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Wednesday Reading Group
The reading group is a peer-moderated reading and discussion group. Discussions are informed by the reading material, but all are welcome and can benefit from and contribute meaningfully to the discussion without reading the material. No comments or directions of inquiry are "banned".
Meditation before discussion is open to all, but not required...as is joining the group for late dinner and/or drinks at a local restaurant.
Currently Reading
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In this down-to-earth book, Ben Connelly sure-handedly guides us through
the intricacies of Yogacara and the richness of the “Thirty
Verses.” Dedicating a chapter of the book to each line of the poem, he
lets us thoroughly lose ourselves in its depths. His warm and wise
voice unpacks and contextualizes its wisdom, showing us how we can apply
its ancient insights to our own modern lives, to create a life of
engaged peace, harmony, compassion, and joy. In fourth-century India one of the great geniuses of Buddhism, Vasubandhu, sought to reconcile the diverse ideas and forms of Buddhism practiced at the time and demonstrate how they could be effectively integrated into a single system. This was the Yogacara movement, and it continues to have great influence in modern Tibetan and Zen Buddhism. “Thirty Verses on Consciousness Only,” or “Trimshika,” is the most concise, comprehensive, and accessible work by this revered figure. Vasubandhu’s “Thirty Verses” lay out a path of practice that integrates the most powerful of Buddhism’s psychological and mystical possibilities: Early Buddhism’s practices for shedding afflictive emotional habit and the Mahayana emphasis on shedding divisive concepts, the path of individual liberation and the path of freeing all beings, the path to nirvana and the path of enlightenment as the very ground of being right now |
Reading Schedule for Current Book
| DATE | PAGES |
| 1/2 |
Commence Ben Connelly - Inside Vasubandhu's Yogacara |
| 1/9 | Inside Vasubandhu's Yogacara - Chapters 1 - 2 |
| 1/16 | Inside Vasubandhu's Yogacara - Chapters 3 - 5 |
| 1/23 | Inside Vasubandhu's Yogacara - Chapters 6 - 8 |
| 1/30 | Inside Vasubandhu's Yogacara - Chapters 9 - 11 |
| Thereafter | Inside Vasubandhu's Yogacara - Future chapters to be determined by the group |
Schedule
 | 7:15 7:30 8:30 9:30 | Open, setup Meditation Book Discussion Afters at a Local Restaurant |
Upcoming Books
We regularly poll the group to determine the book selection. Selections range throughout the Buddhist Book spectrum. Upcoming books (in the order we anticipate reading them) are:
- Analayo - Meditator's Life of the Buddha
- Ruth King - Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out
- Pema Chodron - No Time to Lose
- Walpole Rahula - What the Buddha Taught
- Zenju Earthlyn Manuel - Sanctuary: A meditation on Home, Homelessness and Belonging
- Richard Hanson - Buddha's Brain
- Thubten Chodron - Open Heart, Clear Mind: An Introduction to the Buddha's Teachings
- Robert Thurman - Anger