Buddhist Pasts and Buddhist Presents: History, Tradition and Contemporary Practice.

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  • Mar 22

    Monday Mar 22, 2027 - Monday Apr 12, 2027

     (Start time Mon 18:30 GMT - End time Mon 20:30 BST)
    Online
    Akincano Weber, John Peacock
    The price includes a fee for the teacher, no additional dana will be requested.
    Register
    Session information
    Sessions
    Session 1
    Mon 22 Mar 18:30 GMT - Mon 22 Mar 20:30 GMT
    Online
    Session 2
    Mon 29 Mar 18:30 BST - Mon 29 Mar 20:30 BST
    Online
    Session 3
    Mon 05 Apr 18:30 BST - Mon 05 Apr 20:30 BST
    Online
    Session 4
    Mon 12 Apr 18:30 BST - Mon 12 Apr 20:30 BST
    Online
Description

Price Options:

Basic rate: £115

Standard rate: £135

Supporter rate: £155

Theme:

To better understand how to apply the Buddha’s teachings to today’s world, we must understand more deeply how he responded to his own.
What was the world like into which the Buddha was born? How did a small community of mendicants become a movement that would transform the religious landscape of India – and eventually become a global civilizing force?
Over the course of four online sessions, John and Akincano will explore the extraordinary life of this Indian man, his vision and the movements he founded, as well as their global impact.
This course aims to provide a clearer understanding of why the Buddha’s teachings are relevant today by examining both the Indian specifics that shaped him and his message, and the universal principles that continue to resonate in our lives today.

Format

Every session will feature presentations and discussion between the teachers; focused breakout groups, open group space for questions.

Session 1:
The Buddha’s India: examining its kingdoms, religious and social contexts, and the ferment of the renunciant movements.

Session 2:
The life of the Buddha: from his youth and family to his renunciation, awakening, and forty-five-year teaching career.

Session 3:
The Buddha’s Community: Exploring the Buddha’s unprecedented experiment in conscious communities, likely to be the key to Buddhism’s influence beyond its founder.

Session 4:
The Buddha’s legacy: We’ll trace his teachings as they travelled beyond India and across Asia, encountering cultures, challenges, and developing into new forms before eventually entering the modern world.

Praise for our teachers

Akincano Weber:

“Akincano’s way of teaching is warm-hearted and light and the same time deep and
embodied. He does not hold back on personal examples and reflections about his own life. The invitation is always to investigate our own experience and see where we are stuck and can continue to learn, often in discussions and dialogue accompanied with humour and ease.”

“He makes it possible to understand the most incomprehensible of teachings because he not just lives and practices the teachings, but has studied them with his heart and his clear intellect.

“He is a master in taking the teachings apart and putting them back together in a clear and modern language” – Bodhi College course participant

John Peacock:

“The scholarship, life experience, curiosity, and warmth that John offered made this class extraordinarily rewarding for me, in terms of both theory and practice. The discussions during the breakout sessions made for a true sense of community.” – Online course participant 2024

“!’m so grateful for John’s thorough and insightful teachings. He is a wonderful teacher who has a way of weaving complex ideas into a relatable lesson.” – Online course participant 2024

“I liked the course very much, John Peacock is a very good presenter at the same time clear and to the point.” – Online course participant 2024

Hear more from our teachers:

Hear from Akincano what it’s like teaching with John in this video

Event Details

Schedule

4 consecutive Monday evenings from 6:30-8:30pm GMT on 22 and 29 March (Easter Monday) and 5 and 12 April 6:30-8:30pm BST. Realtime attendance is encouraged. 

Please note that the UK will change time on March 28th.  This will mean that the March Sessions will be on GMT time and the April sessions on BST time. 

Recordings

Recordings will be shared after each session.

Suitability

Open to all - new and experienced practitioners alike.

This course is suitable to anyone who is interested in the history of the Buddha and Buddhism, although it may help if you have some awareness of these themes already.

 Cost:

  • The price includes a fee for the teachers, no additional dana will be requested. 
  • 3 rates available.
  • If you are unable to afford the our standard course rate, please contact us here. We will make sure that no one is turned away because of lack of funds.

Teachers:


JOHN PEACOCK is both an academic and a Buddhist practitioner of nearly fifty years. Trained initially in the Tibetan Gelugpa tradition in India, he subsequently spent time in Sri Lanka studying Theravada. After doing a doctorate in philosophy, he taught Buddhist and Western philosophy and then Buddhist Studies at the University of Bristol. He went on to be Associate Director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, co-direct the Master of Studies programme in MBCT(Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy) at Oxford University, and teach Buddhist psychology on the same course.  John is now retired from academia and continues to teach meditation, as he has done for more than thirty-five years.

AKINCANO M. WEBER is a European Buddhist teacher and psychotherapist (MA). A former monk, he has lived and practised for 20 years in European and Thai Forest monasteries. His particular interests are early Buddhist texts, stillness and contemplative psychology. He is the guiding teacher of Atammaya Cologne, Germany, part of the CPP programme and of several Mindfulness teacher training courses, and teaches meditation and Buddhist Psychology in secular and traditional contexts in Europe and overseas.