Ajahn Sumedho is abbot of Amaravati Buddhist Centre and seniormost Western disciple of the late Thai meditation master Ajahn Chah. Amaravati is affiliated with the Forest Sangha: a world-wide community following Chah's Thai Forest tradition.

Ajahn Sumedho has worked closely with lay organisations, notably the English Sangha Trust and with his disciples to set up a British Theravadin monastic order. This order now numbers 60 monks and nuns over several monasteries.

Ajahn Sundara was born in France. In her early thirties, after working for a few years as a dancer and teacher of contemporary dance, she she had the opportunity to attend a talk and later, a retreat led by Ajahn Sumedho. His teachings and his way of life as a Buddhist monk, resonated deeply. Before long, she visited Chithurst Monastery in England and asked to join the monastic community as one of the first four women novices. In 1983 she was given the Going Forth as a Siladhara (10 precept nun) and shortly after, she went to live at Amaravati Monastery where she participated in the establishment of the nuns’ community and training. In the mid-nineties she spent over 2 years in Thailand practicing in Forest Monasteries. For the last 15 years she has taught and led meditation retreats in Europe and North America. Currently she is living at Amaravati.

Ajahn Thanasanti was born in California. She was firstintroduced to insight meditation in 1979 in a class taught byJack Engler. After completing a BA in Biology from UCSC sheworked for a few years as an analytical chemist. In 1987 shewent on pilgrimage to India, Nepal and Thailand to meet manyof the meditation masters she had heard about. She went to Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in 1989 to begintraining as a novice. She received ordination in 1991 atAmaravati and trained at both Amaravati and ChithurstBuddhist Monasteries with Ajahn Sumedho as her teacher. Shespent a few years travelling as an alms mendicant without afixed abode.

Ajahn Thanasanti has been teaching intensive meditationretreats internationally for many years. Her interest isintegrating insight into the full human condition and usingnature as a support in the practice.

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. As a monk for five years in Burma under the guidance of Sayadaw U Pandita at the Mahasi Meditation Center in Rangoon, he undertook intensive, silent practice of insight and lovingkindness meditations. He studied the Buddhist psychology (abhidhamma) with Sayadaw U Zagara in Australia and presents it in practical and easily understood terms. He continues his practice under the guidance of Sayadaw U Tejaniya at the Shwe Oo Min Meditation Center in Rangoon .

James Baraz has practiced vipassana meditation since 1974 and taught since 1980. He is a founding teacher of Spirit Rock Meditation Center. James coordinates the Community Dharma Leader program, Kalyana Mitta Network, and is the teacher-advisor to the Spirit Rock Family and Teen programs. James leads ongoing meditation classes in the East Bay. In addition to practicing in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, he has been influenced by Advaita and Dzogchen teachings, as well as the path of devotion.

Rebecca Bradshaw has been practicing vipassana meditation since 1983 and teaching since 1993. She is a guiding teacher of the Dhamma Dena Meditation Center in Northampton, MA, and also works as a Spanish-speaking psychotherapist.

Mark Coleman has practiced Buddhist meditation since 1984, primarily within the insight meditation tradition. He has also been influenced by the teachings of Advaita Vedanta and Dzogchen. He first started teaching vipassana retreats in 1997 and now teaches nationally as well as in the UK and India. Mark also leads wilderness and nature-based meditation retreats, including backpacking and kayaking expeditions in Alaska, Baja, and throughout the western U.S. He is the author of a book on meditation in nature entitled Awake in the Wild: Mindfulness in Nature as a Path of Self-Discovery. In addition, he has a private counseling practice in Marin, California.

Christina Feldman is a co-founder and Guiding Teacher of Gaia House, and has been leading Insight Meditation retreats since 1976. She is a Guiding Teacher of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Ma. As well as teaching retreats worldwide she is committed to the Personal Retreat Programme at Gaia House. She is the author of a number of books including Woman Awake, The Way of Meditation, and co-author of Soul Food. Recent books are Silence and the Buddhist Path to Simplicity.

Joseph Goldstein is a co-founder and guiding teacher of IMS's Retreat Center and Forest Refuge programs. He has been teaching vipassana and metta retreats worldwide since 1974 and in 1989 helped establish Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. He is the author of A Heart Full of Peace, One Dharma, The Experience of Insight and Insight Meditation.

