After the Bodhisattva Vow

Some Shambhalians and friends are taking part in Mahayana practice and study at the Center, and we want to make sure that everyone knows about these new opportunities. Two groups, the Mahayana Morning Liturgy group and the Bodhisattva Study Group, are open to anyone willing to commit to regular participation once they’ve joined. The morning liturgy group has some prerequisites (more about that later), but the Bodhisattva group is open to all.

The seeds for these groups were planted by Acharya Gaylon Ferguson, when he led a recent training for those of us taking the Bodhisattva Vow. He was quite specific: take up the practice of the Mahayana morning liturgy; study Shantideva’s The Way of the Bodhisattva.  It was up to us to figure out how to make these available at a Center already packed to the rafters with programs and activities.

The Mahayana Morning Liturgy Group meets on the second and fourth Mondays at 8:15am. So far, we’re a small group. Early mornings at the Center are already reserved for meditation practice, so we meet at a time when anyone with a day job is already on their way to work. The group is further whittled down by the requirement that we’ve taken the Bodhisattva Vow and received instructions and permission from a teacher.

We’ve figured out how to perform the liturgy all on our own. Some comedy has ensued in spite of the seriousness of the material. We’ve got this together now, drawing from the Bodhisattva Vow booklet and on the experience of the participants who already know how to umdze and to drum. (The Heart Sutra is part of our ritual, a reason all by itself to attend these sessions.) We’re learning as we go. Correct gonging is not as easy as it looks!

The Bodhisattva Path Study Group meets the first and third Monday at 7:15pm.  Finding space for this group was also a challenge, one that seemed at first to defeat our efforts.  The Center’s calendar was full and, as interest grew and the number of participants kept increasing, we knew that the group was too big to meet in anyone’s living room. We were rescued by Center leadership, who agreed to schedule us at the same time as the MIEL class. First and third Monday evenings are busy at the Center, with us out in the community room and MIEL meeting in the shrine room. Another opportunity to practice mindfulness of others!

Our study group now has more than 20 participants.  We’re lucky that Ray Sten has stepped forward as leader. He’s a long-time and serious student of Dharma and is taking us through a rigorous and stimulating exploration of Shantideva’s The Way of the Bodhisattva, with Pema Chodron’s No Time to Lose as an additional resource. 

Participants have expressed gratitude that Mahayana studies are being offered as a bridge between the completion of the Sacred Path and commencement of Vajrayana studies and practices. The work that went into creating these groups made for good practice with the paramita of patience. We’re looking forward to the months ahead, to meeting regularly, and sharing our curiosity and aspirations for a greater understanding of what it means to be a Bodhisattva. Bringing Mahayana practice and study to our sangha feels like a small step on that path.

And now as long as space endures,
As long as there are beings to be found,
May I continue likewise to remain
To drive away the sorrows of the world.

Shantideva, verse 10.55

–Willa Rabinovitch and Jan Rogerson, February 12, 2016

(Contact Jan Rogerson – at [email protected] – if you have questions about these groups.)