In-Depth Meditation Course for Experienced Practitioners: Year 2 Term 2 (February – April 2025) – Yeshin Norbu

In-Depth Meditation Course for Experienced Practitioners: Year 2 Term 2 (February – April 2025)In a world that often dismisses its significance, the mind remains mysteriously at the heart of what we call life. Founded by the brothers Vasubandhu and Asanga, the Buddhist Yogācāra school focusses on the mind as ‘forerunner of all things’, the creator of our experience, and the storyteller that narrates our existence. Yogācāra’s analysis of how the mind constructs our reality, can help us relieve the constraints of the ego, habitual patterns and reactive emotions, to experience greater ease, possibility, and freedom in every moment.
In the second year of the IDMT, we will emphasize the lived experience of meditation, both on and off the cushion. Guided by the Buddha’s third turning of the Wheel of Dharma, we will begin by training in the successive stages of shamatha, followed by a deeper journey into insight meditation. We will also explore how concepts can blind and alienate us by adding an imaginary layer to our interdependent world. Using spiritual developmental models such as the 37 Factors of Awakening and the 10 Perfections, we will learn how to live more freely in daily life. We will also explore the role of narratives, the philosophy of language, and how to cultivate great compassion for all living beings to help heal our conflicted world.
Venerable Losang Gendun has dedicated nearly four decades to practicing Buddhism and has served as a Bhikshu (Buddhist monk) in the Tibetan tradition for the past 18 years. Prior to his ordination, he worked in diverse fields such as palliative care, technology, refugee organizations, and commercial management. His extensive training includes ten years of studying Buddhist philosophy and practice in monasteries across France, India, Nepal, and Myanmar. Additionally, he spent over four years in retreat, immersing himself in Tibetan sutra and tantra, as well as the Burmese Theravada Forest Tradition. For the last 15 years, Ven. Gendun has been a dedicated teacher, sharing his knowledge of Buddhist philosophy, psychology, and meditation worldwide. He serves the aspirations of H.H. the Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche as part of the FPMT (Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition). Ven. Gendun is also a member of Mind & Life Europe, a multidisciplinary laboratory that brings together researchers and contemplative practitioners to explore the nature of experience. Beyond his Buddhist affiliations, Ven. Gendun serves as an interreligious canon at the Peace Cathedral in Tbilisi, Georgia, and feels at home at a Mevlavi Sufi dargah in Istanbul. In 2023, he founded The Buddha Project, which engages in long-term guidance for Buddhist meditators, scientific research, art projects, and intercontemplative social engagement.
The Buddha Project
This meditation course is part of The Buddha Project led by Ven. Losang Gendun, a branch of which is the Buddha Research Project, an on-going collaboration between Buddhist contemplatives and scientific researchers from the universities of Nîmes and Lausanne, and the Mind & Life organization (founded by neuroscientist Francesco Varela in collaboration with H.H. the Dalai Lama). It is aimed at investigating transformative processes in long-term meditators, regarding such topics as mental health, perception, and self-transcendence. For the initial research it has been granted a European Varela Award.
Introduction of the IDMT training
Meditation is essential for personal transformation and a crucial complement to Buddhist studies. This 4-year online course provides students with long term, in-depth support in their meditative development. This weekly course will offer:
Authentic traditional instructions, in contemporary language, aimed at providing a comprehensive set of meditation tools for students to transform their knowledge of the Dharma into personal experience.
Traditional and modern theories on supplementary topics such as models of healthy psychological and spiritual development, ritual, narrative, ethics, and social engagement.
An international community of meditators, online and live.
To complement the IDMT course we will also offer:
Meditation Retreats – week & weekend retreats on vipassana, compassion, and mahamudra, offered both at the centers and online.
Yogi Bootcamp – an intensive, guided, 1-year meditation training with weekly personal interviews (call) for a small group of international students.
Practice days guided by Ven. Gendun and experienced students of Ven. Gendun
Weekly reflection sessions, led by experienced students
Weekends with the opportunity to receive Refuge / Lay Vows (Feb. 8-9), Aspiring Bodhisattva Vows (June 14-15) and Engaging Bodhisattva Vows (Nov. 8-9).
For more information about the content of the course, download the course description (PDF) here.
This course is a collaboration between 5 FPMT Buddhist centers: Shantideva Center New York (US), Jamyang Buddhist Centre Leeds (UK), Institut Vajrayogini in Marzens (FR), Yeshin Norbu Stockholm (SW) and Maitreya Instituut (NL) and therefore the course will be attended by an international group of Buddhist practitioners.
If you’re enrolling later on in the course, it is possible to request access to recordings of previous classes.
Practical details
The In-Depth Meditation Training will run weekly on Saturdays and will consist of about 1-hour of guided meditation and 1,5 hours of teachings. The course offers a great opportunity for Buddhist practitioners. In the first year many of the foundational topics will be introduced, however a basic understanding of Mahayana Buddhism is a prerequisite to attend. It will be given in English, with French translation, online via Zoom. The recordings will be made available after the sessions.
Practical information and how to register:
Course dates: 1 Feb – 12 April
Weekday: Saturday
Time: 15:30-18:00 European Central Timezone
Language: English
Location: Online (zoom link will be sent after registration)
Donation: drop in 250 SEK, monthly 800 SEK, term 2000 SEK
Last day of registration: you can join any time
You register for the drop-in by purchasing a ticket here on the website, see “Tickets” below.