The Ashokan Meditation Center (AMC) in New York State’s Hudson Valley has announced the launch of a new series of live-streamed teachings rooted in the Thai Forest Tradition, in the lineage of Ajahn Chah and Ajahn Anan, and titled “A Steady Heart: Calm, Insight & Loving-Kindness in Difficult Times.”
This free program will run from 20 January–29 March on Zoom and will be led by American-born Theravada monk Ajahn Wade Bhuripanyo.
“Many people are feeling strain and uncertainty right now,” Ajahn Wade shared with BDG “The Buddha’s teachings give us practical tools to steady the heart, grow kindness and compassion, and move toward genuine freedom. These programs are an offering to anyone who wishes to explore that path more deeply.”
Ajahn Wade Bhuripanyo was ordained in Thailand in 2014. He brings 32 years of experience in Buddhist practice and meditation to the classes. He also shares teachings on YouTube.
“A Steady Heart: Calm, Insight & Loving Kindness in Difficult Times” will be conducted in English. Program highlights include:
• Heart of Refuge: Worship & Meditation – Weekly, Saturday evening
An inspiring evening of Buddhist worship and meditation in English, with refuges and precepts, simple chanting, and silent sitting. Open to newcomers and long-term practitioners.
• Calm, Insight & Loving Kindness – Sunday long-practice workshops
Most Sundays (25 January–29 March; some Sundays reserved for temple teaching). Three-hour practice sessions combining guided meditation, teaching, and discussion on themes such as emotional balance, loving-kindness, calm and insight, and integrating practice with daily life.
• The Lotus Path: Way of Skill & Awakening – Sunday evening Dhamma series
A weekly Dhamma series for established practitioners, exploring meditation as the path of skillfulness and awakening in the Thai Forest tradition, with guided practice, talk, and Q&A.
• Metta and Emotional Balance – Tuesday evenings
Guided loving-kindness and compassion meditation with short reflections on working with fear, anger, and sadness in difficult times.
• Roots and Branches: Foundations & Life Practice – Thursday evenings
A practical series on posture, breath, mindfulness, ethics, and bringing practice into work, relationships, and modern life.
• Open Q&A – Three Monday evening question-and-answer sessions
Open question-and-answer evenings on meditation and the Buddhist path. Participants may ask questions live or via chat.
• Sangha and the Entryway to Liberation—a special day-long Magha Puja on 1 March
A special daylong retreat to honor the Theravada Buddhist holiday Magha Puja, remembering great disciples and the Buddha’s “Exhortation on the Entryway to Liberation (Ovada Patimokkha),” with refuges and precepts, chanting, guided meditation, and Dhamma reflections.
All programs are freely offered via Zoom. Click here for full schedule and registration.
“Our free online meditation programs are a refuge and a training rooted in Theravada Buddhism and the Thai Forest Tradition,” the AMC stated. “They are a means to lift up the heart, deepen wisdom, and share any goodness of practice with a world very much in need of it.”
The Ashokan Meditation Center (AMC), in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York, is a non-profit organization that helps people discover, learn, and live meditation. The AMC specializes in traditional Thai Theravada Buddhist meditation. The center offers teachings emphasizing simplicity, ethical living, and direct experience of the Dhamma through practice.
“Meditation can be very helpful for improving one’s memory and also for dealing with burnout,” noted Somsak Bhitiyakul, MD, one of the Ashokan Meditation Center’s co-sponsors.
See more
Ashokan Meditation Center
Ajahn Wade Bhuripanyo (YouTube)
Related news reports from BDG
Online Dharma: Tergar Announces Live Webinar on Emotional Well-Being with Tsoknyi Rinpoche
Online Dharma: Jungto Society Opens 2026 Student Intake for Jungto Dharma School with Ven. Pomnyun Sunim
Online Dharma: 84000 Celebrates 15 Years of Translating the Words of the Buddha
Online Dharma: Ashokan Meditation Center in New York Offers Free Live-streamed Meditation Classes
