Teachers
Teachers in the All Souls Buddhism & Meditation Program
Pamela Patton
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Pamela leads our Buddhism and Mindfulness program. She is also the leader of pastoral ministries at All Souls, and she coordinates the volunteers who provide our lay pastoral care. Pamela is both a Unitarian Universalist and a Buddhist, and founded the Buddhism and Mindfulness program at All Souls. She leads guided meditations and book discussions related to Buddhism, and she invites teachers to All Souls who speak on topics such as Engaged Buddhism.
Pamela’s sermons related to Buddhism, mindfulness and meditation |
Harry Miller
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Harry is a member of All Souls who has studied Buddhist meditation for 45 years and leads a drop-in Dharma study group in our Buddhism & Mindfulness program. Harry was a student of the renowned Zen teacher, Chan Master Sheng-yen, for 30 years. He is a docent at the Rubin Museum in Chelsea, where he also leads Dharma study groups. He teaches meditation and philosophy at the Chan Meditation Center in Queens, and edited the Chan Newsletter for 10 years. Harry was awarded an NEA grant for Chinese translation, and holds a BA in French and English literature from Sarah Lawrence and an MA in Chinese Literature from Columbia University.
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Carolyn Jackson
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Carolyn Jackson identifies as a Unitarian Universalist and a Buddhist in the Insight tradition. A member of All Souls since 1994, she has been part of its sangha since its inception and a Certified Mindfulness Meditation teacher since 2021. Professionally, she is a writer and editor and worked in politics, news, and non-fiction for young people. She was a co-author of the book All Souls at 200 and editor of the electronic All Souls Beacon.
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Emma Markham
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Emma Markham is currently a Master of Divinity in Buddhism and Interreligious Engagement candidate at Union Theological Seminary. She has been formally practicing Buddhism for 10 years and has been meditating for 20. She is currently completing a capstone research project related to Buddhism and sexuality and is completing her second unit of CPE in hospice chaplaincy. Emma has led meditation groups at the Church Center for the UN, NY State Mentoring, and other organizations since 2019. Emma is a classical guitarist and worked in nonprofit operations before returning to school to pursue interfaith chaplaincy.
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Jon Aaron
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Jon Aaron’s Dharma home is New York Insight Meditation Center, where he teaches Buddhism and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. He is also the co-guiding teacher of the Makom Havurah at the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan. His training has been mainly grounded in the Theravāda tradition, in addition to non-dual and Mahayana approaches. His teacher is Matthew Flickstein. More recently he has been training with Kittisaro and Thanissara. Jon also studied contemplative care at the Zen Center for Contemplative Care and completed the Integrated Study and Practice program at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Jon Aaron has taught more than 100 cycles of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and is a Certified MBSR Teacher Trainer. As a Somatic Experience Practitioner®, he has a particular interest in somatic approaches and healing trauma. You can find Jon in weekly conversation with his friend Doug Smith over on the Diggin the Dharma podcast. JonAaron.net, Space2Meditate.com
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Laura Cohen
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Laura Cohen is a student at Union Theological Seminary studying Buddhism and Interreligious Engagement. She practices Zen Buddhism and has recently been exploring the vocation of chaplaincy. She is excited to be here at All Souls this year serving the Buddhism and Mindfulness community.
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Pilar Jennings
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Pilar is a psychoanalyst in private practice with a focus on the clinical applications of Buddhist meditation. She has been working with patients and their families through the Harlem Family Institute since 2004. She is a Visiting Lecturer at Union Theological Seminary, a guest lecturer at Columbia University, and a faculty member of the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science. In our Buddhism & Mindfulness program, she has taught several short courses, including “Working with Difficult Emotions – A Buddhist and Psychotherapeutic Approach,” which explored a range of emotions from a spiritual and clinical perspective. More recently she taught "How To Be in Relationship." Her website is drpilarjennings.com
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Robert Lyster
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Throughout his life, Bob has found the spiritual journey enormously fulfilling. Guided by his years of training in mysticism, he has actively participated in a number of the world's major religions as well as engaged with countless spiritual philosophy and growth programs. A career Wall Streeter, Bob has retired to a peaceful country setting and has found the spiritual side of life even more fascinating, dynamic, and joyful. As a meditator for half a century, his participation in the Buddhism & Mindfulness program has brought a new expansiveness to his practice. Bob holds a BA in Economics from Amherst College and an MBA in Finance from Columbia.
