TEACHER Reggie Ray
ASST. TEACHER Callista Brown
About this course
Tibetan Buddhism teaches that without a good intellectual and conceptual understanding of Buddhist philosophy, what we call “the view,” we naturally default to ego’s opinions and distortion. For this reason, the understanding of the Hinayana philosophical ground and the extensive teachings of Mahayana, especially on emptiness, are an absolutely necessary foundation for meditation practice and especially for the Vajrayana.
This Sutrayana course provides us with an opportunity to address gaps in our conceptual understanding, which will then benefit our ongoing practice and our confidence in fully living the journey.
The main curriculum will be taught through pre-recorded lectures by Reggie Ray, with Senior Dharma Ocean Instructor Callista Brown leading live classes.
About Sutrayana
In Dharma Ocean, Sutrayana is taught in two separate courses corresponding to the Hinayana and the Mahayana. The 2025 Hinayana course will be taught from September 6 to November 22. More information about this course is included below. This course is a prerequisite for completing the Mahayana course.
If you have questions about the course, please email us at: sutrayanacoordinator@dharmaocean.org
Course Components
Five, two-week units with pre-recorded lectures, reading assignments and study questions.
Live gatherings and optional discussion groups on Zoom every other week.
A warrior’s exchange and an optional written exam at the end of the course.
Schedule
Reggie’s pre-recorded curriculum lectures will be posted the opening day of each unit. The following week, the course participants are invited to a live zoom gathering with Callista Brown, a senior Dharma Ocean teacher. During the live gatherings, Callista will speak further to the themes of the talk followed by an opportunity to ask questions. This will be followed by smaller discussion groups in order to clarify and deepen our understanding of Reggie’s lectures and the assigned reading. The live gatherings and discussion groups will occur every other Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m MT.
September 6 – Unit 1 opens: Basic Principles of the View
September 13 – First live gathering
September 20 – Unit 2 opens: Foundational Teachings of the Hinayana
September 27 – Second live gathering
October 4 – Unit 3 opens: The First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma
October 11 – Third live gathering
October 18 – Unit 4 opens: The Shravaka Meditation on Non-Self
October 25 – Fourth live gathering
November 1 – Unit 5 opens: Taking the Five Skandhas Further
November 8 – Fifth live gathering
November 15 – November 21: Study period
November 22 – Written Exams and Warrior Exchanges
Course Readings
Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught
Reginald A. Ray, The Practice of Pure Awareness (section on the Skandhas)
Reginald A. Ray, Indestructible Truth (sections on the View of Hinayana and Mahayana)
Chogyam Trungpa, Glimpses of Abhidharma
Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso, Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness
Thrangu Rinpoche, The Twelve Links of Interdependent Origination
***In addition, there will be numerous selections and articles that will be provided.
Recommendation: If you would like to take this course, it would be good to purchase these books, if you don’t already own them, and begin reading. This is going to be a challenging course and the reading will require care and attention. Getting a head start will greatly increase what you get out of our work together.
Price structure
You can choose from three different pricing options once registration opens, depending on your financial situation. With choosing the generosity rate, you will support those in financial need of the scholarship rate.
Generosity rate: $480
Sustainability rate: $375
Scholarship rate: $250
.
Repeaters can do the course again for $100.
A 25% discount is available for Dharma Ocean members – please contact us at info@dharmaocean.org to confirm membership and receive the discount registration code. You can learn more about membership here.
