Compassionate Integrity Training CIT-Faciltator-Guide-2.1-Final | Page 67

C OMPASSIONATE I NTEGRITY T RAINING
A S ECULAR E THICS A PPROACH TO C ULTIVATING P ERSONAL , S OCIAL AND E NVIRONMENTAL F LOURISHING
•
Ayesha is sitting at lunch waiting for her friend to show up. Her friend is already 10 minutes
late, and she has not contacted her to let her know she will be late.
•
Ryan comes home from a long day at work and asks her 10-year-old child to set the table for
dinner while she changes clothes. When she returns to the kitchen she finds the table is still not
set.
•
Kelly’s partner walks past the garbage can, ignoring her request for them to take out the trash
on their way out to the garage.
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Morgan has been looking forward to seeing his favorite band play a concert for many years. The
day has finally arrived, and his boss tells him he has to stay late at work to meet a deadline he
was never told about.
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Shannon and Pablo have been friends for many years. Shannon considers Pablo his closest friend
in whom he often confides. Shannon hears from another friend that Pablo was saying negative
things about him.
•
Stefan has been cooking all week for a dinner party he and his partner are hosting for two
couples. Two hours before the guests arrive, one of the couples calls and cancels without an
explanation.
4. Next, stand at one end of the circle of participants and read the spark out loud.
5. After you name the spark, say, “I want you to come up with mental states that occur in the body or
mind that might immediately follow this stimulus. Name one of these mental states and come
stand directly next to me. Remember, our body yields important information regarding our
emotional state. The first state will likely be a sensation or a positive or negative feeling tone.”
6.
After a participant joins the chain, ask, “What mental state arises after this?” When the next person
answers with another thought, feeling, emotion or sensation, have this person stand next to the
first participant. Continue doing this until there is a chain of people representing thoughts, feelings
or emotions that occurred from the original stimulus and continued to escalate.
7.
After many people have joined the chain, ask, “What beneficial mental state could she have had to
help herself?” Be ready to suggest one of your own, if no one has a suggestion,
8.
Repeat this activity until you think the group understands the basic concept of mental
proliferation. At the conclusion of the final round, debrief the activity by asking:
C ENTER FOR C OMPASSION , I NTEGRITY AND S ECULAR E THICS | L IFE U NIVERSITY | M ARIETTA , G EORGIA
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