Buddhist Psychology I - Yogacara Studies This course provides an overview of the ancient Yogacara philosophy of mind and its implications for modern psychology. We will consider what consciousness is, how it functions, and how mental experience is often misapprehended or misunderstood. We will also examine a number of enigmas, problems and contradictions associated with our common notions about mind and consciousness.
Prerequisite: Completion of Dependent Arising and the Unlocatable Self
Recommended: Completion of Foundational Studies
Text of The Thirty Stanzas, by Vasubandhu, will be provided at cost
The following class handouts are available for download in pdf format:
Buddhist Psychology II - Contemporary Studies
This course focuses on the nature of Mind, matter, and consciousness in light of recent studies in neuroscience, psychology, and physics. We'll consider how certain basic assumptions in these disciplines prevent us from understanding the nature of mind and consciousness.
Prerequisite: Completion of Dependent Arising and the Unlocatable Self
Recommended: Completion of Foundational Studies
Text: How the World Can Be the Way It Is, by Steve Hagen
The following class handouts are available for download in pdf format:
Prerequisite: Completion of Dependent Arising and the Unlocatable Self
Recommended: Completion of Foundational Studies
The Dawn of Zen This course is a study of two early Zen texts, "Trusting the Heartmind" (Hsin Hsin Ming) and "The Merging of Difference and Unity" (Ts'an T'ung Ch'i). These texts draw our attention to actual experience and inspire us to place our trust and energy there, rather than in our time-bound, mental constructs of thought and belief.
Prerequisite: Completion of Dependent Arising and the Unlocatable Self
Recommended: Completion of Foundational Studies
Text will be provided at no charge.
For the students' convenience, the following class handouts are available for download in pdf format:
Peace Studies There is no way to peace, only ways from it. This course is a study in the Way of peace and understanding, and thereby the road to happiness.
Prerequisite: Completion of Dependent Arising and the Unlocatable Self
Recommended: Completion of Foundational Studies
Rise of the Mahayana I(from
the Buddha to Nagarjuna) This course
surveys the various philosophies and sects of Buddhism beginning with those which developed
after the time of the Buddha to those leading up to the Middle Way school
of Nagarjuna (Madhyamika) and the wisdom teachings of the Mahayana
(the Prajñaparamita).
Prerequisite: Completion of Dependent Arising and the Unlocatable Self
Recommended: Completion of Foundational Studies
Either of the following texts is recommended: A Concise History of Buddhism, by Andrew Skilton,
-OR- Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations, by Paul Williams
Rise of the Mahayana II(from Bodhidharma to Dogen) This course will provide the cultural context from which Zen Buddhism arose and evolved, including brief discussions of Hua-yen, Pure Land, and Tendai Lotus schools. Significant Zen ancestors in ancient China, from Bodhidharma to Dogen, will be considered in association with our current-day studies and practice.
Prerequisite: Completion of Dependent Arising and the Unlocatable Self
Recommended: Completion of Foundational Studies
Text: Handouts to be provided.
For the students' convenience, the following class handouts are available for download in pdf format:
The Six Perfections The Perfections, which are central to Mahayana Buddhism, are derived from the three branches of the Eightfold Noble Path: conduct, practice, and wisdom. The first four Perfections (giving, morality, patience, and vitality) relate to ethical conduct. The fifth Perfection is meditation, and the sixth is the Perfection of Wisdom itself. Like the Precepts, the Perfections are not rules of conduct, but expressions of the enlightened mind.
Prerequisite: Prerequisite: Completion of Dependent Arising and the Unlocatable Self
Recommended: Completion of Foundational Studies
Handouts will be provided at no charge.
For the students' convenience, the following class handout is available for download in pdf format:
Prerequisite: Completion of Dependent Arising and the Unlocatable Self
Recommended: Completion of Foundational Studies
Totality and Non-Obstruction What is meant by Totality and Non-Obstruction? It is to transcend the tight confines of ego with the realization that Reality is found in interrelationship rather than in discreteness. Leaving behind all dualistic interpretations of experience, this course focuses on the radical view of the world as seen by the Awakened.
Prerequisite: Completion of Dependent Arising and the Unlocatable Self
Recommended: Completion of Foundational Studies
Text: Hua-yen Buddhism: The Jewel Net of Indra, by Francis H. Cook.
For the students' convenience, the course syllabus is available for download in pdf format: