On Bodhicitta
A One Day Retreat with Ven Tenzin Priyadarshi
Sunday, November 9, 2014
9am to 4:30pm
University of California Irvine
Graduate Resource Center (GRC)
3100 Gateway Study Center
Ven. Tenzin Priyadarshi will give commentary combining the two texts "Vast as the Heavens, Deep as the Sea" by Khunu Lama, and "Verses of the Middle Way (Mulamadhyamaka-karika)" by Arya Nagarjuna; and show us how to apply these teachings to our daily lives.
"When Buddhas and Bodhisattvas thought,'What is the means that lets one obtain easilythe supreme stage, where the two extremes(of samsara and nirvana)have been abandoned?'They saw that it was this precious Bodhicitta."
Khunu Lama praises the many aspects of Bodhicitta, the Mind of Awakening, through image and metaphor. Bodhicitta is the heart of the Mahayana Buddhist path to complete enlightenment, and generating it within oneself brings together the two necessary cultivations that lead to Buddhahood: attention to the needs and sufferings of others, and realization of that view of reality which is unique to Buddha’s teachings.
"Whatever is dependently co-arisenthat is explained to be emptiness.That, being a dependent designation,is itself the middle way."
Nagarjuna analyses the nature of reality from many angles and reveals different aspects of the Middle Way view. It is a way in-between our usual confused entanglement in life the way we ordinarily perceive it, and the other extreme of complete escapism through achieving a state of private peace, detached from the world; in-between believing things really exist the way we perceive them, and the other extreme, thinking that things don’t exist at all.
Nagarjuna is a central figure in Buddhism. He is considered to be a pioneer of the Mahayana, and an originator of the Madhyamaka tradition through his critical analyses and presentations of many Buddhist concepts, especially the view of "Emptiness".
Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen Negi, a contemporary Indian Buddhist sage, kept a journal of his reflections on Bodhicitta, which was collected into the present text. Sogyal Rinpoche said that “To hold in your hands Khunu Rinpoche’s own words on bodhicitta is to be given a priceless opportunity – of touching the heart of a master who had made it the guiding light of his entire life…whenever I think of Khunu Rinpoche, I always say to myself, this is what St. Francis of Assisi must have been like”.
The retreat will consist of commentary on these texts, meditation, question and answer, and opening and closing prayers.
It will be held in a classroom setting. Chairs will be available. Bring your own cushion if you want to sit on the floor. There may be Khata offering at the end of the retreat.
The texts to be used are "Vast as the Heavens, Deep as the Sea: verses in praise of Bodhicitta" by Khunu Rinpoche; and “The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way,” translation and commentary by Jay L. Garfield. Both are in print and available at bookstores.
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Transforming the Inner and the Outer:
Conversations on Sustainable Spirituality
A Public Talk by Ven Priyadarshi
Monday, November 10, 2014
4pm-5pm
Wallace All-Faiths Chapel
Chapman University, Orange, CA.
