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Description
This is a group discussion following the regular weekly sitting practice which will take place one Saturday each month. Our usual 2 hour meditation practice will be shorter to allow for the hour long discussion.
On Saturday, August 16, 2025, we will discuss the Ādittapariyāya Sutta, aka the Fire Sermon. As denoted by ‘sutta’, compared to the later ‘sutra’ of Sanskrit designation, this is a text from the Pali Canon, the most complete extant early Buddhist Canon.
In this teaching, the Buddha uses the metaphor of fire to explain the nature of suffering and liberation. He declares that "everything is burning" - the six sense organs (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind), their corresponding sense objects, and the feelings that arise from contact. These are "ablaze" with the fires of greed, hatred, and delusion, known in Buddhism as the ‘three poisons’ or ‘three unwholesome roots’ that plague human consciousness until we become aware of and subdue them. How sensory experience becomes the basis for suffering when filtered through these three unwholesome roots, and how to extinguish these flames, is what the Fire Sermon elucidates.
Adjusted practice schedule for this date:
10-11 AM: tea ceremony, chanting, sitting and walking meditation
11-12 AM: dharma dialogue
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Arrive 5 minutes before start to select your mediation seating. The Jiki will lead a practice of sitting and walking meditation in the Rinzai Zen format.
The practice opens with traditional Japanese tea service followed by chanting The Heart Sutra in both Japanese and English. Closing chant is The Eight Verses of Training the Mind. Candles and incense are used.
Please come early if you would like any instruction or assistance.
Contact: easternsunsangha@gmail.com
Date & Time
Sat, Aug 16, 2025 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Venue Details
Sanctuary @ The Pearl
2 Clift's - Baird's CoveSt. John's, Newfoundland A1C 6M9
