We are delighted to introduce you to the Dharma Treasure Teachers, who are available to answer your questions about meditation and dharma practice.
Click on a Teacher’s name for more information about activities they are offering, and to contact them.
Authorized Teachers and Teachers teaching at Cochise Stronghold
These teachers have successfully completed the Teacher Training Program
- Pierre Zakarauskas
- Sarah Conover & Doug Robnett
- Alexa Singer-telles
- Farshid Etemad
- Blake Barton, Tucson, AZ
- Michael Dunn, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Jesse Fallon, Cape Ann, MA
- Ivan Ganza, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Anna Geller, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
- Josh Geller, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
- Nick Grabovac, Vancouver, BC, Canada – Offers several online programs
- Nick Hay, San Francisco, CA
- Jordan Wiley-Hill, Arizona, USA
- Matthew Immergut, Woodstock, NY and Purchase, NY
- Tom Kennedy, Australia
- Jon Krop, Brooklyn, NY
- Andrea Lemon, Brattleboro, VT
- Ted Lemon, Brattleboro, VT
- Christine Allen, Winchester, MA
- Chloë Bregman, San Francisco, CA
- Lesley Blaker, Farnham, Surry, UK
- Robin Craig, Arizona, USA
- Dr. John Darwin, Sheffield, UK
- Salina Diioro, Takoma Park, MD
- Terry Dushenko, Hermosa Beach, CA
- Paulin Elley, Paris, France
- Jaki Fisher, Singapore & Australia
- Frédéric, Paris, France
- Roberta Funck, Ven. Kunga, Arizona, USA
- Chris Gagné (Upasaka Nandaka), San Francisco, CA
- Babette Haemmerle, Berlin, Germany
- Mary Hill, Portland, OR
- Chukyi Annie Lindsey, Brattleboro, VT
- Darin McFadyen, California, USA
- Mimi Moncier, San Francisco, CA
- Brett Monzel, San Francisco, CA
- Terry Moody, Portland, OR
- Jasen Murray, Oakland, CA
- Henrik Norberg, Berkeley, CA
- Angelica Ortiz, Chicago, IL
- JJ Peltier, Paris, France
- Dr. Mark Pirtle, Tucson, AZ
- Judith Ring, Boston, MA – Northshore
- Gabriel Rocheleau, Quebec, Canada
- David Schultz, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Andrew Sherbrooke, Seattle, WA
- Terje Sparby, Berlin, Germany
- Candace Strange, Cincinatti, OH
- Douglas Tataryn, PhD – Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
- Emyo Seien Darlene Tataryn, PhD – Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
- Hoji Alexandra Tataryn, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Nick Van Kleeck, Arizona, USA
- Cliff Wallshein, New York, NY
- Jeffrey Woolley, Glendale, AZ
- Ollie Bray, Manchester, UK
These are experienced meditators who are knowledgeable in the samatha-vipassana (tranquility and insight) method at the core of our Dharma Treasure tradition. You can feel completely confident asking these teachers specific questions about your own meditation practice, as well as general questions about meditation. Many are also knowledgeable in the Dharma, and some are quite accomplished. If one doesn’t feel capable of responding to a particular question, they can call on their peers for assistance in helping you. We invite you to take full advantage of the collective wisdom and experience this dedicated group of people has to offer.
Pierre Zakarauskas
Pierre was drawn to practicing the Dharma to line up his understanding of the world as a physicist with how it felt to be human. Science provided him with a particular understanding of the world, including the mind, but it had nothing to say on how to live a good life, a happy and full life.
A meditator since 1995 and a daily practitioner since 2002, in 2004 Pierre decided to devote a substantial portion of his time meditating, both at home and on silent retreats. Pierre’s main teachers have been Ayya Khema and
Leigh Brasington, in the Theravadin tradition, who teaches the sutta jhanas to cultivate the mind prior to, or alongside, insight practice, along with a good dose of metta. Pierre also practiced using TMI as a guide for several years, and lately Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation. He also dabbled in Zen and Dzogchen.
Pierre’s joy de vivre is contagious. Pierre is happy to work with practitioners of all traditions and belief systems.
Sarah Conover & Doug Robnett
Doug Robnett and Sarah Conover are long-time Theravada practitioners, starting a practice at Spirit Rock over three decades ago and eventually landing in the Ajahn Chah tradition with their son, Tan Nisabho. Tan Nisabho is a monastic in that lineage, and is the co-founder of Clear Mountain Monastery, an aspiring Thai Forest Monastery in the Seattle area. In association with that monastery, Sarah and Doug are presently building a hermitage for monastics and serious practitioners at the base of the North Cascades in Winthrop, Washington.
Sarah has taught meditation for a number of years at Airway Heights Correctional Facility in Washington State as well as to groups in her Spokane community. Sarah and Doug consider themselves dedicated students of monastics—both monks and nuns—who have studied in the Ajahn Chah tradition. They are also long-time supporters and students of Venerable Thubten Chodron and Sravasti Abbey in Newport, Washington.
With an MFA in poetry, Sarah’s work has been published in various literary journals and anthologies; she is the author of six books on world wisdom traditions published by Skinner House Press; and has written feature articles for Tricycle Magazine (“When my Son Became a Monk,” “Lost at Sea,” and “Minefulness: A Case Study.” Her forthcoming memoir, Dead Reckoning: Unstorying a Life, will be released in the autumn of 2022.
Sarah will be yogi in residence at Dharma Treasure from March 20 through April 20 and Doug will be yogi in residence for the remainder of April. Holding the space for retreatants, they will be offering morning and evening community meditations, weekly dharma talks and discussion, and guidance for those meditators who request it.
Besides cultivating his own dharma practice and holding the retreat space for others, Doug will offer maintenance and carpentry dana to Dharma Treasure (and will be happy to share his skills—or yours—in this endeavor).
Sarah, an experienced writing instructor, will offer writing guidance of any genre and level the first week of April 2022 for interested retreatants as a group and/or individually. Here’s her statement about creative writing in the Dharma Treasure context:
Writing to Wisdom
Just as our hearts want to cultivate wisdom, our writing selves also aim to cultivate what matters most. Ironically, words can lead us to silence, a greater listening to the dignity of our whole selves and a brave leaping into the unknown. In that listening and receptivity, we write until we surprise ourselves and honor what comes forth. This is not dissimilar to meditation—alert awareness has the chance of leaving habit behind for the nourishment of stillness. So too, writing too can be a rich arena to explore insight, reflection, and the cultivation of spiritual life.
Together, we’ll enjoy 3 aspects of writing:
- Listening and leaping!
- Discernment—separating the gems from the noise of proliferation.
- Crafting our words to make them matter.
We will mutually agree on times to work together and times to write individually.
Alexa Singer-telles
Alexa began practicing in the tradition of Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in 1991 after spending a week on retreat with him. She co-founded the River Oak Sangha in Redding, CA that same year. In 2004 she was ordained into the Order of Interbeing, taking the 14 Mindfulness trainings to join the core community of this tradition. She was given the dharma name True Silent Action, Chân M?t Hành. She was invited into a dharma teacher apprenticeship and received Lamp Transmission as a dharmacharya (teacher authorization) in 2014, from Thich Nhat Hanh in Plum Village.
She has been blessed to be guided by several wise senior dharma teachers and is grateful that the Buddha considers spiritual friendship, kalyanamitra, to be the most important part of the path. She currently is involved with several peer sanghas, the Oregon Spiritual Friends, Jubulicious – Jewish Buddhist Women sangha, EMBRACE – working with trauma sensitive mindfulness, and a Sati study group, studying ancient sutras and currently the early women practitioners in Buddhism. She also leads retreat in her home town with a monastic from the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives, a Soto Zen community. She serves on the Plum Village Dharma Teacher Nourishment and Life Committee and is a member of the PV North American Dharma Teacher Care Taking Council.
She is the guiding teacher of several sanghas, Ancient Forest in Eureka, California, Woodside Sangha in Bellingham, Washington, and Wild Rose Sangha in Calgary, Canada. She can happily participate in these groups from the comfort of her own home now that Zoom has made cloud zendos possible. She is mentoring several aspirants to the Order of Interbeing. She has started a new sangha, MotherRoot, and offers days of mindfulness, special events, and ceremonies online, open to the communities she serves.
Alexa is a psychotherapist, practicing as a Marriage and Family Therapist for 25 years. She has been an expressive artist most of her life, studying movement, writing, dreamwork, and creative art. She has been a registered facilitator of SoulCollage® since 2008, a creative art form that uses collaged imagery to explore one’s own inner guidance and wisdom. She has woven mindfulness, creative movement and SoulCollage® together and been invited to present at national conferences and in Italy. She incorporates creativity, poetry, writing and movement into her meditation retreats. She has been a ceremonial leader of women’s gatherings, transitional events and seasonal celebrations for more than 35 years. Her intention in her work is to invite people to let go of their inner critic, move into their creative aliveness, and to “bring the beauty of spirit into form.”
