A key element of the Buddhist path is that insight into the nature of our own experience can help us to transform suffering and achieve authentic flourishing. But this insight needs to be more than just theoretical—it must be grounded in experience and applied to our everyday lives. In this seminar, Erric Solomon and John Dunne will guide participants through an exploration of experience by drawing on both philosophy and practice. We will focus especially on how the nature of experience encompasses both a radical openness that is described as “emptiness,” and a dynamic capacity for connection called “luminosity.” And we will see how this view, when experienced through meditative practice, can enhance our natural capacity for compassionate action in the world in practical ways that can help us to show up more fully: open, clear, and kind, even in difficult moments. This course is for anyone who, no matter how much they may know about Buddhism, is eager to learn and experience more.
Key Themes
• The View of Emptiness : Through experiential and philosophical methods, explore how various notions of “emptiness” open the possibility of radical transformation.
• The Dynamics of Luminosity: Drawing Buddhist ways of understanding consciousness, learn how the radically open nature of experience is rooted in the capacity for dynamic connection.
• Compassionate, Living Practice: See how insight and meditation can support everyday life: how we relate to others, how we handle difficulty, and how we show up in the world with more presence and care.
• Contemporary Connections: See how the Buddhist account of experience challenges or resonates with contemporary perspectives in cognitive science, contemplative research, and consciousness studies.
Teachers:
A unique teaching team that draws on both traditional and contemporary approaches, Khenpo Pema Namgyal, Erric Solomon and John Dunne will guide participants through an exploration of experience by drawing on both philosophy and practice.
Khenpo Pema Namgyal
Khenpo Pema Namgyal, originally from Mugum, is a senior scholar-monk from Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling in Nepal. He served as a personal tutor to Tulku Urgyen Yangsi Rinpoche and is currently, among other responsibilities serving as a personal assistant to Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. He is highly learned and well-versed in Buddhist philosophy and know as a teacher who is not afraid of delving into the profundities of the given text.
Erric Solomon
Bringing together decades of Buddhist practice, a high-powered Silicon Valley career, and an abundant sense of humour, Erric speaks with an authenticity grounded in experience. Drawing on his life in the fast-paced, always on wired world, and his study under the guidance of some of the greatest masters of our time, Erric creates a bridge between modern insight and ancient wisdom. He has been an invited speaker leading seminars and retreats in corporate settings — such as the World Bank and Silicon Valley tech firms—as well as in prisons, temples and Buddhist centers across the US and Europe.
John Dunne
John Dunne holds the Distinguished Chair in Contemplative Humanities, an endowed position in the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he also serves as tenured faculty in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures. John’s publications appear in venues ranging across both the Humanities and the Sciences, and they include works on Buddhist philosophy, contemplative practice and their interpretation within scientific, philosophical and cultural contexts. In addition to research and publications, John has played an active role in academic leadership, including service as a senior advisor for the Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Kathmandu. John teaches often at Gomde Germany-Austria, especially for the academic summer courses.
Format:
- Two Sessions: Each day we will have two sessions, one in the morning, one in the afternoon, that include both theoretical inquiry and contemplative practice.
- Evening Meditation: Short guided sittings that focus on experientially integrating insights from the day.
Learning Objectives:
- Develop a clear understanding of how emptiness and luminosity are fundamental to the nature of consciousness
- Cultivate experiential familiarity with meditative exploration of emptiness and luminosity.
- Learn to apply the philosophical and experiential insights to daily action in the world.
- Appreciate the dialogue between Buddhist contemplative traditions and contemporary science and philosophy in understanding the nature of experience.
Who Should Attend:
Practitioners, scholars, and anyone interested in deepening their understanding of Buddhist theories and practices for cultivating insight into the nature of experience.
We look forward to exploring the landscape of consciousness with you in this rich, dialogical, and practice-infused seminar.
Online and Offline
This course is also offered online. Please select “online” as your accommodation and offer a donation of 108 Euros for your participation.
Your contribution
Gomde wants to make the precious Dharma available to all who want to practice and learn it.
You can support us with a donation.
You can orientate yourself on the following value:
With a donation of 480 Euro, you help to cover the fixed costs for board and lodging. In addition, you can give the teachers a small personal gift for their teaching.
If you are under 26, you are welcome to give a reduced amount, about 240 Euros.
We have not increased this amount, although the costs have increased. If you can give more, you help the center deal with the increased maintenance costs.
Also, if you can give less, you are welcome! Please let us know when you sign up.
