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Robert Thurman
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Liberate yourself from fixed ideas of what Buddhism is and experience a more spacious, open way of being authentically awake and enlightened.
Experience the foundational teachings of the Buddha in a way that’s free of dogma and leads you to become an “enlightenmentist” who experiences more freedom and joy.
Buddhism has gained a lot of traction in recent decades in the West, particularly through mindfulness meditation. Everyone loves the Dalai Lama and even scientists have become more “hip” to Buddhism.
However, the deeper truths of Buddhism reach much deeper into the fabric of our being than just mindfulness. In fact, they literally rewire the way you see and think about the world. When you engage in the essence of Buddhist practice — beyond dogma, rituals, or ideas of rightness — you open to the naked experience of each moment in a way that is truly revolutionary.
And you also get fully engaged IN the world in a new way. You become compassion in action.
Enlightenment is not just something that happens on the cushion. It’s really something that permeates every moment, including the way you think, speak, work, and engage in relationships.
That’s why freeing yourself up from old boxes, ideas, and habits is so key for the process of becoming an “enlightenmentist,” Robert Thurman’s wonderful term for someone who is not just following Buddhist teachings but living into the radical fullness of each moment.
When we engage Buddhist lineages and teachings in this way, terms like bliss and freedom shift from being concepts into lived realities. It also makes Buddhist teachings relevant and important for ANYONE, including people who fully see themselves as Christian, Jews, Hindus, pagans, or spiritual but not religious.
That’s because “Buddhism beyond Buddhism” is ultimately about taking off the filters through which we see the world and seeing it nakedly, honestly, as it is. That’s also why true “enlightenmentists” are also very pro-science, as the scientific inquiry into reality is fully compatible with the open-minded quality of someone who is truly following in Buddha’s footsteps.
That’s where the teachings of Revolutionary Enlightenment come in. Revolutionary Enlightenment is all about overturning our cherished assumptions and challenging our long-held beliefs.
It’s about learning the fundamentals of the teachings and practices but then walking the actual path of the Buddha by recognizing that our modern lives have unique challenges he didn’t face, which steer us toward engaging these sacred teachings in very different ways.
Revolutionary Enlightenment is about becoming a realist who’s more in touch with everyday realities as opposed to someone who is seeking to escape them.
The reason that the saying, “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him,” has gotten so much press is not because Buddhism advocates violence of any kind, but because its symbolic message is so important: Putting a teacher on a pedestal can actually be a barrier to your enlightenment.
As you can probably relate, our natural human inclination is to put people, beliefs, and practices on pedestals.
This is why Vimalakirti — Shakyamuni Buddha’s enlightened disciple whose ancient text deconstructs everyone and everything in order to reveal the infinite blissful glow of the true Reality — stood in front of the Buddha and told him that he didn’t see a physical body. Vimalakirti was referring to the Buddha’s self-perception as everything, not only the continuum of the illusory single embodiment before him.
And even though the Buddha’s “real good news” is that the default “real” reality is nirvana, the transcendent state in which there is no desire, suffering, or identification as the self, we shouldn’t settle for some idea that nirvana (or "buddha") is elsewhere but should seek it within as already there.
Calling All Revolutionaries
The truth is we need to become aware of the many subtle ways that we get rigid, fixed, or attached in our quest for true freedom. That’s where a revolutionary spirit comes in handy. It calls for us to break out of the box we might be living in. It calls for us to question orthodoxy. It calls for us to not be contained by any system of beliefs.
In fact, a bit of deep inner revolution appears to be necessary for virtually any enlightenment, whether it’s of the scientific, spiritual, or moral kind. And that’s because what’s ultimately real cannot be contained by orthodoxy. Reality is more spacious, joyful, and even playful.
The Dalai Lama calls us again and again to inner revolution, spiritual revolution, and ethical revolution to achieve world peace through inner peace.
If you’ve found yourself engaged in grim, self-serious, and even stressful spiritual practice, you’ll find the Revolutionary Enlightenment program with Robert Thurman, one of the foremost teachers of Buddhist practices in the West, quite revelatory and deeply liberating. As well as delightful.
