The Eastern Sun Academy philosophy is aligned with our educational Guiding Principals. These Guiding Principles are the heart and strength of our program. They guide our vision, our approach to teaching and learning, and our content areas of study. They are the landscape and scope of our model through which the Three Journey's paths can travel.

ALLEGIANCE TO THE PRESENT MOMENT. The heart of Contemplative Education lies in cultivating an awareness of the present moment. Our approach engages students' experiences with openness and cultivates a quality of spaciousness in the learning environment as well as in interactions between teachers and students. This allows for an unhurried appreciation of and commitment to how each moment unfolds within each child, to everything each child brings to each moment, and for the sense of wonder that comes with learning. At Eastern Sun Academy, the curriculum that arises from this guiding principle lies in the domain of Contemplative Practices.

“If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities.” -- SUZUKI ROSHI

APPRECIATION AND INTERCONNECTION. A critical outcome of education is that students come to appreciate the richness and diversity of the human experience and to experience their connections with others and with the world altogether. Our curriculum cultivates generosity, inclusiveness, and warmth in the student's education. The curriculum that arises from this guiding principle lies in the domain of the Humanities.

“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitches to everything else in the universe.” -- JOHN MUIR

AUTHENTIC COMMUNICATION. The need for creative expression lives in the heart of each of us. Students are encouraged to fully explore their creativity and to find their passions so that the experience of education will be full of personal meaning. When true creativity and meaning are discovered within oneself, the potential for authentic communication emerges. Listening becomes natural and the flow of communication between the individual and the world happens with ease, like a breath in and out. The curriculum that arises from this guiding principle lies in the domain of the Arts.

“Painting, when it is free of such notions as beauty and ugliness, can be used to express the complete experience of mind. When art evolves from this understanding it provides the possibility for those who see it to also experience the unfabricated nature of their own mind.” -- DZIGAR KONGTRUL JIGME NAMGYEL

SYNCHRONIZED ACTIVITY. When academic learning is synchronized with the student's inner experience, depth of understanding and accomplishment occur. This synchronicity provides students with a sense of resourcefulness, initiative, and inspiration to face challenges creatively and to work with all situations they encounter. The curriculum that arises from this guiding principle lies in the domain of the Embodiment Disciplines. 

“The stillness in stillness is not the real stillness. Only when there is stillness in movement can the spiritual rhythm appear which pervades heaven and earth.” --TS'AI-KEN T'AN

PRECISION AND INSIGHT. Eastern and Western traditions of understanding the mind unite with scientific method to provide students with a beneficial double-edged sword of precision and clarity that cuts through assumptions to allow insight to arise. We want all students to be familiar with the freedom and confidence that come from a joyful sense of discipline and with the depth that comes from perseverance in their education. The ability to perceive and think clearly about oneself and the world we live in is an essential outcome of an education at Eastern Sun Academy. The curriculum that arises from this guiding principle lies in the domain of the Sciences. 

 “To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science. ” --ALBERT EINSTEIN