The Readers

Guy Armstrong has practiced insight meditation for over 30 years. His training includes practice as a Buddhist monk in Thailand with Ajahn Buddhadasa and in Burma with Pa-Auk Sayadaw. He began teaching in 1984 and has led retreats worldwide. He is a guiding teacher at the »Insight Meditation Society and a member of the »Spirit Rock teachers council. [Source: »"Insight Meditation Society Faculty 2006" (Insight Meditation Society, January 2006).]

Steve Armstrong has studied the Dhamma and practiced insight meditation since 1975. As a layman he was active for many years at the »Insight Meditation Society in Barre Massachusetts as manager and board member. He lived for five years as a monk in Burma, under the guidance of Sayadaw U Pandita at the Mahasi Meditation Center in Rangoon, where he undertook the intensive, silent practice of insight and loving-kindness meditation. He has also studied Buddhist psychology (abhidhamma) with Sayadaw U Zagara in Australia. Since 1990 he has been leading meditation retreats, including at the annual three month retreat at IMS. He now makes his home in Hawaii and is a guiding teacher at »Vipassana Metta on Maui. [Source: »"Guiding Teachers" (Vipassana Metta on Maui, January 2006).]

Leigh Brasington has been practicing since 1985 and is the senior American student of the late Ven. Ayya Khema, who confirmed Leigh's practice and requested that he begin teaching. Leigh began assisting Ven. Ayya Khema in 1994 and began teaching retreats on his own in 1997. He continues to teach in Europe and North America. His teaching emphasizes using concentration as a preliminary to insight practice. He lives in Alameda and works as a software engineer. [Source: »"Talks by Leigh Brasington " (Insight Meditation Center, May 2006).]

Ajaan Candasiri (b. 1947 in Edinburgh, Scotland) ordained at »Amaravati in 1979 and was one of the original group of four women to establish the nun's community at the Chithurst Buddhist Monastery. [Source: personal communication, 2006.]

Sister Cittapala was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1949. She joined the monastic community at »Amaravati in 1997. [Source: personal communication, 2006.]

Sally Clough began practicing vipassana meditation in India in 1981. She spent five years in England, where she managed a retreat center and was a founding member of the »Sharpham meditation community. When she moved to California in 1988, she continued her Dharma service at »Spirit Rock Meditation Center in a number of roles, including executive director. Sally began teaching in 1996, and is one of the guiding teachers of Spirit Rock's Dedicated Practitioner Program. [Source: »"Sally Clough" (Spirit Rock Meditation Center, January 2006).]

Sarah Doering (b. 1926 in Des Moines, Iowa) has practiced meditation since 1981, with Larry Rosenberg, Joseph Goldstein, Nyoshul Kenpo Rinpoche, and Tsoknyi Rinpoche. She taught meditation at the »Cambridge Insight Meditation Center, the »Insight Meditation Society, and the »Forest Refuge. She is now retired. [Source: personal communication, 2006.]

Gil has practiced Zen and Vipassana since 1975 and has a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from Stanford. He has trained in both the Japanese Soto Zen tradition and the Insight Meditation lineage of Theravada Buddhism of Southeast Asia. Gil was trained as a Vipassana teacher by Jack Kornfield and is part of the Vipassana teachers' collective at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. He was ordained as a Soto Zen priest at the San Francisco Zen Center in 1982, and in 1995 he received Dharma Transmission from Mel Weitsman, the abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center. He is the primary teacher for the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California. He is a husband and father of two boys. [Source: "Teachers," Insight Meditation Center, April, 2006.]

Dhp 1-20: Yamaka Vagga — Dichotomies (04'49" 1.7 MB)

Dhp 21.32: Appamada Vagga — Vigilance (03'03" 1.1 MB)

Dhp 33.43: Citta Vagga — The Mind (02'41" 0.9 MB)

Joseph Goldstein has been leading insight and lovingkindness meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. He is a cofounder of the »Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, where he is one of the resident guiding teachers. In 1989, together with several other teachers and students of insight meditation, he helped establish the »Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. He is currently developing »The Forest Refuge, a new center for long-term meditation practice. He is the author of »Insight Meditation: The Practice of Freedom, »The Experience of Insight, and co-author of »Seeking the Heart of Wisdom and Insight Meditation: A Correspondence Course. His latest book is »One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism. [Source: »"Joseph's Biography" (Insight Meditation Society, January 2006).]

Ven. Gunaratana (Ekanayaka Mudiyanselage Ukkubana) was born in Henepola, Sri Lanka in 1927. He became a novice monk at the age of 12. He received his higher education at Vidyalankara College and Buddhist Missionary College, Colombo, and in 1947 received higher ordination in Kandy. He worked for five years as a Buddhist missionary among the Harijans (Untouchables) in India and for ten years with the Buddhist Missionary Society in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In 1968 he came to the United States to serve as general secretary of the Buddhist Vihara Society at the Washington Buddhist Vihara. In 1980 he was appointed president of the Society. He received a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from The American University, where he also served for many years as Buddhist Chaplain. He is now president of the »Bhavana Society and abbot of the monastery in West Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley, about 100 miles west of Washington, D.C. He is the author of Come and See, The Path of Serenity and Insight, »The Jhanas, and Mindfulness In Plain English. His articles have been published in the U.S.A., Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, England and France. He continues to teach meditation and conduct retreats worldwide. [Source: »"Bhante Henepola Gunaratana" (Bhavana Society, January 2006).]

