Peter Fenner

Peter is a leader in the adaption and transmission of Asian nondual wisdom worldwide. He is a pioneer in the development of nondual therapy and creator of the 9 month Radiant Mind Course® and the Natural Awakening: Advanced Nondual Training. He was a celibate monk in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition for 9 years and has a Ph.D. in the philosophical psychology of Mahayana Buddhism. Over a period of 40 years Peter has distilled the essence of traditions like Zen, Dzogchen and the Buddhist Middle Way, and adapted them to suit our post-modern culture.

He teaches in North America, Europe, Israel, India, Australia and New Zealand and has presented his work at leading universities and institutions including Columbia, Stanford, CIIS and Naropa. He has written extensively on Buddhist nondual traditions. His books include Radiant Mind: Awakening Unconditional Awareness (2007); The Edge of Certainty: Dilemmas on the Buddhist Path (2002); and The Sacred Mirror: Nondual Wisdom and Psychotherapy (ed. with John Prendergast and Sheila Krystal, 2003). Peter is the Director of Education of Timeless Wisdom: wisdom.org.

Peter had the good fortune to meet the Tibetan lama Thubten Yeshe, founder of the Foundation for the Presentation of the Mahayana Tradition in 1974. Lama Yeshe accepted him as his student and in 1978 he was ordained as a monk. He was a celibate monk in the Tibetan Buddhist traditions for 9 years.

In 1983 he completed a PhD in the philosophical psychology of the Madhyamika school of Mahayana Buddhism. His other teachers included Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, Geshe Thubten Loden, Geshe Lhundup Sopa, Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche and Sogyal Rinpoche. After nine years as a celibate monk, Peter handed back his ordination. As a postmonastic he embarked on an intensive exploration of Western forms of healing and therapy.

In 1986 he began offering adaptations of Mahayana wisdom to mental health professionals. His workshops integrated Buddhist nondual wisdom with an understanding of group dynamics. He subsequently founded the Timeless Wisdom (wisdom.org), a Californian nonprofit organization, which offers contemplative dialogues and retreats in Australia, USA, Europe and Israel.

In response to requests from the many mental health professionals who attended his workshops, Peter has taught the principles and practices for a nondual psychotherapy. He also offers individual counseling sessions to clients in many countries.

In 1998 he teamed up with Dr. Mantel (President of the Association Internationale de Psychiatrie Spirituelle) to organize the first-ever conference focusing on the contribution of nondual spiritual experience to psychotherapy. This took place at the Mt. Madonna, California. The Center for Timeless Wisdom continues to sponsor an annual conference on Nondual Wisdom and Psychotherapy, with the additional support of graduate schools such as Saybrook Institute, California Institute of Integral Studies, JFK University, the Association of Transpersonal Psychology and the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology.

Peter’s books include Radiant Mind – awakening unconditioned awareness (Sounds True, 2007); The Ontology of the Middle Way (Kluwer, 1990); Reasoning into Reality (Wisdom Publications, 1994); Essential Wisdom Teachings (with Penny Fenner, Nicolas-Hays, 2001); The Edge of Certainty: Paradoxes on the Buddhist Path (Nicolas-Hays, 2002); Sacred Mirror: Nondual Wisdom and Psychotherapy (Editor, Omega Books, 2003)

His psychological essays have appeared in journals such as the Journal of Contemplative Psychotherapy, Revision, Journal of the International Association for Spiritual Psychiatry, Psychologia (Tokyo), and 3e millenaire.

Besides offering experiential workshop Peter has given presentations of his work at institutions such as Stanford Medical School, Columbia University, Saybrook College, California Institute of Integral Studies and Naropa University.