Mindfulness of Breathing
Winter 2022
An online study and practice course
guided by Bhikkhu Anālayo
with facilitating teachers
Rachel Lewis and Tuere Sala discuss Mindfulness of Breathing
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.
Mindfulness of Breathing is an eight-week, in-depth study of the sixteen steps of the Ānāpānasati-sutta, as a way of combining tranquility and insight in a form of practice that aims at the cultivation of 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, complete reading assignments from Mindfulness of Breathing: A Practice Guide, attend a 90-minute weekly group meeting, and contribute to a written online forum.
Course Overview
 | Application time frame | October 25 - November 29, 2021 |
 | Prerequisite | 1. Having an established Mindfulness practice 2. Having earned a Certificate of Completion from the Satipaṭṭhāna Meditation online course, or having sat the course residentially/online with Bhikkhu Anālayo (at BCBS or another center). |
 | Course dates | January 21 - March 19, 2022 |
 | Duration | 8 Weeks |
 | Time commitment | 10-12 hours per week |
 | Participation expectation | Intensive |
 | Self-Paced components: | • Weekly lectures • reading assignments • sutta study • guided meditation • optional quizzes |
 | Interactive components | • Weekly 90 minute live small group discussions • sutta study meetings • 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 students of the Satipaṭṭhāna Meditation course:
"This had the quality of a solidly built course anchored in an experiential approach to the suttas. The generosity and qualification of the Facilitating Teachers was outstanding. The ability to create a supportive, stimulating and enriching climate during the weekly meetings was much appreciated. The online format, spread over 9 weeks, is an excellent opportunity to bridge formal practice with informal daily practice."
"I benefited greatly from sustained, focused practice with a peer community. The commitment was significant given time constraints, but I'd happily do it all over again."
"I appreciated the excellent course materials, good interaction with others in my Practice (Study) Group, excellent leadership from the facilitating teachers, and encouragement to reflect on the learning and on practice with the mandatory contributions to the discussion board each week."
Timeline
Applications Open: October 25th
Applications Close: November 29th
Initial Accepted Applicants Notified: December 6th
Registration: December 6th-30th
Course Dates: January 21 - March 19, 2022
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
Tuere Sala
Tuere Sala is a Guiding Teacher at Seattle Meditation Society (SIMS). She is a retired prosecuting attorney who has practiced Vipassana meditation for over 25 years and has been a practicing member of SIMS since 2001. She is also the founding teacher of the Capitol Hill Meditation Group. Tuere has a long history of assisting others in establishing and maintaining a daily practice. Her teachings reflect an approach to Dharma that is both easy to follow and understand – making it accessible to everyone.
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.
Dawn Scott
Dawn Scott has been practicing Insight Meditation since 2008 and served as the Family Program Coordinator for eight years at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. She is a graduate of the Insight Meditation Society’s 2017 – 2021 teacher training program, a co-principal teacher of Marin Sangha, and is a core teacher of Spirit Rock’s Liberation, Emptiness, and Awareness Practices (LEAP) Program and the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies and Insight Meditation's joint program, Exploring the Heart of Freedom. Dawn has a deep love of long retreat practice and the Buddha's liberative teachings.
Philip Jones
Philip Jones started meditating in 1987, teaching Insight Meditation in 1996, and graduated from Spirit Rock's Community Dharma Leader program in 2000. Phil co-founded Show Me Dharma in Columbia, MO and has served on the board of Mid America Dharma, a retreat organization, since 1994. In recent years he has studied with Bhikkhu Anālayo, Shaila Catherine, and Ann Dillon. He enjoys using the early discourses as practice guides.
Andrea Castillo
Andrea Castillo has practiced Insight Meditation since 1998. Her teachers have been Gil Fronsdal and Andrea Fella. Andrea has taught Dharma in Spanish at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood, CA, since 2011, and offers residential retreats in the US and Latin America. She completed a Ph.D. in the Humanities at Stanford University in 2009. Andrea is a graduate of the Sati Center Chaplaincy Training Program, the Dharma Mentoring Training Program, and the Local Dharma Leaders taught by Gil Fronsdal and Andrea Fella.
Francisco Morillo Gable
Francisco Morillo Gable studies and practices Early Buddhism with Bhikkhu Anālayo and Gil Fronsdal. After fifteen years of rehabilitation with the Dhamma following an accident in 2003 that rendered him disabled, and after an extraordinary recovery, he devoted himself to sharing teachings. The focus of this work is serving underserved groups and the greater Spanish speaking world. He was born and raised in the Dominican Republic until the age of ten.
Course Curriculum
| Jan 21-22 | Welcome module, orienting, and access to 1. Preliminaries |
| Jan 23-29 | 1. Preliminaries |
| Jan 30 - Feb 5 | 2. Contemplation of the Body (1st Tetrad) |
| Feb 6-12 | 3. Contemplation of Feeling Tones (2nd Tetrad) |
| Feb 13-19 | 4. Contemplation of the Mind (3rd Tetrad) |
| Feb 20-26 | 5. Contemplation of Dharmas (4th Tetrad) |
| Feb 27 - Mar 5 | 6. Awakening |
| Mar 6-12 | 6. Awakening continued |
| Mar 13-19 | 7. Concluding, Integrating and Closing |
Course Participation
This course requires considerable commitment from participants. 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 Fall 2021 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 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: October 25th
Applications Close: November 29th
Initial Accepted Applicants Notified: December 6th
Registration: December 6th-30th
Course Dates: January 21 - March 19, 2022
