Mindfulness of Breathing
Winter 2023
An online study and practice course
guided by Bhikkhu Anālayo
with facilitating teachers
Rachel Lewis and Tuere Sala discuss Mindfulness of Breathing
(recorded from 1st iteration)
8 weeks of practice and focused study on the sixteen steps of the Ānāpānasati-sutta. This program builds on the practice, particularly of the awakening factors, developed in the first course on Satipaṭṭhāna Meditation.
Applications are now closed for the Winter iteration
Mindfulness of Breathing is an eight-week, in-depth study of the sixteen steps of the Ānāpānasati-sutta, combining tranquility and insight in the form of practice that aims to cultivate the awakening factors. The course thereby builds on the practice, particularly of the awakening factors, developed in the first course on Satipaṭṭhāna Meditation.
Each week students will engage with recorded guided meditations and video lectures by Bhikkhu Anālayo and complete reading assignments from Mindfulness of Breathing: A Practice Guide, attend a 90-minute weekly group meeting, and contribute to a written online forum.
This program will be offered every Winter and Summer
Course Overview
 | Application time frame | October 24 - Nov 28, 2022 |
 | Prerequisite | 1. Having an established Mindfulness practice 2. Having earned a Certification of Completion for the Satipatthana Meditation online course, sitting the Early Buddhist Meditation course with Bhikkhu Analayo in person, or completion of the Early Buddhist Meditation Path Program |
 | Course dates | January 21 - March 18, 2023 (Orientation week Jan 16 - 21) |
 | Duration | 8 Weeks |
 | Time commitment | 10-12 hours per week |
 | Participation expectation | Intensive |
 | Self-Paced components: | • Video lectures • Audio guided meditations • Reading assignments • Sutta study • Contributing to discussion forums • Review questions |
 | Interactive components | • Weekly 90 minute live small group meetings, including • Break-out practice and sutta study discussions • Moderated weekly written discussion forums |
Certification Track
This online course offers an optional certification track, which would qualify students to meet the prerequisites for Bhikkhu Anālayo's advanced online or residential course Brahmavihāra & Emptiness. The optional certification track requires the completion of a final reflection and review of participation.
From previous students of this course:
"What a wonderful, holistic experience it was to take the BCBS course on Ānāpānasati. The course is so well designed, from the seeds of breathing bloom the Awakening Factors. And while I understand this comes from over 2500 years of the Dharma, it is in this course that I found the opportunity for an integrated learning experience where the cognitive and immediate application in embodied practice is followed each week with reflection, investigation, and support from the teachers and sangha. Wow!"
"The course materials and structured approach to the practice, along with the weekly Zoom meetings and being in virtual sangha with a small group, were very supportive of going deeper with study and practice in a very special sangha environment."
"Thank you very much for continuing to make these precious and profound practices available online. Both my wife and I have found them to be life-changing...Our hearts overflow with gratitude to all who make it possible for us to learn from your teachers - especially Bhikkhu Anālayo."
Timeline
Applications Open: Oct 24, 2022
Applications Close: Nov 28, 2022
Initial Accepted Applicants Notified by Dec 5th
Registration: Dec 5 - 23, 2022
Course Dates: January 21 - March 18, 2023
Guiding Teacher
Bhikkhu Anālayo is a scholar-monk and the author of numerous books on meditation and early Buddhism, such as Satipatthāna: The Direct Path to Realization, Perspectives on Satipatthāna, and Satipatthāna Meditation: A Practice Guide. He is a Faculty Member at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, having retired from being a professor at the Numata Center for Buddhist Studies at the University of Hamburg. His main area of academic research is early Buddhism, with a special interest in the topics of meditation and women in Buddhism. At the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies he regularly teaches residential study & practice courses, participates in online programs and undertakes research into meditation-related themes.
Bhikkhu Anālayo has designed the course curriculum and program structure, and is supporting the facilitating teacher team. There will be no live contact with Bhikkhu Anālayo during the program.
Facilitating Teachers
Rachel Lewis
Rachel Lewis began practicing insight meditation in 2003, while completing her physics PhD at Yale. Since 2011, she has taught dharma and meditation classes and retreats in British Columbia and beyond. She completed the IMS/IRC 4-year teacher training in 2021, and is a guiding teacher of the British Columbia Insight Meditation Society. Her dharma teaching interests include the power of music, humour, and creativity to increase our capacity for learning, as well as the way that practice supports and is supported by social justice work.
Walt Opie
Walt Opie was first introduced to insight meditation in 1993 and began sitting retreats in 2005. Currently, his most influential teachers include Bhikkhu Anālayo, Joseph Goldstein, Sayadaw U Tejaniya, and Gil Fronsdal. Walt is a graduate of the 2017-2021 IMS Teacher Training Program, as well as Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leaders program. He has led sitting groups for people in recovery and served as a volunteer teacher in several California prisons.
