Meister Eckhart Divinity School · Our Meister Eckhart Divinity School (MEDS) has designed a...

© MEISTER ECKHART DIVINITY SCHOOL

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Meister Eckhart Divinity School 5100 Van Dorn Street – P.O. Box 6154 – Lincoln, NE 68506

www.meds-edu.us (402) 450-4668 Dear Student,

Welcome to your long-distance study program. It is our prayer and wish that you will find your studies to be enriching; and that you will use this experience to grow spiritually. Our Meister Eckhart Divinity School (MEDS) has designed a program whereby each student can progress at one’s own pace, without having to leave job, home or environment – yet receiving quality training and education. The methods we use are valid and have proven to be effective in training men and women for the ministry and / or personal growth. In this Study Guide, you will find all necessary information and instruction to begin and continue your program. Periodic updates are posted on the school web site or at the list server. If this is your first non-resident or long-distance study, you will find it will make you more responsible for your own progress. In order to be most successful, set a daily schedule and couple your periods of study with meditation or prayer, reading, reflection and journaling. It is crucial that you structure your time and follow through with it.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me by mail, email or telephone. I am here to help you in any way I can.

Rt. Rev. Mar Melchizedek, Chancellor 5100 Van Dorn Street P.O. Box 6154 Lincoln, NE 68506 www.meds-edu.us (402) 450-4668


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Our Mission and Values Statement

Mission Our mission is to teach Theology and other subjects through long-distance means by preparing candidates for the ministry and other related professions and / or by providing earned church degrees or certificates to those seeking to advance their career. Vision Every student will experience a challenging curriculum, which is intended to integrate already acquired credits and work experience into the Program he or she has chosen. Core Values • Focus: All of the school operations and policies are conducted in a

manner that fosters knowledge – guided by the example of great religious leaders, such as Jesus Christ, and our attention to those teachings that have been proven to be realistic, beneficial and truthful throughout all ages.

• Emphasis: All instruction, programs and activities are centered on

practical application, the teachings of the great masters throughout history down to modern theologians – all leading the student to develop a thorough understanding of the teachings while encouraging a spiritual way of life.

• Responsibility: The School will use the resources provided by

authentic theologians and their respective works in an effective and efficient manner.


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Welcome to the Long-distance Program

1. First, the administration of Meister Eckhart Divinity School

welcomes you as a student into its long-distance program of study. 2. You may wish to print out this Study Guide and place it in a ring

binder. For your convenience, we have formatted it in such a way as to allow enough left margin space for hole-punching.

3. The material in this Study Guide is intended for your own personal use and designed to help you reach your educational goals.

4. We like to remind you to be in regular contact with your teacher regarding assignments, assistance in your studies and progress.

5. As a reminder, be aware of the opportunity to use all resources made available through access of the School’s web site.


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About Distance Learning An advantage of long-distance learning is that it is flexible. You can choose the time and place to study and practice. If you put off assignments for too long, it will eventually create problems or your learning will not show much result. You should by all means develop a structured schedule and follow through with it. Below are some suggestions that may be of help to you. Make a plan, in which you set aside a specific number of hours per day or week. You may find it helpful to use a note card or a special notebook to aid in your daily goals.

Good Practice Conditions • Choose a quiet place. • Arrange for both, good lighting (for studies) and dim lighting (for

meditation and prayer). • Find a comfortable, well-ventilated place to work and pray. • Consider arranging a home shrine. Your teacher will provide

assistance.

Completing your Reading 1. Give your undivided attention to the task at hand. Try to shut out

other thoughts and distractions. 2. Survey the material you are about to study. Read the content page of

your book or text. Notice your chapter heading. Also read about the author. Often you can learn from the cover about the author’s experience and background. Read the preface and introduction.

Ask yourself questions about the materials you are about to study. 3. Underline or highlight important ideas. Take notes in the margin of

the text or on a separate sheet. 4. When using a study guide, jot down possible questions and answers.

Your Journal

Please establish a Journal on Google Drive (if possible) that can be accessed by your teacher. Be sure to write in your journal a few times per week, if not daily in the beginning.


