Clearing our Minds
an update from Q1
Hello hello HELLO! The past few months passed in the blink of an eye, and all of a sudden the seed of an idea is putting down roots. Bodhi has been hard at work since the start of the year launching four pilot programmes of the core Bodhi curriculum as well as piloting a series of teacher development workshops. I cannot wait to tell you all about what we have been up to, share some preliminary results from our pilots, speak about our design approach, and highlight what you can look forward to in the next few months.
We will be sharing monthly updates on what’s happening in Bodhi. So if you are interested in hearing from us please subscribe to these newsletters using the box below.
What is Bodhi?
This is a question we get asked quite a lot. In brief, it is a project and initiative to see how we can best reach new audiences, including people who may never even have heard the word “dharma”. Initiated in 2014 under the guidance of Sogyal Rinpoche, the project has changed and evolved many times.
Today, Bodhi is focused on how to build supportive communities, initially in Rigpa centres, around the world. Places where people from all walks of life—from experienced dharma practitioners to those just starting to dabble in meditation—can feel a sense of connection and belonging and are able to explore together some deeper aspects of life.
The Bodhi programmes fall into three main topic areas:
Clear Mind: Discovering how the practice of meditation can help us to recognise our true nature and awaken to who we really are—beyond the stress, anger, and the hosts of negative emotions of daily life. We look at meditation both on and off the cushion, provide meditation challenges, and day-long retreats.
Open Heart: Finding the courage to uncover and reconnect with our innate capacity of warm-heartedness, kindness, and love. Through the practices of loving-kindness and compassion we meet the world and people around us with more joy, harmony, and resilience.
Seeing Reality: Investigating the way things actually are to live more in accord with reality. We will explore wisdom topics such as 'change and impermanence’ and ‘mind and the nature of mind’.
Who is involved?
We are a group of mostly volunteers, contributing our time to establish Bodhi as a high quality authentic offering of dharma to a new public audience. Our current team includes Hans-Fredrik Gustaffson, Steve Cope, Maria Garcia, Ian Ives, Javier Torales, Vinciane Rycroft, Annie Birken, Nico Yardas, Emma Heijdeman, and Sam Horwood.
If you are curious about getting involved or helping Bodhi, please send us an email at hello@beingbodhi.org
So what has been done so far?
We have been developing a set of resources for Clear Mind, Open Heart, and Seeing Reality. In particular:
8 week courses
Bodhi Moments - short 2-3 hour workshops exploring a particular topic such as Stress, Anger, or Fear
4-week “challenges” on meditation and other topics.
1-day retreats
However, Bodhi is not just a series of courses and events. We are all about creating community and offering a warm welcome to people new to the dharma and continuing to support them through their own journey.
It’s also important to realise that Bodhi is not a finished product. We are continually testing, experimenting, learning, adapting, and growing. We have so much to learn from the wealth of experience within our Rigpa community and we want to build on this to offer the best we can to a new generation of dharma practitioners.
Highlights from the First Quarter:
Bodhi is involved in four active pilot programmes, all held within Rigpa Centres in: Alicante, Tenerife, London, and Brussels. Over 70 students are currently involved in all of these courses:
Alicante - Spanish
20 students in Alicante are exploring the Open Heart course. Two-thirds of these completed the Clear Mind pilot course in late 2024.
Hear from two students in Alicante about their experience:
Tenerife - Spanish
25 students in Tenerife are studying the Clear Mind course. A Bodhi Moment was also held at the end of April.
Bruxelles - French
12 students in Bruxelles, almost all of them new, gathered for a Bodhi Moment to explore their experience of stress in their lives and to see how meditation might be able to help. There are now 25 students following the Clear Mind course.
Hear from instructors Gwen and Jean Michel about Bodhi in Bruxelles:
London (Hybrid) - English
12 students in London gather each month in person to study the Clear Mind course, supplemented by weekly virtual meetings.
Germany (Online) - English and German
Approximately 50 teachers and instructors from Germany and Zurich have joined a series of teacher development workshops on the Clear Mind programme, consisting of shared reflections, insights, roleplay sessions, and the study of recent teachings.
Other places
Other highlights include a Clear Mind Bodhi Moment in Barcelona, as well as initial conversations with France, Switzerland, Ireland, and the US.
A New Communications Approach
Communications are an integral part of the Bodhi project. Our goal is to provide high quality, effective communication materials and practical implementation advice. We have already developed a complete communication package for Clear Mind and are currently working on this for Open Heart.
What you can look forward to Next Quarter
In the coming months, we will be learning from the pilots, adapting our approach, and continuing to develop offerings of the Bodhi programme. For example, Bodhi’s first 4-week meditation challenge has just started in Spain.
We will be continuing to support Tenerife, Bruxelles, and London as they establish Bodhi within their respective centres. We are already talking with some other countries about what might be possible in the second half of this year and into 2026.
How you can get involved!
If you know anyone in the vicinity of a Bodhi pilot, tell them about it!
If you would like to get involved with Bodhi, drop us an email at hello@beingbodhi.org and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
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