Rahob Rinpoche began his career as the reincarnated head of Rahob Monastery in Tibet at the age of three. His lifetime dedication in helping others is inspiring to all of us. He graciously offers his knowledge and exuberance for life. Rahob Dharma Center in Upstate New York in the Berkshires has cultural, religious, and practical practice for cultivating the mind. Enjoy, learn and bring home knowledge on Mindfulness, Self-improvement, Healing Habitual Patterns, Mind Training, Reducing Stress, Anger and Fear and nurture the way we live.
Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche
Occasionally we encounter people in our lives who have an immediate effect upon us. We are struck by the selfless nature of their presence, the strength of their confidence, the wisdom in their eyes, or the warmth they radiate. Contact with such people can awaken our intelligence, curiosity and longing, and perhaps even inspire us to look deeper into the meaning of our ordinary lives. Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche is one of these people.
Unbroken lineages of wisdom traditions are rare in these times, and Kongtrul Rinpoche descends from a pure lineage of the Dzogpa Chenpo Longchen Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Born into a noble dharma family in Northern India, his father was the third incarnation of the great tertön Chogyur Lingpa, while Rinpoche’s first teacher, his mother, was a great and renowned practitioner, completing thirteen years of solitary retreat before she married. At the age of nine, Rinpoche was recognized as an incarnation of Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, by Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa. Raised in a monastic environment, Rinpoche received extensive training in all aspects of Buddhist doctrine. In particular he received the teachings of the Nyingma lineage from his root teacher, Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Rinpoche also studied extensively under Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Nyöshul Khen Rinpoche and the great scholar Khenpo Rinchen.
In 1989 Rinpoche moved to the United States with his family and in 1990 began five-year tenure as the first holder of the World Wisdom Chair at Naropa University. During that time Rinpoche founded Mangala Shri Bhuti, an organization dedicated to establishing a genuine sangha of the Longchen Nyingtik Lineage in the West. Weaving his ancient spiritual heritage with the many threads of a modern Western culture, Rinpoche is known for his uncompromising integrity, deep conviction in altruism, and insistence that all beings can awaken to their own enlightened nature.
Kongtrul Rinpoche's life defines what it means to be a spiritual person in modern times. Whether through his teaching, his passion as an abstract painter, his steadfast dedication to his lineage and students, or through his joy in solitude, and his unshakable determination to engage his own path, throughout it all, Rinpoche integrates his practice and his life. "Isn’t that the goal of the spiritual path?" Rinpoche often asks. Indeed it is -- to be flexible, courageous and exploratory in the face of life’s joys and paradoxes, while never losing touch with a connection to its deepest meaning.
Rinpoche is the author of four books, It’s Up to You: The Practice of Self-Reflection on the Buddhist Path, Light Comes Through: Buddhist Teachings on Awakening to our Natural Intelligence, Uncommon Happiness: The Path of the Compassionate Warrior, and The Intelligent Heart: A Guide to the Compassionate Life.
If you are interested in finding out more about pursuing the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual path of the Dzogchen Longchen Nyingtik lineage under Rinpoche’s guidance, please visit the Becoming a Student webpage.
Vidyadhara Rana Rinpoche
The Vidyadhara Acharya Mahayogi Sridhar Rana Rinpoche was born in Kathmandu, Nepal in 1949,
the eldest child of Nara Narayan Shumsher Junga Bahadur Rana — a former Deputy Inspector General of
Police and the grandson of the penultimate ruler of the Rana Dynasty, Maharaja Padma Shumsher Junga Bahadur Rana —
and Shanti Rana, the daughter of Raja Jaya Prithvi Bahadur Singh, the humanist King of Bhajang.
The Vidyadhara began his spiritual pursuits early in life, and soon after graduating from St. Xavier’s High School — a Jesuit boarding school in Kathmandu — he began exploring Hindu Tantra under the guidance of his granduncle, Dhana Shumsher Junga Bahadur Rana. However, after failing to find spiritual fulfilment after nine years of intense practice, he began to practise under the famous Vedantic master, Khaptad Baba. However, here too he failed to find the answers to his questions, and this led him to seek them in the Buddhadharma.
