AudioDharma Speakers
| Judy Cannon | Judy has been practicing meditation for 9 years and has been part of our IMC sangha for 5 years. As a Catholic nun she is attentive to diversity in spiritual practice. | |
| Judy Long | Judy Cannon began Buddhist meditation practice in 2000 with Tara Brach in Bethesda, Maryland. After moving back to the San Francisco area, she practices at the Insight Meditation Center and has sat several retreats at Spirit Rock and the Insight Retreat Center. As a Catholic nun, she is very interested in diversity in spiritual practice. You can contact Judy at jntlong@gmail.com. | |
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Kamala Masters | Kamala is one of the founders of the Vipassana Metta Foundation on Maui, where she is developing a sanctuary-hermitage for long term practice. She teaches retreats in the worldwide, including being a Core Teacher at the Insight Meditation Society at Barre, MA. Practicing since 1975, her teachers have been the late Anagarika Munindra of India and Sayadaw U Pandita of Burma with whom she continues to practice. She lives on Maui where she... |
| Karen Zelin | ||
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Kate Munding | Kate Munding has been practicing meditation in the Theravada lineage since 2004. She is a graduate of the 2016 Spirit Rock/Insight Meditation Society/Insight Retreat Center teacher training. Kate is a guiding teacher for the Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley (IMCB) and teaches residential retreats and daylongs. Kate is the founder of The Heart-Mind Education Project, providing mindfulness based education programs, trainings, and... |
| Kathy Cheney | Kathy Cheney been practicing meditation since 2001 as a student of Gil Fronsdal. She has done several periods of intensive retreat and spent fall of 2007 on personal retreat at Gaia House, in England, working with Christina Feldman. Kathy is part of Spirit Rock's Family Program and teaches at a preschool in Marin County. Her intention is to offer the dharma in ways that young children can hear and practice while having fun. | |
| Kelly McGonigal | Kelly McGonigal, PhD, is a senior teacher and research collaborator at the Stanford Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, as well as a psychology lecturer at Stanford University. She is a long-time meditator in the American Zen tradition and aims to integrates modern science with contemplative practices. Her books include The Willpower Instinct, The Neuroscience of Change, and Yoga for Pain Relief. | |
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Kevin Griffin | Kevin Griffin is a Buddhist teacher and author, best known for his ground-breaking work bringing together the Dharma with issues of recovery and the Twelve Steps. A Buddhist practitioner for nearly 35 years, he brings a wealth of experience and wisdom to his teaching and writing. His books include One Breath at a Time: Buddhism and the Twelve Steps and his recent Buddhism and the 12 Steps Workbook. Sounds True will release Recovering Joy: A... |
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Kim Allen | Kim Allen began meditating in 2003, seeking both a path out of suffering and the deeper truths of life. She trains mainly under the guidance of Gil Fronsdal at the Insight Meditation Center, and has also practiced in Sri Lanka and, more recently, with a few Mahāyāna teachers. Kim was drawn early on to long retreat practice and has sat cumulative three years of retreat. Engagement with the Pāli Canon, and also texts from other Buddhist... |
| Kim Moore | ||
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Kirsten Rudestam | Kirsten is an environmental educator, wilderness guide, and meditation teacher. She has a PhD in Environmental Sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz where she studied political ecology, sense of place, and environmental justice. Kirsten has fifteen years of experience teaching environmental field courses, nature-based meditation programs and guiding wilderness expeditions. She is trained as a vision fast guide through the... |
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Kodo Conlin | Kodo Conlin has practiced Buddhist meditation for nearly 20 years. He has trained in both the Zen and Theravada traditions, ordaining as a Soto Zen priest in 2015. His training in Vipassana has included extended residential training in the tradition of S.N. Goenka, as well as long retreats at Spirit Rock and Insight Retreat Center. Kodo's teaching emphasizes the joyful, comprehensive freedom of the heart—liberation—available through the... |
| Konin Cardenas | ||
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Leigh Brasington | Leigh Brasington has been practicing meditation since 1985 and is the senior American student of the late Ven. Ayya Khema. Leigh began assisting Ven. Ayya Khemma in 1994, and began teaching retreats on his on in 1997. He is also authorized to teach by Jack Kornfield. Leigh has taught the jhanas, along with multiple insight practices, at well over one hundred residential retreats throughout the United States and Europe. He is the author of the... |
