Dharma Teachings on the Power of Words to Both Lead and Mislead

Thursday, April 18, 7 p.m. CT

n the Buddha's path toward the realization of the truth of life (Dhamma) we need to make use of instructions by him or other teachers as our guides. However, we must be cautious to not grasp tightly at the words used to convey those teachings. Gradually, we need to develop a sharp distinction in our minds between words, or concepts, and the reality they are supposed to represent and point toward.

In this talk Venerable Sambodhi will invite the audience to participate in the shared contemplation of the nature of words, concepts and generally language and how we can avoid the pitfalls that various words can lead us to. The discussion is going to include how the pathways for the language, description and designation are being created in our minds and where their limits lie, as well as the potential to mislead of some important terms, like "Buddhism", "mindfulness" etc.

Location: 1926 N. Main St in Wheaton, IL or this program will be streamed live on , , and our on Thursday, April 18 at 7 p.m. CT.

Venerable Sambodhi Bhikkhu was born in what is now the Czech Republic. Raised as an atheist, he graduated with a degree in math and physics before postgraduate study in psychology led him to encounter Buddhist meditation for the first time in 1992. He studied Vipassana meditation in Burma and was ordained as a Buddhist monk at the Pa Auk forest monastery in Lower Burma in 2000. He then moved to Sri Lanka where he lived for about 12 years, a few of which were also spent in solitude. Besides association with both Burmese and Sri Lankan traditions, he also spent considerable time in Western monasteries of the Luang Por Chah lineage, where he benefited tremendously from their teachings.

Host or Publisher The Theosophical Society in America