Faculty

Faculty

STEPHEN BATCHELOR is a translator, teacher, artist and writer known for his secular approach to the Dharma. A co-founder of Bodhi College, his books include Buddhism Without Beliefs, Living with the Devil, Confession of a Buddhist Atheist and After Buddhism. His most recent publication, The Art of Solitude, was published by Yale University Press in 2020. He lives in southwest France with his wife Martine.

 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/jZ9QPJ6lvhY

 

CHRISTINA FELDMAN is a co-founder of Gaia House and a guiding teacher at Insight Meditation Society, Barre, Massachussetts. The author of a number of books, she has been teaching insight meditation retreats internationally since 1976. She is one of the teaching faculty of the CPP programme, dedicated to the study and application of the early teachings of the Buddha and is engaged in teaching the Buddhist psychological foundations of mindfulness to those training to teach mindfulness-based applications in England, Belgium and the Netherlands. Her most recent book Mindfulness: Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Psychology, written with Willem Kuyken, was published in the summer of 2019. 

JOHN PEACOCK is both an academic and a Buddhist practitioner of nearly fifty years. Trained initially in the Tibetan Gelugpa tradition in India, he subsequently spent time in Sri Lanka studying Theravada. After doing a doctorate in philosophy, he taught Buddhist and Western philosophy and then Buddhist Studies at the University of Bristol. He went on to be Associate Director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, co-direct the Master of Studies programme in MBCT(Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy) at Oxford University, and teach Buddhist psychology on the same course.  John is now retired from academia and continues to teach meditation, as he has done for more than thirty-five years.

 

CHRIS CULLEN has practised and studied the Buddha's teachings since 1994 and has been teaching Insight Meditation retreats since 2010. He is also on the teaching team of the University of Oxford’s Mindfulness Centre, teaching Buddhist Psychology on the Masters course in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and running the mindfulness programme in the UK Parliament. He has a psychotherapy practice in Oxford.

 

 

MARTINE BATCHELOR author of Meditation for Life, The Path of Compassion, Women in Korean Zen and Let Go: A Buddhist Guide to Breaking Free of Habits. Her latest works are the The Spirit of the Buddha, What is this? and The Definition, Practice and Psychology of Vedana.  She is a member of the Gaia House Teacher Council.  She teaches meditation retreats worldwide and lives in France. Recently she has been involved with the Silver Sante Study, teaching meditation, mindfulness and compassion to seniors in France to see if this could prevent ageing decline.

 

AKINCANO M. WEBER is a Swiss Buddhist teacher and psychotherapist (MA). A former monk, he has lived and practised for 20 years in European and Thai Forest monasteries. Particular interests are early Buddhist texts, stillness and contemplative psychology. He is the guiding teacher of Atammaya Cologne, Germany, part of the CPP programme and of several Mindfulness teacher training courses, and teaches meditation and Buddhist Psychology in secular and traditional contexts in Europe and overseas. 

 

JAKE DARTINGTON has practised Buddhist meditation since 1995. After training as a Dharma teacher with Christina Feldman, he started teaching in 2007. He has a background in Philosophy and Buddhist Studies and has trained as a teacher of MBSR/MBCT. Jake lives in Nottingham where he teaches mindfulness and Insight Meditation. 

 

 

CHRISTOPH KÖCK was born in Vienna, Austria, and spent 17 years of his life as a Buddhist monk in the Theravadin tradition. He lived mainly in monasteries connected with Ajahn Chah in Thailand and the West. Currently he lives in Vienna, working as a psychotherapist in a private practice. He teaches Buddhism and meditation internationally, and is trained to teach MBSR and MBCT. 

 

YUKA NAKAMURA has practised 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).

JAYA RUDGARD began meditating in the 1980s and practised for eight years as a nun in the Thai Forest tradition in England with Ven. Ajahn Sumedho as her teacher. She is a graduate of the Insight Meditation Society/Spirit Rock Teacher Training and teaches Insight Meditation and mindfulness in the UK and internationally. Jaya is a qualified yoga teacher and a certified Holden Qigong instructor.

