Samye Institute is pleased to announce the second live-session course based on Phakchok Rinpoche’s new book, In the Footsteps of Bodhisattvas. This 14-week class will guide participants through the concepts and practices given in this stimulating practical guidebook. Students will become familiar with the view, meditation, and conduct of a bodhisattva and explore how bodhisattva training lays the foundation for the dawning of genuine samadhi. We will also explore how the practices of the Samadhi Raja Sutra fit within the context of Vajrayana practice.
Each week, in addition to reading a chapter from In the Footsteps of Bodhisattvas, we will study sutras, aspiration prayers, and the advice of great masters. Together, we will train in a diversity of methods to open up our experience of samadhi. And in the final classes of the course, we will apply the understanding and training gleaned from Phakchok Rinpoche’s words to the practice of the Treasury of Blessings, a sadhana of the Buddha Shakyamuni composed by the 19th century Tibetan master, Mipham Rinpoche.
This course will be presented in an interactive, “seminar” style. Thus, all students should prepare by doing the readings and the assigned meditation exercises between class meetings. We anticipate lively discussion based upon student experience of the direct application of the contemplation assignments.
Guided Meditation: Meditating on the Buddha’s Form
As a preview of the course, please take a look at one of the guided meditations we shall be using in the course. In this meditation, Jack leads us through the key points of meditating on the Buddha’s form in the context of the Treasury of Blessings sadhana practice.
Registration
The first session begins on Sunday, June 20 at 11AM PST and will continue weekly for 14 weeks. The instructor, Jack deTar will lead a 90-minute Zoom class, guided meditation, and discussion.
There will also be a forum for students to discuss themes, issues, and questions between classes. Details for accessing the Zoom gatherings will be shared in the forum. Recordings and additional readings will be uploaded to the Samye website.
About the Instructor
Jack deTar trains under the guidance of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche and Phakchok Rinpoche. He tries to serve others, hold in devotion those who have realized the Buddha’s teachings, and become familiar with the mind “as it is.” In that light, Jack wishes to help connect students and practitioners with authentic teachers and provide support for anyone who wants to genuinely study, reflect, and meditate. Jack currently serves as the Shedrub Mandala Coordinator for Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche’s centers and activities, and as the Executive Director of Rangjung Yeshe Gomde California, a Buddhist retreat center nestled in the forested mountains of Northern California’s Mendocino County. Jack assisted Phakchok Rinpoche with the composition of In the Footsteps of Bodhisattvas, and was subsequently encouraged by Rinpoche to instruct this course on the teachings presented in the book.
