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Warriors of the Heart: The Bodhisattva Path (Online Course)
November 12 - December 10
Warriors of the Heart: The Bodhisattva Path
Five Weeks|Online CourseNovember 12 – December 10th, 2023
What is the Path or Way of the Bodhisattva? We will explore guidance on the Bodhisttva’s way of life via the historical teachings of Shantideva and the Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra. And, most imporantly, how does that historical path of the Bodhisattva look today, for us now, in the fourth turning of the wheel of Dharma?
The Path of the Bodhisattva
Then, and Now – how do we walk the path of the Bodhisattva?
What is the Path or Way of the Bodhisattva? Join us on a journey into the second and third turnings of the wheel of Dharma. This was the period that the Bodhisattva principle emerged in Mahayana and Vajrayana teachings, part of the evolution of Buddhism over the last 2500 years. We will explore guidance on the Bodhisttva’s way of life via the historical teachings of Shantideva and the Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra.
And, most imporantly, how does that historical path of the Bodhisattva look today, for us now, in the fourth turning of the wheel?
Why Study The Path of the Bodhisattva?
“My body, every possession and all goodness, past, present and future, without remorse I dedicate to the well-being of the world.”
–Shantideva, in Bodhicaryavatara (The Way of the Bodhisattva)
Course Learning Goals
- How to walk the way of the Bodhisattva…
- and further details coming soon
Recommended Reading and Course Texts
Books, Videos
Details coming soon.
Course Schedule
November 12 – December 10th, 2023
All Teachings will be on Sundays
With a new format*: Morning (9am Class) Mountain Time
- Sunday November 12 – 9:30-11am
- Sunday November 19 – 9:30-11am
- Sunday November 26 – 9:30-11am
- Sunday December 3 – 9:30-11am
The formal and participatory teachings for this course will occur on four Sundays. There will be a live group class in the morning (9:30-11am MT). We encourage you to connect with sangha outside of class times to discuss and deepen your learning of the material.
Flash Retreat Weekend: Dec 9-10th
To deepen and integrate your experience, the final weekend during the course will also be a Flash Retreat (December 9th-10th). This can be done at home, or together with us at Clear Sky Meditation Centre, in Eastern British Columbia. We highly recommend clearing your schedule over the weekend to focus on the retreat. Formal group sessions will also be held at these times:
- Flash Retreat morning group workshop time: 9:30-10:30am
- Flash Retreat afternoon group workshop time: 2:30-3:30pm
Meet the Teachers
Catherine Pawasarat
Doug Duncan
Achariya Doug Duncan received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 1978, and is a lineage holder in that teaching. Known for his direct, humourous and compassionate engagement with students, Doug embraces various traditions, contemporary psychology, and science, to mentor all beings to a more awakened state.
Catherine Pawasarat has trained daily with Acariya Doug Duncan since 1998 in an intensive spiritual apprenticeship that is rare in the modern West. She received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 2003. In addition to Buddhist philosophy and its applications to daily life, Catherine also draws on generative living and the arts. With Doug she is co-founder of Clear Sky Retreat Center in the BC Rockies.
Course Details
Time and Location
Each of the four weekly classes in this online course will be video streamed live at 9:30-11am MST. The recording will be available for one week after each class. We encourage you to connect with sangha outside of class times to discuss and deepen your learning of the material.
The course culminates with a Flash Retreat on December 9-10th 2023, with formal workshop times held at 9:30-10:30am and 2:30-3:30pm Mountain Time on Saturday and Sunday.
What Does the Course Cost?
This course is offered based on the unique combination of 1) dāna and 2) a $80-120 USD administrative fee. Register four + weeks prior: $80 | Register two to four weeks prior: $100 | Register less than two weeks prior: $120.
Click on the tabs below to learn more:
You may have come across this elsewhere in the form of “pay from the heart”. Dāna is a Sanskrit term meaning “generosity”. With dāna, we give as a mutual exchange of generosity. It’s our joy to offer this course, and we trust you’ll match our time, energy, and passion by giving an amount of money that feels good and healthy to both you and us.
The dharma has been built on generosity. No-one is excluded for lack of funds but it is also extremely beneficial to give as much as you are able
Typically people give in a range of $120-$500 USD for a course.
As we’re committed to ensuring everyone has access to the Dharma, please feel comfortable to give less if you are not financially secure. Another form of giving dāna is to offer service, and if you are interested in providing support in a non-financial way, we invite you to contact us.
Conversely, if you are financially secure, we invite you to generate merit by providing more financial support to the Triple Gem. Contributions like these make the difference in supporting our teachers, teachings, and center.
Learn more about the practice of dāna here.
In a traditional model of in-person teachings, a retreat center or urban meditation center invites teachers to visit. In these cases the centers have infrastructure and organization costs to cover, which might be covered by an admin fee. For the teaching itself, dāna to the teachers is offered in a bowl. This honors both the sustainability of the teachers, and of the supporting center.
We’ve tried to recreate this approach online. The teachers’ time and the teaching themselves are offered on the basis of dāna, separate to the admin fee. With our dāna offering we are making a direct gift of generosity to the teachers to support their teachings and livelihood.
The admin fee* goes to support the infrastructure and organization necessary to support them to teach. As anyone with an online business will know, it can be surprising the costs of setting up a good infrastructure to support effective teaching and connection online. The admin fee changes based on date of registration. Register four + weeks prior: $80 | Register two to four weeks prior: $100 | Register less than two weeks prior: $120.
*We also do not wish to exclude anyone from the Teachings, so if you are not currently in a financial position to afford the admin fee, please contact the course Registrar via [email protected] so we can support you to attend.
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Below are a few of the work and benefits that your admin fee payment is supporting:
- high speed internet (to allow interviews and classes on-line)
- online class systems (Zoom)
- registration / admin systems (Eventbrite, Basecamp)
- communication systems to keep everyone informed, share connection details, teachings and other resources (Mailchimp)
- online storage (for example, Dropbox, to allow us to let students watch recordings, and to store and share selected teachings in other forms such as podcasts and video later, and Amazon cloud)
- quality sound, video and editing equipment (both for live teachings and to provide good enough quality for later sharing as podcasts and video). We are regularly updating our equipment to improve your user experience.
- online calendar booking system to allow students to book interviews
- website hosting and maintenance for sharing upcoming courses, teachings, blogs and other resources.
We welcome any questions. May all our efforts be sustainable, abundant and for the benefit of all beings!
Flash Retreat in community: students at Clear Sky Centre in a study group discussing integral theory.