In 1979 he began practising Zen under the guidance of Roshi Nanrei Kobori — the Abbot of Ryokoin, a sub-temple of the Daitokuji of Kyoto — and the Korean Master, Seung Sahn and his student, Zen Master Wu Bong (Jacob Perl). However, the difficulties in communicating with his teachers from Nepal led him to seek for qualified teachers within the Tibetan Buddhist community in Nepal, and in 1987 he met his first Vajrayana teacher, the Venerable Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, considered by many to be among the greatest modern Dzogchen masters.
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche further introduced him to various other masters, and from them he received numerous empowerments (Abhishekas/Wangs) and practice instructions. In April 1996, under the guidance of His Eminence (HE) the late Chobgay Trichen Rinpoche — the then head of the Tsarpa subdivision of the Sakya School — and His Holiness (HH) Sakya Trizin Rinpoche, he entered into retreat at his residence in Bishalnagar, Kathmandu.
After completing six and half years of retreat, Chobgay Trichen Rinpoche bestowed upon him the title of
“Rinpoche”, and in 2006, at the end of his tenth year in retreat, he again bestowed upon him the tile of “Mahayogi” (Great Yogi). On 25 May, 2013, at the end of his seventeenth year in retreat, HE the Fourth Karma Thinley Rinpoche honoured him with the title of “Vidyadhara” (Wisdom Holder). Called Rigdzin in Tibetan, the title refers to one who constantly abides in the pure essence of the nature of mind and who has special knowledge of the use of different Vidyadharanis (Wisdom Mantras), their principles, origins, uses, etc. It was used in the past to address such accomplished Tantric masters as Mahasiddha Vimilamitra, Guru Padmasambhava, Mahasiddha Virupada, etc.
Now in his twentieth year of retreat, the Vidyadhara is committed to extending it to the rest of his life in the Tse Tsam style of the Tibetan tradition and as practised by the great yogi, Lama Shyabkar. This type of practice will allow for the retreat to be held in multiple places with short breaks.
Lama Surya Das
Lama Surya Das is one of the foremost Western Buddhist meditation teachers and scholars, one of the main interpreters of Tibetan Buddhism in the West, and a leading spokesperson for the emerging American Buddhism. The Dalai Lama affectionately calls him “The Western Lama.”
Surya has spent over forty five years studying Zen, vipassana, yoga, and Tibetan Buddhism with the great masters of Asia, including the Dalai Lama’s own teachers, and has twice completed the traditional three year meditation cloistered retreat at his teacher’s Tibetan monastery. He is an authorized lama and lineage holder in the Nyingmapa School of Tibetan Buddhism, and a close personal disciple of the leading grand lamas of that tradition. He is the founder of the Dzogchen Center and Foundation in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and its branch centers around the country. Over the years, Surya has brought many Tibetan lamas to this country to teach and start centers and retreats. As founder of the Western Buddhist Teachers Network with the Dalai Lama, he regularly helps organize its international Buddhist Teachers Conferences. He is also active in interfaith dialogue and charitable projects in the Third World. In recent years, Lama Surya has turned his efforts and focus towards youth and contemplative education initiatives, what he calls “True higher education and wisdom for life training.”
Lama Surya Das is a sought after speaker and lecturer, teaching and conducting meditation retreats and workshops around the world. He is a published author, translator, chant master (see Chants to Awaken the Buddhist Heart CD, with Stephen Halpern), and a regular blog contributor at The Huffington Post, as well as his own AskTheLama.com blog site where he shares his thoughts and answers questions from the public each week.
Surya Das has been featured in numerous publications and major media, including ABC, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Boston Herald, New York Post, Long Island Newsday, Long Island Business Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, The Jewish Free Press, New Age Journal, Tricycle Magazine, Yoga Journal, The Oregonian, Science of Mind, and has been the subject of a seven minute magazine story on CNN. One segment of the ABC-TV sitcom Dharma & Greg was based on his life (“Leonard’s Return”). Surya has appeared on Politically Correct with Bill Maher, and twice on The Colbert Report.
