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Emptiness and the Mind Perceiving It
May 9, 2020 @ 9:00 am - May 17, 2020 @ 11:00 am PDT
Online: Emptiness and the Mind Perceiving It:
Cittamatrin and Madhyamika Viewpoints
A course in Buddhist philosophy with Dr. Jay L. Garfield
Offered via Zoom. Registration for a seat on the Zoom session is closed.
However, we will stream the teachings over YouTube. See them live here.
Everything you need to know—schedule, how to participate, text for recitations—is here.
If Buddhist philosophy is your “thing,” this course is for you!
Professor Jay L. Garfield is a distinguished scholar of Tibetan Buddhism. He will guide us in a lively exploration of emptiness as presented in the Madhyamaka and Yogacharya schools of tenets.
Join Jay and the Abbey community for a deep dive into Buddhist philosophy.
This course is for advanced students. Some background in Buddhist philosophical studies is recommended.
Jay will begin the course with teachings on Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 of the Saṁdhinirmocana-sūtra . Tthe John Powers translation, Wisdom of the Buddha, is recommended.
Course Schedule – The Abbey is on Pacific Time
Friday – Saturday, May 15-16
9:00 – 11:00am Teaching with Dr. Jay Garfield
No afternoon sessions on these days
Sun, May 17
9:00 – 11:00am Final teaching with Dr. Jay Garfield
Find recitations for class and tech assistance here.
Dr. Jay L. Garfield
Jay is the Doris Silbert Professor in the Humanities at Smith College. He chairs Smith’s Philosophy department and directs their logic and Buddhist studies programs as well as the Five College Tibetan Studies in India program. He is also visiting professor of Buddhist philosophy at Harvard Divinity School, professor of philosophy at Melbourne University, and Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, in Sarnath, India.
Jay also shares a teacher with Sravasti Abbey residents. He studied Nagarjuna’s works with eminent scholar Geshe Yeshe Thabkhe at the Central University of Tibetan Studies (now Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies) in Sarnath. Geshe Thabkhe has guided the Abbey community through Aryadeva’s Four Hundred Stanzas and Dharmakirti’s Pramanavarttika.
Suggested reading to prepare for the course:
- Chapters 6 and 7 of the Saṁdhinirmocana-sūtra (Sutra Unraveling the Thought). The John Powers translation, Wisdom of the Buddha, is recommended
- The phenomenology chapter of Engaging Buddhism: Why it Matters to Philosophy, by Jay L. Garfield
- Vasubandhu’s Trisvabhāva-nirdeśa, included in Buddhist Philosophy: Essential Readings, edited by Jay L. Garfield and William Edelgass,
- Dignāga’s Ālambanaparīkṣā with its commentaries, collected in , A Philosophical Legacy in India and Tibet: Dignaga’s Ālambanaparīkṣā and its Indian and Tibetan Commentaries, by Duckworth, et al.
For more information, write the office or call 509-447-5549.