Welcome to Paramitas Project!

The Six Paramitas Self-Guided Online Course

Designed By: Keith Brown


Syllabus - PDF Version: click here

Course Description

The Six Paramitas are a fundamental aspect of Mahayana Buddhist traditions, whereby the goal of spiritual learning and practice is not only personal liberation, but also freeing all beings from suffering and its sources. Learning about the Six Paramitas is one of the ways that Buddhist practitioners can apply the concepts of Buddhism meaningfully into their daily coexistence with others. In addition, the Six Paramitas provide principles upon which both Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike can learn to uplift their actions and intentions with the aim of benefiting others, while reducing the suffering caused by self-attachments.

Through a nuanced process of creative inquiry and engagement, learners will start to embody and appreciate the Six Paramitas in the unique ways that they appear in a person’s situated context. Rather than teaching the concepts of the Six Paramitas as abstract terms or expressions, each module of this course takes the learner on a personal journey of self-exploration, as they come to know how they encounter and cultivate these six attributes in their own lives. By starting with self-exploration, learners can come to make realistic choices regarding how they can embody these Paramitas, knowing that there is no ‘perfect’ way to embody the six ‘perfections’, and that these qualities serve as guidelines and helpful frameworks to initiate healing dialogue and story.


To Whom this Course is Intended:

This course is intended for any or all of the following:

• If you are a Buddhist practitioner or enthusiast who wishes to develop a grounded understanding in the Six Paramitas in a daily life context
• If you are simply interested in spirituality in general and wish to learn more about Mahayana Buddhism in particular
• If you are in a non-Buddhist context or ministry, and are curious to learn more about Buddhism to further a prophetic dialogic space

How to Use this Blog


Paramitas Project is essentially a blog that has been converted into a 6 module course. You can access the six modules (Generosity, Morality, Patience, Diligence, Meditation, Wisdom), by clicking on the 6 page tabs which are located on the top bar of the blog.


Another feature you will notice about this blog is that it is also a technology journal, where you will be able to see my experiences in creating this blog as well as the things I have learned along the way. Students in this course will start to experiment with creating their own technology journals, in the Third Module, "Patience".


To access the first module, simply click on "Generosity" above. Move through each module according to the order of their appearance, from left to right.


Learning Objectives:

There are basically three main learning objectives to this course, which are listed as follows:

1. Self-Discovery Component:  With self-discovery, students are learning the necessary skills of respecting our own unique process of learning and relating to Buddhist concepts, particularly through an emphasis on self-expression through a preferred medium such as art, verse, music, prose, etc. Learners will tease out how they connect with the Six Paramitas through a guided exploration on their personal experiences of these qualities. Rather than seeing the Six Paramitas as concepts to be ‘internalized’ through a drill or dictation methodology, this course assumes that the learners already possess an inherent capacity to connect deeply with these perfections particularly through sustained contemplation and reflection on their own experiences, in the context of Buddhist teachings.
    
2. Buddhist Learning/Tradition Component: In addition to self-discovery, this course will also ground learners in the uniquely Buddhist philosophies and understandings of the Six Paramitas, through a close reading of Ven. Shengyen’s The Six Paramitas. Learners will then have the opportunity to connect these underpinnings back to their self-reflections, thereby enriching learning through a process of confronting potential contradictions between the personal understandings and Buddhist understandings. Here, the goal is not to replace one learning goal with the other, but rather to enrich the two processes of culturally/conceptually rooted understandings and personal impressions/embodiments of the Six Paramitas.
    
3. Digital Media Application Component: Finally, learners will be able to apply their self-discovery and conceptual understandings toward creating digital media in different formats, and for a variety of purposes. Examples of digital media explored in this course are blogs, personal videos, digital photography, Twitter, wiki, online news, and Youtube. In the spirit of Mahayana Buddhist practices, this course is premised on the idea that learning doesn’t start and end with an individual, but rather seeks to find new and improved ways to reach out to others. Digital technologies are quickly becoming a popular way for people of all ages to connect, but what is needed is a distinctly Buddhist orientation on these technologies and how they are best used to serve others.

Required Texts:

The only required text for this course is Venerable Maser Sheng Yen’s concise introduction, The Six Paramitas: Perfections of the Bodhisattva Path (2002). This book is accessible online (and free of charge) at the following website: 

http://old.shengyen.org/UpFile/FlashBookEN/040511014459/Default.aspx?Folder=040511014459

Other supplementary texts are listed below.

