The greatest gift is the
gift of the teachings
 
Dharma Teachers of Insight Santa Cruz
Eileen Messina

G Schulz
G Schulz began practicing insight meditation in 2003 after attending his first retreat in Thailand. Looking for a spiritual home, he became involved with ISC shortly after his return to Santa Cruz. G has participated in many retreats since 2003, both at home and abroad. He has also completed a teacher training program led by Bob Stahl, the Noble Path Program led by Carla Brennan and the Spirit Rock Dedicated Practitioner Program. G is currently participating in the Spirit Rock Advanced Practitioner program.

George Haas

Gil Fronsdal
Right now I'm deeply involved with developing an urban meditation center in my community. It's important for me to sink my teaching roots into a commitment to my community, to ongoing relationships with people as they practice inside retreats and out of retreats. What are all the ways Sangha is relevant and applicable to our family life, our work, and our play?

Heather Sundberg
Heather Sundberg has taught insight meditation since 1999 and completed the Spirit Rock/IMS Teacher Training. Beginning her own meditation practice in her late teens, for the last 25 years, Heather has studied with senior teachers in the Insight Meditation (Vipassana) and Tibetan (Vajrayana) traditions and has sat 1-3 months of retreat a year for almost 20 years. She was the Spirit Rock Family & Teen Program Teacher & Manager for a decade. Between 2010- 2015 she spent a cumulative one-year in study, practice, and pilgrimage in Asia. Since 2011, she has been a Teacher at Mountain Stream Meditation Center and sister communities in the Sierra Foothills, and also teaches nationally, especially at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Her teaching emphasizes embodiment, compassion and practical wisdom.

ISC Community Facilitators
This is a shared profile for all Community Facilitators at Insight Santa Cruz. These are senior students of the Dharma who completed a year-long leadership training under Bob Stahl, who offer sits and half-daylongs to the community of Insight Santa Cruz.

Jason Murphy
Jason Murphy- Pedulla MA, has been practicing Vipassana meditation since 1994. He is a teacher and therapist who has been working with youth, families and adults for over 20 years. Jason has taught mindful awareness in a variety of settings throughout the United States and leads weekly groups in Santa Cruz and San Jose. Jason has studied and trained with several prominent teachers in the Thai Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah. Some of them are Ajahn Sumedho, Ajahn Passano and Amaro Bhikkhu Other teachers and mentors have been, Gil Fronsdal, John Travis, Sylvia Boornstein and Jack Kornfield.

JD Doyle
JD Doyle serves as a Core Teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center and has held many roles there, including Board member and co-founder of the LGBTQIA2+ meditation group. JD is in the Spirit Rock teacher-training program and has participated in the Dedicated Practitioner Program (DPP2) and the Community Dharma Leader Program (CDL4). JD has practiced Theravada Buddhism since 1995 in the U.S., Thailand, and Burma. For over twenty-five years, they worked as a public school teacher focusing on issues of equity and access. JD has taught a wide variety of groups from children to adults. JD holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from Cornell University and a Master’s degree in Language and Literacy and Sociocultural Studies from the University of New Mexico. JD identifies as genderqueer. They are committed to celebrating the diversity of our human sangha, addressing the impact of racism on our communities, expanding concepts of gender, and living in ways that honor the sacredness of the Earth.

Jill Hyman
Jill Hyman has practiced yoga since 1974, Vipassana meditation with ISC since 2000. Her practice is influenced by the Thai Forest tradition (Ajahn Sumedho & Ajhan Amaro), Dzogchen (Tsoknyi Rinpoche), the many teachers from Spirit Rock & IMS, and especially Shinzen Young (Vipassana Support Institute). She has served as a volunteer chaplain at Salinas Valley State Prison since 2001, heading the program with Bruce since 2003. She completed the 2 & 1/2 year Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leader Program in January 2008. She teaches classes for beginners, those new to practice, metta, and established the family program.

Jim Memmott
Jim has been practicing with Insight Santa Cruz since 2006. In the years prior to, he studied meditation in the Soto Zen tradition. From 2010 to 2018, he served as technology manager for the Insight Retreat Center in Scotts Valley, California, where he was also able to deepen his silent retreat practice. Trained by Gil Fronsdal and Andrea Fella, he is a graduate of the Buddhist Dharma Mentor program. He has worked with the Eightfold Path Program at ISC since 2018 as a co-leader of the program.

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