a five month online training
The Direct Experience
Weekly live sessions, monthly one-to-one mentorship, and a daily practice that grows with you. A small group, guided by Markus Atmananda.
words from markus atmananda
"The spiritual search can be a lonely place. Good guidance can be hard to come by, and many traditions rely more on technique and lineage than on the direct experience of the present moment. I want to open this possibility for everyone who feels called. A training where everything is set for you to deepen your self-awareness and find the peace inherent in the present moment. Where you feel supported when you are struggling, confirmed when you just have to hang on, and challenged when needed. We start with a 20 minute meeting to make sure it's a good fit."
Markus Atmananda
Why five months?
Real practice needs time. The patterns of the mind and body are set in their ways: how you relate to your thoughts and emotions, the habit of believing whatever they propose. These patterns do not change in a weekend. They need continuity. The five months give you time to build that practice, meet resistance, and work through it.
Traditionally, three things are needed: a community to practice with, study of the teaching, and an experienced teacher. This training is built around all three. Enough time to settle into a new approach to life.
example from the training
30 minute guided meditation
what to expect
Depth in meditation comes from three things
1
Sustained practice
A daily sitting practice that builds over five months. Monthly themes. Consistency over time, and a continuous exploration of the teaching of meditation.
2
Proper guidance
Weekly teaching with Markus Atmananda. Monthly one-on-ones where your practice is formed individually.
3
A community
The experience of practicing alongside others who are doing the same work. Questions and progress shared.
how it works
How the training is put together
Every week
75-minute live session
Teaching, sitting together, and open conversation with Markus. Thursdays 19:00 CET.
5 MIN
Introduction
25 MIN
Meditation
25 MIN
Teaching
20 MIN
Conversation
Every month
60-minute mentorship
One to one with Markus. Your practice shaped personally. In English or Swedish.
Every day
A sitting practice
That begins where you are and grows with you. Plus a weekly reflection question to keep alive.
Always
Everything recorded
All group sessions remain yours after the training ends.
What we explore
Five months, five themes that build on each other
Month 1
Thoughts
Week 1: How to start your practice
The core fundamentals of starting to pratice meditation.
Week 2: Negativity & Dissatisfaction
How to deal with negative thinking. How to work with gratitude.
Week 3: Support
What is the role of a spiritual community?
Week 4: Concentration
The bridge to meditation.
Month 2
The Body & Emotions
Week 5: The Experience of the Body – Part 1
A key to being in the present moment.
Week 6: The Experience of the Body – Part 2
What practice really transforms emotions?
Week 7: Unconscious emotions
Why we fall into the same pattern again and again and what that shows us.
Week 8: Pleasure & Desires
How to keep a health relationship with pleasure.
Month 3
The Practice
Week 9: Attention vs. Awareness
Is paying attention the same as being present?
Week 10: Dark Night of the Soul
What if suffering is trying to show us something?
Week 11: One-pointedness
The next step after concentration.
Week 12: Self-Inquiry
Is perhaps the idea of the meditator the biggest obstacle in meditation?
Month 4
Surrender & Trust
Week 13: The Sense of Purpose
Knowing yourself and how that changes your place in the world.
Week 14: Trust & Devotion
What role does belif, faith and trust have in meditation?
Week 15: Relating
How does your practice effect your relationship to the people around you?
Week 16: Surrender
What does it mean to really surrender?
Month 5
The Direct Experience
Week 17: The End Game of Meditation
What lies beyond techniques?
Week 18: Living meditation
The things you need going forward.
Week 19: Sustaining Your Practice
How do you keep practing when you face of the challenges of life?
Week 20: Closing cermony
Gratitude and celebration of life.
about markus atmananda
From monastic life in India to teaching meditation for everyday life.
Markus Atmananda has practiced meditation for over twenty-seven years, including extended time living as a monk in India. Based in Malmö, Sweden, he teaches non-dual meditation and self-inquiry in person and online.
His teaching draws on the non-dual traditions and on the work of teachers including Nukunu, Mooji, Adyashanti, and Swami Shashwat Ji.
