Meditation Instructor training - Weekend One

April 13th—April 14th

Date details +
    Price:
  • $108 Program Price
Price description +
Room: Main Meditation Hall

Saturday April 13 and Sunday April 14
9 am - noon

With Dale Asrael and Gaylon Ferguson

NOTE: If we have 5 local participants, we will hold this program in the main meditation hall of the Vancouver Shambhala Centre. Otherwise you can take part online individually. 

About the Training

Weekend one of this training is part of a series of three weekend trainings that are designed as continuing education for already authorized Meditation Instructors, as well as meditation practitioners who are interested in developing as Meditation Instructors. Each weekend is designed to support those interested in sharing the practice of meditation with others to cultivate the understanding and skills to assist others along their meditation path. 

You do not need to attend all three weekends. These weekend trainings are ideal for Groups and Centres to include within a mentoring program for those seeking a Meditation Instructor authorization at a local level. 

Prerequisites: Weekends One and Two are open to everyone with a well-established meditation practice of  2+ years within the Shambhala community. Weekend Three is for authorized Meditation Instructors and those being mentored into the role only. 

Weekend 1 with Dale Asrael and Gaylon Ferguson, April 13-14, 2024
Weekend 2 with Erika Berland, May 4-5, 2024
Weekend 3 Janet Solyntjes and Elaine Yuen, June 22-23, 2024

Weekend One includes discussion on how to give initial meditation instruction and will include time for questions, answers and insights by participants. Presenters will also address the following topics that are a part of current culture:  

  • Meditation instruction online
  • How meditation apps can fit in 
  • Reclaiming attention from social media
  • Working with anxiety and depression 

 

Sunday will focus on unpacking Shamatha-Vipashyana, including: 

  • The difference between mindfulness (Shamatha) and awareness (Vipashyana)
  • How awareness develops over time
  • The fruition of meditation practice (authentic presence)

The Vancouver Shambhala Centre is developing a local Meditation Instructor Training Course that we hope to offer later this year. The course will include these weekends, plus a 6 week class, and another in-person weekend.  

About the Teachers

Dale Asrael has been a practitioner of meditation, Buddhism, and the Shambhala teachings for over 45 years. She became a student of Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche in 1973 and, after his death, continued to study with other teachers of Tibetan Buddhism. She also trained with the Zen teacher Charlotte Joko Beck during the last twelve years of her life.

Dale teaches dharma programs and leads meditation retreats internationally, and served as an Acharya (senior teacher) for twenty years. She is an authorized teacher of traditional Daoist qigong in the Xiantianwujimen lineage of Eva Wong.   

Dale is a Professor at Naropa University, where she founded and is the lead teacher for Naropa University Mindfulness Instructor Training, which just completed its twentieth annual cycle of training programs.

Her writing is published as chapters in three anthologies: “Love of Wisdom Puts You on the Spot” in Meditation in the Classroom, “No Hidden Corners” in Shadows and Light and “Compassionate Abiding” in Brilliant Sanity.

Gaylon Ferguson, PhD, has led group meditation retreats since 1976. He taught at Stanford, the University of Washington, and Naropa University, where he was a Core Faculty Member for fifteen years. The author of two books, Natural Wakefulness (on the four foundations of mindfulness) and Natural Bravery (on fear and fearlessness as path to manifesting bravery), his articles have appeared in Lion’s Roar, Tricycle, and Buddhadharma magazine. He contributed the foreword to the pioneering collection Black and Buddhist: What Buddhism Can Teach Us About Race, Resilience, Transformation and Freedom (Shambhala, 2020).

 

2 steps to register:
- Email Geoff Bannoff (Vancouver) so we can coordinate the local class  [email protected]
- register for the program on Shambhala Online's website
https://shambhala.org/event/702987-2024-continuing-education-for-meditation-instructors-weekend-one/
- Use the code   2024CONTINUING50  to  share the a portion of revenue with the Vancouver Shambhala Centre 
- This weekend costs US$108. Choose "Request a discount" and choose "Unfavourable exchange rate" to pay US$80 = CAD$108.