Teaching the Diamond Sutra
In one week I'm going to start teaching the Diamond Sutra. It's a six week class that will occur Wednesdays nights at the Rime Center from 7:45pm until 9:00pm. It starts on April 13th. You should come if you can. (a link to register for this class is posted at the bottom)
I'm so nervous and excited.
It all started a few months ago. Lama Matt told me he wanted me to start teaching classes at the Rime Center. What a wonderful opportunity. But, of course I wondered if I could handle it. (being the center of attention is really not my thing). Of course I said yes but it was big surprise.
He gave me a title, "Gegan" which means teacher. And he told me that I could teach anything I wanted.
I told him I would like to teach the Diamond Sutra.
The Diamond Sutra is probably my favorite Buddhist text. But it's also a really hard text to teach. It's a heavy text with a lot of wisdom for us to explore. If I had spent time thinking about it, I might have chosen something a little easier for my first class. But, It will be fine, I think. It does mean something that it's a text that I love.
I spent time looking at different translations and Lama Matt did too. We agreed that the Thich Nhat Hanh translation was probably the most accessible.
So, I went to work. I took notes on every chapter and got myself prepared.
In preparing to teach this sutra I've learned more about it than I ever knew. And I've learned about myself. Maybe the best teachers are always students too. I love this sutra now more than ever and I hope that my students gain something approaching the same appreciation that I have for it.
The Diamond Sutra has changed my life. It can change yours too.
The Buddha doesn't transform us. He invites us to transform ourselves. This sutra doesn't give us anything, it cuts things away. The diamond cuts through our delusion and leaves only what's real. When we put down all that we're carrying, we discover emptiness, our true nature.
The Diamond Sutra describes the very foundation of the awakened life.
http://www.rimecenter.org/?p=628