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Student-Teacher Conference

Please be in touch with your teacher at least once a month. Depending on the distance, this may be done via Skype (preferred), telephone, email or in person – at a time prior arranged.


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Student Honor Code

Our students are required by the guidelines of Meister Eckhart Divinity School and by ethical standards of their faith to show a level of integrity that is beyond reproach.

There are two reasons an honor code is needed: 1. To establish a sense of satisfaction that a student has done what is considered morally good. 2. To establish recognition that people around the student see and know that a Divinity School student is a person of good will in all he or she says and does.

Lying: Lying is making an assertion that intentionally deceives or misleads. This deceitful assertion may be in verbal or written form, or clearly communicated by a gesture. The student’s responsibility for the truth goes beyond what is said or written. It includes what is understood and perceived by others. Stealing: Stealing is defined as intentionally depriving someone else of property or service without permission. This includes plagiarism. Cheating: Cheating is defined as attempting or aiding in the intent to receive undeserved credit or to give an unfair advantage. The essence of cheating is the act of deceiving the teacher into thinking that some piece of practice, reading or writing is one’s own, whereas in fact it is not. Conduct: At all times and in all situations a Divinity School student should conduct himself or herself in a compassionate manner. This applies to long-distance learning, as well as personal situations. At all times, a student must reflect the values his or her faith would hold at home, work, recreation, in study and in practice.


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Student Address Update

All students are required to keep their address, phone number(s) and other pertinent details current with Meister Eckhart Divinity School and their teacher.

Long-distance Contact

In order to secure the best possible way of communication between each student and his or her teacher, all students are advised to follow proper communication flow:

1. We ask that every student confirm by sending a short e-mail

message every time postal mail from the School has been received. Though this is rare, it will avoid delays and miscommunication.

2. It is the student’s responsibility to maintain a functioning email

address that is reliable to receive messages at any time from the School or the teacher. If you have spam filters, make sure you allow MEDS mail to go through. Be sure to check your mail daily or at least several times per week and empty your inbox as well as trash folder as to avoid over quota rejections of emails sent to you.

3. All emails received from students are typically answered or confirmed within a 24-hour time period of regular business days. Should you not receive a reply to your email within this time period it can mean any of the following:

• Your message was never received • We responded to you, but our email was returned • Our email to you was intercepted by your junk filter In such cases, please check your email settings as to ensure that you are still receiving emails and in particular that you allow emails from MEDS to reach you. If you have done so, but still cannot transmit or receive emails, please contact your teacher by postal mail or per telephone, in order to resolve the issue through technical support.


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Keeping a Journal

Most long-distance Zen students are asked to keep an online practice journal that only can be accessed by your teacher. Hence the teacher's personal email needs to be activated in your Google Drive journal, so you can share it and allow the teacher to make comments. You don't need to make daily entries, but a few per month are expected. - Overall, record the salient details of your studies - Talk about your spiritual experience - Share your own ideas and insights about the book you are studying - Ask a question, if need be - Anything that comes to mind you value as important Your journal is private and will not be shared with anyone by your teacher.

Where to Find Books

The Meister Eckhart Divinity School publishes some ebooks and articles on its web site. Additional material may be obtained via the following means:

1. Through inter-library loan programs at your local library 2. In local bookstores or libraries 3. Ordering books through the internet, used or new, for instance

at places like barnesandnoble.com or amazon.com 4. If you live in the area of Meister Eckhart Divinity School you

may check out library books (typically for up to 30 days) at no charge.

You should choose all literature as directed by your teacher.


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Helpful Hints for Research

1. Evaluating Web Sites

• The author is a recognized expert. • The information is accurate and can be cross-referenced. • The information is not biased, is free of stereotypes and

ethically sound. • The information is current.

2. Ethical Use of Information

• Use your own words. • Reference more than one source. • Make a quick reference and collect your source information.

