Course Guidelines
The Welcome to Awakening Correspondence Course! contains Seven Parts. The course guidelines are: you will be working each Part, one at a time, in order. You will receive and reply with seven emails, one for each Part of the Lojong. It’s recommended that you keep a practice journal to take notes and record your insights. It is also recommended that you commit to sitting meditation every day if possible, at least five times a week while you are taking the course. To have a silent meditation practice and do some Lojong study, give yourself at least an hour. Then carry the Slogan you are reflecting on throughout the day.
Each Part of the Lojong contains a group of Slogans, look over each one the Slogans, write them down in your practice journal, and reflect on them as part of your meditation and postmeditation practice. Read the Commentary portions for the Part you are working on in the Study Guide. As you contemplate each of the Slogans make notes on insights or questions in your practice journal. Each Part of the Lojong is a specific practice, and the Slogans are both instructions and insights guiding you into deeper practice.
There is no fixed time frame for completing the course so take your time. Spend at least a month, or longer, on each Part. Take as long as it takes for you to have insights into what each Part and Slogan are offering. When you have completed a Part, put your notes together and email us. Please keep your responses to four pages or less. Please send only one response for each Part. There will be seven email responses for the course.
Don’t be deceived by the apparent simplicity of the Slogans; there is a great deal of wisdom to be found from each one. Work first with the Slogan that gets your attention or raises a question. The Lojong teachings and practices are the opportunity for a genuine spiritual awakening that will be your inner guide for the rest of your life. The conscious work of practice allows us to come into integrity with bodhichitta, our innate goodness, wholeness, wisdom, and compassion. This is my wish for you.