Second Floor (Mahāyāna)

Intro

The Second Floor expands study to the universal. Students cultivate the Mindset of Awakening (bodhicitta) through deeper investigative meditation into the emptiness of any identity and broader application of compassion in the practice of the four immeasurables. At this stage, compassion and wisdom are developed together: compassion enlarges the scope of concern, while wisdom examines how identity itself never arises or dissolves.
Students also study how the two different Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophies, including Yogācāra and Madhyamaka, refute Hīnayāna Buddhist philosophies.

The Two Truths: understanding how conventional appearances and their ultimate emptiness are inseparable.
- Philosophy: Madhyamaka and Yogācāra debates provide complementary views on the nature of mind and world.
- Investigative Meditation: analysis of the emptiness of any identity (the universal ultimate).
Mindset of Awakening: the positive intention and activity that unites the wisdom of openness with compassion.
- Four Immeasurables — Culminating in the Bodhisattva Vow
- Compassionate Reframing (Tonglen, three steps):
  1. Equanimity — recognizing the shared nature and equal value of self and others.
  2. Exchange of self and other — imaginatively taking the situation of others and giving one’s own strength, with awareness of different circumstances.
  3. Prioritizing others — centering concern in the wellbeing of others beyond self-reference.
- Six Perfections: generosity, discipline, patience, effort, concentration, and insight as qualities applied in study, retreat, and civic life.
- The Paths and Landmarks — the idealistic journey of a bodhisattva

The Second Floor equips students with the balance of compassion and wisdom that defines the Mindset of Awakening. With this balance in hand, students are ready to ascend the Grand Stairway to the Third Floor, where imaginative and symbolic methods expand the scope of education and lead toward open awareness.