TOPIC FOR THE JANUARY 20, 2021 ZOOM MEETING
Hi Fellow Travelers–Thanks to the causes and conditions provided by the Covid-19 virus there will no assemblies in our meditation cottage until circumstances make it safe to assemble in groups. As I understand how Zoom works, you must preregister at the site Zoom.us, entering the URL : https://us04web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUuf-2srDMtnERzureO8f2K4iQeRCf-dQ and using the password 620329 in order to participate in the events; registering one time will provide access to all the upcoming meetings, as long as we continue streaming them. As I understand the way it works, the meeting can be accessed by smartphone as well as any internet-connected computer system, following the instructions at the Zoom website. The meetings will be recorded and posted on the website as usual.
The focus on January 20 will include providing a guided mindfulness of breathing meditation. The topic for the talk will continue reviewing the developmental history of what we contemporaneously call Buddhism. This talk will focus on the period during which the Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana schools were forming during the centuries after the time of the Buddha and before the intrusion into India by the Moslem culture, a time of great creativity and cultural conflicts. The series of discussions are intended to de-mystify the concepts and practices to establish a rationale for current mindfulness meditation and other contemporary practices, the benefits of which are supported by ongoing and rigorous scientific research. I hope you will participate in the streaming meeting and I wish you well. Peter
History of the Buddhist Schools January 20, 2021
This is the second in a series of reviews of the history of the Buddhist religion. The focus of this talk is on the development of the various schools of Buddhism–Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana, Chan, and Zen–over the centuries after the time of the Buddha and before the intrusion of Western culture and commerce. It is not a deeply scholarly review; the intention is to foster an awareness of the course of this history freed from the mythological additions over the centuries and and as they were affected by different societal norms. Perhaps this can have some relevance to the societal issues we confront currently.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: Buddhist Institutional History
Next week’s talk will focus on the impact of Western Culture on the development of various Buddhist schools up to the 20th century.
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