Archives: Authors
Avery Grace
Avery Grace (they/she) is a queer/trans/neurodiverse. multi-genre author and playwright, and is lay ordained in the Soto Zen tradition. They are particularly passionate about the dimensions of vow as a "New Monastic," or a monk in the world. Avery's work is featured in: "Non-Binary: An Anthology of Gender and Identity”, and “All of Me: Stories of Love, Anger, and the Female Body”. You can find more of Avery’s writing in their debut book of poetry, “Laid Bare,” and at <a href="http://www.averybraverygrace.com">averybraverygrace.com</a>. When not writing, Avery co-parents 3 children with their partner on the occupied the lands of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, otherwise known as Bend, Oregon.
Noel Alumit
Noel Alumit is an Associate Editor at Lion's Roar. He has a Master of Divinity in Buddhist Chaplaincy from the University of the West, where he is also an Adjunct Professor. He facilitates meditation workshops for LA Artcore and Meditation Coalition. Noel is also an actor and bestselling author. His film and TV credits include <i>Beverly Hills, 90210</i>, <i>The Young and the Restless</i>, and <i>Red Surf</i>.
Shantum Seth
Shantum Seth has been leading pilgrimages and other transformative journeys across India and Asia since 1988.
Takashi Miyaji
Takashi Miyaji teaches at the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley, California. He’s the minister of Southern Alameda County Buddhist Church, part of the Buddhist Churches of America.
Aaron Proffitt
Aaron Proffitt is an Associate Professor of Japanese Studies at The University at Albany-SUNY. He earned his PhD in Buddhist Studies at the University of Michigan in 2015, and his first book, Esoteric Pure Land Buddhism (University of Hawaii Press, 2023), explores the ways that Buddhists in East Asia employed tantric thought and practice to attain rebirth in the Pure Land, and contains the first translation of Dōhan’s (1179–1252) Himitsu nenbutsu shō into a modern language. His research and publications have explored Esoteric Buddhism, Pure Land Buddhism, and the Lotus Sutra, and his current research explores the way that emptiness has been understood and employed within the Pure Land tradition.His book <em>Esoteric Pure Land Buddhism</em> will be published in September by University of Hawaii Press.
Jean-Paul deGuzman
Jean-Paul deGuzman is an ordained Jodo Shinshu Buddhist priest and an historian with a focus on comparative and relational racialization, urban history, Asian Americans and, most recently, American Buddhism.
Janine Bloomfield
Janine Bloomfield is a meditation instructor and longtime meditator. She continues to be rejuvenated by forests.
Simon Van Booy
Simon Van Booy is the author of thirteen books, including, The Illusion of Separateness and, most recently, Night Came with Many Stars.
Lama Karma Yeshe Chödrön
Lama Karma Yeshe Chödrön is a scholar, teacher, and translator in the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. She divides her time between the Rigpe Dorje Institute at Pullahari Monastery, Kathmandu, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Before studying Buddhism, she completed graduate degrees in biology and law and worked as a litigator in Miami and Silicon Valley. With her husband, Lama Karma Zopa Jigme, she cofounded Prajna Fire and the Prajna Sparks podcast. She also co-hosts the Opening Dharma Access: Listening to BIPOC teachers podcast.
Eric Manigian
Eric ShoKei Manigian started his studies in Zen 32 years ago in Japan. He has been the student of Roshis Eve Marko and Bernie Glassman of about 12 years. Eric is currently completing his Master’s of Divinity degree at Union Theological Seminary of New York, in the Thich Nhat Hanh program of Engaged Buddhism and Interfaith Engagement. He is an active member of The Buddhist Council of New York and he is on the steering committee of The Buddhist Action Coalition.
Dexter Cohen Bohn
Dexter Cohen Bohn is a British/American social activist and Communications Coordinator at the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB) based in Bangkok, Thailand.
Kerry Bennassar
After being resuscitated in the ER after a hornet sting, Kerry realized the fleeting nature of life. Off to see the world, she taught English in Japan from age 25-29 where she found the deep peace of zazen (sitting) during temple stays. On return to California a friend suggested Peace Is Every Step and she found a Sangha. Kerry and her partner, Javier, have been raising their children visiting their “second home”, Deer Park Monastery for many years. During a trip to Plum Village, Kerry aspired to ordain as a member of the Order of Interbeing, receiving the name “True Unfolding Light”. Kerry lives in the SM mountains with her family, dog, cats and fruit trees and sits with Organic Garden Sangha, Los Angeles Compassionate Heart Sangha and Joyful Mountain Sangha.
Jane Duong
Dr. Jane Duong, Pharm.D., is a clinical research pharmacist working at a local pediatric hospital. She lives in San Diego with her mother, husband and two sons. She is fortunate to live near Deer Park Monastery.
Juliet Hwang
Juliet identifies as a Korean American Queer Cis Woman. She received the name, Transforming Aspirations of the Heart during the 5 Mindfulness Trainings ceremony at the first People of Color Retreat at Deer Park Monastery in 2004. At that time, she was a pediatric resident struggling with her own suffering as well as the suffering she witnessed in her patients. Thay’s teaching resonated with her deeply as she learned how to hold her suffering and begin the path of transformation and healing. She received the 14 Mindfulness Trainings in 2011. Since then, she has been teaching mindfulness and building sanghas. Currently, she helps facilitate the Long Beach Family Sangha, as well as the Lotus in a Sea of Fire Sangha for BIPOC OI Aspirants. She is also a pediatrician with a special interest in developmental trauma. She uses a trauma sensitive approach in her pediatric practice as well as her meditation practice. She also teaches Resilience Strategies for physicians, administrators, and healthcare employees. Her newest job title is Instructor at the Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine, teaching mindfulness and resilience to a new generation of physicians. One of her greatest joys is hiking to the stupa at Deer Park with her husband and two children.
Jacqueline Kim
Jacqueline Kim (True Beautiful Garden) is a multi-disciplinary sculptor and composer focusing on social reflection and change. She’s a co-founder of LA’s Compassionate Heart Sangha celebrating its 20th year of practice in the fall. Currently, she narrated and composed Seven Year Summer, Anna Byrne’s memoir about healing from a rare, aggressive cancer and is finishing a choral piece with an inmate at Shakopee correctional facility for their Voices of Hope choir. <a href="http://www.jacquelinekim.com/">www.jacquelinekim.com</a>
Nobantu Mpotulo
Nobantu Mpotulo is a mindfulness teacher and life coach who leads workshops for other coaches, teaching them how to integrate ubuntu into coaching.
David W. Robinson-Morris
David W. Robinson-Morris, PhD, is the executive director of The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society and the author of <em>Ubuntu and Buddhism in Higher Education: An Ontological (Re)Thinking</em> (Routledge).
Yao Obiora Dibia
Yao Obiora Dibia is a social worker who lives with Gutta, the cat, in a vibrant Dominican neighborhood in Manhattan. He’s on the advisory council for Empty Cloud Monastery in New Jersey.
Chris Germer
Chris Germer, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and the author of The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion.