A Love That Leads to Enlightenment: Introduction to Bodhichitta - Part 1

Teacher: Robert Tomic (In Person)

Wed 10 June | 7.00-8.30pm AEST

Location: In person at Western Sydney University, Parramatta City Campus (Entry at 1 Parramatta Square), Level 5, Room 1.5.39

or Online (Zoom link below)

Cost: Free

In the Tibetan tradition, Lama Tsongkhapa explains that to genuinely enter the Mahayana path we must cultivate bodhichitta, the mind of enlightenment – the heartfelt wish to achieve Buddhahood for the sake of all living beings. Without this motivation, our standing as a Mahayana practitioner becomes uncertain.

Through the preliminary Buddhist practices we come to appreciate this human life, contemplate the certainty of death, and to recognise the subtleties of impermanence. We begin to realise that nowhere in samsara is there any true escape from the results of our karma. By taking refuge, we see how others before us have established a path to follow, and in studying the Four Noble Truths we gain confidence in the certainty of liberation.
The question then arises: if we have freed ourselves from suffering, why would you choose to return to samsara? Perhaps the answer becomes clearer when we reflect more personally: where would I be if I had been left alone to find my own way?

Through compassion, loving kindness, and a sense of universal responsibility, bodhisattvas willingly return to samsara to benefit all beings by sharing the Buddhadharma – the source of all liberation. Due to their great compassion, nirvana cannot hold them and samsara cannot impede them. Free from both extremes, the bodhisattva lives solely to help others.

It is said that when we possess the mind of enlightenment, we are naturally guided by all the buddhas and bodhisattvas who have walked the path before us; even worldly beings will assist us. For those who recognise the urgency of helping others, the Dalai Lama explains that the swiftest path to enlightenment is the Vajrayana, and its prerequisite is bodhichitta itself — for the Vajrayana is the path of the bodhisattvas.

About the Teacher: Robert Tomic has been practically involved with Tibetan Buddhism for the past thirty-two years, during which he has received teachings and empowerments from all four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, both in Australia and overseas.

For many years he has taught Tibetan Buddhism on both an individual and group basis - in people’s homes, in public parks, and on university campuses - to anyone genuinely interested in learning and applying the unique steps that can begin to undo the confusion of living in a seemingly contradictory world.
Robert wishes to help others become proactive participants in recognising the preciousness of their own lives and the fulfilment that comes from understanding those lives more deeply.

“I summon every being to the state of Buddhahood — and until that state is reached, to every earthly joy. May gods, demigods, and all the rest rejoice.” – Shantideva.

Online event: Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in an interactive session online by clicking on this link to access the session: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83506489824?pwd=cmpNQ1ljSmFVYURLWVN1dWllYUN1dz09

Meeting ID: 835 0648 9824| Passcode: 718905

Alternatively, you can dial in from your telephone (call charges apply): +61 2 8015 6011