Archives: Authors
Mariana Restrepo
Mariana Restrepo is deputy editor of <em>Buddhadharma</em>, Lion's Roar's online source for committed Buddhists. Born and raised in Colombia, Mariana has practiced in the Nyingma and Kagyu lineages of Tibetan Buddhism for more than 20 years. Her path has included time as a monastic, long-term retreat, and years of service within retreat centers and dharma organizations. She brings a deep commitment to integrating Buddhist principles into everyday life—especially in the context of parenting and community building. Mariana holds a Master’s degree in Religious Studies, has taught university-level courses on Buddhism and Indian religions, and has organized large-scale Buddhist events and pilgrimages. She is passionate about making Buddhist teachings accessible and relevant across languages and lived experiences. She also works with <a href="https://middlewayeducation.org/framework/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Middle Way Education</a>, contributing to the development of their curricular framework, which helps to support Buddhist-inspired learning for children and families. She currently lives in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina with her husband and two children.
John A Martson
John A. Marston is a professor at the Center for Asian and African Studies of El Colegio de México in Mexico City. He has written extensively about Cambodian Buddhism.
Ikumi Kaminishi
Ikumi Kaminish is an associate professor of the history of art and architecture at Tufts University. She specializes in Buddhist art.
Denise Leidy
Denise Leidy is the author of The Art of Buddhism and coauthor of Mandala: The Architecture of Enlightenment.
Damchö Diana Finnegan
Damchö Diana Finnegan is a translator, author, and cofounder of Comunidad Dharmadatta (Dharmadatta Community), a Spanish-speaking community that locates gender and ecological issues at the heart of Buddhist practice. She co-edited and translated Interconnected: Embracing Life in a Global Society and The Heart Is Noble: Changing the World From the Inside Out. From 1999, she held monastic vows for over two decades.
Breeshia Wade
Breeshia Wade is an ordained Buddhist chaplain and the author of<em> Grieving While Black: An Antiracist Take on Oppression and Sorrow</em>.
Paul Condon
Paul Condon is an associate professor of psychology at Southern Oregon University in Ashland and a visiting lecturer at Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Nepal. His research areas range from attachment theory, to the impact of meditation on compassion, to the dialogue between psychological science and modern meditation programs. He teaches meditation practices adapted from the Tibetan Nyingma tradition.
David Viafora
David Viafora, a former monk in the Plum Village tradition, was introduced to Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings as a poor college student, when someone gave him free tickets to a public lecture. He spent a year visiting and studying sanghas around the world — the result is his forthcoming book, <em>Conscious Communities: The Transformative Power of Sangha,</em> available in 2023. He now lives at MorningSun Community in New Hampshire.
Sonam Kachru
Sonam Kachru is an assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, where his research centers on the history of Buddhist philosophy in ancient South Asia. His first book, released this summer, is Other Lives: Mind and World in Indian Buddhism, a new interpretation of the Buddhist philosopher Vasubandhu.
Nalika Gajaweera
Nalika Gajaweera is a research anthropologist at the University of Southern California, specializing in the intersections of Buddhism, race, ethno-nationalism, and gender. She is the coordinator of "Transforming the American Sangha", a Kataly Foundation – sponsored project that explores race, racism, and diversity in North American Insight centers, with the goal of developing resources for other communities wishing to be more inclusive.
Seigen Johnson
Seigen Johnson is a Master of Divinity student at Boston University School of Theology and a priest ordination candidate in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi.
Michael Hebb
Michael Hebb is the author of Let’s Talk About Death (Over Dinner) and the founder of Deathoverdinner.org and EOL.community, a comprehensive platform for end of life planning and grief.
Marissa Wong
Marissa (she/hers) identifies as queer, Buddhist, Japanese, and Chinese American. She is currently attending UCLA in pursuit of a Master of Social Welfare. She is on the editorial board of the Young Buddhist Editorial (YBE) as well as a part of the social justice committee.
Chris Pacheco
Chris Pacheco is the Associate AV Editor at Lion's Roar, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner, and writes <i>On Being Human</i>, a monthly newsletter to share ideas that could potentially change the way you live.
Kevin Singer
Kevin Singer (<a href="https://twitter.com/kevinsinger0">@kevinsinger0</a>) is Head of Media and Public Relations at Springtide Research Institute and has taught world religions at two community colleges for the last ten years.
Ben Connelly
Ben Connelly is a Soto Zen priest in the Katagiri lineage based at Minnesota Zen Meditation Center. He is the author of <em>Inside Vasubandhu’s Yogacara</em>.
Sister Kinh Nghiem
Sister Kinh Nghiem has been a nun for over twenty years. Also known as Sister Reverence, she trained directly with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh as his attendant in Plum Village, France, and assisted him on his teaching tours around the world. She is a senior Teacher at Deer Park Monastery, California.
Shaila Catherine
Shaila Catherine has been practicing meditation since 1980, with more than eight years of accumulated silent retreat experience. She has taught insight meditation since 1996 in the U.S. and internationally. Shaila has dedicated several years to studying with masters in India, Nepal and Thailand, completed a one-year intensive meditation retreat with the focus on concentration and jhana, and authored Focused and Fearless: A Meditator’s Guide to States of Deep Joy, Calm, and Clarity. Shaila Catherine has practiced under the guidance of Venerable Pa-Auk Sayadaw since 2006; she authored Wisdom Wide and Deep: A Practical Handbook for Mastering Jhana and Vipassana to help make this traditional approach to meditative training accessible to Western practitioners. She is the founder of Bodhi Courses, an online dhamma classroom, and Insight Meditation South Bay, a Buddhist meditation center in Silicon Valley.
