PREMA Meditation Teachers Training
                                     Winter 2024
Zoom Meet Ups - Must make at least one a month. Camera on, not driving etc.

Sunday the 10th (10-11am ET)
Tuesday the 12th (7:30-8:30pm)

Tuesday April 23rd (7:30 - 8:30 pm ET)
Sunday April 28th (10-11am ET)

Sunday May 19th (10-11am ET)
Tuesday May 21st (7:30 - 8:30 pm ET)

Link -
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4334837335?pwd=eDRsVmN2NGJ6QUdQUCtFdTJzd2hjUT09
“Attention is a limited resource, so pay attention to where you pay attention.”
– Howard Rheingold


Link to Last Four Classes
+ Bonus Class on Loong Coming Later

Class 1 - History of Buddhism and a Discussion of the Stages of Awakening
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/uONh7dYnXGP9LOeOJ5OLtJ9Hax1mla0kioK6E3CTkTTaN299fiant0uM6WwaRhAV.jT9RGsBE1KuxyvvF?startTime=1710874304000

Passcode: 7M$vzcY.

Class 2 - Abuse, Sex, Money
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/a6FfRz-fHk-ghJ67M1_gqkIafraFbXkNG4WSfDkQpgIjt_pQatGesCvhM6TwFpg.hg5ESuQo9PIf6_f7?startTime=1710973967000

Passcode: %rR27=l$

Class 3 - Science and Pedagogy
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/ueCcL9RX6BYiOSBVQXp1ezaqeAxJQe4dZQV-GriGcVKtBWXvjvLyYp89G37s6luM.N0RWDNsShn1rQCib?startTime=1711131468000

Passcode: v?K8&xU&

Class 4 - Soteriology of the Yoga Sutras
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/ibBPx0JGEvtmLaNS4UBCiabrfJFxLy83w2SexoaWYXwGYugHxd1d9Oq7LaKsMt6r.J0XXgyc0VjcO-1GS?startTime=1711655152000

Passcode: 6mR0H.8E


The meditation objects we will be working with in this training

Three objects:
  1. Open Monitoring - Relaxed and open awareness. Relaxing the mind and body. Let the mind wander but when you lose your awareness and get pulled into the story-line of your mind-wandering come back to open awareness.
  2. Breath - Receiving the sensation of the breath in a specific spot.  Let the breath be completely as it is, unobstructed and un-directed. When the mind wanders bring it back to receiving the sensation of the breath. (Release Jaw Tension)
  3. Metta - Feel love moving out of you in all directions. Just warmth and compassion emanating outward. If your able to get a visceral feeling then just simmer into that feeling for as long as you can.  When you lose it begin again.



Ethics

Working with ethics and moral behavior. Explore the website thevowmuseum.com
or consider the ten virtues and 10 non virtues discussed in the reading and class and pick one or two you'd like to improve on. Get a small note pad or use your phone and check yourself three times a day for both the positive and negative around whatever you are working on.

Vow Book Model
For example if you are working with divisive speech:
Three times a day pause and write down any divisive speech you engaged in.
For example:
10am
(-) Made implication to Fredrica that Tony is incompetent.
(+) Praised Jerry in front of peers for his efforts.
3pm
(-) Told one brother that my other brother was a flake
(+) Caught myself and followed it up with an acknowledgement that my other brother was under a lot of stress right now.
8pm
etc.

Benjamin Franklin Model
http://www.thevowmuseum.com/users-guide.html

Classifications of Meditation

Tibetan distinction of meditation practice:
  1. jok gom - single pointed
  2. shar gom – review
  3. che gom – analytical

Modern distinction of meditation practice:
  1. Attentional
  2. Constructive
  3. De-constructive

Guided Sits

Guided Meditation: Tong Len
Guided Meditation: Breath
Guided Meditation: Four Immeasurable's Meditation
Guided Meditation: Open Awareness
Variation on TWIM practice, a 30 min guided sit and a 20 min discussion and instruction with Delson Armstrong

Notes

What is Meditation:

A formal on-going practice of working on specific emotional and mental capacities for the purpose of greater states of awakening or greater states of well-being or both.

Practice Tips:

Preliminaries:
  1. Review – As you are heading to your meditation seat review what you will be working on today. Decide what you are working on in your meditation before you sit down.
  2. Sit – Refine posture (30 second)
  3. Relax – Enjoy yourself, feel the joy of having a few minutes of quiet (30 seconds)
  4. Breathe– Practice Nadi Shodhana, or another short simple breathing exercise you are familiar with. This could be as simple as 3 deep and slow breaths. (1-3 mins.)
  5. Set Motivation – Why am I sitting today? (20 seconds)
  6. Goals – What stage am I on and for todays sit what is a reasonable goal? (20 seconds)
  7. Expectations – Let go of expectations and remind yourself that the only bad meditation is the one you didn’t do. The practice itself is the destination. (20 seconds)
  8. Diligence – Resolve to practice diligently for the entire length of your sit. (20 seconds)
  9. Distractions – Do a life scan and identify big points of stress or potential distractions and resolve to try and set them aside and not engage them when they arise. 20 seconds – 1 minute)
  10. Posture – Review and adjust your posture and begin your formal practice
 
