The method described here is a synthesis of the lessons of my practice and teaching over the past thirty years. My aim is to present a systematic, reproducible method for the development of contemplative fitness. The method works; hundreds of students have used this program to develop high levels of contemplative fitness. But it is not the only effective method, nor is it necessarily the best for every individual. Think of it as similar to a gym routine from a personal fitness trainer; you can expect it to perform as advertised if you do the work, but it is not the only way to work out.
While we are developing contemplative excellence, let us also develop a bit of emotional maturity; I would like to take the moralism out of meditation. You would never think that your personal fitness trainer is a better person than you are simply because he can bench press heavier weights than you; he just works out more and consequently has a skill set and a fitness level that you do not yet have. This does not make him a saint. Contemplative development is morally neutral in the same way; being an expert meditator or being “awakened” does not make you a better person. Rather, a high level of contemplative fitness means that you have pumped enough mental iron to develop a set of skills and competencies that most people do not have. If you want to be a good person, you must behave like one; simply meditating won’t do it for you.
There are many possible variations on contemplative fitness. This method is one that matches my values and has consistently proven successful in helping my students develop elite contemplative skills. It trains a variety of skills and understandings that are valuable on their own, and can serve as a starting point for further exploration and specialization depending on individual interests. The course draws on techniques and concepts I have found useful from Theravada Buddhism as well as various traditions including Zen, Tibetan Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta, Neo-Advaita and Christian mysticism. You will also find a healthy dose of my unique contributions; when possible, I will make an effort to point out which is which in order to avoid confusion.
Depending on his or her interests, the student may or may not decide to follow the method all the way through. I recommend stream entry, as described in the chapter by that name, as a wonderful goal for any meditator. For a more casual meditator, simply reading the following chapter on the three speed transmission and the techniques compendium in the appendix may be enough. For the student interested in mapping the experiences of the contemplative path and gaining facility with altered states, the later chapters of the method will be of interest. For someone who seeks elite levels of contemplative fitness, aka spiritual enlightenment, I recommend that you practice the program in its entirety. The surest way to arrive at contemplative excellence is to build a robust practice by triangulating from many different directions.
This is a course for a lifetime of contemplative development. When someone asks me how long it takes to reach stream entry or some other mile-marker of progress, I point out that a similarly unanswerable question would be “how long does it take to be able to do twenty pushups?” For some people, it is trivial; they can already do twenty pushups. For others, doing twenty pushups is a big deal, and some people may never be able to do it in their lifetime. Similarly, with contemplative fitness there is a great deal of individual variation in the time it takes to make progress, depending on what you’re bringing to the table and how much time and energy you are willing to invest. Based on my experience working with students, we can model a bell curve for how long it takes to get stream entry, the first goal I recommend to my students and to the readers of this book. Most people who take on the project are likely to get stream entry within a year or two. On the tail ends of the curve, I know people who have been working seriously towards stream entry for several years and haven’t yet gotten it, and I also know people who managed it within a month or two of getting serious about their meditation practice. Having attained stream entry, you are likely to find that there is more to do and that you are more interested in your meditation practice than ever. Ultimately, there is no end to contemplative development. Like evolution, it adapts forever, always changing and moving into new spaces, never resting or growing stale. Plan on practicing for the rest of your life and falling more deeply in love with your practice with each passing year.