Level 4 modules
The Lifeflow Level 4 course is taught in self-contained modules, each one being one term in length.
The entire course is comprised of eight modules which are taught sequentially over two years.
You may start in any term and continue for two years to cover the entire program.
Modules
In this module you are introduced to the basic structure of the brain and see how closely the meditation practices taught mirror this structure. They provide a way to become aware of and use resources that normally remain unseen. These practices enable you to understand, balance, observe and work skilfully with your emotions and instincts in the same way that you learn to work with your thoughts in the Calm and Concentration modules.
Topics covered include:
- Opening your heart centre and moving your awareness consciously from your head to your heart
- Moving your awareness from your navel centre to your heart and linking the whole range of your emotions and energies from the head to the navel
- Centring the energy of your body at your heart and experiencing the ground of ecstasy
- Learning how to focus and centre your breath and experience joy and bliss
- How to bring the bliss of your body together with the realisation of the open space of your mind
- How to recognise the luminosity of consciousness
- How to apply these exercises in everyday life
This module completes an advanced examination of the practices for developing calm and concentration. It gives a detailed description of how different meditations suit different people and how different personality types approach meditation.
Topics covered include:
- A detailed description of the deepening levels of meditative absorption
- A description of different personality types and their approach to meditation
- The kinds of realisations each type can have
- The different paths of meditation
- The advanced practice of meditating on space, both on the inner and outer planes
This module brings together the complementary practices of Mindfulness and Insight meditation in the Buddhist tradition and shows how they can be valuable resources in daily life. It shows how the practice of mindfulness leads to the experience of insight into the nature of our minds, and provides the opportunity to explore, in both a theoretic and practical way, the experience of human consciousness.
Topics covered include:
- Maps of the mind from both Western culture and the meditation tradition
- The process of consciousness and how perceptions are formed
- How what we see and experience is shaped by our minds
- How to become aware of the stories that shape your life
- How to gain the balance and clarity to base your actions on clear, true perceptions
This module is particularly aimed at applying the resources, knowledge and techniques learned in the other modules to your daily life so that you can live happily and skillfully in your body, in your community and in the environment. It explains how the way our consciousness works, outlined in the Mindfulness module, is associated with basic emotional drives that can be readily transformed and used effectively when making decisions and acting on them.
Topics covered include:
- Transforming the emotional states that drive our habitual actions
- How each emotional state we experience has the same core of awareness
- Recognising that being open to all these states is the key to understanding and experiencing love
This module traces the stages you go through as you build emotional strength and resources. It outlines all the different ways you can experience human consciousness and focuses on building a clear understanding of the difference between your instincts and emotions. It also shows how to harness the resources of your instincts to build and sustain good feelings, healthy emotions and your own wellbeing.
Topics covered include:
- The different levels of consciousness
- A detailed description of the energy centres
- The relationship between self and shadow and how this affects your relationships
- The difference between repressing, containing and transforming emotions and how to transform emotional states
- How to link your instinctual feelings with your rational mind
- How emotions are generated
- Being honest and kind with yourself
This module focusses on the wide variety of meditations in the tradition. Importantly, it demonstrates how they can be applied in everyday life. The module also looks at how different meditation exercises have been deliberately designed to produce differing levels of concentration and which meditations suit which personality type.
Topics covered include:
- A detailed description of the different kinds of meditation
- The level of absorption each meditation opens
- An explanation of meditation focused on an object and meditation without an object
- Which meditations suit different personality types
- A description of the different ways of visualising
- The three different categories of mantra
Maps that explain how the human mind is structured and how it works are as invaluable as geographical maps. This module outlines a detailed map for understanding the process we call consciousness and shows how you can observe this process directly in your own meditation practice. It also outlines the different kinds of experience you can have in meditation and how they unfold in distinct stages.
Topics covered include:
- The different goals of meditation and mindfulness
- How your mind follows particular stages every time you concentrate
- The different stages leading to seeing clearly – the experiences of insight
- A detailed description of all the experiences that open up in meditation
- The different ways of acquiring knowledge
- The progressive levels of insight into human consciousness
This module is particularly aimed at applying the resources, knowledge and techniques learned in the other modules to your daily life so that you can live happily and skillfully in your body, in your community and in the environment. It demonstrates how our values provide the foundation for developing inner strength, confidence and a meaningful life.
Topics covered include:
- Looking at the issues of motivation and will from both Eastern and Western perspectives
- How we act – where does action begin and where does it end?
- The process of decision and habit and how to see these at a deeper level
- The interdependence of our inner and outer lives, and of everything that exists
Awesome guidance in learning how to meditate. Fantastic environment and the teachers are amazing. Highly recommend for everyone!
- Stephen, Level 4 course
Lifeflow is an amazing centre run by a wonderful group of teachers with a wealth of knowledge... The teachers provide not only the framework and direction to learn how to meditate … but also amazing support navigating through the ups and downs of life and using meditation as a basis to more skilfully manage those times.
- Alice, Level 4 course
Awesome guidance in learning how to meditate. Fantastic environment and the teachers are amazing. Highly recommend for everyone!
- Stephen, Level 4 course
Lifeflow is an amazing centre run by a wonderful group of teachers with a wealth of knowledge... The teachers provide not only the framework and direction to learn how to meditate … but also amazing support navigating through the ups and downs of life and using meditation as a basis to more skilfully manage those times.
- Alice, Level 4 course
Enrolments
Key benefits
- Extend your knowledge of the meditation path and of the stages of integration. Explore classical Buddhist concepts and the deeper meanings behind many apparently esoteric teachings.
- Thoroughly test how the theory and practice hold up in everyday life. The theory penetrates right to the core of the Buddhist concepts of mind and creation and how they relate to the discoveries of neuroscience. Learn how to apply the practices and concepts and also how to check the results for yourself.
- All courses are led by highly qualified teachers – each teacher has at least ten years personal meditation practice.
Who is it for - prerequisites
This course is for students who have completed two years of level 3 classes plus at least two weekend retreats.
Claiming CPD points
Because so many psychologists were attending our courses we were asked to seek endorsement with the Australian Psychological Society. The APS replied. ‘APS Members can accrue CPD points by participating in CPD activities they determine to be relevant to their individual professional skills, learning plans and goals. These do not need to be endorsed by the APS’. Applicable to Lifeflow courses and retreats.
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Discover more about membership ...
If you are looking to go further with meditation then membership is for you. Enjoy benefits including 10% discount on all courses and retreats, borrowing rights to our library, members only classes, retreats and more.
Our teachers
We have highly qualified and experienced meditation teachers at all courses and retreats, each with a minimum of ten years training with Lifeflow.