Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown?

Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown? Artem Zen 8/4/21 5:37 PM
RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown? Sam Gentile 8/5/21 10:41 AM
RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown? Artem Zen 8/5/21 2:00 PM
RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown? Linda ”Polly Ester” Ö 8/6/21 3:41 AM
RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown? Artem Zen 8/7/21 2:43 PM
RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown? Noah Bretnall 1/24/22 8:10 PM
RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown? Linda ”Polly Ester” Ö 8/5/21 11:03 AM
RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown? Noah D 8/5/21 12:21 PM
RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown? Artem Zen 8/5/21 2:00 PM
RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown? Pepe · 8/6/21 12:23 PM
RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown? Noah D 8/6/21 12:28 PM
RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown? Pepe · 8/6/21 1:09 PM
RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown? Dream Walker 1/25/22 5:04 PM
RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown? Stephen 8/6/21 3:05 PM
RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown? Sam Gentile 8/11/21 3:40 PM
RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown? Till Gebel 1/24/22 2:35 AM
RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown? Stephen 1/24/22 10:20 AM
RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown? Stirling Campbell 1/25/22 6:46 PM
RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown? Till Gebel 1/26/22 2:16 AM
RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown? George S 1/26/22 6:01 AM
RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown? Andrew Myles 1/30/22 3:22 PM
Artem Zen, modified 2 Years ago at 8/4/21 5:37 PM
Created 2 Years ago at 8/4/21 5:37 PM

Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown?

Posts: 36 Join Date: 4/28/21 Recent Posts
Has anyone trained with Daniel P. Brown in his pointing out the great way teachings? Have you taken any of his online retreats or seen significant progress working with him? 
Sam Gentile, modified 2 Years ago at 8/5/21 10:41 AM
Created 2 Years ago at 8/5/21 10:41 AM

RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown?

Posts: 1310 Join Date: 5/4/20 Recent Posts
I'd love to, he's the real thing but cannot afford his high prices.
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Linda ”Polly Ester” Ö, modified 2 Years ago at 8/5/21 11:03 AM
Created 2 Years ago at 8/5/21 11:03 AM

RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown?

Posts: 7134 Join Date: 12/8/18 Recent Posts
I haven't but my teacher Michael Taft has and he recommends him warmly. 
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Noah D, modified 2 Years ago at 8/5/21 12:21 PM
Created 2 Years ago at 8/5/21 12:21 PM

RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown?

Posts: 1211 Join Date: 9/1/16 Recent Posts
I have taken 2 POW retreats.  I found them to be life changing. 
Artem Zen, modified 2 Years ago at 8/5/21 2:00 PM
Created 2 Years ago at 8/5/21 2:00 PM

RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown?

Posts: 36 Join Date: 4/28/21 Recent Posts
Hmmmm...reallly? Please say more
Artem Zen, modified 2 Years ago at 8/5/21 2:00 PM
Created 2 Years ago at 8/5/21 2:00 PM

RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown?

Posts: 36 Join Date: 4/28/21 Recent Posts
Yea the prices are high. 
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Linda ”Polly Ester” Ö, modified 2 Years ago at 8/6/21 3:41 AM
Created 2 Years ago at 8/6/21 3:41 AM

RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown?

Posts: 7134 Join Date: 12/8/18 Recent Posts
Yes, that's why it's out of the question for me. I have a hard time affording my rent nowadays. I haven't heard of any full scholarships either. A dharma friend will attend an upcoming retreat and it sounds truly awesome. I have looked into some of the free material on the website and bought his book on nonduality. I have only started reading the book, but already in the introduction I can tell that it's the kind of nuanced discussions that I need. I'm hoping that there will also be detailed phenomenology. It's very promising. 

For those who have the opportunity, financially and otherwise, to train with him, I'd say go for it now. His health is deteriorating so soon it might be too late. 
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Pepe ·, modified 2 Years ago at 8/6/21 12:23 PM
Created 2 Years ago at 8/6/21 12:14 PM

RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown?

