Trudy Goodman has practiced in the Zen and Theravada traditions since 1974. She founded InsightLA and Growing Spirit (a family program) in Los Angeles. She is the guiding teacher of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy in Cambridge, MA.
Lama Tsultrim Allione is the bestselling author of Women of Wisdom (1984), Feeding Your Demons (2008), and Wisdom Rising Journey into the Mandala of the Empowered Feminine (2018). Lama Tsultrim is the founder of Tara Mandala, a 700-acre retreat center with the three-story temple and library dedicated to the divine feminine in the Buddhist tradition near Pagosa Springs, in southwest Colorado. She leads a vibrant international community with over forty groups around the world.
Born in New England, she traveled to Asia in her late teens and in 1970 at the age of 22 in Bodhgaya, India she became the first American to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun. She later disrobed, married and became the mother of three and now is grandmother of six. In 2007 she was recognized in Tibet and Nepal as the emanation of the renowned 11th-century Tibetan yogini, Machig Labdrön, and she is one of the few women Lamas in the world today. In 2012 she received the Machig Labdron Empowerment from His Holiness the 17th Karmapa. She was awarded international recognition as an “Outstanding Woman in Buddhism” in 2009 by a panel of distinguished scholars and practitioners in Bangkok, Thailand.
Tuere Sala is a Guiding Teacher at Seattle Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock Retreat Center. She is a retired prosecuting attorney who has practiced Vipassana meditation for over 30 years. Tuere is committed to lay practice and inspired by bringing the Dharma to nontraditional places. She is a strong advocate for practitioners living with high stress, past trauma and difficulties sitting still. Tuere has been teaching since 2010 and has a long history of assisting others in establishing and maintaining a daily practice. Tuere can be contacted at tueresala.org and at https://www.dharmaground.org.
Ursula Flückiger praktiziert Vipassana Meditation seit 1980 mit LehrerInnen wie Ven. Ajahn Sumedho, Joseph Goldstein, Christina Feldman u.a.. Sie erhielt viele Belehrungen in der tibetischen Mahayana Tradition und fühlt sich vor allem durch die Mitgefühlspraktiken sehr inspiriert. Sie arbeitete 17 Jahre für die Organisation der Retreats der Dhamma Gruppe Schweiz und zehn Jahre in eigener Praxis für Hakomi Psychotherapie. Seit 1990 wirkt sie als Meditationslehrerin und ist Mitbegründerin des Meditationszentrums Beatenberg.
Vance Pryor, PsyD, began insight meditation in 1998. He has been deeply influenced by the teachings of Sayadaw U Pandita and Sayadaw U Tejaniya. His training to become a teacher has been supported by the mentorship of Steve Armstrong and Kamala Masters. He is currently participating in IMS’s 2017-2021 Teacher Training Program.
Victor von der Heyde is an Australian dharma teacher. His main influence in the dharma world was Rob Burbea. Victor was co-founder of Sydney Insight Meditators and the Bodhgaya Development Association.
He writes: These days my passions in teaching - and practice - include exploring the various responses to climate breakdown, the way we treat others on the planet, and the ways that we often get stuck with particular concepts of self and world. And stuck with particular meditation practices. My intention is to open up freeing and soulful possibilities for people.
Victoria Cary is a Dhamma teacher and leader who co-founded the San Francisco Black Indigenous People of Color Insight Sangha and continues as one of its core teachers. She loves the Dhamma and is interested in supporting people in their practice by focusing on integrating Dhamma into everyday life. Her identity as a queer, bi-racial black woman informs her approach to teaching the Dhamma; she seeks to support a kind internal and external investigation of our complex human experience. She has been practicing and studying Insight meditation since 2006, most recently sitting numerous retreats in the Mahasi/U Pandita lineage with Venerable Sayalay Daw Bhaddamanika, and Venerable Sayadaw U Vivekananda, including 3-month silent retreats at Insight Meditation Society and in Nepal. Her practice has also been informed by volunteering for 3 years with Zen Hospice and exploring how developing a relationship with impermanence and death can bring us more fully alive. She completed Community Dharma Leader training in 2016 and was authorized to teach in 2020 from Spirit Rock and currently teaches retreats, groups and mentor’s students.