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Wiley Saichek
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An independent book publicist by profession, Wiley Saichek has been a member of All Souls NYC since 2006 and has been studying Buddhism at All Souls and Shantideva Center since 2018. He currently lives in Brooklyn and enjoys reading, dining out, music, and TV dramas. In addition to leading a Community Meditation session, he currently advises on publicity and helps manage the Buddhism & Mindfulness social media channels.
https://www.facebook.com/BuddhismMindfulnessAllSoulsNYC https://www.instagram.com/allsoulsnycbuddhism |
Guest Teachers
Amy B. Scher: amybscher.com An award-winning and best-selling author of books on healing, she employs energy therapy and teaches classes to help people break through blocks to become their happiest, healthiest and most expressive selves.
Amy Singer: A member of All Souls Buddhism and Mindfulness group since its inception. Retired art therapist and mental health counselor who has served as a Lay Pastoral Associate and a Friendship Circle Leader. An advocate for practicing mindfulness in daily living.
Ananta: ananta.earth A mindfulness practitioner and social justice advocate with more than 20 years of experience, he is a teacher with the Mindfulness Center at Brown University and a Bodhi Yoga teacher whose practice has been shaped by years of living and practicing in Buddhist communities globally.
Carolyn Jackson: A recent graduate of a two-year Insight meditation teacher training under Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach, editor and writer Carolyn Jackson is a long-time member of All Souls. She has also been the editor of the All Souls Beacon, and an active participant in the Buddhism & Mindfulness Program. Carolyn leads the six-week “Establishing Your Practice” program on Thursday afternoons. This group offers support to those who are new to mindfulness meditation or are re-committing to their practice, by sharing ideas about how to practice regularly, even when it seems like “nothing’s happening,” and finding ways to enrich and encourage each others’ efforts.
Cathy Trentalancia: cathytrentalancia.com A certified mindfulness and meditation instructor from the Compassion Teacher Training at Nalanda Institute, MNDFL and various other institutions, she has been meditating for more than 25 years and teaches meditation privately and in corporations.
Ellen Abrams: ellen-abrams.com A therapist with 25+ years of clinical experience as a Marriage and Family Therapist in community mental health clinics, hospices, and in private practice, she first came to contemplative practices and compassionate care by way of the Zen Hospice Project in her early twenties.
Ellen Mendlow regularly attends our Buddhism & Mindfulness programs. She has practiced Buddhism for over a decade, recently with Sravasti Abbey and Shantideva Center. She is a meditation leader and certified yoga teacher and is thrilled to share her passion for combining contemplative practice and mind-body science with a broad audience.
Gay Doherty: www.gaydoherty.com/ Gay works from psychodynamic and attachment-based approaches to therapy. Psychodynamic Psychotherapy involves having a better awareness of patterns of behavior that have evolved and how they may prevent one from moving forward. Attachment-based Psychotherapy brings to focus the importance of human relationships in order to grow.
Hui Neng Stan Koehler, Roshi: hollowboneszen.org/hui-neng-Stan-Koehler-roshi With a long history of bringing meditation to the underserved (youths, incarcerated people and formerly incarcerated people), he has been actively involved in the Hollow Bones Order and is an ordained Zen priest who took Inka transmission. He aims to aid community members by applying Zen principles to daily challenges.
Kaira Jewel Lingo: www.kairajewel.com An author and teacher who studied under and was ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh, and lived as a Buddhist nun for fifteen years. She teaches, and leads retreats internationally, helping to train a new and more diverse generation of Buddhist and Mindfulness teachers.
Karuna Cayton: karunacayton.com An author and licensed psychotherapist who lived at Kopan Monastery for 13 years studying Buddhist psychology and philosophy, he is the principal at The Karuna Group, a project engaged in interpreting Buddhist psychological theory and interventions for modern people.
