About Tarpa

Mission Statement – Why Tarpa Exists

Tarpa exists to give anyone, regardless of background or belief, access to something genuinely hard to find: a complete, rigorous, secular education in meditation as a contemplative scientific method for investigating and improving human experience.

Toward this end, Tarpa created the Palace of Learning—a free, self-paced academic program for adult learners based upon three courses that Dr. Gregory Seton (DPhil, Oxford) developed and teaches at Dartmouth College. The Dartmouth courses explore different Buddhist and Western theoretical frameworks for meditation along with an applied learning component, in which students learn and experiment with the different secular methods connected with each framework. The Palace of Learning replicates these courses for the general public but weaves them together into a single comprehensive curriculum with an online theoretical component and an in-person applied component involving immersive experiential learning at its meditation laboratories. The Palace curriculum has multiple levels and different entry points to meet all students where they are—whether they come with no background or years of experience. Its approach is academic and evidence-based, not religious. Students are never asked to accept or believe anything. They are trained to think critically and reach their own conclusions—and to refine and build on them through direct observation and experimentation.

Tarpa’s Palace of Learning provides an important public service that does not exist in the world today. Religious institutions teach meditation theory and practice but require faith commitments that exclude many students. Academic programs in Buddhist studies provide intellectual rigor for those who can enroll in a university but typically offer no training in the methodology itself. Contemporary mindfulness programs present a simplified and decontextualized version of the methodology that stops short of what serious investigation requires. None provides a complete, publicly accessible, secular education in the full methodology for the betterment of society. Tarpa does.

Its educational program produces people who genuinely understand their own experience, change the patterns that cause unnecessary suffering, and bring what they learn back to the people and communities around them.

What “Secular” Means Here

The contemplative methods Tarpa teaches are drawn from Buddhist traditions, but they are presented as subjects of academic inquiry and educational exercises—not religious prayers or rituals. Students explore practices such as concentration, mindful observation, and compassion cultivation in the same way a university course might study philosophy or psychology: as methods of inquiry into human experience.

Each student is free to interpret the material through their own lens—as pragmatic philosophy, as psychology, as practical skill development, or as preparation for further study within a traditional lineage. Questions of personal belief remain entirely the student’s own.

While Tarpa takes a secular, evidence-based approach, we maintain respect for Buddhist teachings and traditions. We do not attempt to diminish or refute the religious dimensions of Buddhism—cosmology, devotional practice, karma, rebirth—but present these as cultural and philosophical frameworks to be understood and evaluated rather than beliefs to be adopted. Students from traditional Buddhist backgrounds are welcome to maintain their religious convictions fully while benefiting from Tarpa’s educational approach.

The Academic Foundation

Tarpa’s curriculum is based upon Dr. Seton’s three Dartmouth courses—“Buddhist Meditation Theory,” “Buddhist Philosophy,” and “Himalayan Buddhist Lifeworlds”—cross-listed in the Religion Department, Philosophy Department, and Department of Asian Societies, Languages & Cultures. Like any university course, these courses examine Buddhist traditions academically—their history, arguments, methods, and cultural contexts—without promoting religious belief or requiring religious commitment. Dr. Seton brings 37 years of personal contemplative study to his teaching, combining rigorous academic scholarship with deep experiential understanding. The Palace of Learning replicates, combines, and expands these courses into a single comprehensive curriculum, adding the applied experiential component—study intensives at Tarpa’s meditation laboratories in Vermont—that a university course cannot provide.

Tarpa’s Development

December 2022: Tarpa incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational corporation

December 2023: First meditation laboratory completed; study intensives begin

January 2024: Second meditation laboratory completed

June 2024: Third meditation laboratory completed

2024–2025: Online curriculum development and platform creation

November 2025: Foundation Floor and First Floor launched

July 2026: Second Floor launches

Present: Three meditation laboratories operating; individualized instruction; expanding curriculum

Open to All

Tarpa’s complete educational program—online curriculum and meditation laboratories—is free and open to any member of the general public who wishes to learn, without restriction based on background, belief, experience, or financial circumstances. No fees, no prerequisites, no application process. The curriculum serves a broad range of students: those approaching the subject purely intellectually, therapists and researchers incorporating contemplative methods into professional work, experienced practitioners seeking rigorous theoretical grounding, and complete beginners with no prior background. Both theory-first learners and experience-first learners are fully supported.

Students do not need to adopt any particular worldview—including secular humanism—to benefit from Tarpa’s educational resources. The approach is methodologically secular, meaning evidence-based and open to diverse perspectives, but no specific philosophical stance is required or implied.