Annual Advanced Course with Geshe Kelsang Wangmo: The Two Truths
June 4 – 14, 2024
11-Day Advanced Course Led by Geshe Kelsang Wangmo
This is an intensive 11-day ADVANCED study course! As a prerequisite we highly recommend having done at least an Introduction to Buddhism courses AND an intermediate course or other studies.
We are constantly interacting with our environment—we work, shop, travel, study, and communicate with others. In doing so, we rely on our perceptions of our surroundings, trusting them to provide us with sufficient information to make the right decisions about how to behave, what to avoid, with whom to associate, and so on.
But sometimes we may wonder whether what we see, hear, smell, and taste really exists as we experience it; whether our sense of the environment, other people, and ourselves is reliable and based on reality.
These are some of the central questions that the Buddha addressed, especially when he presented the two truths.
The two truths—the conventional truth and the ultimate truth—is one of the essential topics in Buddhism, and it relates to the way we normally perceive phenomena and the way phenomena actually exist.
During this course we will reflect on and discuss the two truths as presented in the highest Buddhist philosophical system, the Madhyamika Prasangika. We will analyze how we can integrate our understanding of the two—however basic it may be—into our daily lives and use it to deal with our problems and difficulties. In particular, we will explore how we can use our understanding to develop greater love, compassion, and kindness toward ourselves and others, and to cultivate the mind of enlightenment, bodhicitta.
Sessions will consist of lectures, discussions, and meditations to create a deeper insight into the topics covered, and students will receive a handout with explanations, illustrations, and diagrams.
Course Details
This is a course for advanced-level students, but for more information about a proposed schedule, rules of discipline and how to register please see our Intermediate Course Page.