On January 6 we finished our discussion of the third Mind-Essence practice from the Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation part of Lesson 5 of C41(A)-The Three Principal Stages and Paths of Buddhist Practice. A discussion was held on how to apply the Bodhisattva Precepts to those who have no sense of goodness and who continue to harm living beings as well as the “128 Evil and Erroneous Views” and the concluding practices. We also started our discussion of the Six Paramitas, ending with question 297, Links to the previous lessons are listed below.
It is possible that we will finish Lesson 5 this coming Saturday, January 13 at 9:00 am Pacific Standard Time, addressing questions #298-#312. We will begin our discussion of the “paramis,” reviewing material covered in DCB21 from Imparting the Absolute Truth from the Heart Sutra. The Buddha Master told us that “If you are patient but do not energetically exert effort, then it will be difficult for you to succeed on your undertaking of enlightenment. It will be difficult for those who only know how to be patient but who do not energetically exert effort to reach accomplishment in their undertaking of enlightenment. Is being patient important? Being patient is most important in our learning of the Buddha Dharma. . . However, being patient is the foremost way. It surpasses everything else. If you can be forbearing, you can truly attain enlightenment.” This section stressed the importance of practicing ALL of the paramitas–not neglecting any of the six. Although we are only covering the first four of the paramitas, we did consider all six here, just to better understand their interdependence.
Picking up the last two paramis– concentration or meditation (“TA”) and wisdom (“PRAJNA”) in the next lesson–Lesson 6, we will revisit the parts of DCB21 that establish the foundation for understanding the various kinds of “Prajna” as well as the last two paramitas when we start Lesson 6 of C41(A) on the Wisdom Path of the Right View of Emptiness. Those of you enrolled in either the Buddhist Studies or the Xiuxing Seminary Programs may review the related discussion session held on DCB21 or you may attend the classes I will give at Hua Zang Si on January 27 and 28, 2024 in San Francisco. You really need to be able to understand the concepts and principles established in DCB21 where the Buddha Master explains all the terms in the title of The Prajna Parami-ta Heart Sutra to be able to fully understand the text of the sutra itself that we will study in Lesson 6 as DCB22-25.
C41-Three Principal Stages & Paths of Buddhist Practice
The recording of the January 6 class is now available. 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.
January 6, 2024: Lesson 5I-The Great Stage–Method Path of Bodhichitta, SAUMOL (277-297) and HERE for recording of class.
December 30, 2023: Lesson 5H-The Great Stage–Method Path of Bodhichitta, SAUMOL (267-276) and HERE for recording of class.
December 16, 2023: Lesson 5G-The Great Stage–Method Path of Bodhichitta, SAUMOL (258-266) and HERE for recording of class.
December 9, 2023: Lesson 5F-The Great Stage–Method Path of Bodhichitta, SAUMOL (236-257) and HERE for recording of class.
December 2, 2023: Lesson 5E-The Great Stage–Method Path of Bodhichitta, SAUMOL (223-235) and HERE for recording of class.
November 18, 2023: Lesson 5D-The Great Stage–Method Path of Bodhichitta, SAUMOL (199-202 & 203-222) and HERE for recording of 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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