Buddhist Teachings on the Laws of Nature: From Karma to Nirvana
with John Cianciosi
Mondays, 7:00 - 8:15 p.m. CDT
September 14 – October 5 (4 classes)
In this course we will explore the Buddha’s discovery of the fundamental laws that govern existence. The Buddha taught the principle of conditioned arising to explain how things come to be without the need for an all-powerful being to orchestrate existence. This principle applies to karma, rebirth, the continuity of samsara, and the path to liberation. These laws of nature, just like laws of physics, operate regardless of whether we know them. However, by understanding these principals we are better able to direct our lives towards enlightenment.
TS Members: $50 • Nonmembers: $65
Register here by September 13.
Anodea Judith, PhD. is a spiritual teacher whose books and workshops are followed throughout the world. She is the author of nine books on the chakras, psychology, yoga, social change, and manifestation, which have been translated into 28 languages. As a yoga teacher and body-oriented psychotherapist with trauma specialization, her work is a unique combination of techniques useful to yogis, therapists, coaches, and those on their own healing journey. She has often been called a “prophet for our time." Anodea is the founder and director of the teaching organization Sacred Centers. She holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and a doctorate in Mind-Body Health, with advanced yoga certifications. Her workshops are experiential and transformational.
Billie Topa Tate is the founder of MSI Wellness Center. She is Mescalero Apache and is dedicated to “Creating a Sacred Place One Person at a Time” through the indigenous native teachings of her teachers. Topa Tate has lectured and taught at Northwestern University, The Cancer Treatment Center of America, and more. Her work has been published by several magazines, and she is the author of several meditation recordings. She is dedicated to being of service to anyone who is seeking wellness, mindfulness training, and spiritual growth. Learn more at her website: 
Our minds and bodies have to be centered in awareness, objective and impartial in observation, so as to receive messages from our intuition and our higher spiritual forces. We achieve this by allowing our egos to be mediators of the evolution of consciousness, rather than controlling factors in our development. Astrology and tarot can aid this process by determining the ‘times’ and factors that go into each day of our walk along the path of consciousness. This course will cover how we relate to others, how we adapt to the ‘times,’ and how our energies are under our control.
The spiritual search is defined by a desire to learn why you have been created and what the meaning of your life is, and it’s an urge that is embedded in every person’s soul. The general religious and philosophical institutions often interfere with serious search, owing to their commitment to a specific religious perspective. In this class, we will explore how different religious perspectives can assist our search, and how they interfere.
Ravi Ravindra is an author and professor emeritus at Dalhousie University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he served as a professor in comparative religion, philosophy, and physics. A lifetime member of the Theosophical Society, Ravi has taught many courses at the School of the Wisdom in Adyar and at the Krotona Institute in Ojai, California. He was a member of the Institute of Advanced Study in Princeton, a fellow of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study in Shimla, and the founding director of the Threshold Award for Integrative Knowledge. For more information visit