Vimalo, Anagarika (Walter Kulbarz): German-born meditation teacher. Born 1931. 1958: samanera ordination at former Thai Embassy, London with twin brother (Dhamko) by Chao Khun Vimaladhammo, Abbot of Wat Mahathat, Bangkok. Both trained as samaneras under Ven Pannavaddho. Bhikkhu ordination in Rangoon. 1967-76: resident in Thailand. Returned to Germany, disrobed and is currently attached to Haus der Stile, Roseburg, near Hamburg. (quoted from The Buddhist Handbook by John Snelling, 1991).
Vinny Ferraro has been practicing meditation since 1993. He has studied with several renowned spiritual teachers including Ajahn Sumedho and the Dalai Lama. In 1998, he spent a year sitting bedside with the dying through the San Francisco Zen Center Hospice Program, as well as experiencing "A Year to Live" practice (based on the book by Stephen Levine). He has taught meditation to incarcerated youth and adults and is currently the head trainer for MBA, The Mind Body Awareness Project. Vinny also leads workshops for youth in schools internationally for a non-profit organization called Challenge Day. He is a Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leader and has been teaching the weekly Friday night insight meditation group Urban Dharma in San Francisco since 2004.
Walt Opie was first introduced to insight meditation in 1993 and began sitting retreats in 2005. Currently, his most influential teachers include Bhikkhu Analayo, Joseph Goldstein, Sayadaw U Tejaniya, and Gil Fronsdal. Walt is a graduate of the 2017-2021 IMS Teacher Training Program, as well as Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leaders program. He has led sitting groups for people in recovery and served as a volunteer teacher in several California prisons.
Wes Nisker is a dharma teacher, author, radio commentator and performer. He is the founder and co-editor of Inquiring Mind and a member of the Spirit Rock Teachers Council. His latest book is Crazy Wisdom Saves the World Again!
Will Kabat-Zinn spent his early practice years at the Insight Meditation Society with Larry Rosenberg, Sharon Salzberg, and Joseph Goldstein and at Panditarama Forest Meditation Center in Burma under the guidance of Sayadaw U Pandita. Will was deeply influenced by his friendship with Dr. Rina Sircar who carried the lineage of Mingon Sayadaw through her teacher Taungpulu Sayadaw, and by the fierce compassion of Chan Master Sheng Yen who he met and practiced with in New York. He lives in the East Bay with his wife and two sons.
Willa Thaniya Reid (formerly Ajahn Thaniya, top photos), has been practising formal Buddhist meditation since the 80s. Her primary training has been through the Thai Forest Tradition of Luang Por Chah. The Forest Tradition is in harmony with her affinity for the natural world and for reflective teachings. For 18 years she was part of the monastic community of this tradition based in England. As the senior nun of Cittaviveka for eight years, she offered support to the lay and monastic community; teaching retreats in the UK, USA, Europe and Australia. She brings to her teaching a love for the original suttas of the Buddha. For the previous six years she served the community in Melbourne, offering spiritual support to the dying and their families. She has a Masters degree in relationship counselling, and clinical pastoral training. In 2015 she returned to New Zealand to develop a meditation community with her partner.
Our potential as humans is vast and deep, and can be intentionally developed. There is a way that we can learn to open to all of our experience with kindness and clarity. As we begin to find this stability of heart and mind, wisdom will emerge.This emergence of wisdom, and strengthening of compassion, are the road to our individual and collective happiness and well-being.
