Gratitude and Appreciation for the Three Jewels of Refuge - Meditation

A Contemplative Reflective Meditation where meditators are prompted in a way to inspire recognition and gratitude to Buddha Dhamma Sangha.

Transcript

Aware of the sitting posture feeling the pressure under the thighs the bottom as it presses against the mat or the floor or the chair just aware the body sitting and bringing the attention to the top of the head feeling any sensations on the skin and then feeling the area the back of the head including the ears and then becoming aware of the face area and noticing any sensations neutral pleasant unpleasant just being aware sweeping the mindful awareness down over the neck and then including the shoulders I'm just aware and slowly moving that awareness down the back upper back shoulder blade area middle of the back down to the lower back once again feeling the lower part of the body pressing against the mat or the chair and then coming back up to the neck front of the neck and moving the awareness down the chest the middle part of the front of the body down over the stomach area abdomen area and then feeling underneath the thighs sweeping the awareness down over the legs and the calves including the knees and then the ankles and then the feet and now just feeling the entire body relaxing the awareness aware of the body sitting relaxing any tension especially in the shoulders relaxing into the sitting posture and just knowing the felt experience of the body sitting and now bringing the awareness to the breathing in and out breathing knowing the entire in-breath nose chest abdomen and mindfully aware the entire out-breath abdomen chest nose we can use the word putto noting as we breathe breathing in put breathing out though knowing the beginning middle and end of the in-breath and noting put and knowing the beginning middle and end of the out-breath noting though put though means awake aware breathing input breathing out though and just placing the awareness on the in-and-out breathing and relaxing into the awareness just knowing the breath moment by moment moment establishing present moment body-based awareness in breath the out breath aware of the physical feelings trying to know the beginning middle and end of in breath the beginning middle and end of the out breath breathing input breathing out though helping us to be with the meditation object aware awake a quality of clear knowing trying to put down thoughts about the future thoughts about the past and using putto to stay with the task breathing in put breathing out though mindfully knowing the in-and-out breathing meditation will move into the practice of generating appreciation mudita and gratitude while still aware of the feeling of in-and-out breath listening to the suggestions I'd like you to imagine now Lord Buddha under the Bodhi tree in northern India imagine that it's that first week after Lord Buddha's enlightenment the Buddha realized the unconditioned the deathless the Buddha had his insight into the four noble truths Lord Buddha is enjoying the bliss of liberation so imagine the Buddha with his eyes closed and you can see the Bodhi tree beautiful Bodhi tree with these thousands of heart-shaped leaves imagine that it's a sunny day mid-morning a gentle breeze and just seeing this young radiant monk incredibly a complexion and equality of clear white light perhaps a little bit of gold in the aura a very beautiful quality of radiance imagine that you are in the field a few other trees perhaps and dear a stream and you walk a little closer to Lord Buddha and just observing this fully enlightened liberated being coming close you can feel this waves of serenity and coolness I feel an incredible quality of peace radiating from the mind and this very handsome young monk and then imagine that you lower to your knees and pay respects three times and just bringing to mind now still aware of the feeling of the breath basic awareness of the in-and-out breathing while I talk but bringing to mind the fact that from that point Lord Buddha will walk all around northern India and teach for 45 years that he will utter 84,

000 verses of Dhamma many hundreds of suttas teaching beings of different capacity humans and Davis and just feeling appreciation and gratitude for the accomplishment of the summer some Buddha the one who realized ultimate truth and was able to explain the path that leads to that liberation that realization and just appreciating the fact of the enlightenment breathing in board breathing out though and appreciating the extraordinary kindness and extraordinary effort of Lord Buddha wandering walking and teaching constantly for 45 years training many disciples so just recognizing the kindness the effort a huge offering motivated by compassion Lord Buddha taught those who could be taught aware of the in-breath Buddha aware of the out-breath though and like you to think now what were the prerequisite causes for the arising of Lord Buddha we are told that the bodhisattva built the ten perfections for four asankhya plus 100,

000 eons one asankhya is an unimaginably long period ordinary beings can't fathom the time frame for asankhya plus 100,

000 eons the 100,

000 eons that's the small part at the end one eon the universe begins and expands and then contracts and burns up again one eon of expansion and contraction billions of years in one eon and so just recognizing the incredible investment understanding that Lord Buddha studied with previous Buddhas Lord Buddha could have been an arahant many millions of lives before and his whole intention in building the perfections and becoming a teaching Buddha was to benefit as many beings as possible and so just feeling gratitude for the extraordinary kindness and effort the selflessness of that compassion that stretched millions of lifetimes breathing in buddh breathing out though we often appreciate the purity and the wisdom of the Buddha sometimes we neglect to appreciate just how much compassion Lord Buddha had how much he cared in the suttas it says that after Buddha awakes in the morning does his meditation he scans the world with a heart quivering with compassion scanning the world seeing who he can help that day and sometimes walking many miles to teach one person although the Lord Buddha is extremely powerful he also had the most exquisite tender kindness bringing to mind the episode at the very end of his life the Buddha is about to enter the world of the Buddha Maha Parinibbana thousands of bhikkhus many thousands of bhikkhus many thousands of lay people have gathered millions of devas and there's one last person has walked a great distance has a doubt wants to ask a question and the monk saying no it's not a convenient time and the Buddha says let him approach and that wanderer asks his question overcomes his doubt and is able to realize nirvana such beautiful father-like tender kindness self-sacrifice so just appreciating the compassion that Lord Buddha had for all beings including us breathing in put breathing out though me And just appreciating the awesome effort invested,

