this world:

May all beings everywhere

Plagued by sufferings of body and mind

Obtain an ocean of happiness and joy

By virtue of my merits

May no living creature suffer,

Commit evil, or ever fall ill

May no one be afraid or belittled,

With a mind weighed down  depression

May the blind see forms

And the deaf hear sounds

May those who bodies are worn with toil

Be restored on finding repose

May the naked find clothing,

The hungry find food;

May the thirsty find water

And delicious drinks

May the poor find wealth,

Those weak with sorrow find joy;

May the forlorn find hope,

Constant happiness and prosperity

May there be timely rains

And bountiful harvests

May all medicines be effective

And wholesome prayers bear fruit

May all who are sick and ill

Quickly be freed from their ailments

Whatever diseases there are in the world,

May they never occur again

May the frightened cease to be afraid

And those bound be freed

May the powerless find power,

And may people think of benefiting each other

For as long as space remains,

For as long as sentient beings remain,

Until then may I too remain

To dispel the miseries of the world

Confinement - Day 1

Every talk/chat/conversation revolves around the virus all day long but did anyone notice how beautiful the weather was today?

I did prostrations, brought my sister to the doctor, cooked, ate healthily, cleaned the kitchen, did some ironing, talked to the plants in the garden, read, wrote a love letter the old school way. I comforted Mike and made him laugh . The doctor diagnosed him positive to covid-19, poor thing...
I also watched a nice movie and will now go do some medecine buddha mantras before chatting with my better half  which, by the way, is my favorite moment of the day.

Day 1: ✔

Learning to become

A month has elapsed since my last post and boy has it been an intense one.

Days of Miracles started just after Mahashivratri and this year I asked Antish if he wished to enrol for the 15 evening sessions of meditation and teachings. I was glad he said yes because I was already confident about the beautiful experience awaiting us. Attending class everyday from 7.30pm to 9pm was undoubtedly enriching and made us realize the preciousness of the 9 teachings we received, more specifically the topic covering the 6 perfections. I have to admit that some were harder to absorb than others, especially when Vimla talked about the 4 absorptions (dhyanas) and the practice of right concentration. She reminded us of the power of stillness and insight. Sustaining one-pointed attention is actually a practice for learning how to let go and it is, I believe, the most difficult phase to reach if one wants to understand oneness.

I feel I have cleared out a few obscurations with regards to some aspects of my life and practice goes on on a daily basis. It's been almost two years now since I started doing water bowls and recitation of auspicious prayers every morning. This exercise has literally changed my life.

I get it that people around me may think that I do not pay enough attention to all the problems in the world but it is not true. The coronavirus, the melting glaciers, environmental issues are all subjects of true concern to me and the fact that I do not elaborate on them all day long is purely because there are certain emotions that I need to keep under wraps when those themes are evoked. Spirituality is a guideline that I have set to myself to keep me on the middle path. Understanding that I form part of a whole makes me want to practice even more. I live in a country where identity politics matter more than preserving and sharing societal values. The attitude of leaders is even frightening when one realizes that flawing the Mauritian identity just so to acquire more power is common practice here and we, mauritian citizens, are often referred to, rightfully so, as passive. We all do our 'little' rebellion on an individual basis as we deem good but there is no will for a synergy and common actions.

I strive to keep my balance in a country full of inequalities where I, myself, happen to be among the happy few to be spared by those same inequalities. I live in a world bending towards nepotism, chaos while being among the lucky ones preserved from such mess. Realizing how blessed I am does not deter me from helping with my own means the less fortunate ones who aim for a better future. Still, it is a very complicated task, one that can easily be misinterpreted as condescension. According to the Buddha, the ideal conditions of giving are to give a pure gift with pure intentions to a pure recipient. One should not give up though. It requires humility to discuss views we don't share, generosity to practice giving and wisdom to fight against greed.

This post is dedicated to:

My spiritual teacher the Buddha
My teacher who channels towards my ears and mind the wisdom of the sutras
The supreme assembly which shows me things as they are