Facilitator & Teacher Training Program

What this program is

Facilitator & Teacher Training Program is run by Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society as a teacher track in the Vipassana / Insight stream of contemplative training. Against the Stream, founded by Noah Levine in Los Angeles, offers a structured Teacher Training and advanced Facilitator/Mentor Training program rooted in Theravada Buddhism with a recovery culture and punk ethos. The program has graduated cohorts of teachers across the US, Canada, and Europe with a strong emphasis on inclusion and scholarships for underrepresented communities. Note: verify current operational status, as the organization restructured after 2018. It runs multi-year in a in-person, online format, with delivery anchored at Los Angeles, CA. The program sits inside the Theravada-derived insight tradition that came west via Mahasi, U Pandita, and later the IMS/Spirit Rock teachers. Practice work centers on anapanasati, body sweeping, noting practice, mettā, and silent retreat as the primary container for teacher development. Teacher development happens through long retreats, one-to-one interviews with senior teachers, dharma talks, mentorship over years, and supervised teaching, which is the standard vipassana / insight approach to building people who can hold a room. Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society does not list third-party accreditation; authorization comes from the organization itself. Cost sits in the Scholarships available band, which trainees should weigh against retreat fees and travel where the format calls for in-person components. OMP lists the program in its meditation teacher training directory so prospective students can compare it against sibling tracks before applying. What sets the program apart inside its tradition is the combination of in-person, online delivery, the multi-year arc, and the specific lineage stance Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society brings to teacher training. Prospective applicants should treat the listed cost and duration as starting points and confirm specifics with Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society directly, since cohort dates, fees, and prerequisites change cohort to cohort. For people weighing whether the vipassana / insight path fits their goals, this listing is a starting point, not the full picture.

Curriculum and topics

Curriculum work in this program follows the vipassana / insight pattern. Trainees move through anapanasati, body sweeping, noting practice, mettā, and silent retreat as the primary container for teacher development. The multi-year arc gives time for repeated exposure to each practice form, with material layered so the simpler practices anchor the more demanding ones later in the track. The source material does not list explicit modules, so prospective applicants should read the curriculum as the standard form for vipassana / insight teacher training at this length. That typically means a sitting curriculum, a teaching curriculum, and a supervised practicum, in that rough order. Reading and written work scale with the program's length and contact hours. Signature themes that run across the curriculum include the practice forms above, the ethics frame the lineage carries, and the question of how a teacher meets a student in difficulty. Most cohorts also work explicitly on group facilitation and on adjusting teaching for different student populations.

How it's taught

Delivery is in-person, online across multi-year. Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society runs the format the way most vipassana / insight teacher tracks do: long retreats, one-to-one interviews with senior teachers, dharma talks, mentorship over years, and supervised teaching. Contact hours include live sessions with lead teachers, peer practice in pairs or pods, and written work between meetings. Where a residential retreat is part of the track, that retreat acts as the container in which trainees deepen practice before they take on teaching roles. Supervision continues through and often past the formal end of the program, and most cohorts keep informal contact with their lead teachers during the early years of teaching. Trainees should expect a steady weekly load rather than a sprint, and should plan for the personal practice hours the program requires outside of contact time.

Who this program is for

Outcomes

Graduates finish the program qualified to teach inside the vipassana / insight frame Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society represents. There is no third-party accreditation; recognition is internal to Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society and the lineage. Common post-graduation paths include leading public courses, running workshops, embedding teaching inside healthcare or education settings, and offering individual mentorship to new practitioners. Scope of practice does not extend to clinical mental-health treatment unless the graduate already holds a relevant license; teachers should refer out when student needs cross that line.

Prerequisites

Prerequisites for vipassana / insight teacher tracks usually include a multi-year personal practice, significant retreat time, and a relationship with a recognized teacher in the lineage. Prospective applicants without that base should expect to do that groundwork before applying. Confirm specifics with the program directly.

How this compares

Inside the vipassana / insight field, Facilitator & Teacher Training Program sits among IMS/Spirit Rock-style insight teacher tracks, Goenka-lineage assistant teacher paths, and Burmese monastic training. On cost, the program sits in the mid-range price band for teacher tracks at this length. Applicants weighing this against sibling programs should compare cohort size, contact hours, retreat structure, and the specific teachers leading the cohort, not just the headline price. The right fit usually comes down to which lineage frame matches the applicant's existing practice and teaching aims.

Frequently asked questions