 

Visiting teachers

AJAHN SUCITTO was born in London; he entered monastic life in Thailand in 1975 and since 1978 has lived in Britain. He has been teaching Dhamma since 1980, both in meditation retreats and in talks given regularly in monasteries. He has written a number of books and teaches worldwide. Since 1992 he has been the Sanghathera and senior incumbent of Cittaviveka monastery in West Sussex. Blog: Reflections

SOPHIE BOYER has been practicing meditation for 20 years during her time providing nursing care. After years spent in hospices, she became more interested in exploring silent meditation retreats in Europe, and in theUS and spent 2 years in Myanmar as a Buddhist nun. She has been trained under the guidance of Martine Batchelor and completed the Bodhi College Dharma Teacher Training. She also took the MBCAS instructor training program (mindfulness based cognitive approach for seniors). She currently offers meditation sessions for an oncology ward in Geneva and mainly offers retreats in France. 

 

CHRISTIN ILLEBORG is a meditation teacher and owner of Nordic Dharma. She offers mindfulness programmes and teaches insight meditation shaped to our Nordic living conditions. She leads silent retreats in Denmark and Sweden, teaches both individuals and companies. Christin has been practicing meditation since 2000 when her fascination with Buddha’s timeless teachings began. She has been involved in a Japanese tradition, a Tibetan and most recently in the Theravada tradition and Vipassana. In 2017, she completed The Committed Dharma Practitioners Programme at Bodhi College and in 2022 their training as a Dharma Teacher. Christin is also an educated film editor (DDF), yoga teacher and cognitive therapist.

 

ANNE PATRIKAINEN has practiced Vipassana meditation since 2004. She has sat numerous retreats in Europe, Asia, and the USA, including many three-month retreats. Based in Helsinki, Anne has been sharing the Dharma since 2011 in various cities around Finland and online. She is one of the lead teachers of Nirodha Insight Meditation Finland and has completed the Bodhi College Dharma Teacher Training Programme. In her teaching Anne likes to emphasize clarity, examples of practice in daily life, as well as kindness and compassion for oneself. She divides her time between sharing the Dharma and working as a psychologist.

 

NICOLE SCHOONBROOD is working at the Radboudumc Centre for Mindfulness as a senior trainer supervising the teacher trainer program for mindfulness teachers. Besides being a teacher trainer she is anexperienced supervisor, compassion teacher and Insight Dialogue teacher. She has completed the Dhamma Teacher Program at Bodhi College and is also guiding retreats. 

 

ANNE SPECKENS is a professor of psychiatry at the Radboud University Medical Centre in  Nijmegen, the Netherlands. She is the founder and director of the Radboudumc Centre for Mindfulness. The Centre offers mindfulness courses for both clinical populations and health care professionals. Its research focuses on the effectiveness and possible working mechanisms of mindfulness in different populations. Anne is a qualified mindfulness teacher and completed the Teacher Training Program of Bodhi College in 2021.

 

GERIT STÖCKLMAIR is a microbiologist, psychotherapist and Body Movement Therapist, originally from Austria. Curiosity about the inner and outer world has put her on many journeys, and she has lived in England, Scotland and South Korea, before settling in Denmark, where she now lives. She has been practising meditation since 1994 and has been on extended retreats since 1998, mainly Vipassana, but also within the Zen and Triratna tradition. She graduated from the Bodhi College Teacher Training in 2022 and has an interest in personal development through body-mind-soul integration, which means you might also find her dancing on various occasions. Gerit is also co-founder of Copenhagen Insight Meditation.

 

ANTONIA SUMBUNDU has been a Tibetan Buddhist and mindfulness meditation practitioner for more than 30 years. She trained as a clinical psychologist specialized in CBT and supervision, and completed an MSt in MBCT from University of Oxford, where she currently is a senior associate trainer. For many years her work focused on the clinical applications of meditation, before shifting to teach meditation in a broader context and serving as a dharma teacher for an international meditation community.

River Wolton is a Community Dharma Leader authorised by Gaia House Teacher Council, and has completed Dharma Teacher Training with Bodhi College. A former Derbyshire Poet Laureate, she has led writing and arts projects for many years, and is an activist in the LGBTQI+ community.