Posts: 712 Join Date: 9/26/18 Recent Posts
>Noah: I have taken 2 POW retreats.  I found them to be life changing. 

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IIRC, Noah did those retreats when he was ( MCTB ) 3rd Path or above, so your eventual POW retreat experience wouldn't necessarily match his. Check this 2018 thread. Maybe Noah could explain a little more about the topic
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Noah D, modified 2 Years ago at 8/6/21 12:28 PM
Created 2 Years ago at 8/6/21 12:28 PM

RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown?

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Thanks Pepe!  I don't want to claim anything (I've tried to move away from that) but I have anecdotal evidence (from maybe 7 friends + myself, as well as counter examples) that if one has gone through the progress of insight at least 2 times then the POW retreats have a much more lasting effect than otherwise.  

I will defer to what I wrote previously in that thread that Pepe linked for more details as to what effect it had on me, as well as my journal entries from around that time, which are also linked in the thread.  
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Pepe ·, modified 2 Years ago at 8/6/21 1:09 PM
Created 2 Years ago at 8/6/21 12:42 PM

RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown?

Posts: 712 Join Date: 9/26/18 Recent Posts
Thanks Noah, good pointer! 

Added: description and schedule of retreats
Stephen, modified 2 Years ago at 8/6/21 3:05 PM
Created 2 Years ago at 8/6/21 3:05 PM

RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown?

Posts: 34 Join Date: 1/5/17 Recent Posts
I attended the Level 1 retreat in February. It was incredible instruction and attention to detail. A lot of time devoted to answering questions, which I find really lacking in other retreats I've attended. That allows the instructions to get really granular and individualized, if necessary. It was the best retreat experience I've had in my 10+ years of experience and it was over Zoom. I imagine in person would be even better, but they've worked out a good system for online retreat. They also provide an opportunity to work with a teacher 1-on-1 after and I've taken advantage of that and found it very helpful.

I'm pretty sure if anyone cannot afford the high fees they would provide a discounted rate. They don't advertise this option and I'm not sure why, perhaps because the retreats are always quite full and the funds are used to help out the lineage in Tibet. But if interested I wouldn't let the price discourage. 

I'll echo what Linda said. Dan's health has been getting worse as his vocal chords have atrophied due to Parkinson's. This year might be the last he's able to give the retreats. 
Artem Zen, modified 2 Years ago at 8/7/21 2:43 PM
Created 2 Years ago at 8/7/21 2:43 PM

RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown?

Posts: 36 Join Date: 4/28/21 Recent Posts
Sad to hear that his health is deteriorating. Seems like so many great meditation teachers get sick and die so early. Hope that won't be the case with him. 
Sam Gentile, modified 2 Years ago at 8/11/21 3:40 PM
Created 2 Years ago at 8/11/21 3:40 PM

RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown?

Posts: 1310 Join Date: 5/4/20 Recent Posts
Sorry for the late notice but Dan is having a big 2 hour event tonight called Living Meditation. The first hour is questions and teachings and the second hour is all meditation. I am a member so it woulld be free but there is some screup with my membership so I paid the well-worth $15

A quick reminder that Dan will be teaching Living Meditation tomorrow, Wednesday, August 11, at 7:30pm ET.


Click Here to Register for Living Meditation on August 11



POGW Website Members: Please carefully follow the instructions on the registration page to register for the Wednesday night classes for free.


If you cannot attend the class live but would like to receive a link to the (unedited) recording you must pre-register.

Dan refers to this as 'meditation improv' in that there is no set agenda for the evening. The first hour is spent on questions, comments, and discussion about meditation practice and spirituality in everyday life, informed by Eastern and Western philosophy. The second hour is then a guided meditation based on the discussion.

This ongoing class and practice community offers the opportunity to explore the path and meditations to understand and awaken to the True Nature of the Mind. This realization frees awareness from obstruction and reactivity and allows awareness to be natural, unbounded and free. This freedom allows for the flowering of the positive qualities of mind and behavior that lead to a life of joyful service in the world - living meditation.

