Science of the Mind

• 501Confidence in the Buddha and Many Possibilities

  Analyze 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.
• 521Abhidharma: Sensory Awareness

  Identify 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.
• 452Stillness Practices

  Analyze 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.
• 454Good Timing

  Evaluate 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.
• 456Sense Restraint

  Analyze 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.
• 457Wise Attention

  Analyze 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.
• 325Abhidharma

  Define abhidharma precisely; analyze how its practice reduces aversion, craving, and suffering; and evaluate examples from personal experience.
• 327Sukha or Contentment

  Analyze 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.
• 331The Brain is not the Mind

  Identify key brain structures on diagrams. Analyze their functions, and compare how neuroscience and Buddhist psychology explain mental phenomena. Apply this knowledge to implement both brain-based regulation techniques and awareness-based practices that address challenges effectively.
• 324Five Skandhas

  Analyze 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.