Prior to beginning this module and to the daylong session:

1. Organize: A journal for recording your reflections throughout the course

2. Read: Agreements for Participation and take 10 minutes to do a free-form writing exercise. Choose one that sits well with you and one that does not. Write down any thoughts, feelings, and associations that arise in your journal.

3. Read: Setting up Dyads and small groups. Make notes of any questions you may have.

4. Bring (write one if you don’t have): Personal or sangha mission statement.

Goals:

1. Laying the groundwork: integrating time and space for reflection and journaling.

2. Discovering conditions that foster rapport: a trustworthy relationship in which we understand each other’s ideas and feelings, and communicate well.

3. Recognizing our needs as Buddhist/meditation teachers. 

4. Writing or refining our mission statement so that we can live according to our offerings, whether we are independent or part of a larger sangha.

Materials Relevant to this Module:

Schedule

Review Course Agreements

Setting Up Dyads and Small Groups

Video: Why is Reflection Ethical?

At Personal Risk

Conditions that Create Ethical Vulnerability

Additional Resources:

Article: Losing Yourself – How to be a person without a self

Complementary offerings on: Four Ennobling Truths / Tasks

Post:

Prompt 1: What are one or two habits that arise when you feel vulnerable, not confident, maybe even powerless in your teaching role? How do those habits influence your ability to connect with students?

Prompt 2: Meditation teaching is not regulated. Who would you feel comfortable in your current role to be responsible to? Answerable and accountable? (Not just yourself. Could be one person, a therapist, a group of people, peers, in the sangha or outside…)

Article to review: Fourth Mark of Existence

Article to read: On the Importance of Understanding and Being Understood