Training Two

9:50 - 10:30 Reading

What makes it hard to accept kindness or appreciation?

Ontology

Everyone gets a foundational identity statement: “I am a conscious human being making choices how to respond to the present moment.”

Dharma is the inherent nature or qualities of someone or something. It can be unmanifest, but the potential is never lost.Our dharma as living beings is that we are conscious, dynamic, and energetic. We’re ultimately not these bodies, or even the mind — but pure consciousness.

Dharma also means occupation, or that which sustains you when you do it.

Guided meditation. Meditation is the art of being intentional with your awareness, especially in the present moment. Our attention tends to get absorbed in our thoughts, which can involve themselves in unlimited subjects of contemplation in the past or the future. The essential practice in meditation is to over and over again, bring the attention back to the present moment. This can be challenging, but there's a trick that helps a lot - to continually notice whatever is happening within you in the present moment. The first stage of this is placing your awareness on the body, noticing the movements of your mind, and then the advanced stage is when you become aware of your own awareness.

10:30 - 11:30. Teleology

Tell the story of Victor Frankl.

“We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct.” - Viktor Frankl

“First say to yourself what you would be, and then do what you have to do.” ― Epictetus

Individual journaling. Pick one line of inquiry:

What are the biggest things you're grateful for? What do you want to do in life to reciprocate?
What hardships or traumas (capital T or lowercase t) have you gone through that you’d like to protect other people from?
How have you always been since you were a child? What is your unique contribution to this world?
How would you describe yourself looking through the eyes of someone who loves you?
What are the biggest problems in your life? What attributes do these problems call on you to embody?

(Rule: Just write. You can refine and develop your thoughts later).

Offer a list of attributes. Have each person share their thoughts in response to the questions, as well as practice empathic listening.

1:1 breakout rooms for empathic listening. “Share what you wrote down (in summary or by reading). Then discuss:

What questions can I anticipate?

Feedback / Q&A: How was that process for you? Seek out the person who had the most trouble or difficulty and pause everything to empathize with them. Offer space for Q&A.

11:30 - 11:45

11:45 - 1 Best-Self Affirmations

Reading pages 53 to 59.

Then we’ll create a best self affirmation:

I am meant to be…

Option to customize or create your Dharma statement. It should be:

Concise, not hard to remember
Personal, not theoretical
Practical, not archetypical
Realistic to live up to, not perfectionistic
Challenging enough to bring up some insecurities or self-doubt, not so hard it irrelevant
Applicable to all (or most) areas of your life

Often when we think of commitment, we consider whether we could find a better school, a better spouse, a better book, a better investment, and so on. What we don’t realize when we’re thinking this way is that indecision is holding us back from what would be possible if we just committed to something, albeit imperfect. Your statement of identity doesn’t have to be perfect. It can evolve over time. But it’s important that you commit to come up with something before our weekly sessions begin.

If they want to keep the generic one, the other option is to explore self-defining questions.

Break out rooms.

Group sharing.