Stop and Realise | Seminar

Exploring Sangharakshita’s Seminar on Zhiyi’s Dhyana for Beginners

14 – 21 February | Led by Paramartha + Prajnanita

In the early years of the Order, Sangharakshita’s seminars formed a vital part of the collective exploration of the Dharma. Among the most influential was his 1975 seminar on Zhiyi’s Dhyana for Beginners, a text that helped shape Triratna’s understanding of meditation and the spiritual life. More than fifty years later, these teachings remain rich with insight, yet many of the treasures contained within them have become largely forgotten.

This seminar offers an opportunity to return to these formative teachings through a close study of Sangharakshita’s commentary. While based on a classic meditation text from the Chinese T’ien-t’ai tradition, our focus will not be primarily on the dhyanas themselves, but on the cultivation of tranquillity (samatha) and insight (vipashyana) as integral dimensions of the path to Awakening.

Again and again, Sangharakshita emphasises that meditation cannot be separated from the wider spiritual life. Tranquillity and insight arise from the conditions we create through ethical practice, spiritual friendship, energy, commitment, and a deepening Going for Refuge. Reflecting on insight, he describes it as “stopping discursive mental activity, and just seeing the truth directly. That is the realizing.”

With only twelve participants, this seminar will offer space for study, discussion, reflection, and practice in the supportive conditions of Adhisthana. It will also provide a valuable foundation for the immersion retreat later in June, where many of these themes will be explored more directly through meditation.