Online Buddhism Classes

Studying with us online from any location with an Internet connection.

Join classes online via Google Hangouts. Classes are each Sunday from 7:00 to 8:00 pm US Pacific time. Sign up by sending email to sanbao@ibps.org.

Class Content

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Our study topics each week are a selection of informative and interesting topics following the idea of Fa Xiang or Signs of the Dharma. The material is drawn from the book Fa Xiang: A Buddhist Practioner's Encyclopedia by Venerable Tzu Chuang. Some of the topics include the Four Noble Truthes, the Noble Eightfold Path, the Five Aggregates, Chan (Zen) schools, dependent origination, Dharma Seals, karma, merit, realms of existence, impermanence, Mahayana and Theravada, mindfulness, non-duality, parables, the Six Perfections, the Three Poisons, precepts, Buddhist symbolism, types of meditation, and Buddhist cosmology. The book can be purchased at either the San Bao Temple bookstore or online at Amazon.

Teacher - Alex Amies

Alex Amies Alex has attended Buddhism classes at Hsi Lai Temple, Los Angeles and in the Applied Buddhism graduate program at Nan Tien Institute, Australia. He has volunteered on various projects, including translating for the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Art and web design for the Buddha's Birthday Education Project. Besides studying Buddhism, Alex's current interests include Chinese and cycling. Alex works as a software engineer.

Materials

Past Topics

Our first series of classes was a close reading of the Diamond Sutra, which is one of the most important texts for the Chan (Zen) school. Each week we studied one of the thirty two sections of the Diamond Sutra, discussing in detail the concepts described in the Diamond Sutra and reflecting the lessons in relation to our everyday lives. We used the English translation by Venerable Yifa as a basis for these classes.