Starting Sept 14th, 2008

This course offers an introduction to the direct experience of meditative states of mind. It is suitable for professionals who wish to investigate meditation as an adjunct to psychotherapy in healing trauma as well as experienced meditators who wish to explore the interface of various meditation practices.

The class will be based on the Buddhist teachings of the Abhidhamma (Buddhist Psychology) and will include instruction in The Seven Sets, with an emphasis on the 37 skills of mind training. The Seven Sets focus most specifically on the practice of concentration, and the close interconnections among virtue, concentration and wisdom.

The Buddha wanted the number of skills of mind training to total 37, because this number had symbolic meaning, and carried connotations of completeness. For example, the ratios used in tuning musical instruments to reciprocal scales that played the same notes, going up and going down, added up to 37 members. Additionally, the whole number/ratios that formed the basis for trigonometry, and thus for the study of astronomy, contained 37 members. This principle is also at work in Plato’s Laws, where the ideal city has 37 guardians; and in Tantric Buddhism, where mandalas contained 37 deities; and in Tibetan architecture, where various parts of the standard Stupa design were identified as symbols of the seven sets.

A variety of meditation techniques will be taught, with an emphasis on breath work and deep inquiry into our sense of self. We will address questions about the appropriateness of blending psychotherapy and meditation practice, as well as the most effective ways of doing so.

Participants will build foundational skills (concentration/tranquility) that allow them to gain deeper insight into themselves; and they will learn to work with subtle energies.

Meditation offers tools to train our heart and mind, using mantras, affirmations, visualizations, and chanting. Psychotherapy addresses primarily the first three Chakras (survival; economics, authority, sensuality; integrity), whereas Meditation works with the four higher Chakras (heart; speech; tranquility; spiritual connection). This class will offer a practice path towards optimum wellness.

Ralph Steele, M.A., L.M.F.T. has in-depth training and experience in Buddhist psychology, religious studies, family systems, cultural psychology and cognitive behavioral therapy. He is a disabled Vietnam veteran, and the director of Life Transition Therapy, Inc., Trauma Healing Center. (www.lifetransitiontherapy.com)

When: Mondays: Sept 14 to Nov 9

Time: 6:15 – 8:15 (9wks; 2hr classes)

Cost: Student rate: $ 180

Regular rate: $ 270

Where: Life Transition Therapy, 110 Delgado St., Suite D; Santa Fe, NM 87501

Syllabus,(green course, internet access), will be supplied upon registration.

Pre-Registration Limited Space

Registration & Further Information: 982-4183