Dharma Teachers

Meditation retreats and classes are led by a wide variety of visiting and local teachers.

Steve Armstrong has been practicing Vipassana meditation since 1975, leading retreats since 1990, and is currently one of the guiding senior Dharma teachers at the IMS three-month retreat. As a layperson he was active for many years at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts as a retreat manager and Board member.

As a monk for 5 years in Burma under the guidance of Sayadaw U Pandita Steve undertook intensive, silent practice of insight and lovingkindness meditations. He has also intensively studied Buddhist psychology (Abhidhamma) with Sayadaw U Zagara, and presents the Abhidhamma in practical and easily understood terms. He makes his home on Maui and is co-founder and guiding teacher of Vipassana Metta on Maui.

James Baraz has been teaching meditation since 1978. Currently he is best known for creating and teaching the Awakening Joy course. His book on the course, Awakening Joy, is being released in January, 2010.

James is a founding teacher of Spirit Rock Meditation Center, where, in addition to leading retreats, he founded the Community Dharma Leader Program and is the teacher-adviser to the Spirit Rock Family and Teen Program and the Kalyana Mitta (Spiritual Friends) Network. He leads meditation retreats nationally and internationally, and is on the International Advisory Board of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship.

Stephen Batchelor, a former Buddhist monk, studied under the guidance of Tibetan lamas and completed a three-year Zen training in Korea. He is the noted author of Alone With Others, The Faith to Doubt, The Awakening of the West, Buddhism Without Beliefs, Verses from the Center: A Buddhist Vison of the Sublime, Living with the Devil: A Meditation on Good and Evil, and his new book Confession of a Buddhist Atheist. He is a member of the teacher council at Gaia House in England and is co-founder of Sharpham College. He teaches worldwide and lives in southwest France.

Stephen considers Buddhism to be a constantly evolving culture of awakening rather than a religious system based on immutable dogmas and beliefs.

Leigh Brasington has been practicing meditation since 1985 and is the senior American student of the late Venerable Ayya Khema. She confirmed his practice and requested that he begin teaching. Leigh assisted Venerable Ayya Khema starting in 1994, and has been leading retreats on his own since 1997 in both Europe and North America. 

Since the death of the Venerable Ayya Khema, Leigh is the only person authorized by her who is currently teaching the Jhanas in North America. He is entrusted with the transmission of a practice given by the Buddha, which is in danger of being lost to the world.

Howard Cohn has practiced meditation since 1972 and has taught Vipassana meditation since 1985. He is a senior Dharma teacher at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California and leads ongoing classes in San Francisco and Marin.

Howard has studied with many Asian and Western teachers of several traditions including Theravada, Zen, Tibetan and Advaita Vedanta and incorporates a non-dual perspective in his teaching. He also has a private practice in counselling.

Christina Feldman has been studying and training in the Tibetan, Mahayana and Theravada traditions since 1970 and teaching meditation worldwide since 1974. She is co-founder and a guiding teacher of Gaia House in England and is a guiding senior Dharma teacher at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts.

Christina is author of Woman Awake!, The Quest of the Warrior Woman, Principles of Meditation, and Compassion; and co-editor of Soul Food.

Joseph Goldstein has been leading insight and lovingkindness meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. He is a cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society, of the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, and of The Forest Refuge Center for long-term meditation practice.

Joseph first became interested in Buddhism as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand in 1965. Since 1967 he has studied and practiced different forms of Buddhist meditation under eminent teachers from India, Burma and Tibet. He is the author of Insight Meditation: The Practice of Freedom; The Experience of Insight; Seeking the Heart of Wisdom; One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism; and A Heart Full of Peace.

Kamala Masters has been practicing Vipassana meditation since 1975. Under the guidance of Sayadaw U Pandita and Anagarika Munindra she has been trained in Vipassana and Metta meditation. She is co-founder of the Vipassana Metta Foundation on Maui and is currently developing Ho’omalamalama, a sanctuary-hermitage for longterm practice.

Kamala teaches meditation internationally and leads Metta and Vipassana retreats annually in Vancouver. She is also a co-founder and guiding teacher of Vipassana Metta on Maui.

Linda McDonald began Vipassana and Metta meditation in 1987. Prior to formal meditation practice, her spiritual journey included a foundation of Christian mysticism, Native American spirituality, and contemplative self-inquiry practices. Since 1987, Linda has led sitting groups, managed retreats, and served as a Board member in the Vancouver meditation community. She has also worked as a psychotherapist for twenty-five years and continues to work as the Executive Director of the Westcoast Dharma Society.

Linda is a graduate of the Insight Meditation Society teacher training program and has been teaching meditation since 2001. Her teaching emphasizes lovingkindness, the awakening heart of bodhicitta, and unshakeable trust in the unfolding of our experiencing.

Michele McDonald has practiced Vipassana meditation since 1975 and has been teaching worldwide since 1982. She is a senior Dharma teacher at IMS, a founder of Vipassana Hawaii and the Metta Dana Project in Burma, and a current developer of a regional international retreat center in Hawaii.

Michele is deeply interested in exploring the relationship between intensive practice, daily life practice, and psychotherapy, in preserving the ancient teachings, and in finding ways of expression that make them more accessible and authentic for us in this time. She is particularly drawn to the teachings on liberation - the very real possibility of freedom from greed, hatred and delusion in this life.

Phillip Moffitt is the founder and president of the Life Balance Institute, a non-profit organization devoted to the study and practice of spiritual values in daily life, and a member of the Teachers Council at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Northern California. He teaches vipassana meditation at retreat centers around the United States and holds a weekly meditation class in Marin County, California.

Phillip is the author of Dancing with Life: Buddhist Insights for Finding Meaning and Joy in the Face of Suffering (Rodale, April 2008) and is a regular contributor to Yoga Journal. 

Adrianne Ross, MD, as a family physician and health care worker, has been involved in meditation and healing since 1976. She has been practicing Buddhist meditation since 1984. Her spiritual journey has also included contemplative inquiry practices (Enlightenment Intensives and Diamond Approach) and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction.

Adrianne's teaching is influenced by both Thai and Burmese streams of the Theravadan tradition as well as Tibetan Buddhist (Dzogchen) practice. She teaches classes and retreats in Canada and the United States, and leads sitting groups and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction programs in Vancouver. Adrianne is involved in teaching the Dedicated Practitioner Program and the Path of Engagement Program (Socially Engaged Buddhism), both sponsored by Spirit Rock Meditation Centre in California. She is passionate about being awake in all areas of life and living the dharma as fully as possible.

Rodney Smith has been practicing Insight Meditation since 1975 including several years as a Buddhist monk in Asia and teaching meditation since 1983.

Rodney has worked in hospice care in a variety of roles for 16 years. He is currently a senior Dharma teacher for the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts and the founding and guiding teacher for the Seattle Insight MeditationSociety and Insight Meditation Houston. He is author of the book, Lessons from the Dying.

Steven Smith teaches Metta (lovingkindness) and Vipassana retreats worldwide.  Anchored in theTheravadan tradition of Southeast Asia since1974, he has trained as a monk and layperson with the Burmese meditation master Sayadaw U Pandita.

Steven is a co-founder of Vipassana Hawaii and the Metta Dana Project in Burma, and is a current developer of a regional international retreat center in Hawaii. He is also a Working Group member and senior advisor on comtemplative practice for the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, whose mission is to integrate contemplative awareness into contemporary life. Through CMIS Steven develops programs for, and teaches meditation to, national environmental leaders, business executives, journalists, and philanthropists.