Recommended Secondary Sources:

Grieve, Gregory Price & Veidlinger, Daniel (eds.). Buddhism, the Internet, and Digital Media: The Pixel in the Lotus. New York: Routledge.

 Kegan, Robert & Lahey, Lisa Laskow (2001). How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work: Seven Languages for Transformation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

 Lewis, Richmond (1999). Work as a Spiritual Practice. New York: Broadway Books.

 Miller, John P. (2014). The Contemplative Practitioner: Meditation and Education in the Workplace. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Pang, Alex Soojung-Kim (2013). The Distraction Addiction. New York: Little Brown & Co.

 Rahula, Walpola (1959). What the Buddha Taught. New York: Grove Press.

 Snelling, John (1998). The Buddhist Handbook: A Complete Guide to Buddhist Teaching and Practice. London: Prospero Books.

 Wright, Dale Stuart (2009). The Six Perfections: Buddhism and the Cultivation of Character. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

 

Course Contents

The digital learning platform for this online course is a blogger site called “Paramitas Project” (http://paramitasproject.blogspot.ca/). Please note that because this course is online and self-paced, there is no necessity to complete the course within a certain timeframe. However, it is strongly recommended that the learners follow the course modules in the sequence provided below. This is particularly so because many of the concepts explored in the later modules incorporate learning based on the preceding modules.

Module 1: Generosity- “The world as a cyclic process of giving and taking”   Required Readings: Shengyen (2002), Six Paramitas, pages 6-15.   Goals/Assignments: ·         create a generosity narrative which connects generosity to your personal experiences ·         learn Buddhist approaches to generosity, with an emphasis on cultivating non-dualistic giving ·         compile a Generosity Inventory listing forms of giving you experience and provide ·         map out Generosity Connections which show cycles of giving and receiving in your circles ·         design a blog as a caring offering to others—establishing forms of generosity, target recipients, and multiple medium(s) of offering

Module 2: Morality- “Morals are the scaffolding of life’s art”   Required Readings: Shengyen (2002), Six Paramitas, pages 18-21 Goals/Assignments ·         explore morality as a tension of connection/disconnection, expansion/contraction ·         learn Buddhist approaches to morality, focusing on the Five Precepts as a guide ·         discover how Buddhist values and moral ‘lenses’ can shape narratives, particularly digital news ·         create a Twitter account which aids in keeping track of news (e.g. from Buddhist sources) ·         write a Digital Product Review which explores, rates, and critiques a digital product or software, looking at its moral/social values as well as long-term costs/benefits in an interconnected world

Module 3: Patience- “Patience relates to reframing our experiences in more spacious ways”   Required Readings: Shengyen (2002), Six Paramitas, pages 24-29 Goals/Assignments ·         explore patience as a way of seeing experiences with openness, curiosity and creative dialogue ·         analyse various metaphors and expressions for patience, and what they tell us about the ways patience is understood by a given culture ·         understand the Buddhist ideas of patience, with a emphasis on using “beginner’s mind” to reframe unpleasant experiences or circumstances ·         examine various digital technologies which claim to help curb impatience (Internet blockers, Zen-style apps, and other digital ‘stimulants’ to a patient mindset in the digital age) ·         create and maintain a Technology Journal which chronicles your experiences of a particular technology you are learning how to use and develop, such as your current blog.

Module 4: Diligence- “Diligence depends on strong vows and a sense of the sacred”   Required Readings: Shengyen (2002), Six Paramitas, pages 32-38 Goals/Assignments ·         explore the notions of intrinsic/extrinsic motivation in understanding what inspires people to do their best work ·         learn the Buddhist perspective on diligence, with an emphasis on vows and the aspiration to liberate others/perform dedications through one’s work ·         create and maintain a shared wiki tool which collects various vows in one or more of your spiritual communities ·         learn about how digital technologies can aid or inhibit diligence, and how to use technology to foster diligent effort ·         provide suggestions on how to make your workplace into a sacred space of making vows

Module 5: Meditation- “Being present with all of life’s conditions is crucial to seeing deeply within and beyond them”   Required Readings: Shengyen (2002). Six Paramitas, pages 40-48 Goals/Assignments ·         develop a nuanced, critical awareness of culturally fashionable or prevalent notions of ‘mindfulness’ and ‘meditation’ that are appearing in digital media and social discourse ·         understand how sound, images and story can come together to foster conditions for a meditative or contemplative experience and practice ·         explore simple meditations such as breath meditation and loving kindness, with a potential of establishing a personal meditation practice ·         construct and present a “meditative” video piece which is based on personal observations of media forms most conducive to meditative practices ·         learn Buddhist perspectives on the stages of meditation ·         apply the principles of meditation via mindful photography exercise

