This class will be a 3-part inquiry into the Trikaya or Three Buddha Bodies.
The first aspiration is to explore traditional accounts of the Buddha bodies (dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, nirmanakaya) in the sutras, tantra, Dzogchen and the Shambhala teachings, in part relying on modern historical scholarship.
The second aspiration is to radicalize this teaching by extending the three bodies into ecosystems, psychology, and ethical action. How does our body, speech, and mind of wakefulness show up in our world of climate mutation, racial injustice, polarization, and intergenerational trauma, yet a world full of genuine beauty and magic?
Drawing on the embodied practice of inquiry—a living curiosity that engages whatever is arising—the third aspiration is to draw upon the three bodies to help learn from the meltdown in Shambhala, and challenge the current pattern of bypassing in modern spirituality.