Upcoming Retreats

  • Commuting – $720.00
  • Camping – $920.00
  • RV/Camper Van – $1,000.00
  • Women's Dorm – $1,136.00
  • Men's Dorm – $1,136.00
  • Women's Quad – $1,520.00
  • Men's Quad – $1,520.00
  • Private Room- Twin Bed – $1,960.00
  • Private Room- Double bed – $1,960.00
  • Private Cabin #1 - "Vajrapani" – $2,200.00
  • Private Cabin #2 - "Chenrezig" – $2,200.00
  • Private Cabin #3 - "Vajrayogini" – $2,200.00
  • Private Cabin #4 - "Chakrasamvara" – $2,200.00
  • Private Cabin #5 - "Tara" – $2,200.00
  • Private Cabin #6 - "Yamantaka" – $2,200.00

Buddhist Mind Science

Hans Burghardt and Marina Brucet

August 29 - September 6, 2026

A doorway to 21st-century Dharma

What if Buddhism were approached not as a belief system, but as a living, practical science of the mind—one designed for the realities of modern life?

 

Buddhist Mind Science: Activating Your Potential is an introductory FPMT course that re-presents ancient Buddhist wisdom through a contemporary lens. Often described as a “science of the mind,” Buddhism offers a precise and experiential understanding of how the mind works—how suffering arises, how happiness is cultivated, and how our deepest human potential can be awakened.

 

At its heart, this course is guided by a simple yet powerful aim: to reduce suffering and cultivate genuine, lasting well-being—for ourselves and for the world we live in.

 

Blending time-tested Buddhist teachings with insights from modern science, the course invites you into a process of inquiry, reflection, and direct experience. Rather than asking you to adopt beliefs, it offers tools you can test and apply in your own life.

 

What This Course Offers

Participants are introduced to core Buddhist perspectives on the mind alongside practical, modern applications, including:

  • Accessible meditation techniques grounded in direct experience
  • Clear insights into how happiness and suffering arise
  • Tools for cultivating balance, clarity, and meaning in daily life
  • Methods for developing innate qualities such as warmheartedness and wisdom
  • A dialogue between Buddhist understanding and contemporary scientific views on the mind, well-being, and compassion

Who Is This Course For?

Designed with modern learners in mind, this course takes a grounded, evidence-informed approach to meditation and mind training. It is ideal for those who are:

  • Curious about Buddhism and interested in applying its insights in everyday life
  • Drawn to the intersection of contemplative wisdom and modern science
  • Seeking practical tools for greater well-being, purpose, and emotional resilience
  • New to Buddhism or meditation, as well as those with experience in secular or other contemplative traditions

No prior experience is required—just curiosity and a willingness to explore.

Course Overview

The course unfolds across seven experiential modules, encouraging personal investigation and real-world integration:

  1. Cultivating Lasting Happiness: What Buddhism and science reveal about purpose, dissatisfaction, and well-being
  2. Transforming the Mind: Meditation, emotional awareness, and mental balance
  3. Getting to Know Your Mind: Developing clarity and insight into mental processes
  4. Fundamental Trainings: Foundations of the Buddhist path for modern life
  5. Wise Paths to the Heart: Cultivating warmheartedness and compassion
  6. The Nature of Perception: Exploring wisdom and how we experience reality
  7. Embodying Warmheartedness and Wisdom: Bringing inner transformation into the world

Facilitator Training Pathway

Participants who complete this course may be eligible to train as facilitators for future Buddhist Mind Science modules—supporting the ongoing transmission of Dharma in a form that speaks directly to the 21st century.

 

Registration Closes

August 22, 2026

 

Testimonials

“I am now teaching the second module on Sundays to a small group in person at Ocean of Compassion. We just completed unit 2. It is fun for me to see the resonance of many very, very new students. I find that this method of teaching followed by an exercise or a meditation, however brief, offers a greater depth of understanding than a constant flow of words. I am receiving positive feedback, even from students who have practiced for years, perhaps in other traditions.” (Elaine Jackson, FPMT teacher and BMS facilitator)

“I would like to thank you for the course “Buddhism Mind Science,” which has been a gift to me. It offers practical suggestions to apply to everyday life and has helped me a lot.
I can’t attend the online sessions, but I can watch the recordings at home when I find the time to catch up.  It has been very helpful, and also therapeutic for me. I am currently in a difficult process and in each session you give tools and remind me of things that are very useful for me. I feel really grateful to be able to attend to this course, and I am impressed.  Thank you very much for sharing this knowledge.” (Carmina Jurado, BMS participant)

“During the last seven months (in which we have been doing BMS) there has been more light in my life.”(Anonymous BMS participant)

“The title Buddhist Mind Science is very attractive in that many people will read different things into it. Each of the words will carry different connotations for different people both individually and in combination. But the course material itself is very experiential, and it is this that the attendees find most valuable, whatever expectation they may have had to attend in the first place.”(Simon Harrison, FPMT Teacher and BMS Facilitator)

 

Additional Information

  • Please plan on arriving between 3:00 and 5:00 PM on the first day of the retreat
  • Please plan on departing at approximately 2:00 PM on the last day of the retreat
  • Accommodation information is provided during the registration process
  • For more detailed information, please see our FAQ

 

If you are interested in serving as Course Liaison for this retreat, please apply here

 

About Vajrapani Institute

Vajrapani Institute for Wisdom Culture was one of the first Tibetan Buddhist Retreat Centers in America.  Vajrapani aims to provide a friendly and peaceful environment for people of all backgrounds to learn, put into practice the teachings of the Buddha, and connect with other Dharma practitioners.  Located on 70 acres of secluded land within the redwood forests of the Santa Cruz mountains, Vajrapani Institute has been an immersive space for people of all backgrounds to find and deepen their spiritual practices, with the main goal of bridging the gap between the head and heart of the practice.

 

Teacher’s Fees

Traditionally, spiritual teachings are considered priceless; the remuneration of our teachers is not included in the fee information detailed on this page. Instead, we invite you to consider bringing a cash donation with you to express your gratitude for the teachings. 

 

The Buddha encouraged the practice of generosity as it develops non-attachment, loving-kindness, and compassion and deepens the awareness of our interconnectedness. Offering Dana to our teachers, a Pali word for “generosity,” is said to benefit both the giver and the receiver, helping the giver to practice generosity and the receiver to practice acceptance. Your offering of Dana can be whatever feels generous to you in your heart and your particular financial situation. If you can’t afford to give a cash offering as Dana, a thank you note is perfectly generous.

 

Participants will get a chance to present a cash offering to the teachers on the last day of the retreat and this is supplemented by a donation from Vajrapani Institute. Please note that we don’t offer a credit card option for Dana

 

Financial Aid/ Scholarships

To encourage students to enroll in the Exploring Buddhism program, we are offering reduced fees and scholarships to EB students in need of assistance. We want to make retreats accessible to everyone. With this in mind, we will gladly work out a payment plan with you if needed. If more assistance is necessary, we offer several scholarships. Please note that the scholarship deadline is one month before the retreat begins. 

 

Our utmost goal is to help as many beings as possible to have the gift of retreat. If you have additional questions after reviewing the guidelines for payment plans and/or scholarships, please email the Office at office@vajrapani.org.

Teachers

Hans Burghardt
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 FPMT Masters Program at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in 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…
Learn more about Hans Burghardt
Marina Brucet
Marina Brucet 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 the six-year full-time FPMT Masters Program at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in 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,…
Learn more about Marina Brucet