Being Saved or Liberating One’s Self
The question is: How can I realize my full potential as a human being if the Buddha teaches that there is no self? The answer delves into the understanding of karma and the Buddhist concept of non-self.
Episode 1
Topics Include: 1) What does it mean to be only our experience in a neurobiological sense? 2) The Buddhist teaching of Nama Rupa or the unfolding of mind states; 3) Is experience local or non-local and how does it relate to the question of personal agency with respect to the Mahayana and Theravadin traditions; 4) Discussion of the Lotus Sutra and the emphasis on faith and belief; 5) The Theravadin view of the Dharma according to Ahahn Chah; 6) Dharma as Nature. 7) the question of faith and belief as opposed to experience-based knowledge.
Episode 2
Topics Include: 1) What does it mean to be only our experience in a neurobiological sense? 2) The Buddhist teaching of Nama Rupa or the unfolding of mind states; 3) Is experience local or non-local and how does it relate to the question of personal agency with respect to the Mahayana and Theravadin traditions; 4) Discussion of the Lotus Sutra and the emphasis on faith and belief; 5) The Theravadin view of the Dharma according to Ahahn Chah; 6) Dharma as Nature. 7) the question of faith and belief as opposed to experience-based knowledge.
Episode 3
Topics include: 1. Near-death and out-of-body experiences; 2. The difference between beliefs and experience; 3. Death and the deathless; 4. The God thought experiment; 5. The minister who lost his faith; 6. Understanding mind states; 7. Your momentary experience is a window into your soul; 8. Volcanoing your selfhood.
episode 4
Topics include: 1. The tension between the Theravada and Mahayana; 2. Experience vs. Concepts; 3. The cosmos within this fathom-long body; 4. Momentary experiences of nama and rupa; 5. Stages of attainment in Theravada; 6. An example of clear and subtle seeing which penetrates pain; 7. The clarity to see through the wormhole; 8. Are out-of-body and near death experiences nothing but brain activity? 9. The definition of the Absolute from the Mahayana and Theravadan perspective; 10. The Buddha’s primary concern was suffering and the end of suffering, not metaphysical debates.