By SHERI LISKER

I’d been practicing Buddhism for over 30 years, so I thought I was pretty established in my practice. I’d always been drawn to Lojong, the use of 59 pith sayings to help us awaken to a more wholesome, happy life. The trouble was that I had been tackling them alone. FCM Intensives gave me the support I needed.

Intensives are deep studies that run from three months to a year. They give a taste of what Fred calls getting into “the deep end of the pool.” Intensives throw a life preserver – from someone who is first putting a toe into Buddhism to someone like me, doggie paddling at 60.

To show how inexperienced I was, I misinterpreted the very first one: Start with the preliminaries. In studying Lojong, I didn’t know there were actual precepts -- called mind turnings -- that are the foundation of practice. The Intensives got me to see what I was missing. I am taking the Lojong Intensive for the second time. There is so much more to learn when we study with others.

Besides the guidance of wonderful teachers who will answer any questions and address any issues to best of their abilities, we also have Fred’s weekly Dharma talks, explaining what we will be studying and why. But just as important are the benefits one gets from the bi-weekly mentoring sessions. I am an academic with an advanced degree in English from a big deal university so, at first, I approached the reading materials the way I approached any other text: examining it, dissecting it, trying to wring any “wisdom” I could out of it. 

Fred kept saying to apply the teachings to our lives, but I didn’t know how – nothing in my schooling or experience had taught me this. My fellow attendees talked about how they used the teachings for difficulties with their jobs, their relationships, even with their neighbors’ barking dogs.  It was an awakening for me: we can live our studies! And the good news is that this awareness is open to anyone.

 When you take an Intensive, you get a Dharma buddy, one who is also taking the course, and you each set an aspiration for the day – what qualities do I want to focus on: compassion, kindness, patience, in dealing with the scenarios of our upcoming day. We share our wisdom and our confusion. I am lucky – my buddy shares photographs, too. And in doing so, she has inadvertently gotten me – a person who forgot to take a camera to her daughter’s graduation – into taking pictures of sunrises, birds, and the world around me. But the Intensives themselves will change your vision of the world.

If you, like I, have questions, not only about texts and teachings, but about why we’re here, what we want and how important other people are in sharing our path, the Intensives are for you. In fact, they are for everyone at every level. I have taken many other Intensives and have benefitted from each one. For that, I am very grateful. They have changed the way I look at and live my life.

Sheri Lisker has been an English professor, editor and freelance writer for 30 years. She lives in Sarasota with her husband and their pampered cat.