Chongtul Rinpoche
Tog Den Won Po Chongtul Rinpoche is the second son of six children, was raised in India by his Tibetan parents, father Amdo Sherpa, Lakha Wangchuk and mother Kham Nang Chen, Norzin. Chongtul was given his childhood name of Namgyal Wangdhu by the Abbot of Yungdrung Ling. At the age of two, the Abbot of Yungdrung Ling explained to the Abbot of Menri Monastery, His Holiness Menri Trizin 33rd, that this boy was a reincarnated lama who was closely associated with both abbots during a previous lifetime, and would be very important in the preservation of Bon transmissions. The Abbot of Yungdrung Ling requested that the Abbot of Menri look after and raise this child. At the age of seven Chongtul was placed in the Monastery under the care of His Holiness, the 33rd Menri Trizin. At Menri, he studied reading and writing, and at the age of ten, he was given the responsibility of Drupkhang am Chod, or Caretaker of the Protectors’ House. For the next two years, he performed the traditional invocations to the Bon Guardians.
When Chongtul was thirteen, His Holiness the Menri Trizin revealed to him that he was the reincarnation of Tog Den Won Po Sherab Tenpai Gyaltsen (photo of his monastery is pictured above). A Ku Tog Den Won Po was one of His Holiness’ teachers from Tibet. In Amdo, A Ku means Great Monk Teacher, Tog Den means Great Dzogchen Tantric practitioner, Won Po means Leader. Tog Den Won Po was all of these during that lifetime. At fourteen, Chongtul entered the Bon Dialectic School at Menri Monastery. There he studied Sutra, Tantra, and Dzogchen, poetry, astrology, and astronomy. He also learned basic Tibetan medicine, and methods for constructing mandalas and stupas. When he was fifteen, he was appointed to the high position of Prayer Leader or Tsokchen Um Zed, a position he held for six years. During his student years at the Bon Dialectic School, Chongtul received all the Bon initiations, transmissions, and teachings from His Holiness Menri Trizin 33rd Lungtok Tenpai Nyima and from Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche. When he was twenty three, Chongtul was awarded the Geshe Degree, the highest level in Tibetan education. He served as the Treasurer of Menri Monastery for three years, and then was appointed as a teacher in the Bon Dialectic School where, for eight years, he taught Sutra, Tantra, and Dzogchen. In 1983, His Holiness appointed him the first President of the Bon Children’s Welfare Trust where forty children were placed in his care. There are now over three hundred children in the Bon Children's Welfare Center. In 1988, Chongtul was appointed as the first Secretary of the Yungdrung Bon Monastic Center, which is the central administrative office for Bon affairs. He accompanied His Holiness to Tibet where they visited areas that included Kham, Amdo, and Upper Tibet. Among the twenty three monasteries they visited were the original Menri Monastery, Yungdrung Ling Monastery, and Chong Tsang Monastery, Chongtul’s home monastery. Chongtul Rinpoche is the abbot of Chong Tsang Monastery in Amdo Sherpa in Tibet. Since 1997, Chongtul has been accompanying and assisting His Holiness the 33rd Menri Trizin on teaching trips to the United States and other countries. In 2005, he turned over his responsibilities at Menri Monastery to others who were permanently residing there in order to teach in other parts of the world.
Dza Kilung Rinpoche
H.E. Dza Kilung Tulku Jigme Rinpoche was born in 1970 and is head of Kilung Monastery in the Dzachuka District of Kham, Tibet, which he has been working to reestablish as a center of learning and practice since he was a teenager. He has been teaching in the West since 1998 and regularly accepts invitations to teach in Boston, Beijing, Denmark, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Brazil, and Argentina. His home in the West is on Whidbey Island near Seattle, Washington, and he divides his time among Washington, his community in Tibet, and his students worldwide.
Chamtrul Rinpoche
Chamtrul Rinpoche Lobsang Gyatso is the recognized reincarnation of the second Chamtrul Rinpoche, Pema Nangsel Dorje, who was one of the heads of the Mardo Tashi Choeling Monastery in Tibet and the holy incarnation of the Kathok Chamtrul Kunzig Dorje.
At fourteen, Chamtrul Rinpoche entered his monastery to study with his first Root Guru, the Dzogchen Master Naljor Yeshe Wangchuk. Under this great master he studied the Preliminary Practices (Ngondro), Heat Yoga, Great Perfection Teachings and more, and completed the Ngondro accumulation three consecutive times.