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Liz Powell | Liz Powell has been practicing Vipassana meditation since 2004. She is currently in teacher training with Gil Fronsdal and Andrea Fella. She is a graduate of the Dharma Mentoring Training and Local Dharma Leader Training Programs with Gil Fronsdal and Andrea Fella at Insight Meditation Center, as well as having completed the Dedicated Practitioners and Advanced Practitioners Programs at Spirit Rock. For a number of years, she co-led programs... |
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Lori Wong | Lori Wong is a Stanford-certified Compassion Cultivation Training™ (CCT) teacher, trained through Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and <a href=http://ccare.stanford.edu/>Altruism Research and Education</a>. Lori is also the founding teacher of <a href=http://imcv.org/>Insight Meditation Central Valley</a>, a graduate of <a href=https://www.spiritrock.org/CDL>Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leader program</a>, and has been... |
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Maria Straatmann | Maria Straatmann, a retired scientist and businesswoman, has studied in the Vipassana tradition with Gil Fronsdal since 1996. Maria serves as IMC Audiodharma Online Courses Coordinator/Teacher, and on its Chaplaincy Council; she is a Spirit Rock Buddhist Ritual Minister. She emphasizes freedom through seeing things as they are and letting go of unskillful mind habits, on the cushion and especially in daily life. |
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Marjolein Janssen | Marjolein (pronunciation “Mar-yo-line”) Janssen is originally from the Netherlands. Since 2011 she has been practicing insight meditation intensively in Europe, the US, as well as Myanmar, where she was ordained as a Buddhist nun. Marjolein brings both formal practice and practice in daily life to her teachings. She seeks to offer a practical approach to Buddhist concepts and ideas. Her sharing of the Dharma comes from her wish to contribute... |
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Mark Coleman | Mark Coleman has practiced Buddhist meditation since 1984, primarily within the insight meditation tradition. He started teaching Vipassana retreats in 1997 in Europe and currently teaches both at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and nationally. He also leads wilderness and nature-based meditation retreats from Alaska to Mexico where he integrates mindfulness practice with the great outdoors. His new book 'Awake in the Wild' is about the practice... |
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Martin Aylward | Martin began exploring meditation at age 19, learning and practicing from both Asian and Western teachers, emphasizing nature as a resource for awakening. His approach draws on extensive practice in the Buddhist Theravada tradition, as well as the influence of Non-dual teachings and the Diamond Approach. He and his wife have established a practice center in South West France. |
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Martine Batchelor | MARTINE BATCHELOR was a Zen Buddhist nun in Korea for ten years. She teaches meditation retreats worldwide. She is co-editor of "Buddhism and Ecology" and editor of "Women on the Buddhist Path". She is the author of several books including her forthcoming book "Let Go: a Buddhist Guide to Breaking Free of Habits". She is interested in meditation in daily life, Buddhism and social action, religion and women issues, Zen and its history... |
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Mary Grace Orr | Mary Grace Orr is a teacher emeritus at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Marin County (CA) and the founding teacher of Insight Santa Cruz. She has led retreats at Spirit Rock and throughout the US for 30 years. She is also deeply interested in Christian mystical traditions and is a graduate of the Living School. She lives in Volcano, HI, where she also leads a weekly group. During the time of COVID, meeting on Zoom, this group expanded to... |
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Mary Mocine | Mary Mocine is the Abbess at Clear Water Zendo in Vallejo, California. She trained at the San Francisco Zen Center, including time at Tassajara, Green Gulch and City Center. Mary was ordained by Sojun Mel Weitsman in 1994 and received Dharma Transmission in 2006. She has also trained in Japan. Mary's teaching emphasizes the awareness of the body. She is also a fan of Dudeism. Clear Water, aka the Vallejo Zen Center, was established in... |
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Matthew Brensilver | Matthew Brensilver, MSW, PhD teaches retreats at the Insight Retreat Center, Spirit Rock and other Buddhist centers. He was previously program director for Mindful Schools and for more than a decade, was a core teacher at Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society. Matthew worked as a clinical social worker, serving severely and persistently mentally ill adults and adolescents. He subsequently earned a PhD from the Dworak-Peck School of... |
