Archives: Authors
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.
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 has a Master of Divinity in Buddhist Chaplaincy from the University of the West and a Bachelor in Fine Arts from the University of Southern California. He is a multidisciplinary artist who, along with Alan Joseph Marx, founded the artist-run space OFFUS at the Bendix Building in downtown Los Angeles. His bestselling novel Talking to the Moon will be reissued in 2026. Noel was an associate editor at Lion’s Roar.
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.