Introducing “Other Voices”

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While Rev. Koyama is traveling in Japan, three of his senior students will each offer a series of four lectures on essential Buddhist scriptures and the major elements of bodhisattva practice. These will take place Wednesday afternoons from 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM on zoom. 

 

 Catherine Jishin Amendolara  October 14, 21, 28, and Nov. 4

 

Relying on Prajñā Parāmita in Turbulent Times: Turning to the Heart Sutra for Direction When World News Stirs Compassion and Kicks up Questions about Practice

 

In this series, I will use passages from the Heart Sutra (Mahāprajňāpāramita Hrdaya Sūtra), Dōgen’s commentary about this sūtra in Shōbōgenzō Maka-Hannya-Haramitsu, and other Mahāyāna sūtras to explore impermanence and emptiness, not as something scary, but as the reality that expands the definition, and dissolves barriers between self/world, and samsara/nirvana, allowing our practice of compassion to be supported by wisdom.

 

1. What’s happening when “I” observe the “world”?

2. Exploring dichotomies that we take for granted as “existing” and how concepts of life, are not life.

3. Cause and effect in dependent origination -- a one-way street, versus the interdependent co-arising of a multiverse.

4. With nothing to attain and without hindrance, relying on each moment of prajñā paramita for my next action.

 

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Rev. Shūzan Leclercq  November 18, 25 and December 2, 9

(*In French with English subtitles)

 

Living by Vow: Shantideva and the Practice of the Bodhisattva in Everyday Life

 

In this series, I will explore a selection of passages from Shantideva’s the Way of the

Bodhisattva (Bodhicharyāvatāra), placing them in dialogue with a small selection of

other Buddhist texts drawn from the Pali Canon, Mahāyāna Buddhism, and the Zen

traditions. I will also suggest how these teachings can, in my view, resonate with our

everyday lives and support our practice.

 

1. Orienting One’s Life: From Personal Desire to the Bodhisattva Vow

2. Transforming Difficulties: Anger, Conflict, and Compassion

3. The Discipline That Liberates: Practicing in Every Action

4. Living Without Clinging: Emptiness, Interdependence, and Right Action

 

Text: Shantideva, La Marche vers l’Éveil, éd. Padmakara (2008)

Vivre par vœu : Shantideva et la pratique du bodhisattva dans la vie quotidienne

 

Au cours de cette série, je me propose d’explorer quelques extraits choisis de

l’ouvrage de Shantideva, « La Marche vers l’éveil » (Bodhicharyâvatâra), de les

mettre en dialogue avec une petite sélection d’autres textes bouddhistes issus du

Canon Pali, du Mahāyāna et du Zen, et de montrer comment ils peuvent, selon moi,

entrer en résonance avec notre vie quotidienne et nous soutenir dans notre pratique.

 

1. Orienter sa vie : du désir personnel au vœu du bodhisattva

2. Transformer les difficultés : colère, conflits et compassion

3. La discipline qui libère : pratiquer dans chaque geste

4. Vivre sans s’accrocher : vacuité, interdépendance et action juste

 

 

Michèle Seizan Sevik     December 16, 30 and January 6, 13

 

Verses from the Dhammapada: How Essential Buddhist Teachings Developed and Expanded while Remaining True to Buddha’s Original Principles.

 

One of the things I enjoy most about studying Buddhism is discovering the same teachings in texts written centuries apart. As Buddhism spread and evolved, the teachings found in the Dhammapada – one of the oldest surviving collections of the Buddha’s teachings -- were developed, expanded, and expressed in fresh new ways while remaining reassuringly consistent at their core. 

 

I will examine four essential Buddhist themes found in the Dhammapada and trace how they are developed in a variety of Buddhist texts, many of which are already familiar to us from Rev. Koyama’s lectures. These include other texts from the Pāli Canon, such as the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta; Mahāyāna sūtras such as the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, the Lotus Sūtra and the Avatamsaka Sūtra; and the writings of Dōgen Zenji. The four themes I will explore are:

 

1. What am I?

2. What’s going on around here?

3. What should we not do? (my specialty)

4. What should we do?

 

Text: The Dhammapada: The Path of Perfection, translated by Juan Mascaró, Penguin Books (1974).

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