Cynthia Jurs met her root teacher, Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh in the early 1980s, and in 1994 received his transmission of Dharmacharya, becoming a teacher in his tradition, the Order of Interbeing. In 1990 she traveled to a remote cave in Nepal to meet the 106-year-old Lama Kushok Mangden Rinpoche, from whom she received the practice of the Earth Treasure Vases. In 2018 she was recognized as Lama Sherab Zangmo at Tolu Tharling Gompa in Nepal by Ngawang Tsultrim Zangpo Rinpoche. Today, Cynthia is forging a new path of dharma in service to Gaia, deeply rooted in the feminine, honoring indigenous traditions, and teaching an embodied, engaged, sacred activism dedicated to global healing and collective awakening. Cynthia teaches meditations and leads pilgrimages and through her nonprofit, Alliance for the Earth, works with former combatants in Liberia to build peace through mindfulness. Cynthia lives at the base of the Sangre de Christo mountains in northern New Mexico where she is often found walking in the wilderness with her dog or gardening with husband. You can find her offerings and join the global healing community she founded at www.GaiaMandala.net.

Vince Fakhoury Horn is part of a new generation of teachers, facilitators, & translators bringing dharma to life. A computer engineering dropout turned full-time contemplative, Vince spent his 20s co-founding the ground-breaking Buddhist Geeks podcast, while simultaneously doing a full year, in total, of silent retreat practice. Vincent began teaching in 2010 and has since been authorized in both the Pragmatic Dharma lineage of Kenneth Folk, and by Trudy Goodman, guiding teacher of InsightLA. Vince has been called a “power player of the mindfulness movement” by Wired magazine and was featured in Wired UK’s “Smart List: 50 people who will change the world.” He currently lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains outside of Asheville, North Carolina with his partner Emily Horn and their son Zander. You can find out more about Buddhist Geeks here.

Guo Gu (Dr. Jimmy Yu) is the founder of the Tallahassee Chan Center, the founder of the socially engaged intra-denominational Buddhist organization, Dharma Relief, and a professor of Buddhism and East Asian religions at Florida State University. He studied under the late Master Sheng Yen for over 30 years, nine of which as his attendant monk and most senior and closest disciple. He is the author of The Essence of Chan (2013) Passing Through the Gateless Barrier (2016) and Silent Illumination (2021). As one of the few teachers carrying on the living wisdom of Chan Buddhism in the West, Guo Gu has a unique ability to bring profound Buddhist teachings to life through concrete methods of practice. You can find out more about Guo Gu on his website here.

Chris Keevil has been practicing Zen since 1991 and teaching since 1998 in the lineage of his teacher, Zen Master Bo Mun (George Bowman), a dharma heir of Zen Master Seung Sahn. Chris received Inka from his teacher in 2022. Chris leads meditation gatherings and retreats in the area of New Haven, Connecticut, where he lives, and nationally via Zoom. Chris is also the Managing Director and founder of Wellspring Consulting, a national firm that helps non-profit leaders develop strategy for the future. He has provided guidance to several hundred organizations in the social sector in fields such as religion and spirituality, education, environmental advocacy, and the arts. Previously Chris was a Partner at The Boston Consulting Group. Earlier in life, he worked as a folk musician, a dance caller, and a solar energy housebuilder and carpenter.

Kim Nolan holds a Ph.D. in Leadership and Change from Antioch University and a M.Ed. from Boston University in Counseling Psychology. Kim is an ordained Buddhist chaplain and a lifelong advocate for social justice and human rights. She is an appointed member of the Vermont Commission on Women. Kim is the Founder and Executive Director of the Dignity Foundation, working at the intersection of cultural transformation, leadership & change management, and contemplative science. Prior to this work, Kim served as Head of People & Culture at City Market Co-op, Assistant Professor and Program Director of Mindfulness Studies at Lesley University, Program Officer of the Mind and Life Institute - designing the Academy of Contemplative and Ethical Leadership, and served as Department Chair of Integral Psychology at Burlington College in Vermont, where she founded The Institute of Contemplative Studies. Kim lives with her dog in Shelburne, VT.

Adam Jogen Salzberg is a Zen Buddhist teacher with dharma transmission in the Soto Zen lineage. He has practiced meditation for 25 years including 15 years of full time residential practice and study at Great Vow Zen Monastery. To compliment his Zen practice and teaching, he has trained in Voice Dialogue, Process Work, Dzogchen and the ParaTheatre medium of Antero Alli. Since 2007 Jogen has taught meditation and led retreats with Zen Community of Oregon, Southern Dharma, Reed College, Emory University, Integral Life, the Presence Collective and more. Jogen offers one on one and group facilitation in contemplative practices including shadow work, spiritual counseling and Voice Dialogue parts work. You can learn more about his work here.

Rick Jansen is passionate about the transformation and healing needed to wake up to the deeper interconnected reality of our lives and to find one’s true and authentic purpose in service to the ‘’Great Turning’’, as Joanna Macy calls this evolutionary time we are in. His spiritual path started in 2013 in Nepal on a back-pack trip where Rick met his first spiritual teacher, the Tibetan Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche. Currently Rick practices within the Plum Village Tradition of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh as a long term resident at Plum Village in France. Since spring 2022 Rick has worked closely together with Cynthia Jurs and the core-team at the heart of the Gaia Mandala. Rick also works as a nature and soul-oriented Purpose Guide™ in his private practice and as a mentor with Purpose Guides Institute. For the future Rick holds a strong intention to work with young men, out-in-nature on pilgrimage, helping them to discover their own innate gifts and unique calling. Rick was born in the Netherlands. You can find out more about Rick and his offerings at www.naturesoulpurpose.com.

Miles brings a decade of intensive study (over 10,000 hours) in a range of mind-body disciplines to bear on his work as a meditation teacher and therapist. He leads meditation retreats and programs, coaches individuals one-on-one, is a core member of a team building a meditation app (Madrona Meditation), and is the co-founder of Dharma Gates (a non-profit that connects young people to meditation practice). Much of his training was with Buddhist teachers including two years of solitary retreat (under the guidance of B. Alan Wallace, Ph.D. and Roshi Joan Halifax, Ph.D.), and three years at various monasteries and practice centers in the United States and Asia. Miles also completed a 1,600 hour Am.SAT Alexander Technique teacher training and is certified to teach Emory’s Cognitively Based Compassion Training course (CBCT), and Stanford’s Compassion Cultivation Training course (CCT). Miles earned a Master’s of Applied Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Social Work at Columbia University. He also trained in assisted psychotherapy with MAPS and assisted psychotherapy with the PRATI institute. More on Miles and his work can be found here.