Browse Schedule by Category: Retreats / Online Courses
The Theravadin Suttas: Webinar Series
Join Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat for four enlightening webinar series on fundamental teachings of buddhadharma and awakening throughout 2016. This series features Theravada (a.k.a. Hinayana) teachings, considered the teachings of the elders. Our purpose is to familiarize ourselves with a sampling of these fundamental discourses, to learn about the unique offerings of the Theravadin tradition.
Office Hours: Online Q&A with the Teachers
Have a question for Doug and Catherine Sensei? Take advantage of these online office hours to ask questions and to participate in learning together as a sangha.
Office Hours: Online Q&A with the Teachers
Have a question for Doug and Catherine Sensei? Take advantage of these online office hours to ask questions and to participate in learning together as a sangha.
Calm and Clear, UK Retreat with Doug Duncan Sensei
Maitreya House Lower Maes-coed, Hereford, England, United KingdomCalm and Clear Retreat at Maitreya House in the UK Inviting Insight, Bliss & Wisdom into our lives Fri. April 1 – Fri. April 8 Would you like to feel more calm and clear? How do you imagine it would affect your quality of life? Calm and Clear is a kind of meditation method, and it applies to the day-to-day. Although it’s a text and practice rooted in Vajrayana Buddhism, the applications can apply just as well in the office, at home, in recreation and even in our personal and professional relationships. Imagine bringing a sense of calmness and clarity to all of those places! This has been called “analytical meditation” because it focuses on insight, our mind’s incredible ability to understand. Its partner, sammatha, is also known as bliss meditation; it’s considered the great healer, because when bliss is present, it supersedes all mental and physical anguish. These are not empty promises: as we all know, bliss can be interrupted and difficult to regain. Therefore, we need to understand the nature of what interrupts the bliss, which means developing more insight. We also learn the supporting conditions of mind that can re-establish the bliss, and reveal a kind of bliss we didn’t recognize before. What kind of bliss is that? You may be asking. This is the bliss of a calm, clear, awake luminosity of consciousness, which generates both bliss and insight. Combined, we call them wisdom: Wisdom is generated when bliss conjoins with clarity and focuses on a […]
London Public Teaching by Achariya Doug Duncan
If You Want the Present, You Have to Open the Box. London Public Teaching by Achariya Doug Duncan: April 11 2016, Watkins Books, 6pm – 7pm Doug Duncan – a Canadian-born teacher with an eclectic approach and eccentric sense of humour – will share some teachings based loosely on the Buddha’s fire sermon. In this discourse, the Buddha compares the process of spiritual ‘Awakening’ to liberating people struggling uncomfortably in a burning house while preoccupied with their toys (we’re not making this up!). In an attempt to lure these endangered souls out of the fire and into safety, he first offered them freedom from fire. Apparently the toys were more engrossing, so the Buddha used ‘skillful methods’ to save them: he offered them even more wonderful toys outside with him, free from the fire and associated danger. The present – the here-and-now – is a wonderful toy. But we have to get out of the burning house to untie the ribbon, tear off the pretty paper, and open the box! Doug will share how we can do this, and enjoy doing it, during our busy modern lives. Nothing less that spiritual awakening is the inevitable result. Doug’s talk will be at 6pm at Watkins Books, 19-21 Cecil Court, London WC2N 4EZ … Getting there by tube: Leicester Square (Northern and Piccadilly lines): take a Charing Cross Road exit and turn in the direction of Trafalgar Square. After a short walk you will find Cecil Court on your left and the […]
Calgary Teaching: If You Want the Present, You Have to Open the Box
Human Potential 360, Calgary 1231 9 Ave SE, Inglewood, Calgary, AB, CanadaJoin Doug Duncan Sensei in Calgary for some teachings based loosely on the Buddha’s fire sermon. In this discourse, the Buddha compares the process of spiritual ‘Awakening’ to liberating people struggling uncomfortably in a burning house while preoccupied with their toys (we’re not making this up!).
Office Hours: Online Q&A with the Teachers
Have a question for the teachers? Take advantage of these office hours twice a month to get your question answered. Join in and benefit from the learning of others. Please bring your question to the session or submit it beforehand. Recording available for one week: Can't make the live session? No problem, a recording of the Office Hours will be available for one week after the event. Please note that you will still need to follow the usual registration procedure by the Friday prior to the live event in order to receive the link to access the recording. You can also submit your question(s) when you register. Details on how to submit your question will be sent to you along with the connection or recording details when you register. Please note, pre-registration by Friday, April 22nd 9pm (Mountain Time) is required to attend. Dāna The teachings and guidance are given freely according to the practice of dāna. By practicing with a healthy spirit of generosity, we deepen our own practice and support teachers to make these healing teachings and tools available to all. There will be an opportunity to practice Dāna when you register below. Please Read: Offering Dāna: Some Guidelines and Practices Powered by Eventbrite
Mahayana Sutras: Webinar Series
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 […]
Office Hours: Online Q&A with the Teachers
Have a question for Doug and Catherine Sensei? Take advantage of these online office hours to ask questions and to participate in learning together as a sangha.
Office Hours: Online Q&A with the Teachers
Have a question for Doug and Catherine Sensei? Take advantage of these online office hours to ask questions and to participate in learning together as a sangha.
