Lecturer: Jeffrey Schoening, Ph.D.
Wednesdays: February 27th, March 6th , March 13th
Time: 7:00 pm– 9:00 pm
Location: Shrine Room
Class fee: $15 Public, $12 Members (per class)
Wednesdays: February 27th, March 6th , March 13th
Time: 7:00 pm– 9:00 pm
Location: Shrine Room
Class fee: $15 Public, $12 Members (per class)
Join Sakya Monastery translator and interpreter Dr. Jeffrey Schoening for a three-session class reading, studying, and discussing this classic text, newly translated into English. Written in 1167 when the author was 25 years old, the text combines the author’s concise prose with many quotations from Indian Buddhist sutras and treatises. The main body of the text has three general points introducing the Buddha Dharma and then five specific points explaining the practice of the Dharma and its history. The three general points concerning the Dharma are Identity, Purpose, and Divisions. The five specific points are Dharma, Spiritual Friend, Hearing (i.e. study), Benefits, and Removing Doubts. In this class, we will read the first twenty pages of the text, up to but not including the account of the life of the Buddha, which can be found in the Sakya News on the Sakya Monastery website. This text is appropriate for people new to the Dharma as well as experienced practitioners.
Lopön Rinpoche Sönam Tsemo (1142-1182), fourth Sakya throne-holder, is the second of the five founding Sakya lamas, the second son of Sachen Kunga Nyingpo and older brother of Jetsun Rinpoche Drakpa Gyaltsen. A master of both sutra and tantra, his Collected Works fill three volumes.
Jeffrey Schoening (Upasaka), holds a PhD in Buddhist Studies, and is a longtime member and interpreter at Sakya Monastery of Tibetan Buddhism. Jeff is the author of The Shalistamba Sutra and Its Indian Commentaries (Vienna 1995), a two-volume study on teachings about dependent arising. He has worked as a health care chaplain and as a private practice spiritual director.