Rinpoche then joined the Shedra program of philosophical studies, first at the Great Kathok Monastery, and then at Sertha Larung, a highly renowned Buddhist Institute that at its peak could hold around 10,000 students. After many years of rigorous studies of the Five Sciences curriculum under the supervision of his main Root Guru, H.H. Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche, he gained a vast and profound knowledge of the Sutra and Tantra and was conferred the title 'Khenpo' - an equivalent of 'Doctor in Buddhist Philosophy'. Rinpoche again received this title from Kathok Monastery, where he was also honored with the traditional Pandita hat of the Khenpos. Apart from that, Rinpoche received all the cycles of teachings, empowerments and transmissions from more than twenty five different qualified masters and scholars from India and Tibet.
Having completed his studies, Rinpoche returned to his own monastery, opened a Shedra, and stayed there for many years to teach the monks. Since 1996, Chamtrul Rinpoche has been teaching in numerous Buddhist institutes in India and across the Globe. Rinpoche regularly taught at the ZKL Nyingma Monastery in Dharamsala for around 10 years. Today Rinpoche teaches at the Bodhicitta Dharma Centre which has more than 4000 registered members from over 100 different countries. Following invitations from students worldwide, Rinpoche yearly travels to bestow teachings, empowerments, transmissions and lectures in places such as the United States, Europe, South Africa, Israel and most of Asia. His range of subjects includes the Ngondro, Tantric generation and completion stage practices as well as basic Buddhist Sutric and Tantric Philosophy, depending on the students’ interests and capacities.
Always ready to give Dharma teachings wherever they are needed, Rinpoche dedicates his life to help people find inner peace. Through his invaluable knowledge and practical advice, Rinpoche compassionately guides his students toward ultimate peace and happiness. In his own words: "Without discriminating against anybody based on their gender, race, creed and so forth, I wish them to enjoy excellent peace and harmony. I try to the best of my ability to promote the view, meditation and conduct of non-violence, which is the indispensable source for the spread and enhancement of the inner peace of mind.
Tempa Dukte Lama
Tempa Dukte Lama is an ordained lama of the Tibetan Bon tradition. He is the founder and spiritual director of Olmo Ling Bon Center and Institute in Pittsburgh, PA, and co-founder of Humla Fund. He is an artist and poet and author of four books, including "Heart Drop of the Loving Mother". Tempa Lama is deeply dedicated to making the Bon teachings available in the West. He studied at Menri Monastery, India, from a young age under the close guidance of the late H.H. 33rd Menri Trizin, the worldwide spiritual head of the Bon tradition until 2017. Tempa Lama has lived in the US since 2000 and teaches internationally, helping people bring a practice of healing and happiness into their lives. He has taught many workshops for clinical professionals, focusing on applications of the Bon wisdom teachings and practices in clinical practice, as well as contemplative care for the dying.
Loch Kelly
Loch Kelly, M.Div., LCSW, is an author, meditation teacher, psychotherapist, and founder of the 501c3 non-profit, Open-Hearted Awareness Institute. Loch teaches in a non-sectarian human being lineage using an adult education style based in the earliest non-dual wisdom traditions, modern science and psychotherapy. Loch is grateful to all his teachers and shares from his own experience that has given him great joy, freedom and love. Loch’s work is to help people access awakening as the next natural stage of human development. He offers in-person retreats, workshops, and online video and audio courses. He served on the New York Insight Teachers Council, studied extensively with Mingyur Rinpoche, and was invited to teach direct realization by Adyashanti.
Loch has collaborated with neuroscientists at Yale, UPenn and NYU in the study of how awareness training can enhance compassion and wellbeing. As a licensed psychotherapist, Loch has been teaching seminars, supervising clinicians and practicing awareness psychotherapy in NYC for 30 years. Loch is a graduate of Columbia University and Union Theological. He was awarded a fellowship to study forms of non-dual meditation in Sri Lanka, India and Nepal from 1981-1982 and has studied with teachers from around the world. He studied Buddhism with Professor Lily de Silva at the University of Kandy, Sri Lanka, Insight Meditation with Godwin Samararatne and at the Theravada monasteries, Inter-Spiritual Contemplative Meditation with Fr. Bede Griffiths and Anthony de Mello, Advaita at Sri Ramana Ashram, and Dzogchen and Sutra Mahamudra with Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche in Nepal. Loch spent 10 years establishing homeless shelters and community lunch programs and working in a community mental health clinic in Brooklyn, New York. He also served as Coordinator of Counseling and Interspiritual Chaplain at Union Theological Seminary and worked extensively with families recovering from the trauma of 9/11. Loch currently lives in New York City with his wife Paige and their cat Duffy.