And that’s because he’ll take you on a journey to discover ancient Buddhist treasures and modern enlightenment teachings that ultimately lead you to lighten up and break free from rigid identifications, even with Buddhism itself.
It’s the “Buddhism beyond Buddhism,” the playful freedom from all dogma that leads to the direct recognition of reality as it truly is. The nondual truth is that we — in the full range of our humanness — are one with everything.
The Guidance of a Globally Renowned Scholar of Buddhism
Time magazine chose Professor Robert Thurman as one of its 25 most influential Americans in 1997, and The New York Times recently said he “is considered the leading American expert on Tibetan Buddhism.”
Robert is also known for his unpredictable wit and storytelling as much as for his knowledge of ancient canonical texts, which is perhaps why he and the Dalai Lama, who delights in mischief and laughter, have remained such close friends more than 50 years after Robert was ordained by the Dalai Lama as the first American Buddhist monk of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
Bringing the spirit of unpredictability, revolution, and zaniness into the realm of spiritual practice is essential so it doesn’t become stodgy, dessicated, and devoid of real liberating power.
Many of the ways in which we repress our authenticity are subtle, from what we feel is “spiritual” to say or how we’re supposed to revere teachers.
Robert will tip over a few sacred cows in this freewheeling course as well as transmit real liberating wisdom from the “House of Vimalakirti,” whose Vimalakirti Sutra text celebrates an unorthodox approach to life and revels in a revolutionary and inconceivably magical spirit.
You’ll discover a lot about Buddhism AND be freed from “Buddhism” at the same time.
That’s because your awakened mind cannot be defined by fixed ideas and your awakened heart cannot be held by simple notions of compassion.
The truth is the more awake we are, the more unpredictable we are. We connect with the very ground of being that contains all that is, which means we ourselves have access to all that is.
Compassion becomes something that we don’t “have” so much as the natural overflowing of our true nature, which is interpenetrating with all things.
Make no mistake: Robert is a respected teacher and seasoned scholar who knows his stuff. You’ll learn a lot from him about Buddhist tradition that brings the ancient teachings alive.
Robert has become perhaps the most respected Tibetan Buddhist in America precisely because he’s not a dogmatist, but a revolutionary, leading us to laugh our way to awakening rather than deaden ourselves to the joys of life.
Marrying a Playful Spirit With Constructive Action
If you’ve noticed over time that your practice has gotten a bit dry, Robert can help you inject a more expansive quality of delight into your practice and your days.
As you do this, meditation becomes more enjoyable. Compassion becomes more mischievous. Consciousness becomes more unpredictable.
And you’ll reconnect with the unique qualities of life that want to move through you and express through you in authentic, natural ways.
Vimalkirti knew this well, which is why his Sutras are a clarion call for rebels, misfits, and adventurous Buddhists around the world.
In this unprecedented 8-week program, you’ll see how to marry an expansive spirit with tangible, concrete actions that better the world. Indeed, the call of our time is to get off our cushions and help the world become a more compassionate and enlightened place. Addressing real human suffering is also a key aspect of our personal practice.
Robert will show you how to go beyond the feeling of being weighed down by the troubles of the world, and instead learn to dance with them in a way that celebrates the beauty of life.
If you’re hungry to open up into qualities of limitless freedom and joy and go beyond self-serious spiritual discipline, this is the program for you.
During this 8-week program, you’ll:
Discover why it’s important to take the Buddhism out of Buddhism in order to become truly free Discover how to adapt your livelihood to harmonize as much as possible to the tenfold positive actions and avoid the negative ones Find out how to become the living solution to problems that previously seemed insoluble Understand the importance of questioning the authority of gurus and teachers who others may urge you to place on a pedestal — allowing you to authentically implement the teachings and reclaim your own unique path of awakening Hear the example of Shakyamuni Buddha’s enlightened disciple, Vimalakirti, from his ancient text in which he deconstructs everyone and everything in order to reveal the infinite blissful glow of the true Reality Find out why Buddha was the most successful scientist in history Explore how to become an “enlightenmentist,” enabling you to trust your own inner compass and develop your razor-sharp critical intelligence Be inspired by Vimalakirti’s special gift of eloquence called reconciliation of dichotomous realities Examine the possibility of the inconceivably liberated bliss-bodied enlightenment life Investigate the tenfold path of skillful and unskillful evolutionary action Understand why karma is a Buddhist biological theory of evolution Establish why you cannot allow yourself to be driven and directed by an uncontrolled unconscious Explore the role of meditation in Buddhism Discover how to remove blocks to the exalted states that already lie within your range of experience Understand why Vimalakirti remained silent when asked to give a definitive, absolutely correct statement about realityWhat You’ll Discover in These 8 Weeks
Course sessions are on Tuesdays at 10:00am Pacific.
