I arrive with the debris of the day on my mind. It’s sunny, so I make my way round the back of the house to find Sundari sitting in the sheltered garden. A cup of tea and a piece of cake helps to put the day in some kind of perspective. This may be a Buddhist Sangha night but some things are quintessentially English. Amida Buddhists and Quakers in Sheffield , I have found, share a common liking for cake.
Our evening service takes place on the back lawn. We sit with the sound of birdsong and the hum of the traffic leaving the city. The sun is warm on our skin. The first half of the service is taken up with gently chanting Namo Quan Shi Yin Bosat 108 times and then settling into silence… meditation…. prayer.
We finish the service by chanting the refuges, precepts, bodhisattva vows and invocations and close with prostrations. Right at the end of service, we become aware that we are being watched by some children from next door who are clambering on the adjoining wall. “Why are you praying?” they ask.
Because prayer is good for the soul.
Beautiful :-)
Namo Amida Bu _/I\_
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Thanks!
~ray
A real delight to read about activities in Sheffield. Prayer is good, yes . . . ummmm … but … soul??? whose soul? what soul? Unless you mean like rhythm and blues soul, the ever changing spirit, essence and life of a person?
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Yes, I meant more in the poetic sense of the word rather than as a reference to an “eternal soul”…. prayer is good for the heart if you prefer :)
Heart & Soul!
~ray