Module 6: Wisdom- “Wisdom entails the courage to engage an uncertain, changing world”   Required Readings: Shengyen (2002). Six Paramitas pages 50-58 Goals/Assignments ·         learn about different ways of describing the relationship between wisdom, knowledge and technical reasoning and/or information ·         apply the notion of ‘ladder of abstraction’ to an everyday activity ·         understand Buddhist notions of wisdom ·         reflect upon the ‘wisdom allowances’ of digital spaces through a mindful listening exercise in digital space ·         apply your understandings of wisdom to one or more of the paramitas previously introduced in the course

 

I sincerely hope you enjoy this course and find it enriching to your own contexts. Your comments are much appreciated!

 

Sincerely,

Keith Brown

 

The Burdens of Expertise

   People tend to think that being an expert is something to be desired, and I am even inclined to say that it's essential to acquire a deep knowledge in one's chosen subject areas. It may not be something one has to do, but deeper learning tends to ground a person in something, much like what we see when we observe someone learning a certain trade, such as baking bread. Sometimes, it's not the skill itself that matters so much as the acquisition of a certain grounded relationship to the world, where a person needs to carefully examine different options in resolving problems in the field.
  This having been said, I sometimes wonder if the notion of being grounded in a subject has been gradually supplanted by a competitive orientation toward expertise. It's as though only one person can be an expert, and this creates a kind of elitism around having knowledge to share. In fact, this 'cult' of knowing has the effect, it seems, of mystifying the knower, rather than serving to clarify who knows, and what. More so, such a cult of expertise can sometimes lead to the insecure fear that someone will come along who has even greater expert knowledge than you do--as though this were a death knell to one's status or power!
   What would knowledge authorities think or feel if they could reflect that it is not necessary for them to be 'perfectly knowing' as a means of holding onto their position in the community? I think this less burdened space might help them realize that they can be both learners and knowers, in equal parts, within different contexts. There would also be a diminished fear around being found out as not necessarily knowing all the answers. In my tutoring of ESL learners, I have lately noticed the sense of shame I felt in not knowing how to interpret a quote from a Shakespeare play, only to find that my student became more engaged when I was able to admit to my sense of loss. It is as though, in abdicating my sense of authority in knowing, I was able to provide a space where I could co-discover with my learner, and this seemed to make the learner much more engaged.

Serendipity

While I was working on my video project tonight as one of the last assignments for my Media/Evangelism course, I felt initially frustrated. Something about the story arc that I composed for this piece felt really weighted down and cumbersome. But it no longer seemed like I could start the whole project from scratch. Not only did I seem to run out of new ideas on where to go with it, but I also felt so frustrated with the process that I saw myself disengaging from the pain of frustration.
   It was that moment that I decided to take a rest and start looking at some potential music pieces that I could add as a soundtrack for the video. I experimented with a few of the songs by playing them alongside the video to 'try them on' as it were. Again, I wasn't too thrilled about the choices at first--and there was one particular piece called "Sad Day" which seemed simple yet effective enough to carry my story along. The funny thing is that Sad Day was only 2 minutes 28 seconds long, while my video project was over 3 minutes!...so I knew I had to cut things here and there if I wanted to use this song without looping it indefinitely. But what I didn't realize at the time was that the very moment when the song ended, I realized that this point is exactly where the video needs to be cut. In fact, the accidental aspect of this discovery (also called "serendipity") sent a chill down my spine...it is as though the accident itself knew better than I did about where the video needs to be cut!
   Sometimes..well, I would have to say that in many unacknowledged cases, serendipity can serve to move people along when they have run out of solutions or new ways of looking at problems. Without the ability to entertain accidents and even see their potential to add unexpected good things to what a person is doing, there may not even be so many things completed as they are. It is certainly as though there is an intelligence in the universe that works through people, rather than leaving it up to people to decide or determine things through their own intellect.
  

The Journey of Redoing

Today, I had to redo the fonts and formatting for my blog assignment pages, due to discrepancies in the fonts sizes and colors. I felt a lot of frustration in having to redo the whole page, but in another sense, the opportunity to redo something often yields a better result than if one simply tries a touch-up here and there. I think one of the interesting aspects of having to repeat something is that it allows a person to revisit something with much less frivolity. The repeated project tends to gloss over the unnecessary details and offers a more sleek version of the original.
   Another good thing is that I didn't have to do everything 'from scratch', since the text of my blog was intact. Here again is another opportunity to look at things from a spiritual lens; that is, is there ever any point where we are ever doing something 'from scratch'? Or is what we do the result of previous conditions?
  With vows, it's a similar principle: I know that I have to 'redo' life in some format or another, and death is an inevitable part of that process. However, there is a continuity across those existences which relates to what one sets out to do in each lifetime. If one limits their scope to 'this onw life' , they will grow very despondent if their goals are not reached by the end of it. But if one's focus is on the way the mind is cultivated across a given life, then nothing is truly wasted under that view. Redoing always carries the residuals of the previous doings.

