FREE COURSE - The Fundamentals of Spiritual Practice
Learn the Fundamentals of Spiritual Practice
An Introductory, Self-Paced Course with Meditation Master Mark Griffin (1954–2018)
This free, on-demand course offers a powerful introduction to the principles and practices of meditation within the Tantric and Siddha traditions. Taught by Mark Griffin, founder of the Hard Light Center of Awakening, these foundational teachings serve as a gateway to a deeper spiritual life.
Drawn from recordings of live teachings and meditation intensives, this course invites you into a rich inner world of breath, energy, awareness, and awakening. Whether you’re exploring spiritual practice for the first time or returning with fresh curiosity, this self-paced experience gives you the tools to begin and deepen your practice.
Each lesson includes audio guidance, and written teachings (PDFs), so you can engage with the material in your own time and at your own rhythm. At the end of each module you will find a teaching summary as well as four questions for contemplation. Use these questions to feel into the subject matter while allowing your intuitive faulty to draw you from knowledge to insight, understanding, wisdom, and Self-Realization.
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Why Do Sadhana?
An introduction to the purpose and path of spiritual practice. Mark explains what it means to engage in sadhana and why it remains vital in the modern world.
“When we address the question “Why do Sadhana?” the answer comes back that it is the only approach to life that has a genuine chance, a genuine opportunity to completely change, to completely improve one’s condition.”
An introduction to the purpose and path of spiritual practice. Mark explains what it means to engage in sadhana and why it remains vital in the modern world.
“When we address the question “Why do Sadhana?” the answer comes back that it is the only approach to life that has a genuine chance, a genuine opportunity to completely change, to completely improve one’s condition.”
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The Breath Meditation
A simple, powerful entry into meditation through the awareness of breath. This practice builds stability, presence, and inner stillness.
“The Masters of Consciousness essentially have used the dynamics of breath, of concentration, of meditation, not to discover some mysterious reality hidden somewhere, but to plug into Reality itself. This is the doorway through. In this way, you turn the matrix of your entire mind, body, being into an instrument of communication with that Great Ocean.”
A simple, powerful entry into meditation through the awareness of breath. This practice builds stability, presence, and inner stillness.
“The Masters of Consciousness essentially have used the dynamics of breath, of concentration, of meditation, not to discover some mysterious reality hidden somewhere, but to plug into Reality itself. This is the doorway through. In this way, you turn the matrix of your entire mind, body, being into an instrument of communication with that Great Ocean.”
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Prana, So Ham, and the Four Bodies Intensive
A three-part master teaching on the energetic architecture of the human system—physical, pranic, subtle, and causal—and how breath and mantra interact with these layers. An essential teaching on the Siddha path!
A three-part master teaching on the energetic architecture of the human system—physical, pranic, subtle, and causal—and how breath and mantra interact with these layers. An essential teaching on the Siddha path!
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The Four Bodies/Four States of Awareness Charts
The four bodies and their four states of awareness are fundamental aspects of the human architecture. These charts summarize Mark’s essential teaching from Prana, So Ham, and the Four Bodies Intensive.
The four bodies and their four states of awareness are fundamental aspects of the human architecture. These charts summarize Mark’s essential teaching from Prana, So Ham, and the Four Bodies Intensive.
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Listening to the So Ham Meditation
Mark introduces the ancient mantra “So Ham” and the art of internal listening, allowing the mantra to reveal deeper layers of consciousness.
“To understand your breath and the So Ham to be a tool of excavation by which one forges into the Absolute Empty essence of your Self—at this time, at this place, it really is the fastest way…”
Mark introduces the ancient mantra “So Ham” and the art of internal listening, allowing the mantra to reveal deeper layers of consciousness.
“To understand your breath and the So Ham to be a tool of excavation by which one forges into the Absolute Empty essence of your Self—at this time, at this place, it really is the fastest way…”
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The Space Between the Breath Meditation
This subtle and profound technique explores the still point between inhalation and exhalation—a gateway to pure awareness.
“The space between the breath is like a doorway…As your attention begins to press into and lock in the space between the breaths, you’ll find that the quality of enlightenment, the inherent indwelling Bodhicitta, the enlightened nature of your own Mind gains force, becomes prominent; that this Bodhicitta pervades and changes the mind to its Enlightened form.”
This subtle and profound technique explores the still point between inhalation and exhalation—a gateway to pure awareness.
“The space between the breath is like a doorway…As your attention begins to press into and lock in the space between the breaths, you’ll find that the quality of enlightenment, the inherent indwelling Bodhicitta, the enlightened nature of your own Mind gains force, becomes prominent; that this Bodhicitta pervades and changes the mind to its Enlightened form.”
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What Is Shaktipat?
An essential teaching on the transmission of spiritual energy, its purpose, and how it supports transformation on the path.
“This is the way the Guru Shakti works. It does not generate a recourse to a system of beliefs, it absolutely does not create a new religion. It simply breathes the life of truth into you, and you are transformed. This takes place from the inside out…”
An essential teaching on the transmission of spiritual energy, its purpose, and how it supports transformation on the path.
“This is the way the Guru Shakti works. It does not generate a recourse to a system of beliefs, it absolutely does not create a new religion. It simply breathes the life of truth into you, and you are transformed. This takes place from the inside out…”
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Bodhicitta Meditation
An essential heart-opening practice that cultivates compassion, clarity, and the awakening of spiritual intention during difficult times.
“When you are moving in intense waters of purification and clarification, you should generate the Bodhicitta daily. It will clarify and purify afflictive emotion, confusion, unclear views, misunderstandings. It will lend clarity to any situation.”
An essential heart-opening practice that cultivates compassion, clarity, and the awakening of spiritual intention during difficult times.
“When you are moving in intense waters of purification and clarification, you should generate the Bodhicitta daily. It will clarify and purify afflictive emotion, confusion, unclear views, misunderstandings. It will lend clarity to any situation.”
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How to Use This Course
Take your time with each teaching.
We recommend spending a week or more with each lesson—listening, reflecting, and practicing regularly. There is no rush. These teachings are living transmissions, meant to unfold within you at your own pace.
At the end of each module you will find four questions for contemplation. Contemplation is a mode of focused mental activity that allows us to “feel” into a subject as we move beyond the strictures of discursive thinking.
Once you’ve completed this course, you may wish to deepen your practice by exploring our members-only archive, which includes hundreds of hours of teachings, meditations, and retreats from Mark Griffin’s 30 years of teaching.
