Jean-Paul Contreras deGuzman

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 Chodron

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 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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

Chris Germer, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and the author of The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion.

Jill Satterfield

Jill Satterfield

Jill Satterfield is a meditation teacher whose Applied Embodied Mindfulness Trainings are part of UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center.

Daniel Cozort

Daniel Cozort recently retired as a professor of religion at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania. He is the author or editor of books on Buddhist philosophy, tantra, and ethics, and was editor of The Journal of Buddhist Ethics.

Kathie Fischer

Sokaku Kathie Fischer was ordained as a Zen priest in 1980 and received dharma transmission in 2011. She’s a retired middle school science teacher.

Reverend Zenshin Florence Caplow

Reverend Zenshin Florence Caplow

Reverend Zenshin Florence Caplow has served as a minister of UU congregations in Washington, Colorado, and Illinois. She’s also a Soto Zen priest in the Suzuki Roshi tradition.

Tanya Marie Bonner

Tanya Marie Bonner

Tanya Marie Bonner is the managing editor for Buddhist Justice Reporter.  She has been a lay practitioner of Zen Buddhism for two decades. Her sangha is where she is welcomed. She has practiced at Zen Mountain Monastery, Zen Center of New York City in Brooklyn, and NY Insight Meditation Center in New York City. She currently resides in New York City.