Mahayana principles in Vajrayana practices
Message from the professor:
I’ve been doing research on how sādhanas help one internalize key Mahāyāna philosophical teachings, such as emptiness. In this talk I would discuss how sādhana practice both presumes that one has done the ordinary and extraordinary preliminaries, but also seek to deepen them, hopefully leading to meditative realizations of selflessness, emptiness, and interdependence. This talk would touch on Creation Stage (bskyed rim) practice without going into esoteric details, focusing instead on how they ideally deepen one’s realization of key exoteric teachings.
David Gray, PhD teaches Asian religions at the Santa Clara University. He received his B.A. in Religious Studies from Wesleyan University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in the History of Religion from Columbia University.*
His research explores the development of tantric Buddhist traditions in South Asia, and their dissemination in Tibet and East Asia, with a focus on the Yogini tantras, a genre of Buddhist tantric literature that focused on female deities and yogic practices involving the subtle body. He focuses particularly on the Cakrasamvara Tantra, an esoteric Indian Buddhist scripture that serves as the basis for a number of important Nepali and Tibetan Buddhist practice traditions.
*Older Buddhist practitioners in the area will be interested to know that David studied under Jan Willis at Wesleyan and under Robert Thurman at Columbia.
About the Visiting Scholar Series
We are taking advantage of the school break during the summer to have some experts from nearby universities speak on their various areas of expertise.
- August 13: Professor Richard Tieszen, San Jose State University, Dept. of Philosophy
- August 20: Professor Nirvikar Singh, University of California at Santa Cruz, South Asia Studies,
Sikh and Punjabi Studies, Economics Department - August 27: Professor David Gray, University of Santa Clara, Religious Studies Dept., (Asian Religions)
All three of these scholars have personal connections with Land of Medicine Buddha and with our organization. That is why they, in particular, have been asked to give these talks. They each have a different area of expertise. Come learn some new things.
| Date(s): | Thursday, August 27 |
| Times: | 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm |
| Instructor/Leader: | David Gray PhD |
| Type of event: | special event |
| Number of sessions: | 1 |
| Level: | general |
| Participation: | open to all |
| Location: | Main Gompa |
| iCal Link: | iCal |
| Add to Google Calendar: |  |
Registration and Donations for Visiting Scholar Series: David Gray on Sadhanas
Online registration is now closed for this event.