Hi all
I am new to this board and hope that this is the right place to post my question.
For the past three years or so, I have read and studied Buddhist literature in my free time. I believe that I got a good understanding of the philosophical framework that Buddhism and meditation work with but as you all will understand; understanding doesn't mean "knowing" or "feeling" it. Although understanding certainly helped me by reducing my daily worrying/suffering it did not completely remove it. 
I wish to deepen my understanding to a point where it becomes knowing and have therefore been searching for a teacher who can guide me in the right direction for a long time already. I have been to multiple meditation groups in my area but all of them had more of a health/stress focus than an actual spiritual focus.
Since I am a grad student my financial situation doesn't allow to become a student of one of the mainstream teachers which charge in my opinion incredible high amounts for one hour skype meetings - I guess that's the free-market economy spreading over to spirituality.    
Does somebody know or has heard of a teacher (in the UK Cambridge area) who is accepting new students at the moment - or a teacher anywhere in the world who accepts new students via Skype? 
Cheers

Hi there,

I'd like to recommend Open Heart for you! Their approach is a pragmatic one, with strong emphasis of actually doing the practise and gaining first hand experiental knowledge. As per the ideal of pragmatic dharma, all things can be freely discussed without any taboos. The goal of the practise is eradication of confusion related suffering, not just happines or stress reduction. You can familiarize yourself with the material (pointing out instructions and other guided meditations) that are widely available on Youtube if you're interested. Or stop by at the weekly meeting they are having in the UK.

There are currenly weekly sits in Birmingham, Leeds and London. You can find the contact infromation and info about future events (both online and retreats) here. Also the head teacher, Kim Katami is available via Skype for students. There is a suggested fee currenlty, but there has been growing interest in making the events etc free of charge in the near future.  But in the meantime it is perfectly OK to negotiate a fee that is more suitable to you. If you are sincerely interested, you will not be turned down. Do some experimenting so you know it the teachings resonate with you!

Best wishes,
 Jehanne