Online Courses

Join Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat for this second of four enlightening webinar series on fundamental teachings of buddhadharma and awakening throughout 2016.  This series is on the Mahayana Sutras and is streamed in four classes over four weeks.  These webinars are open to all.  For participants of the 2016 Year of Awakening program, these webinars are also part of of the program’s curriculum. © Catherine Pawasarat In the second quarter of 2016 (25 Apr – 22 May) we will examine some Mahayana sutras, teachings that, it's said, were received as termas centuries after the Buddha's death. Mahayana teachings build on the Theravadin "teachings of the elders," from a foundation of an individual's awakening experience towards using that awakening to benefit all beings. Generally speaking Mahayana sutras are considerably longer and more complex than Hinyana suttas. Over these four webinars we'll study two major, classic sutras, in order to get a feeling for  this later development of Buddhist philosophy and its salient features. Please see the details on specific sutras in the schedule below. © Catherine Pawasarat Some sources say that Mahayana sutras are teachings by the Buddha that were too advanced to be understood contemporaneously. Consequently they were hidden during his lifetime and revealed centuries later as termas. Mahayana Buddhism exists primarily in China, Korea and Japan. Since Doug Duncan lived in Japan for more than 10 years, and Catherine for more than 20, our teachings have been deeply influenced by Japanese culture, and by extension, Japan's Mahayana Buddhism. Later in the […]