It’s about teaching you meditation as a skill-for-life that reawakens your awareness of the stillness of your soul.

This inner experience is incredibly significant.  It doesn’t just stay within—it blends into your day and it changes you and everyone around you.

Because it’s a soul-based, rather than a body-based form of meditation, it’s impossible to intellectually grasp and reason about the experience itself.  

The stillness of the soul is infinite in reality and can only be experienced, not measured.  It’s a lived, real, personal, inner experience.

This website is my seasoned attempt to try to convey what it’s like, what it’s not, and the benefits.

My aim is to teach you how to have this soul-based experience with integrity, sustainability, and clarity.

No.

That is not healthy nor realistic.

This is about learning a set of techniques which shift your state, giving you an entirely different perspective on your life.

Unlike other meditation formats, these new techniques are time-efficient, and so they do not require hours of detachment to feel effective.

For example, practicing 15-20 minutes is sufficient to turn around emotions such as depression, grieving, worry.  Or dissolve creative blocks.

Furthermore, this unique approach enables you to meditate with your eyes open as you move through your day.  This is an integrated approach to meditation.

Not at all.  

This isn’t like any other kind of meditation that you have encountered before—this is gentle, natural, and soothing for the body.  You will sit in comfortable chairs and we take as many stretch breaks as we need to.

As it turns out, holding a rigid posture will add stress into your nervous system.  That very stress will have to exit at some point, and none of it is conducive to what we’re trying to accomplish.  We won’t do any of that.

Don’t believe anyone when they say that being uncomfortable or suffering in any way is a necessary component for meditation.  It just ain’t so.

This is not an issue for two reasons: 

1. We take breaks often—it’s not sitting all the time.
   
   
2. We insist that you use whatever you need to be comfortable.

For example, do you have a “zero gravity chair” that reclines and takes the pressure off your spine?  Those work great for people with back issues.

Unlike other forms of meditation where you're pushed to ignore body pains, comfort is so important in this form of meditation.

We aren’t sitting on the floor for that matter, nor pretzeling into special postures.

We don’t want to add stress into our nervous system.  Being comfortable is good!

Yes.  You are not alone.  Many have done so.

All I ask is for the slightest willingness to learn something new.  As the instructor, I then take full responsibility to teach you everything that I learned as a monk, but broken down into baby steps using clear, normal language.  It’s my responsibility that you “get it”, so there’s no pressure on your side.

And yes, you really can do it.

It’s likely you’ve heard stories of people struggling to meditate, thinking it was a chore.  But that was because they didn’t have proper instruction in this subtle domain of the mind.

As an aside, teaching meditation seems like it should be easy, but it is most definitely not.  Many well-meaning people teach some simplistic form of meditation but end up confusing or limiting the student.  I’ve seen this happen often.  There’s a lot “meditation stress” out there, which you will not experience.

This is “automatic self-transcending” or simply, “self-transcending” family of meditation.

Meditation researchers have found that there are three broad families of meditation based on levels of effort, brain wave patterns, and parts of the brain that are activated.  This approach is the lesser-known of the three families, partly because it takes more finesse to teach;  it cannot be fully taught in an hour, for example.

On the other hand, it's in the same broad family as TM (Transcendental Meditation), but it’s 100% completely different from TM.  And not super pricey $$$ like TM either.

So what characterizes this type of meditation?  Deep relaxation, gentle, not feeling like work, no special postures required, and experience of the stillness of your soul being the goal.

Nope.

From my three decades of meditating and observing monks as a monk myself, I’ve found that meditation doesn’t automatically de-program one from one’s world views.  If that were the case, then all advanced meditators would have the same personality.  They certainly don’t.

On the other hand, I’ve found that meditation makes you more authentically you.  It creates more space in your mind, making your more likely to step away from your programming, and giving you freedom to be yourself apart from your fears.

In other words, meditation gives back your power of choice, in contrast to living a life of unconscious patterning.

Meditation is certainly not the only tool you'll ever need in your life. 

Meditation shouldn’t be used in place of therapy, physical training, nutritional education, or personal development, just to name a few. 

The purpose of meditation is to reconnect you with the stillness of your soul.  It’s specific, not all-domain-encompassing.

Sorry, we won’t be using the techniques you’re familiar with, and therefore missing any class is not recommended.

This form of meditation, which is from the lesser-known “automatic self-transcending” family of meditation, is fundamentally different in regard to technique and application of the techniques.

Meditators used to more common traditions, such as mindfulness or Vipassana, find this approach easier, more effortless, more accepting, more understandable, and more enjoyable.

However, do bring your passion for meditation and wanting to know the larger aspect of yourself!

It’s all the props, costumes, rituals, sayings, behaviors, and concepts that you are expected to embody if you’re spiritual.  It’s what spirituality is “supposed” to look like.

None of that is used here.

As a former monk, I can assuredly say those all get in the way.

Very low woo.

This approach doesn’t need to use woo concepts because there’s already too much to address in normal terms we’re already familiar with.  Especially now that there is plenty of repeatable, high-statistical evidence for consciousness existing apart from the brain.  But that’s not what this teaching focuses on either.

This is meant to be an accessible and practical approach to meditation that skips the typical spiritual theater and focuses on the deep inner experience, which is all that matters.