| Matt McNeil | ||
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Max Erdstein | Max Erdstein teaches at the Insight Meditation Center and the Insight Retreat Center. He is trained as a Dharma teacher by Gil Fronsdal and received Dharma Entrustment as a Zen teacher in the lineage of Suzuki Roshi from Sojun Mel Weitsman and Gil Fronsdal. Max has practiced Buddhist meditation for more than 25 years, training in America, Japan, Thailand, and Burma. He completed the Spirit Rock/IMS Dharma teacher training program and... |
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Meg Gawler | Meg Gawler began practicing Buddhism in 1968 as a disciple of the Zen Master, Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, including over three years of monastic training. She earned a Master’s in Applied Ecology, moved to France, pursued an international career in nature conservation and human development, and began practicing in the Theravāda tradition. She has trained with Gil Fronsdal, Ven. Anālayo, Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein, and others. Meg holds a... |
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Mei Elliott | Mei Elliott is currently the director of San Francisco Zen Center’s City Center temple, where she lives and practices. Mei began meditating in 2004 and entered into residential monastic training at Tassajara Zen Monastery in 2014. She has since spent seven years training residentially at San Francisco Zen Center temples. Mei served as the organizer and lead facilitator for Young Urban Zen for five years and was trained as a Right Use of Power... |
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Mel Weitsman | Sojun Mel Weitsman Roshi was abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center. He was ordained by Suzuki Roshi in 1969 as resident priest at the Berkeley Zendo, and was officially installed as abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center in 1985. Sojun lived in North Berkeley with his wife, Liz. (1929 to 2021) |
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Michael Newhall | Shoho Michael Newhall began practicing and studying with Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi in the early seventies. He was ordained in the mid-eighties by Chino Roshi and also in Japan by Kobun's brother Kiebun Otogawa Roshi, with whom he did ceremony and temple training. He also practiced with Dainin Katagiri Roshi and Tozen Akiyama Roshi. Monastery training was with Tenshin Reb Anderson at Tassajara, and also under Kobun Chino Roshi as shuso of angos... |
| Michelle Shields | ||
| Mindy Zlotnik | ||
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Mirka Knaster | Mirka Knaster has practiced in the Theravada tradition since her first retreat in India in 1981. An independent scholar and freelance writer and editor, she has written <em>Living This Life Fully: Stories and Teachings of Munindra</em> (Shambhala), a book about the meditation master who first taught Dipa Ma, Joseph Goldstein, and many of our western dharma leaders. He was a pivotal figure in the transmission of Dharma to the West and the... |
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Misha Merrill | Misha Merrill is a Zen teacher in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki, Roshi of the San Francisco Zen Center. She received Dharma Transmission from his disciple, Les Kaye, in 1998 and has been the guiding teacher of Zen Heart Sangha on the Peninsula since 1993. She also teaches young children at the Peninsula School of Menlo Park. She lives in the hills above Stanford with her husband and four-footed friends, and joyfully cultivates a large garden. |
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Mushim (Patricia) Ikeda | Mushim (Patricia) Ikeda is a core teacher at East Bay Meditation Center in downtown Oakland, California. She is a published author and a diversity and inclusion consultant, and she has taught residential retreats for people of color, women, and social justice activists nationally. She teaches an award-winning yearlong program of secular mindfulness training for agents of change at EBMC -- the award given to the program, Practice in... |
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Nikki Mirghafori | Nikki Mirghafori, PhD, is a Buddhist teacher and Artificial Intelligence scientist. She is a lineage holder in the Theravada tradition, empowered by the Burmese master Venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw, as well as the Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Insight Meditation Society (IMS), and the Insight Meditation Center (IMC). She serves as a Teacher at IMC in Redwood City, CA, as well os on the Teachers Council and Board of Directors at the Spirit Rock... |
| Nirali Shah | ||
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Nolitha Tsengiwe | Nolitha is a Dharma teacher and board member at Dharmagiri Sacred Mountain Retreat Center, in SA that was founded by Kittisaro and Thanisara Weinberg. She has practiced since 1997 under Kittisaro and Thanissara, who are of Ajahn Chah ‘s lineage. In her first retreat with these beloved teachers she discovered silence as a refuge and has never looked back. Nolitha completed the Community Dharma leadership program (CDL4) under Spirit Rock in 2014... |
| Nona Olivia | Nona Olivia has been practicing meditation for some 40 years, during which time she raised her children and became a grandmother. Deeply involved in the Insight Meditation tradition of Theravada Buddhism, Nona graduated from Spirit Rock Meditation Center's first Dedicated Practitioner Program and is a Lay Buddhist Minister, ordained by Gil Fronsdal. Nona practices with and is very inspired by the monastics in the tradition of Ajahn Chah. She... | |
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Norman Fischer | Norman is a Zen priest and abbot, a husband, father, and a poet, a teacher with wide-ranging interests and passions. During almost 30 years at San Francisco Zen Center, he served as director, tenzo, tanto, operations manager and other positions. Norman retired as abbot of Zen Center in 2000 to take his teaching out into the world. He continues his involvement with the Zen Center as a senior Dharma teacher. Norman believes in the possibility of... |
| No Teacher | ||
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Oren Jay Sofer | Oren Jay Sofer has practiced meditation in the Theravada Buddhist tradition since 1997, and is a long-time student of both Joseph Goldstein and Ven. Ajahn Sucitto. He holds a degree in Comparative Religion from Columbia University, is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner for healing trauma and a graduate of the IMS-Spirit Rock Teacher Training Program. Oren is the Founder of Next Step Dharma, a six week online course focused on living the path... |
| Pa Auk Sayadaw | Venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw is the founder and main teacher of the Pa Auk Forest Monastery in southern Burma. He teaches a particularly thoroughgoing, step-by-step tranquility & insight practice to monastics and lay people practicing at the monastery. This includes samatha (deep access concentration and the jhanas) as well as a variety of vipassana techniques. The purpose of these practices is to bring the practitioner towards Liberation as... | |
| Pablo González | ||
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Pamela Weiss | Pamela Weiss is the Founder and Chief Wisdom Officer of Appropriate Response, a company dedicated to bringing the principles and practices of mindfulness to the workplace. She has been practicing meditation for over 25 years, including several years of Zen monastic training, and completion of teacher training with Jack Kornfield through Spirit Rock. She lives in San Francisco and teaches internationally. |
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Paul Haller | Paul Haller has been teaching the dharma for over 35 years. Initially ordained as a Theravada monk in Thailand, he became a priest at the San Francisco Zen Center in 1980 and its abbot from 2003 to 2012. He has been leading the Zen Center's outreach program and has extensive experience integrating Buddhist practice with hospice, jail and peace work. |
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Phillip Moffitt | Phillip Moffitt is a Buddhist meditation teacher and writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He teaches a weekly insight (vipassana) meditation class in Marin County, is Co-Guiding Teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and leads retreats throughout the United States. Phillip is also the founder and director of Life Balance Institute where he trains executives and individuals in skillful living. He is the author of two books: ... |
| Rachel Lewis | ||
| Rebecca Bradshaw | ||
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Rebecca Dixon | Rebecca Dixon has had a dedicated practice since 1993. She is an original member of IMC's Chaplaincy Council and has mentored students in every offering of IMC's online meditation course. A graduate of the Community Dharma Leader program, Rebecca helped start the East Bay Meditation Center, leads a sitting group that has met on Monday nights in Oakland since 2002, is a founding teacher of Alameda Sangha. You're welcome to visit her web site,... |
| Rebekkah LaDyne | Rebekkah is the Family Program Teacher at Spirit Rock where she teaches parents, family events, and teens. She began practicing meditation and yoga in her late teens. She has studied and practiced Vipassana meditation in the U.S., India and Thailand. Meditation, Yoga and Dharma have helped her to live more honestly and more fully in each part of her life. Rebekkah has been sharing Dharma through Yoga and Dharma classes, workshops and retreats... | |
| Ren Bunce | ||