In this 8-week transformational intensive, Robert will guide you through the fundamental shifts you’ll need to successfully liberate yourself from fixed ideas of what Buddhism is and experience a more spacious, open-ended way of being authentically awake and enlightened.
Each weekly contemplation and training session will build harmoniously upon the previous ones so you’ll develop a complete holistic understanding of the practices, tools, and principles you’ll need to break free from dead-end dogma to enjoy the nondual freedom of a more infinite life.
Robert will be available for LIVE Q&A following every class session to engage with your emerging inquiries about the course material.
Module 1: The Four Noble Truths (May 22)
The core of the Buddha’s teachings are known as the Four Noble Truths. The first is that life means suffering. It is true indeed — no one escapes this life without experiencing anguish and sorrow. The second is that attachment to desires is the origin of suffering. The third is that suffering can be overcome, a promise that offers hope and comfort to troubled souls everywhere. The last is that there is a path of practice that leads to enlightenment and an end to suffering.
The Buddha viewed these truths not as beliefs, but as facts — as a prescription to help followers cure their self-inflicted suffering and discover lasting peace and wellbeing. Those who reject the reality of these truths will suffer pain, change, and the cosmic stress of attachment to any version of existence that’s experienced as self vs. other.
In this session, you’ll discover:
- Buddhism is primarily a science and a set of educational institutions for those who embark on the project of understanding the reality of the world
- Buddhist teachings only seek to “convert” ignorance into enlightenment, not to cause someone to change religions or ideologies
- Through improving your fulfillment of your born religion or scientific secular ideology’s humanistic goals, you can use Buddhist sciences and arts without religious “Buddhist” conversion
- The most successful scientist in history was the Buddha, whose name means “enlightened one” — and that enlightenment is not a mystical discernment of an alternative reality into which one can escape, but the scientific discovery (not a religious revelation) that the only real reality is itself freedom, bliss, goodness, beauty, and truth
- Although Buddhist science is about mental or spiritual reality, it doesn’t neglect the physical — these 3 aspects are the same at the subtlest, deepest level
- Vimalakirti, the bodhisattva “time lord” is a modern-day Dr. Who whose house is a “TARDIS” abode, wherein the illusory or magical nature of reality is revealed to those who enter there
Module 2: The Easily Known, Yet Inconceivable, Worldview of Nondual Reality (May 29)
Buddhism is more a science and philosophy than a religion. The Buddha used the scientific method of inquiry to explore the reality of the self and of the world. Although the Buddhist view of reality is fundamentally an openness of mind and heart, it is an openly held view that can be materialistic as well as religious and spiritualistic.
Exploring the usefulness of the Buddhist teaching of emptiness can help people free themselves from widespread blind faith in (pseudo-)”scientific” nihilism in regards to the ongoing life of the soul.
In this session, you’ll discover:
- “Emptiness,” “voidness,” or “selflessness” is not nothingness, and, in fact, it functionally has the same meaning as relativity
- Trusting your own intelligence, yet remaining critical of its inherited, indoctrinated envelope of cultural constructs, enables you to break free from unrealistic views
- It’s important not to be intimidated by authoritarian dogmas — blind faith is dangerous and crippling, either from religious or secular authorities
- The truth of what happens after death will never in principle be discovered because nothing is not a thing, a place, a destination, or a state, but nothing
- A causal biology that includes mind as well as physical causation processes is most useful, albeit truly scientific in that none of its laws are absolute, but simply hypotheses accounting for evidence discovered
- The enjoyable roar of Vimalakirti’s silence is about inconceivable real reality
Module 3: The Delicious Fun of Freedom (June 5)
The second chapter of the Vimalakirti Sutra, a sacred text written nearly 2,000 years ago that explores the foundational principle of nonduality, also examines omniscient compassion; the transformation of the “ordinary mis-knowing body” into a “Buddha body”; and the purpose of life, which is to educate oneself in the delicious fun of freedom.
