Know your mind, transform your life

In this 8-week course, we will explore the revolutionary Buddhist insight that our own mind — rather than external circumstances — is the creator of happiness and suffering. When we deeply come to know our mind, and care for it, we can tap into a source of inner peace, well-being, wisdom, and compassion.

The key to this is the practice of meditation, which will be the main topic of our course. As Sogyal Rinpoche says in The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying:

"The gift of learning to meditate is the greatest gift you can give yourself in this life. For it is only through meditation that you can undertake the journey to discover your true nature, and so find the stability and confidence you will need to live, and die, well."

Through meditation and shared reflection, we will investigate what our mind is, how it functions, and exactly how it creates our happiness and suffering. This exploration can lead to profound confidence in our mind's intrinsic essence: an unchanging, pure awareness that underlies the whole of life and death. We come to understand that our thoughts and emotions are workable, and we find the patience and dedication to gradually uncover our inherent peace and wisdom.

There will be ample time for meditation, reflection, and discussion, making these classes meaningful for everyone, from beginners to those who come with a foundation in Buddhism.

Course details

• When: Weekly classes on Wednesday evenings from 27 May to 22 July 2026 (no class on 10 June), 7:00pm - 8:45pm AEST - Time difference calculator

  Practice based classes on Sunday 14 June and Sunday 12 July 2026, 9:30am - 3:00pm AEST - Time difference calculator
  

• Where:
  in person at Rigpa Brisbane, 2/19 Enoggera Terrace, Red Hill
  and online (online attendance only available if you do not live in Brisbane)

• Cost: $200 full fee or $110 concession

For Rigpa subscribers: The course is included in your subscription fees. Please email brisbane@rigpa.org.au for the discount code.

The Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma

This course is the first of three modules that together explore the essence of the Buddha's teachings. Buddha presented his teachings on three occasions, called the 'Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma':

• Module 1 (Current Course):  Presents the First Turning, showing how developing wisdom can transform our lives and help us find our path that leads to inner peace and well-being.

• Module 2:  Explores the Second Turning, broadening our path to include our relationship with others through the Middle Way view of emptiness and interdependence and the practices of love and compassion.

• Module 3:  Presents the Third Turning with its key message that our mind's nature, and that of all other beings, is, and always has been, the Buddha: open, spacious, awake, and full of wisdom and compassion. From this perspective, our path is one of coming to recognise our enlightened essence, and bring it into direct experience.
  

About Jan van der Breggen

Jan grew up in the Netherlands where he earned a Masters Degree in Historical Anthropology. He is fluent in English and Dutch. He lives in Brisbane where he works as a data analytics professional. Jan was instrumental in founding Rigpa Brisbane in 1999, where he has served as a Dharma instructor for over 20 years.

Jan was honoured to be entrusted by Khenchen Namdrol Rinpoche and Mindroling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche as one of the twenty-five worldwide Rigpa Senior teachers. In 2017, he was selected to be a participant in the Milinda program, a 10-year, international Buddhist teacher training program under the guidance of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche.

Jan is a teacher in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and a scholar of Buddhist philosophy. He began the path of meditation at 17 years old, touched by the tenderness of the human experience and filled with questions about what reality was all about. He soon encountered the writings of great masters from various traditions such as J. Krishnamurti, Suzuki Roshi, Thich Nhat Hanh and Sogyal Rinpoche. Thirty years later, Jan continues to be moved by the vast profundity of the Buddhist path and its vision of the inherent wisdom, loving kindness and strength that lies in the minds of each and everyone of us.