Schedule for 13-week Class on Shikan

(see previous post for location)

1. March 5. Introduction and overview: shamatha/vipasyana meditation using buddha-anu-smirti as the point of concentration

2. March 12. Calming and discerning (shi-kan) methods of meditation over 2500 years; Shakyamuni Buddha; Tendai Chi-i's Shoshikan; Shantideva and Kamalashila; Zen and Vipassana; contemporary Tendai shikan

3. March 19. Shikan practice based on buddha-anu-smirti; the meaning, rationale, and repetition of mantras; advantages and disadvantages of mantra recitation vs. sitting silently; the four stages of meditation

4. March 26. Doing a practice; the process; grounding in ethics; monks and householders; calming meditation by continued refocusing on the point of concentration; the thought of "I" and other obstacles to concentration

5. April 2. An example of calming meditation practice by together reciting a mantra for 45 minutes or more

6,7. April 9, 16. The remaining classes are on vipasyana, or discerning the Dharma; first is a two-part telling of Shakyamuni's six-year search for enlightenment; his one-pointed focus on realizing Nirvana

8. April 23. Bringing to mind the following Dharmas: accumulation of wisdom and merit; the two obstacles to enlightenment; Buddha-Dharma-Sangha; the three bodies of a buddha; three types of Dharma; the three poisons; three mysteries

9. April 30. Four immeasurables; four conversions; four visualizations; the four foundations of mindfulness; four paths to siddhis; dharmas of the four directions

10. May 7. The five skandhas; the five bodhisattva vows; five buddhas; five faculties and powers; five obstacles to samadhi; the five prerequisites for practice

11. May 14. The six realms of existence and the suffering in each; the six perfections of the bodhisattva

12. May 21. The seven bodhyangas progressively and as antidotes to the meditative extremes of lethargy and restlessness; the eight-fold path to liberation; the eight thoughts of a Dharma practitioner

13. May 28. The nine skillful means; the ten bodhisattva precepts; the ten reliances