Courses

     Early Bird Fee: £120 if you register and     

pay in full before 5th January, 2025

For the Syllabus and Course Agenda, please scroll further down the page.

Registration Form

 

You can discuss any aspect of  this course by contacting Malcolm by text on 07960 993059 or by email.

Our Course: The Way of the Buddha

Each evening session includes teaching and time for discussion and feedback. 

The course starting in January is for eight evening sessions commencing on Thursday January 16 at 7.30pm.

COURSE SYLLABUS: We will cover the following topics. The Agenda is published below the Syllabus.

1. General Introduction and Key words

  1. The Heart Sutra
  2. The Anapanasati Sutra and the Origins of Mindfulness
  3. Buddhism in “modern” practice

2. The birth, life and death of Gautama Buddha

    1. The Four Noble Truths of the human condition​
    2. The Eightfold path to personal enlightenment
    3. The 3 Jewels

3. The world into which Gautama was born

  1. The influence of the Indus migration into north east India
  2. The political and social history of Buddha's time and the way in which they helped the formation of the Sangha

4. The Spread of Buddhism

  1. The importance of King Ashoka in the spread of Buddhism across Asia and into the Middle East.
  2. East meets West in the modern age.

5. The Buddhist traditions: Theravada, Mahayana etc

 We will touch on these traditions but emphasising the similarities  whilst not ignoring how the one tradition led to the other.

6. Buddha's teaching:

  1. The Eightfold Path
  2. Dependent Arising and Karma
  3. Buddha's teaching on many issues: this section will give us the opportunity for discussion and practice.

7. Practising Buddhism in a western culture

    1. The influencers: Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh and Lama Surya Das for example
    2. Taking Refuge
    3. Is Buddhism a religion?

8. The Buddhist Way of Life

  1. Do I need to go to a Temple to practise?
  2. Can I combine Buddha’s teaching with my own beliefs?
  3. I want to know more. What’s next?

The Agenda

Week 1: Spiritual Awakening.

What was it that attracted the earliest followers of the once Prince of the Shakyanation to his teachings? Why were they prepared to renounce the world, as it were, and become members of this new community (the Sangha) set up to follow the Dharma, the teachings of the newly enlightened one (the Buddha)? Why is there such devotion today to this teacher who lived two and a half millenia ago? We look at Prince Gautama's early life and the events that led to his leaving the luxury of his princely home to become an itinerant wanderer. What is this enlightenment we hear so much about? Why are modern Buddhists so keen to achieve this enlightenment themselves? We'll look for the answers in a Thai devotional gatha : the Jinapanjara Gatha and discover it points to the earliest teachings: the three jewels, The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold path. We'll see how Buddhists have always paid homage to Buddha without actually worshipping hime. Why is that?

Week 2: The Triple Gem

The Jinapanjara Gatha makes reference to the Ratana Sutra (teaching) because it contains teaching on the Triple Gem. What is this and why is it regarded so highly by modern Buddhists? We examine each of the three things in which all Buddhists take refuge: The Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha!

Week 3: The Three Marks of Existence

We look at a basic teaching of the Buddha: the Three Marks of Existence - these are applicable and fundamental to all things. All things are marked by them: That we all suffer, feel dissatisfaction with our lives and seem to feel that there is something missing (even though we dont know what it is, exactly!); that all things are impermanent. Nothing lasts for ever: relationships, us as people, civilisations, other forms of life on earth; that we don't have a permanent self - we change over the years both physically and mentally. The opinions we hold when young may not be the opinions we hold in later life. Why is this?  We will discover that perhaps the only way to understand our condition is through meditation. 

Week 4: Becoming a Bodhisattava

The obvious question needs to be answered: what is a Bodhisattva? This entails taking a look at the beginnings of the Buddhist story and what happened after the Buddha's death. The original school of Buddhist teaching (Theravada tradition) was later challenged and there was a schism (a split) which resulted in the Mahayana tradition being established. How did that affect Buddhism in the long term? What are the differences between them? In the earliest tradition monks sought to become enlightened and became Arhats. (What does that mean?) In the later tradition people sought to become Bodhisattvas. How big a difference is there and what does it mean? How did it change (indeed, did it change) the teaching and practices? As Buddhism spread throughout the Far East what changes came about and what does that mean for us today?

Week 5: The Heart Sutra

We follow on from week 4 by looking at the influence of Nagarjuna on early Buddhist thinking. He was incredibly influential along with King Ashoka (who?) but for different reasons. Over the years we see a development of the teaching of 'No self' which we will have looked at in week 3. This is results in one of the most important Sutras, (the Heart Sutra)in the Mahayana tradition and is chanted every day by Zen Buddhists and others. Why? What is so important about this deep philosophical teaching and how does it affect us today? Why does it bring such joy into our lives?We'll look at Thich Nhat Hanhs' interpretation of the Heart sutra and see how it brought about the understanding of the inter-dependence of all thins: what TNH calls 'interbeing'.

Week 6: The Five Hindrances

The main practice of Buddhists is meditation but none of us find this easy to do. We look at Buddha's own teaching on mindfulness and concentration as they apply to meditation and why learning to remain in the present moment is so important. We also look at the two main types of meditation: shamatha and vipassana . What are they and why do we find them so hard to practice? What are the things that prevent us from meditating and why is it necessary for Buddha to alert us to these five hindrances to meditation. What are the hindrances and how do we overcome them?

Week 7: Dependent Arising, Karma and Death

What is karma? How do things interlink with each other? We examine karma in Buddhism, the actions that bring it about and what Buddhism teaches we can do about achieving positive outcomes in our lives.We look at the Buddhist concept of Dependent Arising: from the arsing of this, comes the arising of that. We look at the Wheel of Life with particular reference to the Tibetan Wheel of life and why Buddha said that a picture of it should be attached to the entrance of every monastery and temple.We also look at what Buddha taught about death and the afterlife. Is there one single teaching on death today in modern Buddhism?

Week 8: Buddhist Practices

There are many forms/traditions of Buddhism ion the world today. The newest are the western traditions that are becoming established in the USA, Europe and the rest of the world. Why is Buddhism becoming so popular here in Britain? How do Buddhists 'worship'? There is no deity in Buddhism: no creator god. So what happens in the temples and monasteries? In the west we don't have so many temples, so how do we practice? Buddhists practice, not only in the activities they do together (Pujas and meditation) but also in the way they choose to live. We've looked at the Eightfold Path - the remedy to our suffering described in the 4 Noble Truths. We'll look in session 8 at The Five Moral Precepts and the Six Perfections which help Buddhists journey towrds Nibanna (nirvana).

NOTE

During each session you'll receive a booklet including the main areas covered: that means you don't have to make any notes (unless you particularly want to). You'll receive other handouts plus relevant videos and music (chanting, mantras and songs) that encapsulate the essence of Buddhism. You'll be invited to take part in short meditations as well.