Wednesday Reading Group

(Zoom Only)

The Reading Group has been meeting for well over a decade and continues to bring forward and discuss books expressing an extremely wide range of Buddhist views and interests (intentionally texts representing diverse traditions, races, gender orientations, etc). The conversation is about making the dharma real in our lives. We meet on our regular Zoom link (click here) at 8:00 on Wednesday evenings and sit together for 30 minutes, after which our book discussion runs for an hour from 8:30 to 9:30.

Many join the group at 8:30 after the sitting period, and it is common for attendees to not have read (and even not to own!) the book we're reading, so please don't let this be a barrier to your own attendance. The book serves as a point of departure...and if the conversation interests you in the text, you can buy it and start to catch up before the next week's conversation.

The discussion is facilitated by one of the regular senior attendees, often Gareth, to help keep the conversation smooth and ensure that all are included and heard as they wish.

Currently Reading

A master of Tibetan Buddhism cuts through prevalent misconceptions around karma and rebirth to get to the root cause of our suffering—and how we can end it
 
The Buddha’s teaching on karma (literally, “action”) is nothing other than his compassionate explanation of the way things are: our thoughts and actions determine our future, and therefore we ourselves are largely responsible for the way our lives unfold. Yet this supremely useful teaching is often ignored due to the misconceptions found in popular culture, especially oversimplifications that make it seem like something not to be taken seriously. Karma is not simple, as Traleg Kyabgon shows, and it’s to be taken very seriously indeed.
 
In this book, Kyabgon cuts through the persistent illusions we cling to about karma to show what it really is—the mechanics of why we suffer and how we can make the suffering end. He explains how a realistic understanding of karma is indispensable to Buddhist practice, how it provides a foundation for a moral life, and how understanding it can have a transformative effect on the way we relate to our thoughts and feelings and to those around us.

Future Books

The group periodically undertakes a selection process of identifying future books of interest and submitting for a group vote to identify those of broad interest. Books currently selected and to be read and discussed by the group, in upcoming order, are:

• Receiving the Marrow: Teachings on Dogen by Soto Zen Women Priests: Various women Zen teachers, Ed: Eido Frances Carney