Sat Shree
What happens when a successful architect and community activist in 1998, in a moment of despondency and alienation, collapses onto his drafting table—and wakes up hours later with Ecstatic energy coursing through every cell in his body?
Because an awakening is only the beginning of the spiritual journey, not the end. And when, as in Sat Shree’s case, there had been no preparation, no spiritual questing or even desire for a more spiritual life, this kind of rude, “kundalini” awakening can be easily mistaken for enlightenment. Somehow he knew it was a temporary state and therefore not the final answer.
And so his journey began, leading away from his middle class life in Nevada, to a meeting with a teacher far ahead of him on the path, to years in an ashram in India, through increasingly ecstatic—and equally challenging —meditative experiences, through four distinct stages of enlightenment, and back to the United States.
He is now the spiritual director and co-founder along with his wife, Satyamayi, of the New Dharma community in Nevada, where the force that is at work within him is shifting the reality of people that are drawn to it. Sat Shree’s mission is to manifest a new spiritual culture that is in alignment with universal spiritual principles, and by doing so inspire mankind to create a sustainable future.
“My work,” he says, “is to show people how to collaborate with the natural maturation process that occurs when one is on the spiritual path. A process that, in fact, all of mankind is going through.”
Venerable Dr. Pannavati Bhikkhuni
Ven. Dr. Pannavati, a former Christian pastor, is co-founder and co-Abbot of Embracing-Simplicity Hermitage and Co-Director of Heartwood Refuge, a new intentional community, and residential retreat and conference center in Hendersonville, NC. She is president of the Treasure Human Life Foundation. A black, female Buddhist monk ordained in the Theravada and Chan traditions, she remains a disciple of Great Master Kuang Seng, continues Vajrayana empowerments and teachings with beloved Rinpoche Zhaxi Zhouma and received transmission from Roshi Bernie Glassman of Zen Peacemaker. Pannavati is both contemplative and empowered for compassionate service. She conducts retreats nationally at over 50 centers and churches each year sharing living truths that are deep, yet apprehendable. She advises the cultivation of both wisdom and compassionate action. She believes is it fine to sit in temples and meditate and pray when things are good; when they are not, we are compelled to get off our pillows and do something. Let our actions line up with our intentions.
Locally, Pannavati founded My Place and housed 85 youth over 4 years. After their graduation from high school she created a state licensed and funded jobs training program and successful social enterprise for 3 years, My Gluten Free Bread Company.
Pannavati advocates on behalf of disempowered women and youth globally, and insists on equality and respect in spiritual life for both female monastics and laity. She has adopted many “untouchable” villages in India, helping them establish an egalitarian community based on Buddhist principles of conduct and livelihood, providing wells, books, improving their schools and providing micro-grants. Approximately 30,000 people live in these villages. She ordained the first Tamili bhikkhuni and visits each year to encourage and promote spiritual well-being and socio-economic development.
She is a recipient of the Outstanding Buddhist Women’s Award; received a special commendation from the Princess of Thailand for Humanitarian Acts as she assisted Venerable Dr. Lee in guiding the first 50 Thai Bhikkhunis ordained on Thai soil with Thai monks witnessing and convened a platform of Bhikkhunis to ordain the first 10 Cambodian Samaneris in a Cambodian temple, witnessed by Cambodian abbots including Maha Thera Ven. Dhammathero Sao Khon, President of the Community of Khmer Buddhist Monks of the USA.
Pannavati remains committed to advocacy for social justice, the homeless, sick and disenfranchised, those who are marginalized, abused, neglected and unloved. She lives the Dhamma.
