Mila Khyentse Rinpoche, is a French tulku (reincarnation of a realized Tibetan master) who grew up in a French family acquiring a traditional European education with degrees in tibetology, archeology and history. However, being a tulku, he very early decided to dedicate his life to the practice of Buddhism and has received numerous teachings and transmissions from all schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
One of the greatest contemporary Dzogchen masters, Tertön Pema Tötrengsel Rinpoche, recognized him as a great bodhisattva and enthroned him as his lineage holder (Gyaltsab). This master also prophesied that Mila Khyentse Rinpoche would develop many activities for the benefit of the world.
In fulfillment of this vision, he has been involved in intercultural and interdisciplinary programs in Europe and Asia. He is developing a center in the French Pyrenees, that will welcome practitioners from all authentic spiritual paths. In Asia, in Tibet, Rinpoche is renovating the stupa-temple that was built by his master. In Bhutan, where he is currently living with his wife, he is developing a new generation retreat center that will be open to everyone (not only Buddhists).
Mushim (Patricia) Ikeda-Nash is a Buddhist teacher, writer, diversity consultant, and community activist. She is a core teacher and Leadership Sangha member at East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, California (www.eastbaymeditation.org), and she appears in two documentary films, Acting on Faith: Women's New Religious Activism in America; and Between the Lines: Asian American Women's Poetry.
So much of my inspiration and joy comes from bearing witness to the unfolding of the dharma in myself and others. My teaching is most engaging when I'm involved in an on-going relationship with students and having the opportunity, and honor, to see what's happening in their lives. We may begin our practice on our cushions; and yet, as we learn to bring practice to all corners of our lives, we get a glimmer of the true possibility of liberation.
Simplicity has been most helpful to me, so I stick with basic instructions and try to distill my words to the bare minimum in a simple, clear and precise way.
My interest focuses on how to liberate the mind. I like to explore and find different ways that are most useful to people. I'm aware that various aspects of the practice, and the teaching, resonate with different people at different times. What is that person's experience right now and what will be most helpful to them? Often the answer comes to me by looking at what has happened to me in practice, and using that experience to help someone discover their own intuitive wisdom.
In my teaching, lovingkindness supports the developmental unfolding of wisdom. It doesn't do us much good to practice in ways that perpetuate self-judgment. When we come from a place of caring and lovingkindness, we allow for the possibility of transformation in our lives. Lovingkindness and wisdom allow us to move from a life of reaction to a life of inner resonance with the world around us. They take us out of a place of reaction and into one of responsiveness.
Nancy Bardacke is a nurse-midwife, mindfulness teacher, and founding director of the Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP) Program which she currently teaches at the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. She also leads a Professional Development and Teacher Training Program in MBCP through the Mindful Birthing and Parenting Foundation as well as a 6 day training retreat through UC San Diego’s Center for Mindfulness. Nancy is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the UCSF School of Nursing.
And, the author of "Mindful Birthing: Training the Mind, Body and Heart for Childbirth and Beyond(HarperCollins/HarperOne, publication date: July 2012)
Naomi Newman, MFCC, Graduate of Gestalt Institute, co-founder of A Traveling Jewish Theatre, has been a Vipassana practitioner for 24 years. She was a member of the Spirit Rock Vision Council that articulated the visions and intentions of the Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Ms. Newman has traveled throughout the United States performing “Crossing The Broken Bridge,” created in collaboration with John O’Neal, African American playwright, artistic director of Junebug Productions and political activist. Mr. O’Neal was one of the founders of the Free Southern Theatre, the artistic arm of the Civil Rights movement. In their five years of touring and performing together, O’Neal and Newman entered into communities, facilitating dialogues, story circles, meetings and workshops focused on diversity issues. In the 70’s, Ms. Newman was a senior therapist at the Center for the Healing Arts in Los Angeles, an organization that pioneered psycho-spiritual work with people who have life-threatening illnesses.
I try to help practitioners approach their meditation practice and their lives with compassion and wisdom. Bringing a loving attentiveness into each moment allows us to learn kindness rather than condemnation, and discernment rather than judgment.
I feel that it is essential not to make a split between the formal practice that happens on retreat and the informal practice that happens in daily life. At the core, formal practice and daily life practice are the same. In all arenas of life we can create the same dedication to wakefulness and sensitivity. The right place to practice meditation is wherever we are. The right time to practice is right now. And the right way to practice is to know what we are doing whenever we are doing it.
We can live each moment in a fresh way, free from expectations of how things should be and open to how things are whether we are sitting on the cushion, washing the dishes, or talking with a friend. With practice, we can discover a current of underlying joy and find that all of life is sacred.
Meditation practice is an offering to the world. When we meditate, we practice not only for ourselves, but for all beings. In meditation there is a gradual purification of heart. This purification allows us to trust ourselves and to respond spontaneously to others with compassion and insight.
