Psychological Measures

• 400EThe Five Hindrances

  Identify and categorize the five hindrances to meditation practice with their corresponding antidotes; analyze how these obstacles manifest in contemporary life beyond formal meditation; and implement systematic approaches for recognizing and addressing hindrances while evaluating the effectiveness of traditional Buddhist remedies in modern contexts.
• 402EVipassana Meditation

  Analyze the distinction between awareness and its objects during vipassana practice, evaluate how investigating the three marks of existence (impermanence, suffering, non-self) through direct observation leads to insight, and synthesize understanding by creating guided practices that help others develop insight.
• 405EMethods of Using the Breath

  Implement mindfulness and breathing awareness to develop a calm, focused, and balanced mind. Create and guide a basic breath meditation for others.
• 407ESympathetic Joy

  Analyze the nature of sympathetic joy; guide unscripted meditation practices for cultivating this quality; and develop the practice of responding by rejoicing when witnessing others’ happiness.
• 412ERight Effort

  Analyze the four aspects of right effort by identifying examples of helpful and harmful mental states in daily life; evaluate how joyful effort differs from forced effort in personal practice; and implement the principles of right effort in daily life, analyzing opportunities to cultivate wholesome thoughts and actions while evaluating how this practice transforms well-being and relationships.
• 413EMountain-like Equanimity

  Evaluate what it means to be influenced by external circumstances; and implement the slogan—“don’t be swayed by external circumstances”—in your daily life.
• 414EVisualization Practices

  Compare and contrast the use of visualization in different Buddhist meditations with its use in modern contexts, and design a visualization to support a personal goal that brings benefit to self and others.
• 317EThe Two Truths

  Analyze the distinction between relative truth (conventional reality) and ultimate truth (emptiness) in Mahayana Buddhism, evaluate how these two approaches towards understanding our experience apply to specific life situations, and synthesize examples demonstrating how both truths can be simultaneously valid without contradiction.
• 301EThree Poisons: Anger

  Analyze anger as a mental state that projects exaggerated negativity onto situations or people, and evaluate how it arises from unmet desires and leads to further confusion and suffering; then implement contemplative practices such as mindfulness, patience, and perspective-taking to recognize triggers and gradually transform reactive habits into balanced responses that support emotional clarity and compassion.