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Rev. Liên Shutt | Rev. Keiryū Liên Shutt is a lineage holder in the Shunryu Suzuki tradition. Born to a Buddhist family in Vietnam, she received her meditation training in the Insight and Zen traditions in the US, Thailand, Japan and Vietnam. She was a founding member of the Buddhists of Color in 1998 and currently is the Guiding Teacher of Access to Zen, an anti-racist, inclusive sangha and non-profit in the SF Bay Area. She lives in San Francisco with her... |
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Richard Shankman | Richard Shankman has been a meditator since 1970 and teaches at dharma centers and groups nationally, including Spirit Rock Meditation Center and Insight Meditation Society. He is a co-founder of the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies and Mindful Schools. He is the author of The Experience of Samadhi: An In-Depth Investigation of Buddhist Meditation. |
| Richard Sievers | Richard Sievers was introduced to Vipassana meditation in 1984 on his first 10 day retreat with Sister Ayya Khema, a Buddhist nun from Sri Lanka. Along the path he has had the good fortune of practicing with many dharma teachers, Steve Armstrong, Kamala Master, Jack Kornfield, John Travis, and since moving to the peninsula in 1998, Gil Fronsdal at IMC. His practice continues with great appreciation for the Dharma. | |
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Rick Maddock | Rick Maddock, MD, is a professor of psychiatry who teaches and conducts neuroscience research at the UC Davis School of Medicine. A long-time dharma practitioner with a focus on the teachings of early Indian Buddhism, Rick has completed Spirit Rock’s training programs for senior students and teaches dharma in the Sacramento area and Sierra foothills. His teachings explore the convergence between contemporary scientific insights about the human... |
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Rita Gross | Rita Gross, or Acharya Rita as she is known, has been studying, practicing and teaching Vajrayana for forty years. Known as a warm, humorous and very clear teacher, she teaches with a rare combination of academic and dharmic perspectives. She is internationally known for her innovative work on gender and religion. She also has extensive training and experience as a professor of comparative studies in religion and is a Buddhist Dharma teacher,... |
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Robert Cusick | Robert Cusick is the Co- Founder & Director of the Applied Compassion Training (ACT) program offered through the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research & Education (CCARE) at Stanford University. He is a Stanford Lecturer and Certified Sr. Stanford Compassion Training Instructor and teaches at Stanford University, UCSF, Kaiser Permanente Medical Centers and in multiple other venues. He is a longtime meditator and student of... |
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Ronna Kabatznick | Ronna Kabatznick is a social psychologist who has been practicing meditation since 1985. She spent nearly two years on a Vipassana meditation retreat under the guidance of two of Thailand's greatest Forest Masters. She is the author of "The Zen of Eating: Ancient Answers to Modern Weight Problems" and a board member of The Center for Mindful Eating, a web-based organization designed to help educate professionals about Mindful Eating.... |
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Rose Taylor Goldfield | Rose Taylor Goldfield is a second-generation Buddhist teacher and a certified life coach. She studied and practiced under the guidance of the Tibetan master Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, who appointed her teacher of philosophy, meditation, and yogic movement meditation to his nuns in Nepal and Bhutan. Rose is also a published translator and author of books and articles on Buddhist philosophy and meditation. Her new book, out later this... |
| Ruby Grad | ||
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Ruth King | Ruth King, is a teacher in the Insight Meditation tradition. She is on the Teacher’s Council at Insight Meditation Community of Washington and Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and is the founder of Mindful Members Insight Meditation Community of Charlotte, NC. She is a life coach and leadership consultant, and offers the Mindful of Race Training program to teams and organizations nationwide. She is the author of several publications, including... |
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Sally Clough | Sally Clough was introduced to vipassana through retreats in India in 1981. She co-founded the Sharpham meditation community in Devon, England, and was the Executive Director of Spirit Rock for five years. Trained by Jack Kornfield, Sally has led meditation classes and assisted on retreats since 1994. |
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Sandra Sanabria | Sandra Sanabria is a certified Compassion Cultivation Teacher (CCT©). She was born and raised in Colombia, where she began her career in Biomedical Sciences. The study of the Buddhist teachings, the meditation practice and the cultivation of compassion have become an essential part of her life, reinforcing her wonder for science and empowering her to serve her community. Sandra teaches mindfulness and CCT in English and Spanish in the Bay... |
