Services and Activities - Environments of awareness in operation
The services and activities at Unfettered Mind are all examples of environments of awareness:
- Individual consultations. Individual consultations take place on an as-needed basis. Those interested, whether interested individuals, regular students, or out-of-town visitors may contact Unfettered Mind and arrange for a meeting with Ken McLeod. These meetings are opportunities to go deep into your practice experience and how you are applying it in your life. With modern communication technology, Ken meets with people in person, on the phone, or using web-based video conferencing such as Skype or iChat. Simple questions can be answered on the phone, with longer meetings for more in-depth conversations.
- Practice and study groups. Some practice-study groups are teacher-led, others are peer groups. Individuals and groups need to learn various skills to ensure that these groups become environments of awareness. Unfettered Mind provides resources and support for practice-study groups, both here locally in Southern California and globally, through its website.
- Retreats. Retreats hosted by Unfettered Mind are aimed at the transmission of the conceptual and experiential understanding of a specific body of material, e.g., mind-training, mahamudra, power, etc. Unfettered Mind hosts three or four retreats a year, in California and New Mexico. Other groups also invite Ken to teach retreats in Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Ontario and elsewhere.
- Classes or seminars. These are a response to interest in particular topics, a perceived need to teach a particular practice, or a subject that is of general interest. While Ken teaches the programs, for each program there is also a manager who arranges for the facilities, takes care of logistics, and all the odds and ends that make a program successful. The manager role is a volunteer position and people who do so are able to attend the class for free, of course.
- Teacher development. Currently, Ken is working wth a group of 18 teachers, mentoring and developing in their skills, in a program based on Wake Up to Your Life. Other teacher development programs are planned for the future. Ken is also available as an individual mentor, or simply to consult about teaching issues on an as-needed basis.
- Core Participant Group Unfettered Mind can be pictured as three concentric circles. The outermost consists of people who visit the website, listen to podcasts, buy books or use the resources in their own way. The second circle consists of those who use the resources Unfettered Mind offers to transform understanding into knowing, e.g., they come to retreats, attend other programs, and make use of individual consultations. The CPG is the innermost circle and consists of the people who make things happen: retreat and program managers, project coordinators, recording and posting of podcasts, design and development of the website, transcriptions of talks, design of newsletters, books, and other forms of communication, etc.
Much of the conceptual learning in Buddhism can take place in these groups, and a good part of the practice learning, too.
Increasingly, students undertake their own individual retreats, anything from a weekend up to three months or more. These people consult with Ken about the schedule and practice before and report on their experience, understanding, and any problems afterwards.
Participants in this group approach this activity as a way to live awake and, to do so, adopted the following statement of intention:
Living awake is the practice of bringing attention into every aspect of one's life. Every aspect of Unfettered Mind is structured to support this intention: to direct attention into the mystery of knowing, as an individual on the cushion and in daily life, and in all elements of the UM network, from administration to practice and study.
