Dhr. Seven, Roshi Jeff Albrizze, Mara Schaeffer, Wisdom Quarterly
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The Institute of Buddhist Studies (ICBS) Summer 2013 Lecture Series (Wisdom Quarterly) |
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Empty (Horus2004/flickr) |
Dr. Lancaster dazzled a capacity crowd at Los Angeles' own Buddhist university,
U. West, as he opened his
free lecture series. He brought decades of academic expertise to the topic of emptiness (
shunyata). Not only is the concept central to the Heart Sutra and the large body of Perfection of Wisdom (
Prajna Paramita) literature, it is older than those later works. When speaking to him afterward, sharing that the recent visit by the
enlightened Thai meditation master Ajahn Jumnien saw him liberally using the term far more than most Theravada practitioners, Lancaster pointed out an amazing thing: In ancient Theravada Buddhist terms, there are three kinds of
samadhi (intensified concentration or collectedness of mind), one of them being emptiness. "People don't believe it," he assured us, "but there it is in Theravada." There are seven more lectures to go, running Tuesday through Friday this week and next. The
free online feed is streaming to viewers around the world.
More
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Dr. Lancaster, U. of the West, Tuesday, June 18, 2013 (Wisdom Quarterly)
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The
Suñña Sutta (SN 35.85), part of the
Pāli canon, relates that the Buddha's attendant
Ven. Ānanda asked:
"'The world is empty! The world is
empty,' it is said, venerable sir. In what sense may it be said that the world is empty?" The Venerable One replied, "Insofar as it is empty of a
self or of anything
pertaining to a self, thus is it said, Ānanda, that the world is empty."
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