(John Brady and Tim Lowenhaupt)

In Bringing Great Ideas to Life, we will learn how to become karmic scientists and investigate where ideas come from and how to design strategic solutions to help bring them to life. To cultivate and nurtuTim Lowenhauptre ideas, what do we need to do, how do we need to prepare, to both have predictable success and avoid potential obstacles that may arise? We are going to learn to diagnose our situation and plan for the future based on karmic correlations in the Buddha’s presentation of All the Kinds of Karma, in the Karma Vibhanga. We’ll explore the connections between living very mindfully to plan for the future with these correlations and how to face unexpected obstacles with grace and ease.

Using karmic correlations, we'll learn:

• how to come up with and identify your biggest dreams

• how to plant big karma for big dreams

• how to anticipate future obstacles

• how to overcome unanticipated obstacles

(Sugeng Shi & Stanley Chen)

One of the main qualities of having a big idea and bringing it to life is having a vision of who will help you and how the big idea will help others. Nothing can be done solo, and you will need to attract the right people and talent to join you on the journey to successful execution of the idea. To first do so, what qualities will you need to embody and how will you become a great leader throughout the project? What are the seeds you need to plant and how do you handle friction with people on your team? The karmic correlations here are not always the most obvious. In this workshop, you will also develop a list of good qualities that you will need to elevate your performance as well as determine some of the negative traits that may be present in your leadership styles that hinder you from reaching the next levels.

(Marija Moertl and Hannah Beineke)

What did the Buddha say about how to build an A team that: gets behind your idea; is self-motivated, creative and productive; and is happy and fun as well? The Buddha described four ways, or four magnets, to attract people to you, so they can help bring your dream into reality. Find out how to get them, why they’re important to your success, and how to dissolve any obstacles you may have to achieving your goal. We will explore the ways that we can employ the four magnets and come up with plans to start planting the seeds to create the space in our normal ways of being to change into the leaders we want to become.

(Ven. Jigme and Connie O’Brien)

The foundation of each and every good quality has been summarized in 10 great virtues, which span our thoughts, words and actions. As karmic scientists, we can use these 10 to figure out why we are currently perceiving things in a certain way today, and how we can utilize this tool to effectively plan and design our future. We will learn in great depth the correlations of these 10 great virtues, in both their positive and negative senses. Additionally, we will then have exercises for you to work on the most pressing problems you’re facing today, and the potential pitfalls of continuing to be in certain ways for your future successes.

(Ven. Sunam and Jamie Plante)

This next class will be working more deeply within ourselves and the blocks that we may be creating consciously or even subconsciously. Many people struggle internally with their own fears, worrying what others may say or afraid of what success may mean for their life and their relationships. Maybe you have trouble knowing what to do, or problems making decisions. Many of us fear criticism from others. How do you address your fears? What is their source, and how do you plant seeds to be courageous? What are the best things to do to dissolve fear?

(Ven. Gyelse and Peter Moertl)

We often describe great leaders as being confident and prideful and often hear great criticisms of them too. In some ways, these qualities can be good and in some ways they can become great limitations to reaching our goals and keeping them going. When does taking pride in something become too much, and when is it helpful? Some kinds of pride are good, and some just have to go. A big ego too often gets in the way of making your dreams come true. We’ll learn how to make confidence flourish and how to rip toxic pride out by the roots. True confidence--not ego--is the key to success. We'll discuss how to tame any traces of prideful ego and find true confidence.

(Tim Lowenhaupt and Supriya Jain)

In this class, we’ll work together as karmic scientists to move Asian Classics Institute into the future. We’ll connect the dots and bring together what we’ve learned in our previous classes this week to create a vision for ACI–not only for the next 30 years, but for the next 500 years. We will apply what we’ve learned about how to dream big and start working together on how to plant seeds for the ACI legacy and ACI’s continued expansive successes in the world. This class will begin ACI’s dream-building exercise for the next 500 years. You too are a part of the grand plan and you are invited to take your place in the vision…