Philip Jones has practiced meditation since 1987 and has been teaching Insight Meditation since 1996. He has studied with teachers from Spirit Rock and the Insight Meditation Society and graduated from the first Community Dharma Leader program in 2000. He also studied for a number of years with Matthew Flickstein and more recently has been practicing with teachers from IMS and with Shaila Catherine. He has served on the board of directors of Mid America Dharma, the regional retreat organization, since the mid-'90's. Many of his talks and writings can be found at http://silentmindopenheart.org.
Philippe Goldin spent 6 years in Asia studying Buddhist philosophy and debate, and serving as an interpreter for various Tibetan Buddhist teachers. After returning to the U.S., he completed a Ph.D. in Psychology at Rutgers University, and now leads the Clinically Applied Affective Neuroscience laboratory in the Department of Psychology at Stanford University. His NIH-funded clinical research focuses on (a) neural mechanisms of emotional reactivity and regulation, (b) effects of mindfulness meditation and cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders on brain systems related to self and emotional processes, and (c) how mindfulness training for families influences cognitive-affective processes.
Renée Burgard is a mindfulness-based psychotherapist, consultant, and educator in private practice at Mindfulness & Health in Palo Alto. She teaches Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programs for schools, nonprofits, and corporations in the SF Bay Area and serves as a senior MBSR instructor and mentor for teachers and psychotherapists in Northern California. She received training in MBSR from Jon Kabat-Zinn, is currently in training for certification in Interpersonal Neurobiology with Dan Siegel, MD, and is an expert contributor on the topic of mindfulness for GoodTherapy.org. She received ordination as a lay monastic from Thich Nhat Hahn. (www.mindfulnesshealth-psychotherapy.com, and www.mindfulnesshealth.com)
Richard Shankman has been a meditator since 1970, and teaches at Dharma centers and groups internationally. He is guiding teacher of the Metta Dharma Foundation, and cofounder of the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies and of Mindful Schools. He practices and teaches meditation that integrates compassion, mindfulness, concentration and insight as one path of practice. Richard is the author of The Art and Skill of Buddhist Meditation and The Experience of Samadhi.
I first encountered Buddhism in 1974, and it blew the doors wide open for me with its profound and practical insights into the mind, suffering, and true happiness. Over time I gravitated to the original teachings of the Buddha, embodied in the Theravadan tradition, for their down-to-earth clarity, and important sources for me have included the teachers of Spirit Rock Meditation Center and the Pali Canon itself. More recently, I've explored grounding the dharma in modern evolutionary neuropsychology - "neurodharma" - recognizing how mind arises dependently upon the body, especially the nervous system as it tries to meet ancient needs for raw survival. I am especially interested in using these approaches to heighten the learning - the cultivation (bhavana) - from beneficial experiences (otherwise often wasted on the brain) to reduce the underlying sense of deficit and disturbance that causes the craving that causes suffering and harm. Overall, I feel amazingly blessed to have the opportunity in this life to ride the dharma stream and share its gifts with others!
Robert Cusick trained at Stanford University in the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) and is a Stanford certified Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) instructor. He studied in the Soto Zen Tradition at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, in the Ridhwan School’s Diamond approach with A.H. Almaas (Hameed Ali) and in Spirit Rock’s multi-year Dedicated Practioner’s Program. He ordained in Burma under the world-renowned Burmese Meditation Master, Venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw, and studied there with him for a number of years. His practice is focused on recognizing and cultivating compassion through the application of mindfulness.
Ronald Purser, Ph.D. is a professor of management at San Francisco State University where he has taught the last sixteen years in both the MBA and undergraduate business programs. He received his doctorate in organizational behavior from Case Western Reserve University. He started studying and practicing the Dhamma in 1981 at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute in Berkeley, and began formal Zen training at the Cleveland Zen Center in 1985 under Koshin Ogui Sensei, who had been Shunryu Suzuki’s personal assistant in the early 1960’s. After returning to San Francisco in 1997, he continued to study and practice with Zen teachers and Tibetan lamas, and recently was ordained as a Zen teacher in the Korean Buddhist Taego order. More recently, Dr. Purser has directed his studies to the Nikayas and Pali suttas literature under the direction of Shaila Catherine. His recent blog, 'Beyond McMindfulness' in the Huffington Post has spurred debate and discussions in the Buddhist community. He has been interviewed by The Buddhist Geeks, The Secular Buddhist, and The Naked Monk podcasts; has spoken at the First International Conference on Mindfulness in Rome, as well as City University of New York (CUNY) annual fall Mindfulness Lecture series. His writings focus on the value of Buddhist practice and Buddhist psychology for transforming organizations, institutions and society.
Sandi Peters has been working with older adults since 1986 and practicing vipassana style meditation since 1988. As a gerontologist she has worked with elders at all levels of capacity. As a meditator, she has been exploring the ways that elderhood and Buddhism mutually support each other. Sandi currently is the activity director of a nursing home in Berkeley and a graduate student in Depth Psychology at Sonoma State University.
