Archives: Authors

Lucas Matthew Oswalt

Lucas Matthew Oswalt is a practitioner in Yukon, Oklahoma. He works as a labor advocate in his home state and is a member of a sangha in the Plum Village tradition of Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh. He and his wife are parents to a four-month-old little boy.

Didi Koka

Dr. Didi Koka is a community medicine family physician currently working to include trauma healing practices in primary care. She holds an MFA in poetry and has received Jukai in the Soto Zen lineage.

Sherri Posey

Rev. Jyakuen Sherrilynn Posey is a watchmaker, interfaith minister, and Buddhist chaplain in the Soto Zen tradition.

Sara Jenkins

Sara Jenkins is author of This Side of Nirvana: Memoirs of a Spiritually Challenged Buddhist (Fair Winds Press). This article was originally published in Buddhadharma in March 2003.

Amy Schmidt

Amy Schmidt is a resident teacher at the Insight Meditation Society and author of Knee Deep in Grace: The Extraordinary Life and Teaching of Dipa Ma (Present Perfect Books).

Hilary North-Ellasante

Hilary North-Ellasante (they/them) takes a “heart-first” stance in supporting social change work. After living and working in K-12 education for over two decades on Lenni/Lenape land in New York City, they now live and work as an independent consultant and facilitator on Wabanaki land in Lewiston, Maine. Their training comes out of an alchemy of both lived and formal learning experiences, all of which have involved developing skills to survive mainstream systems from within a matrix of marginal identities. Their work is rooted in an awareness that systemic oppression impacts all aspects of life, and a commitment to Liberation for all people.

Indigo Ocean

Indigo Ocean is the author of "Being Bliss and Micro Habits for Major Happiness," Bodhi Press. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Integral Counseling Psychology from California Institute of Integral Studies, and is the founder of Deep Activism Coaching at DeepActivism.com

Teresa Shimogawa

Teresa Shimogawa is a minister’s assistant at Orange County Buddhist Church. As a veteran civics teacher at a public high school, her day job is teaching students that democracy is a verb. She says her greatest accomplishment is raising three children on her own, choosing joy after the loss of her husband.

Diego Garcia

Diego García has been a student of Tibetan Buddhism since 2003. His main teachers are Jigme Khyentse Rinpoche, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, and Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche, for whom he has served as a translator from English to Spanish. He spends around five months every year in Europe and Asia, receiving teachings and in retreat. Following Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche´s advice, he is a meditation instructor with Casa Tila México.

Pascale F. Engelmajer

Pascale Engelmajer is associate professor of religious studies at Carroll University in Wisconsin and the author of the forthcoming 365 Ways to Live Mindfully (John Murray Press).

Amy Paris Langenberg

Dr. Amy Paris Langenberg is a professor of religious studies at Eckerd College. She studies gender and sexuality in Indian Buddhism, female Buddhist monasticism, and contemporary Buddhist feminisms. She is the author of Birth in Buddhism: The Suffering Fetus and Female Freedom (Routledge).

Ivan Trujillo Priego

Ivan Trujillo Priego practices within the Plum Village tradition, where he has served in the role of facilitator in multiple sanghas and retreats. Ivan is also the founder of Sit, Walk, Listen, a group focused on social and racial justice and collective awakening by bringing the practice of compassion, love, and nonviolence to the streets and public space. Ivan aspires to lead a life of direct actions rooted in loving-kindness and mindfulness and is committed to the practice of engaged Buddhism in all aspects of his life. Ivan is originally from the land of the Mexicas, previously known as Tenochtitlán, now known as Mexico City, where Native Mexican and Spanish cultures are intermixed, creating a unique opportunity to relate to nature through ancient and modern practices.

Sandra M. Sanabria Bohorquez

Sandra is a Buddhist practitioner in the Theravada tradition and a Dharma mentor. While working as a biomedical scientist, she became a Dharma mentor and teaches both in English and Spanish through the Insight Meditation Center (IMC) in Redwood City. Additionally, Sandra completed the Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) certified teacher program and became a graduate of Applied Compassion Training from Stanford University (CCARE). She is also a certified mindfulness teacher with the Mexican Mindfulness Institute (IMTA Certified Mindfulness Teacher, Professional Level) and the Mindfulness Without Borders program. For Sandra, daily life is full of opportunities to connect with the dharma; this experience makes the teachings and the possibility of liberation accessible to all beings. You can learn more about Sandra at www.vivalacompasion.org

Jason Gots

Jason Gots is the producer/host of the Think Again and Clever Creature podcasts and author of the memoir Humanity is Trying (HarperCollins).

Allyson Pimentel

Allyson Pimentel, EdD, is a psychologist and long-time practitioner of Insight Meditation. She teaches at InsightLA and is the director of Mindful USC at the University of California.

Erika L. Sánchez

Erika L. Sánchez is a Mexican-American poet, novelist, and essayist. Her debut poetry collection, "Lessons on Expulsion," was a finalist for the PEN America Open Book Award. Her debut young adult novel, "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter," was a New York Times bestseller and a National Book Awards finalist. It is now being made into a film directed by America Ferrera. Sanchez was a 2017-2019 Princeton Arts Fellow, a 2018 recipient of the 21st Century Award from the Chicago Public Library Foundation, and a 2019 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship.

Eda Ocak

Eda is a meditation teacher from Turkey. She has been studying and practicing Tibetan Buddhism. She is currently a student in Tibet House, learning about Buddhist Philosophy. Since studying the Dharma, she's wanted to hear more Buddhist women's voices. She is currently researching women ancestors in Buddhist history.

Angelica Paljor

Angélica Paljor is a Colombian-American journalist and translator-in-training of Buddhist classical texts from Tibetan into Spanish and English.

Monica Jordan

Monica is a spiritual counselor and an educator in the mental health space. She holds a Master of Education (M.Ed.) and a master’s Certificate in Mind, Brain, and Teaching (MCMBT) from Johns Hopkins University. Monica has been practicing mindfulness for over 22 years and served as the Spanish Program Coordinator and Editor for Tara Brach’s Dharma Talks and Meditations for the Spanish-speaking world. To learn more about her and what she offers, visit her website embracemindfulness.org