Archives: Authors
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.
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 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 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.
Marianna Pogosyan
Born in Armenia and raised in Japan, Marianna Pogosyan currently lives in the Netherlands, where she is a lecturer in cultural psychology. She is a consultant to international executives and their families on psychological adaptation to life far from home.
Rehena Harilall
rehena Harilall (we,she/her) is South African, a psychologist and management consultant who celebrates African and Indian heritages. She was born and grew up during the Apartheid regime and was involved in various Reconstruction and Development work post democratic elections in 1994. She now lives and works from the United Kingdom as a management consultant. She has been practising in the Plum Village tradition since 1998 and also practises in the Tibetan and Insight Traditions. She practises with BIPOC and Non-BIPOC Buddhist Communities in South Africa, the UK, and USA. She is currently engaged in various revitalisation and re-pairing projects in Kwazulu-Natal focusing on the renewal of rural spaces most impacted by the legacy of apartheid and climate change.
Aishah Shahidah Simmons
Aishah Shahidah Simmons (she/her), is a Buddhist practitioner in the Theravada tradition, and a trauma-informed Mindfulness meditation teacher. A Black feminist lesbian cultural worker, she is also the producer/director of the 2006-released, Ford Foundation-funded film, <a href="http://notherapedocumentary.org/" rel="noopener">NO! The Rape Documentary</a>, and the editor of the 2020 Lambda Literary Award-winning anthology, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Love-Accountability-Digging-Roots-Sexual/dp/1849353522" rel="noopener">love WITH accountability: Digging Up the Roots of Child Sexual Abuse</a> (AK Press 2019). (<a href="https://linktr.ee/afrolez" rel="noopener">https://linktr.ee/afrolez</a>)