html Skip to main content
The Knoxville Community of Mindfulness
The Knoxville Community of Mindfulness
practicing mindfulness, loving-kindness, and compassion

  • Classes

"To meditate ... is to bring body and mind back to the present moment so that you do not miss your appointment with life." 

Thich Nhat Hanh

General Class Information

  • Classes meet for 90 minutes once a week.  
  • Some classes are hybrid -- simultaneously on Zoom and  in-person at the Meaningful Life Center while others are only on Zoom
  • Classes run for four weeks.
  • Each class includes instruction, meditation practice, and time for Q&A.  

Class Descriptions

Waking up to the present moment

Many of us live with chronic stress anddissatisfaction, finding it difficult to experience peace and ease on a daily basis.  Mindfulness meditation is a practice for reducing stress and increasing one's sense of well-being. These, and many other benefits, experienced by millions over the centuries, are now confirmed by modern science.


This class is designed for beginners, but is also appropriate for those wanting to establish a meditation practice.

No fee for this class, but registration is required.

Suffering is Optional

 m

Suffering is an undeniable part of the human condition.  We all experience it, but we don't understand it or know how to free ourselves from its grip.  We try various methods and techniques that help us feel better for a while, but inevitably we find ourselves snared once again -- often by the same issues.  How can we escape this circular pattern?  The teachings called The Four Noble Truths offer profound insights into our dilemma.  Practicing these insights leads to the end of suffering. offer profound insights into our dilemma.  Practicing these insights leads to the end of suffering.

No prior meditation experience is needed to take this class.

No fee for this class, but registration is required.

The antidote to fear

 Opening the Heart is the path to well-being and happiness.  When we are caught in fear, self-absorption, and judgement, the heart feels constricted.  Freed of its fear, the heart naturally opens, and we begin to relate to ourself, to others, and to all life with love, compassion, joy, and wisdom.  The teachings and practices known as The Four Immeasureables are time-tested methods for cultivating fearlessness and allowing the full-flowering of our natural capacity to be in relationship.

No prior meditation experience is needed to take this class.

No fee for this class, but registration is required.

Discovering the Great Perfection

Tibetan Buddhism holds that everyone has the innate capacity both to receive and to extend unconditional love and compassion.  The meditations in this class help us access that capacity experientially. 

The meditations are drawn from the Dzogchen (Great Perfection) tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, yet they are informed by modern psychology and designed for western audiences.  The instructions are quite clear and precise, and they easily can be adapted to anyone's spiritual tradition or worldview.

$70 Class fee

Our Teachers

Classes are taught by John Blackburn, Ph.D. or one of his advanced meditation students.

John has practiced meditation for over fifty years, practicing intensively with teachers in the Vipassana, Zen and Dzogchen traditions. For many years he served as chair of the Board of Directors for Southern Dharma Retreat Center in Spring Creek, NC.

Chris Miller

Chris is one of John's advanced meditation students.  He teaches Beginning Mindfulness Meditation

Alan Clingan

Alan is one of John's advanced meditation students.  He teaches Practicing the Four Noble Truths

Rachel Loseke

Rachel s one of John's advanced meditation students.  She teaches Opening the Heart: Metta (Loving Kindness) Meditation

Milo Stanojevich

Milo s one of John's advanced meditation students.  He teaches Four Foundations of Mindfulness