REGISTER: TBD
PREVIOUSLY OFFERED: Feb – Apr, 2019, Apr – Jun 2024.
Meditation practice cultivates inner peace, clarity, concentration and joy. In order to experience these lovely qualities, we must overcome the challenges of agitation, dullness, obsessive thinking, physical pain, difficult emotions, and reactivity. In this course we will identify, investigate, and learn to skillfully overcome obstacles to concentration and insight.
Through inquiry into how the mind functions we will recognize the presence, absence, and causal conditions for hindrances, and transform habitual patterns that might obstruct wholesome states. Once the obstacles have been understood and overcome, the path to deep and stable states of concentration will be clear, and mindfulness of the processes of mind and body will be firmly established.
WHAT TO EXPECT
This online course includes:
- recorded lectures
- reading assignments
- sutta study
- guided meditations
- peer led discussion forums
- optional online video meetings with Shaila Catherine
- online video meetings are recorded as audio files
CONTENT MODULE THEMES
- Recognizing the Presence and Absence of Hindrances
- Understanding the Causes for the Arising of Hindrances
- Understanding Causes with a Focus on Pain
- Understanding Causes for Hindrances to Cease
- Preventing the Re-arising of Hindrances in the Future
- Overcoming Discouragements, Difficulties, and Imperfections
Daily meditation practice is strongly encouraged.
PREREQUISITE FOR ENROLLMENT
Participants are expected to have an established mindfulness-based meditation practice. Please refer to the FAQ tab for more information.
Required Text
Focused and Fearless: A Meditator’s Guide to States of Deep Joy, Calm and Clarity
by Shaila Catherine
Wisdom Publications, 2008
Recommended Text
Wisdom Wide and Deep: A Practical Handbook for Mastering Jhāna and Vipassanā
by Shaila Catherine
Wisdom Publications, 2011
Yes, there is a prerequisite for participation in this course. Participants are expected to have an established mindfulness-based meditation practice.
The course is entirely online, and includes recorded lectures and guided meditation instructions, readings, sutta study, discussion forums, a library of resources, and optional live audio or video conferences with Shaila Catherine.
Bodhi Courses is planned and designed for people with busy schedules and every-day demands. The self-paced learning modules offer flexibility for completing assignments. Internet access is needed, but if you have a mobile device or internet access while traveling, your participation can continue without interruption. Audio talks are streamed, not downloadable.
Yes, both. Shaila Catherine will offer several opportunities for optional live audio conferences. These sessions are optional and open to all class participants, and recordings are later made available within the course. These large group conference calls may include reflections on the lesson topic, questions and answers about applying course topics to your meditation practice, or the study of a sutta. Practical questions and comments related to meditation and the course materials are invited. However, Shaila is not available outside these large group calls for individual inquiries or practice guidance.
Students will also interact through the written discussion forums. Shaila reviews the written forums to draw out themes for the audio conferences, but she will rarely add a post directly. The written forums are intended to be a space for peer-to-peer discussions; they are moderated by a team of wise, skilled discussion leaders who help guide the forum discussions toward in-depth and practical explorations of the course themes.
A computer with dependable internet access and a browser, and standard (freely available) software for listening to audio files and viewing PDF documents.
A mobile app for Moodle courseware is also available for those who prefer to access the course via a mobile device.
No. The course is hosted on Moodle, which is courseware widely used by schools, universities, and various learning programs worldwide. Moodle is compatible with both PC and Mac. Moodle is browser-based, requiring no downloads or installations. For mobile devices, the Moodle moblie app is available for (free) download.
Optional live audio or video conferences with Shaila Catherine may be accessed by either computer or phone. Details will be provided in the course.
The registration fee covers participation in the course, but does not include books. Additional donations (dana) for the teacher is welcome and encouraged.
Donations may be offered through our Teacher Support Page.
Registration fees are non-refundable. In the case of cancellations that occur at least 14 days prior to the course start date, Bodhi Courses will credit the amount above half the low end of the sliding scale towards a future course. Voucher credits expire in one year.
Contact: bcregistration
Beginners and experienced meditators alike can benefit from this course. The materials and activities are suitable for all levels of experience.
Please note that this course will serve as a prerequisite for later courses in our concentration series.
The learning goals for this course are:
- To learn to recognize when hindrances are present or absent.
- To investigate causes for agitation and distraction, and skillfully work with these tendencies.
- To develop meditative and life skills that help overcome obstructive forces.
- To experience the joy of a mind that is free from hindrances.
- To strengthen focused attention.
- To provide a structured and supportive course format for practicing the methods taught in the book Focused and Fearless.
- To create conducive conditions for concentration both in daily activities, and in a meditative training that leads to the absorption states of jhana.
- To contemplate the significance and defining features of concentration as recorded in the early Discourses of the Buddha.
The assignments will likely require about 3 hours per week, depending on your level of interest and inquiry. Each learning module will span 7-14 days, and during that designated period, you may work at your own pace. Daily meditation practice is strongly encouraged.
Yes. Our core text, Focused and Fearless by Shaila Catherine (Wisdom Publications, 2008), is required. We will also be studying a chapter from Wisdom Wide and Deep by Shaila Catherine, Wisdom Publications, 2011. For this chapter you may either use a personal copy, or alternatively, you may rely on a PDF copy provided within the course.
There will be sutta readings from the Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya by Bhikku Bodhi (Wisdom Publications), the Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Anguttara Nikaya by Bhikkhu Bodhi (Wisdom Publications), and also from the Connnected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya by Bhikkhu Bodhi, Wisdom Publications. You may use personal copies of these texts if you wish, or alternatively, you may choose to rely on the copies provided within the course modules.
Registration fee does not include books.
The sliding scale registration fee is the only payment made to Bodhi Courses. In addition you will need to purchase the required course book(s) from your favorite book supplier or borrow from a library.
Our lectures and guided meditations are streamed, not downloadable. Depending upon the service contract with your internet provider you may incur data charges to listen to the lectures.
We design our recorded lectures, guided meditations, and conference calls to function within the context of a structured course, and therefore we do not make them available for downloading or use outside the course. We envision this to be a classroom experience that is limited in time to the specified course period. We do not offer permanent access or personal possession of the talks, guided meditations, or recordings.
We do, however, provide the following support for enrolled participants: during each 2-3 month course period, the completed course modules remain available and students can review material from earlier modules throughout the duration of the course. We also keep our courses available for a few weeks after the closing date. The number of weeks varies and depends upon how much time our volunteers need to prepare for the next Bodhi Course. Usually the material is available for 3-4 weeks after the course ends, and we announce the final date within the course. This extension offers extra time for students to review the material or catch up if they fell behind. After this period for review, the material will no longer be available and access to the course will be denied.
COST: Sliding Scale
$xxx to $xxx
Please consider offering generously within your means. The lower end of the scale is intended for those with very limited means. If additional scholarship assistance is needed, please contact us. The deadline for scholarship applications is 14 days prior to the date registration closes.
WATCH THE VIDEO INTRO
MEET THE TEACHER
Shaila Catherine
Shaila Catherine
