Archives: Authors
Carola Roloff (Bhikṣuṇī Jampa Tsedroen)
Dr. Carola Roloff (Bhikṣuṇī Jampa Tsedroen) is a permanent visiting professor of Buddhism and Dialogue in Modern Societies at the Academy of World Religions of the University of Hamburg. From 2010 she led a DFG research project on Buddhist nuns’ ordination, and is author of <em>The Buddhist Nun’s Ordination in the Tibetan Canon, Possibilities Of The Revival of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Bhikṣuṇī Lineage</em>. She received śrāmaṇerikā ordination at Tibetan Centre Hamburg in 1981 and bhikṣuṇī ordination at Miao-T'ung Monastery, Taiwan in 1985.
Rhonda Magee
Rhonda Magee is a law professor at the University of San Francisco, an author, and a mindfulness teacher. Her work focuses on integrating mindfulness-based interventions, awareness, and compassion practices from a range of traditions into higher education, law, and social change work. She is the author of <em>The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness.</em>
Margarita Loinaz
Margarita Loinaz is a community teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland and a visiting teacher at Spirit Rock. She began teaching in 1997 and co-organized the first People of Color Retreat at Spirit Rock in 1999. A student of both the Theravada and Tibetan traditions, her teaching integrates Dzogchen practice with social justice and environmental awareness.
Carol Iwata
Carol Iwaya first became interested in Buddhism as a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa in the late sixties after reading books by Ram Dass and Alan Watts. When she returned to the US, she looked into various meditation centers and eventually found her community in St. Paul, Minnesota, at Clouds in Water Zen Center. Within both her sangha and her city, she has worked with and for BIPOC communities in applying spiritual practice toward the work of social and racial justice.
Alec Soucy
Alec Soucy is a professor of religious studies at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he is also a research associate for the Centre for the Study of Sport and Health. An anthropologist of religion, he has focused his work primarily on Vietnamese Buddhist practices, exploring themes of gender, age, transnationalism, globalization, and neoliberalism.
La Sarmiento
La Sarmiento brings their experiences as an immigrant, nonbinary, Filipinx American to the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, DC, where they serve as the guiding teacher of both the BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ sanghas. A graduate of the Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leader Training, they are a mentor for both the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program and Cloud Sangha and teach at retreat centers around the US.
Brenna Artinger
Brenna Artinger is an independent scholar and researcher with a master’s in Buddhist studies from the University of Oxford. Their work focuses on exclusion and extremism, with current emphasis on the intersection of Buddhism and queer theory in Pali vinaya texts. They also research and write on Buddhist nationalism and extremism in the US and southeast Asia.
Thomas Davis IV
Thomas Davis IV is a Mindful Awareness practitioner who emerged from the Contemplative Faith Community, where he served as a Lay Minister for over 10 years. His orientation to the Mindful Awareness practice began at the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, CA, where he was introduced to the Theravadan tradition of Vipassana in 2012. Thomas began his journey into Dharma Leadership in 2013. In 2017, Thomas graduated from the Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leader Training Program, The Sati Center Buddhist Chaplaincy Training, and was enlisted as one of the Spirit Rock Community Welcome Teachers for the Monday Night Dharma program. Thomas is also a Co-Founder and Teacher of the Insight Richmond Meditation Group. For more about Thomas Davis offerings visit avant-dharma.com.
Patrice Clark Koelsch
Formally trained with a Ph.D. in Philosophy, Patrice Clark Koelsch began sitting at Common Ground Meditation Center in 1995. Patrice is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leaders Program, and completed a year-long Buddhist Chaplaincy Training Program at the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies. She has practiced meditation at monasteries in Thailand and Myanmar. Patrice has provided hands-on care for persons in the last stages of HIV/AIDS, and worked for many years in HIV education and client support services. For the past two decades, she has been facilitating meditation groups in correctional facilities. Patrice has a special interest in antiracism work focusing on waking up to whiteness. Through Common Ground Meditation Center, Patrice has offered training in mindfulness and loving kindness for corporations, non-profit organizations, and educational institutions. She has also taught workshops on spiritual care for Buddhist and other religious organizations. Patrice is on the Board of the Minnesota Multifaith Network and is involved with ISAIAH and Faith in Minnesota in working for a multiracial democracy, a caring economy, and a just climate future.
Sam Ludlow-Broback
Sam Ludlow-Broback (<a href="https://twitter.com/SLudlowBroback">@SLudlowBroback</a>) is media relations intern at Springtide Research Institute.
thubten khandro
<a href="https://ratnadakini.org/about.html" rel="noopener">thubten khandro</a> is a Tibetan Buddhist yogini, dancer, poet, and translator. Born in Puebla, Mexico. Since 2013 she has been a student of Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche and belongs to the <a href="https://tergar.org/" rel="noopener">Tergar Meditation Community</a>. She has published two dharma poetry books, <i>bird yes </i>and <i>Sunbird</i>. Currently, she teaches yoga and shares poetry and dance through a monthly newsletter.
Marcella Prokop
Marcella Prokop (she/her) began her study of meditation and Buddhism in 2008. As a Colombian-American writer and educator, she is passionate about helping students find their voice, and she has been working to advance access to higher education for BIPOC communities for more than a decade. Marcella seeks to be a student of those she serves and has found that years of creative training and mindfulness practice support all parts of her being.
Blayne Higa
Rev. Blayne Higa is the minister of the Kona Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, a Shin Buddhist sangha on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Justin F. Miles
Justin F. Miles (MA, NCC, LCPCS, LGADAS) is the head of Miles Institute of Integral Living. He holds an MA in Counseling Psychology, is a Nationally Certified and Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, certified LCPC Supervisor and certified LGADC supervisor by the State of Maryland's Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists. He has worked in the field of community mental health and substance abuse for 20 years and provides treatment to men and women of all ages with a variety of challenges. Additionally, Justin has 2nd degree Brown Belt in Judo, teaches and practices preparedness, is a certified Master Gardener, regularly engages in Lakota, Christian, Buddhist and Taoist practices, has 28 years of meditation experience, is a Buddhist seminary graduate and teaches Buddhism and meditation through the Washington DC and Baltimore Shambhala Meditation Center.
Bhante Sumano
Bhante Sumano is a Jamaican American Theravada Buddhist monk. He currently lives in the United States as a wandering contemplative, traveling and practicing with his dharma brother Bhante Tanakaro.
Elizabeth Hernandez-Stomp
Elizabeth Hernandez-Stomp is a certified life coach and mindfulness teacher. She’s part of InsightLA’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee.
Dhondup T. Rekjong
Dhondup T. Rekjong is a Tibetan scholar and doctoral candidate in religious studies at Northwestern University. His writings have appeared in <em>The Wall Street Journal</em>, <em>Chicago Tribune</em>, <em>The Journal of Asian Studies</em>, <em>The Treasury of Lives</em>, and elsewhere.
