COURSES & RETREATS
Exploring secular Buddhism through courses and retreats
For those who want an introduction to secular Buddhism, or who wish to explore key ideas in secular Buddhism more thoroughly, there are a number of excellent courses and retreats to choose from. They range from self-paced, online courses to the two-year course on secular dharma offered by Bodhi College.
On this page you will find the variety of courses and retreats available on secular Buddhism.
RECOMMENDED COURSES
AFTER BUDDHISM
Exploring a secular dharma with Mike Slott
The Tuwhiri Project and SBN’s Mike Slott have created an online course exploring the key ideas and practices of secular Buddhism, an important trend that has emerged in western Buddhism in recent years.
This online course is based mainly on Stephen Batchelor’s recent book, After Buddhism: rethinking the dharma for a secular age and the companion book published by The Tuwhiri Project, After Buddhism: a workbook by Winton Higgins.
Stephen and Martine Batchelor, Winton Higgins, Mike Slott, Jim Champion and Linda Modaro explain the thinking and philosophy behind this course in this short video.
They talk about its origins in the groundbreaking book After Buddhism and the process of revisting and rethinking the teachings of the Buddha for a modern age.
OBJECTIVES
The courses key objectives are to:
- Identify and explain the key concepts of secular Buddhism
- Compare secular Buddhism with traditional, institutional forms of Buddhism
- Sketch a vision of secular Buddhist practice for individuals and communities
MIKE SLOTT
COURSE LEADER
The course is presented by Mike Slott. A part-time lecturer in labor history at Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA, Mike is a long-time political and labor movement activist who began a meditation practice in 2010.
He is a member of and practice leader at New York Insight.
The course is available through this website for individual self-study and for people to go through in a group.
We encourage communities to enrol groups of their members in the course together, allowing them the opportunity to exchange views and experiences. Contact us to discuss.
The course will be accessible in three ways:
AVAILABLE NOW: Self-paced
– for individuals to go through it on their own.
COMING SOON: Community
– for people to go through with a group of friends.
COMING SOON: Group
– for individuals to go through at the same time with a cohort of others.
After Buddhism: exploring a secular dharma is offered without a fixed fee; when you have completed it, you will be invited to make a donation which will ensure that others can go through the course also.
If you are interested in taking this course as an individual (Self-paced) click on the link below:
If you are interested in participating in the course as part of a learning cohort, with opportunities for discussion and feedback, please get in touch with us through the form on our Contact page.
OTHER COURSES
Why do some people follow dharma teachers who demand obedience?
Ramsey Margolis asks why some of the people who follow teachers in ancestral Buddhist communities, and their ‘traditional’ teachings, loathe secular Buddhism and secular Buddhists, at times with a palpable feeling of distaste that clearly is not rational.
By Ramsey Margolis
Online Program with Dave Smith: Mindfulness and the Middle Way
Dave Smith, a co-founder of the Secular Dharma Foundation, will be offering an online program on mindfulness and a secular interpretation of the middle way on Tuesdays, from May 27 to June 17.
By SBN Editor
Rethinking the Dharma / Reimagining Community #68 May 2025
Welcome to our May 2025 newsletter. This month we feature: articles by Tom Cummings, Roy Hammond, Kirk Mason, and Linda Modaro/Nelly Kaufer; Ted Meissner's interview with David Loy about his book, Ecodharma: Buddhist Teachings for the Ecological Crisis; an upcoming SBN online meditation retreat; and the recent activities of the Buddhist Coalition for Democracy.
By SBN Editor
A Fresh Take on Secular Dharma
Linda Modaro and Nelly Kaufer discuss how Reflective Meditation is a secular practice; it's about learning from life rather than about transcending it.
By Linda Modaro and Nelly Kaufer
Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar: A Secular Buddhist Vision for Liberation
Kirk Mason discusses how B.R. Ambedkar's approach to Buddhism parallels Stephen Batchelor's emphasis on the pragmatic and ethical dimensions of Gotama's teachings.
By Kirk Mason
EXPLORE COURSES & RETREATS
“TABO, into the Light” An Archaeological Photographic Exhibit at Tibet House US
By Cedar Thokme
Engaged Buddhism, Modern Psychology, and the Sometimes-Impassioned Attachments to Concepts of Self
By Roy Hammond