Co-hosted with the Shantideva Center

Wednesday, March 11th

6:30-8pm ET

Hybrid | $25

These monthly Buddhist teachings with Ven Robina Courtin include a 90 minute dharma talk on a variety of subjects, including a question and answer period at the end of the lecture. On March 11th, the lecture featured is:

A BIRD NEEDS TWO WINGS: WISDOM AND COMPASSION

Compassionate action is the point of Buddhist practice. But our actions – helping our next-door neighbor or helping stop the destruction of the planet – need to be grounded in wisdom. As the Dalai Lama says, “Compassion is not enough; we need wisdom.” 

First we need to develop our own marvelous potential to live our lives with self-confidence, contentment, and courage. The key to success is to recognize our own suffering and how it’s caused by our own attachment, anger and other unhappy emotions. We become intimately familiar with our mind – the whole spectrum of our thoughts, feelings, and emotions – and learn to unravel and deconstruct them and, finally, change them. As Lama Zopa Rinpoche says, “We can mold our mind into any shape we like.”

Now we can go beyond our narrow sense of self and realize everyone else is in the same boat, now we can begin to be of benefit to others. This brings optimism and confidence that every small action counts and we develop the courage to never give up. The great bodhisattvas are fierce in their determination to never give up on sentient beings.

During this teaching, we will explore how to become vividly aware of our emotions and feelings, and how to gradually develop the astonishing potential within each one of us, for our own sake and the sake of others.

BIO: 

Venerable Robina Courtin has worked full-time for Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s organization, the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, since her ordination in the late 1970s. Over the years she has served as editorial director of Wisdom Publications, editor of Mandala Magazine, executive director of Liberation Prison Project, and as a touring teacher of Buddhism. Her life and work with prisoners have been featured in the documentary films Chasing Buddha and Key to Freedom. Venerable Robina is known for her straightforward and energetic teaching style, helping people discover the potential of their own minds with clear explanations about Tibetan Buddhism and how to apply it to their lives. Visit her website at http://www.robinacourtin.com.