2025
Classes by date and theme, with recordings and homework:
January 9: Four Noble Truths and three motivations
Study and Reflect
Turning the Dharma Wheel SN 56.11
Dukkha Sutta SN 38.14
Essence of Ambrosia: read the introduction and table of contents
January 23: Eightfold Path: View and Intention
Recording of January 23 class.
Study and Reflect
Noble Eightfold Path Scan by Gregory Kramer. (2-page PDF)
Gregory Kramer, Whole Life Path, chapter 4 (Right View) & chapter 5 (Right Intention)
February 6: Eightfold Path: Action, Speech, & Livelihood
Study and Reflect:
Contemplation on positive actions from Essence of Ambrosia by Taranatha.
Five Precepts: list and explanation by Pema Khandro.
Five Precepts and Ten Actions – traditional lists.
Five Mindfulness Trainings – an interpretation by Thich Nhat Hanh.
Delusions: Six Root and Twenty Secondary kleshas and their roots in confusion.
Gregory Kramer, Whole Life Path: chapters 6,7,8: Right Action, Speech, & Livelihood
February 20: Eightfold Path: Effort, Mindfulness, and Samadhi
Homework from February 20 class.
Recording of February 20 class.
Study to support reflection: Here are three one-page handouts that may support your practice of reflecting and meditating.
Here are two good sources for in-depth reading. But remember the purpose of study is to support for reflection and meditation. Don’t let study replace reflection and meditation. If you need coaching on how to reflect or how to meditate, email george@dekeling.community to set up a meeting.
- Gregory Kramer, A Whole-Life Path. Chapters 9, 10, 11
- Ken McLeod, Wake Up to Your Life. Chapter 3: Cultivating Attention
March 6: Four Reminders (part 1)
For daily recitation:
Four Thoughts on one page (PDF).
Four Thoughts verses and commentary (online version) (4-page print version)
Another one-page version, four verses for daily recitation.
These freedoms and advantages are hard to find and easily lost;
Everything changes, nothing stays the same, and death comes quickly;
Every thought, word, and deed is a seed that inevitably grows into experience;
And cycles of confusion and conflicting emotions do not lead to happiness or peace;
— on these I shall reflect.
Beyond the homework: additional resources:
Precious human life
– Gampopa, Jewel Ornament of Liberation, chapter 2
– Kongtrul, Torch of True Meaning, p.5-10, 104
– Patrul, Words of my Perfect Teacher, chapter 1
– Taranatha, Essence of Ambrosia, contemplations 2-4
The truth of impermanence
– Gampopa, Jewel Ornament of Liberation, chapter 4
– Kongtrul, Torch of True Meaning, p.11-14, 105
– Patrul, Words of my Perfect Teacher, chapter 2
– McLeod, Wake Up to Your Life, chapter 4
– Taranatha, Essence of Ambrosia, contemplations 5-8
The inevitability of karma
– Gampopa, Jewel Ornament of Liberation, chapter 6
– Kongtrul, Torch of True Meaning, p.15-20, 106
– Patrul, Words of my Perfect Teacher, chapter 4
– McLeod, Wake Up to Your Life, chapter 5
– Taranatha, Essence of Ambrosia, contemplations 16-21
The faults of samsara
– Gampopa, Jewel Ornament of Liberation, chapter 5
– Kongtrul, Torch of True Meaning, p.21-27, 107
– Patrul, Words of my Perfect Teacher, chapter 3
– McLeod, Wake Up to Your Life, p.138-151
– Taranatha, Essence of Ambrosia, contemplations 9-15 and 22-33
March 20: Four Reminders (part 2)
Handouts for printing:
Four Reminders: Reflections.
Four Opponent Powers.
Delusions: Six Root and Twenty Secondary.
Prayer to Empty the Six Realms.
April 3: Refuge and Bodhicitta (part 1)
Refuge, Bodhicitta, and Dedication liturgy for daily recitation (2-page PDF).