Winton Higgins began meditating and practising the Dharma in the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO) in 1987. In 1994 he became an active supporter of Wat Buddha Dhamma, where he began to lead meditation retreats in 1995. Since then he has led retreats for the Wat, the Blue Gum Sangha and Sydney Insight Meditators, and taught many courses for the Buddhist Library in Sydney. He follows the western insight (vipassana) tradition and is particularly interested in the convergence of Dharma practice and progressive western values such as democracy, feminism and critical inquiry. His teaching has an affinity with the work of Stephen Batchelor. He is a writer and a social-science academic; he and his partner, Lena, have two grown-up daughters and a grandson.
Yahel Avigur is a devoted meditator and Dharma teacher. In 2013, After practicing in Theravada and Insight Meditation traditions, he met the Dharma teacher Rob Burbea and became his student. He was encouraged by Rob to teach the path of Emptiness to its depth; his unique approach to the Jhana practice; and to train in teaching Soulmaking Dharma. Yahel is also trained in Hakomi approach of assisted self study.
Yanai Postelnik has been engaged in full-time dharma practice and service since 1990. He is inspired by the Thai forest tradition and nourished by time spent in nature, and has been teaching retreats around the world for over 25 years. Yanai is a member of the Guiding Teacher Council of Gaia House, in Devon, England, and of the Core Faculty of Insight Meditation Society, Massachusetts. Since 2018, Yanai has been engaged with Extinction Rebellion, seeking to bring about urgent change in the face of the climate and ecological emergency, in the service of all beings.
Ying Chen is a first generation Chinese immigrant. She took refuge to become a buddhist with Venerable Ji Ru in 1995. She was exposed to Chinese Mahayana Buddhism after coming to US first. Later she was drawn to the Theravada tradition. Since 2005 she has been practicing primarily in Insight Meditation Center (IMC), under the guidance of Gil Fronsdal. She also studied suttas with Shaila Catherine. Starting from 2020, Ying practiced the Nine Bodies Insight under the guidance of Phillip Moffitt, Dana DePalma, and Tuere Sala. Ying found the integration of Insight and Nine bodies practice to be opening and transformative. Ying is a graduate of the Sati Center Chaplaincy program, the Local Dharma Leader program from Insight Meditation Center, and the four-year IRC retreat Teacher Training Program. Ying is also being mentored by Dana DePalma to teach Nine bodies Insight. Ying facilitates the Insight Meditation Center support group for people living with health challenges and co-leads Asian Dharma Circle with Lilu Chen and teaches classes on the Suttas and Nine Bodies Insight. Through Dharma Ground, Ying teaches Nine Bodies Insight courses incorporating explorations of the Pali Canon suttas.
Yong is a Dharma Council teacher at the Durango Dharma Center and a core teacher for Sacred Mountain Sangha, and is also a visiting teacher for other community centers across North America. He teaches retreats at the Insight Meditation Society, Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Big Bear Retreat Center, and Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center. He is a graduate of the 4-year Insight Meditation Society Retreat Teacher Training program, Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s 2-year Community Dharma Leaders program, and the Sacred Mountain Sangha 2-year Dharmapala training, taught by his primary teachers Kittisaro and Thanissara. Yong is also a retired acupuncturist, is passionate about Nature and Dharma, and has particular interests in devotional expression, supporting caregivers, and offering teachings to communities of color in the Dharma.
Yuka Nakamura has practiced Buddhist meditation since 1993 in the Theravada, Dzogchen and Zen traditions, and has been trained as a teacher by Fred von Allmen. Living in Switzerland, she teaches meditation and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction.
Yvonne Weier is from Switzerland and has studied and practised Eastern spirituality, particularly Vipassana meditation since the early 80's. and She has been facilitating meditation retreats in Europe and India for many years. Since 1994 she has been residing in India where she is serving her teacher Sri Sarath Babuji as an attendant.
Zohar has been practicing meditation in different traditions since 1995. This journey has taken her from the meditation cushion into exploring further ways of expressing truth and love and in 2004 she co-founded SanghaSeva. She now spends most of her time facilitating retreats that offer service as a spiritual path around the world. Since 2006 she has been teaching on silent retreats and Dharma gatherings in India, Europe and Israel.
