Topics Include: 1) The delusion that consumption brings happiness. 2) The role of Buddhist wisdom in counteracting ignorance: the law of karma, the benefits of generosity and ethical conduct. 3) The role of good desire: desire for the good and desire for truth. 4) Reinterpreting the idea of Nibbana as a means of defining an alternative social ethic in consonance with other religious traditions. 5) The Buddhist concepts of happiness, peace, freedom and security. 6) How we misconceive these attributes. We see sensual pleasure as a source of happiness; we see peace as the absence of conflict by subduing our opponents; we mistake freedom for license; we think of security from external harm through external defenses. 7) Acting in ways that counteract greed, hatred, and delusion. 8) Following the Noble Eightfold Path through virtue, concentration, and wisdom. 9) The inherently social nature of our personal spiritual evolution. 10) The two choices ahead of us: untrammeled development guided by science and technology or the use of technology for the betterment of humankind. We need a shift from external development to internal development. 11) The world today as a projection of our collective minds and the need for a transformation of consciousness. The need to heal ourselves. 12) the fundamental unity of all religions in the recognition of human dignity.
25 March, 2023
51 min.