Richard Shankman has been a meditator since 1970, and teaches at Dharma centers and groups internationally. He is guiding teacher of the Metta Dharma Foundation, and cofounder of the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies and of Mindful Schools. He practices and teaches meditation that integrates compassion, mindfulness, concentration and insight as one path of practice. Richard is the author of The Art and Skill of Buddhist Meditation and The Experience of Samadhi.
Robert Cusick trained at Stanford University in the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) and is a Stanford certified Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) instructor. He studied in the Soto Zen Tradition at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, in the Ridhwan School’s Diamond approach with A.H. Almaas (Hameed Ali) and in Spirit Rock’s multi-year Dedicated Practioner’s Program. He ordained in Burma under the world-renowned Burmese Meditation Master, Venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw, and studied there with him for a number of years. His practice is focused on recognizing and cultivating compassion through the application of mindfulness.
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.
Shane Hill is a clinical psychologist, mindfulness teacher, and a community facilitator here at ISC. He has been practicing Vipassana/Insight Meditation for many years, has studied and trained in both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism, has been trained by Bob Stahl, the guiding teacher at ISC, in MBSR and community facilitation, and is an on-going student of the Suttas, the Dharma, and of Life, the greatest moment to moment teacher of all.
Shantum Seth is a teacher and well-known guide to the sites associated with the Buddha in India. A Buddhist practitioner, he is an ordained teacher (Dharmacharya) in the Zen tradition of the Vietnamese Master, Thich Nhat Hanh. He teaches in India and other countries and has been leading pilgrimages under the name "In the Footsteps of the Buddha" since 1988. In the last few years he has been leading inter-faith, educational, cultural and spiritual journeys to diverse regions of India. At the same time, he has been deeply involved with social and ecological development issues for over 20 years. He has contributed to a number of books including Walking with the Buddha. He has also been a consultant on films including Life of the Buddha made by the BBC/Discovery and Michael Wood’s The Story of India by BBC/PBS.
Dr. Stephen Fulder was born in the UK and received an M.A. from Oxford University and a Ph.D. He has devoted his life to exploring inner and outer healing and spirituality. He is an author and lecturer in herbal and natural medicine with 14 published books. He lives in an environmental village in the Galilee in Israel, which he helped to found and where he grows his own food. Stephen has been practicing Vipassana meditation since 1975, is the founder and senior teacher of the Israel Insight Society, the main Vipassana/Mindfulness organization in Israel, and has been teaching retreats and courses in Buddhist practice for 15 years. He has established programs and organizations, such as ‘Middleway’, which apply these teachings to aid peace and healing in the communities in the Middle East.
Susan Ezequelle has been practicing Insight Meditation since 1997. She is a past IMC Board President and worked closely with founding teacher Gil Fronsdal and other community members to found in 2001 the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA. She began teaching at IMC in 2003 and in 2008, in response to a deep desire to engage with the world through her Buddhist practice, she began training as a professional chaplain. Currently she serves as chaplain at Stanford Hospital.
