Online Monthly Event

Embodying the Bodhisattva Path in These Challenging Times

Sunday, Feb 9, 1:00 PM EST- 3:00 PM EST (Every month on the second Sunday for 5 times)

We are living in difficult times in which our old ways of living together and resolving differences have led us to unprecedented challenges that call for new ways of living and engaging with each other.

Some of the key crises we face include:

• Human-caused climate change is leading to devastating losses and approaching a tipping point not experienced in thousands of years.

• Global conflicts with ever-more sophisticated and lethal weapons are threatening to spiral further out of control.

• Our society is deeply divided, fear and anger are being fomented for political and economic gain.

• The outcome of the 2024 elections has resulted in increased threats to vulnerable individuals and communities and promises to deepen polarization and conflict. 

In the face of these and other major challenges, Buddhist teachings provide powerful support in understanding these times, clarifying and guiding our intentions towards appropriate responses. The teachings also offer guidance through practices that help us open to all that is arising, meeting this moment with an open heart and the compassionate wish to alleviate suffering.

Among the teachings of the Dharma, the ideal and practice of the Bodhisattva Path is a particularly potent source of support and direction, inviting us to commit to our own awakening and to the freedom of all beings as we face the challenging times ahead. 

Consciously committing to seeing all beings as worthy of our care and compassion helps us get out of a small and limited view of ourselves. Consciously committing to alleviate suffering wherever we encounter it moves us toward an inspiring vision for ourselves and our world.

This five-month program includes: 

• Monthly gatherings, two hours on the second Sunday of the month, during which we meditate together, and explore and engage with the Bodhisattva path in small groups and together as a full group. 

• Readings and talks to deepen our understanding and promise of the Bodhisattva path.

• Both on-the-cushion and in-the-world practices that contribute to our awakening and the freedom of all beings.  

Key themes we will explore include:

• The role of the Bodhisattva in Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism, the Bodhisattva vow – or commitment – for the liberation of all beings

• The relevance and clear application of the Bodhisattva path to our current times.

• Central qualities of the Bodhisattva:

1. Seeing and accepting the truth of our situation 

2. Meeting our experience wholeheartedly and finding peace within

3. Envisioning a path of engagement for our own awakening and the freedom of all beings

• Role of wise understanding—of karma and of suffering and its end—and wise intention—the compassionate wish to alleviate suffering of all beings—on the Bodhisattva path

• Bodhisattvas in the Buddhist tradition—for example, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Maha Ghosananda—and in other traditions—such as Nelson Mandela, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Dorothy Day, and others—who serve to inspire us to commit to the Bodhisattva Path

• Identifying our individual priorities on the path, including practices to abandon clinging and open our hearts, and to engage actively in the world to alleviate suffering