It has been our experience that the transformation to living meditation does not take time, just sincere practice and motivation. We welcome you to come journey with us.
Till Gebel, modified 2 Years ago at 1/24/22 2:35 AM
Created 2 Years ago at 1/24/22 2:33 AM

RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown?

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I have, Feb 2021, and I had after 5 days  an experience equivalent in the basic phenomenology ("mirror mind") to a particular psychedelic / mystic Ayahuasca state which left "me" stunned and in awe od Dr Brown's work. 

I since read all of his books, including his incredible 700 page 1981 dissertation that laid the groundwork for everything he did since. 

"Mahamudra Meditation-Stages and Contemporary Cognitive Psychology. A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Divinity School in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy". 1981
https://catalog.lib.uchicago.edu/vufind/Record/470630
http://abhidharma.ru/A/Tantra/Content/Raznoe/0028.pdf ​​​​​​​
Stephen, modified 2 Years ago at 1/24/22 10:20 AM
Created 2 Years ago at 1/24/22 10:20 AM

RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown?

Posts: 34 Join Date: 1/5/17 Recent Posts
I think I was on the same retreat in February 2021 ;) It was a great experience. Opened up a new realm to my practice. Definitely the best retreat I've been on. I also participated in a 6-month book club on Pointing Out the Great Way. That was also a wonderful experience. Going through such an elaborate with another group of dedicated practioners was amazing and I learned a lot. I didn't read the dissertation but it's cool you linked to it. I think a lot of his dissertation went into POGW and then a lot of POGW went into how he designed the level 1 retreat. All great stuff!
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Noah Bretnall, modified 2 Years ago at 1/24/22 8:10 PM
Created 2 Years ago at 1/24/22 8:10 PM

RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown?

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Yeah, same here. I did actually get the scholarship but it was still too expensive to justify, unfortunately.

I do hope that his organisation will grow around and from his example going forward and start to overcome that particular barrier over time. I don't know why it is that there is such a wall right now, but it seems as if Dan would have it otherwise if he could.

In any case, he's done a lot to keep the flame of the teaching burning; And I hope that he can meet his affliction with satisfaction in his own efforts.
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Dream Walker, modified 2 Years ago at 1/25/22 5:04 PM
Created 2 Years ago at 1/25/22 5:04 PM

RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown?

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Noah D
Thanks Pepe!  I don't want to claim anything (I've tried to move away from that) but I have anecdotal evidence (from maybe 7 friends + myself, as well as counter examples)
I too have been on Dan's retreat as well as other POW teachers. They each have their own voice though the material is the same.

...if one has gone through the progress of insight at least 2 times then the POW retreats have a much more lasting effect than otherwise. 
 The beginning retreat is a 'Taste' of awakening and is not likely going to get you anything shifting for good UNLESS you are in the third path territory. Most of the people who I sat with were going thru the 'progress of insite' and getting their 'taste' in the A&P (unsuprising). So to get your monies worth I would finish second path before shifting to mahamudra. Many modern mahamudra books agree with my assessment that the body and mind shifts(1st an second path) need to be done as "preliminaries" but since this is a 'taste' and second pathers are rare why not just fill the room and let people judge whether it was worthwhile. A kick ass A&P usually gets people to convince themselves it was money well spent, then after they get into dark night, they need another 'taste'. I see this repeated everywhere, esp Goenka. Its pretty much ubiquitous, since most people are not really working on awakening but everyone gets inspired by a great A&P with frosting on top, and we all have blissed ourselves in the beginning that hooked us to continue progressing.

The good-
Dan has taught before and has a very good presentation voice. His knowledge in exhaustible and he has tons of cool ass stories of hanging out with the Dalai Lama and other big name Tibetians back in the day before they got big in the west, as well as cool stories of just about anything you can think of. The work he has done in Tibet puts him into a class of his own, funding causes, temples, schools, clean water etc.
He has done major science studies on meditation.
He translates unavailable texts to English for the first time.
The list goes on.
An amazing guy.
I got my panoramic vision permanently turned on, on that retreat. As well as learning about mahamudra the first time.