Kimberly Brown: meditationwithheart.com An author; a Certified Mindfulness Teacher, Professional Level (CMT-P), and a Buddhist student of nearly two decades, she employs Buddhist techniques and modern psychotherapeutic modalities to guide others toward wholeness and well-being.
Lavina Shamdasani: compassioninstitute.com/teachers/lavina-shamdasani She is a certified Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) instructor with the Compassion Institute, where she studied neuroscience, philosophy and pedagogy of compassion. CCT was developed in 2009 at Stanford University by Thupten Jinpa, Ph.D.
Marshall Kupka-Moore: www.sourcewellness.co Marshall has been meditating his entire adult life and has a passion for sharing peace and wellness with people wherever he goes. He is a 200-hour certified Vinyasa yoga teacher and has taken multiple trips to India, met the Dalai Lama, lived with and learned from monks, and advised Emory University students exploring the intersection of Buddhism and mind-body sciences. Currently, Marshall is the CEO of Source Wellness and co-founder of the Bed-Stuy Art Residency.
Martha Willams and John Scilipote: www.breakbread.world/ Martha is an avid student of transformation, meditation, and storytelling, with certification from The Coaches Training Institute and OM Yoga. She is committed to helping evolve our collective mind and body through cultural and artistic creation. For 30 years, John has studied Nondual Kabbalistic Healing and Nondual Shamanism and has recently been certified as a Soulful Facilitator. He is committed to helping people embrace that which transforms, opening them to be more fully in relationship with others and the world.
Mary Jo Meadow is professor emerita of psychology and religious studies from Minnesota State University at Mankato. She has been teaching mindfulness in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia since 1987. She reared eight children. She has 17 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. She now lives in Minnesota with two beloved cats. With thanks to Mary Jo who has kindly offered this class to our community as a gift. (For those who sign up for the class, I’ll include a note explaining that dana is a part of the Buddhist tradition, and I’ll let them know how to make offerings if they wish to.)
Mary Reilly Nichols: meditationmary.com Serves on the faculty of the Nalanda Institute, is a member of the Bronxville Psychiatric Wellness Group, and has been practicing and teaching yoga, meditation and stress management since 1982. She spent five years in residence in the ashrams of Swami Muktananda.
Mickie Brown, R.N.: www.mickiebrown.com/ A Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher trained at the Center for Mindfulness at UMass. She teaches MBSR and is Clinical Manager for Education, Mindfulness, and Patient Well-being at the Selikoff Centers for Occupational Health, and the World Trade Center Health Program at the Mount Sinai Health System.
Mona Chopra: www.peopletreewellness.com/ A healer, licensed acupuncturist, and board certified hypnotherapist, who also utilizes meditation, EFT tapping, and therapeutic yoga in her practice to alleviate emotional distress and reduce physical pain.
Patricia Muehsam, M.D.: transformationalmedicine.org/ She was a pioneer in the alternative medicine movement as a practitioner, educator, and research scientist. She founded Transformational Medicine, an individualized and whole-person approach to healing, wellness, and living.
Rebecca Li: rebeccali.org She teaches meditation and Dharma classes, gives public lectures and leads Chan retreats in North America, the United Kingdom and Taiwan. Her writings have appeared in numerous publications. In 2016 she received Dharma transmission and became a Dharma heir in the Dharma Drum Lineage of Chan Master Sheng Yen.
Rev. Allen Wells: muuf.org/our-ministers A minister with the Morristown Unitarian Universalist Fellowship since 1976, he offers counseling and teaches insight meditation. He completed a program with the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies and is interested in unifying the interior, spiritual quality of our lives with the external, interpersonal and political areas.
Rev. Kim Crawford Harvie: ascboston.org/about/minadstaff.html Ordained into the Unitarian Universalist ministry in 1984, she was called to Arlington Street Church in Boston, Massachusetts in 1989, where she continues to serve as Senior Minister. In Boston, Rev. Crawford Harvie co-founded two non-profit organizations: In the Best Interests of the Children, dedicated to providing educational and material assistance to young people and families affected by pediatric HIV/AIDS; and The Shared Heart, a traveling exhibition and book of photographs (released in 1997 by William Morrow) of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender teenagers with accompanying text in their own words, designed to support the Massachusetts Safe Schools Initiative.