Farshid Etemad
Farshid started meditating in 2001 and focuses on creative combinations of insight and concentration meditation. He’s a veteran of many retreats and has trained in Mahasi-style vipassana with Kenneth Folk and the Sayadaws of U Pandita Sayadaw’s tradition, The Mind Illuminated with Culadasa, and many other techniques with other teachers. Since 2010, he’s been helping experienced meditators troubleshoot their practice one-on-one. He’s also happy to teach complete beginners and first-time retreatants.
Here’s what he’s offering:
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How to actually have fun while meditating.
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How to do insight meditation or deepen your existing practice. (This is for everyone from complete beginners to experienced meditators who think jhanas can’t be done with noting.)
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Learn the stages of concentration from The Mind llluminated and apply them to other meditation techniques.
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How to do insight and concentration meditation at the same time and why it’s beneficial.
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How to identify emotions.
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Creative uses of loving-kindness meditation, compassion and joy.
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A toolkit approach to meditation for problem-solving.
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How to sit still for hours.
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An overly complex four-element walking meditation for people who find slow walking meditation boring.
Farshid will give guided meditations demonstrating the principles that are taught, followed by optional Q&As (depending on how much silence people need), detailed interviews and extensive two-person noting drills to make sure that meditators understand each technique and can report what they’re experiencing.
Meditation instructions will be customized to each individual meditator to the extent possible with the intent of enriching their existing practice rather than replacing it. The emphasis will be on quality control, problem-solving and above all else, enjoyment.
Dr. Mark Pirtle – Tucson, Arizona, USA
Dr. Mark Pirtle is a pioneer in integral thinking in stress relief and recovery. He is a clinician, author, public speaker, filmmaker, and true “innerpreneur.” He connects the dots between science, wellness, and spirituality. Pirtle tirelessly updates his understanding of the latest science to help others change and heal. Combining the disciplines of neuroscience, living systems theory, and mindfulness meditation, he developed an evidence-based program for people suffering from stress-related conditions called SkillfullyAware®.
Mark teaches meditation and mindfulness to empower his clients to work through stress-related patterns including depression, anxiety, addictions, chronic pain and more. Mark is currently producing a full-length documentary—Is Your Story Making You Sick?—scheduled for theatrical release in the fall of 2018.
Matthew Immergut – Purchase, NY and Woodstock NY
Matthew Immergut, PhD. works as a professor of sociology at Purchase College, SUNY. He is also the second author of The Mind Illuminated and a long time student of Culadasa.
Jeffery Woolley – Glendale, Arizona
Jeff has been formally practicing mindfulness meditation since the mid 1980’s. He became a student of Samatha Vipassana and Upasaka Culadasa in 2009. A graduate of Boston University, he has been a clinical social worker for over 30 years. He also enjoys the art of Aikido. He is currently working full time as a psychotherapist and teaching two mindfulness graduate courses at ASU School of Social Work. In addition, he facilitates a mindfulness support sitting group at Jiyshinryu Akido. He is happily married and blessed with four grown children and two grandchildren.
Mary Hill – Portland, Oregon
Mary facilitates a small biweekly practice group of dedicated practitioners in Portland, OR. She is also available for one-to-one consultations with students of The Mind Illuminated in person, or on Google hangouts or Skype.
Hoji Alexandra Tataryn – Vancouver, BC, Canada
Alexandra works as an actor, artist and workshop facilitator across Canada. She weaves together her experience in the arts, theatre and circling into insightful, energetic and meaningful facilitation.
Along with her training in The Mind Illuminated, Alexandra (Hoji) is a student of Zen and Tibetan Meditation Practice. She is also experienced in Theatre, Developmental Movement practices and Bio-Emotive Focusing and Circling. She loves Integral Theory, Human Development, and Subtle Space Awareness Practices. She has 5+ years of working in the foster-care system, and was the Executive Director of Frame Projects Inc., a non-profit dedicated to bringing art to low-income neighbourhoods. Working in these systems has given her great insight into the complexity of the systems of our culture, and it motivates her even more to make healing-arts and awakening practices more accessible to all.
Training:
Applied Counselling Certificate, Red River College (Honors)
Expressive Arts Facilitation, WHEAT Institute
Kundalini Yoga Instructor
Other Training Includes:
Attachment Theory
Theatre For Living
Authentic Relating, Circling
Canada’s National Voice Intensive
Countless Acting, Writing, Directing workshops
Ali will be offering an online introduction to Meditation (using The Mind Illuminated and drawing from my experiences in Buddha Dharma) in the new year.
Anyone in the Vancouver or BC area, who is interested in Buddhism, movement, and healing arts, please reach out! Attend an upcoming class! I would love to connect with practitioners who are on a sincere path to awakening, so we may support and inspire one another.
You can contact her at the email below:
Emyo Seien/ N. Darlene Tataryn, PhD – Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
In 1981, Darlene stepped into Buddha Dharma as a student of Theravadin lay monk Kema Ananda. She became a student of other accomplished and valued teachers in the Tibetan Karma Kagyu Namgyal Universalist lineage in Canada. Darlene (Karma Dorje) is of dual lineage, having been ordained in 2014 as a Zen Priest (Emyo Seien – Gift of Clarity/ Pure Circle) by 83rd Zen Patriarch Jun Po Denis Kelly into the Rinzai Zen Hollow Bones Order. As a Mondo Zen Facilitator, she works with Koans relevant to the psycho-spiritual needs of our Western mind and culture and weaves Integral Theory into her life and practice and teachings.
Darlene is a Mind Illuminated teacher-in-training with Culadasa (Dr. John Yates) and has been a resident teacher at Dharma Treasure in Cochise Stronghold, AZ. Darlene is regularly invited to teach at the Dharma Fellowship Practice Centre, a beautiful rustic Hermitage on Denman Island, and varied locations in the Manitoba, Canada, Interlake region. Darlene’s extensive expertise and training in psycho-therapeutic practices and embodied expressive arts provide her students the opportunity for a more direct and less tumultuous unfolding into equanimity, bliss, and beyond.
Douglas J. Tataryn, PhD – Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
In 1976 I was fortunate enough to stumble upon an old and obscure book entitled “The Science of Breath” and established a daily practice in which I experienced a variety of deep states of meditation. It changed my life and greatly broadened my view of the nature of myself and reality. Five years of practice later, in 1981, my not-yet wife and I attended a 10-day retreat with lay monk Kama Ananda. While we have been intensely involved with other traditions and teachings since then, including the 4th Way, Raj Yoga, and Tai Chi, we have always maintained contact with the teachings and teachers of the Namgyl Ripoche stream of the Tibetan Buddhism Karma Kagyu lineage. We are honored and overjoyed to reconnect with our roots and be working directly with Culadasa, who was also a student of Kama Ananda.
The years prior to and after my Ph.D. in 1991 included extensive study, consultation, and publishing in statistics, psychometrics, individual differences in cognitive processing and perception, the mind-body relationship, and the epidemiology of medicine.
I have studied and taught integral theory, and have developed a version called EBIQ Integral which guides my Clinical Psychology and Life Coaching practices. I am the originator of the Bio-Emotive Framework, a powerful new way of educating and healing the emotional system. Besides one-on-one intensives, I offer a variety of educational and experiential training opportunities on my website. One of these courses, called “Emotions and Meditation”, may be of particular interest to this community.
Lesley Blaker – Farnham, Surrey, UK
Angelica Ortiz – Chicago, IL
Dr. John Darwin – Sheffield, England
John Darwin has been running courses in Mindfulness Based Life Enhancement, Mindful Ageing and MindfullySTRONG in Sheffield and beyond since 2010. He has practised meditation in the SotoZen tradition for more than 25 years, and is an enthusiastic practitioner of yoga and QiGong. Since leaving full time employment he has been studying, practising, and teaching mindfulness. He has a Postgraduate Certificate in Mindfulness Based Approaches, and a Master of Science in Mindfulness Studies. John is currently a Visiting Fellow at Sheffield Business School, and a Teaching Fellow at the University of Aberdeen [on the M.Sc. in Mindfulness Studies]. He has a particular interest in exploring fruitful links between Mindfulness Based Approaches and Samatha-Vipassana: the Practice of Tranquility and Insight.
Josh Geller – San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Josh was part of the second class to finish training with Culadasa. He has been practicing yoga and meditation for 60 years. As a certified yoga instructor he uses the body and the sensations derived therefrom as a pathway to explore the vedanas and to have direct experience of dukha and emptiness and no self. The sequences of asanas he employs are designed to prepare the body for long, distraction free sits. He’s also a passionate believer in the efficacy of walking meditation as a pathway to Insight. He is available for one on one consultation or for running retreats.
Chris Gagné – Upasaka Nandaka – San Francisco CA
Upasaka Nandaka is an Agile Coach and meditation teacher in San Francisco, CA. He has been practicing meditation in The Mind Illuminated tradition since 2013 and took Upasaka vows with Culadasa in 2016. Nandaka runs the Bay Area Pragmatic Dharma Sangha and invites you to join in!
