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What we’re about

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

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 silent group sit, guided group sit, or out-loud peer-to-peer social meditation (which you can always witness as a silent observer).
  • Dharma Talk/Teaching - One of the teachers, or a guest, talks about an aspect of the dharma.
  • Friendly Discussion - Friendly, informal sharing and discussion of meditation practices and experiences.

Details and Location:
There will be weekly practice meet-up, to be held at the Mindful Wellness Space in Black Mountain, NC, each Friday at 5:30pm, going for 75 minutes.

The Teachers:

  • Vince Fakhoury Horn is part of a new generation of teachers & innovators bringing dharma, meditation, & mindfulness to life in the 21st century. Vince spent his 20s co-founding the ground-breaking project, Buddhist Geeks, while doing a full year, in total, of silent retreat practice. He began teaching dharma & meditation in 2010 and has been authorized in both the Pragmatic Dharma lineage of Kenneth Folk, as well as by Trudy Goodman and Jack Kornfield in the Insight Meditation tradition. Vince is rooted in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Swannanoa, North Carolina, with his partner Emily and their son Zander.
  • Emily West Horn is a Certified Mindfulness Teacher via the International Mindfulness Teachers Association. She is also authorized to teach meditation, dharma, and long retreats by Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Insight Meditation Society, and InsightLA. Emily has been called a “power player of the mindfulness movement" by Wired Magazine. Her work is featured in 10% Happier, Boston Children's Hospital's Comfort Ability Project, Buddhist Geeks, and apps such as Brightmind and buddhify. She's also been mentoring mindfulness teachers in a certification led by Jack Kornfield, Ph.D and Tara Brach Ph.D for over 8 years. For her, a mindful life is simply learning to dance with all of this human experience: from transcendence to dirty dishes, evolutionary edges to ancient roots, solitary practice to deepening relationships. She lives in Swannanoa, North Carolina with her husband, Vince, and son, Zander.
  • Guest Teachers : A number of guest teachers will join us for special one-off events, or as guests in our regular meet-ups.

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