tamhonkhoe.comCurriculum
All courses
The full plan for tamhonkhoe.com: 35 courses, about 210 weeks of lessons. Lessons go live one at a time as they are written and reviewed.
Four levels
| Level | Name | Content | Min/day |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Foundations | Core ideas, slow reading | 10–15 |
| 2 | Deeper practice | Sustained practice, noticing patterns | 20–30 |
| 3 | The nature of things | Mind, self, change, God, death | 30–45 |
| 4 | Integration | Food, work, family, service | – |
Convergence
Practices that many traditions share. Each week has three passages from three traditions and a section on where the traditions differ.
GT0 Convergence 0: Six shared habits
Pausing, gratitude, the Golden Rule, discipline, rest and service. Each lesson has three passages from three traditions.
6 weeks · Level 1 · 10–15 min/day
OpenGT1 Convergence 1: An open heart
Loving-kindness, forgiveness, letting go of self, accepting change, silence, giving.
6 weeks · Level 1–2 · 10–18 min/day
Stoicism
Epictetus, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius.
KK1 What is in our power
Slow reading of Epictetus, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius to tell apart what is up to us and what is not.
6 weeks · Level 1 · 10–15 min/day
OpenKK2 Epictetus’ three disciplines
The disciplines of desire, action and judgement through eight weeks of journaling.
8 weeks · Level 2 · 20–30 min/day
OpenKK3 Change and death in Stoicism
Seneca and Marcus Aurelius on old age, fear, time and those who went before. The kids’ corner is only about change in nature.
6 weeks · Level 3 · 30–45 min/day
OpenKK4 Stoicism at home and at work
Work, anger, the people we work with, family and the circles of concern.
6 weeks · Level 4 · Fits daily life
Buddhism
Pali suttas in Bhikkhu Sujato’s translation (CC0).
PG1 Mindfulness and kindness
The breath, the four truths, speech, non-harm, loving-kindness and testing for yourself.
6 weeks · Level 1 · 10–15 min/day
Not startedPG2 The four foundations of mindfulness in 8 weeks
Body, feelings, mind and phenomena following MN 10; 20–30 minutes of sitting a day.
8 weeks · Level 2 · 20–30 min/day
Not startedPG3 Impermanence and not-self
The five aggregates, the lump of foam, the raft.
6 weeks · Level 3 · 30–45 min/day
Not startedPG4 Dhamma in everyday life
Family, work and money in the teachings for lay people.
6 weeks · Level 4 · Fits daily life
Christianity
The Bible, Brother Lawrence, The Imitation of Christ.
KT1 Slow reading of Scripture (lectio divina)
Six Gospel and Psalm passages through the four steps of lectio divina.
6 weeks · Level 1 · 10–15 min/day
Not startedKT2 Prayer and presence
Brother Lawrence, The Imitation of Christ and silent prayer.
8 weeks · Level 2 · 20–30 min/day
Not startedKT3 God beyond concepts
The contemplative tradition and apophatic theology.
6 weeks · Level 3 · 30–45 min/day
Not startedKT4 Faith in action
Service, community and work.
6 weeks · Level 4 · Fits daily life
Islam
The Qur'an and hadith, presented for learners, not as ritual instruction.
HG1 Introduction: gratitude, patience, small regular deeds
The five pillars and six short Qur'an and hadith passages, for learners.
6 weeks · Level 1 · 10–15 min/day
Not startedHG2 Dhikr and the rhythm of the day (described)
The five daily prayers and dhikr described, not taught as ritual.
8 weeks · Level 2 · 20–30 min/day
Not startedHG3 Rumi and the Sufi tradition
The Masnavi in Whinfield’s version: love and letting go of self.
6 weeks · Level 3 · 30–45 min/day
Not startedHG4 Zakat, Ramadan and daily life
Giving, fasting (described) and family.
6 weeks · Level 4 · Fits daily life
Judaism
Torah, Talmud, Pirkei Avot.
DT1 Torah, Shabbat and the Ethics of the Fathers
The Shema, love of neighbour, Shabbat, Pirkei Avot and Micah.
6 weeks · Level 1 · 10–15 min/day
Not startedDT2 Mussar: training character
One character trait (middah) a week through Pirkei Avot.
8 weeks · Level 2 · 20–30 min/day
Not startedDT3 Job and the question of suffering
Reading the Book of Job in the JPS 1917 translation.
6 weeks · Level 3 · 30–45 min/day
Not startedDT4 Shabbat in the family
Rest, the shared table and tzedakah.
6 weeks · Level 4 · Fits daily life
Non-duality / Presence
The Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita.
BN1 Introduction to the Gita and the Upanishads
Action without clinging to results, and the inner witness.
6 weeks · Level 1 · 10–15 min/day
Not startedBN2 Karma yoga and meditation in the Gita
Gita chapters 2, 3 and 6; 20–30 minutes of sitting.
8 weeks · Level 2 · 20–30 min/day
Not startedBN3 Self-inquiry: ‘Who am I?’
Neti neti, the Mandukya and the Chandogya.
6 weeks · Level 3 · 30–45 min/day
Not startedBN4 Presence in ordinary tasks
Eating, working and caring as practice.
6 weeks · Level 4 · Fits daily life
Taoism
The Tao Te Ching and Zhuangzi, read as Taoist texts; no ritual instruction.
DG1 Water, stillness and enough
Tao Te Ching chapters 8, 15, 16, 33 and 67, and the Zhuangzi chapter on nourishing life.
6 weeks · Level 1 · 10–15 min/day
Not startedDG2 Non-action in practice
‘Fasting of the mind’ (not of the body), doing less, letting go of striving.
8 weeks · Level 2 · 20–30 min/day
Not startedDG3 Life and death in Zhuangzi
Transformation and death. No kids’ corner.
6 weeks · Level 3 · 30–45 min/day
Not startedDG4 The Way in ordinary things
Skill, small beginnings and knowing enough.
6 weeks · Level 4 · Fits daily life
Body
Eating and movement as practice. Eating disciplines are only an optional choice for healthy adults.
TT1 Eating slowly, eating gratefully
Grace before meals in many traditions, and one slow meal a day. No calorie counting.
4 weeks · Level 1 · 15 min/day
Not startedTT2 Mindful movement
Walking meditation and slow stretching, 10–20 minutes.
4 weeks · Level 2 · 10–20 min/day
Not startedTT3 Optional eating disciplines: plant-based eating and 16:8
For healthy adults only, with a list of people who should not do this.
4 weeks · Level 4 · Fits daily life
Not startedTT4 Fasting in the traditions (described)
Ramadan, Yom Kippur, Lent and the Buddhist eight precepts: described, not taught.
4 weeks · Level 4 · Reading
Kids’ corner 6+
5–10 minute activities, always with an adult.
Release plan
A one-person project, so the plan is deliberately slow.
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Nov–Dec 2026 | Convergence 0, weeks 3–6; trial-teach the kids’ corner |
| Jan–Feb 2027 | Stoicism 1: What is in our power |
| Mar–Apr 2027 | Buddhism 1; Convergence 1, weeks 7–9 |
| May–Jun 2027 | Convergence 1, weeks 10–12; Body 1 |
| Second half of 2027 | Stoicism 2, Buddhism 2; level 1 of the other traditions once reviewers are found |
| 2028 | Levels 3–4; Body 3–4 after review by a dietitian |
How a course goes live
- Published once the project owner approves: less sensitive courses that do not set out the doctrine or ritual of one religion (Stoicism, Body 1–2, this outline). The page says clearly that no reviewer from a tradition has checked it.
- Needs a reviewer from the tradition: courses about one religion need at least one reviewer from within it; Convergence needs two reviewers from two traditions.
- Drafted internally first: level 3 (God, self, death), detailed fasting, and anything still being debated.
Every lesson still has to be descriptive, non-divisive, use cleanly licensed sources and include safety notes. See About and principles.
Studies used in this outline
Studies that only show a correlation are marked as such.
