Karuna Training

y. Through personal exploration, ongoing faculty mentoring, and in-person practice communicating compassionately with peers, participants forge the real skills and habits needed to live a life of engaged compassion in personal and professional contexts. Based in the Contemplative Psychology tradition that arose from the Vajrayana Buddhist Tradition, Karuna Training brings together ancient teachings with modern applications. Our time-tested methodologies for finding more openness, compassion and bravery have been honed for over 25 years, in 7 different countries.

​Upon completion of the program, participants will become a Certified Practitioner in Compassionate Exchange, one of Karuna’s primary methodologies in working skillfully with others. In compassionate exchange work, we develop the ability to offer ourselves as a resource of intrinsic health to other people. Rather than fixing problems, giving advice or analyzing psychological states, compassionate exchange practice is about learning to provide an open, curious, compassionate and protected space for people to access their own wisdom and truth. Join our training cycle and let us support you in creating the space necessary for a life-changing process. With mindfulness, open heartedness and bravery, we can bring more genuineness into every moment of our lives. WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

Karuna Training’s teachings are based on the Abhidharma - sometimes referred to as Buddhist Psychology, and there are many different modern methodologies for discovering these time tested teachings during the training, including:



1. Trust in Intrinsic ​Health

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At the core of Karuna Training lies the notion of intrinsic health, the idea that we all have intrinsic health, compassion and clarity that we can access at any moment, especially when going through personal challenges. Throughout the program we utilize direct experience to learn to resource ourselves and develop a genuine trust in our own and other’s intrinsic health.



2. Meditation and Mindfulness


Meditation practice is foundational to our practice of Contemplative Psychology. Meditation is fundamental in this work because meditation practice allows the mind space to relax and settle. Undertaken as a steady practice, meditation allows our inherent qualities of stability, clarity and mental strength to emerge. This provides the support and grounding we need to become more available to others.



3. Compassion and Compassionate Exchange


We learn that we are all hard wired for compassion; and compassionate exchange is one of Karuna Training’s main methodologies in working with others. Participants have the opportunity to develop this skill through practice first with one another in the cohort, and then in a mentored project of 5 hours with someone outside the training. In compassionate exchange, we develop the ability to offer ourselves as a resource to other people. Rather than fixing problems, giving advice or analyzing psychological states, compassionate exchange practice is about learning to provide a compassionate and protected space for people to access their own wisdom and experience. By cultivating compassion and curiosity, participants learn how to be present, open and genuine with others in all their personal and professional relationships.



4. Maitri Space Awareness for Working with Emotions


One of the greatest challenges in supporting others, is being able to meet the intensity of another’s emotion. In Karuna Training we learn that intense emotions have wisdom and lessons to teach, but we need to work contemplatively with the energy of sadness, anger, and fear on the spot. In Karua Training, through the practice of Maitri Space Awareness, participants examine their own emotional energy and learn to recognize both the healthy and confused aspects of that energy in their life. They practice working with the intensity of emotions in a contemplative way, no matter what emotions are arising. Participants are given the tools to:

​​Communicate more genuinely, honestly and skillfully with others �

​​​Work with emotions without becoming overwhelmed by them �

Develop ​habits of self-care and self-compassion �

​Draw on internal resources needed for supporting ourselves and others when either is suffering

​L​ive more genuinely from a place of compassion and wisdom

​�​Live a life of engaged compassion in personal and professional contexts

WHO IS THIS FOR? The Karuna Training program is for you if you are interested in:

​Mindfulness and meditation
​Personal growth and transformation
​Heart-centered compassion practices
​Community-based learning
​Embodied study of Buddhist psychology
​Deeply transformative spiritual development that strengthens your innate skills in working with others
​Practical tools for meeting the challenges of everyday life both personally and professionally