Purpose
CEB is especially appropriate for the rising number of individuals working in high-stress
occupations. In the preliminary clinical research trial, police officers and school teachers were
considered, but teachers were chosen in the hope that the benefits they received would be
experienced by their students. CEB can create pathways to compassion via the ability to recognize
the suffering of others and tolerate this distress more effectively. CEB is not explicitly compassion
training, however learning how to meaningfully attend to the emotional experiences between the
self and others coupled with attention focused meditation (Shamatha practices, see
in this
volume) and practices of loving kindness, empathetic joy, compassion and equanimity (Four
Immeasurables, see
in this volume) fosters compassion and constructive interpersonal
communication.
From Western psychology, “Emotional skills” is the novel focus of CE
Emotional skills help
people to better understand their emotional life, and thereby increase constructive and decrease
destructive emotional engagements. The contemplative practice, while keeping to the Dalai Lama’s
request for CEB to be secular, emphasizes the development of genuine happiness through
connection to core aspirations. Genuine happiness focuses upon enhancing eudaemonic
endeavors that further stable, non-stimulus-driven happiness versus a predominant focus upon
hedonic, sensual and transitory pleasure. Eudaemonia is an Aristotelian term that describes the
contentment that arises from what we bring to, not take from, the world and creates true human
flourishing. Wallace’s four balances, as described following this section, instruct the cultivation of
genuine happiness and mental well-being through conative, attentional, cognitive and emotional
balance
Course Outline
This next table provides a suggested schedule of how to teach CEB in 2.5 and 8-hour blocks over
eight sessions. The table is divided up into emotional skills and contemplative skills components.
CEB is intentionally constructed for the emotional and contemplative skill sets to be taught in
parallel but not an integrated format. The skill sets are complimentary as they build over the course
of the training. Learning the conceptual knowledge about emotion evolves into emotional
awareness through physiological experience of how emotions feel, which is then advanced through
close examination of strong emotional triggers. The contemplative practice begins with developing
an aspiration and practicing stability of attention (
Shamatha Meditation Practice
) to create a solid
foundation of relaxation and clarity, which are closely followed by practices of loving-kindness,
compassion, empathetic joy and equanimity, which can help moderate moods and appraisals of
the surrounding environment. Emotional skills are enhanced by the mindful space and stability of
attention arising from contemplative skills; additionally, the aspiration to achieve genuine
happiness provides an anchor point throughout the entire training.
The first three sessions develop the conceptual framework of emotion. This begins with lectures on
the universal expressions, domains, characteristics, families and themes and functions of
emotions. Next is an in-depth description of the timeline of an emotional episode, including stages
of appraisal and reaction. The last four sections of the course are used to experientially delve into
the seven universal expressions of emotion via exercises to familiarize participants with the felt
physiology of emotion. The contemplative skills also scale over the course, beginning with stability
of attention and developing the philosophy alongside experiential practices.
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