Individual

Individual Instruction

Within traditional Buddhist contexts, the student – teacher relationship is considered foundational to the teachings and practices of the Buddhadharma taking root in the life of a practitioner. We believe strongly that this direct transmission is a vital part of the learning journey that greatly aids the very real possibility of living from the insight of practice. As such, one of the main services we are privileged to offer is connecting students to teachers for individual instruction and mentoring either in-person or online.

We share and present a group of diverse teachers that come from a variety of the many Buddhist traditions and lineages. This plurality is a strength of the Buddhist traditions. However, this diversity does mean that advisors and teachers listed with Open Sangha Collective do not necessarily hold the same opinions or beliefs on every subject. This does not stop all of the teachers & advisors listed on Open Sangha Collective from fully aligning on the values of “dharma without barriers.”

Teachers listed through us rely on the generosity of their students to meet their material needs. Please ensure that you have read our page on dana and thus understand the opportunity and responsibility this traditional structuring of student – teacher interaction allows for and invites.

Please introduce yourself to a teacher you are interested in working with through the contact link provided within their individual entry below. Provide some background information about your life and practice and await their response.
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Abhaya Darpana KNOXVILLE TN	No Email	Abhaya (Dustin Davis) is ordained as a Dharmacharya in the Embracing Simplicity Order under Venerables Pannavati and Pannadipa. His primary practices of Satipa·π≠·π≠hƒÅna (4 Establishings of Mindfulness) in the style offered by Bhikkhu AnƒÅlayo, ƒÄnƒÅpƒÅnasati (Breath Based Mindfulness), and the Brahma VihƒÅras (Heavenly Abidings) spring from an affinity for the approaches offered in Early Buddhism. He also has an appreciation for the later traditions, having undertaken retreats in the VajrayƒÅna and Zen traditions including formally receiving the 5 Mindfulness Trainings from Th√≠ch Nh·∫•t H·∫°nh in 2013. Having worked over 25 years in the hospital critical care setting, he brings his intimacy with the illness, death, and dying processes to bear in Dharma sharing. He is also passionate about Dharma as a central support for dealing with addictions of all kinds.

ayyayeshebodhicitta	No Email	Ayya Yeshe Bodhicitta is a Buddhist nun of 21 years, a teacher, contemplative and feminist activist. Ayya is the founder and director of Bodhicitta Foundation, a socially engaged Buddhist charity and girl‚Äôs home working to empower ex ‚Äúuntouchable‚Äù Ambedkarite people and poor women and children in Central India. Ayya teaches internationally and is the Abbess of Bodhicitta Dakini Buddhist Monastery, Tasmania, Australia. Ayya is the author of ‚ÄúEveryday Enlightenment‚Äù published by Harper Collins and has 100k hits on youtube as a sacred chants artist on the album ‚ÄúDakini.‚Äù Ayya trained mainly in Tibetan Buddhism, but was fully ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh and stayed in Theravada monasteries for many years. Ayyas teachers are the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh and Bhante Sujato. She practices a fusion of Tibetan Buddhism and early Buddhism called the Mahayana Forest Tradition. www.bodhicitta-monastery.com (Australia) www.ayyayeshe.wordpress.com www.bodhicitta-vihara.com (India)

Beth Upton London		I have been teaching meditation since 2014 and the more I teach the more I love it. If there is one thing that I have learned in my years teaching it is that we are all different with our own strengths and weaknesses. In order to teach well I need to get to know each student individually guiding each to tap into their own innate wisdom offering instruction that fits each student’s unique circumstances. /The ten years I spent as a Buddhist nun afforded me the great privilege of being able to practise meditation in much depth and detail. I was blessed with masterful teachers and all of the support I could have hoped for. I spent five years in Myanmar training diligently in the Theravada tradition under the guidance of Pa Auk Sayadaw. I then spent a further five years training in several other methods and spent many months doing long solo retreats in various caves and forests./The opportunity to practise meditation so comprehensively has been the greatest gift of my life. My passion is now to repay that debt of gratitude by providing the same opportunity to others. Since deciding to disrobe in 2018 I have been on a sharp and wonderful learning curve reintegrating the challenges of western lay life into my Dhamma practice. Through this process not only has my appreciation of the Dhamma grown deeper but also my understanding of the students I am teaching. /As well as teaching meditation I am also enthusiastic about building community. Over the past years I have been leading Sanditthika Meditation Community in the caves of Almeria Southern Spain./To book a meeting for personal instruction please follow this link to the appointment page of my website and book an appointment from there.

BHANTE-PANNA Seattle WA		This is a small introduction about who I am and was previously and the truths I‚Äôve encountered and reasons why I see the path as I do.

