METTA (LOVING-KINDNESS) MEDITATION TEACHER TRAINING
with Senior Dharma Moon Teachers
Rebecca D'Onofrio & Noel Coakley
February 6th – March 30th, 2025
- Thursdays, 6pm - 8pm ET: Main Presentations
- Sundays, 10am - 11am ET: Optional Group Practices
This course is exclusively for graduates of Dharma Moon's 100-hour Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training
Many people these days struggle with feelings of isolation, separateness and disconnection, but the ways in which we attempt to alleviate these feelings often fall short. The very goals we seek through these attempts - connection, happiness and fulfillment - often elude us and ultimately remain beyond our reach, leaving us perpetually unsatisfied and disheartened. According to Buddhism, this is a root cause of suffering.
Metta, or loving-kindness meditation, is a transformative practice that addresses this suffering by awakening the heart's potential for wisdom and compassion.
Metta practice opens our hearts by focusing on generating feelings of goodwill toward ourselves as well as others, cutting through our ego's tendency to create a false sense of separateness, leading to a greater sense of awareness and connection with the world around us.
The benefits of this practice include increased feelings of well-being, gratitude, empathy and compassion. It decreases pain and stress by creating a spacious atmosphere of kindness and acceptance toward whatever we experience.
Building on the skills taught during Dharma Moon's 100-hour Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training, the Metta (Loving-Kindness) Meditation Teacher Training provides meditation teachers with a comprehensive introduction to the background, teachings and practice of Metta Meditation along with the methodology, tools and skills to teach and guide this profound practice to others.
Loving-kindness meditation can be a powerful tool for meditation teachers to help their students:
- Enhance empathy and compassion
- Better manage mental health and challenging emotions
- Improve interpersonal relationships
- Deepen self-acceptance and self-love
- Promote a sense of connectedness and interdependence
- Cultivate patience and tolerance
- Build emotional resilience
In this teacher training, you will receive:
- An extensive introduction to Metta Meditation principles and practices.
- Detailed lectures on various aspects of Metta Meditation.
- Methodology and guidance on teaching Metta Meditation.
- Exploration of frequently asked questions and traditional obstacles and hindrances in Metta practice.
- Live guided Metta meditation and interactive group discussions.
- Practice and refinement of teaching skills in simulated groups.
- Q&A sessions with experienced teachers.
- A training manual with detailed instructions on how to guide Metta Meditation.
- “Getting Started with a Metta Meditation Practice” instructional handout to share with your own students.
- 90 min Metta Meditation Class Syllabus to base your own Metta classes on.
- Access to pre-recorded guided Metta meditations and exercises that can be adapted for use with your own students.
- Scripts of the five categories of guided Metta Meditation practices for use during your own classes
- A vibrant virtual classroom and community forum for ongoing support.
- Certificate of Completion (subject to meeting course requirements).
- All class recordings will be archived and available for future reference and review.
OVERVIEW OF COURSE MODULES
Required Course Text: Loving-Kindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness by Sharon Salzberg (not included).
Module 1
Thursday, February 6th, 6:00pm – 8:00pm ET
- Introduction to the Metta Meditation Practice
- Guided "Metta for Loved Ones" Practice
- Overview of the Four Brahma Viharas: Loving-Kindness, Compassion, Empathetic Joy, Equanimity
- Q & A and Group Discussion
- Live Group Metta Practice: Sunday, February 9th, 10:00am – 11:00am ET
Module 2
Thursday, February 13th, 6:00pm – 8:00pm ET
- Guided “Metta for Self” Practice
- Presentation on Loving-Kindness
- Presentation on Compassion
- Q & A and Group Discussion
- Live Group Metta Practice: Sunday, February 16th, 10:00am – 11:00am ET
Module 3
Thursday, February 20th, 6:00pm – 8:00pm ET
- Guided “Metta for Neutral Beings” Practice
- Presentation on Empathetic Joy
- Presentation on Equanimity
- Q & A and Group Discussion
- Live Group Metta Practice: Sunday, February 23rd, 10:00am – 11:00am ET
Module 4
Thursday, February 27th, 6:00pm – 8:00pm ET
- Guided “Metta for Difficult Beings” Practice
- Presentation on Absolute & Relative Bodhicitta
- Review of the Frequently Asked Questions
- Contraindications of Metta Meditation
- Q & A and Group Discussion
- Live Group Metta Practice: Sunday, March 2nd, 10:00am – 11:00am ET
Module 5
Thursday, March 6th, 6:00pm – 8:00pm ET
- Guided “Full Formal Metta” Practice
- Presentation on the Principles of Guiding Metta Meditation
- Demonstration of Guiding Metta Meditation
- Q & A and Group Discussion
- Live Group Metta Practice: Sunday, March 9th, 10:00am – 11:00am ET
Module 6
Thursday, March 13th, 6:00pm – 8:00pm ET
- Simulated Teaching Practice Groups
- Session I: How to Present a Metta Meditation Class
- Feedback Session with Peers
- Q & A and Group Discussion with Presenters
- Simulated Teaching Practice Groups: Sunday, March 16th, 10:00am – 11:30am ET
Module 7
Thursday, March 20th, 6:00pm – 8:00pm ET
- Simulated Teaching Practice Groups
- Session II: How to Guide the Metta Meditation Practice
- Feedback Session with Peers
- Q & A and Group Discussion with Presenters
- Simulated Teaching Practice Groups: Sunday, March 23rd, 10:00am – 11:30am ET
Module 8
Thursday, March 27th, 6:00pm – 8:00pm ET
- Guided “Full Formal Metta” Practice
- Review of Full Program
- Taking Metta Out Into the World
- Q & A and Group Discussion
- Simulated Teaching Practice Groups: Sunday, March 30th, 10:00am – 11:30am ET
GRADUATE FEEDBACK
“This course has helped me deepen my own practice and given me another teaching tool. My expectation going into the class was that it would just give me another technique to teach, but I feel that after the class my direct experience of meditation as a whole has been profoundly expanded. In particular when you carry the practice into everyday life it seems to generate a feeling of receptivity to the world as-it-is through accepting others as they are. And so really illuminates and then deemphasizes attachment and aversion in a way that mindfulness alone wasn't doing for me. I couldn't be more thrilled with the class.”