His approach is direct, grounded, and honest. What he shares is always alive, rooted in presence and in this moment.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
Testimonials
Having participated in several satsangs and a retreat, Markus Atmananda contributes with great wisdom & heart, inner stillness, experience & humor. Many thanks!
Highly recommend to anyone who wishes to deepen and explore meditation.
Annica Dahlin
When I step into Markus's satsang, I often carry a subtle expectation. An idea that I am supposed to get somewhere, to understand something profound. But in Markus's presence, something else happens. There are no techniques to master, no conceptual mountains to climb. The "I-construction" that so desperately wants to turn life into a self-improvement project suddenly finds itself completely unemployed. It is a beautiful disappointment for the ego.
Through the wordless safety of Markus's presence, a doorway opens to a state of being that lies far beyond the ego's masks and defenses. In that stillness, I discover that what I was searching for was never a destination in the future. It was the love and the bottomless presence that is already here, just beneath the surface of my identification and confusion.
Ann Linderoth
I first met Markus in 2017 during a workshop, and from that moment, something deep within me began to shift. Sitting in satsang with Markus has transformed my life, guiding me inward, helping me meet life’s challenges with greater presence, and offering me a sense of space, stillness, and peace.
I feel immense gratitude for the satsang each week, a place where there is room for stillness, contemplation, and community.
Johanna Jonsson
I came to Satsang wanting growth, wanting to be a 'good' meditator. That 'I' is quite disappointed today. Instead I was shown what is already here, the love that is so close, so pervasive. I didn't expect the tears and the courage, and I saw how natural it became to sit with a dying man, grieve a dog fully, love my parents so dearly. Knowing I'm no longer a project to be fixed makes life so much more beautiful.
Anders Persson
Markus Atmananda's teaching has helped me come into deeper contact with myself, by sitting in silence with him and through his intuitive understanding and guidance. In his presence I always feel deeply loved, embraced, and allowed to be as I am.
Ola Winberg
video
A taste of the teaching
Don't let positivity become a mask
I remember being on a retreat. A woman came up to the microphone and said, "I'm so disappointed. People here don't seem very happy. They seem so serious. I thought this would be a happy place."
I understand that longing. The wish that a spiritual place would be somewhere everyone is friendly, in a good mood, always smiling. But that is not sincere spirituality. Some groups try to uphold that image. It is not sincere because the most sincere thing is that you can be as you are.
When you're sad, you're allowed to be sad. You don't have to put on a mask. When you're vulnerable, you're allowed to be vulnerable. When you're emotional, you're allowed to be emotional. Everything else creates the suppression we don't want. It is just the ego continuing under a spiritual identity. "Now I am happy all the time. Now I am positive all the time."
Much better to be honest all the time.
practical information
Format
Online via Zoom
Group Size
Maximum 10
Language
English (group sessions). Mentorship and introductory conversation in English or Swedish.
Weekly session
Thursdays, 19:00–20:15 CET
Price
15,000 SEK. Includes all 20 group sessions, 5 hours of one-to-one mentorship, weekly reflection prompts, and full recordings you keep.
Payment
In full or five monthly instalments, no extra cost.
Reduced pricing available for those in genuine financial difficulty. EUR payment on request.
Dates
5th of November to 1st of April (Pause during Christmas and New Years)
You need
A stable internet connection and a quiet place to sit.
common questions
Do I need experience?
No. Many begin with little or no experience. The mentorship meets you where you are.
Is this religious?
No. The teaching is inspired by several contemplative traditions, but nothing is asked in terms of belief.
What if I miss a session?
All sessions are recorded. You will not fall behind.
Can I pay in instalments?
Yes. Five monthly payments, no extra cost. The payments have to be completed before the training starts.
What if it's not for me?
There is a free 20 minute conversation with Markus before you commit to determine if this training is a good fit for you. Once you have commited to doing the training, there is no refund.
Does this lead to a certification?
No. This is a training in personal practice, not a teacher qualification.
Is what I share kept private?
Yes. What is shared in the group stays in the group. Recordings are for participants only.
next step
Book a free conversation with Markus
A 20-minute call to see if this training is a good fit. No preparation needed. In English or Swedish.