What is Imagery in the Early Buddhist Texts?

The Imagery in the Early Buddhist Texts is the way that the Buddha used suggestive language to convey his teachings.

All language is (of course) in some way referential: words are merely pointers. But more so than many works of literature, the Early Buddhist Texts are so tightly interwoven that it’s almost cliche to call the dhamma “a net.” As we pick up any of the words, images, or strands of the teachings, its associations, connections and references seem inevitably to take the whole of the Canon with it!

Because of this, coming to understand the words and images of the Canon can be both incredibly challenging and rewarding: a powerful “Dharma Gate” that has inspired (and awakened!) a hundred generations of Buddhists — from the first “turning of the wheel” up to the present day.

In this course you will...

Learn

  • The many ways that the Buddha used material examples in the world around him
  • How to interpret similes in ways that are authentic and meaningful
  • How to use the suttas to deepen your understanding of the spiritual path

Build

  • An anthology of suttas you find personally meaningful
  • A broad knowledge of the teachings in the Pali Canon
  • Your own connection with the Buddha’s words

Master

  • One of the Buddha’s main rhethorical tools
  • A broad range of dhamma topics
  • An authentic, close reading of the Pali Canon

Prerequisites

This course assumes some prior familiarity with the Early Buddhist Texts.

Course Outline

This course has 26 modules, which will proceed as follows:

  1. Introduction to Imagery in the EBTs
  2. Taṇhā — Craving
  3. Rāga — Passion
  4. Vyāpāda — Hatred and Aversion
  5. Thīnamiddha — Sloth and Torpor
  6. Uddhaccakukkuca — Restlessness and Worry
  7. Vicikicchā — Doubt
  8. Vedanā — Feelings
  9. Vedanānupassanā — Investigating Feelings
  10. Sukha — Happiness
  11. Upekkhā — Equanimity
  12. Yathābhūtañāṇadassana — Knowledge and Vision of the Way Things Are
  13. Vimutti — Liberation
  14. Upādāna – Grasping
  15. Sakkāyadiṭṭhi - Self View
  16. Sammādiṭṭhi - Right View
  17. Saṅkhāra — Activity
  18. Vitakka — Thought
  19. Yoniso Manasikāra — Wise Attention
  20. Vipassanā — Insight
  21. Samatha & Vipassanā — Tranquility & Insight
  22. Samādhi — Immersion
  23. Viveka — Seclusion
  24. Vossagga — Letting Go
  25. Suññatā — Emptiness
  26. Conclusion