Public Education and Weekly Practice at CPB
The cornerstone of CPB's public outreach is its weekly practice, currently held at the First Unitarian Church of St. Louis. This communal setting is an important supplement to the personal practice that acts as the nexus from which authentic Buddhist practice is made meaningful to one's daily life. CPB helps bridge the personal and the social to create the holistic Buddhist experience.
In addition to weekly practice for its members and guests, CPB aims to become a major resource for the public by helping to educate Americans about Buddhism and Buddhist practice. Through regular workshops and social events, CPB is available to those who are seeking a general understanding of Buddhism, a structured personal practice, and a community of like-minded friends (the CPB Sangha). CPB is already a leader in the American Buddhist community because of its full embracement of the internet as a fundamental resource to its outreach. Indeed, for CPB, the internet is not just a convenient contemporary resource, but a vital component to its function as a Buddhist school. CPB provides online training, group interaction through our social networking site, CPB on Ning, and one-on-one communication with lay and monastic members.
CPB offers several "primer" documents to help its guests and new members orientate themselves to Pragmatic Buddhist thought and practice. The first document, "Meditation at CPB" answers the basic questions about the Chan/Zen approach to meditation known as "mindfulness meditation." It also discusses the importance of consistency in one's practice. The second document, "CPB: A Guide for Beginner's and New Members" explains the goals and values of CPB and the benefits of lay membership. (These documents will be available for download on this site shortly...)
The cornerstone of CPB's public outreach is its weekly practice, currently held at the First Unitarian Church of St. Louis. This communal setting is an important supplement to the personal practice that acts as the nexus from which authentic Buddhist practice is made meaningful to one's daily life. CPB helps bridge the personal and the social to create the holistic Buddhist experience.
In addition to weekly practice for its members and guests, CPB aims to become a major resource for the public by helping to educate Americans about Buddhism and Buddhist practice. Through regular workshops and social events, CPB is available to those who are seeking a general understanding of Buddhism, a structured personal practice, and a community of like-minded friends (the CPB Sangha). CPB is already a leader in the American Buddhist community because of its full embracement of the internet as a fundamental resource to its outreach. Indeed, for CPB, the internet is not just a convenient contemporary resource, but a vital component to its function as a Buddhist school. CPB provides online training, group interaction through our social networking site, CPB on Ning, and one-on-one communication with lay and monastic members.
CPB offers several "primer" documents to help its guests and new members orientate themselves to Pragmatic Buddhist thought and practice. The first document, "Meditation at CPB" answers the basic questions about the Chan/Zen approach to meditation known as "mindfulness meditation." It also discusses the importance of consistency in one's practice. The second document, "CPB: A Guide for Beginner's and New Members" explains the goals and values of CPB and the benefits of lay membership. (These documents will be available for download on this site shortly...)
