- Level 100
The Mind, Suffering, and Freedom
Traditions of Understanding the Mind
- Thursdays | 8:00–9:30am Pacific Time | 11:00-12:30 Eastern Time
- 6 weeks, Thursdays, October 1st – November 5th, 2026
Live, Interactive Sessions
Six live online classes with guided practices
Supportive Community
Zoom link sent upon registration
Session Recordings
Recordings available for six months
First Class Guarantee
Free cancellation after the first class
Course Description
Why do we suffer?
What shapes our thoughts, emotions, fears, desires, relationships, and sense of self?
And is it possible to discover a deeper freedom through understanding the mind more clearly? For centuries, both Buddhism and Western psychology have sought to answer these questions. Each tradition offers profound insights into the causes of suffering and practical methods for cultivating greater well-being, self-understanding, and transformation. Yet beneath their similarities lie strikingly different views of who we are, how the mind functions, and what genuine healing and freedom actually mean. In this six-week experiential course, we will explore the rich conversation between these two influential traditions. Together, we will examine where Buddhist and psychological perspectives converge, where they diverge, and how each can illuminate different dimensions of human experience. Along the way, we will investigate some of life’s most enduring questions:
- What is the self?
- Why do we suffer?
- Can we change deeply rooted patterns?
- What role do awareness and insight play in transformation?
- Is freedom found through strengthening the self, understanding the self, or seeing beyond it altogether?
Who Is This Course For?
- Are curious about the relationship between Buddhism and modern psychology
- Want a deeper understanding of thoughts, emotions, and patterns of behavior
- Have explored therapy, meditation, or personal growth and wish to broaden their perspective
- Are seeking practical approaches for greater self-understanding and emotional freedom
- Appreciate thoughtful inquiry that combines intellectual exploration with direct experience
- Wonder whether lasting well-being requires changing ourselves or understanding ourselves more deeply
Rather than remaining purely theoretical, each class includes contemplative exercises, inquiry, and experiential practices that allow participants to investigate these questions directly within their own experience.
As we begin to examine our assumptions about identity, suffering, and happiness, new possibilities for clarity, compassion, resilience, and freedom can emerge.
Whether you are drawn to meditation, psychology, personal growth, or spiritual inquiry, this course offers a rare opportunity to engage two of humanity’s most sophisticated explorations of the mind in a practical, accessible, and deeply relevant way.
This course is open to people of all backgrounds and requires no previous study of Buddhism or psychology
Combining scholarly insight with experiential exploration, this course offers a rich foundation for understanding ourselves and the human condition from two remarkably different and surprisingly complementary perspectives
What you will gain
- Examine the fundamental similarities and differences between Buddhist and psychological understandings of the mind
- Explore how each tradition approaches suffering, identity, healing, and transformation
- Develop greater insight into thoughts, emotions, motivations, and habitual patterns
- Learn practical contemplative methods for cultivating awareness and emotional resilience
- Investigate what each tradition teaches about happiness, freedom, and human flourishing
- Gain tools for bringing greater clarity, balance, and wisdom into everyday life
- Engage life's deepest questions through both intellectual inquiry and direct experience
Testimonials
“Kathleen’s insights truly illuminated the key concepts for me. Thank you for your invaluable guidance.”
Gwynne R.
“This class challenges my thinking in all the best ways, leaving me with profound ideas to reflect on.”
Michael P.
“A thought-provoking and captivating experience. Thank you for the enriching class.”
Fran B.
Weekly Topics
The Buddhist View
Week One
- The Three Marks of Existence
- Understanding the Origins of Suffering
The Psychoanalytic View
Week Two
- The Discovery of the Unconscious
- Neurosis and the Sources of Human Conflict
Buddhist Methods
Week Three
- Meditation
- Awareness
- Motivation and Transformation
Psychoanalytic Methods
Week Four
- Talk Therapy
- Transference
- Interpretation
- The Development of Self
The Buddhist Aim
Week Five
- Awakening
- Liberation
- What Is Enlightenment?
The Psychoanalytic Aim
Week Six
- Ordinary Suffering
- Psychological Health
- A Realistic Relationship with Life
Instructor
Dr. Kathleen Lyon
Dr. Kathleen Lyon holds a BA in Chemistry from Rutgers University, earned her MD from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and completed psychoanalytic training through The Psychoanalytic Association of New York. She serves as a Training and Supervising Analyst on the faculty of both PANY and the NYU School of Medicine, where she taught for more than twenty years and received the Teacher of the Year Award in Psychiatry.
A practicing Buddhist since the 1990s, Dr. Lyon brings a rare combination of clinical expertise, contemplative experience, and deep curiosity about the nature of mind. She maintains a full-time private practice in psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, and psychiatry in New York City.
- Level 100
The Mind, Suffering, and Freedom
- 6 weeks, Thursdays, October 1st – November 5th, 2026
- Thursdays | 8:00–9:30am Pacific Time | 11:00-12:30 Eastern Time
- Recordings available for six months after class
- Free cancellation after first class