This summer, the Pacific School of Religion and Dharma Realm Buddhist University present a direct encounter with a living Buddhist tradition dating back to ancient China. Students will have the rare opportunity to experience the daily pace and patterns of a Buddhist contemplative and explore a way of life designed to instill peace, equanimity, and awakening.
The direct immersion in the rhythms of monastic life combines theoretical grasp with direct experience. Participants will read and discuss sacred texts, learn methods of Buddhist meditation (samadhi), traditional chanting, rituals and liturgies, observe a vegetarian diet, and train according to a Buddhist moral code of conduct (vinaya).
This learning “from within” can spur a process of re-examination—both of oneself and of the assumptions and presuppositions on the nature of religion, the religious community, and the notion of a religious experience.
Participants of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.