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Santikaro | Santikaro lived with Ajahn Buddhadasa during the last nine years of his life and became his primary translator. Ordained as a Theravada Bhikkhu in 1985, Santikaro spent most of his monastic life at Suan Mokkh. During this time he led Dawn Kiam, a small monastic community for foreigners. He is the founder of Liberation Park, a modern expression of Buddhist practice, study, and social responsibility, located in rural southwestern Wisconsin. ... |
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Sarah Shaw | Dr. Sarah Shaw is a faculty member and lecturer at the University of Oxford. She has taught and published numerous works on the history and practices of Buddhism, including The Art of Listening: A Guide to the Early Teachings of Buddhism, Mindfulness: Where It Comes from and What It Means, The Jatakas: Birth Stories of Bodhisatta, An Introduction to Buddhist Meditation, and The Spirit of Meditation. |
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Sayadaw U Jagara | Sayadaw U Jagara has 35 years’ experience as a Buddhist monk, living in Sri Lanka and Myanmar, dedicated to the practice, study and teaching of dhamma. He has trained and taught in the U Ba Khin as well as in the Pa Auk traditions of Myanmar. |
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Sayadaw U Tejaniya | SAYADAW U TEJANIYA started practicing and studying dhamma with his teacher the late Shwe Oo Min Sayadaw (the Gold Cave Hermitage Monastic Teacher) when he was thirteen years old. Ordained as a Buddhist monk for more than 10 years, he teaches meditation at Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya in Yangon, Myanmar (Rangoon, Burma). |
| Sean Kerr | Sean Kerr is in the Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies at University of California, Berkeley, where he is pursuing his Ph.D. on the topic of Indian Buddhism and Pali commentarial literature. He holds a B.A. and M.A. in Sanskrit from the same department, and has been a student of Vipassanā meditation since 2002. He has been teaching Pali in India and the Bay Area since 2010. | |
| Shahara Godfrey | ||
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Shaila Catherine | Shaila Catherine has been practicing meditation since 1980, with more than eight years of accumulated silent retreat experience. She has taught retreats since 1996 in the USA, and internationally. Shaila has dedicated several years to studying with masters in India, Nepal and Thailand, completed a one year intensive meditation retreat with the focus on concentration and jhana, and authored Focused and Fearless: A Meditator’s Guide to States of... |
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Shantum Seth | Shantum Seth is a teacher, social development worker and ordained teacher in the Zen lineage of the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh. He is actively involved in the non-profit Ahimsa, which is pioneering work on "Mindfulness in Education" and setting up a centre for this purpose in the foothills of the Himalayas. |
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Shelley Gault | Shelley has been meditating since her college days in the 60s, and practicing in the Buddhist Insight tradition since 2003. She has spent over three years cumulatively in silent retreat in this tradition. She’s one of the leaders and teachers of the Open Door Sangha in Santa Barbara, where she lives, and offers service teaching and in many other roles for IMC and IRC. A wife, mother, and grandmother, Shelley also volunteers at a large estate... |
| Shin Kwan Park | Shin Kwan Park began meditation in the Insight or Vipassana tradition during her MA studies in Counseling Psychology and work in the mental health field. The wisdom and compassion practices along with mindfulness training offered in this tradition compelled her to dedicate herself to deeper practice and experiential learning. She has completed the Community Dharma Leadership Program from Spirit Rock and has been teaching under the mentorship... | |
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Shinzen Young | Shinzen Young became fascinated with Asian culture while a teenager in Los Angeles. Later he enrolled in a Ph.D. program in Buddhist Studies at the University of Wisconsin. Eventually, he went to Asia and did extensive training in each of the three major Buddhist traditions: Vajrayana, Zen and Vipassana. Upon returning to the United States, his academic interests shifted to the burgeoning dialogue between Eastern meditation and Western... |
