The Wheel of Life, 
An Introduction to Hinayana
with Martin Evans & Geoff Bannoff

Five Tuesdays starting April 9
7 - 8:30 pm

The Wheel of Life is a visual teaching aid in the Tibetan tradition, which shows us a map of how we construct our personal versions of the world. 

In the middle are a snake, rooster and pig, depicting aggression (pushing away), passion (drawing towards) and ignorance, the three fundamental emotions.  

The next layer depicts the six realms, which are psychological states, like long lasting moods. We habitually create heaven, hell, the hungry ghost, jeaous god, animal and human realms. These colour our views of people and situations.  

The outer ring is the 12 nidanas, which describe in detail how we move from a simple perception to an opinion, and beyond to creating a solid ego-centred view. (This talk by Trungpa Rinpoche provides a good overview of the nidanas.)

By learning these very human patterns, we recognize them and perhaps begin to take them less seriously. Meditation practice provides insight into our habitual patterns, and glimpses of simply being awake and human, without a project. This brings a sense of humour about our situation, and natural warmth and compassion for ourselves and others. 

The Hinayana refers to the foundation teaching of Buddhism. 

Each class will include a period of sitting meditation, a talk by Martin, tea and discussion groups. There will be short readings for each class.

Martin Evans began to study Buddhism in the early 1970’s. He has studied with Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche and Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. He has been teaching meditation and Buddhism since 1981, and is a regular teacher at the Vancouver Shambhala Centre, and online on Ocean