[Online] White Magic: Winter & Contemplative Photography

with John McQuade

Open Dates

Online Program Online

Date and Time Details:

Four Sundays

2 - 4 pm Eastern

3 - 5 pm Atlantic

Prices
  • CAD $150.00 – I can pay the suggested amount
  • CAD $75.00 to CAD $300.00 – I can pay this amount
Program is fully booked
Program is fully booked

This course took place online during winter of 2026. Recordings are available for viewing anytime by participants of this course.

“Through the medium of your perceptions, you can discover magic, or drala. You can connect your own intrinsic wisdom with a sense of greater vision beyond you.”
— Chögyam Trungpa

This online course takes winter itself as the ground of practice. Rather than using the season as a theme or mood, we meet it directly through perception. Light, texture, stillness, and ordinary appearances become the material of contemplative photography.

In contemplative arts such as Miksang photography, haiku, and classical ikebana, seasonal awareness is fundamental. A season is not symbolic. It is immediate experience. Attending closely to what is present allows perception to simplify, settle, and become vivid.

Each week includes a live Zoom session with short teachings and guidance, followed by a simple photographic assignment. During the week, participants take photographs in response to the assignment, select a small number of images, and share them with the group.

These images are then viewed together in the following session as a practice of seeing, without critique or technical analysis. The emphasis is on perception, presence, and discovering what appears when we slow down enough to notice.

What We’ll Explore

  • Direct perception through photography
  • Miksang principles and fresh seeing
  • The three levels of perception: form, sensibility, and orderly chaos
  • Zen and contemplative aesthetics
  • Tantric Buddha Families as perceptual lenses

Selected readings will be provided during the course.

Course Format

  • Duration: Four weeks, with no class March 1
  • Live sessions: Weekly, two hours on Zoom
  • Structure: Teaching, assignment, shared viewing, and discussion
  • Participation: Participant-made images are central to the course

Open to all. No photography experience required. A digital camera or phone camera is sufficient. The emphasis is on perception, not technique.

Cost

$150 suggested amount. Sliding fee scale.

Click below to view program details and register.

Information & Registration

Generosity and Registration Policies

We want everyone to be able to attend retreats at Dorje Denma Ling. Read about our generosity policy, payment options, and registration policies below.

Generosity & Payment Options

Registration and Cancellation Policy

About the Leader

John McQuade

John McQuade is the founder of Nalanda Miksang Photography, and has established Nalanda Miksang teachers in North America, Europe and Australia. He is also co-author of two books in his field: Looking and Seeing, and Heart of Photography. He is currently on the faculty of the Halliburton School of Art and Design and is completing a PhD on the […]

Learn more about John McQuade

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