Buddhist Essentials Class Series 2021

Buddhist Essentials Class Series (March - November 2021)

Click here for a complete archive of recordings of this class series

Resources, Reading, and Listening

with Sooz Appel and Steve Wilhelm (March 17, 2021)

The Three Characteristics are the three aspects that pervade all of conditioned phenomena: anicca, dukkha, and anatta. When we begin to see these attributes in all of experience, wisdom arises that enables us to let go of clinging.

Resources

Audio

Gil Fronsdal on the Three Characteristics

Joseph Goldstein on Dukkha and Non-self

Ruth King’s The Three Characteristics

Print

Everything Arises Everything Falls Away
By Ajahn Chah, Shambala Publications 2005
Parts 2, 3 and 4 are on impermanence, dukkha and non-self.

Vipallassa Sutta courtesy of Access to Insight

The Four Noble Truths

with Lyndal Johnson and Steve Wilhelm (April 21, 2021)

It is said that the entirety of the Buddha’s teachings can be found in the Four Noble Truths. In this class we will explore these teachings: 1) dukkha, 2) the origin of dukkha, 3) the cessation of dukkha, and 4) the path of practice leading to the cessation of dukkha.

Audio

Part 1: Four Noble Truths as the 12 Insights by Phillipp Moffitt
Four Noble Truths by Gil Fronsdal
Practicing the Four Noble Truths by Tim Geil
The First and Second Noble Truths: Suffering and Its Cause by Rodney Smith
The Third Noble Truth: Liberation from Self-Belief by Rodney Smith

Reading

The Four Noble Truths PDF by Ajahn Sumedho
“Dancing with Life: Buddhist Insights for Finding Meaning and Joy in the Face of Suffering” by Phillip Moffitt
“Mindfulness: A Practice Guide to Awakening” by Joseph Goldstein pp 287-323

The Noble Eightfold Path

with Lauren Wilson and Jerry Harter (May 19, 2021)

With the understanding of the truths of dukkha, the cause of dukkha and the end of dukkha, we can embark on the Eightfold Path – the path that leads to awakening and the end of suffering. In this class we will discuss the elements and practice of the Eightfold Path: panna (wisdom), sila (ethical behavior and the precepts), and samadhi (concentration).

Audio

Loving, Knowing, Growing – with Rick Hanson, Tara Brach, and Joseph Goldstein This is about the 8-fold path by another name.
Talks on Dharmaseed
Practicing the Four Noble Truths by Tim Geil
Talks about the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path by Rodney Smith

Reading

Bhikkhu Bodhi on The Noble Eightfold Path Available through Access to Insight in PDF format.
Insight Dialogue: The Interpersonal Path to Freedom by Gregory Kramer
Mindfulness: A Practice Guide to Awakening by Joseph Goldstein pp 225-403

The Paramis

with Aravind Moorthy and Jerry Harter (June 16, 2021)

The Ten Paramis (generosity, virtue, renunciation, discernment, equanimity, patience, persistence, truth, determination, and goodwill) are beautiful qualities associated with an awakened mind. In this talk we will discuss the paramis and consider some ways in which we can encourage their development in our own practice.

Books, PDFs, Audio

The Paramis Chart – downloadable PDF
How Not to be a Hot Mess, Devon and Craig Hase
The World Could be Otherwise, Norman Fischer
Pay Attention for Goodness Sake, Sylvia Boorstein
Ways to Cross Life’s Floods, Ajahn Sucitto, available on PDF
Talk on the Ten Paramis, Gina Sharpe, 8/23/2015

Series on Paramis, 2017, Tim Geil and Tuere Sala

The Four Foundations of Mindfulness

with Lyndal Johnson and Aravind Moorthy (July 21, 2021)

Mindful examination of the body, feeling tones, mental states, and dhammas reveals the true nature of phenomena, leading to clear seeing and liberation.

Resources

Four Foundations talk series by Gil Fronsdal
Mindfulness by Joseph Goldstein
The Four Foundations of Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana
Touching the Infinite: A New Perspective on the Buddha’s Four Foundations of Mindfulness by Rodney Smith
How to Practice Walking Meditation by Leslie Booker
Satipatthana Sutta, translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

The Hindrances & Greed, Hatred, and Delusion

with Susan Alotrico and Jerry Harter (August 18, 2021)

Gaining insight into obstacles on the path can turn them into possibilities. During this evening we’ll explore the Five Hindrances (desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness, and doubt), and the Three Poisons (greed, hatred and delusion). We’ll learn how these barriers to freedom arise in our lives, and how through our mindfulness practice we can transform them into doorways.

Audio

Greed, Hatred, and Delusion – a talk by Gil Fronsdal
Sharon Salzberg talk on greed, hatred, and delusion
The Five Hindrances – a talk by Jill Shepard

Readings

Titthiya Sutta: Sectarians – Access to Insight, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Mindfulness – A Practical Guide to Awakening by Joseph Goldstein Pages 121-170: Mindfulness of the Dhamma

The Seven Factors of Awakening

with Sooz Appel and Lyndal Johnson (September 15, 2021)

Through discussion and practical exercises of the Seven Factors of Awakening, we will explore how awareness of these mind states helps us to let go of unwholesome tendencies and to cultivate wholesome ones, in both formal practice and our daily lives.

Audio

Seven Factors of Awakening talk series by Rodney Smith
Seven Factors of Awakening talk series by Gil Fronsdal
Exploring Qualities of Mind – The Seven Factors of Enlightenment talk series by Tuere Sala and Tim Geil

Books

Satipatthana Meditation: A Practice Guide by Bhikkhu Analayo
Mindfulness by Joseph Goldstein
Satipatthana Sutta, translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Seven Factors of Awakening: Good News

Mindfulness: Here and Now	Investigation: What’s This?	Energy: Just Right
Joy: Delight in Practice	Calm: Be Still	Concentration: Rock Steady
Equanimity: Big View		Small moments many times

The Five Aggregates

with Lauren Wilson and Sooz Appel (October 20, 2021)

The Five Aggregates (form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness) show how we create an illusory sense of self moment by moment. By examining them we can come to understand how we are not so much a solid self as we may have thought.

Resources

Five Piles of Bricks: Khandas as Burden & Path by Thanissaro Bhikku
The Five Aggregates: A Study Guide by Thanissaro Bhikku
Five Aggregates Talk Series by Rodney Smith
Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening by Joseph Goldstein
Being Nobody Going Nowhere by Ayya Khema
The Five Aggregates of Clinging, a talk by Bhante Buddharakhita

The Brahma Viharas

with Lauren Wilson and Susan Alotrico (November 17, 2021)

How do we cultivate energies that encourage our capacity for caring and compassion toward ourselves and others? In this class we will explore developing in our daily lives the brahma viharas, also called the four immeasurables: loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity.

Resources