Course ID:	TTT-01
Original Dates:	9/21, 9/28, 10/5, 10/12 (2005)
Archived Content:	MP3 (digital audio file) recordings / PDF transcripts
Price:	$60.00

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Course Overview:

Session One: The Jewel Tree Context and the Noble Truths
In this session, I will introduce the “Wish-granting Jewel Tree of Refuge” as setting the context of Tibetan Buddhist “path of enlightenment” (lam rim) practice. That context is established as the setting for learning and meditation, in that one will make quicker progress and have a better result if one shapes one’s motivation and inspires one’s mood before concentrating on a particular topic. Once that is set, I will turn to the basic vision of Buddhism, as articulated by Shakyamuni in his Four Noble Truths. I will conclude with a discussion of the precious human embodiment endowed with liberty and opportunity.

Session Two: Transcendence and Compassion
In this session, I will again set the Jewel Tree in place, then turn to the themes of preciousness of life, immediacy of death, inexorability of karmic evolution, and the overwhelming suffering of the unenlightened lifestyle. I will then discuss how transcendent renunciation is the opposite of self-denial, and actually represents taking pity on oneself and giving oneself a break. I will then turn to developing compassion for others, and lead the student through the stages of intensifying the spirit of enlightenment (bodhichitta) of love and compassion.

Session Three: The Transcendent Wisdom of Selflessness and Voidness
In this session, we will look at the teachings of transcendent wisdom, touching on the Transcendent Wisdom Discourses, such as the Heart Sutra, and working through the four keys of selflessness meditation that underlie the advanced practice of vipashyana, as understood in Tibetan traditions.

Session Four: Creative Meditation and Goal-Vehicle Practice
In this session, we will consider the usually esoteric teachings of Tantra, putting them in the context of the path laid out in the three previous hours, showing the areas of commonality between Theravada, Mahayana, and Tantra, in the context of the Indo-Tibetan vision known as the “Integration of the Three Vehicles,” which I call “Individual,” “Universal,” and “Apocalyptic.” I will conclude the series of Tele-Teachings by circling back to the Jewel Tree, in showing how the beginning steps of the path contain the culminatory understandings and practices and vice versa.

Recommended Readings:

H.H. the Dalai Lama. Ethics for the New Millennium. Riverhead Press, 1999.

H.H. the Dalai Lama. A Flash of Lightning in the Dark of Night : A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life. Shambhala, 1994.

H.H. the Dalai Lama. Path to Bliss. Snow Lion Publications, 2003.

Thurman, Robert. Central Philosophy of Tibet. Princeton University Press, 1984.

Thurman, Robert. Essential Tibetan Buddhism. Diane Pub. Co., 1995.

Thurman, Robert. Infinite Life: Seven Virtues for Living Well. Riverhead Books, 2004.

Thurman, Robert. Inner Revolution: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Real Happiness. Riverhead Books, 1998.

Thurman, Robert. The Jewel Tree of Tibet : The Enlightenment Engine of Tibetan Buddhism. Free Press, 2005.

Thurman, Robert. Tibetan Book of the Dead. Bantam, 1993.

Teacher Bio:

Robert A. F. Thurman holds the first endowed chair in Buddhist Studies in the West, the Jey Tsong Khapa Chair in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University. He has studied Tibetan Buddhism for almost thirty years as a personal student of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. President of Tibet House US, he has lectured all over the world and is a prolific translator and writer of both scholarly and popular works, including the national bestseller, Inner Revolution: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Real Happiness. He lives in New York City and Woodstock, New York.

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