Know your mind, transform your life

In this 8-week course — the third Know your Mind, Transform your Life course module — we will explore Buddha’s teachings on our mind’s true nature, also referred to as buddha nature, or the wealth of our innate wakefulness.

The teachings on buddha nature communicate most directly what lies at the heart of Buddha's message: that we are fundamentally good, and our essential nature, our identity, is the same profound, peaceful, stainless, lucid, and unconditioned essence that Buddha himself discovered at the time of his spiritual awakening.

Confidence in buddha nature is deeply transformative in terms of our outlook on life; the way we view ourselves, the world around us, our values and priorities in life, our relationship to our spiritual path: all this is touched by the teachings on buddha nature.

This course will bring together classic Indian and Tibetan Buddhist teachings on buddha nature, and contemporary teachings by Sogyal Rinpoche that present the topic of buddha nature from the perspective of the dzogchen teachings.

We will work together on building confidence in our buddha nature through reflection and contemplation, as well as the practice of meditation — learning to relax into the clarity and awareness of our mind which is available to us all the time.

Course details

• When: 8 classes on Wednesday evenings 6:30pm - 8:30pm AEST Qld time, starting on 28 October to 16 December 2026.

  Plus two extended classes 9:30am - 3:00pm AEST Qld time on Sunday 15 November and Sunday 13 December 2026

• Where: In person at Rigpa Brisbane, 2/19 Enoggera Terrace, Red Hill QLD and online (online attendance option is intended for participants residing outside Brisbane or if you're unwell)

• 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 (same code as module 2).

The Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma

This course is the third 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:  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 (Current Course):  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.