Babette Haemmerle – Berlin, Germany
Christine Allen – Winchester, MA
Christine has practiced meditation and studied Buddhism, primarily in the Theravada tradition,since 2004. Christine began studying The Mind Illuminated shamatha vipassana method in 2016 and felt such a strong resonance with Culadasa’s teachings that she applied to the teacher training program. She teaches meditation based on The Mind Illuminated, while also drawing on insight meditation practices, in small groups in person and online or in one on one consultations. She particularly enjoys teaching on incorporating meditation practices into daily life. Christine worked in the investment industry for over 25 years and now volunteers her time assisting the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center with its financial matters and has been a Board member there since 2013. She has a wonderful husband and two amazing (young adult) children.
Chloë Bregman – San Francisco, CA
Chloë has spent 20+ studying yoga, psychology, meditation, shamanism and various spiritual traditions. She is a meditation teacher in training under John Yate’s (Culadasa) and a yoga asana teacher in the Kuala Tantra tradition of Bhagavan Shanmukha Anantha Natha. Since 2015, she has lead the Rimé Kalachakra bay area sangha focused on the Tibetan vajrayana buddhist Jonang-Kalachakra tradition under the guidance of Shar Khentrul Rinpoche. Chloë is immensely grateful for her teachers whose kindness is beyond compare from whom she has received teachings, empowerments and transmission including Segyu Chopel Rinpoche, Khentrul Rinpoche, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, the Dalai Lama, the Karmapa, and Swami Shankarananda Giri.
Michael Dunn – Southeast Arizona
Tom Kennedy, Australia
Tom is an Australian, returning to the Stronghold for the third time this winter. He describes
himself as a support to anyone realizing ‘the inherent fragility of what is constructed by the
mind’.
Tom is a welcome addition to our resident yogi program. His Aussie warmth and natural
smile will be a ray of sunshine to those doing solitary winter retreat.
Tom’s meditation journey began with teachers in the Tibetan (Gelug) tradition. Like many
seekers from downunder, Tom traveled far and wide in search of teachers, taking him to Sri
Lanka, India and Nepal, attending shamatha, Lam Rim, vipassana and jhana retreats for over
a decade.
Tom eventually made his way to the Stronghold in 2015 to spend two months in retreat
under Culadasa’s supervision. Three years later he was certified as a TMI teacher. He then
spent two months supervised by Culadasa as one of our first teachers-in-residence before
taking on students.
Tom works one on one with meditators from around the world, on a request basis. Tom’s
‘ecology of practice’ (a term borrowed from philosopher John Vervaeke) draws from the
Tibetan tradition of meditating on the mind, working with contemporary teachers and
teachings to build on the mechanics of TMI. Tom is happy to support anyone working with
any tradition.
Tom is establishing a retreat center in Australia, which will support solitary retreaters and be
a sanctuary for native wildlife. A decade after quitting his career as an international
commercial lawyer, Tom recently spent a year on a rural property in Queensland, Australia,
helping with its rewilding: an apprenticeship in support of humanity, he called it.
As resident yogi, Tom will provide support, interviews, and guidance (if requested) to
solitary retreaters. He will facilitate an optional weekly discussion on dharma themes for
those who wish to break silence (e.g., on emptiness, the nature of mind, joy, etc.). Group
retreats may also be organized during the winter months. Movement and body-work
teachers who complement silent retreats are invited to contact DT.
Feel free to reach out to Tom if you wish to discuss your approach to retreat. Tom believes
that being well-prepared and feeling well-supported is key to a fruitful solitary retreat. up a retreat centre in the Australian bush to support people who wish to get off grid and take part in safe, self-directed practice, immersed in a vast, dynamic and life-affirming natural environment.
Tom’s teaching style is compatible with those who are comfortable taking responsibility for their own progress towards living an engaged, awakened life.
“Culadasa’s precise, no-nonsense terminology appealed to my way of thinking, empowering me to take charge of my journey. I handed back the keys to the bus, literally, and started walking again. I’ll be delighted to meet you on the road.”
Nick Grabovac – Vancouver, BC, Canada
Nick Grabovac has been meditating for over 20 years and has been teaching meditation online since 2011. He is currently completing a two-year teacher training program under Culadasa’s guidance and has been authorized to teach the Samatha-vipassana practices described in The Mind Illuminated. He has also practiced for many years in the dry-insight tradition of Mahasi Sayadaw and has extensive experience with the stages of insight.
Nick’s teaching focuses on combining Culadasa’s Samatha-vipassana approach, the jhanas and Mahasi Sayadaw’s noting practice. He finds this combination to be an extremely powerful vehicle for both deep insight leading to awakening, and the integration of those insights into daily life.
Currently, Nick offers a twice-a-month online meditation group via Google
Hangouts, as well as private one-on-one teaching via Skype.
