THE ILLUSION OF SEPARATE SELF and TAKING ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE 

Two socially engaged dharma workshops in Melbourne with international author, scholar and Zen teacher David R. Loy.

Cost: Conc. $40, Full $50 per day; Book at 

Location:

Site works, Workroom 02, 33 Saxon St, Brunswick, Vic

What is Provided: Chairs and morning refreshments.

What to Bring: Your own lunch and cushions if you prefer to sit on the floor or need a well padded seat.

Awakening from the illusion of our separation

Date: Saturday, 8 July; Time: 9:00am – 4:30 pm

Our usual sense of self is haunted by a sense of lack: “something is wrong with me”… “I’m not good enough”. Why do we never have enough money, fame, sex, etc.? Because we try to fill up our sense of lack with them – but it doesn’t work. The sense of self needs to be deconstructed  and  reconstructed, which  the Buddhist

path (among some others) shows us how to do. The karma teaching is about reconstructing the self by transforming our motivations. Contemplative practices deconstruct the self, helping us to “let go” and realize our true nature.

Buddhism and the ecological challenge

Date: Sunday, 9 July;  Time: 9:00am – 4:30 pm

The  ecological  crisis  –  which  includes  global  warming but is much bigger than that – is the greatest challenge  that humanity has ever faced. What does Buddhism offer, if anything, that can help us understand and respond appropriately? And what does ecological crisis mean for

how we understand and practice Buddhism (or any spiritual path) today? Among other things, we will reflect together on the parallels between our perennial individual predicament

(according to traditional Buddhism) and our collective predicament today in relation to the biosphere. What does this all imply about how we understand the bodhisattva path? What does it mean to be an “ecosattva”?

David Loy

David Loy is a professor, writer and Zen teacher who has articulated the idea of institutionalised greed, hatred and delusion and developed a modern Buddhist engagement with our collective contemporary

suffering. His seminal books include the acclaimed Money Sex War Karma: Notes for a Buddhist Revolution, The Great Awakening: A Buddhist Social Theory and his latest publication, A new Buddhist Path: Enlightenment, Evolution and Ethics in the Modern World.

Further reading www.davidloy.org