Sutta Study Class

During Sutta Study we discuss the Buddha’s teachings and meditation theory.  We choose a text from the Buddha’s discourses, read one page at a time, and then discuss.  This class is not a lecture, but rather, a group collaboration aimed at stimulating critical thinking and expanding understanding.

The Sutta Study structure is based on a Literature Circle with assigned roles. Role assignments are fluid and dynamic.  Any participant can jump into any role, at any time, and contribute based on that role, even if not officially assigned.

The Sutta Study session is approximately 1.5 hours in length. If a long Sutta is being read, the study can be divided into multiple parts and span several months.

Passage Picker

Your job is to pick parts of the text that you found significant, engaging or unusual and explain why.

These can be:
an interesting part
a good description
a funny part
a scary part
a sad part

Discussion Director

Your job is to pose some good questions that you think the group would want to talk about.

Pose different questions with:
Why?
Who?
When?
Where?
How?
What if?

Word Wizard

Your job is to look for special or unknown words in the text.

Words that are:
new
different
strange
funny
interesting
important

Connector

Your job is to find connections between the text and the outside world.

This means connecting the reading to:
your own life
other stories
other people
similar events at other times or places

Artful Artist

Your job is to visually depict anything about the text that engaged you.

These can be:
a character
the setting
an event
a surprise
a problem
a prediction of what will happen next

Summariser

Your job is to provide a brief but interesting overview of the reading of the text so far.