The Quality of Attention: An Online Class
Buddhism teaches that it is the quality of our attention that determines the quality of our experience in the moment, whether it begins as neutral, unpleasant, or pleasant. When compared with some of the usual ways of understanding human experience, this is a very different perspective, one that requires a degree of clarity and openness we might not ordinarily have. In this online class, based on the teachings of Theravada and Zen Buddhism, we will explore how constructed conceptual frameworks of our inner and outer worlds can be helpful or harmful, and how to skillfully relate to the workings of our heart/mind. In these teachings, we will encounter the themes of joy, grief, compassion, effort, and the role of mindfulness and meditation in shaping experience.
Week 2: Attention to Feeling Tone - Struck by Two Arrows
“When you don't have a reaction to your reaction, then it is just thought and bodily sensation.”
Required Reading:
“An Arrow” Samyutta Nikaya 36.6 translated by Bhante Sujato
Optional Supplemental Reading:
“Analysis of the Six Sense Fields” Majjhima Nikaya 137 translated by Bhante Sujato
“The Gift for All Seasons” from the blog archive
Reflection Questions: What do you habitually say to yourself?
Dharma talk for week 2 video
Week 1: Attention in Activity - Surpassing the Elders
“Although you are turned around by things, you can also turn things around.”
~ Zen Master Eihei Dogen
Required Reading:
“Instructions to the Tenzo [Head Cook]” from Dogen’s Pure Standards for the Zen Community, translated by Taigen Dan Leighton
Optional Supplemental Reading:
“Genjo Koan [Manifesting Absolute Reality]” from Dogen’s Shobogenzo, translated by Francis H. Cook
Reflection Questions:
What practices help you become aware of the quality of attention? How can attention be “turned around?”
Lectures from the Spring 2019 Heart Sutra Class
Lecture Week 1 Heart Sutra Class: A Dharma talk introducing the historical context and the beings in the Heart Sutra.
Lecture Week 3 Heart Sutra Class: An exploration of form and emptiness, time as a process, and practice with the sense bases.
Lecture Week 5 Heart Sutra Class: How to meet suffering, practice as a path, koan of the flag waving, and nirvana/nibbana.
Lecture Week 2 Heart Sutra Class: A discussion of the beings portrayed in the Heart Sutra and the practices that are described in the first two sentences of the sutra.
Lecture Week 4 Heart Sutra Class: Exploring topics of inter-dependent co-arising, emptiness instead of negation, and discerning the wholesome.
Lecture Week 6 Heart Sutra Class: This is the final lecture of this online class studying the Heart Sutra. This lecture touches on hindrances, fearlessness, right view, and joy in practice.