Truth, Views and Values

Instructor(s): John Peacock and Akincano Weber

Program Description:

In this period of uncertainty and distrust, following the rise of what has been called 'post-factual discourse', 'post-truth politics' and the 'technological disruption of truth' – what do Buddhist teachings on truths, views, and values have to offer? 

The program presents an Early Buddhist perspective on what constitutes a truth, a view, and a value and how they relate to each other. We will consider the following questions: Whether values can be recognized and how we do so; whether they are discovered, or need to be established; how we can relate to them, either through cultivation or by letting go, and if there are alternatives in between.

The two teachers will shed light on the Buddhist use of these charged terms, their varied history and the shifts and continuities in their meaning; they will explore the existential and ethical necessity of engaging with the dimensions of experience to which these words refer to today, and how practitioners can skillfully cultivate clarity, compassion and effectiveness on their emancipatory path.

Online Schedule:

This program is hosted on Zoom and closed captions are available. You can check the time of the group sessions in your timezone here: https://www.worldtimebuddy.com. The schedule of Zoom meetings for this program (shown in US Eastern Time) is as follows:

Thursday, June 20

09:00-11:00 AM ET Opening Session, Program Overview (CET 15:00-17:00)

1:00-4:00 PM ET Afternoon Session (CET 19:00-22:00)

4:15-4:45 PM ET Closing Session (CET 22:15–22:45)

Friday, June 21th

08:15 AM ET Sit (CET 14:15)

09:00-11:00 AM ET Morning Session (CET 15:00-17:00)

1:00-4:00 PM ET Afternoon Session (CET 19:00-22:00)

4:15-4:45 PM ET Closing Session (CET 22:15–22:45)

Saturday, June 22

08:15 AM ET Sit (CET 14:15)

09:00-11:00 AM ET Morning Session (CET 15:00-17:00

1:00-4:00 PM ET Afternoon Session (CET 19:00-22:00)

4:15-4:45 PM ET Closing Session (CET 22:15–22:45)

Sunday, June 23

08:15 AM ET Sit (CET 14:15)

09:00-11:00 AM ET Morning Session (CET 15:00-17:00)

1:00-4:00 PM ET Program Closing Session (CET 19:00-22:00)

Please note that sessions will be recorded and made available to participants within 48 hours of each session. Recordings remain available for two weeks from the program end date.

Cancellation Policy:

Registration fees for all online programs are nonrefundable after the program start date. Cancellations prior to the program start date incur a $25 cancellation fee. Application-based and online Path programs incur a $100 cancellation fee.

DEI:

As we work to become a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive community, we invite feedback/suggestions you may have regarding ways that we can make participation in the program more accessible and welcoming. Please email us at contact@buddhistinquiry.org.

About the Instructor(s):
• 

  John Peacock

  John Peacock is both an academic and a Buddhist practitioner of nearly fifty years. Trained initially in the Tibetan Gelugpa tradition in India, he subsequently spent time in Sri Lanka studying Theravada. After doing a doctorate in philosophy, he taught Buddhist and Western philosophy and then Buddhist Studies at the University of Bristol. He went on to be Associate Director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, co-direct the Master of Studies programme in MBCT (Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy) at Oxford University, and teach Buddhist psychology on the same course. John is now retired from academia and continues to teach meditation, as he has done for more than thirty-five years.

• 

  Akincano Weber

  Akincano M. Weber is a European Buddhist teacher and psychotherapist (MA). A former monk, he has lived and practised for 20 years in European and Thai Forest monasteries. Particular interests are early Buddhist texts, stillness, and contemplative psychology. He is the guiding teacher of Atammaya Cologne, Germany, and teaches meditation and Buddhist Psychology in secular and traditional contexts in Europe and overseas.