| Finding | Source | Used in |
|---|---|---|
| 47 randomised trials, 3,515 people: mindfulness meditation programmes reduce anxiety and depression by a small-to-moderate amount; not better than other active treatments. | Goyal et al. 2014, JAMA Internal Medicine 174(3) | GT0, GT1, KK2, KK3, PG1, PG2 |
| Review of 83 studies: about 8% of meditators reported an adverse experience (about 4% in experimental studies), most often anxiety or depression; it can happen to people with no history of mental illness. | Farias et al. 2020, Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 142(5) | GT1, KK3, PG1, PG2, BN2 |
| 27 studies, 3,675 people: gratitude exercises reduce depression and anxiety symptoms by a small amount; less so against active control groups. | Cregg & Cheavens 2021, Journal of Happiness Studies 22(1) | GT0 |
| 27 experiments, 4,045 people: acts of kindness raise well-being by a small-to-moderate amount; the studies are often small. | Curry et al. 2018, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 76 | GT0, GT1, KK1, KK2, KK4 |
| 33 studies of self-control training: a small effect, smaller still after correcting for publication bias. | Friese et al. 2017, Perspectives on Psychological Science 12(6) | GT0, KK2, KK4 |
| 38,124 workers: people who detach from work when off duty report less exhaustion and better sleep. This is a correlation. | Wendsche & Lohmann-Haislah 2017, Frontiers in Psychology 7 | GT0, KK4 |
| 5 cohort studies: volunteers had lower mortality. This is a correlation; randomised trials have not shown clear benefit. | Jenkinson et al. 2013, BMC Public Health 13:773 | GT0, KK4 |
| 53 studies, 2,323 people: guided forgiveness programmes clearly increase forgiveness compared with no treatment, and reduce depression and anxiety; longer programmes work better. | Wade et al. 2014, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 82(1) | GT1 |
| 21 trials: lower burnout and stress, higher self-compassion; results vary a lot between studies. | Wang et al. 2024, Stress and Health 40(1) | GT1 |
| 65 studies: humility goes with slightly better mental health (small associations). This is a correlation. There is no meta-analysis of humility training yet. | Lee et al. 2025, The Counseling Psychologist 53(6) | GT1 |
| 146 randomised studies of writing about experiences and feelings: a positive but very small overall effect (r = 0.075). | Frattaroli 2006, Psychological Bulletin 132(6) | KK2, KK3 |
| Pre-registered study, 1,307 people in 3 countries: a popular but mistaken reading of Stoicism (wanting to show fewer emotions and to feel less) went with lower well-being. This is a correlation. | Karl et al. 2022, Journal of Happiness Studies 23(7) | KK1, KK2, KK3, KK4 |
| Review of 20 meta-analyses: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) works for anxiety, depression and chronic pain, about as well as CBT. This is guided therapy. | Gloster et al. 2020, Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science 18 | GT1, KK1, KK2, KK3 |
| 39 randomised trials, 1,821 people: ACT did better than control conditions (g = 0.57), with no clear difference from CBT. | A-Tjak et al. 2015, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics 84(1) | GT1, KK2 |
| A survey, a follow-up and a randomised experiment: spending money on others went with, and in the experiment raised, happiness. The survey part is a correlation; one research group. | Dunn, Aknin & Norton 2008, Science 319(5870) | GT1 |
| Meta-analysis of randomised trials: religious/spiritual interventions reduce anxiety; programmes vary widely and study quality is limited. | Gonçalves et al. 2015, Psychological Medicine 45(14) | GT1, KT1, KT2 |
| 97 studies, 7,181 people: therapy that integrates the client’s faith reduces distress as well as standard therapy and adds spiritual well-being. There is no review of lectio divina itself. | Captari et al. 2018, Journal of Clinical Psychology 74(11) | KT1 |
| 99 randomised trials: intermittent fasting gives weight loss similar to daily calorie restriction; no extra benefit for blood sugar. | Semnani-Azad et al. 2025, BMJ 389:e082007 | TT3 |
| 13 observational studies: mixed results on vegetarian diets and mood. This is a correlation; science has not shown that a vegetarian diet improves mood. | Iguacel et al. 2021, Nutrition Reviews 79(4) | TT3 |
| 11 studies, 1,436 people: stress and anxiety scores were lower after Ramadan than before, but most studies had no control group. | Berthelot et al. 2021, Nutrients 13(11) | HG4, TT4 |
| Review: Ramadan’s effect on mental health is generally small, but people with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder have a higher risk of relapse. | Heun 2018, Global Psychiatry 1(1) | HG4, TT4 |
| 128 controlled trials of reminiscence and life review: moderate reductions in depression (g = 0.57) and gains in ego-integrity (g = 0.64); mostly older adults, with guidance. | Pinquart & Forstmeier 2012, Aging & Mental Health 16(5) | KK3 |
| Meta-analysis of 277 laboratory experiments: when reminded of death, people defended their views and self-esteem more strongly (r = 0.35). | Burke, Martens & Faucher 2010, Personality and Social Psychology Review 14(2) | KK3 |
| Replication project in 17 laboratories, 1,550 people: the classic effect of reminding people of death was not reproduced under any condition. | Klein et al. 2022, Collabra: Psychology 8(1) | KK3 |
| 14 studies of bereaved adults (non-violent loss): about 9.8% were at risk of prolonged grief disorder; methods varied widely. | Lundorff et al. 2017, Journal of Affective Disorders 212 | KK3 |
| Meta-analysis of 154 studies, 10,189 people: activities that calm the body (slow breathing, mindfulness, relaxation) reduced anger and aggression moderately (g = −0.63); arousal-raising activities (hitting a punch bag, running to let off steam) were ineffective overall. | Kjærvik & Bushman 2024, Clinical Psychology Review 109 | KK4 |