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Spring Washam | Spring Washam is a meditation teacher and co-founder of the East Bay Meditation Center. She has practiced meditation intensively since 1997 with many teachers and is known for her joyful heart and loving spirit. She pioneer s bringing mindfulness-based meditation practices to youth and communities of color. Spring is a Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leader and leads a weekly sitting group in Oakland. She is in teacher training with Jack... |
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Stephen Fulder | If anyone wants more information on Stephen, his teachings, online school for deeper Buddhist-inspired teachings, please see https://dharma-view.com/ Dr. Stephen Fulder was born in London in 1946, has a doctorate in molecular biology and has published 14 books on outer and inner health. He is the founder and senior teacher of Tovana (the Israel Insight Society), the largest organisation in Israel that brings dharma teachings to thousands of... |
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Steve Armstrong | Steve has studied the dhamma and practiced insight meditation since 1975. He was a monk for five years in Burma under the guidance of Sayadaw U Pandita where he undertook intensive, silent practice of insight and lovingkindness meditations. He studied the Buddhist psychology (abhidhamma) with Sayadaw U Zagara in Australia and presents it in practical and easily understood terms. He continues his practice under the guidance of Sayadaw U... |
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Steve Stucky | Myogen Steve Stücky has been practicing Zen for 35 years and received Dharma Transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman in 1993. He became co-Abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center in February 2007 and also serves as guiding teacher of Dharma Eye Zen Center in San Rafael. |
| Susan Ezequelle | Susan Ezequelle has been practicing Insight Meditation since 1997. She is a past IMC Board President and worked closely with founding teacher Gil Fronsdal and other community members to found in 2001 the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA. She has been teaching at IMC since 2003 and in 2008, in response to a deep desire to engage with the world through her Buddhist practice, she completed the year-long Sati Center Chaplaincy... | |
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Susie Harrington | Susie Harrington is the guiding teacher for Desert Dharma, teaching both in the Southwest and internationally since 2005. She delights in teaching outdoors, knowing that nature nourishes the heart and inspires wisdom. She encourages through silence and intimate presence, coming home to our embedded natural aliveness and belonging, and the freedom that is our natural state. Her roots are in the Insight tradition, training extensively with Jack... |
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Susy Keely | Susy Keely has practiced Buddhist meditation since 2001, and began practicing insight meditation in 2006. In 2015 she began training with Rob Burbea, who authorized her to teach in 2020. She teaches meditation in Los Angeles, California, and is an artist and a parent. She is passionate about exploring the intersection between creative energies and contemplative practice, and supporting practitioners wishing to pursue deep practice in the... |
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Tanya Wiser | Tanya Wiser began a four-year teacher training program in 2021 under Gil Fronsdal and Andrea Fella at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California. Her dharma practice began in 2006. She has a master's degree in Clinical Social Work with training in Somatic Experiencing and Buddhist Psychology/Mindfulness-Based treatment modalities. To be more specific, her understanding of Theravada Buddhism is primarily informed by the teachings... |
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Tara Mulay | Tara Mulay has been a practitioner of Insight Meditation since 2003 and has undertaken intensive practice periods in the United States and Myanmar. She is a graduate of the 2017-2021 IMS/IRC teacher training. In 2016 she co-founded the San Francisco People of Color Insight Sangha, and in 2020-2021 she served as the Interim Guiding Teacher for the Insight Meditation Community of Western Massachusetts. Her dharma offerings stem from the... |
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Teah Strozer | Teah Strozer is a lineage holder in the Soto Zen tradition of Suzuki Roshi. She was at Tassajara Monastery for 11 years, and was head of practice at San Francisco Zen Center. She used to be a music teacher, and has a foster son. |
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Tempel Smith | Tempel Smith began practicing meditation in 1989. In 1997 he ordained as a monk in Burma with Sayadaw U Pandita and Pa Auk Sayadaw. He then practiced as a long-term yogi at IMS. Now, in the Bay Area, he is working on integrating these deep meditative practices into daily life and in his work with the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. Tempel has taught meditation and Buddhist psychology, and is a member of the Spirit Rock Teen Council. He coordinates... |