Offered by the Mahabharata Sattva,

While training preparing for that final life,

Allowing feelings of gratitude and appreciation,

Mudita,

To fill your mind.

Breathing in both,

Breathing out both.

Bringing to mind now the great disciples,

Sariputta,

Mahamoghalana.

These two built the perfections for one asankhya plus 100,

000 eons.

Similarly,

Millions of lives since the time they could have been arahants,

They offered those lives to build the qualities to be able to support Lord Buddha.

Sariputta's wisdom was equal to the teaching Buddha.

Mahamoghalana's psychic powers were equal to that of the Buddha.

He said that Sariputta ripened the mind of thousands of monks to the point of stream entry.

And that Mahamoghalana,

With his special gifts at seeing the quality of the mind,

The state of the mind,

Obstructions in the mind,

His capacity to see where the person was and teach them to attain subsequent levels,

Mahamoghalana trained thousands of monks to the level of arahant.

And just recognizing the extraordinary qualities,

Incredible investment,

Amazing kindness,

And allowing a sense of appreciation and gratitude.

We can use the word sankho,

Breathing in,

Sankho,

Breathing out,

Sankho,

The sangha,

Our refuge.

And we train with these words,

Putto,

Amo,

Sankho,

With deep appreciation of the three precious jewels,

The buddha jewel,

Revealer of the path,

The dharma jewel,

Ultimate truth that we can realize,

Teachings of the Buddha pointing in that direction,

And the sangha jewel,

Those who have realized peace,

Awakened after the accomplished one,

And those who are practicing correctly.

And so appreciating,

Recognizing the value,

Cherishing these jewels of refuge,

Breathing in,

Sankho,

Breathing out,

Sankho.

There were many other great disciples,

Ananda,

The attendant of Lord Buddha,

Who memorized so many teachings that were later recorded.

In those days,

They were committed to memory.

But Ananda was able to explain them,

And others were able to remember them.

What an extraordinary debt of gratitude we have to Ananda,

Remembering so many precious suttas,

So many wonderful teachings.

All the suttas that begin with,

Thus have I heard,

Ananda repeated those suttas by memory.

So just appreciating the extraordinary quality,

The kindness,

The mindfulness.

Can you imagine?

You can remember every sutta the Buddha taught for 45 years.

So with deep appreciation for the great disciples who enabled Lord Buddha's teaching to spread far and wide,

And lay down the causes for it to continue for thousands of years.

So with deep appreciation,

Breathing in,

Sankho,

Breathing out,

Sankho.

Bringing to mind also the Arahant bhikkhunis,

The first bhikkhuni,

Mahapajapati.

Many other women from the Shakyam clan went forth under Mahapajapati,

And many of those women in the Buddha's time became Arahants,

And they had many disciples.

Many of these bhikkhunis teaching the lay women folk,

And many of those lay women becoming stream enterers.

Some of those stream enterers going back to their villages,

Teaching the other women.

This extraordinary wave of enlightenment in northern India at that time,

Possibly millions of human beings.

The Buddha's teachings stretched vast and wide.

The bhikkhus did their duty,

The bhikkhunis did their duty,

And millions of beings grew in sila,

Samadhi,

And banyan,

And many were liberated,

Established on the path of liberation.

And just recognizing the incredible sincerity and effort and purity of those earlier bhikkhus and bhikkhunis,

Breathing in,

Sankho,

Breathing out,

Sankho.

And just recognizing how pleasant it is to allow the heart just to feel grateful.

We all have our struggles,

We still have our suffering,

But when we recognize how truly fortunate we are to meet these precious wisdom teachings and to know of this noble lineage of liberated beings,

And just think what life would be like if we didn't have these teachings.

We all still have some suffering,

But we're beginning to learn how to recognize the causes and how to let them go.

We're laying the foundation,

We're walking the path.

Our suffering will become less and less,

And we will go beyond suffering.

And so just appreciating that incredible fortune that no matter what challenges or difficulties we have in our lives,

We do have these three jewels of refuge.

And what a wonderful blessing that is.

Breathing in,

Bhutto,

Breathing out,

Bhutto.

Breathing in,

Tammo,

Breathing out,

Tammo.

