LITERATURE CIRCLE: Following in the Buddha’s Footsteps

LITERATURE CIRCLE: Following in the Buddha’s Footsteps

time 7:00 PM

Every Tuesday from

2024-05-21

To

2024-07-02

When: Tuesdays, 7:00 – 8:30 pm ET, from March 19th, 2024

*** Tuesday, July 2nd will be our last session before taking a break for the summer. We plan to finish Chapter 8 and spend some time getting a taste for doing analytic and stabilizing meditation during this session. This will be a good introduction for Geshe Sonam’s Mahamudra weekend that will take place on July 13 and 14. We will begin the Literature Circle again in September.

Join our literature circle based on the volumes of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Library of Wisdom and Compassion. Edited by Venerable Thubten Chodron specifically for a modern Western audience. We will be reading ‘Following In The Buddha’s Footsteps’ (Volume 4)’. Everyone is welcome.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama explains Refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha: why they are reliable guides on the path, and how to relate to them. Next, His Holiness explains the three essential trainings common to all Buddhist traditions: the higher trainings in ethical conduct, concentration, and wisdom. These chapters show us how to live a life free of harm to self or others and give us detailed instructions on how to develop single-pointed concentration and the higher states of consciousness available to an earnest practitioner. The chapters on wisdom contain in-depth teachings on the noble eightfold path and the four establishments of mindfulness: of our body, feelings, mind, and other phenomena. Together, these topics form the core of all Buddhist practices.

This group discussion is led online by Dave Gould.

Please register to attend on Zoom.

Purchase the e-book or physical book from the publisher or a bookstore such as Amazon.ca.

As a discussion group, it is useful to bring discussion questions to the gathering. Listen to Audrey on how to bring good questions to the gathering.

Please Help Support These Precious Teachings

Our programs are given freely, and we also rely on your generosity – this is the traditional and pure way of the Buddha Dharma. Offering support for the Dharma can be a limitlessly powerful act. This is the highest, most long-term form of generosity, which is to share with others the path to full awakening. When we support the Dharma we create causes for us to encounter the Dharma frequently, and we create the merit to be able to integrate the teachings in our minds easily. Offering support deepens our connection to Dharma teachers and connects us as a community.