The course will include short talks, discussion, reflection, meditation, and home practice that should be completed between each week of the course. Each week there will be a particular theme explored as follows:

Week 1 – Moving from Words to the Wordless

We will be introducing the course and looking at what Wisdom is in the Buddhist tradition, the Prajnaparimita Sutras, and the idea of going beyond words.

Week 2 – Moving from Utility to Aesthetic Appreciation

Explores what it means to see the world through the lens of utility and in contrast to see it as purely aesthetic. We try to define what beauty is in relation to Buddhist ethics, meditation, and wisdom.

Week 3 – The Mandala of our Lives

A Buddhist mandala is a symbolic representation of the awakened mind, typically depicted as concentric circles around a core symbol of enlightenment. It serves as a spiritual tool for meditation and visualization but can also be used as a means of looking at our own lives.

Week 4 – The Greater Mandala of Uselessness

How would a Bodhisattva see and engage with the world around them? You will explore what a Bodhisattva is and how the Bodhisattva creates a mandala through their response to the world that is aesthetic and appreciative rather than utilitarian.

Week 5 – The Bi-tendential Value of Being

Walking the Buddhist path involves cultivating a deep sense of ease, relaxation, and contentment, but on the other hand, you must develop a profound love and compassion for other beings, in which you feel that their welfare is as important as your own. These two dimensions can seem to be irreconcilable opposites that put us in an uncomfortable dilemma – should you concentrate on your own spiritual development or spend your life helping others? Or should you try to strike a balance?

Note: While meditation will be part of this course, you will not be learning how to meditate. Please see our other events for an introduction to meditation course.