Archives: Authors
Mutsumi Wondra
Mutsumi Wondra is an ordained priest in the Shin Buddhist tradition. She serves at the Orange County Buddhist Church in California and is an adjunct faculty member at the Institute of Buddhist Studies. Her work reflects on the spiritual path of entrusting and the unfolding of nonconditional liberation in today’s interconnected and diverse world.
Ana Carla Vergara Calvar
Ana Carla Vergara Calvar is a translator, interpreter, and language teacher with a background in linguistics and engineering. She has practiced Tibetan Buddhism for over twenty years and currently serves as a translator and instructor at Chagdud Gonpa. She studied Classical Tibetan at Rangjung Yeshe Institute, participated in the Dharma Sāgar Translator Training Program of the Khyentse Foundation, and continued her studies in colloquial Tibetan at the Sarnath International Nyingma Institute. Her work includes the Spanish translation of Armonía en casa by Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, as well as the translation, editing, and coordination of The Heart of the Tibetan Language, Volume 1 by Franziska Oertle. She is currently working on the Spanish translation of Volume 2. https://corazontibetano.info/
nico hase
nico hase lived in a monastery for six years before earning a PhD in counseling psychology and becoming an Insight Meditation teacher full time. He serves as guiding teacher of the online dharma community Refuge of Belonging, teaches online and in-person retreats, and speaks with students in one-on-one sessions. He and his partner devon are the authors of How Not to Be a Hot Mess (2020) and This Messy, Gorgeous Love: A Buddhist Guide to Lasting Partnership (2026). Find out more at www.devonandnicohase.com
Kate Siber
Kate Siber is the author of The Hidden Wisdom of Animals: Surprising Things We Can Learn from Nature and National Parks of the USA.
Michael Pollan
Best-selling science writer Michael Pollan is the author of In Defense of Food and The Omnivore’s Dilemma. His new book is A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness.
Michael Donnoe
Kōsei Michael Donnoe is an interfaith spiritual director and longtime Buddhist practitioner with more than 30 years of meditation experience. His writing explores contemplative practice in ordinary life, with particular attention to eco-dharma and Queer dharma, and an emphasis on presence, discernment, and compassionate accompaniment across a range of spiritual languages. He lives in Northern California and works in the field of industrial psychology. He is scheduled to receive priest ordination from Linda Galijan Roshi, Abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center, in April 2026, in the Sōtō Zen lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and Sojun Mel Weitsman Roshi.
Gary Sanders
Gary Sanders is a seasoned meditation teacher, dhamma guide, and sobriety coach who has shared Buddhist practice with diverse communities across North America close to two decades. Founder of SCV Mindfulness, Heavy Metta PDX, and Boundless Heart, he was also a founding member of Refuge Recovery, a Buddhist-based program for all forms of addiction now practiced worldwide. Authorized to lead Buddhist meditation groups at Against the Stream in Los Angeles, Gary later joined the Teachers Council at Portland Insight Meditation Community, where he was empowered to teach in the lineage of Ruth Denison. His heart-based, accessible approach integrates Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation, inviting students into spaces of kindness, clarity, and genuine transformation.
Paldrom Catharine Collins
Paldrom spent years seeking enlightenment—first in the practices and teachings of Tibetan Buddhist Vajrayana, then for fourteen years in the non-dual teachings of Gangaji, in the Hindu Advaita lineage of Ramana Maharshi. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Journey Center Association, a non-profit organization providing resources and workshops based in contemplative Christianity, and has completed their two-year Spiritual Direction certification training program. Paldrom and her husband, George Collins, live in California’s Bay Area. Their business, Neulia-Compulsion Solutions, provides counseling services for sex and porn addicts and their partners.
Ji Hyang Padma
Ji Hyang Padma, Ph.D. has 35 years of experience in Buddhist training and teaching and is a Lay Dharma lineage holder and teacher in the Soto Zen lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. She serves as Director of the Masters of Divinity Program at Naropa University. Ji Hyang has taught meditation at Omega Institute for 20 years, as well as at Kripalu and Esalen Institutes and many universities. Her practice and teaching are characterized by earth-honoring inter-lineage and intercultural work. Her books include Field of Blessings: Ritual and Consciousness in the Work of Buddhist Healers, Living the Season: Zen Practices for Transformative Times and The Buddhist Campus Chaplaincy Sourcebook.
