Tantric Ethics
with Gareth Sparham
Tuesdays, July 11 and 25, 2023
6:00pm - 7:30pm PDT
Online via Zoom
Registration required
Tantra weaves the fabric of a Tibetan Buddhist’s daily practice, but no practice of tantra can be successful without adherence to the tantric vows.
Gareth Sparham, translator of Khunu Rinpoche’s beloved book of verses on Bodhicitta — Vast as the Heavens - Deep as the Sea: Verses in Praise of Bodhicitta — returns to discuss Tantric Ethics. This book is Gareth's translation of tantric precepts as explained by Lama Tsongkhapa -- one of the greatest philosophers produced by Tibet’s Buddhist culture.
For Tsongkhapa, those special persons who have the good fortune and ability to follow the Tantric path have to live according to a high standard codified in a set of samaya (“pledges”) to be kept and āpatti (“downfalls”) to be avoided. Together these constitute an ethical or moral code. Gareth will survey briefly the Tantric literature on which Tsongkhapa bases his presentation, touch briefly on some of the most interesting aspects of Tantric Ethics as they pertain to questions that come up in society nowadays. There will be a time set aside for participants to ask questions and make comments. Recommended reading: paperback or e-book: https://wisdomexperience.org/product/tantric-ethics/
About Gareth Sparham:
Gareth Sparham was born in England and grew up in Canada, going to school both in Canada and England. After finishing a degree in English literature he went to India, where he lived for nearly thirty years as a Buddhist monk amongst Tibetan refugees. He did his doctoral degree in Asian Studies. After returning to North America in 1998, he taught Tibetan language at the University of Michigan and at Berkeley. He now lives half the year in Toronto and half the year in the Bay Area, always returning to India and the Tibetan community there to recharge his spiritual batteries.
Gareth Sparham has published English translations of many of the central Perfection of Wisdom texts. He has contributed the entry on Tsongkhapa to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy http://plato.stanford.edu, and to Oxford Bibliographies Online https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com. His translation of Tsongkhapa’s Tantric Ethics (rtsa ltung rnam bshad), published by Wisdom Publications in 2005.
Tuesdays, July 11 and 25, 2023
6:00pm - 7:30pm PDT
Online via Zoom
Registration required
Tantra weaves the fabric of a Tibetan Buddhist’s daily practice, but no practice of tantra can be successful without adherence to the tantric vows.
Gareth Sparham, translator of Khunu Rinpoche’s beloved book of verses on Bodhicitta — Vast as the Heavens - Deep as the Sea: Verses in Praise of Bodhicitta — returns to discuss Tantric Ethics. This book is Gareth's translation of tantric precepts as explained by Lama Tsongkhapa -- one of the greatest philosophers produced by Tibet’s Buddhist culture.
For Tsongkhapa, those special persons who have the good fortune and ability to follow the Tantric path have to live according to a high standard codified in a set of samaya (“pledges”) to be kept and āpatti (“downfalls”) to be avoided. Together these constitute an ethical or moral code. Gareth will survey briefly the Tantric literature on which Tsongkhapa bases his presentation, touch briefly on some of the most interesting aspects of Tantric Ethics as they pertain to questions that come up in society nowadays. There will be a time set aside for participants to ask questions and make comments. Recommended reading: paperback or e-book: https://wisdomexperience.org/product/tantric-ethics/
About Gareth Sparham:
Gareth Sparham was born in England and grew up in Canada, going to school both in Canada and England. After finishing a degree in English literature he went to India, where he lived for nearly thirty years as a Buddhist monk amongst Tibetan refugees. He did his doctoral degree in Asian Studies. After returning to North America in 1998, he taught Tibetan language at the University of Michigan and at Berkeley. He now lives half the year in Toronto and half the year in the Bay Area, always returning to India and the Tibetan community there to recharge his spiritual batteries.
Gareth Sparham has published English translations of many of the central Perfection of Wisdom texts. He has contributed the entry on Tsongkhapa to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy http://plato.stanford.edu, and to Oxford Bibliographies Online https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com. His translation of Tsongkhapa’s Tantric Ethics (rtsa ltung rnam bshad), published by Wisdom Publications in 2005.
Registration:
Advanced registration is required. Once you register, the Zoom link will be included on your registration ticket/receipt.
We offer all Dharma teachings and center events on a “dana” basis. This means we’re grateful for your generosity but there is no required cost to attend and no one is turned away for lack of funds. Suggested donation amounts are provided, and we welcome you to offer what you can to help us sustain our programming and make the dharma and events like this possible.
Ordained sangha are always welcome free of charge.
If you're not donating at this time but would like to receive the Zoom link for the event, please email
[email protected].
Advanced registration is required. Once you register, the Zoom link will be included on your registration ticket/receipt.
We offer all Dharma teachings and center events on a “dana” basis. This means we’re grateful for your generosity but there is no required cost to attend and no one is turned away for lack of funds. Suggested donation amounts are provided, and we welcome you to offer what you can to help us sustain our programming and make the dharma and events like this possible.
Ordained sangha are always welcome free of charge.
If you're not donating at this time but would like to receive the Zoom link for the event, please email
[email protected].