There are two prerequisites that admitted students will need to complete prior to the start of the program in February 2023. 

1.     The Power of Awareness online course by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach
   
   If you have not completed this requirement and you are accepted on contingency, you will be sent information on how to complete the course before February 2023. 
2.     One meditation retreat that meets the following criteria:

• a minimum of 6 nights in residence
• held in noble silence
• taught in Vipassana or Insight Meditation (excluding Goenka) traditions
  

If there are any questions as to whether the retreat you are considering or have attended in the past meets the requirement, please list the retreat below. We are happy to review the details to ensure they meet the criteria.

Retreats that most often will meet the prerequisite requirements will be offered by Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Insight Meditation Community of Washington, Insight Meditation Society, Insight Retreat Center, Cloud Mountain Retreat Center, or Big Bear Retreat Center.

If you have not completed a qualifying silent retreat and are unsure if you will be able to attend a retreat before the program begins in February 2023, please continue to submit your application. Highly qualified applicants with special circumstances may be accepted upon contingency and given an extension to complete the retreat requirement by January 2023. Please continue your application and let us know your circumstances.

Yes. Tara and Jack would like all students, regardless of their background, to participate in The Power of Awareness as it is an excellent example of the type of teaching you will be doing and provides a solid review of essential fundamentals. It is important that we keep the prerequisites consistent for all of our applicants, and we encourage even our most experienced participants in this program to take a beginner’s mindset and look at the teachings through a new lens. If you’re very familiar with the teachings, you are encouraged to approach the course from a pedagogical perspective and observe the way Jack and Tara are teaching the content. The prerequisites for this certification are intended to develop experience in the style of meditation that you will be teaching following the program.

Jack and Tara want to ensure that all of their students have experience in the kind of SILENT retreat that is grounded in the Vipassana (Insight Meditation) practices that you will be teaching. This silent form of retreat builds a depth of concentration and mindfulness that can be particularly powerful and transformative.  

In the type of retreats they are asking you to attend, students first learn to quiet the mind with an anchor like the breath, and then expand their practice with a systematic training in mindful attention that includes breath, body, emotions, thoughts, and awareness. Vipassana retreats also include heart meditations—lovingkindness, forgiveness, compassion—that are very much part of this training. The silent retreats we approve also include individual and small group guidance, which gives a chance for students to be personally led and supported in developing their meditation practice.

We understand that given the global pandemic, it may be impossible for students who have not already attended a silent residential meditation retreat to do so at this time.

Many are looking for online retreats to satisfy the 6+ night silent retreat prerequisite for MMTCP.  Only online retreats pre-approved will be counted as qualifying MMTCP prerequisite retreats. We have been working with retreat centers to arrange and share online retreat options for applicants and students.  Not all online retreats will meet the criteria Jack and Tara have outlined, only those that are on the list. If you are interested in attending an online retreat, please read MMTCP Participant Guidelines for a Successful Online Retreat (for students).

If there are any questions as to whether the retreat you are considering (or have attended in the past) meets the requirement, please send us a description of the retreat, dates, number of days, teachers, and a website link to admissions-mmtcp@soundstrue.com. We are happy to review the details to ensure they meet the criteria.

Many retreats listed on applications do not meet this prerequisite criterion, including Goenka, MSBR, MBCT, MSC, Mindful Schools, corporate mindfulness seminars, or other training formats, including Tibetan Buddhism retreats, Thich Nhat Hanh retreats, Adyashanti retreats, Hatha Yoga retreats, Siddha Yoga retreats, Christian retreats, and Ridhwan School retreats, to name a few. While these retreats are undoubtedly valuable to your growth and practice, Jack and Tara want to be sure that everyone has also experienced a Vipassana/Insight, silent, residential retreat in the style of meditation that you will be learning to teach. That said, please list these other types of retreats in the appropriate section of your application as they will be taken into account to evaluate your readiness for the program.

No. Goenka retreats are taught in the style of vipassana; however, they are a specific style as taught by SN Goenka. 

Jack and Tara feel that Goenka retreats do not train people to work with emotions, awaken the heart, and be trauma-sensitive. Given a traumatized world, this excludes or endangers many people, especially BIPOC. They also exclude those not physically able in the demands of the schedule. Additionally, Goenka retreats will not give MMTCP students an experience that correlates with our values of DEIA and the essential inclusion of the feminine archetype.

If you have taken a retreat through a Goenka center, please include it on your application. It shows your meditation experience and adds to the strength of your application in the section for an additional, non-qualifying retreat experience. If your retreat experience has only been through Goenka retreat centers, to meet the MMTCP retreat prerequisite, you will need to participate in a qualifying retreat. Here is a list of qualifying online retreats to assist you.  

“Vipassana” means to see clearly. Also called Insight Meditation, Vipassana is a deep training in mindfulness that originates from the Buddhist teachings of Thailand Burma and Sri Lanka. Zen is the name for certain Mahayana Buddhist teachings of Japan, Korea, and China. It also teaches mindfulness and awakening through many methods including koans and dialogues with the Zen Master.

Thanks for asking. We’ve asked Jack and Tara this question, and here is their response:

While we both love and DEEPLY honor Thich Nhat Hanh as well as the retreats run by his community, we want to insure that MMTCP participants have been experienced in the kind of SILENT retreat that is grounded in the Vipassana (Insight Meditation) practices they will be teaching. This silent form of retreat builds a depth of concentration and mindfulness that can be particularly powerful and transformative.  

In the type of retreats we are asking you to attend, students first learn to quiet the mind with an anchor like the breath, and then expand their practice with a systematic training in mindful attention that includes breath, body, emotions, thoughts, and awareness. Vipassana retreats also include heart meditations—lovingkindness, forgiveness, compassion—that are very much part of this training. The silent retreats we approve also include individual and small group guidance which gives a chance for students to be personally led and supported in developing their meditation practice.

Thanks for asking. We’ve asked Jack and Tara this question, and here is their response:

We both very much respect and encourage people to do MBSR training. There are several key differences between MBSR and our training. One is pedagogy. While we offer recommended ways to organize introductions to meditation, we are not training people to teach a set protocol.  We supply teachings and practices, and then encourage trainees to bring their own style and strengths to shape how and what they teach in different formats and populations. Some may integrate mindfulness and compassion training into their psychotherapy practice, some may incorporate it into multicultural trainings in corporations, some may teach children in classrooms, some may do online courses, and so on. There’s also a difference in content. MBSR initially focused on pain and stress relief and on medical settings, though this has since been expanded.  

In our training, while we deal with pain and stress, we also bring a strong focus to working with emotions,  trauma, and relationships. Our course explores a range of meditations that awaken the heart—lovingkindness, forgiveness, compassion. We pay much attention to ethical behavior and emphasize the direct relationship between inner awakening and social activism and transformation. Finally, while secular and nonreligious, this program explicitly explores the spiritual dimensions of our being, and our full potential for spiritual realization.