Lama Rod Owens
Considered one of the leaders of the next generation of Dharma teachers, Lama Rod Owens has a blend of formal Buddhist training and life experience that gives him a unique ability to understand, relate and engage with those around him in a way that’s spacious and sincere. His gentle, laid-back demeanor and willingness to bare his heart and soul makes others want to do the same. Even when seated in front of a room, he’s next to you, sharing his stories and struggles with an openness vulnerability and gentle humor that makes you genuinely feel good about who you are, with all your flaws and foibles, you’re lovable and deserving of happiness and joy. He invites you into the cross sections of his life as a Black, queer male, born and raised in the South, and heavily influenced by the church and its community.
Lama Rod delivers his knowledge in a way that says, I’m just like you, no better and no worse. He reminds you that he too is human and a work in progress. He asks audiences to call him out if he says anything that is perpetuating misogyny, racism or anything divisive. Lama Rod has done and continues to do his own work, every day, and it’s palpable.
Lama Rod also speaks and leads workshops across the country for organizations such as Summit and Dharma Ocean, check his latest schedule here. He also officiates wedding ceremonies. Contact him to learn more!
Through his lens you catch glimpses of your own often conflicting identities. Through it all he weaves in time-tested, traditional Buddhist principles and practices that give listeners real tools for healing and evolution.
With grace and humility, he doesn’t claim to have answers, and merely poses questions and encourages conversation so that others may find their own truth.
TRAINING
Lama Rod Owens was officially recognized by the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism after receiving his teaching authorization from his root teacher the Venerable Lama Norlha Rinpoche (below) when he completed the traditional 3-year silent retreat program at Kagyu Thubten Chöling Monastery (KTC) outside of New York City. It was during this time that he dealt with years of past pain and trauma and found forgiveness and compassion for himself, what he views as a critical step before truly being able to help others.
Since coming out of retreat he has completed his Master of Divinity degree at Harvard Divinity School. Lama Rod also practices, studies, and teaches secular mindfulness and is a teacher with Inward Bound Mindfulness Education (iBme) where he is also a faculty member for the organization's teacher training program. He is also heavily engaged in social change activism and has just released a book with Rev. angel Kyodo williams (left) and Jasmine Syedullah entitled, Radical Dharma, Talking Race, Love and Liberation.
Deborah Eden Tull
DEBORAH EDEN TULL, founder of Mindful Living Revolution, teaches the integration of compassionate awareness into every aspect of our lives. She is a Zen meditation and mindfulness teacher, public speaker, author, activist, and sustainability educator. She trained for seven years as a Buddhist monk at a silent Zen monastery in Northern California, and she has been traveling to, living in, or teaching about conscious, sustainable communities internationally for the last 25 years. She currently resides in the mountains western North Carolina and offers retreats, workshops, and consultations nationally.
DEBORAH EDEN TULL, founder of Mindful Living Revolution, teaches the integration of compassionate awareness into every aspect of our lives. She is a Zen meditation and mindfulness teacher, public speaker, author, activist, and sustainability educator. She trained for seven years as a Buddhist monk at a silent Zen monastery in Northern California, and she has been traveling to, living in, or teaching about conscious, sustainable communities internationally for the last 25 years. She currently resides in the mountains western North Carolina and offers retreats, workshops, and consultations nationally.
Eden’s first book, The Natural Kitchen: Your Guide for the Sustainable Food Revolution (Process Media), was published in September 2010 and her second book, Relational Mindfulness: A Handbook for Deepening Our Connection with Ourselves, Each Other, and the Planet, was published by Wisdom Publications in May 2018. She has been practicing Buddhism for 25 years and has been teaching for 15 years. Eden teaches both Zen meditation and mindfulness and has worked with a wide range of audiences, from dharma students and people wanting to cultivate more compassion in their life, to concerned citizens and activists, to parents, to schools and corporations, and to special populations such as inner city youth and people who are incarcerated.
Eden has a special gift in facilitating mindful inquiry and is devoted to helping people to remember the depth of interconnection that is available in every moment and every interaction. She is passionate about the personal, interpersonal, transpersonal, and societal impact of engaged meditation.
