This study is based on the development and implementation of the self-awareness based course “Communication as A Way of Cultivation”, led by myself from June 2017 to May 2019. The purpose of the study is to explore the mental experiences of the participating team members during the process, including the structural revisions of teaching plans, the project implementation process, and the challenges and breakthroughs encountered by the faculty. Additionally, to determine whether, during the process, the class helped improve the participants’ sense of self-awareness. Could the developed teaching plan be applied to reallife human communication?
This study, scheduled for September 1, 2019 to June 30, 2019, uses the qualitative research method to compile relevant material collected from 2017 to 2019. This article first reviews the literature on the two fields of "Communication as A Way of Cultivation" and "self-awareness", and explores the research context of the two fields. Secondly, explain the qualitative research methods used in this article, including literature analysis and interview methods. Third, explore the process of research and development of teaching plans, take "self-awareness" as the core of the curriculum, and develop a self-awareness model of " Five ever-present mental states"—contact, attention, sensation, perception, intention, which structure four levels of self-awareness: awareness, feeling, attention, and values; and explore the awareness and reflection of team members during the course development process. Fourth, explore the "self-awareness" of psychology and Buddhist practice, including the definition and scope of awareness, the cultivation experience and the experience of awareness. The six key elements of "self-awareness"–isolation, stability, distance/stop, clear aware, keenness, and curiosity–are extracted from the interviews of the research participants. And then further respond to how to integrate and operate these six elements in the design of the lesson plan, and exert the power of self-transformation. Finally, it summarizes the integration and complementarity of Buddhist practice and psychological cooperation, and puts forward suggestions for the future development of related courses.
