(1st 8 weeks)
Chenrezig (Tib.) or Avalokiteshvara (Skt.) is the Buddha of Compassion. This course is an introduction to Chenrezig practice, one of the most beloved of the Tibetan Buddhist practices, as well as Buddhist deity meditation practice generally. Students wanting to know more about Tibetan Buddhist meditation practices will find this course to provide a solid introduction. There are no prerequisites for this course. However, the Survey of Tibetan Buddhism or some background with Buddhism is highly recommended. Prerequisites: None.
Texts: Trainings in Compassion, Tyler Dewar trans.; Chenrezig – Lord of Love, Bokar Rinpoche (the latter is out of print, but still available at various sources online)
Wed 6:30-8:30
Little Chapel of Ada Peirce McCormick Building (See Location below)
Tuition: $60 or $10 per class
(2nd 8 weeks)
Tara is the female Buddha of Compassion and the most popular among the female deities in Buddhist practice. Her color represents purity and truth. Her practice is also connected with longevity. This course teaches the practice as well as expanding on the deity practices introduced in the Chenrezig course. Prerequisites: None, though 103 is recommended.
Text: The Wish-Fulfilling Wheel, Khenpo Tarthar Rinpoche
Wed 6:30-8:30PM
Little Chapel of Ada Peirce McCormick Building (See Location below)
Tuition: $60 or $10 per class
Madhyamaka means: The Middle Way. It is the Buddha’s ethical and existential teaching. In the realm of ethics it is the middle way between the extremes of asceticism and self-indulgence. In the existential realm, it is the middle way between eternalism and nihilism. The Buddha says that we cannot assert existence, non-existence, both, or neither. Yet we do act and experience the results of our actions. Who is it that acts? When we look for a self, a self-sufficient, independent entity, we do not find it. We are empty of such a self. This emptiness allows for what Buddha calls dependent origination, a vast panoply of causes and conditions that bring about what we call conventional reality. As a human being, we have several psycho-physical components that interact to produce the illusion of a self. When they are recognized through tantric meditation as aspects of Buddha, the existential and ethical versions of the Middle Way intersect as ultimate reality.
Buddha taught the Middle Way from the very beginning. In this course we will look at his first, sutta teachings as well as the sutras of the second and third turnings of the wheel of the dharma. Finally, we will look at the most controversial of his teachings, the tantras.
Special emphasis will be placed upon the writings of Nagarjuna, Asanga, and Vasubandhu and the works of their Indian followers. For Nagarjuna, we will look at his Mulamadhyamakakarikas, his single most important text, from the point of view of its predecessors, a strategy that will make this difficult text much easier to understand. Among those who bring together Yogachara and Madhyamaka, we will pay special attention to Shantarakshita.
The controversy over eternalism and nihilism in Tibet will be examined by studying the positions of Dolpopa, Tsongkhapa, and Gorampa. A uniquely tantric view will be found in Rongzom’s works and the Dzokchen view in Longchenpa’s works. A modern synthesis of all the views on the Middle Way, including the innate purity and goodness of Buddha Nature, will be seen in the writings of Mipham (1846-1912) and other more contemporary masters such as Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso. We will not ignore the ethical issues raised by the controversial practices of the tantras and not hesitate to include discussion of the political aspects of the Middle Way. Some of the works we will be examining only became available after 1959, when the Tibetan government could no longer ban them.
REQUIRED READING:
Mulamadhyamakakarika of Nagarjuna: The Philosophy of the Middle Way by David J. Kalupahana (Available from amazon marketplace seller: South Asia Books)
Freedom From Extremes: Gorampa’s “Distinguishing the Views” and the Polemics of Emptiness by Jose Ignacio Cabezon and Geshe Lobsang Dhargyey
RECOMMENDED READING:
The Sun of Wisdom: Teachings on the Noble Nagarjuna’s Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso
Seven Works of Vasubandhu: The Buddhist Psychological Doctor by Stefan Anacker
Establishing Appearances as Divine: Rongzom Chozang on Reasoning, Madhyamaka, and Purity by Heidi I. Koppl
Mountain Doctrine by Dol-bo-ba Shay-rap-gyel-tsen
Ocean of Reasoning: A Great Commentary on Nagarjuna’s Mulamadhyamakakarika by Rje Tsong Khapa
Mipam on Buddha Nature by Douglas Duckworth
THE TEACHER:
James Rutke (Palden Lotsawa) has been studying and practicing Buddhism since the 1960s. The self-immolation of Thich Quang Duc in a Saigon street in June of 1963 brought the philosophy of the Middle Way into concrete focus for him. M.A and Ph.D. degree work in Sanskrit and Tibetan and a commitment to practice guided by HH. the 16th Karmapa, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, and His Eminence Chogye Trichen Rinpoche have inspired his thirty-five year career as a translator for Lamas and pupils of all the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. In 2007, Garchen Rinpoche and his disciples led him to become a teacher at Dharmakirti College where, at the request of Khenchen Paljea Dorje, he recently taught a 16 week course on Dzokchen Kalachakra.
Sunday 1:30-3:30PM
Library of Ada Peirce McCormick Building (See directions below)
Tuition: $60 or $10 per class
The trekcho instructions are part of the special instruction series. This course will examine these instructions, particularly through the writings of the highly regarded master Longchenpa. Students will also further develop their actual practice. Prerequisites: 501D/502D.
Texts: The Supreme Source by Chogyal Mamkhai Norbu and Adriano Clemente; You Are the Eyes of the World by Longchenpa; A Treasure Trove of Spiritual Transmission by Longchen Rabjam [Optional: The Golden Letters trans. By John Reynolds]
Sunday 4:00PM
Library of Ada Peirce McCormick Building (See directions below)
Tuition: $60 or $10 per class
