Mentoring & Guidance
Individual Mentoring Program
The Individual Mentoring Program is for people who have a deep interest and commitment to their own unfoldment as they experience it in their worldly lives. It is a version of the year-long Group Mentoring Program, which Tina offered three times previously, and is now customized for interested practitioners to complete on a 1:1 basis. It is helpful for people who are sincerely interested in the deeper questions of life in engaging “the mystery” as householders.
The Mentoring Program has an emphasis on the broader Buddhist / spiritual path including a full spectrum of Buddhist practices, modern personality work, and integration and embodiment of purification, insight, and awakening into our worldly life as we live it. Monthly topics/practices include: Introduction; Working with the personality through the Enneagram; Inquiry and the Inner Critic; Sila/Wholesome Living; Samatha; Purification of Mind; Vipassana; Non-duality and Dzogchen; the BramaViharas and Bodhicitta; Body-based Practices; Socially Engaged Buddhism; and Your Dharma Vision and Flame for Awakening. Engaging in mentoring for a full year provides an understanding and experience of practices that are important to consider for a well-rounded spiritual unfoldment of one’s deepest nature.
The program includes audio recordings of teaching on each monthly practice, a reading list for each month, homework/reflection questions, and monthly 1:1 mentoring sessions with Tina Rasmussen via Zoom. Jennifer Wheeler is also available for this program, in cases when Tina has a wait list. Participants also have the option of alternating months with Tina and Jennifer. In cases where more than one person is doing the program at a time, and individuals want contact with other like-minded people, access to “dharma buddies” from around the world may also be available. Or, you could choose to do the program with a friend that you already know, and do the program together. The cost for this is only the cost of the sessions, which is $2095 for twelve 55-minute sessions. You can start any time, with the program lasting a year. If you are interested, please see the Individual Mentoring Program in our Store. If you want to move ahead, please email via the Contacts Page (before purchasing) to find out when Tina can start with new students (sometimes there is a wait list to start), or to request doing the sessions with Jennifer.
1:1 Spiritual Mentoring and Guidance Sessions
If you have very simple and short questions, we may be able to respond to these briefly by email. Visit the “Contact Us” page to send an email.
For more extended or ongoing inquiries, Tina and Jennifer offer individual spiritual guidance and mentoring sessions via Zoom/phone. The focus of these calls is your spiritual practice and how it informs your worldly life. As Tina worked as a professional coach for many years, and has been in the Diamond Approach for nearly 20 years, she can also offer you tools as part of your spiritual mentoring with which you can further understand your personality structure, and how it both supports your practice and manifests as hindrances. Jennifer Wheeler also offers individual spiritual guidance, and can sometimes see people sooner when Tina’s calendar is full. In addition to her work in Buddhism, Jennifer has also worked in the Diamond Approach for many years, and also brings these tools to her 1:1 sessions with people.
Spiritual guidance is offered for either 55 or 30 minutes, as needed or on a regularly scheduled basis. Please email via the Contacts Page first to find out when Tina’s next openings are available (sometimes there is a wait list), or to request a session with Jennifer. One-on-one sessions of 55 minutes are offered on a sliding scale of $210 to $160. For 30 minutes, the fee is $110 to $90. Fees for Tina and Jennifer are the same. Payment is made in advance (once you have made contact) in order to hold your space. Please pay via PayPal using the button below, or send your PayPal payment to LuminousMindSangha@email.com (note this is NOT gmail). Please enter the amount appropriate for your session, according to the sliding scale above. Once your session time is held, please make sure to be there for the time of your session, as missed appointments (unless for health reasons or emergencies) count as a session.
One-on-one guidance for solo retreats is also available, with Jennifer Wheeler. In order to request solo retreat guidance, please email via the Contacts Page first to check availability. If Jennifer is available, you can then purchase a “Retreat in a Box” with sessions included, from the Retreats-in-a-Box page.
Dharma Talks and Retreats by Invitation
Tina and members of the Teaching Team are available to give dharma talks via Zoom (or possibly at your location), and Tina is available to lead a retreat at your location. For a sample of dharma talks, please visit the Talks page. If you or your sangha are interested in organizing a retreat or dharma talk for Tina to lead, please contact Luminous Mind Sangha directly via the Contacts page.
Code of Ethics
All Luminous Mind Sangha teachers adhere to the Teacher Code of Ethics adopted by the Teachers’ Councils of Spirit Rock Meditation Center and the Insight Meditation Society as well as the Spirit Rock Statement of Values.
Tina is also a members of the Association of Professional Spiritual Teachers, (used to be the Association for Spiritual Integrity) which is a voluntary, inclusive, international organization of spiritual leaders, teachers and guides, offering membership to a supportive community of peers to teachers who agree to abide by a code of good and ethical practice, and commit to their ongoing professional, personal and spiritual evolution. Tina also abides by their Code of Ethics.
Practicing The Jhanas:
Traditional Concentration Meditation As Presented By The Venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw