Special Guest Speaker Barry Boyce

“Independence and Devotion: Paradox on the Spiritual Path”

Sunday, October 26th, 10 am ET

virtually on Zoom only

Throughout all traditions of Buddhism—but especially in those that put a strong emphasis on the power of a relationship with a teacher and a lineage—practitioners call out for help and blessings: “Grant your blessings so my mind may be one with the dharma.” What does it mean to call out for blessings—to whom and with what expectation?

At the same time, practitioners are encouraged to stand on their own two feet, as in one of the Pali sutras, where the Buddha famously says, “… Ananda, be a lamp unto yourself, be a refuge to yourself. Take yourself to no external refuge.” In the same vein, one of the Tibetan terms for renunciation, the foundation for the path, is ngejung, which translates as self-sufficiency.

Do these two principles contradict each other? How do we bring this seeming contradiction to the path?

Barry Boyce became a student of the Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, in 1973 and attended the 1980 Vajradhatu Seminary. He has taught extensively within Shambhala Training, Vajradhatu, and Shambhala International, and on the Ocean website. In 2013, he helped to found the Profound Treasury Retreat. He was formerly senior editor at Shambhala Sun magazine (now Lion’s Roar) and is the founding editor of Mindful magazine. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with his wife Judi. They have two daughters and two granddaughters.

Special Guest Speakers

Westchester Meditation Center regularly hosts Special Guests Speakers on Zoom and in person, to give a presentation on a topic of special interest to the community.

WMC records these presentations and makes the audio available to the public and our members, with permission from the presenter. Access Previous Speakers recordings here.