Teachings Hosted by the Santa Barbara Group
Public Talk
Finding Happiness from Within
Friday, April 5, 2013 7 to 9 pm
Rancho Embarcadero Center
224 Vereda Leyenda, Goleta, CA 93117
The chase for happiness persists. Some chase happiness in socially acceptable ways that include acquisition of more and better things, better jobs, and relationships. Others chase it in darker places through altered mental states provided by an array of addictive substances. But what is clear is that these substitutes are mostly counterfeit and provide fleeting happiness at best.
A step towards deep, sustaining happiness begins when an individual shifts the focus from his or her wants alone - called self cherishing in the Buddhist tradition - to concern about the welfare of others. St. Francis of Assisi is attributed as saying, “For it is by self forgetting that one finds happiness…..” and, Shantideva, the 8th Century Indian Pandita said something similar, “All happiness comes from a desire for others to be happy; all misery comes from the desire for oneself to be happy”. In this talk we will discuss some meditation techniques that incorporate these ideals and help in developing serene contentment.
Free to public.
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Weekend Retreat
Glimpses of Emptiness
A retreat on selected chapters of Acharya Nagarjuna's
"Mulamadhyamikakarika"
(Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way)
April 6-7, 2013
Saturday, 10am to noon & 2 to 4pm
Sunday, 10am to noon
Rancho Embarcadero Center, Goleta, CA
The Buddhist monk scholar Nagarjuna, who lived in South India in approximately the second century CE, is undoubtedly the most important, influential, and widely studied Mahayana Buddhist philosopher. His many works include texts addressed to lay audiences, letters of advice to kings, and a set of penetrating metaphysical and epistemological treatises. His greatest philosophical work, the Mulamadhyamikakarika - read and studied by philosophers in all major Buddhist schools of Tibet, China, Japan, and Korea - is one of the most influential works in the history of Indian philosophy. This retreat will explore this seminal text on the Middle Way and Shunyata.
“Whatever is dependently co-arisen
That is explained to be emptiness.
That, being itself a dependent designation,
Is itself the Middle Way”
Suggested Donation $75.
Please arrive before 9AM on Saturday for Retreat registration and to choose your seat.
We will begin promptly at 10 am.
*All proceeds will go directly to Prajnopaya Institute and Foundation, a 501(c) (3).
No one will be turned away for lack of ability to donate.
Please call Susie Koesterer with any questions, concerns, or for directions.
