Dharma Teacher/Sangha Leader Training

Begins March, 2026

This training is for you if:

• You would like to increase your understanding of the Buddhist Dharma teachings, and/or
• You are already teaching mindfulness and you would like to include some foundational Buddhist teachings to your repertoire, and/or
• You would like to start your own meditation Sangha and would like to receive the structure and support needed to build it skillfully, and/or
• You are already teaching and you would like to hone your teaching/leadership skills, and/or
• You would like to benefit from connecting to and collaborating with other Dharma teachers, and/or
• You are committed to ongoing personal and professional development, and/or
• You would like to deepen your own personal meditation practice, and/or
• You would like to integrate the valuable Buddhist teachings and practices into your daily life. 

What is it?

The “Dharma Teacher/Sangha Leader Training Program“, sponsored by Asheville Insight Meditation and led by Buddhist teacher, Ronya Banks is a comprehensive 12-month program, which will provide you with the skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed to be a Dharma Teacher, and to lead weekly or occasional sangha sessions, and weekend meditation retreats.  Time commitment will include two in-person, online 90-minute training sessions per month on a specified day/time.

The training will include topics, like:  creating a welcoming in-person, virtual, or hybrid space for sangha meetings, the logistics of starting and leading an ongoing  Buddhist Dharma group, giving dharma talks, guiding Vipassana-related mindfulness practices, and leading mindfulness practices consistent with the Buddha’s teachings presented in the Theravada Buddhist/Insight tradition.

This course is designed to deepen your personal practice, help you develop teaching skills, and steeps you in the Buddhist teachings, thus increasing your ability to communicate the teachings to people who come to you either for individual or group sessions guidance.

This training to be a Dharma Teacher curriculum is extensive and intensive, where you will not only learn the competencies needed to be an effective dharma teacher, but it will also provide you with a framework to walk the path of a contemporary Buddha.

The course includes experiential practice, didactic teaching, and skills training directly addressing these learning objectives:

• Develop teaching skills in presenting Buddhist-related practices and talks
• Deepen your personal Dharma practice
• Develop your professional dharma teacher competencies
• Integrate the dharmic path into your life, lead inquiry, and “be present” as a Dharma Teacher
• Learn marketing and business skills needed to develop and sustain a sangha
• Introduce Buddha-Dharma into your teaching curriculums in an embodied way
• Lead effective sangha-related discussion and Q & A periods
• Understand theoretical, empirical, and ethical foundations of the course
• And teach while honoring the diversity and complexities of everyone in the room, in a non-harming manner.

What are the Prerequisites?

1. You are at least 18 years of age or older.
2. You’ve attended a minimum two silent Vipassana/Mindfulness meditation retreat of 5 days or more.
3. You have a regular personal mindfulness practice, ideally for at least 2-3 years.
4. You have access to suitable technology/internet capacity, space, privacy and the technical ability to participate via Zoom with your video and microphone on.

What will you Obtain?

Besides the knowledge, practice, and skills in teaching the dharma, you will also receive an official Dharma Teacher/Sangha Leader certificate provided by Asheville Insight Meditation.

Cost?

$2,298 in one payment, or $215/month for 12 months.  (If you do not have the funds and would still like to attend this course, please contact Ronya Banks as some scholarships funds are available.

About Teacher – Ronya Fakhoury Banks

Ronya is the founding teacher of Asheville Insight Meditation group, in Asheville, NC, which she has led since 2010.  She has maintained a daily Vipassana meditation practice since 1985, spent two years sitting on Vipassana meditation retreats, as well as having had valuable experience as a Theravada Buddhist nun. In addition to being a retreat teacher, she is presently in the joint IMS/Spirit Rock teachers training program, a graduate of the Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leader program, and served eight years as a mentor for Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach’s Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program.  Although she has sat with over 30 different teachers, she considers Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein, and Chanmyay Sayadaw her primary teachers.  Ronya has led and co-led several residential and online meditation retreats since 2014.

I am Interested and Want to Sign-up or Receive More Information?

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