by Nalanda Institute
“The Dalai Lama calls karma ‘self-creation’, because in every single second, what I do, think or say, is the process of producing the person I become.”
— Venerable Robina Courtin
The Buddha described wisdom and compassion as being the two wings of the bird of awakening. We need wisdom to understand the workings of our own mind and to discern between skillful and unskillful thoughts. We need compassion to transform our discerning thoughts into generative action motivated by the desire to alleviate our own suffering and the suffering of others.
This Fall, our Certificate Program in Wise Compassion begins, where we look at how to develop these two great wings of awakening. If you’re curious about the program, we invite you to preview this lecture which is a part of our Wise Compassion curriculum. Within this lecture, Venerable Robina Courtin—a Buddhist nun and touring teacher of Buddhism, who over the years, has also served as editorial director of Wisdom Publications, editor of Mandala magazine, executive director of Liberation Prison Project—discusses these two wings of awakening, explores the meaning of each and shares how they relate to each other on an individual and collective level.
Venerable Robina Courtin discusses how wisdom supports us in developing ourselves to be a “suitable vessel” to embody the Bodhisattva path of compassion. She provides a framework to understand how compassion arises out of wisdom, and within this framework, she also touches on the concept of karma, the importance of self-love, the three poisons, Buddhist psychology versus Western psychology, and the Buddhist perspective on compassion fatigue. Venerable Robina Courtin creates a space for us to consider what our relationship is like with ourselves (wisdom), what our relationship is like with others (compassion), and how these two wings support our bird of awakening to take flight.
We hope you enjoy these reflections and that they provide insight and understanding into these two foundational Buddhist principles, as well as provide a window of understanding into the teaching style, content, and discussions held within our Certificate Program in Wise Compassion.
Learn more about our Certificate Programs being offered this Fall 2024:
Certificate Program in Wise Compassion
Certificate Program in Embodied Wisdom
Programa de Certificación en Sabiduría Encarnada