Breathing in,

Sankho,

Breathing out,

Sankho.

Breathing in,

Sankho.

Breathing now,

Since the time of the original sangha,

Under this teaching,

Bhutto,

Many thousands,

Tens of thousands,

Hundreds of thousands of monks and nuns who did their meditation,

Recollected their verses,

Chanting mantras,

Walking meditation,

Meta meditation,

Body contemplation,

Elements contemplation,

And just seeing this huge lineage of many millions of beings who have cultivated sīla,

Samādhi and pāṇya,

And recognizing how much we've benefited from the fact that they practiced to the point of realization,

Preserved the teachings,

And continued to teach those same teachings,

Same methods.

When the wheel of dharma was set in motion in a deer park,

It continues to be in motion.

The Eightfold Path is still present in the world.

The wheel of dharma is still turning and recognizing the wholesome effort,

Sincere effort,

Beautiful effort of millions of practitioners that have brought that dharma wheel Eightfold Path teaching,

Four Foundations of Mindfulness teaching to us today,

And just recognizing with great appreciation that extraordinary effort encompassing thousands of years and many millions of beings.

Breathing in,

Sanko,

Breathing out,

Sanko.

And then bringing to mind also tens of millions of lay supporters that supported the monks and nuns for 2,

500 years and just thinking of that offering,

Dharma halls,

Dwellings,

Meditation paths,

Robes,

Bowls,

Food,

Medicine.

Imagine the kindness required to support many millions of monks and nuns for more than 2,

500 years and just getting a sense of that incredible human kindness and generosity that supports the sangha,

Allowing a sense of appreciation and mudita and recognizing how wonderful,

So much kindness,

So much generosity,

So much appreciation,

Reverence,

Love to preserve such a precious thing for so long.

The cooperation,

The harmony of all of those millions of lay people to support the sangha,

Very special,

Very beautiful,

Very rare in the universe.

And so rejoicing in the kindness,

The generosity,

The love,

The warmth of the laity,

Building their burami,

Ripening their own minds for future enlightenment.

And many of those lay people established in stream entry,

Some of them in higher realizations,

Many of them reborn as devas,

Millions of devas in the heavens already attained to stream entry through practicing correctly,

Seeing the value and the skillfulness of this generosity that paves the way for enlightenment while supporting others to realize the Four Noble Truths.

Breathing in buddha,

Breathing out do.

Recognizing the beauty,

The power,

The value of the three precious jewels and appreciating the enormous goodness expressed by millions of beings,

Practicing dana,

Maintaining sila,

Cultivating samadhi,

Developing wisdom,

Realizing liberation and teaching others how to realize liberation,

How wonderful and how fortunate we are to be a part of this noble lineage.

So allowing your own heart to feel blessed and nourished by the compassion and the kindness of the Buddha,

By the pure effort of the Savakasanga,

By the goodness of the laity,

All of this incredible cooperation,

Support,

Harmony,

Skillfulness for thousands of years that we now benefit from are nourished by.

And so recognizing our tremendous good fortune and then trying to make a commitment to oneself,

Recognizing the value of this,

We make an aspiration,

We set the resolve,

This good fortune is rare,

I should not take this for granted,

I should use my opportunity,

Cultivate the path,

Dana,

Sila,

Bhavana as much as I can,

That I might realize these liberating truths and be able to share that,

Making our own offering to this noble lineage of sangha and supporting the generations to come,

Breathing in both and breathing out though.

Peace.

Reviews

Amazing…and beautiful… so glad to feel a part of it all. 🙏

Beautiful. 🙏

I started crying when I realised how grateful we are to know of the 3 jewels. Thank you so much Ajahn Achalo, buddha and sangha for working so hard to bring us the dhamma 🙏

I listened to it a second time and realized how rich, how multi-layered it is. It really adds depth to daily prayer, from honoring Buddha, Dhamma, and the sangha to taking and affirming refuge. This is a beautiful meditation.

Absolutely beautiful. Hugely meaningful and one to come back to a lot. Thankyou for the upload.

A wonderful meditation on gratitude leaving the heart & mind very peaceful! Thank you Ajahn!

amazing! thank you.

Beautiful. Thank you for this gift.

Insightful. I am grateful for all the love and compassion generated from all the sages before me.

Amazing. Always good to have appreciation and gratitude. Thank you.

Moving and powerful meditation, I am at peace and fill full of joy. Thank you for this great teaching. Namaste

Wonderful appreciation of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Heart opening and transformative 💜

Feel incredible and in total peace. Thank you! 🙏🏻

A very nourishing reminder. Thank you.

A blessing for all

A beautiful and profound contemplation meditation. Worth doing again and again. Thank you sincerely Ajahn Achalo. 🙏

Thank you🙏🏽 beautiful!

Very Beautiful meditation.

Beautiful guidance and a deep meditation