When you walk, walk with bodhicitta. When you sit, sit with bodhicitta.
When you stand, stand with bodhicitta. When you sleep, sleep with bodhicitta.
When you look, look with bodhicitta. When you eat, eat with bodhicitta.
When you speak, speak with bodhicitta. When you think, think with bodhicitta.
~ Khunu Rinpoche, Vast As the Heavens, Deep As the Sea, verses 338-9
Forty One Prayers to Cultivate Awakening from the Flower Garland Sutra (Sanskrit Avatamsaka Sutra or Chinese HuaYen)
April 17: Refuge and Bodhicitta (part 2)
Homework for April 17. 1-page PDF.
Additional resources:
Refuge, bodhicitta, and dedication liturgy for daily recitation–the version we use on Monday nights as well as most classes and retreats. It has the Tibetan transliteration as well as the English.
Kagyu refuge tree image. Used as a support for refuge and bodhicitta, and as a visual object for cultivating calm abiding.
Bodhicitta is the Essence of Dharma. 6-page PDF handout to go with the homework.
May 1: Four Immeasurables (part 1 of 4)
Homework from May 1: Introduction to the Four Immeasurables.
Daylong practice May 17 by separate registration.
Excellent resources for further study and reflection on the Four Immeasurables:
Shantideva, The Bodhisattva Way of Life
Gampopa, Jewel Ornament of Liberation, chapter 7
Taranatha, Essence of Ambrosia, contemplations 34-41
Sharon Salzberg, Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness
Sharon Salzberg, The Kindness Handbook
Sharon Salzberg, The Force of Kindness
Kathleen McDonald, Awakening the Kind Heart
Ken McLeod, Wake Up to Your Life, chapter 7
May 15: Four Immeasurables (part 2 of 4)
Homework: continue practicing with Introduction to the Four Immeasurables.
May 29: Four Immeasurables (part 3 of 4)
June 12: Four Immeasurables (part 4 of 4)
June 26: Shamatha (part 1 of 2)
Handout: Shamatha: Hindrances, Faults, and Supports. 4-page PDF.
Handout: Introduction to Calm Abiding and Clear Seeing. 20-page PDF.
July 10: Shamatha (part 2 of 2)
July 24: Vipashyana (part 1 of 2)
July 24 class recording. The guided meditation begins one hour in (at 19:39 PM).
Traditional “preliminaries” that support shamatha and vipashyana:
> Set up a clean quiet place to practice, perhaps with a Dharma text or Buddha image.
> Reflect on one or more of the four thoughts that turn the mind.
> Relax and align your physical posture.
> Recite the seven branch prayer.
> Take refuge and generate the spirit of awakening.
> Touch into four kindness, compassion, joy, or equanimity.
August 24: Vipashyana (part 2 of 2)
- Please print: Introduction to Calm Abiding and Clear Seeing. 20-page PDF.
August 21: Faith and Devotion
Traditional texts for cultivating faith and devotion:
September 4: Mahayana (part 1 of 2)
September 4 homework: bodhicitta and six paramitas.
September 18: Mahayana (2 of 2)
September 18 class recording: equalizing and exchanging, lojong and tonglen.
October 2: Vajrayana
October 16: Mahamudra: The Great Seal
October 16 recording: Part One and Part Two.
Mahamudra texts for study and reflection:
- Aspirations for Mahamudra by the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje.
- The Vajra Song of Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye.
October 30: Carrying the Path (part 1)
October 30 homework. Reflections for your ongoing daily practice.
November 13: Carrying the Path (part 2)
Stages of the Path and Three Motivations. One-page PDF.
You can join the BPP channel on Discord with this invitation code.
STUDY RESOURCES
How to find a sutta or sutra. There will be lots of quotes from various Theravada suttas and Mahayana sutras, so check out this key to finding them.
Glossary of Buddhist terms in English, Sanskrit, Pali, and Tibetan.
