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| "Circle... O Zen empty spot. There is no thing which you are and nothing which you are not" (Sheilan/fineartamerica.com) |
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| Dr. Lancaster (uwest.edu) |
The great Buddhist scholar, Professor Emeritus at UC Berkeley, Dr. Lewis Lancaster is giving a series of lectures on a core teaching of Mahayana Buddhism -- shunyata, "emptiness."
The lectures begin tonight, June 18th, and run through the 28th. Free to all.
One of the most important concepts of Buddhist philosophy is that of emptiness. Often misunderstood, and more often misquoted, the term is at the heart of Buddhist teaching in relation to the impersonal or non-self (anatman, anatta) aspect of all phenomena, internal and external.
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| Buddha in the Abstract (Sharon Cummings/flickr.com) |
Whereas the historical Buddha and early Buddhist schools focused on personal liberation from suffering -- seeing the Five Aggregates of Clinging as the root form of ignorance blocking enlightenment -- later schools expanded the concept to include the intrinsic non-identity of all compounded-things.
In these lectures, participants will explore how to interpret the information found in the famous PERFECTION OF WISDOM LITERATURE (Sanskrit, Prajna Paramita). At the same time, it is important to understand that the doctrine can be seen through the lens of modern approaches to science, cognition, and philosophical discourse.
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| Dr. Lancaster (center) at Hsi Lai Temple (paradeofthebuddhas.org) |
TOPICS
- June 18, Tuesday: Seeing Emptiness
- June 19, Wednesday: Unseen Emptiness
- June 20, Thursday: Words and Emptiness
- June 21, Friday: Time and Space Emptiness
- June 25, Tuesday: Mystical Emptiness
- June 26, Wednesday: Cause and Emptiness
- June 27, Thursday: Emptiness as Basis for Enlightenment
- June 28, Friday: Role of Emptiness in Experience
- Attending ONLINE: extendedstudies@uwest.edu
University of the West, ED201
1409 Walnut Grove Avenue,
Rosemead, CA (626) 571-8811 / icbs@uwest.edu
Coordinator: Jacqueline Jingjing Z.
Institute of Chinese Buddhist Studies
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