Teachers

STEPHEN BATCHELOR has been practicing Buddhism since 1972. Throughout this time he has been concerned to find ways of articulating the Dharma in a language that speaks to the conditions of modernity. This has led him to dispense with elements of Buddhist doctrine that he considers artifacts of ancient Indian culture with limited relevance to the world we inhabit today. In recent years his approach has become increasingly pragmatic: he is concerned primarily with whether a teaching works rather than whether it is true. He encourages a secular approach to Buddhism that challenges religious dogma and the unquestioned authority of priests. He envisions a Dharma that values equality, critical reflection and personal and communal transformation. As well as being a scholar, translator and writer, he works as a photographer and collagist. The integration of the imagination and the creative arts into Dharma practice is of particular importance to him. A co-founder of Bodhi College, he is the author of Buddhism without Beliefs, Living with the Devil, Confession of a Buddhist Atheist, After Buddhism, and Secular Buddhism. His most recent book is The Art of Solitude. (www.stephenbatchelor.org)

STEPHEN FULDER was born in London in 1946, educated at Oxford University and has a Ph.D. He is a senior spiritual teacher who has been practising for nearly 50 years since his time in India in 1976 and is the founder and senior teacher of the leading Buddhist practice organisation in Israel (Tovana – The Israel Insight Society). He has emphasized how to bring the extensive dharma tools and insights into the most challenging of circumstances and has had years of experience in peace-making in the Middle East.  His many published books include  The Five Powers and How To Thrive in Hard Times: A Buddhist Manual.

Thimo Wittich begann 2008 mit der Meditations- und Yogapraxis. Seit 2010 studiert und praktiziert er bei Akincano Marc Weber im Atammaya Köln. Er absolvierte zwischen 2018 und 2022 das Committed Practitioner Program und das Teacher Training Program am Bodhi College sowie das Level 1 Training der MBSR Teacher Education am Mindfulness Center der Brown School of Public Health in den USA. Zur Zeit assistiert Thimo seinen Lehrern in Retreats und Online Kursen in Deutschland und den USA.

THOMAS METZINGER is a meditator, theoretical philosopher, cognitive scientist and co-founder of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness, about the implications of his latest research, which compiles data from hundreds of meditators' reports on minimal phenomenal consciousness (see https://mpe-project.info for free book download & more).

WALTER YOUNG began practicing Insight Meditation in 2008. Having graduated as a Community Dharma Leader in 2017, he now supports the CDL trainingprogramme as a mentor. He was a trustee for Gaia House from 2014-2018 and currently runs Insight North East, a sangha based in Whitley Bay. Prior to his retirement in 2020, he was a social worker and served as a director for various companies, including Team Fostering, a social enterprise based in the North of England. As a trainer and consultant, he has supported governments and NGOs in South America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia with the implementation of family-based care.

YUKA NAKAMURA has practiced Buddhist meditation in different traditions since 1993, has a PhD in Developmental Psychology and is a certified MBSR-teacher. Trained as a Buddhist meditation teacher by Fred von Allmen she teaches meditation at Beatenberg (Switzerland), Gaia House (UK), Insight Meditation Society (Barre, MA) and other places. Yuka offers MBSR-courses and MBI-trainings at the CFM Zentrum für Achtsamkeit (CH). www.yuka-nakamura.ch

YUKA NAKAMURA praktiziert seit 1993 in verschiedenen buddhistischen Traditionen und istPsychologin (Dr. phil.) sowie MBSR-Lehrerin und -Ausbildnerin. Sie wurde von Fred von Allmen als Dharmalehrerin geschult und lehrt Meditation im Meditationszentrum Beatenberg (Schweiz), Gaia House (UK), Insight Meditation Society (Barre, MA) und an anderen Orten. Im CFM Zentrum für Achtsamkeit (CH) bietet sie MBSR-Kurse und -Ausbildungen an.