This residential study retreat will explore through talks and dialogues how the dharma taught by the Buddha 2,500 years ago can help provide the ethical perspectives and practices needed to engage effectively with the various interconnected crises our world faces in the twenty-first century — economic, environmental, social, psychological and spiritual.
We will be presenting a secular approach to the dharma, which leaves aside the metaphysical beliefs of the Buddhist religion to focus entirely on how to respond to the sufferings of this world. Drawing on canonical Buddhist discourses as well as ancient and modern western philosophy, the teachers will consider the theoretical foundations of ethics as well as its practical applications here and now.
In addition to talks and conversations between the teachers, the retreat will include periods of meditation as well as group discussions.
Those attending this study retreat in person will need to have an established meditation practice and some familiarity with Buddhist thought and doctrine. Links to pre-reading are provided below for those unfamiliar with secular dharma.
We hope to be able to live-stream the retreat so other groups and individuals around the world can participate.
Stephen Batchelor is a translator, writer, artist and teacher. Co-founder of Bodhi College, he is the author of Buddhism without beliefs, After Buddhism and The art of solitude. He lives in south-
west France with his wife Martine.
Winton Higgins is a writer and academic, as well as a senior dharma and meditation teacher associated with Sydney Insight Meditators and the Secular Buddhist Network. He is the author of
Revamp: writings on secular Buddhism.
Lenorë Lambert is a psychologist, World Champion Masters track & field athlete, entrepreneur, coach, and teacher associated with Sydney Insight Meditators and the Secular Buddhist Network. She leads the Beaches
Sangha and is the author of The Buddha for modern minds: a non-religious guide to the Buddha and his teachings.
Pre-reading for an orientation to secular dharma
Essay: A Secular Buddhism by Stephen Batchelor
Book: After Buddhism: rethinking the dharma for a secular age by Stephen Batchelor
Book: Revamp: writings on secular Buddhism by Winton Higgins
Book: The Buddha for modern minds: a non-religious guide to the Buddha and his teachings by Lenorë Lambert
Bookings: will open later in the year and will be taken through the Sydney Insight Meditators website.