The Zoom link to participate in this event will be provided at least 24 hours before it begins. Please call 415-354-0360 if you have any questions.
Six Saturdays, 8:30 – 10 am PT
Our lineage’s second-century Indian Ancestor Nagarjuna has been called the “second buddha” due to his profound influence on all of Buddha-Dharma. His main treatise, the “Root Verses on the Middle Way,” culminates in chapter 25: Examination of Nirvana.
In this chapter Nagarjuna makes the bold statement, the lion’s roar of the Great Vehicle, that no distinction whatsoever can be found between samsara, the beginningless cycle of suffering and bondage, and nirvana, the freedom from suffering that is the original goal of the Buddha-Dharma.
Without falling into the extreme views of nihilism or reification, Nagarjuna uses logical reasoning to steer the mind towards nonduality and emptiness, from which it can then drop into freedom from all conceptual reference points.
This class is geared towards those who have some background in Buddhist philosophy and want to look more deeply into how such teachings can inform their practice of zazen, but all are welcome. The main translation we will use is Nagarjuna’s Middle Way by Mark Siderits and Shoryu Katsura, but chapter 25 is available as a free download.
Recordings:
All course sessions will be recorded, and registered participants will receive temporary access to the recordings for later viewing.
- Sustaining Level: $252
- Member (Become an SFZC Member): $227
- Sliding Scale 1: $151
- Sliding Scale 2: $63
- Current SFZC residents and qualified SFZC retirees may attend this course for free. To register, please email onlineprograms@sfzc.org at least 72 hours before the program begins.
Or call 415-354-0360.