Study Programs
The Foundation Program will begin the study of Eight Steps to Happiness on Sunday, March 28.
Please feel free to come to the first class on March 28 and try out the program for a few classes before committing, provided you understand the requirements detailed below...
For those who wish to delve more deeply into the teachings, we offer the Foundation Program (FP) on Sunday Evenings. On the FP, we engage in the systematic study of key Buddhist texts in order to gain a deep and lasting understanding and experience of the spiritual path, as well as an authentic confidence as a meditator and practitioner.
The Foundation Program also enables us to become part of a community of practitioners who are sincerely putting the teachings into practice, giving us 
access to a resource that will nourish and sustain our spiritual growth.
With weekly reading assignments from the text, as well as commentary, discussions and meditations on the week's reading, the FP creates the conditions for us to develop deep inner experience of the teachings.
Joining the FP constitutes a commitment to come to class each week, and to complete the reading assignment for that class, among other things. The student also makes a commitment to remain on the program until the book is completed, which in some cases can take a year or more. Joining a study program like the FP affords the best opportunity to gain deep insight and development on the spiritual path. However, given the depth of commitment associated with the program, it is important for any prospective student to become familiar with our center, with the teacher, with our sangha, etc.
Therefore, it is recommended that one comes and attends some classes at our center in order to get to know us a bit. If you like what you find, then you can consider making a deeper commitment at that point, with broader, more comprehensive knowledge of what it is that we offer.
For more information on our General Program classes, which are offered without expectation of preparation or continued attendance (although we always hope you will come back!), please see weekly classes and look at our Monday, Thursday and Sunday morning offerings. You are always free to drop by one of these classes and introduce yourself, giving us an opportunity to discuss the Foundation Program in greater detail and with greater specificity.
| For more information about joining the Foundation Program, please email us at info@brooklynmeditation.org |
About Eight Steps to Happiness
Eight Steps is a Lojong, or mind training text and contains sections on developing pure love, perfecting the mind of compassion, developing Bodhichitta - the supreme good heart, and one of the most accessible and profound explanations of Emptiness to be found anywhere.
It gives a detailed and practical commentary to eight beautiful verses that comprise one of Buddhism's best-loved and most enduring teachings, Eight Verses of Training the Mind. Composed by the great Tibetan Bodhisattva, Langri Tangpa, this short poem shows how we can transform all life's difficulties into valuable spiritual insights.
For centuries, these liberating meditation practices have brought lasting peace, inspiration and serenity to countless people in the East.
Now, in this book, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso shares the immeasurably rich insight of this ancient wisdom with all those seeking lasting happiness and greater meaning in their modern lives.
'... induces calmness and compassion into one’s being.'— NEW HUMANITY JOURNAL
Excerpt from this book:
From the chapter 'Accepting Defeat and Offering the Victory'
We may think that if we patiently practice accepting defeat all the time, our suffering and problems will multiply and completely overwhelm us. But in fact the practice of patience always reduces our suffering because we do not add mental pain to the difficulties we are having.
Because suffering, worry, depression, and pain are feelings, they are types of mind, so it follows that they exist inside and not outside our mind. If while experiencing adverse conditions our mind remains calm and happy through the practice of patience, we do not have a problem. We may have a challenging situation, and may even be sick or injured, but we are free from pain. By controlling our mind in this way we experience a cessation of our pain, worry, and depression, and find true inner peace. Furthermore, by keeping a peaceful mind in difficult situations we are far more likely to find solutions and respond constructively.
Buddhist practice is very gentle. It does not require physical deprivation and hardship but is mainly concerned with the internal task of controlling and transforming the mind. Once we have learned how to do this we will understand the real meaning of Buddha’s teachings.
In Tibet I met a number of humble practitioners who, although they were not famous, always practiced accepting defeat and offering the victory in their daily lives. One of these was a monk called Kachen Sangye, whom people came to recognize as a Bodhisattva. Whenever anyone said anything unpleasant to him he would accept it without retaliating, and whenever anyone asked him for something he would give it immediately without even a hint of miserliness. If he was overcharged while shopping he would pay without comment, and if the shopkeeper was poor he would give him even more.
Kachen Sangye’s most expensive possession was a copper pot for holding water. One day while he was out a thief entered his room and stole the pot, but as the thief was making his way down the street he met Kachen Sangye returning to his room. Since the monk knew him, the thief was so ashamed that he dropped the pot and ran off. Kachen Sangye, however, developed the strong desire to give away his copper pot, so he took it to the thief’s house and said to him, “You didn’t need to run away. You can take anything you want from my room at anytime!” People used to say that even if he had been asked to give up his life he would have done so happily.
There are many examples in the past of such practitioners, and there is no reason why there should not be practitioners like this now and in the future. Those who are able to think and behave like this do not meet with any problems in life, because they can happily accept whatever situations they find themselves in.
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