Formal Practice Tips:
  1. Daily – Everyday for between 3 – 24 mins. for the next three weeks.
  2. Regular – Try to practice at roughly the same time and in the same place everyday.
  3. Empty Stomach – At least one hour after a big meal.
  4. Eyes Relaxed – Closed or open and unfocused.
  5. Straight Back - Either in a chair or on the floor
  6. Equanimous – Let it be what it is not what you want it to be. Have an open heart.
  7. Gratitude – Be grateful towards yourself for making the effort.
 
Post-Meditation:
  1. Gratitude – Be grateful towards yourself for making the effort.
  2. Relax – Enjoy yourself, feel the joy of having had a few minutes of quiet (30 seconds)
  3. Dedicate – Dedicate your efforts to your own well being and the well being of others.
  4. Journal - You may want to try keeping a small simple meditation journal, noting what your working on (whats your object of meditation, what stage are you working on, etc) how long your sit was and the quality of your attention and awareness as well as the presence and or strength of dullness and agitation.


What is Mindfulness?

An optimal balance between attention and awareness imbued with equanimity

  1. Attention = focus, concentration power
  2. Awareness = scope, sensory clarity
  3. Equanimity = dispassionate non-evaluative monitoring
 
Moment to moment non-judgmental awareness. – John Kabat Zinn
 
Concentration power, sensory clarity, and equanimity working together.  –  Shinzen Young

Dispassionate non-evaluative monitoring of ongoing experience. - Unknown

An optimal interaction between attention and peripheral awareness. – John Yates




Differences Between Attention and Awareness
 From The Mind Illuminated

Number of Objects
Awareness = Many objects
Attention = Limited objects

Mental Processing
Awareness = Minimal mental processing
Attention = Greater levels of mental processing

Contents
Awareness = Physical senses (percepts – the five senses)
Attention = Mind sense (concepts – thoughts, emotions, memories, etc) 

Quotes and Poems

Listening Deep – by William Stafford

It came to me that a river is flowing
somewhere inside the ocean, a crystal
muscle of water flexing under
the salt; and in it, trapped for centuries,
fish from a purer stream are living
in their old ways, fresh and strong.
It came to me as I was breathing,
one in a crowd of people waiting
inside a convention listening to speeches
that whispered something hidden in language
to save us. I felt that Amazon tug
for a minute, before the salt came back.



1-2 hour sample lecture layout

Thesis or the overarching idea youd like people to walk away with

Supporting Point #1 -
Examples/Stories
1.
2.
Relevance or take home point

Supporting Point #2 -
Examples/Stories
1.
2.
Relevance or take home point

Supporting Point #3 -
Examples/Stories
1.
2.
Relevance or take home point

 Recap:
Thesis
Take home point #1
Take home point #2
Take home point #3

Exploring Further

Recommended Teachers 

Bhikkhu Bodhi - Theravadin Buddhist Scholar and Translator
https://www.baus.org/en/teaching/bhikkhu-bodhi/

​Marcia Rose - Jhana Master, Embodied Practitoner
https://mountainhermitage.org/teacher/marcia-rose/

Gil Fronsdale - Theravadin  and Mahayana Teacher, Very Down to Earth, Wonderful Talks
https://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/1/

Shaila Catherine- Jhana Master, kind of an awkward teacher for live classes but a wonderful author. Useful for those with a more dedicated practice. 
https://shailacatherine.com

Delson Armstrong at Dhammasukkha
Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation (TWIM)
https://www.dhammasukha.org/beginner-lovingkindness

Recommended Books

Books on Meditation
The Mind Illuminated - John Yates/Matthew Immergut

Shaila Catherine - Focused and Fearless

Alan Wallace - The Attention Revolution

Daniel Ingram - Mastering the core teachings of the Buddha

Reggie Ray - Touching Enlightenment: Finding Realization in the Body


Very Accessible Books on Buddhism and Buddhist Practice
Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche - In Love with the World

Robert Wright - Why Buddhism is True

Pema Chodrin -
- Comfortable with Uncertainty
- The places that scare you
- When things fall apart

Chogyam Trungpa
- Cutting through spiritual materialism
- The myth of freedom

General Good Reads on the Spiritual Life
Joanna Macy - Active Hope: How to face the mess were in without going crazy

Michaela Haas - Dakini Power: Twelve Extraordinary Women Shaping the Transmission of Tibetan Buddhism in the West

Roshi Joan Halifax - Standing at the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet

Amy Schmidt - Dipa Ma: The Life and Legacy of a Buddhist Master

Ram Dass (ed.) - Miracle of Love: Stories About Neem Karoli Baba

Services

Company