Richard Einhorn: richardeinhorn.com Richard started a daily meditation practice after a friend took him to see the Dalai Lama speak in New York in 2014. He is a member of the Brooklyn Shantideva Center community, where he’s attended numerous teachings, gone on several retreats, and taken the Discovering Buddhism course. He co-teaches “Buddhism in a Nutshell,”with Pamela Patton. He has led meditation for the All Souls Monday Night Hospitality guests. A composer whose music is regularly performed both in the US and abroad, Richard is also an advocate for people with hearing loss and a hearing healthcare consultant.
Shelley Tupper: shelleytupper.com She is a Certified Professional Coach and a Practitioner in Positive Psychology. She trains individuals and businesses on how to amplify success and happiness through proven positive psychology and coaching techniques. She's also trained in MasterMind and Resilience methods.
Susan Brandwayn has been studying buddhism and practicing meditation for over 20 years. She is a member of Tibet House and Jewel Heart. Her teachers have included the Dalai Lama, Gelek Rinpoche, Robert Thurman, Joe Loizzo and Mary Reilly Nichols among others. Susan was a member of All Souls in the 1990s and is happy to be back. Susan is an economist by training, with over 30 years of practice in New York, first in Wall Street and then at the United Nations. She met her husband Thord there. They live in New York. Susan is a native from Colombia.
Tim Olmsted: steamboatbuddhistcenter.org/our-history As a student of Buddhism for more than 45 years, Tim is a founder and a senior instructor at the Tergar Meditation Community under the guidance of the brilliant Tibetan meditation teacher Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. Tim spends much of his time leading ‘Joy of Living’ meditation retreats. At the request of his friend Pema Chödrön, Tim was for three years the director of Gampo Abbey, the largest monastery in the West.
Upayadhi: upayadhi.com/about Among her many spiritual, philosophical and academic pursuits, she holds a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher certification and for more than 17 years has undergone intensive training with the Triratna Buddhist Community, where she was ordained in 2018. She offers meditation practice and spiritual mentoring.
Venerable Amy Miller: amymiller.com As a Buddhist nun in the Tibetan tradition, Venerable offers teachings and leads retreats and pilgrimages around the world. Venerable has been teaching extensively since 1992; her style emphasizes a practical approach to integrating Buddhist philosophy into everyday life.
Amy B. Scher: amybscher.com An award-winning and best-selling author of books on healing, she employs energy therapy and teaches classes to help people break through blocks to become their happiest, healthiest and most expressive selves.
Amy Singer: A member of All Souls Buddhism and Mindfulness group since its inception. Retired art therapist and mental health counselor who has served as a Lay Pastoral Associate and a Friendship Circle Leader. An advocate for practicing mindfulness in daily living.
Ananta: ananta.earth A mindfulness practitioner and social justice advocate with more than 20 years of experience, he is a teacher with the Mindfulness Center at Brown University and a Bodhi Yoga teacher whose practice has been shaped by years of living and practicing in Buddhist communities globally.
Carolyn Jackson: A recent graduate of a two-year Insight meditation teacher training under Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach, editor and writer Carolyn Jackson is a long-time member of All Souls. She has also been the editor of the All Souls Beacon, and an active participant in the Buddhism & Mindfulness Program. Carolyn leads the six-week “Establishing Your Practice” program on Thursday afternoons. This group offers support to those who are new to mindfulness meditation or are re-committing to their practice, by sharing ideas about how to practice regularly, even when it seems like “nothing’s happening,” and finding ways to enrich and encourage each others’ efforts.
Cathy Trentalancia: cathytrentalancia.com A certified mindfulness and meditation instructor from the Compassion Teacher Training at Nalanda Institute, MNDFL and various other institutions, she has been meditating for more than 25 years and teaches meditation privately and in corporations.
Ellen Abrams: ellen-abrams.com A therapist with 25+ years of clinical experience as a Marriage and Family Therapist in community mental health clinics, hospices, and in private practice, she first came to contemplative practices and compassionate care by way of the Zen Hospice Project in her early twenties.
