Online: Together Under the Bodhi Tree – A Short Course on the Buddha’s Teachings

Online: Together Under the Bodhi Tree – A Short Course on the Buddha’s Teachings
 
with Bart van Melik
 
Mondays, January 4th – January 25th, 2021 | 12:00pm – 1:30pm ET
 

 
Nowadays the Buddha’s teachings are widely available in many forms – more than ever before. Yet, it can feel like quite a personal endeavor to study these ancient teachings. Often we miss the intimacy students might have felt while they were sitting together with the Buddha under the Bodhi Tree.

Dharma Contemplation is a relational meditation practice that enables us to enter into the Buddha’s teachings in a profound way by revealing many layers of meaning in these ancient texts. In a cosy atmosphere, participants begin by contemplating a short excerpt of the Buddha’s teachings and over the course of five distinct practice phases engage one another, speaking the truth and listening deeply. Participants move from engagements with just the words of the text, then to the emotional resonances it evokes. This leads to a cognitive investigation of the meaning and finally, setting the text aside, to an exploration of present moment experience: how has this life been touched by the Buddha’s words?

In Dharma Contemplation the wisdom we are contemplating comes directly from the Buddha via his oral teachings, which have been passed down in the Pali texts for over two thousand years. Just as we can experience intimate and elucidating contact with a good friend or teacher —mind to mind and heart to heart—, we can do so with the Buddha via his legacy in a remarkably direct way: human to human, Buddha to Buddha. Dharma Contemplation provides a structure to help us realize this capacity.

Over the course of four classes we will contemplate the Buddha’s teachings on Awareness, Nature, and Community.

Registration:

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Explanations of levels follow below.
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Registration Fees include Teacher Support

New York Insight Meditation Center has streamlined the registration fee levels. Members of our Circle of Friends are eligible to receive 20% off of the Sustaining Rate via a code provided in the email confirming membership, which you can enter after clicking the Sustaining Level registration.

*Benefactor Level: Supports NYI’s ability to offer the Subsidized Base.

**Sustaining Level: This level reflects the actual costs to support this program. Circle of Friends members eligible for 20% discount with code. Click here to join.

***Subsidized Base: Made possible by the generosity of Benefactor Level above and other donations to ensure participation by those requiring financial assistance.
 
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If you are unable to pay the Subsidized Base Fee, you can learn about volunteering to offer work exchange and letting us know how much you are able to pay for this program by emailing registration@nyimc.org.