Special Interest Pathways

• 514ENon-Aggression and Art

  Create art with a gentle, non-aggressive attitude toward self and process, and evaluate the balance between enjoyment and healthy precision/self-critique.
• 515EAnicca and Lila

  Create spontaneous, playful artistic expressions with awareness of impermanence, and analyze how non-agenda-driven creativity enhances present-moment awareness.
• 517ETea Ceremonies

  Analyze tea ceremony as contemplative practice that integrates mindfulness of the five elements; evaluate how ritual tea service cultivates presence, gratitude, and community connection; and demonstrate competency by conducting tea ceremonies that exemplify Buddhist principles of mindfulness, generosity, and appreciation for interdependent conditions supporting daily nourishment.
• 430EFour Noble Truths Overview

  Analyze each of the four noble truths by connecting traditional teachings with personal contemplative insights; evaluate how understanding dukkha—its causes, cessation, and the path—is relevant to working with contemporary psychological and social challenges; and evaluate how contemplating these truths can help develop renunciation, compassion, confidence, and commitment to the eightfold path.
• 439ERight Motivation

  Implement regular motivation checks and adjustments, appreciating the value of benefiting others, and analyze how motivation functions within the eightfold path using personal examples.
• 429EMudras

  Demonstrate basic symbolic gestures (mudras) common across Buddhist traditions, and analyze the meaning and purpose of each.
• 433EShrine Room Etiquette

  Analyze shrine room etiquette practices as external expressions of internal reverence for the three jewels; evaluate how mindful behavior in sacred spaces cultivates respect, awareness, and devotion; and implement appropriate ritual conduct while explaining how these practices function as mind-training techniques that transform outer behavior into inner spiritual development.
• 434EYou Are Your Own Master

  Analyze how the Buddha’s teaching on self-mastery challenges common assumptions about external salvation or rescue, and synthesize understanding by designing accountability practices that demonstrate personal responsibility for ethical choices and inner development.
• 435EThe Middle Way between Extremes

  Implement techniques for physical, mental, and emotional balancing, and analyze how equilibrium in each area supports the others.