The Courage to be Compassionate
June 10 – 18, 2020
A 9-day Residential Intermediate-Level Course. Led by Venerable Lhundup Jamyang.
The world is in turmoil. We are living in a world where the media presents us a level of beauty, health, and happiness that is not achievable. We only count when we are the best. We are set up in competition with each other and in order to be successful we have to be the best, need to have the best, etc. Due to this we become more and more self-centered and our hearts close to others. Although we do this in an attempt to find happiness, what it really brings us is loneliness, the feeling of separation and being cut off.
All sentient beings have Buddha nature: the potential for complete wisdom and compassion. As human beings we have the mental capacity to develop this potential. By opening our heart for other sentient beings and realizing how we are all dependent on each other we can experience our true nature and our humanness.
To leave behind the loneliness of the self-centered mind and find connection we need to make a radical shift in our mind. First we need to realize that our own behavior and our ways of thinking are not bringing us the happiness we want. We need to investigate the nature of the pleasures that we chase and re-think the goals we want to have in life.
Then we need to realize that we are all connected with each other and are suffering from the same thing. By accepting our own suffering we can find the courage to reach out to others. On the basis of kindness for ourselves we can learn to appreciate others and generate loving kindness for them.
In this course we will explore how to take care of ourselves and others in a healthy way. We will discuss methods to generate loving kindness and compassion for others based on compassion for ourselves.
This course is suitable for students who have attended one of our 10-day Introduction to Buddhism courses or equivalent.
Recommended Readings:
‘How to be Compassionate” by HH the Dalai Lama
“Bodhisattva Attitude” by Lama Zopa Rinpoche
“A Fearless Heart” by Thubten Jinpa
“Awakening the Kind Heart” by Kathleen McDonald
For more information about Intermediate Courses, including a typical schedule and how to register, please see our Intermediate Course Page.