More information about the online group can be found at:
For 1:1 sessions you can reach Nick at:
Henrik A. Norberg – Berkeley, CA
With a background in Japanese Tendai, Korean Seon, and the Thai forest tradition, I find it interesting to explore the Dharma from multiple perspectives.
I love long-distance walking meditation; I casually flirt with magic, and have a serious crush on Samatha. I value humor, simplicity, and authenticity, and I have a bottomless curiosity about the experience of …”this”
I have been meditating since the late ’90s, through 40 + retreats, and consider myself a religious Buddhist. I have an agnostic stance on several metaphysical subjects and no issues working with secular practitioners.
I started out studying Tendai with Pia Shoken Trans in Denmark while learning traditional physical practices from Sabonim Ko Tai Jeong, a former Tae Kwondo monk.
In 2008, I wanted to get a better understanding of classical Theravadin teachings, so I trained with Sumana Ratnayaka, the former abbot of Stockholm Buddhist Vihara until I moved to the US. Here I have spent time retreating and supporting the Thai Forest tradition.
The last few years I have studied under Culadasa, and joined his teacher training program in 2016.
I am working on setting up a community of The Mind Illuminated teachers and practitioners in the Bay Area. If you are in the neighbourhood, I would love to meet up or sit together in person. If you prefer to have a chat online, I am open to that, too.
- You can reach Henrik at his email
Judith Ring – Boston, MA – Northshore
Judith has many years’ experience as a secular teacher and teacher trainer, having taught writing, literature and cultural studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She taught meditation for 6 years before joining The Mind Illuminated Teacher Training program in 2016. In October 2018, she served as Resident Teacher at Dharma Treasure Retreat Center in Cochise Stronghold, AZ.
For the last several years she has primarily worked one-on-one with meditators. The Mind Illuminated has been Judith’s primary practice since 2011. Before that, she practiced meditation in a number of different styles, including a Mahasi-based insight style and a Tibetan Buddhist lineage which included meditations based on visualization and mantra. Metta was her primary practice for a 7-year period during the 1990s.
Whether working one-on-one or in groups, Judith has become adept at facilitating learning environments in which participants co-create knowledge and meaning. She enjoys helping meditators explore the nuances of The Mind Illuminated and learn to rejoice in where they are in personal practice and investigate ways to further their practice. She has worked with meditators from Stages 1 through 6 and feels confident in working with others through Stage 8.
Chukyi Annie Lindsey – Brattleboro, VT
I am a fully ordained Buddhist nun, who has studied, taught and practiced Tibetan Buddhism for over 20 years, as well as being a trained therapist and coach. I have watched Culadasa help my friends blossom in their meditation and spiritual practices for many years, and finally had the privilege of joining the teacher training myself. I love to teach meditation and dharma, with an emphasis on weaving spirituality throughout your daily life. I believe compassion towards yourself and others, a sense of humor, gratitude, and daily practice on and off the cushion are key elements for life, love and happiness. I teach and coach online and by phone.
Paulin Elley – Paris, France
Frédéric – Paris, France
If you’re interested in joining a small community of good friends to practice, please contact Frédéric. Everybody’s welcome.
Blake Barton – Tucson, AZ
Blake Barton is one of the first graduates of Culadasa’s intensive four-year teacher training program for The Mind Illuminated. A dharma practitioner since 2001, he has studied closely with Culadasa for over a decade. For the last 19 years, he has practiced the philosophy and lifestyle of voluntary simplicity, which allowed him to retire early and dedicate his life to spiritual practice and service. Blake teaches at Tucson Community Meditation Center and online. He specializes in working with beginners in stages 1-4, and those with spontaneous movements and the side effects of piti. He also works with those with ADHD, and difficulties stabilizing attention. As of October 2018, he is not taking on new students due to time limitations.
He may be contacted at his email address below.
Jon Krop – Brooklyn, NY
Salina Diioro – Takoma Park, MD
Darin McFayden – California, USA
Darin Mcfadyen, known professionally in the music world as FreQ Nasty, is an internationally renowned DJ and music producer, a VP at ‘physical audio’ innovator SubPac, and a trained meditation teacher.
An extensively trained meditation teacher in both the Tibetan Buddhist and Theravada traditions, he leads music-based meditation, yoga, and sound healing experiences around the globe and has become a fixture amongst North American art and music festivals, most notably Burning Man. Darin has studied the great texts of Yoga as well of those of the Tibetan Buddhist Sutra and Tantra systems. More recently, he has done retreat with and studied the teachings of Upasaka Culadasa (Professor John Yates).
