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A message for our online students.

Even though we are sprinkled across the world, connected only by a Skype conference call,  the atmosphere in our classes has been surprisingly warm and friendly with a real feeling of community.  We've enjoyed teaching our online courses, and are particularly happy that nearly all of our students are joining in with the question and answer sessions.  It is encouraging how quickly all those currently studying with us have progressed through the early stages of meditation.  It's been a short time, but already we've been able to offer our Stage Four course 'Awakening the Mind' for those who have genuinely reached that level.  By any measure, that's impressive progress.  We started with a handful of students in Singapore, but now we now have a growing number of students in 6 different countries worldwide.  Thank you for spreading the word!  We offer the Foundation Course, The First Milestone Course, and the Awakening the Mind Course when we reach a certain level of demand, so please keep letting us know what courses you'd like to see us doing.
If you are new to AuthentiCity, please consider joining us in one of our drop-in classes below.    
Above all, we look forward to having you in class.

Drop-In Classes Online

These classes are open to students of all levels.  We hope graduates of our Foundation Course, First Milestone, and Awakening the Mind courses will join us to inspire newcomers, and foster a sense of community. We will begin each session with a guided meditation, and follow up with a short talk on the practical details involved in training the mind.  We will set aside plenty of time for questions or discussions, and we will end with a summary of the technique.

Class 1 description
In this session we will explore the basic psychology of the mind.  We will look at how training the mind is much like training the body.  We will identify the two major mental muscles - attention and peripheral awareness, and discuss the process of intentionally directing and sustaining attention.  We will explain the obstacles of forgetting and mind wandering, and the techniques we use to overcome them.  We will look at the five main intentions, and how they are integral to the training process.  We will end with advice on establishing a daily training routine.

Class 2 description
In this session we will review the obstacles of forgetting the object and mind wandering, and the intentions we set to overcome them.  We will look at how attitude plays such a crucial role in the training process, as well as laying the groundwork for a consistent and enjoyable practice. 

Class 3 description
In this session we will look at mindfulness, what it is and how it fits into the three main objectives of training our attention, training our peripheral awareness, and increasing the overall power of our mind.
We will end with an overview of the stages you can expect to progress through as you train your mind.

Future classes will include:
How the mind works: a basic model of the mind.
Dealing with dullness.
The limits of our control, and how we work with this.
Training the conscious mind as well as the subconscious mental processes.
How to begin the process of unifying the mind.
Working with conscious top down intentions to influence our bottom up urges or intentions.
Practicing mindful awareness in our daily life.
How we have programmed our habits and how we can change them.
The psychology of intentions and competing intentions.
How to do walking meditations and why they are so helpful.
Managing expectations.
The positive feedback cycle versus the negative feedback cycle.
The technical importance of simply enjoying yourself.
The benefits of mindful awareness and how we progress with this training.
Using mindful awareness to overcome unwanted habits and emotions, such as anxiety, depression, irritation, anger, jealousy, and addictions.

The Foundation Course Online

From day one of the Foundation Course we will present a comprehensive, detailed and systematic guide to training your mind.  We will outline the stages clearly, so you will always know where you are in your practice, and how you can move to the next level. Right from the very beginning we will encourage you to keep a few simple and clear objectives at the forefront of your mind.  Clear objectives make for clear intentions, and as you will soon learn for yourself, clear intentions are the key to success.  
In this course we will introduce you to the three main objectives that will guide you from the level of a beginner to the level of a master, from stage one (developing a consistency in your practice sessions), to stage ten (fully developed concentration or shamatha).  They are: (i) developing stability of attention; (ii) developing peripheral awareness; and (iii) increasing the overall power of your mind.  This training will steadily bring clarity, energy, and peace of mind. 
Peace of mind also depends on the cultivation of certain inner values, as well as an understanding of how the mind works and how to best train it. For this reason the Foundation Course introduces our three-fold secular approach, with its emphasis on training the mind in Concentration, Values, and Understanding. We go more deeply into these trainings in later courses, but always with an emphasis on concentration as the vehicle to take us forward.

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