DAN GOLDFIELD Bristol		Dan is a dhamma teacher in the lineage of Bhikkhu Buddhadasa. He learned the dhamma via hundreds of hours of Skype calls with Dhammarato and also received Dzogchen transmission from Tempa Dukte Lama of Olmo Ling Monastery in Pittsburgh PA. /Dan is about to earn an accredited teaching certificate in Complementary Healthcare Educational Theory & Personal Development. He is husband to a qualified Neuropsychologist who confirms his teaching from the academic perspective. /Dan became interested in dhamma first of all seeking simple stress relief. He was working hard playing hard and paying the consequences! He ’shopped around’ for a year or so before spotting a post by our own Noah Starbuck on r/streamentry where Noah was kindly offering the opportunity to speak with Dhammarato./Dan’s first call with Dhammarato lasted 3 hours and he called right back the next day for round 2. Finally Dan felt he was hearing satisfactory answers to those deepest of questions he’d had since his earliest memories. Dan enjoys a daily gratitude high for Dhammarato Bhikkhu Buddhadasa and the rest of the noble lineage. Following Dhammarato’s example Dan’s practice these days is better described as ‘play’. Dan decided early on that first jhana—as described in the suttas—sounded like a good place to hang out. So he used Anapanasati to dance along the Eightfold Noble Path until the hindrances fell behind the horizon./Dan teaches the dhamma in friendship. Conversations are casual & lighthearted. No formal structure is necessary: the dhamma is transmitted naturally in a one-to-one setting. This is what it was like for Dan learning with Dhammarato and it is a potent method. Unavoidably the Four Noble Truths and Anapanasati will show up and for those who are interested Dan enjoys sharing insights into how other wisdom teachings agree with the supra-mundane dhamma./Further for those who wish to embrace lay life Dan is currently developing a system for engaging with the world on the foundation of supra-mundane insight.

Francis Lacoste		Francis Lacoste is at heart a practitioner of the Chaos Dharma or what Shinzen Young calls a ‚Äúpoly-spiritual‚Äù. Following his curiosity and his intuition, he‚Äôs deeply interested by the complementarity of different contemplative traditions. He‚Äôs now studying with Vince and Emily Horn as their non-dogmatic, modular approach to meditation, their individualized ‚Äúspiritual midwifery‚Äù, and their plain deep humanity resonate with him. He teaches courses as part of the Buddhist Geeks selection of offerings as well as being availabe for one-on-one instruction on a dana basis. He brings his contemplative experience in his work as a manager and coach in software engineering where he helps teams and individuals in their development. He lives in Montreal, QC with his wife, their three sons, and rabbit.

Gary-Weber Peekskill, NY		The Essence of Awakening Self-inquiry vs the egos/Is - How it works - the neuroscience Updating Your Brain's Software Dancing Hands for Lower Anxiety, Higher Cognition and Awakening Right-sizing your "I", understanding confirmation bias...new studies Mindfulness works for women, but not for men?..new research Can we survive w/our current OS and buggy programs? Aleppo, Trump, Berlin, Orlandos, Nice...what can you do? Why lightning, trees, rivers, and lungs look the same... Relationships, Attachments, and Nonduality...FAQs What nonduality is (bliss) and isn't (no bliss)... There's no free will...accept it, attack it, hide it or ignore it? How to deepen your awakening practices - neuroscientifically What is an "E(e)nlightenment experience?"...a new scientific, secular model Living without a past - what's it like? Is that "human"? Dialogues with Oskar - Nondual seeing, "I" blocker, bliss, liberation, just "now" Dialogues with Oskar - Fewer thoughts, very still, 2D/3D perceptions, no doership Dialogues with Oskar...new places, losing control, fewer Oskars, love Dialogues with Oskar - Consciousness, resistance, spiritual identity, progress Dialogues w/Oskar - Stressful situations, rock climbing, loneliness, motivation

NOON BALDWIN		Noon Baldwin is an ex circus artist street performer who retired from the circus in 2004 to dedicate his life to spiritual practice and iving in Dhamma centres (France South Africa) Amaravati monastery (UK). Noon co-created and co-runs Ekuthuleni a back to basics meditation center in the foothills of the French Pyrenees. Noon?s main influence is the Thai Forrest tradition of Ajahn Chah but has an interest in many spiritual traditions and has been practising with Jaya Ashmore from Open Dharma since 2008. He enjoys how the traditional open spirituality practices meet as one in his heart./Connecting with curiosity energy with a sense of embodying spiritual practice through in-depth body grounding meditations are currently Noon?s fields of exploration. He is transgendered, a two spirit person all in one.He teachers Dharma in both French and English. Noon’s influences are varied, with an interest in all spiritualities: retreats and courses with Jaya Ashmore from Open Dharma since 2008, the Buddhist tradition of Ajahn Chah since 2000, Tibetan Buddhism, sacred chanting, silent walking & movement. He enjoys how the traditional and open spirituality practices meet as one in his heart. Noon’s varied life experience brings a listening with vibrancy, an alive practice he loves to share. Connecting with curiosity & energy, with a sense of embodying spiritual practice through in depth body grounding meditations are Noon’s fields of exploration. He is transgendered… a two spirit person all in one.

