Presence of Mind course outline  

! Being present

! Nectar from poison: this indicates how it is possible to extract something valuable

even from adverse situations

! Absolute presence: the philosophic and practical differences between absolute and

relative existence

! Plato’s analogy of the cave (one of the most famous writings in western philosophy)

! Plato’s cave: its practical implications

! The power of thought: what powers are available to us in the present moment?

Mindfulness as it has appeared in recent times in the West

! The power of decision: how to use that power well

! The power of love: how that may expand and how it is restricted

! The power of will

! The sovereign self: that to which the powers of thought, decision, love and will

belong. Meditation as it is offered in the School

! Give what you lack: a practical way of expanding the experience of the present