Led by Ratnaprabha.
We live in a world that is lit up by our awareness – and this is the most astonishing discovery it’s possible to make. Human beings reached our present level of awareness through evolution. Can that evolution continue in each of us as individuals, towards complete awakening? Buddhism would say yes, and explain the process in an almost scientific way.
Week 1. What can we do with our minds? What spiritual practices can help us evolve further? We’ll look at how this works, and discover Buddhist stories of evolution such as the monkey and the demoness.
Week 2. What are the stages of higher evolution from ignorance to awakening? A practical look at how consciousness can be enhanced through karma and meditation.
Week 3. Can our society evolve? What’s the role of Sangha (spiritual community) in contributing to social harmony, cohesion, and providing space for each of us to grow? The ancient twin discoveries of solidarity (compassion) and self-awareness (wisdom).
Week 4. The growing tip of evolution – the figure of the bodhisattva of Mahayana Buddhism and the Jatakas stories. Is everybody ultimately heading to awakening – a grand cosmic evolution?
Week 5. The Seven Factors of Enlightenment and the evolving mind – the Buddhist path of stopping the mind and realising its true nature.
Ratnaprabha has a background in science, and its history and philosophy. He is the author of The Evolving Mind: Buddhism Biology and Consciousness, and Finding the Mind: a Buddhist View. This course will be both practical, and intellectually stimulating, but you don’t need any prior knowledge.
In Buddhism, enlightenment can grow organically in an individual through their skilled directing of their stream of mental states. In science, there are powerful notions of evolution and emergence, which seem to allow radically new things to appear, such as the astonishing fact of awareness. Is evolution mechanical? Is it sensible to describe spiritual growth as a sort of evolution? How do Western ideas of evolution compare to the middle path in Buddhism?
Cost: £25 deposit + £100 suggested donation