Lezione 1
Introduction And Saying What Can’t Be Said
Today's session will focus on an introduction to what Zen is, and how the word has been used across time and culture. This first session will also describe the benefit and reasoning behind doing Zen practice and aim to, shed light on how the essential nature of Zen practice can be implemented, habitually into your own life.
Lezione 2
Zazen
On Day 2, we will be exploring an introduction to the radically simple ways that Zen is practiced. Zen practice is incredibly bare bones and can be done by people of all faiths, at all times, and, will not conflict with existing beliefs or value systems. Day 2 also goes over a number of specific ways to practice Zazen.
Lezione 3
Forms, Rituals, And Mannerisms
Day 3 covers basic ceremonies and rituals performed in Zen, such as bowing, prostrations, and the meaning of a Zen "service." A key lesson in today's session is understanding how, through these various rituals and practices, Zen maintains a flexible balance between obsessive strictness and spontaneous form.
Lezione 4
Awakening, Satori, And Enlightenment
What are the states Awakening, Satori and Enlightenment, to the Zen tradition? If you practice, will you have a breakthrough experience? In today's lesson, we will discuss the answers to these questions and others, including: Are some people more enlightened than others? Is there a hierarchy in enlightenment and if so, how does it look? Once we have poked at all of these questions, we will seek to delve a little deeper into their origins and true meanings.
Lezione 5
History
In today's session, from Siddhartha Gautama, to the present day, we will cover a quick history of Zen. This includes, how it started, where it comes from, some of its culture, societal influences, and how it got to where it is today.
Lezione 6
Teachers
In this lesson, we will take a look at the role that teachers and masters play within the Zen tradition and how, having a good teacher, can affect your practice. Zen masters come in all shapes and sizes, with some incredibly traditional, and some highly unconventional. The role of a teacher in Zen, should not be contrained to our formal ideas of what a teacher should look like, instead, our relationship with a Zen master is entirely dependent on the individual goal of our practice.
Lezione 7
Emptiness And Compassion
Today we will look at the two most important teachings in all of Zen and all of Mahayana Buddhism: Emptiness and Compassion. We will take a look at what they are, how they are misunderstood, and how understanding and working with them in our practice can really help us along the path towards our destiny.
Lezione 8
The Sixteen Bodhisattva Precepts
In this lesson, we will take a look at the main precepts, considerations, and contemplations, that are found in Zen Buddhism, and how they can aid us in our practice. We will do this through taking a closer look at the core, Sixteen Bodhisattva Precepts.
Lezione 9
Koans And Fascicles
In this lesson, we will take a look at Zen Koans and Zen's use of Stories (called Fascicles), and how these are used in the various schools of Zen. We will look at how a few words and acts of simplicity, can express incredibly complex and deep ideas. These tales can be used and applied time and time again, both in your practice and in your everyday life, to help understand the nature of the world.
Lezione 10
Reflections In A Dew Drop
What does it all mean though? How do we bring all of these teachings together into the actuality of our existence? In this session, this last day of this course, we will unify all the teachings into one day, affirming the real life applicability, merit, and beauty, of Zen practice and it's underpinning ideology.