“As an adjunct to the MMTT this felt like the natural and perfect next step to take. These teachings have taken me deeper into self-awareness and continue to bring me greater understanding of myself and others. I'm not bragging when I say that I believe this course and this practice is making me into a better teacher.”
“I just really have unending praise for Rebecca and Noel. It is so important to embody the teachings. I think genuine transmission of teachings really has to be embodied by the teachers. Heart knowledge/wisdom, lived knowledge/wisdom can be felt - even through Zoom! They embodied Metta throughout the instruction, facilitation, feedback, and Q&A's. From day one, it felt like the class was in perfectly capable hands. If I had to choose two words to describe their presence and the environment of the class, it would be: warmth and wisdom.”
TEACHERS
Rebecca D'Onofrio
Rebecca is the Director of Operations & Programming at Dharma Moon where she enjoys creating and organizing programs that support people along their meditation journey. Additionally, she serves as a Senior Teacher, providing training and mentoring support to the Dharma Moon teaching team and she serves as a head teacher of the Metta (Loving-Kindness) Meditation Teacher Training.
Rebecca is also the Director of RDYoga, LLC, a company she founded in 2014 that creates tailored wellness programming for a variety of organizations to help transform workplace culture and work life balance by integrating mindfulness and somatic practices. Rebecca is a certified meditation, yoga and fitness coach with over 15 years of teaching experience.
Rebecca is a dedicated Buddhist practitioner, having completed The Sacred Path of the Warrior, which is a series of in-depth trainings, courses, and meditation retreats based on the unique teachings of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, as well as extensive study and practice of the three-yana Buddhist path within the Karma Kagyu lineage since 2013.
Rebecca is passionate about integrating meditation as part of the dying process and has provided hospice care and end-of-life services to actively dying people and their families since 2015. Rebecca is passionate about normalizing the concept of death in society and considers it a sacred transition.
Rebecca also serves as a Special Education Advocate for neuro-diverse and transgender/queer youth in the US public school system. This provides her with the ability to integrate and provide specialized learning support to the programs she creates and teaches.
Rebecca is an avid hiker & nature lover and spends much of her free time exploring the White mountains region of New England with her family.
Noel Coakley
Noel is an independently licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) with a Master's degree in Counseling from Lesley University and Special Education from UMass Boston.
He is also a certified yoga instructor, supporting a holistic, mind & body approach to wellness. His experience from years as a special education teacher benefits his ability to support differentiated learning styles and needs.
Noel has been practicing meditation since 1996, beginning initially with the Indo-Tibetan traditions and then the Yundrung Bön tradition since 2013. Over the years, Noel has been fortunate to learn from many teachers, including HH the Dalai Lama and HH the 34th Menri Trizin.
HIs first teacher was Lama Tsering Ngodup Yodsampa, from the Karma Kagyu lineage. He later studied with the psychologist and meditation teacher, Dan P. Brown, who introduced him to Mahamudra, Dzogchen, and a Rime style of practice.
Noel’s main practice lineage is currently the Yundgrung Bön tradition, with his root lama, Geshe Tenzin Gelek Rinpoche, studying Bonpo Dzogchen from the Zhangzhung Nyengyud.
Noel has been given the refuge name “Zhen Phen Gelek” - ‘Zhen Phen’ meaning ‘to bring benefit to others’ and ‘Gelek’ meaning ‘positive virtues, everything good'.’
In addition, Noel is a student of David Nichtern, founder of Dharma Moon, with whom Noel works as a Senior Teacher for the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training program as well as other offerings.
As the founder and director of the Boston Center for Contemplative Practice, Noel has created a welcoming space where individuals can explore their own paths to healing, recovery, development, and flourishing.
Beyond his professional life, Noel is a loving father, husband, brother, musician, and friend to his dog, Clementine.
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