Week 1: The Senses as Gateways to Fulfillment
Week 2: Bodily Sensation: Relaxation and Awareness
Week 3: Seeing: Beauty and Spaciousness
Week 4: Hearing: Calm and Insight
Week 5: Tasting Joy
Week 6: Balancing the Mind through the Senses
Week 7: Review Class
A vast potential to savor beauty and happiness lies untapped
within our senses and mind. When opened, our senses can infuse our lives with
lightness and satisfaction. Viewing a brilliant sunset, smelling the flowers of
spring, or hearing the sound of a loved one's voice, our senses can become
pathways to the heart of our Being. Through approaches that are easy to
implement and deeply transformative, we will explore how to tap into our senses
during everyday activities. As all that we encounter becomes more vibrant, we
naturally find that we are more available to share the richness of life with
others.
Classes meet online
for six weeks, for one and one-half hours (90 minutes) per week. Classes are
recorded and you will have access to the recordings for your personal use only,
for six months. Each week, there will be a short presentation accompanied by
experiential practices and discussion. An online community portal gives you the
ability to meet and dialogue with your fellow students between classes. Short
readings will be offered for those who wish during the week.
Short readings will
be excerpted from the following books by Tarthang Tulku: Seeing the Beauty of
Being; Love of Beauty; A Garland of Flowers; Joy of Being; Gesture of Balance
Elon Goldstein is Lecturer in Buddhist Studies at Harvard University's Divinity School where he has taught since 2017 and is Lecturer in Religious Studies at Brandeis University. Previously he was Assistant Professor of Buddhism and Comparative Religion at the University of South Carolina. He holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University in Buddhism and South Asian Religions with training in reading Sanskrit and Tibetan texts. Additionally, he has a master’s from Harvard Divinity School, a master’s in Education from Claremont Graduate University, and a B.A. from Harvard University. In his first career, Elon taught literature and history in California public schools. Elon has been a student of Buddhism since 1988 and a student of Venerable Tarthang Tulku's teachings since 1992. Elon takes joy in parenting his two daughters with whom he and his wife share a vibrant home filled with pets.
Simon Cook has a Geography Degree from Southampton University, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from Oxford University. He taught English Language to adults for many years, in the UK and Europe, and has taught Tibetan refugees in India. Simon did the Nine-month Kum Nye Tibetan Yoga Programme at the Nyingma Institute in Berkeley in 1986/87. He works for the charity Age UK, helping older people. He teaches Kum Nye at a local therapy centre.