Considered a pioneer of the Breakbeat and Bass music genres, he has collaborated with or written and produced for a diverse range of artists including Santigold, Bassnectar, Switch, Fatboy Slim, Professor Green, Kelis, KRS One, Roots Manuva. As an early team member at music tech startup SUBPAC, he has been a key figure in the development of the ‘Physical Audio’ technology that has revolutionized music production and the way sound is experienced in both the music and virtual reality industries.
His interdisciplinary body of work has, at its core, the conviction that music is a universal instrument of healing, connection, and a powerful catalyst for personal and collective transformation.
His current meditation classes can be accessed below:
And his Facebook livestream information is:
Gabriel Rocheleau – Quebec, Canada
Gabriel has been practicing meditation for more than 10 years. He started meditating as a teen while exploring lucid dreams and his interest for meditation kept growing over time. Before encountering Culadasa’s teachings in 2015, Gabriel practiced in the Goenka, the Mahasi and the Pa Auk traditions.
I see meditation as mind-training. I teach and practice meditation pragmatically, meaning that I am concerned with what actually works, regardless of which tradition or belief-system a practice comes from. I mainly teach using Culadasa’s Samatha-Vipassana (concentration + insight) method outlined in The Mind Illuminated, since it is the most effective and comprehensive method I’ve encountered. I can also draw from my experience in other traditions when useful.
My wish to teach meditation stems from the benefits I’ve personally received from it. Meditation is, by far, the most important thing I’ve learned. I feel extremely fortunate to have stumbled on these kinds of practices early on (at the age of 14). My practice continues to satisfy a profound desire for truth in a way nothing else could. The mundane and “supramundane” insights induced by meditation have brought me immense benefits, and I can’t imagine going back to my old way of seeing the world.
I would be deeply honored to help you establish a meditation practice and get similar benefits. Whether you’re interested in “awakening” or stress-reduction, I would like to provide you the tools necessary to improve your life by training your mind.
On a more global level, I firmly believe that the only way to make a difference in this world is to change the people who make it up. I’ve seen the practice of meditation literally transform myself and others, and I want to help others discover and develop this wonderful practice.
I teach both online and offline and fluently speak French and English.
David Schultz – Calgary, Alberta, Canada
David has practiced meditation and studied Buddhism since the late 1970s. After almost twenty years of practice under Shirfu Samanta, he was formally authorized to teach and given the teaching name Kalyanamitra (spiritual friend). Jayanta, a deeply experienced teacher and practitioner of over fifty years in the Theravada tradition, has been very helpful in guiding and mentoring him throughout the years. David has also spent time practicing in the Jodo Shinshu (Pure Land) tradition.
Culadasa’s teaching of Samatha-Vipassana as presented in The Mind Illuminated has opened the door to working with these differing traditions and to structuring teaching and practice.
It is his hope to be a good friend, in the Buddhist sense, to those who wish to practice with him and he aims to be a helpful guide. David practices with a sangha in Calgary, Canada and works online with fellow practitioners.
Andrew Sherbrooke – Seattle, WA
Andrew has been studying and practicing meditation for over 30 years in various traditions, including Zen, Burmese Theravada, Tibetan, and Hindu paths. With many months of silent retreat experience, he found it challenging to sit as deeply during daily practice at home, and to see the sort of development characteristic of lengthy retreats. The Mind Illuminated has provided that opportunity. Its comprehensive model of mental development, and skillful means for each stage of the path, make steady meditative development accessible to all diligent householders.
As a teacher-in-training with Upasaka Culadasa, Andrew’s specialty is working with students to stabilize attention in daily practice; overcoming mind-wandering and forgetting, and increasing the clarity and depth of meditation. Andrew offers “meditation coaching and debugging” via telephone or video-based calls, and also leads meditation support groups. He works closely with students, via discussion and inquiry, to unravel their unique obstacles to practice, and opportunities for further unfoldment. Andrew has been a student of the Diamond Approach since 2011, a contemporary spiritual path with a unique understanding of spiritual inquiry. A resident of the Pacific Northwest, he’s also a musician, software developer, and father.
Andrew can be reached through his website, or via email.
Mimi Moncier – San Francisco, CA
Mimi joyfully teaches meditation, yoga and yantra painting in San Francisco and also offers online classes.
She has been meditating since 2004 and teaching beginners the Shamatha-Vipassana technique from Culadasa’s The Mind Illuminated since 2016. Her training with Culadasa began formally in 2016 on a meditation retreat at Cochise Stronghold and she entered the teacher training program in early 2018. Yantra painting and art making as meditative processes are part of her personal practices that she also shares in the form of workshops.
