Showing posts with label lectures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lectures. Show all posts

Sunday, September 8, 2013

The Chinese Buddhist Canon (lectures)

Wisdom Quarterly; ICBS, University of the West (uwest.edu)
Associate Prof. Jiang Wu from the Dept. of East Asian Studies, University of Arizona is the author of Enlightenment in Dispute: The Reinvention of Chan Buddhism in Seventeenth-Century China.
 
"Truly a work of merit for the history of religious and intellectual thought, practice, and sociopolitics..."

"Jiang Wu's Enlightenment in Dispute succeeds in its bold claim that the revival of Chan Buddhism deserves to be seen as playing a significant role in 17th-century Chinese history.
 
"Among Wu's many important findings are his specific tracing of Chan in late Ming thought and factionalism, the significance of Chan 'textual spirituality' in the intellectual questing of the time, the surprising use of the law in the adjudication of disputed Dharma transmissions, the intersections of Chan with Ming loyalist sentiments and actions, and the central part played by Yongzheng (first as prince and then as emperor) in defining Chan doctrinal legitimacy and ultimately his own enlightenment.
 
"The book is a valuable addition to our studies of China's turbulent and formative 'long seventeenth century.'" --Jonathan Spence, author of The Search for Modern China and Return to Dragon Mountain

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Rains Retreat: Sunday Dharma Sermons

Dharmachari, Wisdom Quarterly; Ven. Chandananda, LABuddhistVihara.org
Line of ancient robed Buddhas in the sunshine, Thailand (Trianons Oficial/flickr.com)
  
Sacred Pali text, Burma (theworld.org)
"O, meditators, take the medcine of the Dharma since there is no other medicine which can [once and for all] cure your disease of suffering!"

"Rare is birth as a human being. Rare is hearing the sublime Dharma."

The annual Rains Retreat is observed in Asia as well as Los Angeles by members of the Greater Monastic Community (Maha Sangha). According to Sri Lankan Theravada ("School of the Enlightened-Elders," namely the historical Buddha's immediate disciples) tradition, "hearers" formally invite Buddhist monks and nuns to observe the Rains Retreat in a particular temple complex (vihara) during the months of July, August, September, and October. This period of intensive teaching and practice culminates in the Katina robe-offering ceremony.

Special Dharma activities are performed -- including this series of Sunday lectures on a variety of sutras (discourses) and feasting on exotic island dishes (free). Events are open to all and may even be sponsored as a means of transferring merit to departed relatives. Wear white in temple-appropriate style, and consider bringing flowers or candles to offer if one wishes. Sundays, 5:00 pm, through October 27, 2013:

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Four Noble Truths (Dalai Lama)

When the great universal teacher Shakyamuni Buddha first spoke about the Dharma in the noble land of India, he taught the Four Noble Truths: the truth of suffering, the cause of suffering, the END of suffering, and the path to the end of suffering.