Pragmatic Dharma Practice Community

Pragmatic Dharma is a modern approach to meditation that prioritizes results and direct experience over dogma.  Our fundamental premise is that enlightenment is possible.

Maybe you’re curious about meditation, and want to learn more about it, or you’re looking to establish a regular practice.

Or maybe you’ve been meditating for several years but haven’t seen the results you hoped for, and want to expand and invigorate your practice.

Or maybe you have already tasted the fruits of the dharma, and are looking for a group of dharma friends to hang out and meditate with.

In any case, here is what you can expect:

• There are many different meditation techniques, and we have experience in some, not all, of them. We think of each technique as a skill that you can learn and get better at.
• As such, when teaching a particular technique, we strive to give clear, actionable instructions, which are accompanied by some idea of what progress is like, as you get better at it.
• We generally prefer to speak from our own experience, more than “the buddha said this, the rinpoche said that”. Expect a transparent discussion of meditation experiences, including attainments.
• We are radically non-sectarian: in our practices, we have drawn from multiple meditation traditions based on what actually worked for us at any given time, and this is the approach we are teaching.

Format of each meeting:

• Instructions & Group Practice - A guided group sit.
• Dharma Talk - One of the teachers, or a guest, talks about an aspect of the dharma.
• Satsang - Friendly, informal sharing and discussion of meditation practices and experiences.

Details and Location:
There will be one monthly session, to be held at a Brian's office in Principe Real, about 5 minutes walk from Rato metro station.

The Teachers:

• Brian Newman 
  Residing in Asia for more than 30 years and fluent in Japanese, I currently live in Lisbon where I manage www.terma.asia, a global executive coaching and developmental training firm. I’ve maintained a dedicated meditation practice for more than a decade, including over six months in silent retreat. I have access to absorbed concentration states (jhāna) and have been authorized to teach jhāna by Sayalay Susīlā, the resident Buddhist nun of Apamāda Viharī Center in Malaysia.  I’ve been teaching meditation for eight years, work 1-1 with several students, and lead weekly sessions at www.jhana.community, part of the Buddhist Geeks network founded by Vincent Horn. Along with Vince, I am a dharma heir of Kenneth Folk, founder of Pragmatic Dharma.

• Bruno Loff
  I have been practicing since 2009, and I have done more than 15 solo 10+ day retreats, mostly dry vipassana until 2023, and including jhāna practice since then. I only ever had a handful of private sessions with dharma teachers, and otherwise everything I have learned was through reading, experimentation, group classes, friendly conversations with dharma buddies, and of course lots of practice.

  My nearly 16 years on the path have not just cured me of a diagnosed bipolar disorder, the very reason I got into meditation in the first place, but further transformed my mind to a default baseline of existential peace and happiness.