⊂⊃
2015
DHAMMA TALK SERIES
8 Thursday evenings
September-October
6:30-8:30pm
at the Rojana Centre (Asoke station)

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A Buddhist breakdown of the
THE EIGHT STAGES OF YOGA
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Overview:

Every year during the Buddhist Lent (Rains retreat) many Thai people take on special practises, vows or renunciations. Often they even become a monk for the 3 month period.

We will hold our own special ‘Rains Retreat‘ program. Thursday evenings, at the spacious Rojana Centre, Asoke. This year’s series of dharma talks follow the classic formula of Yoga, as outlined in the Indian Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. This is the outline of path to Union (liberation or enlightenment), according to Buddhism.

There’s no charge, and no need to book in advance. The talks will be light, accessible, and hopefully, somewhat entertaining. Just bring your curiosity.

ขอเชิญชวนผู้สนใจใฝ่ธรรมเข้าร่วมรับฟังธรรมะบรรยายภาคภาษาอังกฤษ โดย พระอาจารย์บัณทิต จิตตฺสํวโร เป็นพระชาวอังกฤษ ผู้เป็นนักเทศน์ที่สามารถบรรยายธรรมะ ให้ฟังเข้าใจง่ายและสนุกสนานสำหรับชาวต่างชาติ สำหรับผู้ที่มีเพื่อนเป็นชาวต่างชาติ ขอให้ช่วยกันประชาสัมพันธ์ เนื่องจากนี่ เป็นโอกาสพิเศษสำหรับพวกเขาที่จะได้เรียนรู้พระสัทธรรม พร้อมๆ ไปกับวัฒนธรรมไทย ซึ่งชาวต่างชาติโดยมาก มาเที่ยวชมประเทศไทย นิยมไปเที่ยววัด ได้เพียงถ่ายรูป แต่ไม่ได้มีโอกาสได้เรียนรู้วัฒนธรรมไทยที่มีพื้นฐานมาจากศาสนาพุทธที่แท้จริง งานนี้จัดขึ้น ที่โรจนธรรมสถาน (สุขุมวิท 21 ซ.1) สถานปฏิบัติธรรมแห่งใหม่ ใจกลางเมือง เดินทางสะดวก ในบรรยากาศที่สงบ เรียบง่าย เป็นกันเอง และไม่มีค่าใช้จ่ายใดๆ (บริจาคได้ตามศรัทธา)งานนี้จัดขึ้นทั้งหมด 8 ครั้ง โดยมีหัวข้อบรรยายแต่งต่างกันไปในแต่ละครั้ง ในทุกวันพฤหัสบดี เริ่มตั้งแต่วันที่  10 กันยายน – 29 ตุลาคม เวลา 18.30-20.15 น.

Theme

Most people these days are somewhat familiar with Yoga – the stretching, and breathing ‘asana’ or positions. But if  you pursue Yoga you find out it something much more– it is a path of ‘spiritual union‘, that has little to do with body postures. Like Buddhism, it is about the suffering mind, and the ultimate liberation.

Both Yoga and Buddhism are enlightenment traditions that come from India.

Over the 8 weeks we will cover the ground of Buddhism, using the format of the Eight Limbs of Yoga (limbs/stages/folds etc…) as a guide.

• You do not need prior knowledge of Buddhism
• You do not need to be practising Yoga (fortunately for some of us 🙂 )
• This is a good time to mark out a period of your life in Bangkok for advancing your knowledge and experience of Buddhism, meditation and enlightenment traditions.
• kickstart your own meditation practise

The Eight Stages of Yoga

Indian traditions (and others) teach that there is an ultimate goal, a summum bonum of existence. But not many people can make this a real living experience. Yoga in the broad sense, is how one trains in behaviour, insight, and purification of mind for this goal. But these practises vary among different teachers.

One of the famous texts on this is the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali. There is a lot of commentary and interpretation of this rather abstruse document. (You don’t have to read it in advance).

In this text is outlined eight parts for the path of enlightenment – of which the physical exercises people associate with Yoga play only a small part.

Buddhism also teaches the same ultimate goal (feel free to disagree!), but has a much more complete and structured approach. One reason for the longevity of Buddhism is that it presents a systematic and rational understanding of how things are, and what one should do to develop spiritual qualities. The clarity and practicality of this path is one reason for Buddhism’s growing popularity in developed nations.

 

The Dhamma Talks

Each week covers a separate topic – about Meditation, Dharma, and Buddhism. You don’t need to be an expert – the speaker is very clear and easy to understand. 

There is a progression to the topics, but since each week is a separate subject you will be able to follow even if you can’t make it every week. Still, the talks are laid out with the idea of following all 8 occasions so do your best to make them all.

Within a few days of each talk the summary and notes will be posted up on www.littlebang.org in case there were any references you wanted to follow up. 

The Occasion Why Now? This time of the year is special in the Buddhist and Thai calendar – it is the time that the Buddha himself told his monks not to travel away from their monasteries for the 3 months of the Rains. This tradition actually pre-dates even the Buddha – it was practised by many groups of renunciates and meditators in India going back probably more than 3000 years. It is called the ‘Vassa‘ (Pali) or ‘Pansa‘ (Thai) or the Rains Retreat (English). Because the monks would stay in one place over the period it has always been a special time for Thais to study and practise meditation in the monasteries. You are invited to make a special commitment too – come join us to boost your meditation, explore some new ideas, or just improve your understanding of Thai culture.

The Speaker

Pandit Cittasamvaro is Bangkok’s busiest Western Buddhist monk. There may be a few hundred westerners who have taken long-term ordination living in Thailand – but they all would rather spend time in remote and strict forest temples. They all avoid Bangkok! Yes, Bangkok is the wild frontier of Buddhism, where meditation and spiritual pursuits are hard to find. 

Pandit Bhikkhu has been living in the temples since age 24. Starting in the temples of the renowned teacher Ajahn Chah in the UK, he ordained in Thailand in 1996. Completing a degree in psychology, he is currently (ahem!) writing his MA thesis for a Masters in Buddhist Studies. Other interests range from vertical axis turbines, Thorium Nuclear power, and Faerie Tales. 

Since 2007 he has been organising Dharma talks, meditaiton and other related events in the wilderness of Bangkok.

Schedule

This year we are kindly hosted at the spacious Rojana Center, down Sukhumvit 23, not far from Asoke BTS and MRT stations. We aim to be in and out in a reasonable time – this is not an all evening affair. 

• Thursday 10^th September 
• Thursday 17^th September
• Thursday 24^th September
• Thursday 1^st October
• Thursday 8^th October
• Thursday 15^th October
• Thursday 22^nd October
• Thursday 29^th October

The Rojana center is very spacious. There are chairs and meditation mats. There is an excellent sound system. And of course it is air conditioned. Come a bit early and there is even tea and coffee.

There are plenty of really good restaurants very close by the Rojana Center, on the way back to the train stations. Meet friends, new or old, at the events, and dine afterwards

• 6:30pm Gather at the Rojana Center
• 6:50 Dharma Talk and short meditation
• 7:50 Questions, announcements and wrap-up
• 8:15 finish.

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Getting there

Please follow the map. It is VERY precise. It is easy to find: there are only one or two turns depending on which direction you are coming from.

Go down Sukhumvit 23 to the first four way intersection. Turn right, and then turn right again at the end of the road.

Or just ask the motorcycles inside Sukhumvit 23 – they know the way.

Or if you need more definite pointers:

A few tips:

• Do not ask locals the way – they will not know the Rojana Centre, and will send you somewhere else instead.
• Follow the map – plenty of landmarks are shown along the way.
• Taxi drivers will NOT know the centre – get them to take you to Sukhumvit 23, and then find your own way.
• Motorcycles on Sukhumvit will NOT know the Rojana Centre
• Motorcycles inside Sukhumvit 23 DO know the way
• In Thai the centre is known as Rojanatam 
• Quite a few other foreigners will be heading there at the same time.

Here is the Google Map link, if you prefer this method

Here are the GPS coordinates if you prefer : 13.739356, 100.564748

So what’s left to say? See you there …