The wisdom of Vimalakirti, a layman, was matched only by the Buddha himself. In this chapter, monks and bodhisattvas who were intimidated by Vimalakirti’s wisdom — including Manjusri, bodhisattva of wisdom — pay him a consolation call when Vimalakirti falls ill, largely to witness a conversation between the two wisdom keepers.
In this session, you’ll discover:
- The practice of Buddhism is the original “higher” or “super education,” which is the most realistic purpose of human life; this threefold evolutionary learning is concerned with ethics, mind, and physical reality
- The Buddha determined that you too can be enlightened and that your human intelligence is the fruition of your own evolutionary effort to educate yourself to become enlightened
- The only logical use of your human lifetime from an individual evolutionary point of view is to prioritize engagement with the 3 “super educations” in ethics, mind, and wisdom
- Living as an “educationalist” — someone oriented to lifelong learning — is a no-brainer, whether you want to benefit humanity, please God, or just be happier
- Even though words are imperfect and never fully capture inner or outer realities, they are essential in the super education process; we can use them rationally and logically in science, and poetically in art — and we can share the minds of many great educationalists from past centuries starting at least with Shakyamuni Buddha as recorded in his sutras
- You already do know reality from a deep, normally inaccessible part of your being, so you should never fall for any authority’s assurance that you cannot know reality without their guidance
Module 4: Engaging in Positive, Evolutionary Action
(June 12)
Positive, evolutionary action is conscious, biologically skillful use of body, speech, and mind for evolutionary navigation for one and all. In contrast, enlightened self-interest and altruistic other-interest reinforce each other.
The Vimalakirti Sutra’s teaching of inconceivable liberation tells us that the bodhisattva aspiration and vow is logically imperative in a world of infinite inter-entanglement of beings in a cosmos of infinite, absolute relativity. We’ll explore the possibility of the inconceivably liberated bliss-bodied enlightenment life through the lens of the tenfold path of skillful and unskillful evolutionary action.
In this session, you’ll discover:
- When you are driven by mis-knowing, evolution is pointless, beginningless, and endless, and just goes from one kind of suffering to another; even reaching godliness or heaven is just another relative state, and is still plagued by impermanence and causality, and hence still subject to cosmic suffering
- You can reach an evolutionary summit that is totally meaningful, which is enlightenment, defined as expanding to identify viscerally with all life, physically as well as mentally — a state that can only be achieved by the supreme and extreme bliss of transcendent wisdom and all-encompassing love
- The laws of biological life-shaping are governed by ethical choices in gross and subtle actions by body, speech, and mind, with the quality of life forms dictated by whether choices lead to ever more expansion, unification, and openness, or ever more contraction, separation, and closedness
- The core evolutionary skills are what most cultures, even Buddhist ones, call virtue and goodness, while evolutionary lack of skill, or regression, is what is called vice, or sin and evil
- You have an evolutionary motive to be good and to avoid bad — in your mind as well as your speech and physical acts
- You can easily evaluate your own acts of body, speech, and mind by how they add to or subtract from your sense of identity as a field of life: therefore, it is imperative to study and understand the pattern of the tenfold positive and negative evolutionary acts
Module 5: Sustaining an Infinite Lifestyle (June 19)
Realistic livelihood can be attained by sustaining an infinite lifestyle in every situation. This holds true for societies and nations as well as for individuals.
You can adapt your livelihood to harmonize as much as possible to the tenfold positive actions and avoid the negative ones, without necessarily dropping out from whatever profession you are in or inclined toward.
