Barre Center for Buddhist Studies

Barre Center for Buddhist Studies

  • About Us
    • New and Notable
    • Mission and Values
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
    • IMS
    • Job Openings
    • Getting to BCBS
    • Mailing List
    • Contact Us
  • Residential Courses
    • Residential Course Calendar
    • Everything You Need to Know
    • Lottery Courses
    • Yearlong Programs
      • Dharma and Art: A Practice of Investigating Perception
      • Nalanda Program
    • Typical Course Schedule
    • Self-Study
    • Continuing Education Credits
    • Financial Assistance
    • Teacher Dāna
  • Online Programs
    • Foundations of a Soulmaking Dharma
    • Satipaṭṭhāna Meditation
    • Entering The Path: An Online Foundations Course in Early Buddhist Study and Practice
    • Dharma and Art: A Practice of Investigating Perception
    • Cancellation Policy
  • Teaching Faculty
  • Resources
    • Insight Journal
    • Bhikkhu Anālayo Lectures
    •  Publications by Bhikkhu Anālayo
    • Books
    • Access to Insight
  • Generosity
    • Donate
    • Planned Giving
    • Stock Transfers
    • Teacher Dāna
    • Volunteer

Self and Not-Self

Self and Not-Self

An eight-week online program exploring the intersection of Self and the Buddhist teachings on Not-Self.

Are you curious about how the Buddhist teachings on Not-Self figure into how we live our daily lives?

Have you ever wondered about the role identity plays on a spiritual path?

This online course offers:

 

video camera
Eight weeks of video lectures. Roughly three ten-minute segments per week.
small groups
Connect in small and large groups throughout the program via video conference. Q/A sessions with lecturing teachers.
one-on-one
One-on-one meetings via video conference with the facilitating teachers available throughout the program for personal practice explorations.
guided-meditation
30-minute guided meditations for each week of the program to integrate study and practice.

Lecturing Teachers

  • Bonnie Duran, DrPH, began Buddhist meditation practice 30 years ago. She is currently participating in the IMS/Spirit Rock Teacher Training. An associate professor of public health, she directs the University of Washington’s Center for Indigenous Health Research.
  • Sebene is a meditation teacher and has been studying Buddhism since majoring in Comparative Religious Studies at McGill University She is a graduate of the Community Dharma Leader Program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and a New York Insight. She is training as retreat teacher with Thanissara and Kittisaro. For over 20 years she worked nationally and internationally for small and large not–for–profits; her work has taken her everywhere from the Tenderloin in San Francisco to refugee camps in Guinea, West Africa.
  • Joseph Goldstein has taught Buddhist meditation worldwide since 1974. A co-founder and guiding teacher of IMS, he also helped envision and establish BCBS and IMS's Forest Refuge center. His books include Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening, One Dharma, Insight Meditation and others.
  • Dr. Engler is a psychologist in private practice in Cambridge, MA. He also teaches and supervises psychotherapy in the Dept. of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He has given many talks, workshops and conferences over the years. He has written extensively on the nature and function of the self in meditation and psychotherapy. His seminal piece, “Being Somebody and Being Nobody,” appeared in Psychoanalysis and Buddhism: An Unfolding Dialogue.
  • Brian Lesage has studied in the Zen, Theravada, and Tibetan schools of Buddhism since 1988. He has taught meditation across the US since 2000 and currently teaches in the vipassana tradition. He also has a private practice in Somatic Experiencing.

 

Curriculum

Week 1: Introduction & the Relevance of this Course for Modern Buddhist Practice
Brian Lesage

Week 2: Introduction to the Teachings on Not-Self
Joseph Goldstein

Week 3: Freedom from the Self Created through Craving & Views
Brian Lesage

Week 4: Freedom from the Self Created through Conceit
Bonnie Duran

Week 5: Interweaving Not-Self and Identity within Early Buddhism
Brian Lesage

Week 6: The Psychological Importance of Identity
Jack Engler

Week 7: Examining Cultural Spiritual Bypassing
Sebene Selassie

Week 8: Conclusion
Brian Lesage

Commitment and Attendance

This course requires attendance at small-group meetings via video conference every week. We do not require attendance for large-group Q/A sessions on occasional weeks. These sessions will be recorded. Including the meeting times and time for reviewing other materials, the required time commitment is roughly 3 hours per week.

Each week includes:

  • 30 minutes of video lecture
  • 30 minutes of guided meditation
  • 1 hour of small group or large group meetings
  • 1 hour of personal time for reading suttas, reflections, and key points
  • Additional time for personal practice and digestion

Over the course of the program, participants will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with the facilitating teachers for sign-up sessions of 15-30 minutes each.

Registration Process and Pre-Course Conversation

This course requires an application due to limited space. If you are accepted, we require a short (10 minutes or less) video conference with a BCBS staff member to ensure clarity of commitment and comfort level with technology. There is a prerequisite of one-week of continuous silent meditation retreat experience or a familiarity with vipassana meditation practice and Buddhism.

Program Fee, Teacher Dāna, and Scholarships

The course fee is $325. This does not include financial support for group and individual meetings held by the facilitating teachers. As is customary at BCBS, there will be an opportunity to offer dāna to the teachers at the end of the program.

We are committed to making this program accessible to all. Scholarships are available to help supplement the course fee.

Upcoming Iterations

This course has no planned future iterations.

Questions? Email Us

Located in Central Massachusetts

149 Lockwood Road, Barre, MA 01005
978 355 2347     contact@buddhistinquiry.org

 

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  • Home
  • About Us
    • New and Notable
    • Mission and Values
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
    • IMS
    • Job Openings
    • Getting to BCBS
    • Mailing List
    • Contact Us
  • Residential Courses
    • Residential Course Calendar
    • Yearlong Programs
      • Dharma and Art: A Practice of Investigating Perception
      • Nalanda Program
    • Everything You Need to Know
    • Typical Course Schedule
    • Self-Study
    • Continuing Education Credits
    • Financial Assistance
    • Teacher Dāna
  • Online Programs
    • Foundations of a Soulmaking Dharma
    • Satipaṭṭhāna Meditation
    • Entering The Path: An Online Foundations Course in Early Buddhist Study and Practice
    • Dharma and Art: A Practice of Investigating Perception
    • Cancellation Policy
  • Teaching Faculty
  • Resources
    • Insight Journal
    • Bhikkhu Anālayo Lectures
    •  Publications by Bhikkhu Anālayo
    • Books
    • Access to Insight
  • Generosity
    • Donate
    • Volunteer
    • Teacher Dāna
    • Planned Giving
    • Stock Transfers