| Teresa Abdala-Romano | ||
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Toni Bernhard | |
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Tony Bernhard | Tony Bernhard first encountered the dharma in 1965 and became one of Spirit Rock’s first community dharma leaders in 1999. He currently sits on the board of the Sati Center, trains inmates and staff at Folsom Prison in mindfulness and dharma, leads sitting groups in Davis, and regularly teaches in a handful of venues in and around Sacramento and the Bay Area. He primarily focuses his practice on study of the dharma teachings in the earliest... |
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Tuere Sala | Tuere Sala is a Guiding Teacher at Seattle Meditation Society and the founding teacher of the Capitol Hill Meditation Group. She is a retired prosecuting attorney who has practiced Vipassana meditation for over 30 years. Tuere believes that urban meditation is the foundation for today’s practitioner’s path to liberation. She is inspired by bringing the Dharma to nontraditional places and is a strong advocate for practitioners living with... |
| Uri Silberstein | ||
| Vanessa Able | Koji Vanessa Able is a priest and retreat leader at Kannon Do Zen Center in Mountain View and a Chaplain Resident undergoing Clinical Pastoral training at Stanford Healthcare. She is a former student of the 2019-20 Sati Center Chaplaincy Training Course and continues to work as a faculty assistant for the program. Her service experience has included jail and hospice work. Vanessa is the founder and editor of the online journal for spiritual... | |
| Various | ||
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Venerable Pannavati | Venerable Dr. Pannavati, a yogini, former Christian pastor, founding Co-Abbot of Embracing Simplicity Hermitage, and a founding director of Sisters of Compassionate Wisdom (a 21st century trans-lineage Buddhist order), ordained in Theravada and Chan Schools, a Zen Dharma Holder and Vajrayana practitioner as well, Ven. Pannavati’s insight is rich with compassion, wit and humor. Known for her ordination of Thai and Cambodian nuns, work with... |
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Victor Medina | Victor was on the IMC board of directors and was Audiodharma Manager, and taught beginning Meditation. Victor was introduced to the dharma as a teenager and continued his spiritual path with Gil Fronsdal and Andrea Fella as his primary teachers. Victor was a householder with three children, a spouse of over 30 years and a retired product manager. He worked for a number of software firms in Silicon Valley. Victor had a degree in Music and... |
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Vinny Ferraro | Vinny Ferraro has been practicing meditation since 1993. In 1998, he spent a year sitting bedside with the dying through the Zen Center Hospice Program in San Francisco, as well as experiencing 'A Year to Live' practice (based on the book by Stephen Levine). He has studied with several renowned spiritual teachers including the Dalai Lama. In 2001, Vinny trained to lead Challenge Days in schools throughout the U.S. and has become an integral... |
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Walt Opie | Walt Opie was introduced to the dharma in 1993 and began attending regular insight meditation retreats in 2005, which he says greatly reduced his suffering. He is a graduate of the Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leaders program and the Sati Center Buddhist Chaplaincy Training Program. Walt has led sitting groups for people in recovery since 2011. He has served as a volunteer Buddhist teacher with Buddhist Pathways Prison Project for over four... |
| Wendy Lo, 劳颖昆 | Wendy Lo, 劳颖昆 grew up in the United States as a Chinese immigrant. She came to meditation as a health seeker and became drawn to integrate practice into daily living. She has been practicing insight meditation since 2014 and currently serves on the IMC board. | |
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Wes Nisker | Wes `Scoop’ Nisker is a teacher of Buddhist meditation, an author, radio commentator, and performer. His books include the bestselling classic Essential Crazy Wisdom; The Big Bang, The Buddha, and the Baby Boom; Buddha’s Nature; and his latest, Crazy Wisdom Saves the World Again! Wes is also the founder and co-editor of the international Buddhist journal “Inquiring Mind.” He is an affiliate teacher at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in... |
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Will Kabat-Zinn | Will Kabat-Zinn has practiced Vipassana meditation intensively in the U.S. and in Burma. He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and teaches regularly at SF Insight, Spirit Rock and California Institute for Integral Studies (CIIS). For the past eight years Will has taught meditation and awareness practices to incarcerated youth, first in New York City and currently in Alameda County. As an MFT Intern in private practice in San... |