Training the Heart for Lasting Happiness
with Hans Burghardt & Marina Vinyals

Sat–Sun, Jul 25–26, 12–2pm EDT

ONLINE

Note: Registration will be available soon.

If you pause and reflect on your life, what do you cherish most? What makes certain memories stand out as truly meaningful and precious?

Many contemplative traditions suggest that connecting with our innate capacity for care—our potential for love and compassion—is a powerful way to cultivate meaning, purpose, and a deep sense of well-being, while bringing us closer to our best nature. Research also shows that developing warmheartedness and prosocial attitudes—traits central to human evolution—supports both personal well-being and flourishing.

Drawing on Buddhist psychology and contemporary scientific research, this course explores our capacity to develop these qualities and offers practical methods to cultivate them in everyday life. Grounded in the complementary principles of wisdom and compassion, it also introduces key insights into how we perceive ourselves and others, and how transforming these perceptions can lead to meaningful change.

This course serves as a foundation for deeper study and practice, and includes the opportunity to do a subsequent retreat exploring the Four Immeasurable Attitudes, to be held at the center on September 12–13.

Important Note

This is an online event. For online, the events will be administered using Zoom*.

After registering, the system automatically sends a confirmation and/or a receipt email that contains the Zoom meeting link and/or other instructions. If you don’t immediately receive the system email(s) or you have any other questions, please contact us at registration@shantidevanyc.org.

*Zoom is an interactive video-conferencing tool that allows participants to see one another and ask questions. You will need a computer, a tablet or a smartphone with the Zoom application to attend. If you are using Zoom for the first time, please login earlier to allow any necessary installations on your device.

Registration

Suggested: $20 per session
Other offering options: free, $5, $10, $30

The suggested amount helps support teacher offerings and expenses, direct costs and rent. Shantideva member benefits will apply automatically if you have a membership in MindBody.

Shantideva Center may publish recorded sessions in the public domain (e.g., on YouTube). By registering for this event, you are agreeing to give your consent to this process. Please be conscious of any personal information you share. Recordings are typically made to spotlight only on the teacher or facilitator so participants are usually not visible.

Time zone: US Eastern Daylight Time (GMT/UTC-4)

For questions regarding registration, please email registration@shantidevanyc.org for assistance.

Recordings

Available soon.

Dana for the Teacher

Shantideva Center makes offerings to our teachers and facilitators using the funds collected through registration. You can give additional support to the teacher or facilitator and create a stronger karmic connection by offering dana. Please make sure to select the teacher’s or facilitator’s name in the dropdown menu. Dana offered is passed entirely to them, but please note that it is not tax-deductible.

About the Teachers

Hans Burghardt holds a BA and a MA in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and a PhD from the University of Barcelona, where he spent seven years doing research. Since 2002, he meditates and is a student of great Buddhist masters including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche, Lama Jampa Monlam, Khensur Jampa Tegchok amongst others. He has completed the Masters Program of Advanced Buddhist Studies of Sutra and Tantra at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa (Italy) and has completed a one-year individual meditation retreat. He currently teaches meditation and Buddhism at Tushita Meditation Center Spain and other FPMT centers, and is co-founder and coordinator of the Initiative for an Emotional, Ethical, and Social Education, that promotes the establishment of Emory University’s SEE Learning in Spain.

Marina Brucet Vinyals holds a BA and a MA in Biochemistry and a PhD in Molecular Biology in Immunology from the University of Barcelona, where she also performed postdoctoral studies. After this, she decided to change research in the laboratory for research of the mind and its possibilities. To this aim, she completed a six-year full-time study program Masters Program of Advanced Buddhist Studies of Sutra and Tantra at Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy. She studied with great Tibetan lamas such as His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Lama Jampa Monlam and Khensur Jampa Tegchok, amongst others, and has completed a one-year individual meditation retreat, among others. Presently, she combines continual development and meditation retreats with teaching meditation and Buddhist philosophy, at both general and specialized levels, with an approach that always takes into account the context and circumstances of Western life. She mainly teaches at Tushita Meditation Center Spain and other FPMT centers, and collaborates with SEE Learning (Emory University) in Spain.