Series 2: Going Further
Working off the foundation we laid in Series 1: Getting Started, we will now move on to exploring the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path, his prescription for starting to create the causes and conditions for awakening. Awakening to what? To the truth of our real nature and mode of existence. Relying on this, through logic and reasoning, we can start to build a life free from emotional and psychological suffering.
Week 1 Wednesday January 8
An Overview of the Noble Eightfold Path with an examination of how and why following these guidelines lays the foundation for creating the causes and conditions for awakening. Awakening to what? To the logical and rational truth of our existence and lives here on Earth. Without understanding these truths how can we make proper decisions? And how can we respond wisely to theirs and downs of life?​
The Noble Eightfold Path
1. Right View
2. Right Resolve
3. Right Speech
4. Right Conduct
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Samadhi
Week 2 Wednesday January 15
We'll start our deep dive into the Eightfold Path with a discussion of Right View. What does "Right" mean exactly? We will discuss this and start to focus on the topics that make up Right View. They are...
1. Cause & Effect and Karma, and the differences between them
2. Impermanence and it's implications
3. Dependent Arising - the most profound view
4. Emptiness (this is not Nothingness)
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Week 3 Wednesday January 22
Cause & Effect and Karma. What's the difference? Why is this important? Most people have a lot of misunderstandings about this topic, mostly due to lack of really looking into this deeply with logic and reason. The deep implications of understanding Cause & Effect and Karma has a profound and liberating effect on how we see our lives and the world around us.
Week 4 Wednesday January 29
The topic this week is Impermanence. We'll talk about this important aspect of of Right View and how it's related and interconnected with Cause & Effect to start to form a picture of our reality and our place in it. Impermanence is a good thing although most people see it negatively. We'll straighten that out and show why it gives hope.
Week 5 Wednesday February 5
Dependent Arising - The Most Profound View. The basic premise here is that nothing is independent. All things and phenomena arise and appear dependent on other factors. We'll study how to use Conventional Analysis and Ultimate Analysis to understand how things conventionally appear but also see their ultimate mode of existence. This leads us to the Buddhist teaching on Emptiness and what that really means. Emptiness is not Nothingness.
Week 6 Wednesday February 12
A review of the previous 5 weeks and a lot of question and answer about what we've learned. We've learned how this all fits together, and that it's based on logic and reasoning, and personal experience. We will talk about how all things things come together to form Right View.