Step by step teaching and practice of the key elements of the Buddhist path

Many people who practice mindfulness become interested in the Buddhist source of their mindfulness practice and some people want to study and practice Buddhism in its own right. This course has been designed to meet both these needs. The price is £630.00 payable in six monthly instalments of £105.00.

This structured course will offer step by step teaching on the basic principles and practices of Buddhism. It will be done in the experiential style characteristic of the Mindfulness Association. There will be teachings followed by guided practice and the opportunity for sharing on how the teachings and practice land.  We will begin with looking at the Hinayana, which comprises the original teachings of the Buddha. The teaching topics will include: the Life of the Buddha, the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, Dependent Origination, Shamatta (calm abiding) and Vipassana (insight) Meditation, and the Five Spiritual Faculties.

The course will be delivered by way of twice monthly online teaching sessions starting in April 2024 and culminating in a retreat (with an online option) at Samye Ling in March 2025.  For mindfulness teachers, the retreat will fulfil the annual retreat requirements for BAMBA.

In following years, we intend to continue the course to explore all 3 main vehicles or levels of Buddhism: Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana.

The first session each month will focus on particular topic with teachings and guided practices on that topic. The second session, two weeks later, will be a practice session revisiting the same topic with an opportunity for sharing and feedback on your practice.

The below online teaching sessions take place on a Wednesday evening from 19.00-20:30pm:

Wednesday 17th April, Wednesday 22nd May, Wednesday 19th June, Wednesday 17th July, Wednesday 14th August, Wednesday 18th September, Wednesday 16th October, Wednesday 13th November, Wednesday 18th December, Wednesday 15th January and Wednesday 19th February 2025.

The below online practice sessions take place on a Wednesday evening from 19.00-20.30pm:

Wednesday 1st May, Wednesday 5th June, Wednesday 3rd July, Wednesday 31st July, Wednesday 28th August, Wednesday 2nd October, Wednesday 30th October, Wednesday 27th November, Wednesday 29th January and Wednesday 5th March 2025.

The retreat will be taught at Samye Ling/Online from Tuesday 18th March – Sunday 23rd March 2025. The retreat will begin at 7pm on Tuesday 18th March and finish at 3pm on Sunday 23rd March 2025.

If attending in person please book your accommodation and meals for the weekend directly with Samye Ling by emailing bookings@samyeling.org. They will need to know the dates that you would like to stay, what room you would like (please click here to see the room types and prices), your name, and the name of the second person if you are booking a twin room, your address, phone number and preferred email address for the booking. No room bookings can currently be made via the Samye Ling website.

Booking: *Please note there are only limited spaced left on this course* to book please contact: info@mindfulnessassociation.net