The Five Skandhas: How the Self is Constructed
Details
Instructor: Lama Linda
Dates: June 10, 17, 24, July 8 - No class on July 1
New Link to Zoom:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87469872916?pwd=dW45sm68Mj6aOeNWT2TYvJk32Wo4OX.1
Meeting ID: 874 6987 2916 Password: 108108
In Buddhist teaching, what we call the “self” is not a solid or permanent identity. Instead, it is a dynamic process made up of five ever-changing components known as the skandhas: form, feeling tone, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. In this four-class series, we will explore how these aggregates arise moment-to-moment to create the experience of “I,” and how seeing their impermanent and interdependent nature opens the door to freedom.
Through meditation practice and Dharma reflection, participants will learn to observe the skandhas directly in their own experience. As we begin to see how body, emotions, thoughts, and awareness continuously arise and dissolve, the grip of a fixed self begins to soften. This insight naturally supports greater clarity, compassion, and ease in daily life, revealing that what we take to be solid identity is actually a flowing process within a vast field of awareness.
Classes are offered on the ancient basis of Dana, also known as "give from the heart" or "pay what you choose." This allows you to pay according to your heart, and to what you value. Dana can be sent by e-transfer to dana@awakenintoronto.org or by PayPal to https://paypal.me/awakeningintoronto
Teacher Bio: Lama Linda (Linda Hochstetler) has studied both mindfulness meditation and Vajrayana Buddhism for more than a quarter century. She trained in mindfulness meditation with Jon Kabat-Zinn in the 90s and studied under Namgyal Rinpoche (the first Canadian-born Rinpoche) from 1995 until his death in 2003. She has received permission to teach in the Namgyal lineage and studied Vajrayana Buddhism with Qapel (Doug Duncan) who resided at Clear Sky Meditation and Retreat Centre in Cranbrook, BC, before his death in 2024. Lama Linda is a registered social worker with a specialty in illness, dying and death. Along with a thriving private practice she has written and been interviewed on the subject of dying and death. In 2021 she authored her first book - 21 Days to Die: The Canadian Guide to End of Life. She is a mother, wife, and friend to many, and encourages students to use their relationships to love deeply and explore dharma fully. She enjoys weaving together her Buddhist practices with Western psychotherapeutic practices to help students make transformative changes in their lives.[ www.lindahochstetler.com](http://www.lindahochstetler.com/).