Ellen Mendlow regularly attends our Buddhism & Mindfulness programs. She has practiced Buddhism for over a decade, recently with Sravasti Abbey and Shantideva Center. She is a meditation leader and certified yoga teacher and is thrilled to share her passion for combining contemplative practice and mind-body science with a broad audience.
Gay Doherty: www.gaydoherty.com/ Gay works from psychodynamic and attachment-based approaches to therapy. Psychodynamic Psychotherapy involves having a better awareness of patterns of behavior that have evolved and how they may prevent one from moving forward. Attachment-based Psychotherapy brings to focus the importance of human relationships in order to grow.
Hui Neng Stan Koehler, Roshi: hollowboneszen.org/hui-neng-Stan-Koehler-roshi With a long history of bringing meditation to the underserved (youths, incarcerated people and formerly incarcerated people), he has been actively involved in the Hollow Bones Order and is an ordained Zen priest who took Inka transmission. He aims to aid community members by applying Zen principles to daily challenges.
Kaira Jewel Lingo: www.kairajewel.com An author and teacher who studied under and was ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh, and lived as a Buddhist nun for fifteen years. She teaches, and leads retreats internationally, helping to train a new and more diverse generation of Buddhist and Mindfulness teachers.
Karuna Cayton: karunacayton.com An author and licensed psychotherapist who lived at Kopan Monastery for 13 years studying Buddhist psychology and philosophy, he is the principal at The Karuna Group, a project engaged in interpreting Buddhist psychological theory and interventions for modern people.
Kimberly Brown: meditationwithheart.com An author; a Certified Mindfulness Teacher, Professional Level (CMT-P), and a Buddhist student of nearly two decades, she employs Buddhist techniques and modern psychotherapeutic modalities to guide others toward wholeness and well-being.
Lavina Shamdasani: compassioninstitute.com/teachers/lavina-shamdasani She is a certified Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) instructor with the Compassion Institute, where she studied neuroscience, philosophy and pedagogy of compassion. CCT was developed in 2009 at Stanford University by Thupten Jinpa, Ph.D.
Marshall Kupka-Moore: www.sourcewellness.co Marshall has been meditating his entire adult life and has a passion for sharing peace and wellness with people wherever he goes. He is a 200-hour certified Vinyasa yoga teacher and has taken multiple trips to India, met the Dalai Lama, lived with and learned from monks, and advised Emory University students exploring the intersection of Buddhism and mind-body sciences. Currently, Marshall is the CEO of Source Wellness and co-founder of the Bed-Stuy Art Residency.
Martha Willams and John Scilipote: www.breakbread.world/ Martha is an avid student of transformation, meditation, and storytelling, with certification from The Coaches Training Institute and OM Yoga. She is committed to helping evolve our collective mind and body through cultural and artistic creation. For 30 years, John has studied Nondual Kabbalistic Healing and Nondual Shamanism and has recently been certified as a Soulful Facilitator. He is committed to helping people embrace that which transforms, opening them to be more fully in relationship with others and the world.
Mary Jo Meadow is professor emerita of psychology and religious studies from Minnesota State University at Mankato. She has been teaching mindfulness in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia since 1987. She reared eight children. She has 17 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. She now lives in Minnesota with two beloved cats. With thanks to Mary Jo who has kindly offered this class to our community as a gift. (For those who sign up for the class, I’ll include a note explaining that dana is a part of the Buddhist tradition, and I’ll let them know how to make offerings if they wish to.)
Mary Reilly Nichols: meditationmary.com Serves on the faculty of the Nalanda Institute, is a member of the Bronxville Psychiatric Wellness Group, and has been practicing and teaching yoga, meditation and stress management since 1982. She spent five years in residence in the ashrams of Swami Muktananda.
Mickie Brown, R.N.: www.mickiebrown.com/ A Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher trained at the Center for Mindfulness at UMass. She teaches MBSR and is Clinical Manager for Education, Mindfulness, and Patient Well-being at the Selikoff Centers for Occupational Health, and the World Trade Center Health Program at the Mount Sinai Health System.
