Welcome to Natural Dharma Fellowship’s
Margha Program: Natural Meditation

We welcome you to the Natural Meditation year of the Margha program. Margha, “path” in Sanskrit, is a program spanning two years, with the alternating year being the Bodhicitta year. The 2025 Margha Program dives into the practices of Natural Meditation and contemplation, within a framework that gently invites and opens us to experience present wakefulness, our intrinsic Buddha nature. By engaging the practices of shamatha (tranquility), vipashyana (insight), and open awareness, we will touch into our innate original goodness. Participants are supported by a comprehensive curriculum of meditation and study. May your participation in the Margha program enhance and deepen your spiritual path.

How to Use the Dashboard

The Resources are a collection of documents and reading materials that are either primary or supplemental, as well as the NDF prayer book. These resources will be supportive throughout the year.

Within each month, you will find Teaching & Meditation Audios, Practice Documents, and Readings specific to that month.

The Teaching Audios are specific to the practice(s) introduced at your monthly Margha meetings. They may also include additional teachings and supplemental practices that were not explored in your monthly Margha meeting. We encourage listening to these Teaching Audios at least once to support your practice.

The Meditation Audios are specific to each month’s practice. Light variations of these meditations are offered, depending on who is guiding them. Some meditations are about fifteen minutes long, while those offered during retreats may extend to thirty- or forty minutes.

It is recommended that you listen to all the different meditation audios for each practice at least once to experience the variations and discern which resonates most for you. You can then choose one or more of the audios to support your regular practice that month.

You need not listen to an audio every time you meditate, of course. Once you are familiar with the meditation, you can engage it on your own at your own pace, or you can continue to use the audios either occasionally or regularly.

Practice Documents are texts that further support the monthly practice. These documents have often been introduced during Margha retreats. However, some months do not have practice documents.

Primary Readings are listed for each month. These readings will enhance and deepen your understanding and practice within the Natural Meditation year; engaging with them has been found to be extremely helpful to students over the years. Additionally, these monthly primary readings will be the basis for Thursday evening Text Study sessions.