In this session, you’ll discover:
- Advice from enlightenment biologists fits well in many respects with general systems of ethics and most religious ethics, as well as with commonsensical secular ethics, as His Holiness the Dalai Lama calls the life of kindness, compassion, intelligence, science, and art
- The monastic or specialized retreatant life is ideal, in that in sensible, truly individualistic, humanistic cultures, such a choice on the part of a person is honored and respected — and such people are economically and socially supported in order to pursue their educationalist lifestyle
- Some people develop more by doing more for others in the bodhisattva vow mode — and there are many avocations and professions that help: teaching, learning, healing, protecting against harm, producing wealth, etc.
- We need to learn from cultures in which Buddhist science has already had a multi-century or multi-millennium impact, as they have developed strategies to help beings live productive lives by prioritizing at least to some extent evolutionary skillfulness activities
Module 6: The Foundation of Creativity (June 26)
Creativity is grounded in the effort to align yourself with the true, the good, and the beautiful. It’s the natural gift of everyone.
The realization of nonduality of relative and relative (thing and thing), results in a “magnificent activities path” or “creativity path.” Based on the knowledge of the absolute being relative, relative and relative are mutually non-obstructive. Therefore, magic and miracles are possible.
In this session, you’ll discover:
- There are amazing arts and sciences, disruptive technologies, and tantras, that enable beings to use their precious human lives to make quantum leaps in their evolutionary progress
- You’re already an accomplished artist in the art of living, the beauty, value, and benefit of your creations only limited by your habitual self-identities, which are internalized from your subliminal assimilation of the dictates of your cultural conditioning
- In emerging from the finite lifestyle, your opening mind and heart lift you beyond despair and depression into an ever-expanding land of opportunity, igniting your creativity in assuming your own version of universal responsibility — and gradually immersing yourself in harmony with loving partners in being the living solution to problems that previously seemed insoluble
Module 7: Making the Unconscious Fully Conscious (July 3)
Mindfulness cultivates internal critical awareness, a prerequisite for making the unconscious fully conscious. And you can deepen your mindfulness with the help of Buddhist inner science and sophisticated depth psychology.
In this session, you’ll discover that:
- The human subconscious or unconscious was well explored by Buddhist psychologists, who discovered the Eros and Thanatos residing in the “id”
- These psychologists were clinical in approach and motive, thereby providing a method of making the subconscious conscious, systematically and thoroughly
- Meditation help you become aware of the inner workings of your mind, through which you can understand how your reactions are driven, governed by unconscious and subliminal drives and transformable by inner awareness in order to transform negativities and reinforce and expand positivities
- There is a direct relationship between mindfulness and refocusing your memory
- Since you are an infinite, endless evolutionary being, you must decide that you cannot allow yourself to be driven and directed by an uncontrolled unconscious, and so you make it your highest life priority to expand your consciousness to find, disarm, and re-channel your Eros, Thanatos, and Lethe energies into activities of your choosing
Module 8: The Bliss of Samadhi (July 10)
Samadhi — a state in which you achieve union with the Divine — is the diamond top of all eight components of the noble path of Buddha. Patience, persistence, and endurance will automatically develop when you discover that all the most extraordinary, “altered,” and exalted, transcendent states already lie without your range of experience.
In this session, you’ll discover:
- Mind, when fully conscious, ranges down into the subtle and super-subtle energy levels within, becoming supernormally powerful, competent, and artful in shaping all levels of experience and embodying optimal forces to generate healing and happy conditions of self and others
- You can definitely, systematically develop a supernormal level of concentration that will empower your wisdom intelligence to enable your mind to realize the deepest rock-bottom nature of reality and experience the inexpressible — in here, or out there
- You can take control of these energies and shape yourself, your environment, and that of others in ways more beneficial to you and them
- Even the experience of death can be transformed into a space of evolutionary quantum flight between lives, just as deep sleep can be a portal to lucid dreams wherein key knowings and sharings can be developed — and even to lucid lives, where embodiments can be shaped for optimal benefit of self and others
- Your access to transcendent states are only blocked by self-habits and identity instincts posed by evolutionary stage and cultural constriction; these blocks can be removed, baby step by baby step, with no shortage of time, as endless lifetimes open up before you as you gradually emerge from the finite lifestyle into the open field of the infinite lifestyle
The Revolutionary Enlightenment Bonus Collection
In addition to Bob’s transformative 8-week virtual course, you’ll receive these powerful training sessions with leading visionaries and teachers. These bonus sessions complement the course and promise to take your understanding and practice to an even deeper level.
