Wisdom Bootcamp: Who is Buddha?

with Ven. Losang Gendun

The Buddha sometimes called his teachings a handful of leaves compared to the forest of his knowledge, and refused to teach anything that would not lead to disenchantment with the world as we know it, to dispassion, to cessation and the stilling of all that leads to dissatisfaction and suffering, to direct knowledge, and to self-awakening.

The various traditions that sprang from the fountain of the Buddha’s words explored the personal, societal, and universal significance of his appearance in the world. Yet much that the sutras have to say about the Buddha as a person - his world, the early monastic and lay communities, and the reasons behind his rather pragmatic approach - remain largely unexplored.

However, modern historical, philological and archaeological studies allow us to reach back in time to try to encounter the Buddha in his own circumstances and environment. During this year’s journey we will look at the oldest of the sutras still to be found in the Tibetan and Pali canon. We will meet the Buddha and his disciples and consider the challenges they faced, explore how it must have felt to live amongst them and hear them speak, often quite intimately and disarmingly, about their personal experiences.

We will meet kings, brahmins and barbers and examine the social, political and economic changes that were the backdrop to the success of the teachings announcing the path to freedom brought to them by this band of disheveled ascetics. Teachings that later spread first across Asia, then across the globe and finally into our own lives.

Dates and times: Sunday September 18, October 16 and November 20, 2022, 10.00 - 14.30 hrs.

Suggested donation to help cover our costs € 35. Students / people with low income € 20 per day. The donation amount should never be an obstacle to your access to the Dharma! Please write us an e-mail if you'd like to donate a reduced amount.