5 Ways to Know Yourself
as a Spiritual Being
Types of Programs Offered
The Basic Mindfulness Home Practice Program is designed to help people learn and deepen their Mindfulness practice using the techniques developed by Shinzen Young called the 5 Ways. The 5 Ways are...
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Focus on Positive - Actively generate and radiate states of unconditional positive regard.
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Focus In - Track your subjective experience in terms of visual thoughts, mental conversations and emotional-type body sensations.
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Focus Out - Anchor and merge with the external world by tracking external sights, external sounds and physical-type body sensations.
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Focus on Rest - Focus on pleasant restful states such as physical relaxation, emotional peace, internal quiet and blank, and external silence and light.
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Focus on Change - Track how sensory experience changes and when things vanish. This allows you to appreciate both the wave-like nature of experience and the absolute rest that comes when the waves momentarily cease.
Taken together, the 5 Ways cover the entire range of traditional approaches to spiritual knowledge. Once you have mastered them you will have everything you need for exponential personal growth.
Home Practice Program retreats come in various "flavors" depending on where the emphasis is placed. The primary categories are:
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Core Curriculum Classes
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Deepening retreats
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Sharpening retreats
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Special themes/applications
Core Curriculum Classes
The Core Curriculum classes of Basic Mindfulness are designed to teach the nuts and bolts of the 5 techniques called the 5 Ways.
Each of the 5 Ways techniques is taught through two 4-hour classes (Part 1 and Part 2).The Part 1 of a given technique is always geared toward beginners, meaning that it does not require any previous experience. Part 2 of a given technique will always have the prerequisite of having done the Part 1 of that technique or its equivalent in the form of an Onsite retreat or private work with Shinzen Young/facilitator.
These Part 1 classes replace the “Introduction to Basic Mindfulness” class that we offered previously. There will be a Part 1 class offered every month.
The emphasis in the Core Curriculum classes is...
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Learning how to do the technique "perfectly" - understanding and practicing the full power of its apparatus. Especially emphasized is how to use "options" such as labeling, zooming, restricted noting and so forth to deal with difficulties and make use of doorways of opportunities. To fully learn the technique, you need to complete both Part 1 and Part 2.
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Becoming confident in using any special terminology associate with the technique.
Core Curriculum classes are where you learn new techniques, but they are more than that. Even after you have become familiar with a technique, you will be surprised by how much you can learn by systematically going over the basics again. So in theory you can do the Core Curriculum classes for a give technique many times. Very experienced practitioners will sometimes participate in Core Curriculum classes, but with a different "hat" on. They come to learn how to teach the technique to others.
It is recommended, particularly for beginners, that you read the following articles before participating in a Core Curriculum class. This may seem like a lot of work, but participation in the class will be greatly enhanced if you have at least some familiarity with what is in these readings.
What is Mindfulness?
About Posture
How to Note and Label
5 Ways to Know Yourself as a Spiritual Being
Deepening Retreats
At Deepening retreats it is assumed that you are already familiar with the technique(s) being used. The emphasis is on going deeper with them by practicing for longer periods of time or while moving or working with other challenges. There are no new concepts or special exercises involved here. It's all about getting strong through repeated and extended exercise.
Sharpening Retreats
As with Deepening retreats, at Sharpening retreats it is assumed that you are already familiar with the technique(s) being used. But here the emphasis is on honing your ability to do them by being guided in various special exercises. Each of the core techniques has associated with it numerous special exercises. You are not expected to ever do these on your own (unless you want to!). Rather Shinzen or a facilitator will guide you...all you have to do is follow along. As a result of this guidance you will probably notice that your ability to do the core techniques is dramatically improved - honed, sharpened.
For example, if you participate in a Sharpening retreat for the Focus In technique, you might be guided through special exercises such as Mindful Mantra, Noting Image Types or Noting Feel Flavors. These are designed to improve your clarity and contact regarding internal talk, mental images and emotional-type body sensations. When you go back to doing the Focus In technique, things will probably be much clearer and easier.
Special Theme/Application Retreats
These retreats emphasize applying the technique(s) involved in a special or specific way or to a specific type of situation. These also usually have the prerequisite of having previous experience with the technique(s) involved, but this varies depending on who is leading it what the theme is.