In the west, religions give us a definite road map to follow as a community. We are told the name of the male deity/God and what pleases and or angers that deity. Our mission is to submit to that deity with the promise of salvation when we die.
In the east, religion provides many choices of deities to work with. Depending on your station in life – whether a child, young mother or father, a farmer, a merchant or a monk -- you have a deity that can help you. It focuses on the individual experience instead of a group direction.
However, Buddhism is not a religion, but a way to reveal ultimate reality or to “awaken” ourselves to ourselves. Buddhism has nothing to do with magical thinking and or blind belief. Rather, Buddhist practice is in the magic of “being” which reveals to us that we ourselves are magical. When the man Siddhartha became illumined and began teaching, many asked if he was a God, or an Avatar but he answered “No, I am one who is awake”. The word Buddha, meaning “The Awakened One” is a title bestowed upon anyone who has realized their own innate nature.” Finally, Buddhism is not anti-religious but instead fills in all the blanks that religions leave behind.
Join us for four short evenings as we begin to explore the remarkable and life changing foundational teachings of Buddhist thought and practices. These will include but are not limited to:
- Buddhist History
- The Three Wheels
- The Four Noble Truths
- The Five Hindrances
- Tranquility meditation
- The Five Precepts
- Tonglen Practices
- The Four Immeasurables Practice
- The Six Perfections and more...