Teaching Series with Ven. Robina Courtin 2021
Venerable Robina Courtin returns to Shantideva Center, bringing a bounty of teachings in her characteristic big-hearted, no-nonsense style! From clearing up misconceptions about mindfulness meditation to showing you how to free yourself from fear, this series is focused on how to integrate the Buddha’s teachings into your daily life while still being your authentic self.
Guided Meditation Class: What Mindfulness Meditation Is Not
Do you think that the purpose of meditation is to clear your mind of thoughts? Or that mindfulness is a relaxation technique? Ven. Robina leads us in a mindfulness meditation, and disabuses us of any misconceptions we may have inadvertently picked up. Ven. Robina expertly guides our minds to the true practice of mindfulness as taught by the Buddha.
Teaching: Less Drama, More Dharma
“Happiness is really simple. It’s what you get when you give up the neurosis.” —Venerable Robina Courtin
Join this pragmatic teaching from Ven. Robina on how to turn away from the drama in our ordinary lives, and how to turn toward the Dharma (while still leading our ordinary lives). Ven. Robina will show us how to recognize the chatter of the ego, talk back to it, and tune in to our innate potential for wise compassion and wisdom, even in tricky situations.
Teaching: Free Yourself from Fear
When things aren’t going well, we call that experience anxiety, worry, or stress, but what links these experiences is an underlying sense of fear. Join Ven. Robina as she brings in the best of Buddhist psychology to help break down the components of fear—attachment, aversion, and (especially) ego-grasping—to show us how to overcome it.
Teaching: Public Talk - Samsara and Nirvana
The Buddha attained nirvana, a state completely liberated from the suffering of an afflictive mind, thus freeing himself from samsara, the endless cycle of rebirths that ordinarily propels one’s mind toward more suffering. Ven. Robina gives a talk on the kind of investigation that led the Buddha from samsara to nirvana. This talk is followed by a weekend teaching all about how we can carry out this investigation for ourselves.
Weekend Teaching: Samsara and Nirvana
For readings, click the following: layout ideal to read on a computer or layout ideal to read on a phone.
The Buddhist view of reality contains a comprehensive understanding of what it means to suffer. On one end is samsara, the endless cycle of rebirths that propels one’s mind toward more suffering; nirvana, or liberation from that state, lies on the other end. In this weekend series, Ven. Robina shares the Buddha’s most powerful methods for getting out of samsara and achieving nirvana for ourselves. This weekend teaching is preceded by a public talk to demystify our clichéd ideas of samsara and nirvana.
Recordings
About the Teacher
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 https://www.robinacourtin.com.
