Visiting Teachers

Gloria Taraniya Ambrosia

Gloria Taraniya Ambrosia has been a dharma teacher since 1990. She is a student of the western forest tradition, the disciples of Ajahn Sumedho and Ajahn Chah, and is a lay Buddhist minister in association with Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in California. She served as resident teacher of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA, from 1996 through 1999. Taraniya serves as one of the three core faculty at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, where she does most of her teaching.

Venerable Dhammadinna

Venerable Dhammadina took robes in 1983 in the Theravadan tradition. Over the past two decades, she has taught Buddhism and led meditation retreats at Suan Mokkh in South Thailand as well as in England, India and the US. In 2000 she was sent by her Burmese master to Dharmsala to study with His Holiness the Dalai Lama privately. In 2003 Ven. Dhammadinna took ordination in the Tibetan tradition with His Holiness and, at his request, received bhikshuni ordination in Taiwan. Ven. Dhammadinna lives in Seattle and is a resident teacher of the BodhiHeart Sangha.

Brian Lesage

Brian Lesage has practiced Buddhist meditation since 1988 and has taught meditation since 2000. He has studied in the Zen, Theravada and Tibetan schools of Buddhism. He was ordained in the Rinzai Zen tradition in 1996. His training in vipassana meditation includes doing extended meditation retreats in Myanmar (Burma), Nepaland India as well as numerous retreats in the US. He leads retreats and teaches meditation courses nationwide. Brian also has a private practice in Somatic Experiencing, which is a naturalistic approach to healing trauma. You can also visit his website for Somatic Experiencing at www.liberatingawareness.com.

Brian lives in Arizona and visits our sangha several times a year to sit with us and give dharma talks. His biography is at: http://www.liberatingawareness.com/biography.html

Brian offers individual practice discussions when he visits Albuquerque.

DaeJa Napier

DaeJa Napier is the founding and guiding teacher of the Brahma-Vihara Foundation. She teaches vipassana meditation in combination with the cultivation of the four brahma-viharas. Her emphasis has been on the cultivation of formal and informal practice in everyday life.

She has studied and practiced in various Buddhist traditions since 1972. Her root teacher is Zen master Soeng Sahn. Dedicated to exploring the depths of the awakening process, she maintains a yearly schedule of intensive practice. Most recently she practiced under the guidance of Sayadaw U Janaka, Sayadaw U Pandita and Joseph Goldstein. DaeJa is the mother of five adult children.

DaeJa is a frequent visitor to Albuquerque.

Annie Nugent

Annie Nugent has practiced since 1979 and was an Insight Meditation Society resident teacher from 1999 to 2003. Her teaching style aims to reveal how all aspects of our lives can help us come to a clear and direct understanding of the truth. See her biography at: http://www.spiritrock.org/InstructorDetails?calendarinstructorid=75655