Teachings on Compassion
Audio Collection From Robert Thurman
Join Bob Thurman in this collection of three audio talks on the topic of compassion which includes:
Transforming Anger Into Compassion
One of the Dalai Lama’s slogans is: “If you want to be happy, be compassionate.” In this lecture, Professor Thurman discusses how to do this by opening our hearts to others, especially our enemies. Our enemies aren’t just other people, but within ourselves. By transforming anger towards all our enemies we can find true happiness and also help others do the same.
A Loving Look of Compassion
According to a Buddhist belief, we all have lived not just one, but many lives, an infinite amount of them. This means that every being has had a chance to be our mother in one of those infinite lives. In this talk, Professor Thurman teaches that realizing the infinity of our past lives enables us to find a loving face of our mother in every being, Every being has this loving look of total nurturing, love, and concern.
Pilgrimage: Deepening Wisdom & Compassion
In this teaching from the pilgrimage sites in Bodh Gaya, Professor Thurman opens with a discussion of how the Buddha redefined the concept of truth and how modern language about Buddhism is influenced by its early translation by scholars attempting to frame its philosophy of mind training into Western religious equivalencies. He also discusses how an understanding of nondualism and emptiness can form the basis for deepening one’s wisdom and compassion. The song “Dancing Ling” by Tenzin Choegyal from the album Heart Sutra by EthnoSuperLounge is used with the artist’s permission, all rights reserved.
The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti
Exclusive PDF Translation From Robert Thurman
Robert Thurman shares with you his beloved translation of the Noble Mahayana Sutra, The Teaching of Vimalakirti. Among Buddhist sūtras, this teaching stands out to Bob like a masterfully faceted diamond, so located between the heaps of gold, silver, and pearls of the Transcendent Wisdom (Prajnaparamita) Sutras and the array of sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and other gems of the Buddha Garland (Buddhāvataṃsaka) or Inconceivable Liberation (Acintyavimokṣa) Sutras as to refract the radiances of all, beaming them forth to the beholder in a concentrated rainbow-beam of diamond light. This translation was published in association withTranslating the Words of the Buddha, a global nonprofit initiative that aims to translate all of the Buddha’s words into modern languages, and to make them available to everyone.
What Graduates of Robert’s Previous Shift Network Course Are Saying...
“Improvement of the quality of our daily lives”
Robert Thurman is a leading experts in his field. However, more than that, he’s a deeply compassionate, committed human being who’s able to bridge his academic knowledge and experience with activism and the improvement of the quality of our daily lives.
— Renata Souza, Sao Paulo, Brazil
“More insight, compassion, and peace...”
I greatly admire Robert’s contribution to bringing more insight, compassion, and peace into our world.
— Dr. Lisa Love, Beyond the Secret & Meditation the Path to Peace
“Significant depth and breadth...”
Bob Thurman is the best of the best when it comes to Buddhism. His was a great course of significant depth and breadth for all on the authentic journey to truth.
— Peggy
“Very helpful insights into the teachings of the Buddha...”
The playful nature of Robert made this course come alive with very helpful insights into the teachings of the Buddha we can use to save all beings and our planet. Thank you for offering this course.
— Kathleen Emerson, LaFayette, New York
“I now have a deeper understanding of the material...”
Bob’s extensive knowledge created a loving atmosphere as he shared his extensive wisdom and understand regarding the Buddha. All information was given in a thoughtful as well as thought provoking manner which resonated with my spiritual beliefs. Everything touched on I have incorporated into my daily practices. I now have a deeper understanding of the material and that is exactly why I wanted to take this course. Remarkable experience with Bob. Priceless! Thank you.
— Nancy, Los Angeles, California
“It gave me the nudge I feel I needed...”
