Saturday, April 02, 2011

Hokai Sobol - The Three Pathways of Awakening

Via Buddhist Geeks, Hokai Sobal is teaching what appears to be an excellent class called The Three Pathways of Awakening. At $50 for the six-week course, this is an excellent opportunity to study with an integrally informed Buddhist teacher.

The Teacher

Hokai Sobol is a practitioner in the Shingon esoteric tradition of Japanese Vajrayana as taught by the Acarya, Venerable Jomyo Tanaka. Having learned from many sources, Hokai is most interested in the core principles of practical Dharma, and their reframing in the context of emergent spiritual culture. He lives and works in Rijeka, Croatia, while also teaching online. Personal website: http://hokai.info

The Three Pathways of Awakening
Developing a Post-Traditional Buddhist Practice with Hokai Sobol

This 6-week virtual course will offer you a fresh approach to working with the three classic Buddhist pathways of body, speech, and mind. We will emphasize combining the conceptual and the experiential in the context of open-ended inquiry with fellow practitioners.

We’ll explore the basic ways that body, speech, and mind are used as pathways to deep awareness, especially from the perspective of Vajrayana practice. With each aspect of teaching and practice there will be ample opportunity for us to inquire and reflect. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss and contribute during the course.

Post-traditional means not based on deference to traditional, established frames of reference. Therefore, we don’t do something just because others have done so in the past. We become increasingly reflexive and aware of the way we imbue our actions with purpose and meaning.

Main Features

Practical methods include:

  • Creating a customized personal practice
  • Generating awakened intention
  • Training sustained attention
  • Basics of mudra, mantra, and imagination
  • Creative and receptive modes in meditation
  • Integrating formal practice and everyday life

Overview of course content:

  • Introduction to Buddhadharma from a post-traditional perspective
  • Pathways of body, speech, & mind
  • Importance of having a clear view
  • Your role in emergent Buddhism
Format & Timing

This 6-week class begins on Sunday, May 1st and ends Sunday, June 5th. Each Sunday class starts at 9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern time and runs for 1 1/2 hours. For those who can’t make it to every class a high-quality recording of each session will be made available and sent out to the entire group following the class.

Each session will include guided and interactive practice sessions, mini-presentations on various topics, and plenty of time for questions and discussions. We’ll be using an advanced teleconferencing system called Maestro Conference. This system allows us to do more organized discussions and small-group breakout sessions to add more interactivity. All you need is a telephone line or VoIP line and a place to sit!

Prerequisites

We do expect that you have general knowledge of Buddhist teachings, and some experience with meditation practices, but otherwise this is open to all interested, beginning and more experienced equally.

Cost: $50 (Limited to 50 people)
Dates: May 1st - June 5th (Sunday)

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