Who’s Who

Jan Chozen Bays began Zen practice in 1973 under Taizan Maezumi Roshi and has served since 1986 as teacher for the Zen Community of Oregon in Portland and for the residnetial program at Larch Mountain Zen Center. She is also a pediatricican specializing in child abuse.

Jose Cabezon was a monk in the Tibetan tradition for ten years and is currently a professor of Buddhism and Cultural Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is author, editor, and translator of several books, including Buddhism, Sexuality and Gender.

Lama Surya Das is the founder of the Dzogchen Foundation, a lay practice center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Born Jeffrey MIller in Brooklyn, New York, he spent nearly thirty years studying with many of the great spiritual  masters of Tibet. In addition to leading dzogchen retreats, he is the author of Awakening the Buddha Withinand Awakening to the Sacred.

Thanissaro Bhikku, known informally as Than Geoff, was born Geoffrey DeGraf on Long Island in New York. He was ordained as a Theravada monk in Thailand in 1976. Since 1993 he has served as abbot of Metta Forest Monastery, near San Diego, and translated numerous Thai meditation guides. His most recent book in Noble Strategy.