Mimi began practicing Yoga in 1990 and she teaches her students through the lens of meditation with an emphasis on the energetic body. Whether it is a vinyasa, yin or restorative class, she will be leading you through with your peripheral awareness bright and your attention focused 🙂
The five aggregates entitled Mimi also like to make art, dance, hike and garden!
Babette Haemmerle – Berlin, Germany
Robin Craig – Flagstaff, Arizona
Robin has studied with Dharma teachers in group and solo retreat settings who have opened the doors for the fullness of kindness and compassion both on and off the cushion. This includes studies on the unfolding of the practice in The Mind Illuminated framework. This has been an important foundation for her own life as well as supporting students as they practice.
Robin is also a Licensed Professional Counselor, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, and Associate Faculty with Organic Intelligence® (OI). She has degrees in Philosophy, Biomedical Engineering, and Counseling Psychology as well as having studied neuroscience at the Vollum Institute for Advanced Biomedical Research in Portland, OR. Robin weaves her understanding of the physiology of resilience and increased capacity into both the practice and teaching of meditation.
In 2017, Robin took Upasika vows and appreciates how joy is an integral part of the path to the deep spirituality and interconnection that is ours by nature.
You can email Robin or read more about her at http://findingthewayout.com
Ted Lemon – Brattleboro, VT
Josh Geller – San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Tom Kennedy – Bellbowrie, Australia
Tom has been teaching The Mind Illuminated methodology and has completed three years of the Teaching Training program under Culadasa’s supervision.
Like many today who are drawn to the convergence of psychology, neuroscience and ancient spiritual wisdom, Tom is curious, skeptical and disciplined. A global nomad since birth, Tom practiced law for twenty years, including time as in-house counsel with a multinational, raising two children with his wife while on the road.
Tom now teaches law part-time and is a crisis counselor with Lifeline Australia, committed to the vision of an Australia free of suicide. Tom is setting up a retreat centre in the Australian bush to support people who wish to get off grid and take part in safe, self-directed practice, immersed in a vast, dynamic and life-affirming natural environment.
Tom’s teaching style is compatible with those who are comfortable taking responsibility for their own progress towards living an engaged, awakened life.
“Culadasa’s precise, no-nonsense terminology appealed to my way of thinking, empowering me to take charge of my journey. I handed back the keys to the bus, literally, and started walking again. I’ll be delighted to meet you on the road.”
Terry Moody – Portland, Oregon
Terry has been studying yoga, psychology, and meditation through several traditions for over 20 years, with her first introduction to meditation in the Theravada Buddhist tradition. She then dedicated many years to studying Vedic and Advaita Vedanta philosophies, Sudarshan Kriya, and Sahaj Samadhi (Transcendental) meditation, largely through a devotional approach.
Terry returned to Buddhism and Samatha-Vipassana meditation and has been a student of Culadasa for over 10 years. She started The Mind Illuminated teacher training program in October of 2016. The contrasting traditions in her history are best summed up by a beloved quote of Culadasa and his students by the non-dualist teacher, Nisargadatta Maharaj:
“Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. Between the two, my life flows.”
Terry is available for one-on-one mentoring sessions. Contact her via:
Ollie Bray- Margate, UK
I have a decade and a half of meditation experience and have logged over a year of retreat time in the UK and Asia. I was lucky enough to discover meditation when I was 14 years old, and I quickly fell in love with it, in particular when I was 17 and had my mind blown on my first retreat.
Discovering The Mind Illuminated in 2016 had a profound effect on my meditation practice and life more broadly; it is the most powerful, pragmatic, and comprehensive system I know of for deepening one’s practice. I was extraordinarily grateful to have had the opportunity to train with Culadasa from 2018 to 2021.
I love working with students to help them deepen their practice and bring the insights and many fruits of contemplative practice to life.
I am also trained in and offer Internal Family Systems therapy (https://olliebray.co.uk/). I have found it to be a fantastically helpful complement to TMI, and I often integrate these two approaches in my teaching.
I am based in Margate in the UK, and I am available for one-to-one consultations online – feel free to get in touch or find out more about me here: https://rationaldharma.com/
I teach on a donation basis.
Qualifications:
- BA (Hons) Experimental Psychology – University of Oxford
- Completed the Zenways Mindfulness Teacher Training Programme
- Qualified Breathworks Mindfulness-Based Pain Management Teacher
- MSc Psychological Research Methods and Data Science – University of Sheffield
- Internal Family Systems Level 1 Training, IFS UK
- Authorised by Culadasa to teach The Mind Illuminated Samatha-Vipassana Meditation Method