Training of IMS Teachers

Seven practiced, knowledgeable, sincere and committed senior students have just completed an intensive four-year dharma teacher training program under the guidance of core IMS faculty. The newly trained meditation teachers hail from around the world - Rebecca Bradshaw from Massachusetts, Sky Dawson from Australia, DhammaRuwan Chandrasiri from Sri Lanka, Patricia Genoud-Feldman from Switzerland, Linda McDonald from Canada, Annie Nugent, originally from South Africa and Debbie Ratner from Washington, DC.

“We see growing numbers of people interested in Buddhism and wanting to explore their own minds,” explained Steve Armstrong who, together with Joseph Goldstein, Carol Wilson, Michele McDonald and Kamala Masters formed the training team. “Our intention in training this group was to prepare another generation of senior students qualified to share the dharma to anyone practicing meditation, whether experienced or new.”

“The teacher training program included extensive study of traditional and contemporary dharma texts, ongoing mentoring, onsite assisting at retreats, a continuing annual commitment to intensive practice and ongoing study of the psychological dimension of meditation,” Steve added. “They are now fully prepared to offer the teachings. We have given them the knowledge and lessons of our collective ten decades’ worth of teaching experiences. We have every confidence that they will contribute to the widening and deepening of the Western Buddhist sangha.”

Some of the graduates offered Insight Newsletter the following details about their teaching and practice experience:

Rebecca Bradshaw commenced practicing vipassana at the ripe old age of 23. Teaching now for over ten years, she continually finds inspiration in sharing the dharma with teens and young adults, as well as supporting efforts to combine deep meditation practice with living a lay life. She lives in Western Massachusetts with her partner Bob, and their cat Maud, and works as a Spanish-speaking psychotherapist. In any spare time she gardens, bikes, goes wilderness camping and canoes.

Sky Dawson sat her first vipassana retreat with S.N. Goenka in 1981. Over the last twenty years, Western Buddhist teachers Joseph Goldstein, Steve Armstrong and Kamala Masters have guided her practice. She is a member of the Perth Insight Meditation Group in Western Australia, and has worked for fifteen years teaching and researching in the areas of palliative care, loss and grief at two universities and a community hospice.

“There are strong parallels between the dharma and palliative care,” Sky explains. “How we live our lives in this moment will influence how we approach the end of our lives. The inner peace that develops in our meditation practice can flow into all aspects of our lives, transforming them at the deepest levels, and preparing us for death.”

Patricia Genoud-Feldman’s spiritual quest arose at a very early age. Raised in Africa amidst extreme poverty and civil unrest, she began a search for the meaning and purpose of life. In 1984 she found answers in Asia and was introduced to Buddhist study and practice. In the decades since, two traditions have influenced her – Tibetan Vajrayana with her root guru, H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and Theravada, mainly with Sayadaw U Pandita and Joseph Goldstein.

In 1999, she co-founded the Meditation Center Vimalakirti in Geneva, Switzerland where she is based. She teaches around the world, often with her husband Charles. Her style emphasizes innate natural awareness and an approach of gentle relationship to oneself. She has also received training and has worked in Gestalt psychotherapy.

Annie Nugent was introduced to Buddhist meditation in 1979 in South Africa, her country of birth. Since then, she has received teachings in both the Theravada and Tibetan traditions. She moved to England in 1988 and spent some considerable time earning a living in the antiques business. The pull of the dharma, however, drew her to Barre, MA, where she participated almost annually in the 3-Month Retreat and where she now makes her home. From 1999-2003, she served as one of IMS's resident teachers.

“This period allowed me to bring my own practice style into my teaching,” she says. “There’s a powerful phrase that resonates deeply for me – ‘use everything’. When we use everything in our lives as an opportunity to develop mindfulness, wisdom and compassion, we can come to a clear and direct understanding of the Truth.”

After dabbling in meditation for most of her life, Debbie Ratner finally began practicing vipassana in 1995. Soon after, she left her career as a telecom engineer in order to spend long periods in intensive retreat, including a year as a nun in Burma with Sayadaw U Pandita. Debbie lives with her husband in Maryland, where she teaches with the Insight Meditation Community of Washington.