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Allan was selected as one of "50 Inspiring Religous Leaders You Should follow on Twitter." |
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 Sharon Salzberg is one of America's leading spiritual teachers and authors. She is cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) in Barre, MA and has played a crucial role in bringing Asian meditation practices to the West. The ancient Buddhist practices of vipassana (mindfulness) and metta (lovingkindness) are the foundations of her work. She is the author of numerous books including Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness, Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience, The Force of Kindness: Change Your Life with Love and Compassion, and Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation. |
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 Stephen Batchelor is one of the world's leading scholars, authors, and teachers of Buddhist thought. He was a monk in the Tibetan and Zen traditions for ten years. Known for his agnostic and secular approach to the Dhamma, he has authored several books, including the bestselling Buddhism Without Beliefs and Living With The Devil. He lives in France with his wife Martine and teaches seminars and leads meditation retreats worldwide. His book Confession of a Buddhist Atheist was published in March 2010. |
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 Andrew Olendzki, Ph.D., is the senior scholar and executive director of the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies in Barre, MS, and the editor of the Insight Journal. He was trained in Buddhist Studies at Lancaster University in England, as well as at Harvard University and the University of Sri Lanka. The former executive director of Insight Meditation Society, he has had published an enormous selection of essays, articles, studies, and poetry. He is the author of Unlimiting Mind: The Radically Experiential Psychology of Buddhism. |
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 Venerable Metteyya was featured in the PBS special The Buddha. He was born in Lumbini, Nepal, the same place as the Buddha. He primarily studied in the Theravada tradition but has also received teachings directly from His Eminence Chogye Trichen Rinpoche as well as in the Vietnamese Pure Land tradition. Ven. Metteyya founded the Metta Children's School in Nepal which provides free education to over 800 impoverished local children. He, along with his Dharma mother, built the Sakyadhita Nunnery to provide educational options to local girls who would otherwise face child marriage. |
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 Mu Soeng is the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies program director and resident scholar. He trained in the Korean Zen tradition and was a monk for eleven years. He is the author of The Heart of the Universe: Exploring the Heart Sutra,Thousand Peaks: Korean Zen (Tradition and Teachers); The Diamond Sutra: Transforming the Way We Perceive the World; and Trust in Mind: The Rebellion of Chinese Zen. |
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 Jon Aaron has been practicing meditation since the 1970s and seriously studying mindfulness meditation since 1998. An associate teacher at New York Insight Meditation Center, he is also the guiding teacher and coordinator for the Makom Havurah (Dedicated practitioners Group) at the Jewish Community Center of Manhattan as well on the faculty of Yoga Sutra’s Teacher Training program. He teachers Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction at a number of New York institutions and leads weekly sitting groups at the Jewish Community Center, Yoga Sutra, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He has given classes and workshops for the NYU Medical School, the Department of Psychology at Einstein College of Medicine, and at the 92nd St. Y. |
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Allan Lokos is the founder and guiding teacher of the Community Meditation Center. He is the author of Pocket Peace: Effective Practices for Enlightened Living, and Patience: The Art of Peaceful Living (Tarcher/Penguin, 1/2012). His writing has appeared in Tricycle magazine (for whom he also led a month long online retreat), Back Stage newspaper, and the anthology, Audacious Creativity. Among the many places he has taught are Columbia University Teacher's College, The Rubin Museum, Marymount College, New York Insight Meditation Center, The New York Open Center, and Insight Meditation Community of Washington. He began his study and practice of meditation with Thây Thich Nhat Hanh in the nineties and his teachers have included Sharon Salzberg, Joseph Goldstein, Larry Rosenberg, Andrew Olendzki, Stephen Batchelor, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, and Tsoknyi Rinpoche. He has attended numerous retreats at Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA and classes and workshops at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Allan has also attended a number of weeklong teachings with His Holiness, The Dalai Lama. Earlier in this life Allan was a professional singer appearing in the original Broadway productions of Oliver! and Pickwick, as well as the Stratford Festival/Broadway production of The Pirates of Penzance.