In case you have not noticed the courses offered by LFBCS have changed their appearance. There was a recent software upgrade and we are just beginning to understand how to use it. So far, I like it and find it easier to use, but please be patient with us as we learn how to adapt and adopt the new features. If you have any problems or can’t find anything please let me or Reba know and we will try and help you. I know that some download features need to be updated and will do so asap.
Today we continued C41(A)-Lesson 5C with our discussion of Learning from Buddha with the three essential attributes or concerns of Buddhas, Equal Enlightenment Bodhisattvas, and Marvelous Enlightenment Bodhisattvas concerning living beings. We also spent considerable time considering the nature and qualities of different types of “Pure Lands.” Perhaps the most profound truth expressed was the Buddha Master’s precise definition of just what the term “cultivating conduct” meant. We found it literally means in Chinese “correcting one’s conduct.” This helps explain why we need both cultivation and Dharma, as Dharma enables us to know how to correct our conduct so as to become holy beings. Dharma provides the methodology to achieve perfection of our behavior. It was pointed out repeatedly that the source of our failure to do so could be traced to our attachment to self and all the selfish acts that brings. The Buddha Master used the analogy that “simply making a computer is useless.” You need to know how to operate a computer and you need to use it for it to be useful. We also discussed the accumulation of merit, how to treat your yidams and the nature of yidams, and where the “iron lotuses” fit in and function in the World of Ultimate Bliss.
We still have four more questions to cover, so we should start our C41(A)-Lesson 5D with the discussion on the Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation at our next class on November 18. I am sorry that my voice was so weak on the recording, but the recording has been posted so that Buddhist Studies and Xiuxing Seminary students may click below to listen.
C41-Three Principal Stages & Paths of Buddhist Practice
You must be enrolled in C41 in one of the membership programs at the LFBCS to access the course materials, questions covered (in parenthesis), and/or the class recordings. Please note that these links will only work if you are logged into LFBCS with your membership ID and are enrolled in this class.
November 4, 2023: Lesson 5C-The Great Stage–Method Path of Bodhichitta (189-198) and HERE for recording of class.
October 28, 2023: Lesson 5B-The Great Stage–Method Path of Bodhichitta (173-188) and HERE for recording of class.
September 23, 2023: Lesson 5A-The Great Stage–Method Path of Bodhichitta (155-172) and HERE for recording of class.
July 15, 2023: Lesson 4E-Intermediate Stage–The Path of Renunciation (142-154) and HERE for recording of class.
June 24, 2023: Lesson 4D-Intermediate Stage–The Path of Renunciation (110-141) and HERE for recording of class.
June 17, 2023: Lesson 4C-Intermediate Stage–The Path of Renunciation (90-109) and HERE for recording of class.
June 10, 2023: Lesson 4B-Intermediate Stage–The Path of Renunciation (84-89) and HERE for recording of class.
May 27, 2023: Lesson 4A-Intermediate Stage–The Path of Renunciation (63-83) and HERE for recording of class.
May 20, 2023: Lesson 3B -Initial Stage (60-62) and HERE for recording of class.
May 13, 2023: Lesson 3A -Initial Stage (39-59) and HERE for recording of class.
May 6, 2023: Lesson 2-Preliminaries (14-38) and HERE for recording of that class.
April 29, 2023: Lesson 1-Introduction to Three Principal Stages & Paths of Buddhist Practice (1-13) and HERE for recording of that class.
Description of C41-Three Principal Stages & Paths of Buddhist Practice at LFBCS.
CLICK for video “How Buddhism Came to the West.”
ARTICLE with more information and links on how to join course including updated chart of course content. Lessons 6 &7 are still under construction.
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