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a simple sing-along or chant that can be used as a teaching tool or a reminder practice.  I was asked by a student to write a short mantra that she could remember to use with her children (and herself) as she saw fit, so I took a ubiquitous and popular children's song and I tweaked and reinterpreted it with deeper Buddhist meanings. This may seem silly and frivolous, but in these challenging times, it's nice to have more fodder for positive thoughts than negative ones, and I know many people are ruminating a lot on what they see as a pretty negative future-state. It has served them well as a succinct reminder of many of the core principles of Buddhism that I, myself, am mindful to practice and teach everyday: impermanence, emptiness, joyous effort, mindful concentration, bodhicitta, metta, and skilful action (and more if you read further into the subtext). There's a lot packed in this short song, so I wanted to share it with others. May this bring a smile, or be of some small benefit, to someone. With metta, Michael Turner To the melody of Row, Row, Row Your Boat:  (*dharma commentary/meaning in parentheses)
"Row, row, row (joyous effort) your boat (impermanent container-body) gently (mindfulness) 'cross the stream (enlightenment); merrily, happily, patiently, lovingly (compassion/bodhicitta) life is but a dream (impermanence/emptiness)."
4 Comments
Emily
6/7/2020 16:46:47
Ahh I love it, its so cute. Its perfect for my daughter!
Monica Jones
10/17/2020 03:12:15
Silly and frivolous? I thought so too, but I've been singing this to myself for the past two days and I wanted to come back to thank you. There is a lot you packed into this song with much meaning and it has been good for my daily reminders! Thank you.
Sarah Smith
9/24/2021 11:38:12
I too found things to be of benefit and have come back to thank you. So, thank you. :) May you be able to continue on your path to monkhood soon.
Sarah Smith
9/24/2021 11:38:41
I too found this to be of benefit and have come back to thank you. So, thank you. :) May you be able to continue on your path to monkhood soon. Leave a Reply. |
The Sagacious Buddhist Blog
by Anagārika Pasannacitta The Teacher
Anagārika Pasannacitta
Hi! My name is Michael Turner (my Dhamma name is Pasannacitta).
I am a pre-monastic sakadāgāmi, early Buddhist teacher, enlightenment and streamentry (awakening) mentor, resilience and happiness counsellor, meditation instructor, transformative personal coach, and full-time Buddhist anagārika. I've spent more than 30 years learning and cultivating what I do, and what I do goes far beyond meditation and dharma. I work with Buddhist practitioners of all levels to help them attain measurable spiritual progress toward Nibbāna. This special kind of one-on-one training isn't readily available to lay practitioners and I hope to do my part as I prepare to prepare to become a monk and enter into full-time Buddhist monastic life. Our Dhamma-vinaya student community is donation-funded and I'm available for serious and dedicated practitioners of meditation-and-dharma to course-correct their views, understandings, and practices to help them overcome the challenges and problems that hold them back from making progress along the path toward Buddhist enlightenment. This isn't hocus-pocus, this is practical- and applied-Buddhism, and your progress will be the result of dedication and effort. It is worth noting that what is on-offer here is very special. I am a skilled pre-monastic early Buddhist ācariya and I will be a Buddhist monk, scholar, and teacher. There are few people outside of authentic Buddhist monasteries who can genuinely offer this kind of applied guidance and advanced training to lay practitioners. Please visit my home page and my about me to learn more about my style and what it is that I teach. "The only thing that prevents people from attaining Enlightenment and experiencing Nirvana directly is insufficient instruction and/or practice." Categories
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Preferred Method
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Wise (formerly Transferwise)
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Michael Turner is a full-time Buddhist anagārika and ariya-puggala; he is also a deeply accomplished streamentry mentor, dharma teacher, and, c-level leadership advisor and personal success coach. He emphasises and teaches practical techniques and teachings for our everyday lives to overcome the problems that stand in the way of making veritable progress toward our goals and happiness; he is particularly adept at explaining them in ways that can be easily understood and practiced in the West. He has been meditating and cultivating views and techniques that generate indestructible resilience, inner-strength, and direct experience for more than 30 years and has helped countless numbers of students and clients course-correct their practice to make veritable progress toward happiness, success, and nibbāna.
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