Intensive Mindfulness Meditation Experience
Summer Workshop (Phil 4800 / 5860)
May 9-17, 2009
Syllabus
Professor: Marvin Belzer
mbelzer@bgnet.bgsu.edu
Shatzel 325
372-7216
Workshop goals
The most important goal of the workshop will be to learn
and develop the practical skills of insight (mindfulness)
meditation in the context of intensive solitary and relational
practice. A secondary goal is to develop competence in
communicating about one's experiences in meditation as well as
about one's practice itself. A third goal is to gain some
understanding about (a) how diverse meditation traditions have
emphasized the importance of a moral foundation for a meditation
practice and the value of altruistic motivation; (b) the goals
specified in various traditions; (c) the relationship between
meditation and psychotherapy; (d) the variety of meditation
techniques and practices that have been developed; and other
matters. There also are various optional personal goals that
students might set (such as using mindfulness to deal with
chronic pain, depression, and/or other physical or mental health
problems).
Cost
Retreat room/board cost $245. This needs to be paid to the BGSU Foundation prior to the retreat (contact Margy DeLuca at mdeluca@bgsu.edu).
No Prerequisites
There are no required
prerequisites for this workshop. The usual
prerequisites for Phil 480 (now 4800) are not required
for this workshop and will be waived: contact mbelzer@bgsu.edu.
Dates, times, and locations of Workshop
Intensive silent residential retreat (at Lady of the
Pines, Fremont, Ohio)
Sat. May 9, 5p, through Wed. May
13, 3p
We will coordinate transportation (for those we need it) to and from Fremont during the week prior to the retreat.
Integration practice (301 Shatzel Hall)
Thurs. May 14
and Fri. May 15 / 6 Þ 10p
Sat. May 16 / 9a
Þ 6p and Sun. May May 17 / 9a Þ6p
Henepola Gunaratana, Mindfulness
in Plain English
The core content of the course will be
the traditional methods of mindfulness meditation, including
those for the development of concentration (e.g. by using
repeated sustained attention to a neutral focus such as bodily
sensations associated with the breath) and those for the
development of radical acceptance of present-time physical and
mental experience. Relational mindful awareness practices also
will be taught, as well as mind-trainings for the cultivation of
loving-kindness, empathetic joy, and compassion.
I have taught mindfulness meditation to
young people for almost twenty years. I was one of the
co-creators beginning in 1993 of the youth meditation retreat at
the Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts. I also have
taught on youth retreats at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in
California and elsewhere. For this workshop, I will use the basic
methods of instruction developed for these youth retreats. This
instruction involves real-time guidance during sitting and
walking meditations and lectures related to mindfulness practice.
I also will facilitate small group discussions and meet with you
individually to discuss your experiences. You will be expected to
read the workshop text, Mindfulness in Plain English. You
will practice the meditation methods intensively during the
retreat period (Sat - Wed) at the Lady of the Pines, and in the
second part of the workshop (Thurs and Fr) you will be expected
to integrate the methods into a more or less normal day (with
workshop meetings in the evenings); and then participate in two
daylong retreats which will be similar to the intensive retreat
yet also will incorporate new practices for integration of
mindful awareness into normal activities such as eating,
speaking, listening, and creative action.
Grades
Normally meditation is not taught in a context in which grades
are assigned, and I would not consider trying to grade the
content of one's meditation experience or the quality of one's
practice. To repeat, I will not be evaluating the quality of your
meditation practice. This is an extremely important point, in
part because according to a great deal of literature on
meditation, development and progress
in meditation often are contrary to our expectations. For
example, at times we may experience a lot of joy and blissful
feelings, but then these disappear -- and there are times when,
according to the literature, this is definitely progress! The
point is that, from the beginning, there is no need for you to be
evaluating or grading your own experiences, just as I will not
be.
Because the course is a regular University workshop,
however, I will assign grades at the end of the workshop. Grades
for the workshop will be determined on the basis of points
accumulated in the following way.
75 points:
Attendance and participation in the intensive retreat (Sat. May 9
Þ Wed. 13)
20 points: Attendance and
participation in the evening classes Thurs and Fri. (May 14 and
15)
30 points; Attendance and
participation in the two daylong retreats Sat. and Sun. (May 16
and 17)
45 points: Daily journal during
the periiod of the workshop.
50 points: Final written exam
based on workshop text and lectures.
There are 220 points possible. For an A
one needs at least 180 points; for a B 160 points; for a C 145
points; and one needs at least 130 points to pass the course. One
can adjust one's participation in the various aspects of the
course based on the grade for which one aspires.
Graduate credit
Students taking the course for graduate
credit under Phil 5860 will be required to write a research paper
about mindfulness due one week following the end of the workshop.