Applied Meditation Studies at
The Won Institute of Graduate Studies |
The Won Institute of Graduate Studies is an emerging leader of integrative, holistic education in North America. Knowledge and wisdom are innovatively united in the Institute, forming methods of teaching and learning that are fresh, bold, and effective. Academics at the Institute combine rigorous theoretical and technical training with direct, immediate experience and understanding. Our students become adept at fashioning the conceptual content of their coursework into insights into actual physical, mental, and emotional processes; and at translating such processes into effective applications in life and work. The Institute is guided by the conviction that the practice of meditation and mindfulness techniques are an integral component in the healing process.
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Applied Meditation Studies
The 33-credit program leads to a master’s degree in Applied Meditation Studies (MAMS). The program prepares graduates who are uniquely skilled in the practical, professional, and theoretical dimensions of Buddhist meditation. Applied meditation can be adapted to many settings; for instance, to education, psychotherapy, social awareness, business, bereavement counseling, couples counseling, hospice care, pain management, corporate management, and Buddhist sangha building.
The program combines classroom study with fieldwork and practical experience. Sitting meditation practice is the central component of the meditation aspect of the program, while a practicum is central to the application aspect. Two intensive meditation retreats are built into the schedule to ensure deepened meditation practice.
The Applied Meditation Studies program, while founded on Buddhist principles, is non-sectarian and non-religious in nature. We welcome students from all traditions — or from none — to enroll in the program.
What is Meditation?
In the Applied Meditation Studies program, we view meditation as a form of skill cultivation. Through its practice, mental qualities that are beneficial to well-being are stimulated, developed, and increased, while those that are detrimental are weakened and dissolved. Based on the premise that our lives — our emotions, perceptions, moods and feelings, reactions to external and internal stimuli, thoughts, words, and actions — are the direct result of our mental condition at any given moment, meditation can be seen as a practice that operates at the most fundamental level of our being. A mind that is clear, calm, and at ease, engenders a life that is clear, calm, and at ease. There is, furthermore, a considerable body of scientific research to suggest that meditation has deep and lasting effects on the practitioner’s cardiovascular and central nervous systems, brain function, and overall physical health. By relaxing the body and calming the mind, meditation effectively diminishes the harmful effects of tension, stress, and disquiet.
Meditation in Action
The applications of meditation extend as far as human culture. Meditation practice can be used, for example, as a teaching tool; as an aid to conflict resolution; as a supplement to hospital or hospice care; as an impetus to raising consciousness of animal rights, politics, and materialism; and to create well being in general. Used skillfully, meditation is thus applicable to educational, health, and human service settings, in the business world, in politics, in consumer education, and beyond.
Core intensive training in meditation practice provides students with significant understanding of meditation in the Buddhist tradition, and addresses its place in all aspects of human life. An individualized focus within the master’s degree program can be developed through specialized practicum experiences and projects.
Student Knowledge-Based Objectives:
- Students will have a theoretical understanding of the Buddha’s system of meditation as articulated in the Anapanasati Sutta, and of varioussystems developed historically both within and outside of Buddhism.
- Students will have a theoretical understanding of the foundational teachings of the Buddha and of the history and development of Buddhist perspectives and principles.
- Students will understand how meditation affects the physical, emotional, and mental aspects of human being.
- Students will understand models of friendliness, compassion, sympathy, and equanimity and their application to complex interpersonal relations.
- Students will have knowledge of organization dynamics as a means to assess the organizational applications of meditation.
- Students will have knowledge of techniques for assessing and training individuals in meditative practice.
- Students will have a theoretical understanding of vital energy circulation (chi) and its application to meditation.
Student Skills-Based Objectives:
- Students will become skilled in the practice and protocol of meditation.
- Students will be able to assess individuals’ prior experience and meditative needs in order to design appropriate training.
- Students will demonstrate the ability to train others in meditative practice based on their assessment.
- Students will demonstrate the ability to provide ongoing consultation regarding meditative practice.
- Students will show the ability to exercise appropriate professional limits within their range of competency.
- Students will be able to design and deliver meditation-oriented programs in, and appropriate to, a variety of settings.
- Students will be able to demonstrate ability in movement meditation.
Curriculum Content
The curriculum serves the Institute’s mission by assuring that a central aspect of all course content is the understanding and cultivation of skills that lead to personal and social well being, and that all courses are conducted with a commitment to excellence in teaching, learning, and research. While the sources and goals of curricular offerings derive from Buddhist teachings, there is not a sectarian requirement, agenda or presumption of affiliation with, or conversion to, any Buddhist community. Students from any tradition, or from none, are welcome and respected. We are first and foremost committed to quality graduate-level professional education and training in the practical applications of meditation. |
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Learn more about
WON Institute
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LOCATION: Glendale, PA
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