Not religious in any way.  This is not about adopting new beliefs or referencing religious thought.

Great care is put into this teaching to make it as accessible and useful as possible.

Yet if you are religious, this practice will not conflict with your faith or beliefs.  Rather it will enhance them.

In other words, you will have the inner spiritual experiences that you’ve often heard about.

No.

That’s not what this teaching is about.  It’s not about beliefs, nor will you hear me say the G-word because there is already enough religion-induced stress around that concept.

More importantly, you should always get to decide what the greatest, most positive, awe-inspiring force in the universe is for you.  

Everyone has an idea of what that is for them.  It could be Nature, or Love, or Evolution, or Kindness, or or or... the list is endless.  But it’s specific.

It would be unfair for me, even a former monk, to decide what that is for you.

Above all, this is a practical teaching about experience—having an experience of the qualities of the soul that feel deeper, more expansive, and more significant than mere calm.

Said another way, there is no need for external, grandiose concepts when experience is everything.

Briefly, this is not the “soul” in the sense of religion, as that kind of “soul” doesn’t exist.  

This is the soul in the sense of the poets and mystics.  It’s the eternal aspect of ourselves.  It’s simple.

Some familiar qualities of the soul you’ve already experienced are stillness, joy-for-no-reason, self love, peace, presence, creativity, timelessness.

As it turns out, “soul” is the most apt word I could find to encapsulate these qualities.  Believe me, I looked for a long time for something else.

You don’t have to agree that this word isn't owned by religion, as this is a teaching about your personal experience.  It’s the experience that matters.  

The way that I teach meditation allows these soul qualities to reemerge in a reliable, effortless, clean way that respects your time and intelligence.  This way, you get to discover it for yourself, organically.

No.

This is about empowering you with a sustainable, skill-for-life.  You shouldn’t have to depend upon anyone else.

It’s not my business to know your financial situation.  Nor do you know what this very different approach will be like before you begin.  So honestly, how would you know what it’s worth ahead of time?

It’s just easier and more fair to ask for a donation at the end of the meditation course.  Whatever is right for you is right for me, and don’t worry, there’s no wrong amount.  There isn’t even a so-called “suggested donation” either.

If this approach seems odd, let’s consider that it should be more humane in our culture not to deny someone the best education because of some arbitrarily determined value.

This approach is not about affordability but rather humanity.

If you insist, sure.  Since this is an expert-level meditation course designed to induce a reliable experience of the presence of the infinite in a sustainable way;  and heal impeding root stresses no matter how many repetitive thoughts you have or how stressed you are;  along with instilling the understanding needed to navigate the subtleties of the mind-body-infinite connection;  and empower you to continue on your personal development journey independently;  and provide support should you need it;  and is taught with integrity by a former monk who has dedicated much of his life to this teaching, the price is USD $1,500.

If that seems unreasonable, then by comparison, I invite you to check out a “Transcendental Meditation” course that costs more and provides less, especially when their upgrades are factored into the mix.

For those who choose to pay the above fee, I am deeply grateful as it enables me to continue on my mission with ease.

PayPal, Venmo, or direct deposit.

Non-fiat currencies might be okay, but that’s on a case-by-case basis.

I get asked this a lot, about having shorter workshops.  Yet the way that I teach is very different than other approaches, with a different technique and a different goal.  It’s not about relaxation nor focusing on the breath, as there are plenty of simple, somatic-type meditation formats for that.

I believe it’s more important to build a sustainable, soul-deep, skill-for-life, rather than being given something that’s consumed like popcorn with little thought behind it.

For this particular approach, there needs to be a clear understanding of how the mind works, why thoughts are there, emotions too, the way the mind-body connection affects the personal mind—and that’s before we can talk about the larger mind in a way that is relatable to your experience of it.  

In other words, there are just too many expectations and counter-intuitive aspects to learning this subtle new skill.  It cannot be reliably taught in a shorter period of time.

I see learning to meditate as if learning to be a jet pilot.  Or a high-end gourmet chef.  Or a proficient dancer.  It's all the same commitment.  Yet the broad-spectrum of benefits are absolutely worth it.

That said, we take as many short breaks as needed.  So it’s less than 3 hours per session—but don't worry, we’re not meditating the entire time, which is another common concern. 

This is ultimately a healthy approach to meditation.

Beginning in 2026, this will be taught about 4-8x a year via Zoom.  

Look for the free weekly introductory sessions to get a taste of the full course.

Yes I do!  Teaching in person is my preferred way to share the material and really connect with you.

If you would like an in-person course, more than likely I would be happy to teach it for you.  All I ask is for enough genuinely interested participants to cover my expenses.  Contact me and let’s discuss details.

#1 ... sign-up to my low-volume mailing list:

#2 ... the socials, like Instagram @needmeditation, etc.

When learning via Zoom?  Sure.  You’ll only need a distraction-free zone to participate, which doesn’t mean silent.  Older pets are 100% okay if they’re low maintenance.  Younger, active pets will be too distracting.

In-person?  If the course description says “dog friendly”;  and if you have an older, mature dog;  and as long as no course participant has a dog allergy, then yes, you certainly can.

For example, at the Creative Coworkers co-working space, it was encouraged to bring your dog, and the doggo’s loved it when we meditated together—they calmed right down, went to sleep, especially the older ones.