Welcome to Dharma Study Group, Educational Philosophy, New Class begins Sept 9 and Sept 16, 2021
Hello, and welcome to Dharma Study Group. We meet weekly online to study and practice the teachings of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpche. Our regular online meeting time is Thursday evenings, 7:00 - 8:45 Eastern Time. If you can join us at 6:30, we've been sitting together for ½ hour before class. I'll do an orientation to the sitting practice on Thursday September 9 at 6:30 pm as a review or to help people get started.
Also on September 9th, we will listen to an audio recording of a talk by Trungpa Rinpoche on sitting meditation practice and awareness in everyday life. I encourage everyone to join us for this talk, which conveys the flavor of the Kagyu lineage teachings of the Buddhism of Tibet, especially as taught by Trungpa Rinpoche. This will serve as good preparation for our study of Rinpoche's book, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, which begins September 16th..
You are welcome to join this group at most any time, but since we're starting a new course of study, this is a particularly good time to join in. Whether you are new to this group or an old friend, please contact me by phone or email to let me know you're coming, and I'll send you the Zoom link. My contact information is at the bottom of this letter.
There is no time-limit on how long we will study a particular book or seminar. We will go at the pace we need to go to facilitate our understanding. It's fine to check us out, to join in for a month or two, or to make us a regular thing for a long time. Some of us in the group have seen each other nearly every week for over a year and a half. Some of us are relatively new to each other.
As a teacher and student, I have a commitment not to water down the teachings or to alter them based on my personal comfort. I will make judgments about what will be best for students, of course. Trungpa Rinpoche trusted his students a lot, and we all knew it and felt challenged by that. He encouraged his student-teachers not to “edit” the teachings – that is, not to add things that they would like to hear or skip over or change things that they do not want to hear. I have learned, over the years, that there is no benefit to “playing to the crowd,” or slanting the teachings to appeal to the ideology that is trending in the moment, or in the decade, for that matter. I tend to err on the side of trusting people.
Although Trungpa Rinpoche gave these particular teachings in the early 1970s, I strongly believe that they are completely up-to-date, moreso than ever. The intention of this group is to relate to these teachings as simply and directly as the original students who encountered them during the lifetime of Trungpa Rinpoche. Along with that, in the context of hearing and understanding the teachings as best we can, any response we might have is fair game for discussion.
Every seminar he taught, every book he wrote, has a beginning, middle, and end, and in that sense is already a curriculum. We take advantage of this order by studying whole teachings, for the most part. Reading a single book of his from cover to cover largely fulfills that objective, as does listening to and discussing a whole seminar. Also, in keeping with his approach, the student usually starts with oneself, examining one's own experience in accord with the teachings, with the intention not to cause harm to oneself and others. That's a learning process, more than just an intention. It's a path of insight, and the basic meditation practice we work with is in accord with this intention, and applies to all level of students.
Working with oneself generally comes before teachings related to being of service to others. This is common sense. On the one hand, it is also true that there is no shallow end to the pool or ocean when it comes to these teachings. They can be challenging, and the notion of relating to others in an open way is emphasized, sooner or later. The book moves quickly. Part of my role as teacher is to facilitate this learning process for all of us, collectively and individually, and to help fill in gaps for students who need or request that.
I will be teaching the class, in the sense of hosting, choosing the subject matter, and having a sense of how quickly or slowly to proceed. I do take requests and take other peoples' requests into consideration when it comes to this. There is a bias towards having good conversatons, not being in too much of a hurry to cover “territory,” but to facilitate a space where we might both listen to each other and stick with the subject matter. Again, there is no time limit to this class. We'll go at the pace we need to go to have good understanding and conversation. We have our awareness of and understanding of the teachings, at whatever level, awareness of our personal responses to the teachings, and awareness of each other and the class as a whole. Sidetracks might be part of the process, but a sense of balance is key. For my part, I will do my best to keep us on track, but I won't be the only one with that intention. Any of us could share in that. We could be clear about what we're doing and what we're not doing.
Whether we think we're “advanced” or we think we're a beginner, when it comes to the teachings of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, any of us could be challenged or inspired. I've been encountering these teachings over and over since 1977, and each time there seems to be greater depth, or something I hear that I missed before. This is a common experience. Even though we're all beginners, in some sense, we also all have a lot of life experience, and were ejected from the cradle a long time ago.
The classic text Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism was first published in 1973. I have hesitated to host a class based on this because the material seems so challenging. Yet Trungpa Rinpoche presented the talks on which the book is based to university students, many of whom had no experience whatsoever with the subject matter. He had tremendous confidence in the intelligence and maturity of his audience to hear what he had to say and to engage personally with this material. This very much inspired me – the way he was willing to bravely tell the truth, and his trust in us to hear what he had to say.
Also, in accord with his approach, the sitting practice of meditation is encouraged, side-by-side with the intellectual component, roughly 50-50. Teachings on the sitting practice will be mixed in with our discussions. You will also be encouraged to discuss your practice with an instructor if you like. There are or will soon be links to audios and writings about meditation practice in this tradition on the website.
With respect to the book, as we read, the first order of business is to ask the question: “What is he saying here? Is there a logic?” Then we contemplate what we have heard and understood, and see if we can relate the teachings to our life experience. This is the basis for our conversations. Even our disagreements or mixed feelings can be included when we make a genuine effort to understand what's being said. In that way, we mix our minds with the teachings. Following hearing and meditating, according to the “three prajnas,” we then go on to meditate, or marinate, to ripen and grow in our understanding. Meditation practice is part of that. Awareness practice in everyday life and ongoing study are also part of that ripening process.
Dharma Study Group Kazoo is a continuing study and practice situation for anyone interested in learning about and practicing the teachings of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and other teachers in his lineages. He gave over 2000 talks on different levels of Buddhist teachings, the Shambhala teachings, the Dharma Art teachings, and many diverse themes within these. He also recommended the study of a number of classic texts, and facilitated that.
If this appeals to you, consider giving this a try. Drop me a line.
Contact Form (269) 384-4167.
No text messaging. If you call by phone, I may not pick up the first time, so please leave a message and I'll call you back. If you send me a friend invitation on facebook, I am very likely to accept.
We have an inexhaustible resource here, at least from the point of view of a human lifetime. Let's take it step by step, chew our food well, appreciating the teachings and each other.
Yours in the Dharma,
Robert Walker