I feel the course put me into fuller connection with other mantras to use which I look forward to doing. It gave me the nudge I feel I needed, I think spirit showed me this direction as an addition to what I already do. I’m not really a huge scholarly type, but I certainly enjoy and will continue to delve into what I have now. I have to thank Robert for all he shared with us.
— Jillian Ferri, Johannesburg, South Africa
“I can’t get enough of Bob Thurman”
I absolutely adored this course and would take it or its sequel again in a heartbeat... I can’t get enough of Bob Thurman. He’s so wise and insightful. I am blessed to have had this fantastic opportunity.
— Anonymous
Join the Global Community
Revolutionary Enlightenment offers some of the most advanced online teachings currently available, in a thriving global community of learning and practice.
Join your fellow students and practitioners from across the world in the live interactive conference calls or in our online community to support and learn from each other while you discover how to open your mind and expand your paradigm of reality.
This international community is at the leading edge of a global movement of people who are committed to manifesting a better world for all beings. This emerging planetary movement is rooted in an open heart and stands for the principles of mutual support, cooperation, harmony, and reverence for all of life.
Here’s What You’ll Receive
Eight 90-minute Class Sessions With Bob Thurman
Experience a rare opportunity to be mentored and learn with pioneering contemporary spiritual teacher Bob Thurman — from the comfort of your own home. Each class session guides you to discover the specific skills and abilities to awaken your spiritual potential. Course sessions are on Tuesdays 10am Pacific.
Eight Audio Recordings of Class Sessions
After each class, the audio will be available for you to download in high-quality MP3 format. You’ll never have to worry about missing a session, and you can listen anytime and anywhere — on any connected device and at your convenience.
Eight PDF Transcripts of Class Sessions
In addition to the high-quality MP3 audios, you’ll also receive the entire class transcription in PDF format after each session is completed. You can then review, print, and highlight the most important insights and practices you were given.
Interactive Exercises and Questions for Each Lesson
After each lesson, you’ll have the option of completing related exercises, practicing new tools, and answering questions to accelerate your learning and integrate each week’s lesson.
Online Community
Our exclusive Facebook online community is the perfect place to continue your discovery process after each class. Here, you can continue the discussion about your course materials and interact with your fellow students to take your exploration to an even deeper level.
The Revolutionary Enlightenment Bonus Collection
- Teachings on Compassion
Audio Collection From Robert Thurman
- The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti
Exclusive PDF Translation From Robert Thurman
An Unprecedented Opportunity to Join the Revolutionary Enlightenment Virtual Training
We feel honored Bob Thurman has chosen to partner with The Shift Network to offer this exclusive online training. This is a rare opportunity to interact directly with a contemporary spiritual teacher and internationally renowned scholar whose powerful insights and pioneering work are helping us heal and awaken ourselves and our world.
Through this powerful online format, you’ll not only save time and money on workshop costs (plus travel, accommodations, and meals — which would cost thousands of dollars), you’ll be able to benefit from Bob’s incredible teachings and exercises from the comfort of your home — and at your own pace!
If you’re serious about transforming your idea of what Buddhism is and experience a more spacious, open-ended way of being, then you owe it to yourself, your loved ones, and our world to take this one-of-a-kind training.
If you’re ready to take the next step in evolving yourself, click the register button below to reserve your space now.
More Praise for Robert Thurman...
“Larger-than-life scholar-activist destined to convey the dharma...”
[Robert] is the Billy Graham of American Buddhism. Or perhaps the St. Paul, a latter-day, larger-than-life scholar-activist destined to convey the dharma, the precious teachings of Siddhartha, from Asia to America.
— Time magazine, naming Robert one of the 25 most influential Americans
“He turns people on”
[Robert] is bright, he’s iconoclastic, he’s verbal, he’s funny, he’s avuncular... he’s all of those things you want in a professor. He turns people on.
— Richard Gere, Actor
“The most visible and charismatic exponent of Tibetan Buddhism”
[Robert is] the most visible and charismatic exponent of Tibetan Buddhism.
— Rodger Kamenetz, The New York Times Magazine
“Robert Thurman is a living treasure...”
