Foundations of a Soulmaking Dharma

Re-evaluating Emptiness, Imagination, Sacredness, and Desire

A BCBS Immersive Online Program guided by Catherine McGee and Yahel Avigur

Foundations of a Soulmaking
Dharma

Catherine McGee and Yahel Avigur
September 13 - November 15, 2026
Applications Open: June 8 - July 20, 2026

Foundations of a Soulmaking Dharma: Re-evaluating Emptiness, Imagination, Sacredness, and Desire is a BCBS Online Immersive Program that offers 10 weeks of focused study and practice of Soulmaking Dharma guided by Catherine McGee and Yahel Avigur.

In preparation for applying, please watch the prerequisite video and review the pre-application process.

This gorgeous body of soulmaking teachings has spoken to my vulnerability to beauty, my longing for justice, my love of ideas, my desire to be in deepening conversation with the earth in this time of unravelling, and my eagerness to participate in new ways of perceiving who we are and what we find ourselves charged within these times.

I trust these teachings deeply. Rooted in the safety of the Buddha's brilliant dharma, they have given me the permission and the capacity to say yes to the soul's deeper desires and to learn to sense myself and all things as wholly sacred. This has enormous implications not only on my work in the world right now, but also on my understanding of what is possible on the path towards awakening.

What is Soulmaking Dharma

Rooted in the Buddha’s teaching of emptiness, ethics, and meditative training, Soulmaking Dharma is a rich and resonant contemporary flowering of the Dharma.

Our Buddhist practice reveals to us that perception is empty and shapeable. We see that we inevitably participate in making the world through the ways we sense and see. Understanding this, the soulmaking practitioner learns to open and tune their heart, body, imagination, desire, and intellect to form an instrument for soulful perception: sensing and seeing self, others, and world in ways that bring more beauty, dimensionality, and meaningfulness — and that restore, open, and expand senses of sacredness.

Here, the depths and subtleties of meditative practice, the particularities of the individual and their personal journeys, and the gifts, complexities, and sufferings of our time can all find their specific place in a responsive, intelligent, and soulful Dharma.

Soulmaking Dharma teachings rest upon practices of samatha, metta, emptiness, and the emotional/energy body. The Soulmaking teachings are laid out in several hundred hours of Dharma talks by Rob Burbea on the Hermes Amara Foundation website.

Program Overview

Program Dates

Online Program:

September 13 - November 15, 2026

Application Timeframe

Applications Open

June 8 - July 20, 2026

Duration

10 weeks (including 2 digestion weeks)

Time Commitment

8 hours per week

Participation Expectation

Sunday Whole Group Meetings
(11:30 AM - 1:30 PM ET)

Sep 13, 20, 27,
Oct 11, 18,
Nov 1, 8, and 15.
(No meetings on Oct 4 or 25.)

Prerequisites

Prerequisites include retreat practice and a working familiarity with key ideas and practices.

Click here for full details.

Asynchronous Components

• Video Presentations
• Guided Meditations
• Self-Reflection Exercises
• Short Weekly Assignments

Optional Offerings

• Live Meditation / Workshop
• Affinity Spaces
• Connect and Digest

Program Information

This is an intensive, rigorous, and demanding program and requires considerable commitment from participants. We require attendance at the Sunday Whole Group Meetings and the home group that meets during this meeting, as well as completion of writing prompts and program assignments. The minimum required time commitment is 8 hours per week.

Weekly individual participation includes:

2-hour Sunday Whole Group Meetings (11:30 AM - 1:30 PM EST) to meet together and dive deeper into the themes
50 minutes of video presentation by Catherine McGee introducing the theme of the week
45 minutes of daily practice with guided meditations or instructions
Completion of a self-reflection exercise
Weekly assignment to contribute to your group sharing board
Optional live meditation/workshops
Optional affinity group spaces
Optional connect and digest

A spirit of playfulness and enjoyment will be invited in all of the practices, both individually and together, and an atmosphere of care for and discernment of your particular learning styles will be supported.

The Soulmaking curriculum includes a thoughtful and contemplative exploration of the following themes:

Tuning the Body Awareness for Soulful Perception

different modes of mindfulness of the body
“sensitive to the whole body” – some of the ways in which this can be experienced
‘energy/emotional body’ – the what, how, and why of attending to the body in this way
body as an instrument for soulful perception
restoration of ways of knowing and your access to these possible ways of knowing: imaginative; emotional; conceptual; aesthetic; ethical; somatic; intuitive; instinct for soul

The Place of Imagination

defining terms for a Soulmaking Dharma: ‘image’, ‘psyche’ and ‘imagination’
suspicions of and restrictions on the use of imagination
discerning what allows imagination to become a contemplative faculty
recognizing how ‘image’ is already operating when you are devoted to something
the necessity of imagination for soulmaking
imaginal perception, including: sense of ‘dimensionality', 'unfathomable beyonds', ‘eternality’, ‘irreducibility to a single meaning', ‘meaningfulness’

Emptiness ‘Ways of Looking’ - the Implications for Soulfulness

conceiving of practice as the development of flexibility and skill with a range of 'ways of looking'
different understandings/realizations of emptiness within the Buddhist tradition, and their implications for the possibilities of soulmaking
Kaccayanagotta sutta (SN 12.15) and the middle way between the assertion of ‘real’ and ‘not real’
The 'spectrum of fabrication of perception' – papanca, bare attention, practices that significantly lessen fabricating, and skillful fabricating
‘less fabrication than one’s habitual center of gravity’

