The Five Buddha Families

How do we bridge the gap between our meditative practice and the real and personal experience of our lives? Navigating our life can seem daunting without a map or aerial view. The five buddha families, or principles, are a way of looking at ourselves, others, and situations with clarity and an understanding that everything is workable and contains seeds of wisdom. As Chögyam Trungpa states:

The buddha family, or families, associated with a person describes his or her fundamental style, that person’s intrinsic perspective or stance in perceiving the world and working with it. Each family is associated with both a neurotic and an enlightened style. The neurotic expression of any buddha family can be transmuted into its wisdom or enlightened aspect. As well as describing people’s styles, the buddha families are also associated with colors, elements, landscapes, directions, seasons —- with any aspect of the phenomenal world.

Through working with the five buddha families, we can learn to relate to and experience wisdom and neuroses properly. They are stepping stones to compassion and our potential for realization.

Please join us for an exciting course on exploring the five families: vajra, ratna, padma, karma, and buddha. Learn how to stay with the energies through mindfulness and awareness, and how to work with them by applying loving-kindness.

Open House Talk Tuesday, Sept 7th, 7-9pm
All are welcome to come hear an introduction to the teachings.

5 Week Course Consecutive Tuesdays from Sept 14th through Oct 12th, 7-9pm
These classes will be co-taught by Jason Newman and Sophie Léger.

Suggested donation for the course is $40, though any contribution is welcome. For more info, please contact Bethany at 802-375-6353.