The not so good
Wrote it but deleted it. Who am I to judge his faults? He is a human and therefore not gonna be perfect but you might like the aspects that I don't.
I'm a proud prag hag and cling to that ethos regardless of its flaws, and I'm a flawed human also who works on getting better. I'll never do even a tenth of what Dan has done even if I worked my ass off til the day I die.

Overall its pretty darn good and very few complain, I think it was worth the money but I've not taken instruction from the competition to compare.
Good luck,
~D
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Stirling Campbell, modified 2 Years ago at 1/25/22 6:46 PM
Created 2 Years ago at 1/25/22 6:46 PM

RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown?

Posts: 621 Join Date: 3/13/16 Recent Posts
I have his "Pith Instructions for A. Khrid and Dzogs Chen" and have looked at the structure of his retreats out of curiousity. It's really great for the condensed quality. Not a lot of filler.

The teachings and the structure of his retreats aren't terribly different from most Nyingma retreats featuring Dzogchen, IMHO, and using today's problems and questions is always the way forward - in Dzogchen the dharmakaya is always reflecting your clinging and aversion back at you in the most useful possibe way IF you are paying attention and know how to work with it. 

The training is always introducing the nature of mind (Dzogchen) with more conventional teachings on using daily experiences for practice. You are generally invited take your vows early on.

"It is very easy to say that the nature of everything is emptiness, and emptiness is inseparable from forms and appearances. However this is an extremely deep and difficult idea to thoroughly comprehend. The great Madhyamika is a subject as vast as enlightenment itself. Compared with the view of Madhyamika, what we ordinarily perceive is like the difference between what we see through a hole in a needle or a drinking straw, and directly seeing the sky itself. When we say "emptiness", it is the same emptiness, whether narrowly or broadly viewed, as in the straws-eye-view analogy, but there is a great difference in magnitude, understanding, and actual realisation. It requires more than mere intellectual understanding. A true understanding of emptiness grows deeper, ever more and more expansive, towards the realisation of the fundamental union of the absolute truth of emptiness and the relative truth of karmic law and phenomenon-it grows into the complete realisation of enlightenment.  

Throughout our practice, we need to constantly make our mind broader, less rigid, and more open. This effort is worthwhile in so many ways. In our ordinary activities, our mind is often narrow and closed in upon itself; it is very difficult to achieve any goal, to really relate and have an unselfish attitude towards others. Such close mindedness can only lead to miserable consequences. On the other hand, if we diligently try to open our minds, we will naturally have compassion, faith in the three jewels, inner peace, and a pure perception of others. This attitude will not only lead to a happy life free from obstacles, but it is precisely the way to gradually understand the absolute truth and the profound nature of everything just as it is, in a completely open and unconditioned way. In both our meditation and the activities of daily life, it is very important for us to continually open our mind and free it from its limitations, gradually transcending concepts, mental darkness, conflicting emotions, and delusion.
 
One can see in the life of exalted beings how powerful is the realisation of truth. The realisation of emptiness naturally provides boundless compassion and pure perception. The ultimate point of the absolute truth is the realisation of emptiness. The ultimate practice of the relative truth is the practice of bodhichitta, compassion. When we speak of the indivisibility of the two truths it is because when one realises emptiness, one will naturally and spontaneously have compassion; there will be no need to fabricate it. Practicing bodhichitta will automatically lead us to the understanding of absolute truth. These are not two distinct things; rather, they always appear together. This is why it is important to constantly associate them - trying to develop our understanding of the absolute truth while trying to use the skillful means of bodhichitta. Our practice of the two truths, relative and absolute, must go together inseparably. We must understand from above with the absolute outlook, while practicing climbing the spiritual mountain from below with relative practices, according to our individual capacity and inclination. That is what is meant in the Dzogchen teachings by the phrase, "swooping down from above while climbing up from below," the practice of combining the two levels of truth, also known as "understanding according to the supreme view and practicing according to ones ability." This is the most complete and efficacious form of spiritual practice, which can be applied in the context of almost any particular form of practice - including the ordinary activities of life. - Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche, "Natural Great Perfection: Dzogchen teachings and Vajra songs"
Till Gebel, modified 2 Years ago at 1/26/22 2:16 AM
Created 2 Years ago at 1/26/22 2:11 AM

RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown?