Gregory Kramer teaches meditation, writes, and directs the Metta Foundation. He has practiced meditation since 1974 and has been teaching Vipassana and Metta practice since 1980. Gregory is the co-developer of Insight Dialogue and teaches the practice worldwide. He holds a Ph.D. in Learning and Change in Human Systems and is a faculty member of the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Gregory is the author of Meditating Together, Speaking from Silence: The Practice of Insight Dialogue and also Seeding the Heart: Practicing Lovingkindness with Children. Gregory’s new book, Insight Dialogue: The Interpersonal Path to Freedom, will be published in fall 2007.

Lucy Leu is a certified trainer of the Center for Nonviolent Communication. She is co-founder of Freedom Project and the Puget Sound Network for Compassionate Communication, and a practitioner of Vipassana Insight Meditation. Members of the Freedom Project training team, including individuals previously incarcerated and those never incarcerated, are committed to a daily meditation practice and have several years’ experience offering trainings in NVC and mindfulness in prisons and in the community.

Noah Levine is a Buddhist teacher in training with Jack Kornfield and the teaching collective at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. He teaches meditation retreats nationally as well as leading groups in juvenile halls and prisons around the San Francisco Bay Area. Noah is also the director and co-founder of the Mind Body Awareness Project, a non-profit organization that serves incarcerated youths. He has studied with such well-known and respected teachers as His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Ram Dass, Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, Norman Fischer, and Sylvia Boorstein, to name a few. He is the author of "Dharma Punx" Noah lives in New York, NY.

Heather Martin has practiced meditation since 1972. She began dhamma practice in 1981 with A. Munindra, and then studied for 8 years with S. N. Goenka. Heather is influenced by both the Burmese and Thai streams of the Theravada tradition, which are taught by many of the senior western teachers. More recently, she has become influenced by Tibetan Dzogchen with Tsoknyi Rinpoche. Heather leads meditation classes and teaches retreats in Canada & the US. She has recently completed a teacher training program with Jack Kornfield.

Heather worked for 20 years as a midwife, and continues to prepare parents for childbirth. She lives on Saltspring Island, off the west coast of British Columbia. For more information or to contact Heather, please visit her web site at www.ssivipassana .org

Kamala Masters is one of the founders and teachers of the Vipassana Metta Foundation on Maui, where she is currently developing Ho'omalamalama, a sanctuary-hermitage for long-term meditation 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 4 children, and is now blessed with 5 grandchildren.

Sharda Rogell is a member of the teacher council at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California near her home. She has been meditating for over 25 years and teaching insight meditation worldwide for 15 years. She has been influenced by the non-dual teachings of both Dzogchen in the Tibetan tradition and H.W.L. Poonja during her many trips to India. She is currently a student of the Diamond Approach with A. H. Almaas.

Jude Rozhon is an instructor for the Insight Meditation Correspondence Course authored by Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg and published through Sounds True. She has degrees in Philosophy and East/West Psychology and was Director of Merriam Hill Center's Meditation Studies Program in New Hampshire for several years. She has most recently taught classes in Mindfulness and Lovingkindness Meditation and Women in Religion at Maui Community College and the University of Hawaii, and in Tacoma, WA.

Sharon Salzberg has been a student of Buddhism since 1971, and has been leading meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. She teaches both intensive awareness practice (vipassana or insight meditation) and the profound cultivation of lovingkindness and compassion (the Brahma Viharas). She is a co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, The Barre Center for Buddhist Studies and The Forest Refuge, a new center for long term meditation practice.

Sharon’s latest book is The Force of Kindness: Change Your Life with Love and Compassion, published by Sounds True in September, 2005. She is the author of Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience, published by Riverhead Books; Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness and A Heart as Wide as the World, by Shambhala Publications; many articles for O: The Oprah Magazine and other periodicals; and co-author with Joseph Goldstein of "Insight Meditation, a Step-by-Step Course on How to Meditate" (audio), from Sounds True. She has edited Voices of Insight, an anthology of writings by vipassana teachers in the West, also published by Shambhala.

For more information or to contact Sharon, please visit her website at www.sharonsalzberg.com.

Arinna Weisman has studied Vipassana (insight) Meditation for 20 years and has been teaching for twelve. Her root teacher is Ruth Denison who was empowered by the great teacher U Bha Khin. She has also studied with Thich Nhat Hanh in the Zen Tradition, Punjaji in the Advaita tradition and Tsokney Rinpoche in the Dzogchen tradition. She was the first resident teacher at Insight Meditation Society and is the founding teacher of Dhamma Dena Meditation Center. She is also co-author of the book, A Beginner's Guide to Insight Meditation. She teaches throughout the U.S. and Europe.