Relationality and the Necessity of Twoness

roots in the Four Divine Abidings (the Brahmaviharas)
the necessity of ‘twoness’ ‘differentiation’, ‘balance of attention’
‘loving and being loved’
‘seeing and being seen’
‘autonomy of self and other’
'humility’, ‘trust’, ‘reverence’, ‘grace’, ‘beauty’

Opening the Dharma of Desire

the path of unbinding craving and clinging
views and assumptions about desire in Dharma practice
recognizing and working with views of self, and the energetic and emotional patternings that arise with desire, e.g. lack, fear, frustration, expectation, entitlement, despair, confusion, etc.
skills with the arising of desire – including 'opening to the current of desire’
the necessity of ‘eros’ for soulmaking
discriminating and uncoupling ‘eros’ from craving and clinging

The Necessity of Ideas

acknowledging the power of ideas, and recognizing that concepts and conceptual frameworks are inevitably operating in the forming of any perception and in the shaping of our sense of self, other and world in any moment
recognizing how concepts operate in meditation practice; artful use of concepts in meditation
recognizing and loosening attachment to ideas to which we unconsciously default
knowing the issues that arise for you when working with ideas and intellect

Working with Images

inquiring into the kinds of ideas and conceptual frameworks that can support soulful perception in meditation and in sensing the world with soul
logos
discerning which of the 28 elements of 'sensing with soul' you can access and which are less available
working with images
discriminating along the spectra of: soulless - soulful, universal - personal, less fabricated – more fabricated

In early Buddhist thought, tranquility and insight are complementary dimensions of meditative cultivation, traditionally based on a solid foundation in moral conduct and part of a gradual process of training. This online program will follow the Buddha’s principle of ethics as the foundation for Soulmaking practice. Participation in this program is supported by group commitment to respect and non-harming, applying to both communication with others and also to one’s personal relationship with the practice.

Application Information

Catherine McGee offers this Diversity of Souls video, sharing an invitation to Soulmaking Dharma, thoughts on who might be interested in this program, the use of language in this program, and how diversity and inclusion are vital to nourishing the soul of this work.

Timeline

Applications Open: June 8
Applications Close: July 20 at 5:00pm ET
Initial Acceptance Notification: July 27
Program Dates: September 13 – November 15, 2026

Prerequisites

In order to be accepted into the program, you must meet the Soulmaking Prerequisites, including the following:

Four week-long silent guided insight meditation retreats
Confidence working with whole body awareness for emotional navigation, for loosening clinging, and for metta practice
Understanding of emptiness and dependent origination

Program Fee and Teacher Dāna

Benefactor: $750
Tier 1: $650
Tier 2: $550
Tier 3: $450

BCBS keeps prices as affordable as possible and offers Tier Pricing and Financial Assistance options to keep programs accessible.

Tier Pricing: You may choose a tier and pay according to your means. Tier 1 covers the actual cost of the program. Tiers 2 and 3 are subsidized rates made possible through the generosity of donors. The Benefactor rate enables you to offer additional, tax-deductible support to BCBS and fellow program participants. Please select the highest tier that fits your budget to help BCBS keep programs accessible. Click the tab below for additional financial assistance options.

Teacher Dāna: In keeping with the tradition of teachers offering the Buddhadharma out of a spirit of generosity, program fees do not include compensation for teachers. There will be an opportunity to support Catherine and Yahel through the practice of dāna at the end of the program.

Financial Assistance

We are committed to making this program accessible to all. Financial assistance is available to offset the program fee if needed. When invited to register, you can select financial assistance of 30%, 40%, or 50% off the lowest tier ($450). If you require financial assistance greater than 50%, please indicate what amount feels affordable to you, and we will try to accommodate your request.

DEI

We are committed to providing a spiritual home and resource for all on the path to awakening. We do our best to ensure that everyone who comes here feels truly welcome, respected, and safe, whatever their age, race, ethnicity, sex (including gender identity and expression), sexual orientation, body type, disability, religion, or political viewpoint. We recognize this is ongoing work and invite you to reach out to us at contact@buddhistinquiry.org with suggestions and feedback as to how we can more fully embody our aspiration to be a spiritual home and resource for all.

Cancellation Policy

We understand that personal circumstances may require you to cancel your registration. In these cases, please contact us right away. If you cancel before the program starts, you are eligible for a full refund minus a $100 administrative fee. Registration fees are nonrefundable after the program starts.

Guiding Teachers

Catherine McGee

Catherine has been teaching Insight Meditation retreats internationally since 1999. She is a Gaia House teacher council member, teaches yearly at IMS and BCBS, and is a guiding teacher for One Earth Sangha, a web-based sangha exploring Buddhist responses to the climate and ecological crises. She collaborated closely with Rob Burbea in shaping and teaching “A Soulmaking Dharma” from 2014 to 2020.

Yahel Avigur

Yahel is a teacher in the Insight Meditation tradition. He completed his teacher training in 2020 under the guidance of Rob Burbea, with a particular emphasis on Emptiness and Jhana practices. Currently, he is training to teach Soulmaking Dharma, guided by Catherine McGee. Yahel is also trained in the Hakomi approach of assisted self-study.