Online: Seeing the Dhamma – How Practice Leads to Understanding

Online: Seeing the Dhamma – How Practice Leads to Understanding
 
with Sean Oakes, PhD
 
Thursdays, May 22nd – June 19th, 2025 | 7:00pm – 8:30pm ET
 

 
What does it mean to be free as we move through the world? The Buddha described freedom as the natural consequence of understanding all the experiences of embodied life in terms of how they affect our hearts. We crave reliable safety, pleasure, and connection but instead find life unsatisfying, fleeting, and even our sense of self unstable. These three “marks” can be seen in anything we bring our attention to.

This 5-week course is the third in a series of practice and study courses aimed to build a strong foundation for Theravāda Buddhist training. We will explore a set of teachings on how to understand the world, looking at the core analytical lists of the marks, defilements, aggregates, and sense bases. The heart of this study is the practice of applied mindfulness, where we bring persistent, loving attention to the world as we experience it, with the aim to see how it works and be free of its snares. You do not have to have taken the other courses in the series to take this one, and beginners are welcome.

We will read original texts from the Pāli Canon as the source of our meditation instructions, and weave in supporting material from contemporary neuroscience and psychology. Each week we will meditate together, read passages from the discourses, and support each other in building or deepening a daily meditation practice. You will come away with deepened skill in Buddhist mindfulness, and a framework for bringing the discernment of spiritual inquiry into every part of your life.

Registration:

Please register below. If you are able, registering at the “Supporter” level enables others to attend at the “Subsidized” level. Thank you for your generosity! (Please note that the registration price includes a base level of teacher support, and you will have the opportunity to donate more after the program.)

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Volunteering

All of our programs rely on volunteers to support our teachers and staff with various tasks and responsibilities. Volunteering allows you to participate in our programs at no cost. To inquire about volunteering opportunities, please fill out our inquiry form, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.