Poepsa Frank Jude Boccio		I will assume you know that these ‚Äúbiographical‚Äù introductions are generally written in the third person by the person allegedly being talked about! In the interest of transparency, honesty and intimacy, I am rejecting that strategy and I am going to tell you a bit about myself directly. From the age of 4 or 5 years old, I‚Äôd been having experiences that only Buddhism seemed to make any sense of (once I discovered Buddhist books when I was around 10 or 11). These experiences were intimations of what the Buddhist tradition refers to as ‚Äúnot-self‚Äù and ‚Äúemptiness.‚Äù I read some books about Buddhism throughout high school, but more from curiosity than from any sense of necessity or desire to take up the practice. My sister‚Äôs death from cancer when I was 16 shook me to my core and I began a deep search for meaning in the face of mortality. At 18, I began practicing at the NY Dharmadhatu where I practiced for several years before making my way to the NY Zendo Shobo-ji. After a year or so there, I turned away from any formal relationship with teachers or community, but I practiced informally at Zen Mountain Monastery with no inclination to become a formal student. In 1989, I began practicing in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, my dharma teachers being Lyn Fine and Patricia Hunt-Perry. By 1997, I ordained into the Tiep Hien Order. However, already by 2000, no longer thrilled by what I saw happening in the community, I began study with Samu Sunim who ordained me as a dharma teacher (poep sa) in Toronto on July 4th, 2007. I‚Äôve earned a Graduate Level Diploma in Buddhist Studies under Peter Harvey through the University of Sunderland. Realizing I did not want an academic career, I chose not to write a thesis, hence no letters after my name. I have two daughters, separated by 36 years and live in Tucson, Arizona where I enjoy co-parenting my younger daughter. I founded and served as guiding teacher of the Empty Mountain Sangha and the Tucson Mindfulness Practice Community which has evolved into a peer-led group. I have the great joy and privilege to teach classes, lecture and lead retreats and workshops throughout North and Central America, as well as in Asia. I was invited by Wisdom Publications to write a book integrating the four foundations of mindfulness with the movements and postures of hatha-yoga. That book, Mindfulness Yoga: The Awakened Union of Breath, Body and Mind offers a fully comprehensive and integrated practice of hatha-yoga-asana with Buddhist mindfulness (vipassana) meditation based upon the instructions of the Buddha on the four Foundations of Mindfulness. I‚Äôve studied and practiced many forms of meditation and work with each student to find which techniques seem best suited to one‚Äôs life situation. The basic core practice is satipatthana (four foundations of mindfulness) which includes focused attention and inquiry into body (breath, posture, activities of the body, parts and elements of the body and it‚Äôs dissolution); feelings (the felt-sense of experience, whether pleasant, unpleasant or neutral); mental formations (all other mental activities such as perception, emotion, thought) and dhammas (investigation into phenomena). Along with satipatthana, other key practices include the four immeasurables (kindness; compassion; selfless joy and equanimity); lojong (mind training); tonglen (the exchanging of self and other); naikan (the practice of gratitude) and more.

SARI-MARKKANEN		Sari Markkanen was already at a young age interested in spiritual and existential questions. She fell in love with Insight meditation in 2005 after years of other meditative practices. Sari has practiced meditation on long retreats in Gaia House, in Finland and in monasteries in Thailand, and has been especially keen on exploring emptiness and jhana practices as taught by her close teacher Rob Burbea. She was invited to a teacher training guided by Rob Burbea, Martine Batchelor and Caroline Jones, which she completed at the end of 2020. Rob’s teachings have greatly informed Sari’s way of teaching dharma.

Stephen Mugen Snyder Ca		Stephen Doetsu Snyder began practicing daily meditation in 1976. Since then, he has studied Buddhism extensively—investigating and engaging in Zen, Tibetan, Theravada, and Western non-dual traditions. He was authorized to teach in the Theravada Buddhist tradition in 2007 and the Zen Buddhist schools of Soto and Rinzai in 2022. Stephen is a senior student of Roshi Mark Sando Mininberg. Stephen’s resonant and warmhearted teaching style engages students around the globe through in-person and online retreats, as well as one-on-one coaching. He encourages students to turn toward their true nature and, with realization of their true nature, embody their true identity. Stephen is the author of four books, including Trust in Awakening, Demystifying Awakening and Buddha’s Heart. He also co-authored Practicing the Jhānas.

SUMEDHA TN		Earlier Sari has taught secular mindfulness (MBSR) Mindful Self Compassion (MSC) and she was a pioneer in teaching mindfulness in schools in Finland and taught it for a big part voluntarily for many years. She has written two books about mindfulness kindness and compassion practices for children.

zoharlavie		Zohar has been practicing meditation since 1995 and teaching meditation and Dharma since 2006. This journey has taken her from the meditation cushion into exploring further ways of expressing truth and love and in 2004 she co-founded SanghaSeva. She now spends her time facilitating retreats both retreats that offer service as a spiritual path and silent retreats and Dharma gatherings in India Europe Israel and Palestine. Zohar is co-founder of the scholarship fund Spring Up Foundation.

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