Shedra Studies Course - The Mahayana Uttara Tantra Shastra
Category: Buddhism
Dates: July 27, 2012 - August 26, 2012
Venue: Samye Ling
Course Leader: Drupon Rinpoche
Price: £250 (suggested donation)
All participants must register for the course - registration is at 9.30am on 27th July at the Temple.
Drupon Rinpoche will teach from the Uttaratantra Treatise, by Buddha Maitreya, the definitive work on the subject of "buddha nature" - used by all the Tibetan traditions as well as by Japanese and Chinese Buddhism. It teaches the ultimate step in the understanding of the Middle Way and is famous as the "bridge between sutra and tantra". An understanding of buddha nature is vital for the visualisation practices of Tibetan Buddhism and for applying its most profound teachings on the nature of mind, such as those found in the Mahamudra and Dzogchen traditions.
The course is one month long with two free days on 11th and 12th August. In order to show appropriate respect for these profound teachings, Drupon Rinpoche wishes all participants to attend every single session unless they have his specific permission to be absent (for essential medical appointments, etc).
The Shedra Studies Course, taught over six years, began in the summer of 2008 and serves as an introductory course for the future Samye College which is currently under construction. Drupon Rinpoche is much in demand as a long-term Retreat Master both here and in the East and is well known both as a Buddhist scholar and as a practitioner. With so many commitments we are very fortunate that he has agreed to find time in his very tight schedule to come to Samye Ling each year to give these teachings. Anyone with a genuine interest in learning the Dharma from a genuine Master is strongly recommended to attend this course.
The programme for daily teaching sessions will be:
10:00 - 11:00
11:30 - 12:30
15:30 - 16:30
17:00 - 18:00
The course begins at 10:00 on July 27th and ends at lunchtime on August 26th.
You can see Drupon Rinpoche's explanation of the benefits of the Shedra Studies Course here.
At Kagyu Samye Ling we try to invite only the very best Dharma teachers and, with the completion of the Samye College, it is our greatest wish to continue inviting even more excellent Lamas and Khenpos, so the quality and variety of teachings we can offer increases more and more.
The cost of bringing these teachers from Nepal and Tibet however is extremely high, with travel and visas becoming ever more expensive. Therefore, we ask everyone attending these courses to give generously as all money raised from donations is used to cover costs of travel and so on, and to make an appropriately generous donation to the Lamas themselves - which they in turn will use to benefit many more people.
