3rd Noble Truth — Freedom from Suffering- Video Series Online
with Judi Soule
Foundations for Freedom: The Hinayana
Course IV - The Third Noble Truth: Freedom from Suffering
with Acharya Suzann Duquette and Acharya Dan Hessey
Course Outline
This class presents the third noble truth, Freedom from Suffering, and begins with an exploration of the 3rd Foundation of Mindfulness, Mindfulness of Effort.
Contemplating cessation of suffering, we first see the accessibility of the third noble truth as the gap. We are basically good. Realizing this to be true is that simple, and we are glimpsing this all the time. Joined with this is the full profundity of its meaning: The third noble truth signifies complete liberation from the entire cycle of samsaric existence itself – aging, sickness, death, and rebirth. Its full profundity is four-fold: (1) the cessation of all causes of suffering, (2) the peace of freedom from the suffering of the five skandhas themselves, (3) perfection of complete freedom from suffering and total joy, and (4) definite release - there is no going back to samsara from this state.
This combination of these two perspectives - the immediacy of the path and the view of profound transcendence - is essential. Without both perspectives, the path can become inaccessible, distant, esoteric or, on the other hand, Buddhism can be seen as existential humanism.
Class 1: Introduction to the Third Noble Truth and Mindfulness of Effort, with Acharya Dan Hessey.
Class 2: Non-Struggle, Cessation, and The Gap (Pre-recorded), with Acharya Suzann Duquette
Class 3: Resting in the Gap and Vipashyana (Pre-recorded), with Acharya Suzann Duquette
Class 4: Varieties of Cessation on the Path (Pre-recorded), with Acharya Dan Hessey
Foundations for Freedom- Course 4
Third Noble Truth—Freedom from Suffering
READING LIST
Class One: Regarding Cessation as a Meditative Experience Not as a Goal
The Profound Treasury Vol I:
Chapter 41 Mindfulness of Effort
Optional reading: Mindfulness in Action, Chögyam Trungpa
Chapter 17: Meditation and the Fourth Moment
Class Two: Non-Struggle, Cessation, and the Gap
The Profound Treasury Vol I:
Chapter 56. Awakening and Blossoming
Chapter 57. Meditation as the Path to Buddhahood
Chapter 58. Transcending Samsara and Nirvana
Optional reading: Mindfulness in Action, Chögyam Trungpa
Chapter 8: The Present Moment
Class Three: Resting in the Gap and Vipashyana
The Profound Treasury Vol I:
Chapter 43. The Freshness of Unconditional Mind
Chapter 44. Beyond Picking and Choosing
Chapter 47: Experiencing the Subtleties of Experience
Optional reading: Mindfulness in Action, Chögyam Trungpa
Chapter 11: Appreciation
Class Four: Varieties of Cessation on the Path
The Profound Treasury Vol I:
Chapter 58. Transcending Samsara and Nirvana
About the Teachers
Acharya Suzann Duquette has been a student in the Shambhala lineage for 45 years and has served as a teacher since the 1980s. Previously a co-director, she is currently Karmê Chöling's Resident Acharya. She is also Rupa Acharya, responsible for Shambhala’s liturgical forms, which include the training of umdzes and chöpöns through the Shambhala Ritual Academy. Acharya Duquette respects the power of body awareness in deepening spiritual awakening and emphasizes body disciplines in her retreats and programs. She teaches widely, including Shambhala retreats and Mudra Space Awareness, and Daoist-Qigong in the lineage of Dr. Eva Wong.
Acharya Dan Hessey has been a student of the Sakyongs since 1973. He has taught meditation, Shambhala Buddhism, and Yijing related programs throughout North America. He is currently residing at Karmê Chöling with his daughter who recently graduated from Whittier College. This year, he published two of the four planned volumes of Enlightened Society: A Shambhala B
