Look at the Nature of Your Mind

Mind itself does not Exist; This Non-existent Mind is the Great Wonder of the Variety Appearance

In essence, all traditions of Buddhism focus on looking at the mind. What binds it, what frees it?  Understanding the mind gives us the key to transforming it.  We have a lifetime of experience with our own mind, yet there are many aspects of mind of which we may be unaware. In this course we will explore the Buddhist view of the mind as presented in the traditions of Abhidharma, Valid Cognition, Yogacara, and Vajrayana.  These can help us to see how mind functions and understand the nature of confusion, how it is created and maintained moment to moment, and the role of habitual patterns. Sourcebook of readings will be provided (at cost).

The great mind of the Buddhas of the three times, the intention of the holy ones, highly reputed as dharmakaya Mahamudra, that which Is greatly renowned, simply refers to one's mind.  If you do not understand the essence of mind, then you experience the thought process of not thinking and thinking a lot, which is called, "my mind, my mind."  All the dharmas of samsara and nirvana are not beyond this very thought process.

Rangjung Dorje, the 3rd Karmapa

Core Materials

  1. Course Syllabus

  2. Source Book

  3. The Dharmas and the Dhatus

  4. Introduction to Consciousness from A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma

Supplemental Materials

  1. "Nature and Location of the Mind" from The Surangama Sutra

  2. "The Matter of the Mind" from The Mind & The Brain

  3. "Mind in Indian Buddhist Philosophy" from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

  4. "Mind" from Wikipedia

  5. "Philosophy of Mind in Buddhism" from A Companion to Buddhist Philosophy

  6. "Mind in Theravada Buddhism" from A Companion to Buddhist Philosophy

  7. '"Mind" as a Self-Structuring Process' from From Reductionism to Creativity

  8. "Trimshika" from The Principles of Buddhist Psychology

  9. "Analysis of the Verses" from Buddhist Phenomenology

  10. "On the Nature of Mind" from Meditation on the Nature of Mind

  11. Alternate Summary of the Dharmas

  12. The Eighteen Dhatus

  13. Four Types of Cognition

  14. Classification of Phenomena

  15. Selections from the Lojong Slogans of Atisha

  16. "Analysis of the Verses" from Buddhist Phenomenology

  17. "Three Types of Ignorance" from Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism

Class Recordings

  1. May 19, 2015

  2. May 26, 2015

  3. June 2, 2015

  4. June 16, 2015

  5. June 23, 2015

  6. June 30, 2015

  7. July 7, 2015

  8. July 14, 2015

  9. July 21, 2015