Irene Kaigetsu Bakker & Kaz Tanahashi: Irene Kaigetsu Bakker & Kaz Tanahashi: 07-27-2013: SESSHIN: Exploring The Heart Sutra (Part 2)

Summary: Episode Description: In this talk from the second day of the Sesshin, Sensei Kaz frames the session with the questions: "what is the Heart Sutra? What is the intention of this text? What do we receive from this sutra?" He goes on to discuss our dualistic experience and how Prajna Paramita, "Wisdom Beyond Wisdom," can be characterized as non-dual experience. Kaz then talks about his scholarly study of what he titles "The Dynamics of Singularism and Pluralism in the Heart Sutra." Sensei Irene continues the talk by looking at what is meant by "self," and what is meant by "no-self?" She notes that we are deluded in thinking of self as a solid fixed entity that exists by on its own and that the rest of the world is a threat. So we do the sane thing which is to protect ourselves. Problem is that we tend to take things too far, imprisoning ourselves, cut off from others behind huge self created walls. Sensei then has the audience perform a thought exercise exploring our experience of "self," followed by an exploration of "non-self." For Series Description and teacher BIO, please see Part 1. To access the entire series, please click on the link below: Sesshin: Exploring The Heart Sutra Series: All 5 Parts