“CCT has been such an important course for me. It was necessarily intense and the results indicated the significance of the course content. I was interested to note a shift in my ability to be more self-compassionate and noticed how that, in turn, impacted on my ability to be more compassionate towards others. I am using elements of the course in my teaching of meditation practice to non Buddhists. Miles’ own example of compassion towards us students was a model for our own developing attitudes. I benefitted from watching how Miles managed sensitive issues as they arise in the class. I am deeply grateful to the University of Arizona for making this course available.”
Sheila Wharton
"After a few years of sporadic study, I saw meditation and contemplative practices as a noble yet primarily self-interested endeavor, and had grown weary of anyone who claimed they had the ability to achieve macrocosmic change. My day with Miles Bukiet convinced me otherwise. Miles teaches to the foundation of the human experience, utilizing both traditional meditative practices and interpersonal meditation to foster compassion and resilience in oneself and in community with others. For myself, the workshop functioned as an investigation into what it is to be a mind in a body, in the presence of other minds in other bodies—succinctly, an investigation into what it is to be human—of which I believe anyone and everyone can reap enormous benefit. I would say it may appeal especially to change makers, though I perceive the practice to be a changing force in itself, igniting one’s capacity to love the fellow human.
The takeaway, however, as promised, extends beyond oneself. Truly, my experience in workshop with Miles demonstrated the reverberate potential of meditation to kickstart positive feedback loops between the individual and the community, where each continually betters the other. Thus, if universities seek to cultivate leaders and participants in the next generation of positive change, I believe this work not only deserves, but demands, a space on their campuses. Luckily for us, Miles’ initiative in collaboration with the inter-collegiate meditation network in bringing workshops and retreats to college campuses is helping to meet this demand. If to change the world is to change the people in it, I believe Miles’ approach to meditation—as an incubator for compassion—has the ability to do just that.
Courtney Wright
“After a year of interpersonal meditation training with Miles I know myself much better because of him. His fierce compassion and willingness to stay with me even in the most challenging moments has given me the support and courage to face painful parts of myself. His commitments to meditation and interpersonal meditation have inspired me to deepen my own practices. Miles is loving, compassionate and often sees parts of me that no one else sees.”
Cameron Joiner
“Working with Miles in the Compassion Cultivation training last semester made a huge difference in my life. While the material was rich, Miles’ delivery was clear, compassionate, and it was obvious that he has a deep understanding of Buddhism as well as being compassionate in every interaction with our class. I look forward to working soon again with Miles.”
Mariana Maddocks
“I haven’t had such a rewarding day in a long time. Blue skies, a slight breeze, and an open space created a wonderful background for our retreat, but that is not what made it special. The highlight of this experience was Miles’ teaching, which interwove both aspects of both traditional Zen practice and more contemporary interpersonal meditation. This combination allowed me to have a relaxing day that also fostered growth in my personal practice. Miles’ guidance is unique in that it not only allowed me to grow as a student of meditation, but also as a steward of the world who hopes to bring communities together with shared compassion.”
Gabe Desmond
“I spent this weekend participating in an interpersonal meditation retreat with Miles. It was one of the more interesting experiences I’ve ever had. I don’t think it will serve me or you any value to describe what we actually did, but to instead reflect on my takeaways.
First and foremost, the value of physical, face-to-face human interaction is something that can never be understated. The feeling of safety, meaning, ease, and purpose that one can achieve with another is so hard to touch in solitude. I don’t mean to say that these feelings can’t be achieved by oneself, but that there is a special kind of mixture of these feelings that is only accessible with others and that this mixture is intoxicating. My feelings about what happened are quite sporadic, so I think a list will serve me well in working through them:
The “energy” between individuals and groups is something that can be palpable. Intimacy, interest, non-judgment, compassion, and curiosity in the feelings of consciousness in others are wonderful facilitators of a positive energy.
A truly important aspect of being a good listener is to be in touch with one’s own body first and then to open up space for another.
Many of our deepest fears are shared in silent suffering among us all.
Every single aspect of one’s actions, their body language, tone, posturing, facial expressions, focus, eye-contact, verbal responses—everything—ripples through a group of people.
The line between the conscious and the unconscious can be played with more than one might think.
Cultivating a never dying interest in the wonders of the senses and feelings of being alive has the potential to radiate positively through almost every aspect of one’s life.
Putting aside time to be with others completely free of distraction is one of the great pleasures of life.
I am reminded of Heschel’s The Sabbath, a beautiful piece of writing and meditation about Shabbat, the weekly Jewish holiday, “Judaism is a religion of time aiming at the sanctification of time. Unlike the space-minded man to whom time is unvaried, iterative, homogeneous, to whom all hours are alike, qualities, empty shells, the Bible senses the diversified character of time. There are no two hours alike. Every hour is unique and the only one given at the moment, exclusive and endlessly precious.”
It is easy to lose a sense of humanity in those around us who we interact with in contrived settings.
The infinity of a person will always remain trapped inside a finitely expressing body and mind.
.Intentionality is at the heart of most of what I find important.
Rewiring of the self is possible but slow and difficult.
Feeling the weight of gravity is a wonderful feeling.
.One question is rarely enough to gain any sort of sense of another’s present experience.
Forgiveness and compassion for one’s own feelings and emotions is truly important.
.This practice is possible in everyday life.
That’s all for now. I’m sure I’ll have more realizations about the experience as time goes on. It really pushed me out of my normal and my comfort zone to commit so much time to being with myself (with others), but doing it showed me a great deal about myself and what I’m capable of. The biggest thing between me and where I want to be is myself. But the only way to get there is to face me day-by-day, moment-by-moment. Most of all, I think I’ve walked away from this experience with a great deal of love and hope for life.”
Owen Kaplan
I signed up while in the midst of a huge transition at work thinking that this course [CCT] might be particularly helpful and it was. Miles was a great facilitator. I loved his guided facilitation’s in the class. He was very patient and kind and intensely listened as others spoke and connected with the key ideas and elicited our individual level understanding even as he nurtured us a group. This was very timely and useful and I will be reviewing my notes and accessing the resources regularly. Highly recommended.
Allison Titcomb