Robert Thurman is a living treasure, one of today’s most provocative spiritual thinkers.
— Daniel Goleman, Author of Emotional Intelligence
About Robert Thurman
Robert A.F. Thurman is the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in the Department of Religion at Columbia University and President of the American Institute of Buddhist Studies, a nonprofit affiliated with the Center for Buddhist Studies at Columbia University and dedicated to the publication of translations of important artistic and scientific treatises from the Tibetan Tengyur. At the request of HH the Dalai Lama, Robert co-founded Tibet House US, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Tibetan civilization.
Thurman is known as a talented elucidator of the Buddha’s teachings. He is a riveting speaker and an author of many books on Tibet, Buddhism, art, politics and culture, including The Noble Teaching of Vimalakirti; The Central Philosophy of Tibet; The Tibetan Book of the Dead; Infinite Life; Why The Dalai Lama Matters: His Act of Truth as the Solution for China, Tibet, and the World; Love Your Enemies (with Sharon Salzberg); and, most recently, Man of Peace: The Illustrated Life Story of the Dalai Lama of Tibe t.
Time chose Professor Thurman as one of its 25 most influential Americans in 1997, and The New York Times recently said Thurman “is considered the leading American expert on Tibetan Buddhism.”
Inspired by his good friend the Dalai Lama, Thurman stands on Buddhism’s open reality, and thence takes us along with him into an expanded vision of the world, whether the sweep of history, the subtleties of the inner science of the psyche, or the wonders of the life of the heart. He always shares the sense of refuge in the Dharma, Reality, which unfailingly helps us clear away the shrouds of fear and confusion, sustains us with the cheerfulness of an enriched present, and opens a door to a path of realistic hope for a peaceful future.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is a virtual course?
A: It’s a great way to engage live teachings and each other from the comfort of your home! All you need is a phone line (or an equivalent voice service). If there is more than one person in your household taking the course, you will each need your own line. We use Zoom to make it just like an in-person event, where you can ask questions, participate in groups, and deepen your exploration of the course themes.
Please note that dialing Zoom from your phone is a regular toll call; your telephone service provider will charge you according to your existing long-distance calling plan. International access numbers are available. We also offer a webcast which is free to use from anywhere in the world.
I have never participated before in an online course. The packaging, presentation, inclusion and Facebook postings created a wonderful, safe cocoon to participate. I haven’t seen a course so well put together ever — not in all the years of taking college classes — and I had my doubts about doing an online course. The wealth of organization and ease of learning materials and support made this fun as well.
– Claudia F., Medford, MA
Q: Can I get benefit from the course if I miss the live classes?
A: Absolutely! You can download the recordings and transcripts of all course sessions from our online media archive, so you never need to worry about missing live calls. You can also engage the full community and leaders on our private community website.
Q: Can you tell me about the Private Course Group?
A: We will have a private community group for all course participants on Facebook that will support you in making connections with others, sharing insights, engaging in discussions, completing homework assignments and exchanging information about events and other activities that can supplement your transformational journey. You’ll have the ability to share your experiences, projects and growth throughout the Course.
Q: Are there scholarships available for this Training?
A: Yes, we always make a certain percentage of spaces available for partial scholarships, giving preference to those in developing countries or doing important but underpaid work to which they can apply the training material immediately. If you would like to apply for a scholarship, please review our guidelines, which include a link to our online application form.
Q: What is your refund policy?
A: Your satisfaction with The Shift Network and this course is our highest priority! We offer a satisfaction guarantee so that you can sample the course risk-free. The deadline to receive a full refund is June 5, 2018. To request a refund, please click on this refund request form and submit your request. Your refund will be processed within five business days and we’ll send you an email confirming your refund. However, we’d love to have a chance to address and resolve your concerns first. If there is something we can assist you with, please email us at support@theshiftnetwork.com and we’ll be happy to help! (No refund requests accepted after the above date or with scholarship awards.)
Q: How can I reach Customer Support?
A: Please visit our Customer Support Center, where you should be able to find the answer to your question or the solution to a problem. And if you can’t, you can submit an online request form and we’ll get right back to you.
