Topics Include: 1) Review of the place of right action within the Four Noble Truths. 2) The significance of the karmic consequences of our acts. 3) Understanding the negative and positive aspects of karma…the complexity of determining karmic outcomes…the concept of a moral order in which we live…the fundamental importance of Ahimsa or non-harming. 4) The roots of the concept of a karmic moral order within the ancient Vedic traditions of India. 5) The foundation for the concept of Ahimsa, the unfolding of the natural order or Nature. 6) Four basic characteristics of this karmic moral order: justice, compassion, impermanence, and agency. 7) The question of what is sacred and divine in the karmic moral order as opposed to the Abrahamic traditions. Is Buddhism just basically a secular system of morality and ethics? 8) Understanding the concept of the sacred in the context of the Dharma: the omnipresent flow of life itself as it manifests in our lives. 9) Coming into the Sacred through the stilling of our discursive thoughts. Mindfulness as a sacred presence. 10) Finding a balanced relationship between our conventional lives and our sacred presence. 11) Finding similarities between the Dharma and the contemplative traditions of the Abrahamic religions. 12) The problem of the abnegation of accountability in modern society.
March 20, 2021
54 min.