Posts: 2 Join Date: 1/24/22 Recent Posts
All my meditation experience up to the retreat level 1 in Feb 2021 was a year of self study / meditation of Culadasa's The Mind Illuminated.

The retreat with Dan Brown, Dustin Diperna and George Haas was so mindblowing for me, that I am still trying to figure out what happened one year later. It's the only retreat I ever took part in. Lucky me I guess. 

Excuse the draft form of my blog post, it's more for myself. 

​​​​​​​And I make no claim to be expert or experienced in anything re:meditation. I just got REALLY interested through the retreat. 

https://www.till-gebel.com/post/8-years-or-8-days-to-awakening
George S, modified 2 Years ago at 1/26/22 6:01 AM
Created 2 Years ago at 1/26/22 6:01 AM

RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown?

Posts: 2722 Join Date: 2/26/19 Recent Posts
I enjoyed the stuff on your website thanks. I hope your interest bears fruit!
Andrew Myles, modified 2 Years ago at 1/30/22 3:22 PM
Created 2 Years ago at 1/30/22 3:22 PM

RE: Has anyone trained with Daniel P.Brown?

Posts: 4 Join Date: 9/1/21 Recent Posts
I attended a retreat in January 2021 and it had a significant impact on my practice and way of seeing the world. While I no longer practice with this Sangha, I can identify a few things that continue to reverberate.<br /><br />-The emphasis on positive psychological development was very important and the pre-meditation routine that Dan teaches made my practice a lot more efficient; listen to one of his guided meditations on the POW website, or for a similar pre-meditation routine, listen to one of Michael Taft's guided meditations on YouTube. I firmly belive in Dan's outlook from positive psychology that by inclining towards these positive qualities (e.g. trust, compassion, equanimity, etc.) one can gradually build them up over time. A lot of these qualities feel like they're now just "online", having consciously cultivated them over time. I can truly appreciate why, for Dr. Brown, these practices are about human "flourishing." Rather than getting *rid* of yourself, you see through its construction, but you understand why/how it's still important for this precious thing to function well in the world. Kind of like having your cake and eating it too (whatever "cake" your self may be ;) =0 )&nbsp;<br />&nbsp;<br />-If you do have more meditation experience or experience in other traditions, Dr. Brown's level one retreat provides a nice overview that may help contextualize various things that one hears along the way<br />&nbsp;<br />-personally, the way they taught concentration didn't groove with me, something about it felt too tight. Certainly they are working from tried and true methods and maps (the elephant path), but I had to approach concentration differently to consistently attain more stability here.&nbsp;<br /><br />-the pointing out instructions provided a very strong taste of what to work towards, a real mind-heart opening, a sense of coming home to something I'd always been looking for but had never been separate from, child consciousness reuniting with mother consciousness, etc. Following the retreat's after-glow, my capacity to access that view in waking life came and went, subject to various factors. There have since been shifts in my experience and further practice that has normalized/made that view more accessible.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br /><br />The strength of Dr. Brown's approach is how step-based and specific the instructions are for where you're at; conversely, this may feel too rigid for some. I felt I had to take a different approach and I'm glad I did, though there are many tools/pointers/considerations from his approach that are still integral to practice and life.&nbsp;<br /><br />I have more context <a href="https://www.dharmaoverground.org/discussion/-/message_boards/message/21920338">here </a>on where I was at before/months after the retreat.<br /><br />Also, financially, this was way more accessible for me when I was working full time and living with family. Now, I'm back to being a broke student =D&nbsp;<br /><br />Either way, best of luck in your practices! &lt;3&nbsp;<br /> 

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