Dr. Alejandro Chaoul

Dr. Alejandro Chaoul

Dr. Alejandro Chaoul has studied and practiced in the Tibetan tradition for over 30 years with Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, and His Holiness Lungtok Tenpai Nyima. He has completed the seven-year training at Ligmincha International and holds a Ph.D. in Tibetan Religions from Rice University. Dr. Chaoul is the founding director of the Mind, Body, Spirit Institute at The Jung Center of Houston. For over twenty years, Dr. Chaoul has researched and taught mind-body techniques to help relieve stress and support wellbeing throughout the community, including at MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Integrative Medicine Program and other educational, health care, and nonprofit organizations. He teaches in English and in Spanish. He is the author of Tibetan Yoga for Health & Wellbeing, Tibetan Yoga: Magical Movements of Body, Breath, and Mind, and Chod Practice in the Bon Tradition, as well as has a course on Tibetan Yoga with Wisdom Academy. For more information on his books and courses, visit alechaoul.com

Sarah Siegel

Sarah Siegel

Sarah Siegel is an ordained interfaith minister, recovered drug addict, and mother of three young children.

Born I (Ofosu Jones-Quartey)

Born I (Ofosu Jones-Quartey)

Born I (Ofosu Jones-Quartey) is an Insight Meditation and mindfulness teacher, a recording artist, and a father of four. He lives with his family in the Washington, D.C. area.

Hal Atwood

Hal Atwood

Hal is a communications and marketing strategist with a background in multimedia journalism. They have more than five years of experience in the corporate and nonprofit sectors assisting with media strategy, campaign activations, sustainability initiatives and employee engagement. By day, they develop research-based purpose strategies to help organizations achieve their growth objectives while serving the needs of their stakeholders. By night, they kickbox (occasionally and badly), enjoy the great outdoors, and brew (surprisingly okay) beer. Hal holds a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of King's College, where they helped over-looked voices tell their stories across more than 10 publications. They recently moved from Nova Scotia to PEI with their beautiful partner and their very shy rescue pup.

Radhule Weininger

Radhule Weininger

Radhule Weininger, MD, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and meditation teacher who first encountered Buddhism in Sri Lanka as a medical student more than 30 years ago. She teaches meditation retreats both in the US and internationally. Her book <i>Heartwork: The Path of Self-Compassion</i> will be published in July 2017 by Shambhala Publications.

John Bussineau

John Bussineau is an author and member of the Jewel Heart Sangha. He is a senior student of the late Gelek Rimpoche (seen here on the right) and teaches Dharma class in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. On Rimpoche’s deathbed in January 2017 he named John and his wife Billie as Jewel Heart’s Ambassadors for Vegetarianism, Veganism, and Animal Rights. John is the author of <i>The Buddha, The Vegan, You</i>, and <i>Meat Our Delusion</i>, publishing in June 2017. John is also chapter leader of Dharma Voices for Animals Detroit-Ann Arbor group.

John DeMont

John DeMont

Halifax-based writer John DeMont's work has appeared in many newspapers and magazines including <i>The Financial Times</i>, <i>Men's Journal</i>, <i>The Walrus</i> and <i>Maclean's</i>, where he worked for 15 years. His seventh book, <i>The Long Way Home: A Personal History of Nova Scotia</i>, will be published in October 2017.

Richard Gere

Richard Gere

Richard Gere is an actor, activist, and chair of the International Campaign for Tibet.

Cassandra Moore

Cassandra Moore

Cassandra Moore is a writer who lives in the soft hills of Santa Fe. She is a resident at Upaya Zen Center, and a native to the desert southwest.

Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

Jennifer Keishin Armstrong is a New York Times bestselling author specializing in culture and entertainment. Her new book is When Women Invented Television. She is the author of <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Seinfeldia-About-Nothing-Changed-Everything/dp/1476756104/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451873341&sr=8-1&keywords=seinfeldia">Seinfeldia: How the Show About Nothing Changed Everything</a></em>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mary-Lou-Rhoda-Ted-History/dp/1451659202/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345127707&sr=8-1&keywords=mary+and+lou+and+ted+and+rhoda"><i>Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted</i></a>, and <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/when-women-invented-television-jennifer-keishin-armstrong?variant=32243113197602"><em>When Women Invented Television</em></a>. Her new book is <em><a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/so-fetch-jennifer-keishin-armstrong?variant=41072641802274" target="_blank" rel="noopener">So Fetch: The Making of Mean Girls (And Why We're Still So Obsessed with It.</a>)</em>

Don de Silva

Don de Silva

Don de Silva is a Buddhist Chaplain, environmentalist, and formerly an official of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

photo of JoAnna Hardy

JoAnna Hardy

JoAnna Hardy is an insight meditation (Vipassanā) practitioner and teacher; she is on faculty at the University of Southern California, a meditation trainer at Apple Fitness+, a founding member and teacher at the Meditation Coalition, a visiting teacher at Black Being LA, a visiting retreat teacher at Insight Meditation Society, and a collaborator on many online meditation Apps and programs.

Paul Swanson

Paul Swanson

Paul L. Swanson is a research fellow at Nanzan University in Nagoya, Japan, and the editor of the <em>Japanese Journal of Religious Studies</em>.

Rev. Keiryu Liên Shutt

Rev. Liên Shutt

Rev. Keiryu Liên Shutt is a Dharma heir in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. Born into a Buddhist family in Vietnam, she began her meditation practice in the Insight tradition. She was a founding member of the Buddhists of Color in 1998. Her Zen trainings began at Tassajara and then continued monastically in Japan and Vietnam. While she has placed her trust and faith in Soto Zen, she continues to enjoy the deep silence of Insight practices and has completed retreats in America and Thailand. Please go to <a href="https://awakeinlife.org/">AwakeInLife.org</a> for info on the sitting group and other events.

Mitchell Ratner

Mitchell Ratner is founder of the Still Water Mindfulness Practice Center in Maryland.

Marguerite Manteau-Rao

Marguerite Manteau-Rao

Marguerite Manteau–Rao is the author of <i>Caring For a Loved One With Dementia.</i>

Clair Brown

Clair Brown

Clair Brown, PhD, an economics professor at UC Berkeley, is the author of <em>Buddhist Economics: An Enlightened Approach to the Dismal Science.</em> She practices engaged Buddhism in her climate justice activism with several organizations working on California climate policies.