2026 Online Courses
Registrations are open for all classes. Please register for each course you wish to join. Thank you.
These courses meet once or twice a month on the days specified,
with adjustments for Santikaro’s retreat & travel schedule.
All sessions are on Zoom and will be recorded.
If you miss attending live, please listen to the recording at first opportunity.
All courses have a Home Page stored on Google. After you register,
you’ll be given access and can go there for up to date information.
Monday Guided Meditations (1st & 3rd Mondays, usually)
These guided meditations will alternate between the foundation stages of ānāpānasati (mindfulness with breathing in and out) and healing meditations involving breathing and visualization. They will help you build the foundations for a regular practice and will also support the Ānāpānasati Foundations course (see next entry). The healing meditations will bring kind, healthy energy to organs and systems that are distorted by our emotional afflictions. For details see this pdf. You can register here.
Ānāpānasati Foundations (2nd Tuesdays)
This course is for folks relatively new to Mindfulness with Breathing (ānāpānasati) or who have difficulty stringing together a regular practice. You can also join if you would benefit from a review of these foundations, primarily the Body Tetrad. We will cover the basics of attitude and intention, posture, sensitivity to breathing, cultivating healthy breathing, and directing attention without strain or distraction. Each session, Santikaro will give a short talk on a relevant topic. Participants are expected to meditate regularly and to bring experiences, questions, and learnings to our conversations. For details see this pdf. You can register here.
You might benefit from also joining the Monday Guided Meditations, half of which will parallel these conversations. If you have an interest in exploring the full range of ānāpānasati as taught by the Buddha, you can also join on 4th Tuesdays.
Ānāpānasati Full Spectrum (4th Tuesdays)
For experienced practitioners of ānāpānasati who wish to develop the full range of this practice as originally outlined by the Buddha, especially the sections concerning feeling tones, mind (heart), and Dhamma. The Ānāpānasati Sutta (MN 118) will be a primary reference. Participants are encouraged to read some of the better books on this practice, such as those by Ajahn Buddhadāsa, Thich Nhat Hanh, Larry Rosenberg, Ajahn Sucitto, and Bhikkhu Analayo. In 2026, I will refer to the books of Ajahn Buddhadāsa and Larry Rosenberg especially.
Each session will begin with a 15 minute guided practice that provides a taste of what a particular training is about. That will be the starting point of the evening’s conversation. We won’t spend much time on the opening section focused on body. Join the Ānāpānasati Foundations course if you wish to fortify that set of trainings. For details see this pdf. You can register here.
Fundamentals of Buddha-Dhamma (Wednesdays)
This class is in flux as the La Crosse regulars look for a new place to meet. In February we will meet on Zoom: February 4 & 25.
Registration not required but you must sign up for the La Crosse Group emails through our ConstantContact account.
Living in Samsara (occasional Thursday evenings beginning February 5th)
for Resilience, Courage, & Compassion grounded in the Inner-Journey
Saṁsāra (wandering, recycling) is the worlds in which we live. This versatile concept and metaphor helps us understand these worlds and how we journey through them. We will consider the outer saṁsāras such as capitalist society, deteriorating democracy, and climate change, and the inner saṁsāras of our reactions, fears, and anguish. How these outer and inner saṁsāras interact, provoke, and reinforce each other will be central to this monthly series.
The point of observing all these saṁsāras is to find a course through them to freedom from greed, hatred, and delusion. To guide our explorations so that that the wanderings aren’t meaningless, the Middle Way will be a consistent thread for reflections and application as we become Sappurisa, true persons of character and integrity. And our North Star for orientation and inspiration is Kevalatā, Wholeness that includes and transcends everything, including the destructive afflictions of heart, psyche, and soul.
Most months we’ll meet on 2nd Thursdays, but sometimes will be 1st or 3rd. For details see this pdf (revised 1/30/2026). You can register here.
Practicing with the Suttas (4th Thursday evenings, beginning February 26th)
The Pāli suttas (discourses) provide a primary record of the Buddha’s path and teaching. Each month a sutta will be discussed in terms of guiding our practice, both meditation on the cushion and living the middle way in all situations. Digesting the original teachings often provides insights beyond popular modern formulations and you may be inspired by reading texts as close to the original Buddha as possible. Previous knowledge of the suttas is not required. For details see this pdf. You can register here.
2026 Retreats
On-Line Retreats (Anapanasati Foundations – February 8-14)
This retreat focuses on the basics of Ānāpānasati — in & out breaths, short & deep breaths, how breathing conditions the body, and calming of breathing & body — which creates a platform for exploring feeling tones, mind-heart, and Dhamma. We will also establish a toehold in the later stages of Ānāpānasati. These foundations will support your further explorations of this comprehensive system of meditation.
— Retreat details here (pdf) — You can register here.