Series One

The Big Picture – the Buddhist World View

Where do we come from? What happens after we die? Why do things happen? Is there a way to go beyond suffering and pain forever? These are big questions, and how we answer them for ourselves will impact on how we lead our lives. In this six week series we will look at Buddha’s answers to these questions. Buddha did not expect his students to believe blindly whatever he taught. Instead he encouraged them to have an open mind, think about the teachings clearly and logically, and practice whatever made sense to them. In this series we will explore these ideas, with particular emphasis on how understanding them correctly has an immensely beneficial effect on our lives.

• January 6th Buddha’s first teaching – the Four Noble Truths
• January 20th Reincarnation
• January 27th The Law of Karma
• February 3rd Is there anything we can really rely on?

Series Two

Dealing with daily difficulties

Life is difficult. The times when everything flows the way we want it to are definitely the exception. Often people do not cooperate with our wishes. Often our body, especially as we get older, refuses to cooperate. Every day small things go wrong, and sometimes disaster and tragedy affects our life. We are living in an increasingly difficult world, both on a global level and personal level. Sometimes we can change things, but often there is little we can do externally. But we can always learn to respond inwardly in a calmer, kinder and more positive way. In the long term, this inner change actually makes more of a difference than any external change could make. 

• February 24th Outer problems and inner problems
• March 3rd Unconditional acceptance: the starting point for real change
• March 17th Why are people so difficult?
• March 23rd Why we need difficulty
• March 31st The seeds of a world beyond pain