October 10 –  December 19

This 11-week Dharma Path/Wisdom Path Intensive for this fall continues the yearlong exploration of “The Seven Points of Mind Training,” begun in February 2022. This is the third and final part of the Intensive, “Engaging Life with Wisdom and Compassion:  The Study and Practice of Lojong”. Learning to think and act as an altruistic being is the subject of the text.

As noted previously, it is a much loved and deeply venerated text, well known for its slogans that help us apply the full breadth of the Buddha’s Mahayana teachings to daily life. These 59 slogans, or mind trainings, focus on how the Unconditioned Awakened Mind can beneficially manifest in the lives of ordinary beings in order to give rise to lovingkindness, compassion and understanding in all the activities of our lives. The transformation of seemingly adverse situations into the path of awakening is a unique focus of these mind trainings.

In this fall Intensive, Fred and Ken will continue to guide participants in understanding the slogans and how to practice them. While each participant will be studying the entire text along with commentary, the leaders will regularly assign specific slogan(s) to work with, which will provide an opportunity for each participant to directly fit the text into the context of their current life condition. 

The path of practice for this Intensive will include readings and assigned slogans to practice in formal meditation and in daily life. The required books are the same as for the previous parts.  Six Dharma talks will be offered to participants via Zoom and will be recorded. Bi-weekly group mentoring video-conference calls on Zoom will provide individual guidance and support. We ask you to again choose your preferred day/time for mentoring groups when you register, as new groups will be formed for this final part. Either Fred or Ken will lead all mentor groups. If you have any questions about the logistics of this Intensive, please contact Nancy Natilson at nnatilson@cs.com.

The commitments for this Intensive are listed below. Before registering for the Intensive please read the commitments and reflect carefully on whether you will be able to keep them.

Registration Procedure:  When you register, you will be asked to indicate your preferences for the bi-weekly Zoom Mentoring Groups. The conversations will last one hour. The following six mentoring groups will be listed, and you will be required to rank each group as one of the following:

If there is more than one group that will work well for you, please mark all these as “my first choice.” This will provide us with added flexibility in making group assignments.

Mentoring Group #1: Tuesdays at 7:30 am ET

Mentoring Group #2: Tuesdays at 6:00 pm ET

Mentoring Group #3: Wednesdays at 7:30 am ET

Mentoring Group #4: Wednesdays at 4:30 pm ET

Mentoring Group #5: Thursdays at noon ET

Mentoring Group #6: Thursdays at 6:00 pm ET

The fee for this Intensive is $100. This is a suggested donation, and participants are free to offer 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.

Please note that participation in this Intensive is only open to members of FCM who took part in the previous two parts of the Intensive of the same name. Members with previous Lojong experience in the FCM may join with Fred’s approval. 

Registration will be open until October 4. Please register as soon as you can to support our efforts to have everything organized in a timely manner.