“Origins and Overview of Our Tradition”

Buddhapalita, one of the Nalanda Masters. Photo by Christof Spitz, 2010.

with Venerable Drimay

Tuesdays, January 10, 17, 24, 31

7pm to 9pm

Syllabus with Reading Suggestions  – downloadable/printable PDF

Link to beautiful photo album of the 17 Nalanda Masters

January 31st, the last class of this series, will cover the life of Atisha Dipamkara Srijñana and what it means for us in our spiritual career.

To trace a river back to its source, you need to go right back to the snow line. So too must you trace a Dharma back to the Buddha, our Teacher.

 Pabongka Rinpoche, “Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand,”
Trans. Michael Richards, Wisdom Publications, 2006

In this 4-week course, we will get a quick overview of our tradition’s presentation of the Buddhist path–where we are in the great scheme of things, what some of the different motivations and goals of a spiritual practitioner might be, and how to make use of our potential if that’s what we decide to do.

We will also learn some of the stories about our Indian Buddhist roots, particularly the life of Atisha Dipamkara Srijñana and his immediate teachers and disciples. This will give us a picture of life in India and Tibet a thousand years ago.

One the principles of our tradition is that all Dharma teachings are meant to be heard as personal instructions, so we will stop frequently to check, “What personal message can I get out of this?” as we hear each story or explanation.

Sessions will include:

• video clips of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche‘s teachings from Living in the Path, module 5
• readings from Chapters 1 and 2 of Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand