Wisdom Path 2018 Intensive

The Meditative Path That Culminates in Wisdom

A Year-Long Intensive beginning February 19, 2018

With a firm foundation of daily practice, a clear aspiration, and mental and emotional stability and clarity, we are now ready to look more deeply into life and personal experience in order to awaken to the reality of non-self, emptiness, and our natural mind. At this point, the meditative exploration of the teachings is experiential, immediate and aims for a “break-through” or a “break-out” into a radically new unfettered view of life and reality. A life of true ease, wisdom, love and selfless service becomes available to us.    (Description of the Wisdom Path from FCM website)

The Buddhist Path presents us with many teachings of a philosophical and psychological nature that help us correct fundamental misperceptions about life. Based on these deep seated wrong views, we often think, speak and act in ways that produce unhappiness and affliction in our lives. While Buddhist teachings are most instructive and helpful, if we don’t take them deeper than an intellectual understanding, their power to heal and transform will only be intermittent in our lives.

Therefore, in addition to Right View, the Buddhist Path presents a meditative path that will help us directly and concretely uproot our most fundamental misperceptions about life and correct and replace long-standing bad habits of body and mind. By bringing the Buddhist meditative path into our lives, our ability to live a life of wholesome emotionality, mental clarity and inner peace becomes realizable.

The Buddhist meditative path incorporates mindfulness, concentration, and insight (smirti, samatha, prajna) as its three pillars. While these meditation practices are available to all levels of practitioners, they vary in depth and difficulty based on one’s years of practice and meditative experience.

Beginning in February, Fred is offering this year-long Intensive on the Buddhist ‘meditative path that culminates in wisdom’ to experienced and longer-term members of our community. It is a Wisdom Path Intensive, and the teachings and practices will be based on the Buddhist lineages that aim at a ‘break through’ experience.

The Dana for the year-long Intensive is $250. This is a suggested donation, and participants are free to donate more or less, depending on their individual practice of Dana and their financial situation. You may pay on-line or send your check made out to the Florida Community of Mindfulness (FCM) to Florida Community of Mindfulness, 6501 N. Nebraska Ave., Tampa, FL 33604.

Criteria for participation in this year-long Intensive are the following:

• Has been an active and stable FCM member for at least 4 years or has other comparable experience in a Buddhist meditative tradition
• Has had a daily sitting meditation practice of at least 30-45 minutes for at least one year, demonstrates emotional stability in one’s life, and can maintain a self-directed meditative practice
• Has attended at least one 7-day Southern Dharma Retreat with Fred (or equivalent) and/or at least 2 four day retreats with Fred
• Has taken part in at least 3 Dharma Path and/or Wisdom Path Intensives
• Has an ongoing student/teacher relationship with Fred

If you are unsure whether you meet the criteria for this Intensive, contact Fred directly.

The commitments for this Intensive are the following:

• 1.5 hours of formal meditation practice and study daily
• Fulfillment of all the readings and practices of the intensive
• Attendance at Monthly Dharma Talks (via Zoom)
• Bi-weekly small-group Zoom video conferencing calls with Fred
• Attendance at either a seven-day Southern Dharma retreat or a solitary retreat of a minimum of 7 nights at Empty Cloud or elsewhere
• Regular attendance at Thursday extended meditation in Tampa (if possible) and at all Days of Mindfulness of one’s local sangha
• A monthly one-on-one practice consultation with Fred

Please note that preferences regarding days/times for small-group Zoom meetings with Fred will be solicited after registration closes.

Registration will close on January 29. To ensure you register by this date, please register immediately or mark the registration closing date in your calendar now.