Tracing Back The Radiance [Audio]

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Tracing Back The Radiance, by Ajahn Amaro:

(chant)

For those of you who might be wondering, that wasn’t just a random creation of ___. Just looking to brighten up the evening, but this is a traditional way that Dharma talks are invited, part of the customs around Buddhist teachings are that they never ___ upon anybody. It’s a non-___, we’re not allowed to go around, and not come ___, stop people in the streets, or introduce them to the real, truth. But there has to be interested, that’s first, it has to be that spark of inquiry before the teachings are given. And so, this ___ recite it so beautifully. Thank you very much, but this is every counting of, actually an invitation to the Buddha and the teachings, in the first place, because shortly after the enlightenment, yeah, you thought you might be having a little difficult day today. You think, what am I doing here? This is a little bit pointless.

But the Buddha had a similar kind of experience shortly after the enlightenment. He spent some time looking deeply into his mind and the realization that he has awaken to. And, all of the years of practice and incredible ___ he brings with the efforts that he deprived on a lifetime, a hundred lifetime, a thousand, a hundred thousand, and countable lifetimes. Having arrived at it, at ___, the complete and perfect self-awakening, and having sat on the, under the various, under the ___ trees, and then under the different trees in the area beside the ___ river on the first few weeks. He was struck through the thought—no one is ever, ever going to understand this.

There’s no way I could possibly explain what I understand to anybody. There’s no point, me, trying to teach any of this. Maybe I should just go off and live alone and just have a quiet life as I call it, not even attempt to convey this insight to anybody. So, in a way of things, as that thought formed in his mind. And he think, there’s no point. This is obviously a waste of time. The expression is it will be wearisome, troublesome for me to try to explain this. Vexatious, vexatious trying to explain this. And so, he was inclined towards living as a home in it. And then not bother to trying to teach anyone. And that thought, resonated through the Cosmos, and the Brahma got called ___ picked this up and thought, Oh no, oh no, we’ve been waiting for so long for Buddha to appear in the world. This is a Brahma God, not known for their impatience.

But they’re a long, long life span. So, we’ve been waiting so long for Buddha to appear in the world, and now, the mind of the newly awakened Buddha is inclined towards in action, in towards being ___, solitude, towards not teaching. So then, the Brahma ___ beamed down from the upper heavens and then recited the same words, I said the same words that ___ decided. Said, please, it’s true that living beings are confused and caught up in passions and aversions, but there are a few with only a little bit of dust in their eyes. And so for the sake of those few, please, teach the Dharma that you understand. And so the, it’s that in the legends in the Buddha, it’s this psychic power to cause the vision around the world to see, yes, as in any kind of natural system you have. The analogy here is just like in a pond full of lotuses you have in, red, blue, and white lotuses, and some ___ water, die in the water, ___ the water, and rise above the surface and they blossom there.

And so true for the human being. There are some with ___ faculties and ___ faculties. There are some low ___ regard for themselves, high regard for themselves. There those high and deeper understanding of themselves. There those who are slow in wisdom, and those who are quick in wisdom, and he realized, and yes, Brahma is right, and said, I’ll give it a try. So, the fact that the Buddha had that initiative awakened in him is the reason why IMS is here. The reason why you’re here. The reason why I’m here. Like, two and a half thousand years later that, that initiative is still resonating down through the human round and bringing its gifts, with the Buddha did have the skill and ability to teach, and with the glad, grateful inheritance of that effortless skill of the Buddha applied.

So that when it’s time for Dharma talk, you won’t ____. On a piece of paper, we still have this little ___, which form requesting. That’s calling the Dharma forth. In a way, inviting the Dharma to appear as a response to the needs of the group and the time, the place and situation, rather than I’ve already decided what you need, and then I’ll tell you, on a proclamatory way, the Dharma really arises when there is that interest, a keenness, and arises into response to that need, a potentiality within the group.

Now today, it was striking to me when the retreat begins like this, a beautiful day today, glorious spring weather here in Massachusetts, but it might have been that during the course of the day, you didn’t feel totally glorious all over the time. What am I guess, is that caught up in a little ___, anxiety, fears, hopes, annoyances, distractions, opinions, discomforts in the body, discomforts in the mental world. And despite being in a perfect place, noble company, beautiful friends, lovely environment, IMS is being thoroughly ___ up, it brings ____ beautifully, renovated, ___ through a lot of the buildings. He used to be in the ___ staff here so he knows the windows and sticks, and the valves that ___. So you know, the place is really being ___ up, and being brought into a very good state of functioning.

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About the author 

Sean Fargo

Sean Fargo is the Founder of Mindfulness Exercises, a former Buddhist monk of 2 years, a trainer for the mindfulness program born at Google, an Integral Coach from New Ventures West, and an international mindfulness teacher trainer. He can be reached at [email protected]

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