We have to make peace with all parts of our selves. ~ Lama John Makransky
Our Mission
To empower people with profound, accessible spiritual practices that support their individual and collective work to become better people and to make a better world. ...more
David Ekstrom
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David is currently working in Sustainable Design and studying architecture. He lives in California with his wife Leah. He prefers to commute by bicycle.
David teaches Innate Compassion and Wisdom Meditation in California.
Julie Forsythe (
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For the last ten years I have been studying and practicing with John Makransky as the practices of Natural Awareness and Love/Compassion have emerged. During this time I've participated in many weekend and week long retreats devoted to study and practice of NWC, but none of that is really as interesting as the profound effect that doing all of this has had on my daily life. I reap immeasurable personal rewards, but find that more profoundly the communities around me benefit deeply as well. What a surprise to see the love and compassion mirrored back in my classroom, in department meetings and just in the hall way!
David Gilner (
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David Gilner is Director of Libraries for the four campus library system of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. He has been practicing Natural Wisdom and Compassion meditations under the guidance of Lama John Makransky since 2003.
David teaches Innate Compassion and Wisdom Meditation in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Aaron Goldstein (
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Aaron Goldstein is a certified Feldenkrais Awareness Thru Movement teacher, a licensed massage therapist, and a meditation teacher. His focus includes bringing ease and care into the way we move, live, and interact with the world.
Sandy and Burt Haggett (
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Sandy and Burt have been practicing meditation since 1991 and 2000 respectively. They have been students of Kagyu master Thrangu Rinpoche since 2002 and have received teachings from many lamas in the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. They began facilitating meditation groups in 2005 and after encountering Lama John’s work in 2010 and have concentrated their efforts in sharing this work since then and are currently leading two mediation groups.
Sandy and Burt teach Innate Compassion and Wisdom meditation in Bar Harbor, Maine.
Betty Holmes (
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Betty Holmes has studied and trained for the past fourteen years with Lama Surya Das and Lama John Makransky as well as H.H. Drukchen Rinpoche and Lama Willa Miller in practices of Wisdom and Compassion from the Tibetan Dzogchen tradition. She is also a longtime student of Tenshin Reb Anderson of the San Francisco Zen Center. She received her master's degree in counseling from St. Edward's University and is trained in Internal Family Systems Therapy, Hakomi Loving Presence and Gottman Method Couple's Therapy.
Betty teaches Innate Compassion and Wisdom Meditation in Austin, Texas.
Ana Hristic (
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Ana Hristic, MA, works with children and families as a clinician and case manager. She strives to create opportunities for youth in foster care to make meaningful connections, while empowering families and systems to best understand and address high risk behaviors. Ana has been a student of Lama John Makransky since 2000, deepening her study of Tibetan Buddhism and practicing Natural Wisdom and Compassion meditations. She has completed many meditation retreats over the years.
Ana teaches Innate Compassion and Wisdom Meditation in Portland, Oregon.
Paul Knitter (
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Paul Knitter is the Paul Tillich Professor of Theology, World Religions, and Culture at Union Theological Seminary, New York. Most of his research and writing over the course of 38 years of teaching has been in the area of interreligious dialogue. He has recently published Without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian (Oneworld Publications).
Paul teaches Innate Compassion and Wisdom Meditation in New York City at Union Theological Seminary on Sunday and Thursdays.
Lili Knutzen (
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Lili Knutzen, MA, MED, LMHC is a licensed mental health counselor and psychotherapist in private practice in New York City. She has been practicing Natural Wisdom and Compassion meditations under the guidance of Lama John Makransky for the past seven years.
Lili teaches Innate Compassion and Wisdom Meditation in Montclair, New Jersey, where she lives with her husband, two daughters and a dog.
Carol Marsh (
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Carol Marsh is an architect living and practicing in the Boston area, and has recently begun work as a hospice volunteer. She has studied with Lama John Makransky since he first introduced his Natural Wisdom and Compassion teachings, as well as with other teachers of Dzogchen and Mahamudra. She has found these practices profoundly transforming in her work life and her personal relationships. Carol joined the Foundation for Active Compassion Board in 2010.