The Research Process

1. Define the task: What is my object and a good course or topic to choose? What is asked?

2. Identifying sources: What resources are there to help me? (Hint: Books, internet; library; faculty; local temple, sangha members, etc.)

3. Locate the resources: Where will I find the information? (Hint: local library, bookstore, internet; ALB web site; etc.)

4. Using the information: What information am seeking to help me study the matter for projects and presentation? (Hint: Stay with the subject or question; focus on the topic; compare resources)

5. Creating the product: How shall I organize and create my project? (Hint: Look at samples; start making an index, a rough outline; etc.)


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A Guide to the Complete Book Review

Some points towards the final draft of your Book Review (Book Report form provided):

1. Brevity and clarity will be valued most highly. When citing data from your author, accompany the citation with page numbers in parenthesis.

2. Place the number (not the printing) after the date of the book if it has had more than one edition. Periodical indices will enable you to find a review. Note the name of the reviewer: name of periodical, volume number (date in parenthesis) and pages where found (in that order). E.g., J. J. O’Rourke, CBQ. 24 (July 1962), 317-18. You may use the standard abbreviations of the titles of the learned journals.

3. What does the title mean? Does the book have a subtitle? Why? If the book is translated, what was the title of the original? If the original title was changed - why? If the title is a quotation, note the source, context, and significance. Is the book popular, advanced, technical? Theoretical or practical? Specialized or general? History, archaeology, philology, paleography, theology, geology, introduction, etc.?

4. Answer in one Sentence whose main clause(s) summarize(s) the content and purpose of the work and whose subordinate clauses sketch the principal means by which the author attains his/her purpose.

5. Select two or three terms which you found significant for your understanding of this book. If the author herself or himself defined these terms, note his or her definition (though you need not quote it verbatim). If the author did not define the terms, note his or her standard definitions (recalling that some common words have a special definition within a given discipline).

6. Be most precise. Note the contribution of the book (pp) and with what area in our course work it is to be correlated. Evaluate the book in relation to your own program and purpose in reading and studying.

7. As you answer the questions, remember that understanding precedes judgment. If you have read historical material, note the author’s presuppositions, his or her generalizations, his or her interpretation of facts, his or her extrinsic motivations in writing (e.g., cultural and/or societal environment, time of composition, religious beliefs). Such factors are the basis of positive criticism.

8. Is the author ever uninformed? Misinformed? Illogical? Incomplete in his or her analysis?


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Requirements for Term Papers

Each Term Paper will require a Bibliography of a minimum of three books, a title page as shown below, pagination, a table of contents, footnotes or endnotes, bibliography and division into chapters, including introduction and summary. A Term Paper must be prepared on a typewriter or computer, double-spaced. In rare instances, such as a disabled student may submit his or her work in handwriting, provided it is very legible and fulfills all other format requirements. In each case, special permission must be obtained. Please submit all Term Papers via soft copy transmission to the School. Term Papers must contain a minimum of ten (10) pages with proper margins, be divided into chapters and contain a table of contents. Below is an outline example of a proper title page:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Title of paper)

(Class Title)

A Term Paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the … Term of Year (Program of) …

Submitted to Meister Eckhart Divinity School

By

(Your legal name) (Student ID)

(Date submitted)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your work will be reviewed by faculty, then filed with the Administration for proper credit. Feedback may be given if your work has to be re-submitted. Each Paper will be reviewed in these five areas: Contents - whether you have researched the subject sufficiently; Adherence - whether you have stayed on the subject;


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Analysis - whether you have understood what was conveyed in the literature, whether you could explain or interpret it, and whether you could defend or oppose the author’s writings clearly; Style - whether you have checked your spelling, grammar, punctuation and the way you write (grammar, etc.); Presentation - whether you presented your Term Paper in an acceptable manner; that is, with the required bibliography, with a table of contents, in the properly fastened format, with a title page and with references or footnotes.


