Special Interest Pathways

• 107EChallenging Others’ Views

  Evaluate invalid assumptions and harmful dogmas, and generate skillful responses to challenge them using discriminating intelligence. Model and implement respectful inquiry techniques.
• 109EBeing Peace

  Evaluate personal conduct and motivations through systematic self-reflection, analyzing alignment between inner development and outer engagement. Implement practices that cultivate genuine peace and non-aggression as foundations for authentic social action, demonstrating how contemplative self-awareness enhances the integrity and effectiveness of efforts to create beneficial change.
• 112EMindful Consumption

  Analyze the food cycle, differentiating its causes, conditions, and effects. Evaluate how elements from the outer environment transform into the body’s inner elements through eating and drinking. Guide others in a practice of mindful consumption.
• 116ENot Killing/Vegetarianism

  Formulate a clear rationale for your choice regarding vegetarianism, and evaluate your capacity to demonstrate tolerance and understanding towards those who make different choices.
• 503CContemplative Arts

  Practice creating art without attachment to specific outcomes by starting projects with open curiosity rather than fixed plans, experimenting with letting go of “perfect” results, and discovering how releasing expectations can lead to surprising discoveries; engage in contemplative art practices that develop present-moment awareness such as mindful drawing, meditative clay work, or focused color mixing; and reflect on how the creative process changes their relationship with patience, frustration, and acceptance.
• 511CLila and Mudita

  Express understanding of lila and mudita through diverse creative projects while practicing spontaneous joy; design activities that help others experience genuine celebration; and explore how different people naturally express and experience playfulness through multiple creative approaches.
• 439CRight Motivation

  Examine Buddhist biographical stories to identify how right motivation led to beneficial outcomes and wrong motivation led to suffering. Compare the motivations of different Buddhist figures and analyze how their intentions shaped their actions and legacy. Create detailed personal narratives about times when changing your motivation transformed a difficult situation.
• 304DSacred Space and Objects

  Research sacred space practices across Buddhist cultures; evaluate how blessing and consecration practices transform ordinary objects into sacred ones; and create group rituals that establish sacred space for contemplative practice.
• 237DRituals for Personal and Group Practice

  Examine personal relationship with ritual and sacred practice through sustained contemplative experiment, analyzing how different approaches to ceremony affect individual development and group dynamics; synthesize insights by developing personalized ritual practices that support authentic spiritual growth and community engagement.