What to read, and making sure reading supports practice
Uncountable Buddhist texts and manuals have been written and distributed over 2500 years and many different cultures. You couldn’t read them all if you tried. Better to find a text that speaks to you and then take whatever time it takes to absorb it deeply, until you directly experience what it’s talking about. I will always remember Lama Michael Conklin gently informing us that if we read too much, it might be because we’re avoiding the actual practice that the text is talking about. So as you read, keep connecting the words with the meaning, with the actual experiences.
Pretty much everything you’ll “need” to study for this course will be handed out in class. But if you’re interested in further study, the traditional and modern texts listed below are all worth reading and re-reading. Note that several are available for immediate download. Note also you can rquest by email a copy of Wake Up to Your Life.
Traditional Texts
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Lamp for the Path of Enlightenment, by Atisha.
Atisha’s verses set the basic template for later texts on the stages of the path (lam-rim). Here is a PDF version of the Lamp and here is a commentary by Khunu Rinpoche.
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Essence of Ambrosia, by Taranatha.
Essence of Ambrosia is a non-sectarian stages of the path composed as a series of contemplations. Here is a 62-page PDF file.
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Jewel Ornament of Liberation, by Gampopa.
Translation by Khenpo Konchog Gyaltsen Rinpoche. The encyclopedic lam-rim by the Kagyu forefather who brought together the monastic Kadam school of Atisha with the mountain yogi tradition of Milarepa. The Jewel Ornament is a 500-page tome but it’s available as a PDF here.
A Precious Garland for the Supreme Path of the Three Types of Individual: The Root of Dakpo’s Four Dharmas. This is a brief lam-rim by Gampopa based on his famous Four Dharmas: Turning the mind to the Dharma, Dharma progressing along the path, the path clarifying confusion, and confusion dawning as wisdom. And here is a commentary by Gompa Tsultrim Nyingpo.
Modern Texts
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A Whole-Life Path, by Gregory Kramer.
A thorough, contemplative exploration of the Noble Eightfold Path, with citations to the Theravada suttas. Studying this book will bring home the how the early Buddhist teachings are the foundation for the later Mahayana and Vajrayana. Kramer also applies the eightfold path to the modern social, economic, and political world.
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How to Meditate on the Stages of the Path: A Guide to the Lamrim, by Kathleen McDonald (Sangye Khadro). Written by a long-time Tibetan Buddhist nun in the Gelug school. As a Gelugpa, her book is based on Tsongkhapa’s The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path of Enlightenment (Lam-rim Chen-mo). The Great Treatise itself runs a thousand pages, but here is Tsongkhapa’s Abbreviated Points in a five-page PDF.
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Daring Steps Toward Fearlessness, by Ringu Tulku.
A contemporary Kagyu teacher explores the three vehicles of Buddhism by way of commentary on brief traditional Tibetan texts. Here is a 225-page PDF file.
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Wake Up to Your Life, by Ken McLeod.
This is a ten-year manual on the stages of practice (gom-rim). If you need a copy email George.
BPP participants
Join the BPP channel on Discord with this invitation code.
(please do not use or share these addresses outside the BPP group).
Calvin Hayes cactushayes@gmail.com
Dale Dellario ddellario@msn.com
Elaine Johnson ekjhomes@gmail.com
George Draffan george.draffan@gmail.com
Jamie Sinnott jamiesinnottpdx@gmail.com
Jeremy Pratt jp.razr@gmail.com
John Lake jlake77@gmail.com
Joy Broussard joyjuli@yahoo.com
Julene Schlack julene.schlack@gmail.com
Lori Witzel lori.witzel@gmail.com
Margaret King mking478@gmail.com
Mary Woods woodsmb2@gmail.com
Nydia Montiel nydia00@gmail.com
Paulette Dellario pdellario1@gmail.com
Sarah Prescher preschs@gmail.com
Shaun Parkman shaunparkman@gmail.com
Teri Duffy teriduffy49@gmail.com
Teri Gelber teri@gelber2000.net