We Are Buddhas-in-the-Making: Teachings on The Good Eon Sūtra - Part 2

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We Are Buddhas-in-the-Making: Teachings on The Good Eon Sūtra - Part 2
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Series: Teachings on The Good Eon Sūtra by Dzongsar Khyentse March 2022 (2 tracks)

Description

The Good Eon Sutra prophesies one thousand buddhas and reveals how Mahayana teachings invite us to see ourselves as buddhas-in-the-making through compassion, skillful means, and meditative wisdom.

In this two-part teaching hosted by Siddhartha's Intent, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche explores The Good Eon Sutra, a vast Mahayana text prophesying one thousand buddhas appearing in our current era. He examines why this age is considered "fortunate"—not because of worldly peace, but because of the availability of profound teachings. Rinpoche illuminates the sutra's radical invitation to see ourselves as buddhas-in-the-making, navigates complex bodhisattva practices including authentic compassion and skillful means, and reveals how these ancient texts offer wisdom that transcends ordinary logic. Throughout both sessions, he encourages approaching these teachings with curiosity rather than academic pressure, suggesting that even brief encounters can plant seeds of transformation.

Part I:
Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche introduces The Good Eon Sutra and its prophecy of one thousand buddhas in our current age. He explores the Buddhist concept of kalpa (vast time periods), examines Bodhisattva Supreme Joy's seventeen questions about mastering skillful means and understanding others' minds, and reveals the Mahayana path's "out of the box" invitation to view ourselves as buddhas-in-the-making rather than limited beings.

Part II: In the second session, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche examines the practical challenges of bodhisattva practice—maintaining authentic confidence and practicing compassion without hierarchy between helper and helped. He explores how samadhi (meditative absorption) allows practitioners to navigate these obstacles, details the diverse origins of the thousand buddhas and the simple acts that began their paths, and emphasizes approaching sacred texts with open curiosity rather than scholarly pressure.

Citation
Khyentse, Dzongsar. "We Are Buddhas-in-the-Making: Teachings on The Good Eon Sūtra - Part 2." Produced by Siddhartha's Intent March 5, 2022. Video, 49:21. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA9UOxn20N8.
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Classical WorksAbout this item
Bhadrakalpikasūtra. (T. Bskal pa bzang po'i mdo/Mdo sde bskal bzang; C. Xianjie jing; J. Gengōgyō; K. Hyǒn'gǒp kyǒng 賢劫經). In Sanskrit, "Auspicious Eon Scripture"; a Mahāyāna text in twenty-four chapters, written c. 200-250 CE and translated into Chinese by Dharmarakṣa in either 291 or 300 CE. In this scripture, the Buddha teaches a special concentration (samādhi) through the mastery of which bodhisattvas come to be equipped with 2,100 perfections (pāramitā), 84,000 samādhis and 84,000 codes (dhāraṇī). He then lists the names of a thousand buddhas who will appear during the "auspicious eon" (bhadrakalpa) due to the merit they obtained from practicing this samādhi, as well as their residences, parents, disciples, spiritual powers, teachings, and so on. In the Tibetan bka' 'gyur the Bhadrakalpikasūtra takes pride of place as the first in the sūtra section (mdo sde); it is recited often, and it is not uncommon for the elaborate hagiographies (rnam thar) of important Tibetan religious figures or incarnations (sprul sku) to identify their subject as an earlier rebirth of one of the thousand buddhas. (Source: "Bhadrakalpikasūtra." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 106. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)