Teachers and Dharma Leaders
Bill CulmanCommunity Dharma LeaderBill Culman is the founder and principal instructor for Life In The Balance mindfulness. He spent the first 40 years of his working career in the computer industry, focusing on software engineering; most recently, he was the VP of Engineering for Nutanix. During this time, he was also passionately engaged in various meditative disciplines, including Transcendental Meditation, tai chi, yoga, and vipassana/mindfulness meditation, experiencing for himself the life benefits these practices can bring. For the past 15 years, he has been focused on mindfulness meditation, both in daily life and in more than 75 days of silent retreat practice. He has completed the UCLA MARC (Mindful Awareness Research Center) mindfulness facilitator training program and has also received MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) teacher training. His core focus is cultivating mindfulness practices in the workplace and with young adults.
Carol MorganCommunity Dharma LeaderCarol has been a student of the dharma at Insight Santa Cruz since 2009, following training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. She has attended many retreats and dharma programs since then, most recently completing training as a Community Dharma Facilitator in 2019. She served on the board from 2012-2015 and has been the volunteer coordinator since 2013. “For me, it is always about bringing mindful awareness with me up off the cushion and out into all the moments of my daily life.” Since 2018 she has enjoyed sharing the responsibility of facilitating the New To Practice group and several half daylongs.
Jan LandryCommunity Dharma LeaderJan has been a student of meditation for many years and continues to learn from many wise teachers. She teaches Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) locally and in the South Bay. She completed the Insight Santa Cruz Community Teacher training program in 2017. She hopes to support others in cultivating wisdom and compassion to benefit all beings.
Susan EzequelleCommunity Dharma LeaderSusan has been practicing Insight Meditation since 1997. A student of Gil Fronsdal, she worked closely with Gil and other community members to found the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City California in 2001, where she served as board president and teacher. Susan trained as a hospital chaplain and served for two years as palliative care chaplain at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, then as Spiritual Care Manager at San Francisco General Hospital, and most recently as Relief Chaplain at Stanford Hospital. She also teaches at several Bay Area sanghas.
New To Practice – 1st Tuesday
New To Practice is offered for those new to Buddhism, or for those who wish to develop and deepen their practice. We will explore how to integrate practice as part of our daily life and work with obstacles to practice as they arise. All are welcome and will have an opportunity to explore their practice questions. Those new to practice will see for themselves how setting aside time each day to meditate, helps develop a foundation of steadiness to meet the changing conditions of life.
May 2nd session will be lead by Carol Morgan and June 6th session by Jan Landry.
Please return to the calendar to join an online session or learn of any schedule updates.
Attend either online or in person at the Meditation Center
Online Attendance Instructions:
Online Meeting ID: 891 5166 2873
Dial-in Passcode: 423366
- Zoom user hosting the event: Zoom01@insightsantacruz.org