Science of the Mind
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452EStillness PracticesAnalyze various stillness practices, evaluate their value in daily life, and implement discerning choices about energy expenditure, recognizing that sometimes the best option is to do nothing.
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454EGood TimingEvaluate how cultural attitudes toward time and efficiency can either support or hinder compassionate action; compare reactive timing driven by urgency or personal agenda with mindful timing motivated by benefit to others; and synthesize understanding by developing personal criteria for discerning when to act, when to pause, and when to allow natural unfolding in complex interpersonal situations.
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456ESense RestraintAnalyze the Buddha’s teachings on sense restraint; evaluate how sensory input influences mental states, thoughts, and emotions; and develop the habit of pausing before reacting to sensory experiences.
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457EWise AttentionAnalyze the distinction between wise and unwise attention in personal experience; evaluate how different types of mental focus either support or hinder insight development; and implement specific techniques for cultivating wise attention during challenging emotional states or decision-making situations.
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501EConfidence in the Buddha and Many PossibilitiesAnalyze the Buddhist concept of saddha by tracing the three traditional steps of developing confidence (admiration, aspiration, realization), then evaluate how humble confidence differs from self-centered pride, and implement creative practices that demonstrate patient optimism while maintaining awareness of innate goodness despite setbacks.
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521EAbhidharma: Sensory AwarenessIdentify the six sense faculties and twelve ayatanas and connect them to our experience of conditioned perception. Evaluate how habitual reactions to pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral sensations can limit our perceptions. Implement mindfulness practices utilizing awareness of sensory processes.
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324EFive SkandhasAnalyze the five aggregates (skandhas) as the components that create the illusion of a permanent self; evaluate how understanding the constantly changing nature of form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness supports the teaching of anatta (no-self); and synthesize this understanding by implementing daily practices that demonstrate selfless action based on logical analysis of the impermanent nature of identity.
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325EAbhidharmaDefine abhidharma precisely; analyze how its practice reduces aversion, craving, and suffering; and evaluate examples from personal experience.
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327ESukha or ContentmentAnalyze different definitions of happiness; evaluate how equanimity transforms our relationship to pleasant and unpleasant experiences; and experiment with showing “no preference” toward perceived beauty and ugliness.