Topics Include: 1) The early stages of the Buddha’s going forth: the life of a bhikkhu. 2) The prevalent issue of the time: escaping from the endless round of rebirths or samsara. The role of craving. 3) The life of monks in sanghas of the day. 4) The prevailing doctrines of Brahman/Atman in the Advaita tradition and Purusa/Praktri in the Samkhya tradition. 5) Gotama’s training under Alara Kalama in the Samkhya tradition. Seeing the true Self or purusa through the veil of ignorance, or praktri: the power of the intellect. 6) The difficulty of “realizing” Alara Kalama’s teaching and Gotama’s introduction to meditation. 7) The power of yoga or meditation in taming our unruly, constantly distracted minds. The power of our unconscious impulses. 8) The importance of the “death of the ego” to realize the sacred in all the great Axial traditions. 9) The aspirations of Gotama in achieving a sense of unity with purusa or ultimate reality.
22 April, 2023
47 min.