Vrije University - Summer graduate programs
Buddhist Mindfulness and Spiritual CareAmsterdam, Netherlands
DURATION
2 Weeks
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
15 May 2025
EARLIEST START DATE
Jul 2025
TUITION FEES
EUR 1,360 / per course *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* for Professionals| PhD candidates and employees of VU Amsterdam: EUR 765 per course
Key Summary
Introduction
This unique course explores Buddhist meditation and wisdom and reflective practices and applications for well-being and spiritual care.
The increasing interest in Buddhist spiritual caregiving and mindfulness is partly due to a disproportionate increase in mental distress and a decrease in well-being and the promise and potential of Buddhist approaches to these topics.
The current popularity of mindfulness is at a peak and quite encouraging. However, there is often a lack of authentic input from the ancient Buddhist wisdom traditions. This lack has become an obstacle to deepened, embodied experiences, making mindfulness techniques often mechanistic and diminishing their true value and effectiveness.
The Buddhism team at the VU aims to meet the need and demand for rooted mindfulness by enabling students to explore the holistic and authentic Buddhist tradition, which bases mindfulness in its natural home.
This course will introduce Buddhist mindfulness in theory and practice with a special focus on Spiritual Care. We will learn about the basics of authentic Buddhist practice and mindfulness in the context of globalisation; learn mindfulness meditation and practices; we further learn about Buddhist Chaplaincy in theory and practice and learn selected tools of applied Buddhist care such as Insight dialogue.
The course is guided by the Mitta Sutta (SN5 Magga) in the Pali Canon which discusses seven qualities of a noble/good friend:
- Giving what's difficult to give
- Doing what's difficult to do
- Bearing up what’s difficult to bear
- Keeping others' secrets
- Revealing one's secrets
- Doesn't abandon one in misfortune
- Doesn't despise one in misfortune
These seven characteristics of a good friend are matched with real-life and work requirements such as assessing the spiritual needs of a person, assessing the religious needs of a care-receiver, practising ethically, confidentiality, communication skills, team and maintaining one's practice respectively.
Course Overview
- Date: Session 1, course dates 7 - 11 & 14 - 18 July 2025
- Course level: Beginner Bachelor's
- Forms of tuition: Lectures, seminars, workshops
- Forms of assessment: Assignments
- Contact Hours: 60
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
Equal Access Scholarship
Application Procedure
Application for the Equal Access Scholarship will open in February
Great that you are interested in applying for the Equal Access Scholarship. You can apply for the scholarship between 12 February and 1 April. Please be aware that it is only possible to select one course.
The results of the scholarship selection will be announced in May. Since we have a limited number of scholarships available for a large number of applicants, we suggest - if possible! - to complete your payment at the time of your course application to guarantee your place in the course. However, if you are not able to come without the scholarship, you can just wait until the announcement. If you would like to come, regardless of whether you will be granted the scholarship, it is best to secure your place in the course by completing your payment via our regular application form. If the scholarship is granted to you, the tuition and accommodation fees will be reimbursed.
Deadline to submit your Equal Access Scholarship application: 31 March (23:59 CET).
Requirements
When you apply via the Equal Access Scholarship application form you will be requested to upload the following documents:
- Curriculum Vitae/Résumé (CV) stating your educational background.
- Professional Letter of Reference Including:
- His/her/their experience working with you (either in an academic, professional, or volunteer setting)
- His/her/their motivation for recommending you for the scholarship
- Complete contact information
- His/her/their experience working with you (either in an academic, professional, or volunteer setting)
- His/her/their motivation for recommending you for the scholarship
- Complete contact information
- When filling out the scholarship form, we will ask the following questions*:
- Why are you interested in joining VU Amsterdam Summer School?
- What’s your motivation for selecting this course?
- How you will use the information you learn to make a positive impact in the future for both you and your community?
- Why do you deserve this scholarship?
- Why are you interested in joining VU Amsterdam Summer School?
- What’s your motivation for selecting this course?
- How you will use the information you learn to make a positive impact in the future for both you and your community?
- Why do you deserve this scholarship?
Please stick to a maximum of 150 words per question.
Green Travel Grant
At VU Amsterdam Summer Schoo,l we are also committed to VU's sustainability goals and we aim to reduce the environmental impact of mobilityd specifically, student travel. Therefore, we are thrilled to offer Green Travel Grants to encourage sustainable travel for students attending our summer school.
Where can I apply?
Once the courses have been confirmed to run in mid-May or June, we will send out a newsletter to our participants with a link where they can apply for either funding for train travel or funding for bus travel.
The application period will last two weeks, and we will select the winners via a lottery system. More information on the specific deadlines can be found in the newsletter we send out in May.
How does it work?
For students to receive the economic compensation they will need to submit their purchased travel tickets via email within two weeks after being selected as winners of the grant. Once the deadline to submit their tickets has passed, the students will receive the reimbursement.
Curriculum
Each module/day of the course is structured into four sessions:
- Session one: meditation
- Session two: Theoretical/textual learning
- Session three: reflective practice
- Session four: a case study
The Programme will also be adapted to the needs of the participants.
The two-week learning structure is as follows:
- Day 1: Introduction
- Day 2-3: Buddhist Mindfulness in theory and practice
- Day 4-9: The Seven Principles of Buddhist Spiritual Care
- Day 10: Review, Reflection, Application, Conclusion
Program Outcome
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Know and understand the foundations of Buddhist Mindfulness
- Have insight into the context and tools of Buddhist mindfulness
- Understand the principles and some applications of Buddhist Spiritual Care
- Have a deepened experience and understanding of lived Buddhist-engaged practices