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ABOUT THE COURSE

Awakening Joy Is an Internet Course with an Optional Onsite Component

Awakening Joy is an Internet course with an add-on option to attend onsite recording sessions in Berkeley, California. The onsite classes are video and audio recorded so they are available to both Internet and onsite participants whenever they choose.

The Internet/Online course starts each year the first week in February and lasts for 10 months. It is not too late to join the course. You can easily begin with this month's materials. Prior months are also available. The recording sessions are held the week before each month's materials are made available. This means, for example, that the onsite class for the May materials will be held at the end of April.

Learn About the Course on YouTube

YouTube Video Clip of the Course
Watch it in HD (Allow the video to buffer for a few minutes to avoid pauses.)

Please use these links to jump down the page to any section of interest:

COURSE OVERVIEW
  Course Principles
  Monthly Themes
  Guest Speakers
  Buddies
  Intention is the Key
  Supportive Practices
  What if I'm Not a Joyful Person?
COURSE SCHEDULE AND LOGISTICS  
  Time and Location for the Onsite Recording Sessions
  Tuesday Dates in 2009  
  Wednesday Dates in 2009
WHAT DOES IT COST? No one is turned away from the Internet course due to lack of funds.
HOW TO ENROLL
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

 

Feedback from Past Participants
stories


COURSE OVERVIEW

The Awakening Joy course was created by James Baraz, who is the main teacher.

Over 5000 people have participated in the previous courses with very positive results. (See Feedback from Past Participants.) The course is meant to be user-friendly. Its goal is to awaken joy through monthly principles and practices that incline the mind toward well-being, happiness and joy.

Everyone taking the course is enrolled as an Internet participant, but there is an add-on option to attend the onsite recording sessions, which begin in late January, in Berkeley, California.


Course Principles

The principles of the course are universal, although much of the material includes Buddhist philosophy drawn from the course leader’s 30 years as a Buddhist meditation teacher. Three of these principles that work together are at the heart of the program:

1.
Developing and Increasing Wholesome States: The course uses practices that lead the mind toward states of happiness and well-being. Once we understand what healthy activities help support these wholesome states, we can intentionally invite and cultivate them.  
2.
Focusing on the Gladness That Arises with Wholesome States: While engaged in a healthy activity we experience an actual positive uplift of energy. The teachings speak of the value of experiencing “gladness connected with the wholesome” and of delight that “gladdens the heart.” By being very present for this gladness we increase its impact on us. This gladness is what I’m calling a joyful heart.
3.
Inclining the Mind towards Wholesome States: “Whatever one frequently thinks and ponders upon will be the inclination of their mind,” taught the Buddha. As we incline the mind toward wholesome states of well-being, such as gratitude or kindness, they are more available to us. Current brain research confirms this. As we practice certain states of mind we actually change our brain structure, deepening the groove towards depression or happiness.  
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Monthly Themes
and Materials

Each month there is a theme, which will incline the mind towards a specific wholesome state, bringing awareness to the gladness that accompanies it. Some of the themes are: Intention, Mindfulness, Graditude and Working with Difficult Times.

The monthly themes are presented in a particular sequence of topics. Each month there is an onsite presentation in Berkeley, CA, which is recorded and made available to download onto your computer or MP3 player. The themes are also laid out in detail in two monthly letters, along with meditations and experiential exercises.

There will be people from all over the U.S. and abroad doing the course on the Internet. All participants will receive:

  • Access to the letters describing the monthly themes and practices (about ten pages long)

  • Access to Audio and Video recordings of the monthly onsite presentations

  • Email notification of the availability of the materials on the website about a week after each onsite recording session

  • A mid-month letter (approximately five pages) to help keep you on track.

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Guest Speakers

In addition to the practice themes that James will be presenting, the 2009 line-up of guests will include:

  • Sylvia Boorstein, meditation teacher and author of Happiness Is an Inside Job and It’s Easier Than You Think

  • Paul Ekman, co-author with the Dalai Lama of the just released Emotional Awareness

  • Rick Foster and Greg Hicks, authors of How We Choose to be Happy and Choosing Brilliant Health

  • Rick Hanson, psychologist and neuroscience expert (www.wisebrain.org)

  • Catherine Ingram, author of Passionate Presence and In the Footsteps of Gandhi

  • Dacher Keltner, Director of the UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Center and editor of Greater Good magazine

  • Jack Kornfield, one of the leading Buddhist teachers in the West, author of best-sellers, A Path with Heart and The Wise Heart

  • MJ Ryan, author of The Happiness Makeover, Attitudes of Gratitude and The Giving Heart

  • Marci Shimoff, author of the #1 New York Times best-seller, Happy for No Reason

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Buddies

Participants are encouraged to do the course with a buddy. The support of a partner with whom to check in regarding the themes and practices helps keep the course in one’s awareness. Also, Internet participants benefit from doing exercises from the onsite recording sessions with their buddies. The course is even more effective when done this way. For some, the check-in may be weekly (5-10 minutes by phone or email). For others, it may be more or less frequent. (If you do the course with a buddy, it’s important to honor whatever agreement you mutually have about checking in.) You can use our Message Board to find your buddy. (The Message Board can be found in the Members section of the website.)

Onsite participants will be able to choose their own buddies at the onsite class. Email participants, and people missing the first class, should use the Message Board to find a buddy, if they don’t already know someone with whom they would like to buddy up.

The "Getting Started" portion of the Members section includes a document called Finding and Working with a Buddy. This document provides guidelines for matching with a buddy and suggestions for what to cover in communications with your buddy.

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Intention is the Key

Although the idea of cultivating more joy is meant to be an uplifting experience, it takes genuine intention to develop new habits that begin to naturally incline the mind that way. The more you put into the course, the more you will get out of it. However, you can do it to whatever extent you are able. We have enough responsibilities to make us feel guilty as it is. Joy does not follow from guilt. You will be encouraged to do whatever practices we are focusing on in a way that works for you.

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Supportive Practices

1.
Quiet time: You'll be encouraged to take some quiet time regularly. If you have a daily meditation practice that’s great. However, meditation practice experience is not a prerequisite. If you do not meditate, then even taking a five minute coffee or tea break to relax and stop the momentum of busyness will be very helpful.
2.
Reading: You will be encouraged to read one book: How We Choose to Be Happy by Rick Foster and Greg Hicks. You can order it from your local bookstore. In the San Francisco Bay Area, Spirit Rock Meditation Center and Black Oak Books in Berkeley, have ordered the book. It is also available in paperback from various websites.
3.
Other supportive practices: You will be encouraged to do other practices regularly, including some body exercise or movement (yoga, exercise, walking), some regular creative expression (singing, drawing, writing, dancing, etc.) and keeping a journal. Remember these are all suggestions. No guilt. No pressure to do everything or anything. Just do what you do in a way that works for you. The more you do the more you will get out of it. However, it’s completely up to you.

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What If I’m Not A Joyful Person?

The word "joy" may be a stretch for some. Perhaps you can’t imagine yourself skipping through a meadow with childlike exuberance. Don’t worry. Truly happy people are not happy all the time. They feel sad and angry and have the whole range of human emotions. We’re not talking about having a syrupy facade or being in denial. What we’re calling joy is a general feeling of aliveness and well-being that is characterized by engagement with life, meeting its ups and downs with authenticity and perspective. It can look very different from person to person, from a quiet sense of contentment to bubbly enthusiasm. That will be one of your discoveries—identifying how joy expresses itself uniquely through you.

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COURSE SCHEDULE AND LOGISTICS

We will have eleven monthly sessions (ten themes and one final closing session). Internet participation starts the first week of February. The recording sessions are held the week before each month's materials are made available. This means, for example, that the onsite class for the May materials will be held at the end of April.

All participants will receive access to the monthly themes and practices, including email notification of their availability on the website.

For those who can come to the onsite recording sessions in person in Berkeley, CA, there will be two separate classes each month, one on Tuesday night and the other on Wednesday night. People will be registered for one or the other night as they sign-up for the Onsite Add-On component. Both nights cover the same material and there may be as many as 275 people at each session. If you would like to attend the onsite classes, register as soon as possible because they will probably fill quickly.  People on the wait list will be notified when a seat becomes available.

Tickets will be emailed to onsite participants shortly before each meeting. Tickets must be presented at the front door.


Time and Location for the Onsite Recording Sessions

Time: Time: 7:00-9:30 PM once a month, as shown below.
Location: Berkeley, CA/Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda.

The location is between Marin and Solano Avenues in North Berkeley, with plenty of parking in the lot and on the street.