On Creating Videos

   Yesterday, I went to a nature trail on Leslie and Sheppard and took some pictures and videos of the area. I intend to use these in my section in the blog about Wisdom. I am not quite sure what the idea will be, but I started to reflect on how knowledge is similar to a 'tree', while wisdom is similar to water. One tends to be unyielding and branching outward , while the other tends to be flowing and continually yielding to elements around it.
   I am developing much more confidence in making videos and even being able to create a story around images. Somehow, I think that working with multiple media can really push a person to create a three dimensional experience for others, rather than just state something literally or discursively. I am also noticing that when I see an advertisement on television at my mom's home (as I don't own one myself), I find myself seeing how the images come together to form a total message. I think actually assembling a video oneself increases the overall appreciation for the process that happens as well as the complicated choices made when creating videos.

youtube creations

  I found that the prospect of making YouTube videos goes through many different phases. The first emotion I had upon realizing that I am required to design YouTube videos for my course is one of 'shock' and horror. "Me", I think..." I hardly even know how to use a TV remote, let alone upload a file to YouTube". But once I forced myself to go through the process, I realized how strangely easy it is to upload videos on YouTube. The fact of the matter is that there is only one click of a button needed to upload videos, and then there it is, in a matter of two or three minutes.
   Of course, what happens next is the 'honeymoon phase', where I start to believe that any and everything I publish on YouTube has some magic in it. This is similar to the time when I received an electric typewriter when I was 16 years old, and marvelled at how the lovely font on the typewriter made everything I wrote look like a 'classic'. I suppose that the handsome font on the typewriter made up for my many years of poor penmanship, but nonetheless, I think I took my enthusiasm much too far.
   Now, I am starting to develop a bit more discernment, realizing that what I am doing is rather amateur compared to the wonderful stories and narratives that are out there in the YouTube world. This period of 'comparison' seems to follow any honeymoon phase. Think about the married couple who tries to compare the color of their curtains with those of their neighbours across the street. Is there any need to compare, for that matter? But such seems to be a natural tendency: as soon as a person gets over the fear of not having the capability to create something useful or meaningful using a certain medium, they no sooner start to evaluate themselves based on how they perceive others are doing! It seems like human beings just love to make themselves suffer, no matter what kinds of fortune besets them.
    What will be my future feeling with YouTube? Well, to be honest, I do believe that this medium has opened up a door for me, because I am suddenly realizing the implications of it. Not only am I capable of taking pictures and making videos, but now I have the ability to combine them and upload the result to one site. This encourages me to be a bit like a storyteller, who takes whatever he can find in the way of sound and images to create narratives. I think it's for sure very exciting, but I have to wonder for how long I will be able to creatively endure, considering the time that is consumed in making a video. I suppose time will tell how far I will go into this new creative venture.

Wiki Woes

In spite of the snowstorm, today felt like a very productive one for me. I was able to work on the "Diligence" page for three hours straight (perhaps an example of my best rendition of diligence!), although part of the time involved experimenting with different kinds of wikis to try to create a collective 'vow' sharing page. Finally, alas, I have figured out an application for wikis which might work well with the blog. I also managed to complete a video for "Patience" using images of the snowstorm in Toronto as my visual 'poem'. Over time, I am also learning a few more features about the Movie Maker software, including how to set timing and music volume to a desired level. One thing I haven't figured out yet is how to make the captions fly in and out, as in a powerpoint.
   There were three kinds of wikis I had tried to experiment with today, with varying degrees of success.  It all revealed limitations on my part. I for one am not familiar enough with HTML language to really figure out how to make the wiki attractive. The other limitation is that many of the wikis cost money to maintain. I wondered today whether it is really worth it for me to maintain a wiki, when some of its features could just as well be accessed via google.docs. Wiki is also something that needs support from a group of people to be really worthwhile. Unless many people are committed to adding and updating a wiki, it might be a bit too costly to maintain overall.
    I still have hopes for the wiki, but I think I am going to wait until I have all my desired content posted before I can really play around with it.