The dharma talk will be held in English only.
There will be an opportunity to ask Andy questions live!
A replay with French, German & Spanish translation will be published in the Prajna library.
5 July 2023, 7:30-8:30 pm Paris time
A replay with French, German & Spanish translation will be published in the Prajna library.
5 July 2023, 7:30-8:30 pm Paris time
There is the open, sky-like nature of mind that is revealed by meditation; and there is the mindless, material world of particles and forces revealed by science. How do these two realities relate? Do both of these really exist? Is one of them subordinate to the other?
The way to answer these questions is to stop chasing after reflections, and settle into the mirror itself. That’s what this talk will be about.
The way to answer these questions is to stop chasing after reflections, and settle into the mirror itself. That’s what this talk will be about.
Biography
Andy Karr is a teacher, author, and photographer who offers profound insights into dharma and mind. His latest book, Into the Mirror: A Buddhist Journey through Mind, Matter, and the Nature of Reality, released by Shambhala Publications in May 2023, shows how we can make a deep Mahayana journey in an age of materialism. His first book, Contemplating Reality, published by Shambhala in 2007, is a series of investigations into the nature of mind and the phenomenal world. He also coauthored The Practice of Contemplative Photography: Seeing the World with Fresh Eyes with Michael Wood, which was released by Shambhala in 2011.
Andy mainly studies and teaches the Mahayana view and meditation, as well as Mahamudra. He has been visiting Rigpa centres since 2017, as a meditation instructor during the datüns and guiding retreats and events which explore the view of the Mahayana.
For more information visit andykarrauthor.com
Andy mainly studies and teaches the Mahayana view and meditation, as well as Mahamudra. He has been visiting Rigpa centres since 2017, as a meditation instructor during the datüns and guiding retreats and events which explore the view of the Mahayana.
For more information visit andykarrauthor.com
About Andy Karr’s new book
Karl Brunnhölzl, wrote about Andy Karr’s new book:
“Andy Karr’s Into the Mirror is a brilliant companion volume to his Contemplating Reality, contrasting the Buddhist view of mind as the sole foundation of all experiences and phenomena with a number of materialistic and reductionist views on consciousness. Contrary to such views popular in today’s world that consider matter to be primary and consciousness to be a mere epiphenomenon of matter, Mahāyāna Buddhists see it the other way round: matter is an epiphenomenon of mind. At the same time, neither matter nor mind can be pinpointed as an intrinsically existent or reified entity. In the mirror of our mind, all kinds of inner and outer phenomena appear like reflections, but when we really look deeply into that mirror, all we see is our own true face, which is neither the mirror nor anything that appears in it. Whether this is called “pure awareness,” “buddha nature,” or “awakening,” it is the basic ground of our experience: if not recognized, it is delusion; if recognized, it is primordial nonreferential wakefulness full of wisdom and compassion. Andy’s book is a significant and very accessible contribution to the ongoing dialogue between “modern” philosophy, psychology, cognitive science, and neuro-science and the “ancient” Buddhist inner science of introspection and contemplation.”
“Andy Karr’s Into the Mirror is a brilliant companion volume to his Contemplating Reality, contrasting the Buddhist view of mind as the sole foundation of all experiences and phenomena with a number of materialistic and reductionist views on consciousness. Contrary to such views popular in today’s world that consider matter to be primary and consciousness to be a mere epiphenomenon of matter, Mahāyāna Buddhists see it the other way round: matter is an epiphenomenon of mind. At the same time, neither matter nor mind can be pinpointed as an intrinsically existent or reified entity. In the mirror of our mind, all kinds of inner and outer phenomena appear like reflections, but when we really look deeply into that mirror, all we see is our own true face, which is neither the mirror nor anything that appears in it. Whether this is called “pure awareness,” “buddha nature,” or “awakening,” it is the basic ground of our experience: if not recognized, it is delusion; if recognized, it is primordial nonreferential wakefulness full of wisdom and compassion. Andy’s book is a significant and very accessible contribution to the ongoing dialogue between “modern” philosophy, psychology, cognitive science, and neuro-science and the “ancient” Buddhist inner science of introspection and contemplation.”
