You should feel safe — and you should know what you’re getting.
This is not a “mystery spiritual program.” You can try for free first, learn exactly how we teach, and only book paid time if it’s right for you.
You can try it free
Instructor Dave guide a live morning session in Washington Manor Park (San Leandro). You’re welcome to sit in, listen, ask questions, and see how we teach. No fee. No sign-up. No pressure. Just come and experience it.
Learn more →Who is teaching you
Instruction comes from a teacher trained and ordained in the Thai Forest tradition (including ~7 months as a bhikkhu). We teach based on classic breath meditation found in the earliest Pāli discourses — nothing invented, nothing manifested.
What you’re paying for
The private session is the same authentic method — but focused only on you. We sit with you one-on-one, help you work with your stress and attention, and (if needed) travel to meet you. The fee covers personal guidance and our time, not secret teachings.
No rituals. No belief test. You keep your normal life. We simply train mindfulness and concentration based on the words of the Buddha — directly, kindly, and respectfully.
Why Meditation is good for you?
According to peer-reviewed studies and reputable institutional summaries (NIH, APA, major medical centers), meditation based on mindfulness of breathing, attending to the in- and out-breath, has been linked to improvements in aspects such as attention, mood, sleep, pain coping, and key health markers. Tap an icon to read details.
Reduces stress & anxiety
Calms the nervous system.
Relieves depression & boosts mood
Fewer negative spirals.
Improves focus & concentration
Better attention; fewer lapses.
Self-awareness & self-control
More pause; wiser choices.
Emotion regulation
Less reactivity; steadier mood.
Compassion & EQ
Kinder, more patient relating.
Improves sleep quality
Helps some with insomnia.
Helps manage pain
Change your relationship to pain.
Blood pressure & heart health
Resting HR/BP may improve.
Immune & inflammation
Stress down; markers may lower.
Addiction & cravings
Notice urges without acting.
Cellular aging
Preliminary aging markers.
Healthy eating & weight
Less stress-eating; better choices.
Are these the main goal?
The items above are research-backed by-products people often experience while practicing meditation based on mindfulness of breathing. They are helpful, but they are not our destination. We guide you toward something deeper and more reliable than temporary relief or surface-level calm. Explanation will be provided in the next section.
What we truly aim to provide
Most of the world chases sensual pleasure and calls it happiness. We invite you to look more closely: to see what it truly is, to understand its drawbacks, and to learn the Buddha’s way to cultivate other pleasures (happiness) that transcend it. After more than a decade of practicing true Buddhism based on the words of the Buddha, I can say the teaching bears real fruit when it is followed carefully. The Buddha praised the miracle of instruction as the highest of the three miracles. Clear, faithful instruction changes people’s lives, for their welfare and for happiness that lasts.
What are the three pleasures (happiness)?
According to the Buddha there are 1) Worldly pleasure, 2) Unworldly pleasure, and 3) Unworldly beyond unworldly pleasure.
1 Worldly Pleasure
Whatever pleasure and joy arises from strands of sensual pleasure (desirable forms, sounds, scents, flavors and tangibles).
2 Unworldly Pleasure
Whatever pleasure and joy arises from Sama Samathi states (Right Concentration, some call it deep meditative state) such as First Jhana, Second Jhana and Third Jhana.
3 Unworldly beyond unworldy Pleasure
Whatever pleasure and joy arises for whose taints are destroyed, when reviewing ‘the mind is liberated from lust,’ ‘the mind is liberated from hate,’ ‘the mind is liberated from delusion’
The drawback of sensual pleasure
If you’ve wondered why life can feel like little happiness and much suffering, the Buddha explains the nature of sensuality clearly: little gratification, much suffering, much tribulation; the disadvantage is greater.
He gave vivid similes. The brief lines after each are interpretation from words of the Buddha (not the Buddha’s exact words).
- a vulture (birds of prey) fighting over a piece of meat — limited goods invite struggle
- a bone with little meat — too little to satisfy the hunger
- borrowed goods — what is held today must be returned
- a dream — appearing real, yet slipping away on waking
According to the Buddha, sensual desire, one of the five hindrances, is a corruption of the mind that weakens wisdom. When the mind is possessed and overwhelmed by sensual desire, one does not truly know or see what is beneficial for oneself, for others, or for both. Under its sway one does what should not be done, neglects what should be done, and declines from status/honor and the happiness one had. The Buddha’s guidance is plain: “It is not to be pursued, not to be developed, not to be cultivated much. One should fear this kind of pleasure, I say.”
From drawback to a higher happiness
Seeing the danger in sensual chasing isn’t the end, it’s the doorway to something better.
One should know the Analysis of Pleasure;
Having known the Analysis of Pleasure,
One should pursue Internal Pleasure.
Internal pleasure: wholesome, stable, here and now
The Buddha pointed to an inner happiness born of a steady, collected mind, not tied to the senses. It is a pleasant dwelling in the present that strengthens the mind, brings clarity, wisdom, and clear comprehension. With a clearer mind, people are not only happier, they also perform better in day-to-day life, because one’s state of mind is the foundation for good choices, resilience, and growth.
Beyond even refined joy: the pleasure of the ending of craving
Internal pleasure is sublime. And still, the Buddha points beyond it to a freedom that eclipses all pleasures:
Whatever sensual pleasure exists in the world,
and whatever pleasure is divine,
none of these amounts even to one-sixteenth
of the pleasure of the ending of craving.
This is Nibbāna, the cool dispassion (virāga) when greed, hate, and delusion are ceased. It is unshakeable well-being, not dependent on any sight, sound, taste, touch, or mental phenomena. Freedom from cravings, non-attachment.
A practical approach for many
Not everyone reaches the final end of craving at once. But every honest step toward letting go reduces suffering. The tighter the clinging, the sharper the pain; the lighter the holding, the gentler the heart. Change, loss, and praise or blame strike everyone yet training in release makes us steadier, kinder, and freer right now.
How does it work
We teach authentic Buddhist meditation on mindfulness of breathing (Ānāpānasati), kept as close as possible to the words of the Buddha in the discourses. The method is simple, exact, and repeatable.
Why “based on the words of the Buddha”? → Learn more »
How you can learn with us
1-on-1 instruction
- Personal assessment
- Tailored guidance
- Practice plan
Couple session
- Learn together
- Shared language
- Shared plan
Small group session
- Guided practice
- Short Q&A
- Cost share
Dhamma talks
- Grounded in Buddha’s words
- Practical application
- Q&A
Meditation Sessions
Why mindfulness of breathing?
Mindfulness of breathing (Ānāpānasati) is a practice the Buddha himself did. He described it as “a noble dwelling, a brahma dwelling, a Tathagata’s dwelling”. And during three-month rains retreat he mostly dwelt in the concentration of mindfulness of breathing.
The Buddha taught that Mindfulness of Breathing provides great fruits and benefits. It is peaceful and sublime, an ambrosial pleasant abiding, it also causes disappearance and cessation of unwholesome phenomena that have arisen. It enables practitioners to attain deep states of meditation, the four Jhānas (pleasant abiding) and the four formless attainments (peaceful liberations, beyond forms).
Mindfulness of Breathing, according to the Buddha, is also a form of Mindfulness of Body. Mindfulness of Body leads to acquire wisdom, growth of insight, broad insight, great insight, swift insight, nimble insight, and sharp insight. It also provides the conquest of discontent and delight, and of fear and anxiety as well as brings a high degree of mental fortitude and resilience.
Ultimately, practicing Mindfulness of Breathing leads directly to Nibbāna, the liberation and complete cessation of suffering.