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Help With Grammar and Style

As you prepare your essays or other writings (such as journal, etc.), keep in mind a few things that have been observed as common grammatical mistakes in the standard English language. If you are not sure, have someone with good English skills proofread your writing before you submit it. Here are some common suggestions: (1) Past or Present Tense? Don't mix the tenses unless it is necessary. Mixed tenses make it confusing for the reader. Be consistent. (2) Mixing personal pronouns makes reading difficult. Choose the "we" or "I" form for Dharma talk writings. Be cautious using "you", because it is easily interpreted as accusatory or as projecting one's own beliefs on other persons. (3) Any word ending in -ly is usually and Adverb. Be sure you use adverbs correctly: They modify Verbs and Adjectives. Sometimes it is better to replace an adverbial phrase with another verb, such as: "he whispered" instead of "he talked silently". (4) Pay attention to the correct English use of "whom" vs. "who". "Whom" is the direct object; for example: "I trust him. Whom do you trust?" The simple rule is: Whenever you can use "him" or "her" use "whom". (5) All Prepositions in English require the direct object. Thus it is: "between you and me". (6) Distinguish between a Hyphen and a Dash. A Hyphen is the opposite of a Dash. A Hyphen connects two words with a small line, such as "so-called" or in-depth", whereas a dash separates two sentences with a longer line (and a space before and after this line!) such as, "I went to meditation – a great experience"; "do your work and step back – the only path to serenity". (7) Keep it personal, but do not proselytize. Our objective is not to convert people, but to help people know themselves and to find their own answers. Stories of personal experiences are often a great way to convey a point of Dharma. We can also refer to the experiences of others. (8) Avoid an overuse of quotations from Sutras and other religious sources. Quoting scriptures is often a great way to start out on an essay or Dharma talk, but do it sparingly – then let the rest of the


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words be yours. Remember, when the words come from you, they are more alive. (9) Avoid moralizing. Don't project your own personal discoveries onto others. We all need to make realizations for ourselves, and many people tend to reject people who tell them what is right and wrong. Our job is only to point them in the direction that they may discover it for themselves. (10) Avoid both the overuse and lack of punctuation. Brevity is usually better than long sentences with many clauses. A comma usually separates main and subordinate clauses. Appositions are always between commas, such as "my uncle, a farmer, lives in the Midwest". Hence it should also be "His Holiness, the Dalai Lama". (11) Ending a sentence with a Preposition is incorrect English in most cases. Though we often speak like this, in writing it is not acceptable. Example: Instead of "illusion is a matter people struggle with" use "illusion is a matter with which people struggle"; or use "I take off my coat" instead of "I take my coat off". (12) Avoid too many capitalizations. In English, only proper nouns are capitalized, such as weekdays, months, holidays, names. Dharma is only capitalized if it refers to Big Mind. Example: Instead of "our Master said ... " write "our master said ..."; or "my son Philip ..." instead of "my Son Philip ...". (13) Use proper accents when writing foreign words. It is Résumé (not "resume" or "resumee"); Café (not Cafe); übermensch (not ubermensch); Pema Chödrön (not Pema Chodron); Thich Nhat Hanh, etc., etc. – Be sure to spell foreign language words correctly, such as curriculum vitae (not curriculum vita). In case of doubt, use English words that you know how to spell. (14) Ensure an Apostrophe in the possessive (Genitive) case, such as “Thiering’s” (not Thierings).

General suggestions how to avoid submitting your writing containing grammar, spelling, punctuation and typing errors:

Before printing, run your spell and grammar checker Read through the entire document. Check for incomplete sentences

and non-referenced colloquialism. Proofread the document after printing and correct it as necessary.

Save a copy on your computer, in case you are asked to resubmit your work with corrections.


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Copyright and Trademark Notices All contents in this Study Guide are Copyright of Meister Eckhart Divinity School. All rights are reserved. All other marks (such as artwork, designs, programs etc.) that appear throughout this Study Guide belong to Meister Eckhart Divinity School and are protected by United States and international copyright & trademark laws. The dissemination, copying and promulgation of any of the material, other than for the student’s own personal purposes, appearing throughout this Study Guide without the express written permission of Meister Eckhart Divinity School is unlawful and strictly prohibited.

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