One Dharma International Podcast

Morning sky above Buddha Pada, Kalimpong. Recorded on the final day of  Me as Blues Sky Retreat in 2023, this podcast includes Compassion Meditation led by Ven. Ryodo Yamashita, Sudhammacara Bhikku. Guidance on posture preparation and a brief Dharma talk on Compassion are also offered at the outset. Compassion meditation serves as the third part of the One Dharma Meditation Method, following Four Elements Meditation and Subtle Body meditation, aimed at dropping incessant thinking. If you encounter challenges in cultivating compassion, consider practicing the initial two meditation steps, also accessible in the preceding episode of this podcast. The One Dharma Meditation method intricately combines the worldview of Mahayana, particularly Zen, with meditation techniques that were passed down for more than two thousand years in the Southern (Theravada) tradition. To practice it with a clear understanding of the context and rationale behind this method, we recommend listening to Ven. Yamashita’s other Dharma talks.

This recording delves into the first two steps of the One Dhamra Meditation Method, namely the Four Elements Meditation and Subtle Body Meditation, guided by Ven. Ryodo Yamashita, Sudhammacara Bhikku, on the final day of Me as Blues Sky Retreat in 2023. The session starts with a brief Dharma talk in which Ven. Yamashita deciphers a Ghata by Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh, the English version of Three Refuge. The One Dharma Meditation method intricately combines the worldview of Mahayana, particularly Zen, with meditation techniques that were passed down for more than two thousand years in the Southern (Theravada) tradition. To practice it with a clear understanding of the context and rationale behind this method, we recommend listening to Ven. Yamashita’s other Dharma talks.

The altar on the ground floor of the Buddha Hall, Buddha Pada, Kalimpong This is a recording of chanting from the last day of Me as Blue Sky Retreat 2023. You can find the full text of the stanzas here. Homage to the Buddha (in Pali) The Three Refuges (in Pali) Five Precepts (in Pali) The Three Refuges (in English) Originally from Plum Village

To be mindful, you need to undergo a shift—moving from “this world”* to a dimension where awareness exists. When you happened to be mindful, according to Ven. Yamashita, it did not occur as the result of successful control of your mind, but because of the shift, which happened unnoticed and unintentionally. Without understanding this point, he emphasizes, you will suffer needlessly by demanding your mind to do what it cannot. Pursuing mindfulness that way would make meditation a torture. He also imparts the teaching that one does not need to be a special person, like great masters or elite meditators, to access the dimension where awareness exists; it is inherent in every single one of us. We are double-structured—Dimension X and the perceived self. By revisiting key topics covered in previous talks—total surrender, the function of each step of the One Dharma Method, the importance of faith, and our double-structured nature—Ven. Yamashita provides a map leading to a place where mindfulness is. This marks the concluding talk from the last day of the Me as Blue Sky Retreat, including the final question-and-answer session. Ven. Yamashita plans to offer another international retreat in September 2024. *In this talk, “this world” is also referred to as the “rectangular world” based on the drawing by Ven. Kosho Uchiyama.

The importance of surrender has been one of the most significant themes in religious discussions. But what does it mean to surrender? And what is it to surrender in the context of mindfulness practice? Trying to control, and doing things to achieve specific desires, are inherent to our human nature. How can we stop this?  According to Ven. Yamashita, surrender occurs when you realize, through wholeheartedly trying to be mindful but to no avail, that your mind is helpless in becoming mindful. When your mind is ‘defeated’ like this and surrenders unconditionally, a different dimension, in which you are mindful, opens up. That is why surrendering totally is a crucial step. This is the Dharma talk from the 4th day of Me as Blue Sky Retreat held in September 2023. In the question-and-answer session, several questions are raised including: Is surrendering the same as acceptance?, How do we surrender? etc.

The truth that the Buddha discovered, referred to as Dimension X in this retreat, does not exist as a continuation of our ordinary mind. Entering it requires a “jump,” which made it extremely difficult to teach. For this jump to happen, you need to be ready–says Ven. Yamashita. According to him, when he sees practitioners who meet the following three criteria, he considers them ready for the jump to happen. First, they must acknowledge that their mind is the cause of suffering. Second, they need to realize that their ordinary mind cannot prevent itself from causing suffering. Third, they must have absolute trust in the dimension they are jumping into. These three elements must be realized through students’ own experience, not just intellectual understanding. This is the Dharma talk delivered on the 3rd day of Me as Blue Sky Retreat held in September 2023. As always, the talk is followed by a lively question-and-answer session. The questions include “How do you know you touched Dimension X?”, “Is being in Dimension X like being in love?”, “Is it possible to slip back into ordinary dimension after touching Dimension X?” and more.

When participating in a retreat like ours, the most significant obstacle is not the pain in your leg but your ego. However, attempting to escape from it or suppress it only deepens the entanglement in ego– judgments, hatred, and reactive responses, qualities that are contrary to mindfulness. Then, what should we do? According to Ven. Yamashita, we should move to “dimension X,” a realm where the ego cannot survive. This dimension X, known by various names in many traditions within and outside Buddhism, coexists within you alongside your perceived identity. This is the Dharma talk from the second day of Me as Blue Sky retreat followed by a question and answer session.

While our suffering can take many forms, we know our mind is the culprit. Mindfulness can bring an end to it,  so we are convinced. However, can meditating with the same mind that causes suffering truly make us mindful?  “NO”. says Ven. Yamashita. In this introductory talk, he teaches that real practice won’t start unless you realize this fundamental dead-end, the helplessness that there is nothing you—your ordinary mind— can do for you to be mindful. Only when your ordinary mind surrenders, what makes mindfulness possible begin to reveal itself.　Let’s call it “Dimension X” for the time being and explore its historical background in the context of Buddhism.  This is the first Dharma Talk from Me as Blue Sky retreat held in September 2023. The talk is followed by a question and answer session. 

December 7th, 2018, Pune, India Day 3 (the last day) of 2018 Zen and Mindfulness Retreat in Vajuradhatu A view from Vajuradhatu Retreat Center, Pune In this final Dharma talk, Ven Yamashita once again lays out what mindfulness truly means. Mindfulness, an impossible attempt for our ordinary mind, and yet the Lord Buddha tasked us to do, is the bridge for us to cross to the other shore. In order for this to work; however, we need a careful understanding of how we are made, double-structured nature. This talk is followed by a question and answer session.

December 6th, 2018, Pune, India Remains of East gate, Kapilavastu castle, Nepal. Prince Siddhartha’s journey started here. This is the 2nd Dharma Talk given at the 2018 Mindfulness and Zen retreat at Vajradhatu, Pune, India. “The Buddha’s path is your path. Buddhism is about you, and every single one of us. So it is quite important that we understand the Prince Siddhartha’s story as our own”. By using Siddhartha’s two different approaches for enlightenment as an example, Ven. Yamashita explains the pitfall of trying to control our minds and what really means to take the middle way.