Azure Skies

Sunday Musings on Saturday Buddhist Class

4: Azure Skies

Saturdays I literally walk the path to class. It's a multifold journey. Yesterday, at nine thirty in the morning  on that October day in the East Anglian town of Colchester, the sky was azure and the day warm.There was no hint of rain, and I could walk with my Superdry jacket open for once. 

These days I make a conscious effort to be in the 'now', to try to notice as much as possible about the world around me as I walk out. The camera on my hand phone is an excuse to do that. I leave early for class on purpose, so that I don't have to hurry. I gives me time for little detours, taking photographs, talking to cats and buying a bottle of water. I can also arrive at the Centre early, talk to people, skim through books I might want to buy before class starts. 

The Saturday class is very much a beginner's class, which is exactly what I wanted. Before, I had only touched upon Buddhism through my unstructured reading, and my brief attendance at the 'Sangha' meetings in Malaysia. But they didn't approach Buddhism in a structured way, rather ad hoc and to the whim and will of the group leader. So it is a sheer joy to learn in a more methodical way, which constantly relates back to the day-to-day practical nature of Buddhism. 

Yesterday was the 'Five Precepts', and they are to.... 

• Refrain from taking life. Not killing any living being. ... 

• Refrain from taking what is not given. Not stealing from anyone. 

• Refrain from the misuse of the senses. Not having too much sensual pleasure. ... 

• Refrain from wrong speech. Not to lie. 

• Refrain from intoxicants that cloud the mind. 

A 'Precept', according to one dictionary, is "

a general rule intended to regulate behaviour or thought." The 'Five Precepts' in Buddhism though are not necessarily rules but, perhaps, suggestions, or guiding principles to live by. Basically they kind of make sense, more especially in the world we live in now, in the 21st century. These 'Precepts' might also be called attainments, or targets, aims to achieve for a more aware, more harmonious or enlightened life. Buddha was, after all, 'The Enlightened One'. Not as though we will all achieve enlightenment, but we can 'smell the roses' take time to 'stand and stare' or (as dear Ram Dass might say) to 'Be Here Now'. 

So, on yesterday's walk along the path to class, I did take time out to photograph the toadstools, the dew still on the grass and on fallen leaves, as well as notice the trees turning russet against that azure sky. In a sense it was a walking meditation, while in class we, once more, familiarised ourselves with the Metta Bhavana  (or the cultivation of Loving Kindness) to all.