Light and Wisdom Through the Texts. A Series of Discussion Gatherings on Buddhist Texts
With U Jagara and Isabelle Miron
This program is offered in collaboration with the Association de méditation Parami, and it's taught in French.
To truly understand and know how to adjust our practice in daily life, discussion and study of Buddhist texts can be of great help. As a source of inspiration and effective tools for grasping our goals and putting them into practice, the principles systematized in these ancient texts remain entirely relevant to our time.
This biweekly online series aims to inform us, guide us, and help us understand our difficulties and strengths, so that we may overcome the former and cultivate the latter.
Proposed format: a text will be selected and read by each participant before the gathering. During the gathering, after a brief introduction to the text, a group discussion will follow on its various aspects. The session will then close with a short group meditation.
U Jagara will add important details regarding the translation and meaning of certain Pali terms found in these texts.
Whether you are already well established on the path or are just beginning, we would be delighted to have you join our conversations.
Texts under consideration:
- MN 2, Sabbasavakhaya Sutta (right attention, yoniso manasikara, and how to overcome all obstacles)
- SN 46.51, Ahara Sutta, Bojjhanga section (the nutriments that obscure the mind and those that support the 7 factors of awakening)
- MN 70 or 107 (one of the two)
- AN 3.100, Kamma Cetana (or another on kamma, such as 6:63)
- DN 2, Sampajana (the pair)
- MN 18 and 20
- MN 38, The Great Discourse on Tanha (craving)
FORMAT & SCHEDULE:
Online on Zoom.
Offered as a donation. You may offer Dana to U Jagara.
Wednesdays, 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm ET (Eastern Time — Montreal Time)
October 7 and 21. November 4 and 18. December 2 and 16, 2026.
To register: please email
Enseignant.e.s
Sayadaw U Jagara
Born in Canada, Sayādaw U Jāgara was officially introduced to Buddhist practice in the mid-1970s by Mr. Robert Hover, an American teacher in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin of Burma (Myanmar). In 1979, U Jāgara was ordained as a monk by Mahasi Sayadaw in Burma (Myanmar). He then spent 15 years living a monastic life in Sri Lanka, combining meditation with the study of Buddhist texts, with some retreats in Thailand as well. While based in Sri Lanka, U Jāgara periodically traveled to India where he practiced in long retreats with S. N. Goenka. Starting in 1983, he was mandated by Mr. Goenka to conduct retreats in that tradition, which he did internationally for 10 years as a monk. From 1995, U Jāgara trained under the guidance of Pa Auk Sayadaw (Myanmar), the Burmese master renowned for his extensive approach to jhānas and detailed analytical application of vipassana. On several occasions from 2004 onwards, U Jāgara assisted Pa Auk Sayadaw in teaching in the West. In 2019, U Jāgara left Myanmar to return to Canada to continue his monk’s life. He has been teaching retreats in the Theravada tradition in North America periodically.
Isabelle Miron is a writer and professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), specializing in the creative process. After writing a thesis on the relationship between the body, the sacred, and Americanity in Quebec poetry (strongly influenced by her meditation practice), she developed her area of expertise in research-creation on the creative state known as "the nomadic state," drawing on her experience of Theravada Buddhist meditation, which she has practiced for more than thirty years. She also completed the "Path to Liberation" retreat series with Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. She has twice taught UQAM's one-year program "Theravada Meditation and the Creative Process" with Mathieu Boisvert and U Jagara.