The Life and Teachings of the Buddha: An Introduction to Sutta Study  

• The Life and Teachings of the Buddha (PDF)

Introduction to Pali  

• Pali Workshop Handout (PDF)

Papañca  

• Papañca Sutta Reading (PDF)

The Basic Dynamics of Insight Meditation  

• Dynamics of Insight Slides (PDF)

• Dynamics of Insight Slides (PDF)

Protecting Oneself and Protecting Others Through Mindfulness  

• Protecting Oneself and Others Slides (PDF)

• Protecting Oneself and Others Slides (PDF)

Socially Engaged Buddhism: Tradition, Innovation, and Contemporary Challenges  

• Principles For Socially Engaged Buddhism by Donald Rothberg, Diana Winston (PDF)
• Quotes On Socially Engaged Buddhism - Summary (PDF)
• Quotes on Socially Engaged Buddhism (PDF)
• Resources: Socially Engaged Buddhism (PDF)

Karma and Causality  

The Buddha described only two of his teachings as categorical—i.e., as applicable across the board: the teaching on the four noble truths, and the teaching on the distinction between skillful and unskillful action. This second distinction is actually the more basic of the two, forming the framework for understanding all of this other teachings. This daylong workshop will focus on exploring the meaning of this distinction, its connection to the Buddha’s teachings on causality in general, and its implications for the practice: both on the cushion and in daily life.

• Karma & Causality (PDF)

Day Long Exploration Of Dependent Origination  

• Mundane Dependent Origination
• Trancendental Origination
• Upanisa Sutta
• Greater Discourse on the Destruction of Craving
• and more

Sutta Study: First Three Discourses  

The entirety of the Buddha's teaching is encapsulated in the first three discourses he delivered after his enlightenment. In this day of study we covered all three suttas in detail, exploring how they weave together to inform each other and create a complete description of Dharma teaching and practice.

• Sutta Study: First Three Discourses Handout; (PDF)

Deconstructing Buddhism  

Based on an examination of early discourses found in the Buddhist Pali Canon, this class explored the question: "What did the Buddha teach that was distinctively and originally his own?" By differentiating the Buddha's Dhamma from the ideas of Indian religion and metaphysics that prevailed at his time this class sought to uncover a clearer sense of the Buddha's message and then considered what relevance it still has for people living in the modern world. The day was divided between talks, sitting meditation and discussion.

Stephen Batchelor was a Buddhist monk in the Tibetan and Korean Zen traditions. Known for his secular and agnostic approach, he teaches Buddhist meditation and philosophy worldwide. Author of the bestselling Buddhism without Beliefs, his most recent publication is Confession of a Buddhist Atheist.

Resting in Emptiness: The Evolution and Transcendence of the Self Rick Hanson and Rick Mendius  

The Buddha taught that not-self was one of the three fundamental characteristics of existence, alongside impermanence and suffering. In this workshop, we examined self - and its release - in light of Buddhism, evolution, and modern brain science; these perspectives inform each other, and together they offer powerfully practical tools for deconstructing the apparent self.

In this workshop, we covered:

• Buddhist perspectives on the interconnectedness of all things, and thus the emptiness of any apparent thing - including the personal self
• How awareness and self evolved in animals, including humans
• The costs and benefits of me, myself, and I
• The distributed, variable, conditioned – thus “empty” – nature of creating self in the brain
• A poignant consideration of narcissistic wounds; Non-dual perspectives on the oneness of self and world
• Brain-savvy ways to relax the sense of self, take things less personally, feel more at peace with the world, and rest in the spacious awareness in which self activates and then disperses

Radical Dharma: The Buddha's Teachings on Views and Desire - Verses from the Atthaka Vagga  

The Atthaka Vagga (the Octet Chapter) of the Sutta Nipata contains sixteen poems on the subject of non-clinging. These teachings offer a radical and challenging approach to the liberative teachings of the Buddha, focusing most specifically on the subject of clinging to views and desire.

These verses may well contain some of the earliest teachings of the Buddha, since there are other discourses within the Pali Canon that refer to these teachings, and the language of these verses is more arachic than that of other discouses in the Pali Canon.

During this daylong, we explored this ancient text from different perspectives: as an internally consistent teaching that proposes a radical path of non-clinging, without reference to any metaphysical belief system, and as a teaching contained within the larger body of Buddhist literature, highlighting some apparent contradictions between the two, and possible ways to reconcile them.

Buddhist Art as Buddhist Practice  

Everyone is familiar with the image of the Buddha sitting in meditation. It is an icon which takes on the aesthetic of the culture which gave rise to it: from India to Tibet; from Japan to Southeast Asia. Most recently, we can see the influence of the Dharma in the art of the west.

The earliest Dharma images were of a wheel, an empty chair, a lotus. Later, images of the Buddha portrayed him most commonly as sitting in meditation. In Japan the dharma was inherent to the design of the tea house and in the practice of inkbrush painting. By the mid 20th century, the growing Western interest in the spirituality of the East began to influence American artists for whom pop art and abstract expressionism became a means of displaying both their understanding and practice of the dharma.

Joan DePaoli is an artist, art historian, author and lecturer, and is also a curator who, since 1970, has presented exhibitions of Buddhist art in both Thailand and the United States. The day was be devoted to reviewing how visual art has been used both to commemorate the Dharma and to facilitate its practice since the time of the Buddha. There was special attention given to the Dharma's substantial influence in contemporary modern art. In describing his own practice, 20th century artist Philip Guston said: "When you go into your studio to work, everyone is there, your friends, parents, teachers, then one by one they all leave. And when you're lucky, you do!"

The Neurology of Awakening by Rick Hanson, Ph. D. and Rick Mendius, M. D.  

The latest brain research has begun to confirm the centrail insights of the Buddha. And it's suggesting ways you can help your brain to enter deeper states of mindfulness, quiet, and concentration. Suffering, joy, and freedom all depend on what happens within your nervous system. Skillful meditation practice thus means being skillful with your own brain.

This experiential workshop — led by a psychologist and a neurologist — offered user-friendly information about your brain and many practical methods to apply it to meditation practice. No prior background with meditaiton or brain science is necessary.

Awareness is Not Enough  

Steve Armstrong presents the teachings of Sayadaw U Tejaniya, who teaches that simply being aware of our experience is not sufficient for wisdom to arise. First we must understand how to practice correctly with the right attitude. Only then will wisdom and understanding arise out of practice.

The practice itself is an awareness of mind, inquiring into our experience with such questions as: What is the attitude I am practicing with? Is there a subtle defilement operating at the moment? What do I understand about my experience? Discovering the answers to these questions allows peace and happiness to arise in your heart.

Refined Knowledge, Subtle Wisdom  

How we approach insight practice conditions what we discover. Coming to it for stress management brings one kind of result; seeking emotional intelligence and balance brings another. Buddhist insight (vipassana) practice was originally designed as a vehicle for liberation. To fulfill this potential, it helps to understand how it works as a practice of liberation.

One of the most profound teachers of insight practice in modern times was the Burmese teacher Mahasi Sayadaw. Most insight meditation taught in the world is derived from his teachings. This daylong class presented his teachings on the 'absolute view of reality' which is helpful for attaining liberation and as well as finding happiness in our busy lives. With refined knowledge of this view, we can realize for ourselves the subtle wisdom of the Buddha's liberation.

The Breath: A Vehicle for Liberation  

• Transcript: The Breath - A Vehicle for Liberation (PDF)