She has been an organic gardener and farmer for many years, including at places such as Green Gulch Farm in Marin County, California, Arcosanti in the Arizona desert, the Zen Buddhist monastery where she trained, and in urban gardens in the San Francisco Bay area and in Los Angeles. She is certified in Permaculture Design and Bio-Intensive Organic Gardening. Eden is also a facilitator of The Work That Reconnects as created by eco-philosopher Joanna Macy. She is a UCLA-Certified Mindfulness Facilitator and has offered workshops through UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center since 2012.
Eden’s teaching style emphasizes deep listening, transparency, inquiry, compassion, and an unwavering commitment to compassion. Eden offers personal consultations for individuals and couples. She also offers consultations and training for larger organizations and has offered training at Sony Studios, Fox Studios, Tender Greens, as well as many schools.
Kate Graham, LMHC, C-IAYT
Founder of Soulful Yoga Therapy
Kate passionately believes in a full body approach to health and wellness. The "top down" nature of psychotherapy and the "bottom up" nature of yoga as therapy is a powerful combination for healing. Through yoga and psychotherapy, she feels that the integrated nature of the physical body, emotional body, mind body and spirit body can be honored.
Kate is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and one of the most prominent Yoga Therapy practitioners in the Boston area. As the founder of Soulful Yoga Therapy, Kate specializes in psychotherapy and yoga therapy for those who experience anxiety, depression and trauma. She has been involved in research studies on yoga and mental health, and taught trauma sensitive yoga at the Brookline Trauma Center for five years, a program initiated by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk and David Emerson.
Beth Kurland, PhD
I am a licensed clinical psychologist in practice since 1994, experienced in working with people across the life span (preschool through adulthood). I provide evidence-based therapy to treat a wide array of emotional, behavioral, and behavioral health issues. I believe in a strength-based approach, drawing from and building upon already existing strengths and internal resources within each person to empower people to move through their life challenges with greater ease. My goal is to give people the tools and skills they need to move from difficulty and suffering to greater joy and well-being by using techniques drawn from the practices of Mindfulness, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Mind-Body Medicine, Positive Psychology, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.
Over the years I have experienced first-hand the power of meditation, mindfulness, and mind-body practices and have made these an integral part of my personal and professional life. I believe in not only helping people to address problems in their lives, but also in using integrative approaches to help transform their lives to experience greater well-being and wholeness.
My newest book (upon which this workshop is based) is Dancing on the Tightrope: Transcending the Habits of Your Mind and Awakening to Your Fullest Life. This book explores five common obstacles that we all face that take us away from living our fullest life, and it offers five tools that you can bring into your life to overcome these challenges and live a more resilient, full and joyful life. My other published books are: The Transformative Power of Ten Minutes: An Eight Week Guide to Reducing Stress and Cultivating Well-Being, and Gifts of the Rain Puddle: Poems, Meditations and Reflections for the Mindful Soul.
Janet Surrey
Janet Surrey, PhD is an Insight Dialogue Teacher. She teaches Insight Dialogue retreats worldwide and leads a monthly practice group in the Boston area. Jan has been a faculty member of Metta’s Relational Insight Meditation Program and serves on Metta Programs’ Teachers Council.
Jan has studied with a number of Vipassana teachers for over 25 years, and has worked with Gregory Kramer since 2007. Her original teacher was Vimala Thakar, but Jan has also done many retreats with Thich Nhat Hanh and Joanna Macy. In 2008 she completed a two and a half year Community Dharma Leader training at Spirit Rock Meditation Center.
Jan is a practicing clinical psychologist and founding scholar of the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute at the Wellesley Centers for Women. She is on the faculty and board of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy. Jan is dedicated to a lifelong exploration of the power of relationships to create suffering and the power of relationships to liberate and transform suffering. Jan lives in Newton, Massachusetts.
Brother Chan Phap Vu
I was born in Chicago, Illinois but spent most of my life in Southern California. I began my practice in the Dharma through the Chinese Chan tradition in the mid 90's. It was through my experience practicing at a local temple that I was inspired to nudge in the direction of monastic life. Eventually, in 2003 I was ordained by Venerable Master Thich Nhat Hanh in Plum Village, with the name Thich Chan Phap Vu. In 2011, I was ordained as a Dharma Teacher. Presently, I am still committed to the monastic path, delving into Buddhist psychology as well as Buddhist history. I am also still committed to connecting with people and communities, helping them along their path if I'm able.