About the Training

Weekend One of this recorded training is part of a series of three weekend courses. They are designed as continuing education for already authorized Meditation Instructors, as well as meditation practitioners who are interested in developing as Meditation Instructors. Each training supports those interested in sharing the practice of meditation with others by cultivating the understanding and skills to assist others along their meditation path. 

You do not need to take all three courses. The courses are open to individuals and groups. Shambhala Groups and Centres can include them within a mentoring program for those seeking a Meditation Instructor authorization at a local level. 

Recorded Weekends One and Two are open to all. Recorded Weekend Three is for authorized Meditation Instructors and those being mentored into the role only. 

Weekend One: On Shamatha/Vipashyana, with Dale Asrael and Gaylon Ferguson
Weekend Two: On Mindfulness and Embodiment, with Erika Berland
Weekend Three: On Trauma Sensitivity and Meditation, with Janet Solyntjes and Elaine Yuen

Weekend One focuses on mindfulness (shamatha) and awareness (vipashyana) practices. Presenters will address the following topics:

• Practice and study as a meditation instructor
• The view and practice of meditation
• How awareness (vipashyana) develops over time
• Giving initial meditation Instruction

Prerequisites

Weekends One and Two are open to all. Weekend Three is for authorized Meditation Instructors and those being mentored into the role only. 

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. Dale also trained with the Zen teacher Charlotte Joko Beck during the last twelve years of Charlotte’s 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.

Gaylon is the author of three books, Natural Wakefulness (on the four foundations of mindfulness), Natural Bravery (on fear and fearlessness as path to manifesting bravery) and Welcoming Beginner’s Mind: Zen and Tibetan Wisdom on Experiencing Our True Nature (2024 from Shambhala Publications). 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).