Mona Chopra: www.peopletreewellness.com/ A healer, licensed acupuncturist, and board certified hypnotherapist, who also utilizes meditation, EFT tapping, and therapeutic yoga in her practice to alleviate emotional distress and reduce physical pain.
Patricia Muehsam, M.D.: transformationalmedicine.org/ She was a pioneer in the alternative medicine movement as a practitioner, educator, and research scientist. She founded Transformational Medicine, an individualized and whole-person approach to healing, wellness, and living.
Rebecca Li: rebeccali.org She teaches meditation and Dharma classes, gives public lectures and leads Chan retreats in North America, the United Kingdom and Taiwan. Her writings have appeared in numerous publications. In 2016 she received Dharma transmission and became a Dharma heir in the Dharma Drum Lineage of Chan Master Sheng Yen.
Rev. Allen Wells: muuf.org/our-ministers A minister with the Morristown Unitarian Universalist Fellowship since 1976, he offers counseling and teaches insight meditation. He completed a program with the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies and is interested in unifying the interior, spiritual quality of our lives with the external, interpersonal and political areas.
Rev. Kim Crawford Harvie: ascboston.org/about/minadstaff.html Ordained into the Unitarian Universalist ministry in 1984, she was called to Arlington Street Church in Boston, Massachusetts in 1989, where she continues to serve as Senior Minister. In Boston, Rev. Crawford Harvie co-founded two non-profit organizations: In the Best Interests of the Children, dedicated to providing educational and material assistance to young people and families affected by pediatric HIV/AIDS; and The Shared Heart, a traveling exhibition and book of photographs (released in 1997 by William Morrow) of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender teenagers with accompanying text in their own words, designed to support the Massachusetts Safe Schools Initiative.
Richard Einhorn: richardeinhorn.com Richard started a daily meditation practice after a friend took him to see the Dalai Lama speak in New York in 2014. He is a member of the Brooklyn Shantideva Center community, where he’s attended numerous teachings, gone on several retreats, and taken the Discovering Buddhism course. He co-teaches “Buddhism in a Nutshell,”with Pamela Patton. He has led meditation for the All Souls Monday Night Hospitality guests. A composer whose music is regularly performed both in the US and abroad, Richard is also an advocate for people with hearing loss and a hearing healthcare consultant.
Shelley Tupper: shelleytupper.com She is a Certified Professional Coach and a Practitioner in Positive Psychology. She trains individuals and businesses on how to amplify success and happiness through proven positive psychology and coaching techniques. She's also trained in MasterMind and Resilience methods.
Susan Brandwayn has been studying buddhism and practicing meditation for over 20 years. She is a member of Tibet House and Jewel Heart. Her teachers have included the Dalai Lama, Gelek Rinpoche, Robert Thurman, Joe Loizzo and Mary Reilly Nichols among others. Susan was a member of All Souls in the 1990s and is happy to be back. Susan is an economist by training, with over 30 years of practice in New York, first in Wall Street and then at the United Nations. She met her husband Thord there. They live in New York. Susan is a native from Colombia.
Tim Olmsted: steamboatbuddhistcenter.org/our-history As a student of Buddhism for more than 45 years, Tim is a founder and a senior instructor at the Tergar Meditation Community under the guidance of the brilliant Tibetan meditation teacher Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. Tim spends much of his time leading ‘Joy of Living’ meditation retreats. At the request of his friend Pema Chödrön, Tim was for three years the director of Gampo Abbey, the largest monastery in the West.
Upayadhi: upayadhi.com/about Among her many spiritual, philosophical and academic pursuits, she holds a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher certification and for more than 17 years has undergone intensive training with the Triratna Buddhist Community, where she was ordained in 2018. She offers meditation practice and spiritual mentoring.
Venerable Amy Miller: amymiller.com As a Buddhist nun in the Tibetan tradition, Venerable offers teachings and leads retreats and pilgrimages around the world. Venerable has been teaching extensively since 1992; her style emphasizes a practical approach to integrating Buddhist philosophy into everyday life.
