HomeClasses and Workshops

Classes and Workshops

Classes are offered by members of the community covering various aspects of Buddhism and meditation practice. The classes listed below are offered periodically.

Types of class enrollment

Drop-in. You may attend any class session.
Registration is required. Watch for an email notice of the enrollment period, containing instructions on how to sign up.

Please contact the teacher or facilitator with any questions or to show interest in the class. Showing interest in a class may make it happen sooner!

A Year To Live

a monthly, yearlong class series

Susan Quinones

This class is a yearlong practice in using death... and life, as an object of contemplation to help us awaken to the fleeting and precious nature of our lives. Through inquiry and group discussions, and with the support of community, participants are guided through a process of living for a year as if it were our last.

The class is facilitated by Susan Quinones, a member of White Heron Sangha and registered nurse trained in Hospice and End of Life Care.

As a reference, the class uses Stephen Levine’s book, A Year to Live: How to Live This Year as if it Were Your Last.

Contact: Susan Quinones with questions.

Accessing Mindfulness

a 4 week series in 2025 - January 4, 11, 18 and 25

Mick Malotte

Suitable for Non-Buddhists and Buddhists alike.
A good introduction for those new to mindfulness meditation, also a good refresher for those with experience who want to establish a regular daily meditation practice and see more benefit in daily life.
Similar to courses Mick teaches at Stanford Medical School and UCSF Medical Center with added dharma depth.
Based on original mindfulness texts and current contemplative neuroscience. Optional companion books: “Introducing Mindfulness” by Bhikkhu Analayo and “Peak Mind” by Amishi Jha.

Daily Meditation Commitment:Minimum of 12 minutes every day for 5 weeks, based on recent neuroscience findings (reduced distress and improved well-being). Once benefits are experienced and meditation becomes an enjoyable habit, then natural motivation follows to continue and increase practice time, if desired, with greater benefits.

Mick’s passion is in making deep rooted mindfulness practices accessible, relevant, and helpful to those engaged in modern life in order to lessen distress and bring well-being and joy. He has been practicing and studying mediation for 30 years, mostly in the Insight and Mahamudra traditions. He is married, has two children, two grandchildren and is a retired physician.

Accordion Widget

More about Mick

Mick was trained as a meditation teacher through Spirit Rock Meditation Center. In 2017 Mick completed Spirit Rock’s two and a half year CDL training program where he received instruction on how to lead dharma practices from Bhikkhu Bodhi, Jack Kornfield, Sharon Salzberg, Sylvia Boorstein, Tara Brach, Gil Fronsdal and many others. Mick leads a Spirit Rock affiliated mindfulness sitting group at the White Heron Sangha in San Luis Obispo.

He has also been trained through UCSD to lead secular Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction courses and is a certified MBSR instructor. He teaches MBSR courses in the San Luis Obispo area.

Additionally, Mick trained at the University of Rochester with Ronald Epstein to lead mindfulness practices for healthcare professionals and graduated from their Mindful Practice Facilitator Training.

Mick now leads mindfulness trainings in person and virtually at academic medical centers around the country including Stanford Medical School, UCSF, UCLA, University of Washington, Baylor University and many others. He is an instructor at the UCSF Center for Mindfulness in Surgery.

Contact: Mick Malotte with questions.

Basics of Meditation

a 4 week series in 2025 - Saturdays, September 6, 13, 20, 27
10-11:30am

Laura Liss

This class is offered to help meditation practice become more accessible.

The series will explore meditation as one among several integral practices of spiritual Buddhism and is designed for people who are curious about meditation, new to the sangha, and/or wanting to revitalize their practice.

The basics will include grounding posture, anchors to present moment experience, lightly guided practice and gentle inquiry. As we cultivate our natural capacity to observe direct experience through the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (the body, feelings, mind and phenomena), we'll also explore the motivation and dedication of practice which is to benefit all beings, as well as the significance of the three jewels - the Buddha, dharma and sangha.

