Fridays,  12:00-12:30 PM PT

Description

This free course contains an introduction to calmness meditation, the basis for insight into the experience. All of us experience periods in which we seem to lose control, almost as if external events require us to respond in various ways. Calmness meditation is a key life skill here, allowing more control and flexibility in our range of responses. This is the subject of a series of eight half-hour classes, entitled ‘Welcome to a Calm Place’, in which a set of simple three-minute daily exercises introduce the state of calm. In learning to manage our habit of reacting reflexively to external events, we find a more spacious way of living and create a platform to generate a more creative way of life. This course is offered twice yearly at no charge to all interested, though if participants feel by week eight that a donation to Dharma College is warranted, it will help keep the lights on!

Format

Classes meet online for eight weeks, for a half hour each week, and an optional half hour of questions. Each week, there will be a short lecture and practice followed by a discussion.

Weekly Topics

Week 1: Introducing Concentration with a Candle

Week 2: Distinguishing Vitaka from Vicara with Bell

Week 3: Working with the Breath

Week 4: White Ball

Week 5: Traveling with the Ball

Week 6: White and Red Balls

Week 7: Sitting with a Smile

Week 8: Welcome to a Calm Place

Readings From

This course requires no additional readings.