Shoshin College
The Nature of Mind Series
Fall 2026 Semester
We are organising a series of lectures on the nature of mind. What is the mind at its core? We want to explore this from a plethora of angles, theories, philosophies.
Nature of Mind in Buddhism and Dzogchen
Theodore Keloglou will talk about the mind and the nature of mind in buddhism and its branches, and more specifically in dzogchen, a tradition that is significantly preoccupied with the nature of mind (sems nyid) at its core.
- We'll talk about certain core buddhist concepts as an introduction to buddhist theories: dependent origination (pratityasamutpada), emptiness (sunyata), suchness (tathata), rigpa (bad translations of rigpa include "knowledge", “pure presence”, "gnosis" -- there are no good translations), as well as the ordinary mind (sems) and "mind itself" or "nature of mind" (sems nyid).
- We'll briefly examine "self", its relation to "ego" and its psychoanalytic heritage, as well as distinguish the views of self in the three yanas (vehicles) of buddhism.
- We'll talk about suffering (dukkha) and its mental and physical aspects, and its embodied realisation, and we'll bridge that with contemporary theories of consciousness.
- We'll talk about buddhist enlightenment in the dzogchen tradition and specifically the "light" of en-light-enment. What is this light? Is it real and if so in what ways?
- We'll talk about theories of intelligence and how they relate to buddhist concepts of awareness, self, and consciousness.