In-Person and Online: Write Like a Buddha – A Workshop Series for All
with Tracy Cochran
Fridays, September 18th – October 23rd, 2025 | 1:00pm – 2:30pm ET
In-Person Location: New York Insight at 115 West 29th Street, 12th Floor
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”
–Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
The spiritual truth we are seeking is right here, waiting for us to notice. Witnessed with compassion, our own messy, unruly lives become gold mines of insight and wisdom. Combining mindfulness meditation with mindful writing, we will explore our experiences like a Buddha would.
Each week we will begin with a guided meditation to ground us in a state of relaxed presence. Next, we will practice writing mindfully. Each week teacher Tracy Cochran will offer an insight from the Buddha’s core teachings–impermanence, the nature of suffering, the way to freedom–aimed at helping us uncover our own moments of understanding.
Together we will pan for gold–remembering and expressing through writing those moments that showed us simply and directly what our lives are for. Some may wish to share what they write but there will be no pressure to do so.
Join us on six successive Fridays as we meditate and explore the Buddha’s core teachings as a way to uncover and tell our own deepest, truest stories.
This course is suitable for all beings—no meditation or writing experience required.
We are born spiritual beings. This weekly class blends meditation with core Buddhist teachings to uncover our own wisdom and meaning through reflective writing.
Note: If you’re not able to attend every session, feel free to sign up for any number of “drop-in” sessions on the in-person or online registration forms below.
In-Person Registration:
Please register below. If you are able, registering at the “Supporter” level enables others to attend at the “Subsidized” level. Thank you for your generosity! (Please note that the registration price includes a base level of teacher support, and you will have the opportunity to donate more after the program.)
If you are registering via a mobile device such as a phone or tablet, you can scroll right and left and up and down within the below form if it is partially obscured or cut off.
CLICK HERE to open the registration form in a new browser window.
Online Registration:
Please register below. If you are able, registering at the “Supporter” level enables others to attend at the “Subsidized” level. Thank you for your generosity! (Please note that the registration price includes a base level of teacher support, and you will have the opportunity to donate more after the program.)
If you are registering via a mobile device such as a phone or tablet, you can scroll right and left and up and down within the below form if it is partially obscured or cut off.
CLICK HERE to open the registration form in a new browser window.
Volunteering
All of our programs rely on volunteers to support our teachers and staff with various tasks and responsibilities. Volunteering allows you to participate in our programs at no cost. To inquire about volunteering opportunities, please fill out our inquiry form, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Teacher(s)
Tracy Cochran
Tracy Cochran has taught meditation and spiritual practice for many years. She is a speaker and author whose most recent book is Presence: The Art of Being At Home in Yourself (Shambhala, 2024). Tracy is the founder and guiding teacher of the Hudson River Sangha and has taught mindfulness and mindful writing at New York Insight, the Rubin Museum, and many other venues. Tracy has served as the editorial director of the acclaimed spiritual quarterly Parabola, and her writings have appeared in The New York Times, New York Magazine, Psychology Today, The Best Spiritual Writing series, Parabola, many other publications and anthologies. For more about Tracy, please visit tracycochran.org and parabola.org.