study buddhism

While attending the International Coach Federation Global Conference last week, I was honored to attend a key note speech given by Matthieu Ricard. He is a Buddhist monk who lives at a Monastery in Nepal. Matthieu was born and raised in France and obtained a PhD in molecular genetics. After completing his doctoral thesis he decided to forsake his scientific career and concentrate on the practice of Tibetan Buddhism.

Matthieu spoke to us for about 2 hours explaining his work as a member of the Mind and Life Institute, which is devoted to meetings and collaborative research between scientists and Buddhist scholars and meditators.

His discussion on the benefits of meditation and his philosophy on life were truly inspiring. Matthieu is often referred to as the Happiest Man on Earth and after seeing him, I can see why.

The practice of meditation is a key component of Buddhism. So, as a way to help study I am partaking in a 12 month course on Insight Meditation. The course is broken down into 12 lessons; each lesson is accompanied with a 45 minute guided meditation aimed at supporting the ideas being presented. My plan is to spend one month focusing on each lesson by weekly reviewing the lesson material and daily practice the guided meditation for that lesson. The goal should help me establish a regular meditation practice and help with my understanding of Buddhism.

The lessons are broken down as follows:

1. The Power of Mindfulness
2. Bare Attention
3. Desire and Aversion
4. Sleepiness, Restlessness and Doubt
5. Concepts & Reality
6. Suffering
7. Delusion
8. Karma
9. Equanimity
10. Faith & Wisdom
11. Lovingkindness
12. Practice in the World

I am currently on day 10 of the 1st lesson.

“They have many points in common: for example, both depend on logic and investigation to ascertain the nature of phenomena. Both discourage blind faith and encourage free inquiry on the part of the student. Buddhism does not contradict current scientific theories about the origin of the universe or the physical evolution of the human species. In fact, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said that if scientific findings contradict what is written in Buddhist scriptures, then Buddhist must accept that new information. However, if science can not actively disprove what is stated in the scriptures, then there is no need to abandon that concept.

Both science & Buddhism use theory of cause and effect to explain how things function. Science investigates cause and effect as it functions in the physical, material world, whereas Buddhism explores it in terms of the mind.” ~ Taken from Buddhism for Beginners by Thubten Chodron.

This is one of the concepts of Buddhism that I really admire. It is not closed minded and accepts other points of view once they are proven, not acting and judging based on faith alone.

I recommend this book (Buddhism for Beginners by Thubten Chodron) for anyone who is new to the concepts of Buddhism and is interested in studying it.

Even though I was raised Catholic, I mean really raised Catholic… went to a Catholic grammar school (St. Leo’s), high school (St. Joe’s) and college (Seton Hall University) and have 2 uncles who are priests, I’ve always found Buddhist teachings to be in-line with my own thoughts on how the Universe works. I need to always keep a Beginner’s mind and be open and learn all ways.