Tuesday Dates in 2009
for the Onsite Recording Sessions

January 27 June 23
February 24 July 28
March 24 August 25
April 21

September 29

May 26 October 20
  November 17


Wednesday Dates in 2009 for the Onsite Recording Sessions

January 28 June 24*
February 25 July 29
March 25 August 26
April 22

September 30

May 27 October 21
  November 18
*Jack Kornfield is the guest speaker for June. He is only able to be onsite for the Tuesday night class, so his talk will be shown on Wednesday using large screen video.

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WHAT DOES IT COST?
No one is turned away from the Internet course due to lack of funds.

The suggested donation for the course is $250. (There are 10 monthly themes and practices.) We do not want financial considerations to keep anyone from participating. Keep in mind that you will get out of it what you invest into it. If the full amount is not something you feel you can do at this time, please consider offering what, for you, is a workable investment. You are welcome to offer anything that works for you.

If possible, it helps if you pay for the entire course at the beginning. This will increase the likelihood of sustained individual and group commitment, which is important in doing this together. It also greatly simplifies the bookkeeping. If, however, it is more workable for you to do it in two or three or even monthly installments, please indicate that as you sign up. The course can be paid online by credit card, or by check.

More on the various Payment Options can be found in the How to Enroll section.

For Those Choosing the Onsite Add-On:

Because seating may be limited at the onsite meetings in Berkeley, first preference will be given to those who pay the entire course fee at the time of registration on a first come, first served basis. We will have, however, a limited number of scholarship slots available.

Because of high demand, only those who have made a good faith payment will be admitted to the recording sessions. You will receive a confirmation by email hen your seat at the onsite class has been cleared. Tickets will be issued to those with a confirmed seat about a week before each class. We hope that those who are seated at the live classes all have a commitment to attend regularly.

Please do not come to the onsite meetings in Berkeley if you do not have a confirmed seat and a ticket to present at the door. We will begin a wait list when we reach capacity and you will be informed if you are on it. Those on the wait list will be notified when seats become available. People on the wait list for the live meetings are still fully enrolled in the course as Internet participants. This means you have full access to the course materials on the website, including audio and video recordings of the onsite meetings and all of the written materials.

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HOW TO ENROLL

The enrollment steps for the course are described below. To enroll now, click Sign Up.

1.

Enter admin@awakeningjoy.info into your email program's ADDRESS BOOK.

Otherwise, the spam filter at your Internet service provider’s site may block our email messages, which both confirm your enrollment and notify you of the availability of the monthly themes and practices that are integral to the course.

2.
Fill out the SIGN UP FORM with all the required information.
3.

After you fill out the form, you will automatically be taken to the PAYMENT OPTIONS page, where you tell us how you will pay for the course:

PAYMENT OPTIONS

  1. You can pay the full, suggested fee of $250 all at once. If you use PayPal you do NOT need to fill out a Payment Plan (Sign Up Step 4), but if you pay by check, you must enter a Payment Plan to activate your membership.

  2. You can pay the full fee of $250 in installments either through PayPal or by check. In either case, you must fill out a Payment Plan to acctivate your membership.

  3. You may pay less than $250, all at once or in installments. If you choose this option, you must tell us specifically how you would like to proceed by entering a Payment Plan.

There are no discounts for missed sessions, since all participants have Internet access to the material covered in all of the classes.  

No one will be excluded from the Internet course due to finances. If the suggested donation is a consideration, you are welcome to offer whatever works for you, whether a one-time offering or over time.

4.
You are required to enter a PAYMENT PLAN, unless you pay the full fee all at once through PayPal.
5.

If you choose the Onsite Add-On, you MUST MAKE A PAYMENT to get a confirmed seat at class. Otherwise you can pay according to the Payment Plan you establish in Step 4.

Once your payment or your payment plan is received, you will be given your Username and Password. Then you can go to the Members section and log in to view the course materials and begin.

To enroll now, click Sign Up.

If you have questions, email us at admin@awakeningjoy.info and we will do everything we can to help.

The course is intended to be a fun and nourishing experience for you. Think of it as a gift you're giving yourself, rather than one more thing you have to do. May you find the course helpful in bringing more well-being, happiness and joy to your life.

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TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

You must be able to read PDF files to take this course. (You can download Adobe Reader for reading this type of file from the Member's section of this website.)

The ability to play video and audio files is also recommended, but not absolutely necessary, since the core of the course is contained in the written monthly practice letters.

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                                                                    © 2008 James Baraz