Kamala is one of the founders and teachers of the »Vipassana Metta Foundation on Maui, where she is developing Ho'omalamalama, a sanctuary-hermitage for long term practice. She teaches retreats in the Theravada tradition at venues worldwide, including being a Core Teacher at the »Insight Meditation Society at Barre, Massachusetts. Practicing since 1975, her teachers have been the late Anagarika Munindra of India and Sayadaw U Pandita of Burma with whom she continues to practice. Kamala has a commitment to carrying and offering the purity of the teachings of the Buddha in a way that touches our common sense and compassion as human beings, and allows the natural inner growth of wisdom. She lives on Maui where she raised four children, and is now blessed with six grandchildren.

Kamala has practiced both insight and loving kindness meditations intensively under the guidance of Sayadaw U Pandita. [Source: personal communication, 2007]

Ayya Medhanandi was born Mary Fiksel in Montréal, Canada. After university and working with the elderly and disabled, she went on pilgrimage to India. There, an Advaita sage became her guru and for several years she lived as a nun in the rural villages. She continued to receive guidance from him until his death thirteen years later. Following a postgraduate degree at Tufts University, she served as a project manager of international aid programs in Thailand, Senegal, Ecuador and Nepal. In 1987, she took ordination in Myanmar with Sayadaw U Pandita and later joined the »Amaravati Nuns' Community in England where she spent ten years under the tutelage of Ajaan Sumedho. Since 1999, she has been based in New Zealand. [Source: personal communication, 2005.]

Larry Rosenberg is the founder and a guiding teacher at the »Cambridge Insight Meditation Center, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is also a senior teacher at the »Insight Meditation Society. Larry is the author of Breath by Breath: The Liberating Practice of Insight Meditation and Living in the Light of Death: On the Art of Being Fully Alive. Larry's spiritual practice began more than 30 years ago with J. Krishnamurti and Vimala Thakar. He received Zen training with Korean Master Seung Sahn and Japanese Master Katagiri Roshi for 8 years before coming to Vipassana. Anagarika Munindra was his first Vipassana teacher. Larry's main influence has been the »Thai Forest tradition. He has practiced with Ajahn Maha Boowa, Ajahn Suwat, and Ajahn Buddhadasa. Larry has also practiced with Thich Nhat Hanh. [Source: »"CIMC Teachers and Instructors" (CIMC, January 2006).]

Sharon Salzberg has practiced Buddhist meditation since 1971. A co-founder of the »Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts and the »Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, she has been teaching worldwide since 1974. She is an IMS guiding teacher and author of The Force of Kindness, Faith, and Lovingkindness. [Source: »"Insight Meditation Society Faculty 2006" (IMS, January 2006).]

Ajahn Sucitto is an English Buddhist monk in the »Thai forest tradition of Ajahn Chah. Born in London in 1949, he ordained in Thailand in 1976, where he crossed paths with Ajahn Sumedho, one of Ajahn Chah's first western disciples. In 1978 Ajahn Sucitto returned to Great Britain and stayed with Ajahn Sumedho, helping to establish Cittaviveka (Chithurst Buddhist Monastery). Since 1983 he has been actively involved in the training of ten-precept nuns. In 1984 he helped establish the »Amaravati Buddhist Monastery. He has been abbot of Cittaviveka since 1992. [Source: personal communication (2006) and Seeing the Way: Buddhist Reflections on the Spiritual Life (Hemel Hempstead: »Amaravati Publications, 1989).]

Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Geoffrey DeGraff) is an American Buddhist monk of the Thai forest kammathana tradition. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1971 with a degree in European Intellectual History, he traveled to Thailand, where he studied meditation under »Ajaan Fuang Jotiko, himself a student of the late »Ajaan Lee. He ordained in 1976 and lived at Wat Dhammasathit, where he remained following his teacher's death in 1986. In 1991 he traveled to the hills of San Diego County, USA, where he helped »Ajaan Suwat Suwaco establish »Wat Mettavanaram (Metta Forest Monastery). He was made abbot of the monastery in 1993. He teaches meditation at the monastery and at retreats across the United States. His publications include translations from Thai of Ajaan Lee's meditation manuals; Handful of Leaves, a four-volume anthology of sutta translations; »The Buddhist Monastic Code, a two-volume reference handbook for monks; »Wings to Awakening; and (as co-author) the college-level textbook »Buddhist Religions: A Historical Introduction. [Source: »"Contributing Authors and Translators: Biographical Notes" (Access to Insight, January 2006).]