Foundational Courses
Note: These courses, which are recorded presentations, take place over six weeks and each lecture lasts about a hour. A group discussion and question period follows each class.
The Four Noble TruthsThis course examines the primary teachings of the Buddha and their implications for living in today's world. These universal and timeless truths not only show us the source of our anxiety, but also point the way to sorrow's end. Course Registration Closed.
No Prerequisite
Instructor: Steve Hagen
Text: Buddhism Plain and Simple by Steve Hagen
- September 23–October 28, 2009, Wednesday Evenings
- Time: 7:45pm (meditation 7:00–7:35 pm)
- $40 (members - no charge)
This course looks closely at the fourth Noble Truth of the Buddha and lays out a practical and effective way to deal with the world as we find it. It is the art of seeing — a way to peace and sanity that is total freedom of mind. Course Registration Closed.
No Prerequisite
Instructor: TBA
Text: Buddhism Plain and Simple by Steve Hagen
- November 11–December 16, 2009, Wednesday Evenings
- Time: 7:45pm (meditation 7:00–7:35 pm)
- $40 (members - no charge)
This course focuses on the two most profound, liberating, and unique teachings of the Buddha—the interdependence of all things and the emptiness of self. Presented here simply and clearly, these teachings are as vital today as they were 2,500 years ago. Course Registration Closed
Prerequisite: Either The Four Noble Truths or The Eightfold Noble Path
Instructor: Bev Forsman
Text: Buddhism Plain and Simple by Steve Hagen
- January 20–Febuary 24, 2010, Wednesday Evenings
- Time: 7:45pm (meditation 7:00–7:35 pm)
- $40 (members - no charge)
The Buddhist precepts are not moralistic rules that people are expected to obey. Rather, they constitute the practice of enlightenment, and a commitment to living in accordance with Truth and Reality. Click here to register.
Prerequisite: Either The Four Noble Truths or The Eightfold Noble Path
Instructor: Steve Hagen
Text: Buddhism Plain and Simple by Steve Hagen
- March 10–April 14, 2010, Wednesday Evenings
- Time: 7:45pm (meditation 7:00–7:35 pm)
- $40 (members - no charge)
This is a course on Zen meditation and mindfulness, designed to help clarify what meditation is and is not. It will also cover dealing with problems in meditation and bringing meditation into your everyday life. Click here to register.
No Prerequisite
Instructor: Bev Forsman
Text: Meditation Now or Never by Steve Hagen
- April 28–June 2, 2010, Wednesday Evenings
- Time: 7:45pm (meditation 7:00–7:35 pm)
- $40 (members - no charge)
Advanced Courses
Middle Way Studies - NagarjunaNagarjuna (c. 150-250 C.E.) has held continuous attention of Buddhists ... since his own day. ...His ideas, though subtle and profound, carried such deep understanding and implications of fundamental Buddhist truths that they came to influence, one way or another, all or most of the subsequent Mahayana developments in India, China, Tibet, Korea, and Japan. "Nagarjuna stands out as the giant among giants who laid the foundation of religious and philosophical quests. ... He was, in short, considered to be the second Buddha. ..." —Kenneth K. Inada, from the introduction to his book, Nagarjuna.
Based on Nagarjuna's Verses on the Middle Way (Mulamadhyamakakarika), this series carefully examines the emptiness of all phenomena and demolishes all of our common concepts of time, space, motion, identity, location, cause and effect, conditionality, sense, and self. This radical and profound, yet accessible work points directly to the truth evident in what we see and experience. His teachings form the foundation not only for Zen, but for all the Mahayana schools. All of Mahayana literature is most completely elucidated by his works.
Students are led through a verse-by-verse examination of this foundational Buddhist writing. Course Registration Closed.
Prerequisite: Completion of Foundational Studies
Instructor: Steve Hagen
Text: Mulamadhyamakakarika of Nagarjuna
- September 21, 2009–May 31, 2010, Monday Evenings
- Time: 7:45pm (meditation 7:00–7:35 pm)
- $195 (members - no charge)