Language: English

2018

27.12. – 24.01. 2019 – CA, USA

04.12. – 27.12. 2018 – NM, USA

13.11. – 04.12. 2018 – NY, USA

18.10. – 29.10. 2018 – China

04.09. – 16.10. 2018 – Kathmandu, Nepal

11.07. – 21.07. 2018 – Germany

01.06. – 09.06. 2018 – Sněhov, Czech – Meditation on the breath – more info

19.04. – 19.05. 2018 – Spain

10.04. 2018 – Prague, Czech – Basics of yoga practice – Centrum Lotus

29.03. – 04.04. 2018 – Zaježová, Slovakia – Meditation on the breath, and the interpretation of the Mahayana Abhidharma – Vzdělávací centrum Zaježová

The Original Buddhist Psychology: What the Abhidharma Tells Us About How We Think, Feel, and Experience

The Abhidharma, one of the three major text collections of the original Buddhist canon, explores the critical juncture of Buddhist thought and the therapeutic aspects of the religion and meditation. It frames the psychological system of Buddhism, explaining the workings of reality and the nature of the human mind.
Composed of detailed matrixes and lists that outline the interaction of consciousness and reality, The Abhidharma explores the essence of perception and experience, and the reasons and methods behind mindfulness and meditation.
Because of its complexity, the Abhidharma has traditionally been reserved only for academic or monastic study; now, for the first time, clinical psychologist Beth Jacobs makes this dynamic, important text and its teachings available to general readers, using practical explanation, personal stories, and vivid examples to gently untangle the technical aspects of the Abhidharma.
Jacobs’ work illuminates this classic of Buddhist thought, highlighting the ways it can broaden and deepen our experience of the human psyche and offering profound insights into spiritual practice.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Original-Buddhist-Psychology-Abhidharma-Experience/dp/162317130X

Inside Vasubandhu’s Yogacara: A Practitioner’s Guide

In this down-to-earth book, Ben Connelly sure-handedly guides us through the intricacies of Yogacara and the richness of the “Thirty Verses.” Dedicating a chapter of the book to each line of the poem, he lets us thoroughly lose ourselves in its depths. His warm and wise voice unpacks and contextualizes its wisdom, showing us how we can apply its ancient insights to our own modern lives, to create a life of engaged peace, harmony, compassion, and joy.

In fourth-century India one of the great geniuses of Buddhism, Vasubandhu, sought to reconcile the diverse ideas and forms of Buddhism practiced at the time and demonstrate how they could be effectively integrated into a single system. This was the Yogacara movement, and it continues to have great influence in modern Tibetan and Zen Buddhism. “Thirty Verses on Consciousness Only,” or “Trimshika,” is the most concise, comprehensive, and accessible work by this revered figure.

Vasubandhu’s “Thirty Verses” lay out a path of practice that integrates the most powerful of Buddhism’s psychological and mystical possibilities: Early Buddhism’s practices for shedding afflictive emotional habit and the Mahayana emphasis on shedding divisive concepts, the path of individual liberation and the path of freeing all beings, the path to nirvana and the path of enlightenment as the very ground of being right now. Although Yogacara has a reputation for being extremely complex, the “Thirty Verses” distills the principles of these traditions to their most practical forms, and this book follows that sense of focus; it goes to the heart of the matter—how do we alleviate suffering through shedding our emotional knots and our sense of alienation?

This is a great introduction to a philosophy, a master, and a work whose influence reverberates throughout modern Buddhism. 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Vasubandhus-Yogacara-Practitioners-Guide/dp/1614292841