Buddhist Mind Science, Module 2
Transforming the Mind to Cultivate Lasting Happiness
Four Sundays
April 27 – May 18, 2025
10:30am – 12:30pm PDT (Pacific Daylight Time)
in-person only
Program Category: Dharma Education — Introductory
No prior experience necessary.
Everybody is welcome.
Join us and embark on a journey to transform the mind.
Read more about the FPMT introductory course
Buddhist Mind Science: Activating Your Potential.
Transforming the Mind
Are we free to choose what we pay attention to? How to be
able to choose? Can we increase our mental balance? How to
live a healthy emotional life?
We will explore such questions from an experiential point of
view, using both scientific and Buddhist knowledge of the
mind and meditation, in a journey that may translate into
increasing lasting happiness and a positive impact on
oneself, others, and the world.
The course “Transforming the mind to cultivate lasting
happiness” explores what meditation is and focuses on
calming the mind and refining attention with the breath, a
healthy emotional life, and enhancing wholesome emotions and
mental states as first foundations for cultivating lasting
happiness. It is complemented by references to current
scientific understanding on attention training, well-being,
empathy, and emotions.
The Journey
“Transforming the mind to cultivate lasting happiness” gradually unfolds as a journey along different topics:
- Settling the mind and focusing attention with the breath explains breathing meditation to settle the mind and focus our attention, as a way to choose were we pay attention to and balance the mind.
- Stabilizing and analytical meditation challenges some common notions about meditation and explores how to use our capacity to observe and analyze to enhance wholesome mental states and attitudes.
- Working with emotions explores emotions, how some of them can be challenging or disturbing, and strategies to work with them.
- Emotions and afflictions further deepens into it by presenting the Buddhist perspective on emotions and afflictions.
- A healthy emotional life explores how regulating emotions is not only about dealing with the challenging ones, but also about gaining perspective over our own views and enhancing wholesome emotions and mental states.
- Bringing the practice to daily life concludes with bringing more awareness to our emotions and to activities in daily life.
Elaine Jackson
is a founding member of
Vajrapani Institute
and has been a student of Tibetan Buddhism since 1977. She
has studied with many of the greatest Buddhist teachers of
our time including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama
Thubten Yeshe, Kyabje Zong Rinpoche, Lama Thubten Zopa
Rinpoche and many others too numerous to list.
Elaine is known for the warmth and humor with which she
teaches. In particular, she loves sharing the wealth of
practical insights she has gained from her years of
retreat and service within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
Elaine served as Executive Director of Vajrapani Institute
for over five years and has also completed a three-year
meditation retreat. She lives a contemplative life
off-the-grid in the Santa Cruz mountains while offering
Dharma teachings and meditation support.
Registration
Suggested Donation: $75 for the entire course or $25 for a single session.
The events at the center are offered on a donation
basis. Our philosophy for donations is founded on the
Generosity Model,
ensuring that our programs are accessible
to everyone, regardless of their financial situation.
No one will be turned away due to lack of funds.