Kim Allen
Kim Allen began meditating in 2003, seeking both a path out of suffering and the deeper truths of life. She has practiced in the US and Sri Lanka, and was trained by Gil Fronsdal at the Insight Meditation Center. She teaches Dharma programs, sutta study, and retreats in-person and online. Kim lives as a lay contemplative and draws from a background in long retreat practice, textual study, and scientific training to bring classical Dharma to a modern context. Her website is http://www.uncontrived.org.
Dawn MacDonald
Dawn MacDonald is deeply grateful for opportunities to study and teach the dharma. She is certified as a trainer and a teacher of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Mindful Self Compassion, and Compassion Cultivation Training. She lives on Treaty 1 Territory in the middle of Canada and is committed to decolonization - working hand in hand, heart to heart, towards a more just, equitable, and loving world. Learn more on Dawn's website.
Course Curriculum
| July 4-9 | Welcome module, orienting, and access to 1. Preliminaries |
| July 9-16 | 1. Preliminaries |
| July 16-23 | 2. Contemplation of the Body (1st Tetrad) |
| July 23-30 | 3. Contemplation of Feeling Tones (2nd Tetrad) |
| July 30-August 6 | 4. Contemplation of the Mind (3rd Tetrad) |
| August 6-13 | 5. Contemplation of Dharmas (4th Tetrad) |
| August 13-20 | 6. Awakening |
| August 20-27 | 6. Awakening continued |
| August 27-Sept. 3 | 7. Concluding, Integrating and Closing |
Course Participation
This course requires considerable commitment from participants and is not a self-study course. We require attendance at weekly virtual meetings, as well as completion of writing prompts and course assessments throughout the program. The required time commitment is roughly 10-12* hours per week.
Weekly individual coursework includes:
- 90 minutes of a small group video meeting**
- watching/listening to a 20-minute video lecture by Bhikkhu Anālayo
- daily personal Mindfulness of Breathing practice (Bhikkhu Anālayo’s recorded guided meditations will be provided)
- completing study activities
- contributing to the group discussion forum
- reading one chapter per week in the core text, Mindfulness of Breathing: A Practice Guide by Bhikkhu Anālayo.
*Participants are strongly encouraged to read Mindfulness of Breathing: A Practice Guide in advance of the course (later referring back to the book as reference/refresher during the weekly topics). Otherwise, an additional 2-3 hours per week for reading during the course should be anticipated.
**The small group meeting is the only course component which happens at a fixed time, and meetings will occur at same day/time every week.
A list of the Winter 2023 meeting times can be found here. Applicants will select their available times on the application. Attendance is mandatory.
Ethical Commitment
In early Buddhist thought, tranquility and insight are complementary dimensions of meditative cultivation, traditionally based on a solid foundation in moral conduct and part of a gradual process of training. This online course will follow the Buddha's principle of ethics as the foundation for Satipaṭṭhāna practice. Participation in this course is supported by group commitment to respect and non-harming, applying to both communication with others and also to one's personal relationship with the practice.
Program Fee, Teacher Dāna and Scholarships
The course fee is $450. This does not include financial support for the facilitating teachers. As is customary at BCBS, there will be an opportunity to offer dāna to the teachers at the end of the program.
We are committed to making this program accessible to all. Financial assistance is available to help supplement the course fee. Requests for financial assistance may be made in the registration process. If accepted into the course, a 30%, 40% or 50% scholarship can be selected on the registration page, and it will be applied directly. If the financial assistance need is over 50% of the course fee, there is a space to indicate what amount of the course fee would be affordable, and we will offer what we can to accommodate the request. We generally only offer financial assistance one time per person per year so as to make this support available to as many students as possible.
Application Process and Criteria for Selection
The prerequisites for this course are having an established Mindfulness practice, and having earned a Certificate of Completion from the BCBS Satipaṭṭhāna Meditation online course, or having sat the course residentially/online with Bhikkhu Analayo (at BCBS or another center).
In order to maintain weekly study groups to support the intimate nature of the program, space in the course is limited by the number of small groups we can offer. For those who meet the prerequisite experience applications are processed on a lottery basis, with some spaces reserved for people of color and young adults.
As we work to become a more inclusive, equitable, and diverse community, we invite feedback/suggestions you may have regarding ways that we can make participation in the program more accessible and welcoming; please email us at contact@buddhistinquiry.org.
Participants in the Early Buddhist Meditation Path Program are not eligible for this course while the Path program is in session.
Timeline
Applications Open: Oct 24, 2022
Applications Close: Nov 28, 2022
Initial Accepted Applicants Notified by Dec 5th
Registration: Dec 5 - 23, 2022
Course Dates: January 21 - March 18, 2023