Timothy Addison
Tim Addison grew up in Boulder and entered the Shambhala community in 1990. He later ordained as a monk, receiving the name Lodrö Gyatso from Thrangu Rinpoche. He studied and practiced at Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia, including advanced training at the Vidyadhara Institute and graduate studies at Naropa University, while also working with Buddhist prison outreach programs. He taught and led retreats in Boulder and throughout Canada before returning his robes and moving to southern Germany in 2015, where he continues to practice and teach primarily in Switzerland. His four-volume meditation manual, Like Honey Amidst Bees, presents teachings from shamatha through bodhicitta to the four vipashyana yogas of the Shentong tradition, based on the instructions of Maitreya.
George Saunders
George Saunders won the 2017 Booker Prize for <em>Lincoln in the Bardo</em>. His new book is <em>Vigil</em>.
Namchak Foundation
The Namchak Foundation is devoted to sharing the teachings of the Namchak lineage of Tibetan Buddhism through meditation, study, retreat, and community.
Dominique Side
Dominique Side is a practicing Buddhist and experienced teacher of Buddhism. She has a Ph.D. in Buddhist philosophy and has edited numerous publications including two books by the Dalai Lama. She is author of Buddhism (2005) and Discovering Buddhism (2022) and a founder of the Windows into Buddhism website providing educational resources for 5 to 18 year olds. She regularly posts articles, videos and audio recordings on her Substack blog The Softer Gaze.
Ann Tashi Slater
Ann Tashi Slater is the author of <i>Traveling in Bardo: The Art of Living in an Impermanent World</i> (Balance/Hachette). She has written for <i>The New Yorker</i>, <i>The New York Times</i>, <i>The Paris Review</i>, <i>Oprah Daily</i>, and many other publications. Visit her at anntashislater.com.
Carole McGranahan
Carole McGranahan is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Colorado. Dr. McGranahan is a scholar of contemporary Tibet and conducts research with the Tibetan refugee diaspora. Currently, she is co-leading an interdisciplinary, international research project on “Leadership and Reincarnation of the Dalai Lamas.”
Tony Koji Wallin-Sato
Tony Koji Wallin-Sato is a justice-impacted scholar and multicultural Nisei writer. He is a facilitator for the Zen In Prisons (ZIP) group, an in-prison teaching artist with the William James Association, a lecturer in the CRGS department at Cal Poly Humboldt, and a PhD student in the communication program at the University of Washington, Seattle. His first book of poems, <i>Bamboo on the Tracks</i> (Finishing Line Press), was selected by John Yau for the 2022 Robert Creeley Award, and his second book of poems, Okaerinasai (Wet Cement Press), was a finalist for the 2024 Big Other Reader’s Choice Award. His forthcoming book will be published through Kaya Press.
Hein Htet Kyaw
Hein Htet Kyaw is a working-class activist who is actively struggling against the state sponsored blasphemy laws and intersectional oppressions in Burma. Hein was born in Burma to a mixed religious (Buddhism and Muslim) and mixed ethnic (Shan, Kachin, Burmese, and Bengali) family. He was raised as a Muslim by his father and raised secretly as a Buddhist by his mother. He is deeply involved in Burmese Buddhist religious reformist movements and Burmese Islamic reformist movements. He has initiated several direct-action projects against state sponsored blasphemy laws in Burma. Hein considers himself a political atheist, whose position is one of secularism and preventing religious privilege from dominating shared public spaces (laws, government, schools, and institutions). He takes an interest in human rights, social justice, labour rights, and secularism. Hein is currently the Director of Australasia for Atheist Alliance International.
Christopher Rivas
Christopher Rivas is an actor, author, and playwright best known for his book <em>Brown Enough</em>. He hosts two podcasts:<em> Rubirosa</em> and <em>Brown Enough</em>. His essays and films have been featured in the <em>New York Times</em>, <em>Tricycle</em>, and many more publications
Shawn J. Moore
Shawn J. Moore is a contemplative learning and development strategist specializing in mindfulness, social equity, and strengths-based leadership programs.