Joseph Goldstein is one of the first American vipassana teachers, co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) with Jack Kornfield and Sharon Salzberg. He is a contemporary author of numerous popular books on Buddhism, a resident guiding teacher at IMS, and a leader of retreats worldwide on insight (vipassana) and lovingkindness (metta) meditation. While the majority of Goldstein's publications introduce Westerners to primarily Theravada concepts, practices and values, his 2002 work, One Dharma, explored the creation of an integrated framework for the Theravada, Tibetan and Zen traditions. 

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 Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening, A Heart Full of Peace, One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism, 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.

Teen mental health education advocate, Adam Avin, created the Wuf Shanti Children’s Wellness Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization, to teach mindfulness and social emotional learning, so children 3-17 years-old can live in health and wellness & peace and positivity.

Adam also founded the Kids’ Association for Mindfulness in Education, and the international online Mindful Kids Peace Summit.

Adam Avin is a certified in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction for Teens, Kidding Around Yoga, and the Emotion Code, and is the youngest meditation instructor at Yoga International and Inner Explorer.

He also has been in publications such as Mindful Magazine, Psychology Today, Tiger Woods Foundation Magazine, goop Magazine, CASEL newsletter, LA Yoga, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive Live Happy, and many others.

Adam gave a TEDxYouth@KC Talk about getting mindful and social emotional learning programs into our education system, why mental health education is so important to stopping the violence, and using our voice to make a positive difference in the world.

Adam also served as a part of the inaugural fellowship cohort for the Kevin Love Fund, a non-profit organization that focuses on inspiring people to live their healthiest lives and is working to get mental health curriculum into schools.

Adam is a Posse Scholar for the Syracuse University Newhouse School Class of 2026. He is majoring in Broadcast and Digital Journalism and minoring in both Sports Management and Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies. His book, Stress Less: Mindfulness for Teens will be released in September of 2023 by Trigger Publishing.

https://www.adamavin.com/

https://seculardharmafoundation.com/

The mission of the Secular Dharma Foundation (501c) is to foster the advancement of emotional and psychological well-being through the education and integration of mindfulness, psychology, nature-based programming, and various therapeutic modalities. We provide educational tools and resources, mindfulness and emotional skills training through online programs, podcasts, trainings, and retreats.

A secular perspective is one that is concerned with the world in which we live, here and now. Secularity has no allegiance to any religious, spiritual, or political point of view. The primary emphasis is the study and promotion of human welfare and human flourishing through material means, psychological and emotional health and serving the greater good as its primary duty and ultimate concern.

The study, practice, and integration of dharma is the process of understanding how things come to be, and how to develop a constructive relationship with what happens. We acknowledge that any person can cultivate the contemplative tools needed to develop unshakable inner resources for well-being, health, and happiness. Our theory of dharma is drawn from the early Buddhist tradition as found within the teachings of the Pali canon. We utilize a secular approach to Buddhist texts by seeking to understand the social, historical, psychological, and ethical implications of these ideas rather than literal interpretations or strict adherence to any particular set of views, traditions or dogmas. Openness, tolerance, and continued dialog are our core principles.

Brennon Moore is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CADC-II), and a Nationally Certified Trauma Therapist (CTT). Brennon has been specializing in young men's trauma for nearly a decade in both a residential and outpatient setting. His interest in trauma healing began in academia while studying experiential and gestalt approaches to treating trauma at The University of Cork in Ireland, and several months working as a counselor with traumatized children in the Middle East during his graduate studies. Brennon is a trained EMDR practitioner, a trained brain spotting and hypnosis practitioner, a trained DBT and mindfulness practitioner, and he is trained in Peter Levine's Somatic Experiencing.

Brennon leads week long-trauma healing retreats and family workshops. During these retreats Brennon helps guide individuals through the darkest parts of their stories in a fully immersive and experiential way. He also speaks nationally on the subjects of childhood trauma, attachment, and addictive disorders. In January of 2017 his first book was released, "Finding a New Tribe: Helping Young Men Recover from Childhood Sexual Abuse and Addiction", and in May of 2018 Brennon opened Skyline Recovery; an outpatient and transitional living program for young men in Bend, Oregon. 
https://www.skylinerecoverybend.com/

Amy Thompson is a gifted and intuitive mentor and coach with over 20 years of experience as a counselor, retreat facilitator, and teacher. She has a passion for guiding people through transformational change with both groups and individuals from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. She holds a BA in Literature from Dominican University.

An artist, Amy is also a sacred ceremony designer and public speaker. She brings with her a lifetime of training, teachings, and knowledge from an eclectic background of work in the field of human holistic mental health. She empowers those who work with her with mindful self-compassion and radical acceptance.

Amy shares, “I’ve spent my career in service to others, working with adults and children in multiple arenas, including groups, workshops, coaching, and retreats for personal transformation. There is nothing else in the world as satisfying as watching a student/client create the change in their life that they long for and then thrive in it!”

https://www.hoffmaninstitute.org/podcast/s7e6-amy-thompson/

Ann Gleig is an Associate Professor of Religion and Cultural Studies at the University of Central Florida. Her research specialization is Buddhism in America, and she is the author of American Dharma: Buddhism Beyond Modernity (Yale University Press, 2019). She is currently working on a collaborative book project with Amy Langenberg on sexual abuse in American Buddhist communities, which is under advance contract with Yale University Press. She is an editor for the Journal of Global Buddhism.https://crcc.usc.edu/people/ann-gleig/

Ted Meissner is the Executive Director of the Secular Buddhist Association. He has been a meditator for over 25 years with backgrounds in Zen and Theravada, and is a UMass Center for Mindfulness Certified MBSR Teacher.

https://secularbuddhism.org/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ted-meissner/

JOHN PEACOCK is both an academic and a Buddhist practitioner of nearly fifty years. Trained initially in the Tibetan Gelugpa tradition in India, he subsequently spent time in Sri Lanka studying Theravada. After doing a doctorate in philosophy, he taught Buddhist and Western philosophy and then Buddhist Studies at the University of Bristol. He went on to be Associate Director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre , co-direct the Master of Studies programme in MBCT(Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy) at Oxford University, and teach Buddhist psychology on the same course.  John is now retired from academia and continues to teach meditation, as he has done for more than thirty-five years.

For more info: https://bodhi-college.org/presenters/17-john-peacock/

Richard Shankman has been a meditator since 1970, and teaches at Dharma centers and groups internationally. He is guiding teacher of the Metta Dharma Foundation, and cofounder of the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies and of Mindful Schools. He practices and teaches meditation that integrates compassion, mindfulness, concentration and insight as one path of practice. Richard is the author of The Art and Skill of Buddhist Meditation and The Experience of Samadhi. For more info: http://www.richardshankman.org/

We are Insight Meditation teachers who share from a Theravada lens while integrating insights and language from Zen, Buddhist tantra, anti-oppression pedagogies, and body-centered psychotherapy. We believe friendship is the heartwood of the path, that meditation is an act of radical friendship, and that we can extend the warm heart of relatedness to all.  We take the Buddha’s words on awakening seriously, and believe each of us can be liberated from mental and emotional suffering in this very life. For more info: https://devonandnicohase.com/