EIGHT SCHOOLS OF BUDDHISM
Origins and Development of Buddhist Traditions​

An eight-week course
Saturdays, 9:00am – 10:30am (Pacific)​
April 5 – May 24, 2025
Tuition: Sliding scale ($325 to $240)

​All Classes are held live on Zoom with recordings of every class available for participants afterwards
 

​DESCRIPTION

The ‘Eight Schools’ is a traditional Buddhist classification system used for understanding the relationship between the different varieties of Buddhism​, such as Zen, Pure Land Buddhism, Vajrayana and so forth. ​Using this eight school model​, ​this course covers the 2000+ year history of Buddhism and is intended to contextualize the different Buddhist practices and communities found throughout the world today​. Each week will introduce a different tradition and its associated practices​, beginning with the ancient renunciatory traditions persevered in the Theravada schools of Southeast Asia, and concluding with the highly technical, esoteric teachings of the remote, mountainous temples of Tibet, China, and Japan​.

 

This course is the third part of the LUSB Buddhist ​Primer Series, designed to show how the essential teachings and deeper philosophies presented in the first two courses have been put into practice throughout history. This course may be taken at any point in the series, or without any previous study. 

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Register for Eight Schools

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THE NEVERENDING DHARMA​

Unlocking the Magic and Mystery of Buddhist Sūtras

​An eight-week course

Tuesdays, 6:30-8:00pm
April 8 – May 27, 2025
Tuition: Sliding scale ($32​5 to $240)

All Classes are held live on Zoom with recordings of every class available for participants afterwards

 

DESCRIPTION

Rather than a single authoritative scripture, Buddhism recognizes hundreds up to thousands​ of texts as sacred, ​literature known as sūtras​. Remarkably, ​these poetic texts all follow a consistent structure: each begins with the phrase, 'Thus have I heard,' followed by details about the location, audience, and the specific occasion—usually a question posed to the Buddha—that led to the teaching.​ While many sūtras appear to be simply historical records of things that were said and perhaps done in response to questions, the majority of sūtras, especially those of the Mahāyāna traditions of Central and East Asia, are literary marvels weaving together complex tapestries of allegory, narration, and philosophical discourse.

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This course​ provides the key to reading any sūtra ​and ​gives a broad overview of the history, translation, and transmission of Buddhist sūtras, from what is known of their origins up to their availability in the modern world. ​The course also investigates areas still shrouded in mystery, including sūtras that remain lost, forgotten, untranslated, or yet to be studied.

 

Register for The Neverending Dharma

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