Laura has been teaching Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction courses since 2016 and is a Certified MBSR Instructor. After a number of years as a social worker and psychotherapist, she has taught various forms of yoga including Classical Yoga since 2005. Laura began attending retreats and studying Buddhism in 2017 and recently completed the WHS Leadership Development Program led by Rosemary Donnell, James Coleman and Mick Malotte.

Contact: Laura Liss with questions. All are welcome.

Becoming Tara

a 4 week workshop

James Coleman

Tara is the embodiment of enlightened mind, a manifestation of our own deepest wisdom. In this group, simple practices are performed together that help to connect us with her awakened wisdom and to manifest her love and power in our daily lives.

The visualization of the female Buddha Tara not only builds concentration, it helps balance our female and male energies, and helps free us from the limitations of our deluded sense of self.

Everyone is welcome, including newcomers.

Contact: James Coleman with questions.

Core Buddhism

a 5 week series

Rosemary Donnell

“The Core of the Buddha’s Path and Its Relation to Meditation” is the full name of this series, which focuses on the most basic of the Buddha’s teachings: The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, with a particular focus on mindfulness meditation.

The class is taught by Rosemary Donnell. Classes are usually held on Saturdays from 3:00pm to 5:15pm (with a 10 to 15 minute break). This series is suitable for both beginners and those with experience. Since 2020, if the course is taught in the winter, it is entirely on Zoom. The Summer class either meets in her home in Morro Bay or at the White Heron Sangha Center. The notifications are sent out four to eight weeks before the class starts. Registration is limited to allow more individual attention.

Since the class was previously entirely in her home, the class was not advertised publicly. Consequently, Rosemary maintained her own “want class” e-mail list. Since 2023, the class has also simultaneously been announced to all Sangha members. So, if you are a member you will automatically be notified of the next class.

If you choose to not be a Sangha member and want to be put on the list she maintains, contact Rosemary at the link below. Being added to the list is not the same as registering for the class. It means that, until you ask to be removed from the list, you will be notified of each five-week class and how to register.

Rosemary is a founding member of the White Heron Sangha; a graduate of Spirit Rock’s first Community Dharma Leader Program (06/1997 to 01/2000). She has taught a form of this class since October, 1997.

Contact: Rosemary Donnell

Metta: The Path To Peace

a 4 week series

Mick Malotte

Metta, the Pali word for kindheartedness, grows from our innate human capacity for caring and connection. It can be cultivated as a powerful support for well-being, joy, stability of mind, and the deepening of our meditation practice.

In this class series, we will explore a range of techniques for developing kindness, as well as ways to navigate the obstacles that often get in the way of living with more ease, happiness, and peace.

Accordion Widget

More about Mick

Contact: Mick Malotte with questions.

The Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma: An Introduction to Buddhism

a 6 week series

James Coleman

Buddhism has been a living tradition for more than two thousand years, and this class will examine each of the three great “turnings of the wheel of Dharma” from a contemporary 21st century perspective. We will use short excerpts from the great sutras, three core chapters from my book The Buddha’s Dream of Liberation: Freedom, Emptiness, and Awakened Nature, and group discussions of our own personal experience to explore the theory and practice of Buddhism, and how we can bring them into our hectic modern lives. This class is suitable both for beginners and more advanced practitioners. The class will meet once a week for six weeks, and will be held two or three times a year depending on demand. For more information contact James at the link below.

James has a Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara and specializes in the sociology of religion. He has published numerous books and articles including The New Buddhism (Oxford University Press) and most recently The Buddha’s Dream of Liberation: Freedom, Emptiness, and Awakened Nature (Wisdom Publications). He is a founding member of the White Heron Sangha and a graduate of the Sukhasiddhi Foundation’s Community Dharma Leader program. His root teachers include Toni Packer, Reb Anderson Roshi, Lama Palden Drolma and Rose Taylor Goldfield.

Contact: James Coleman

Classes and Workshops

A Year To Live

Accessing Mindfulness

Becoming Tara

Core Buddhism

Metta: The Path To Peace

The Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma: An Introduction to Buddhism

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