Teachers
BHANTE SATHI is a frequent teacher at NBMC.
Bhante Sathi is the Guiding Teacher of Triple Gem of the North, a non-profit organization dedicated to the study and practice of the teachings of the Buddha.
Bhante Sathi is a monk in the Theravada tradition. He was born in Kandy, Sri Lanka and his spiritual interests began in his early teenage years. He ordained as a novice monk at age 19 and received higher ordination three years later. His preceptor was Wattegama Dhammawasa Maha Thera. While resident at the Subhodaramaya monastery, he has taught meditation and has counseled many young adults in Sri Lanka.
Bhante Sathi has a particular interest in what is common to all traditions and all schools of Buddhism. He has taught meditation and Buddhism in Britain and the United States.
MARK NUNBERG is a supporting teacher of NBMC.
Mark began Buddhist mindfulness practice in 1982 and has been teaching meditation since 1990. He co-founded Common Ground Meditation Center (www.commongroundmeditation.org) in Minneapolis in 1993. Mark continues to serve as the Center’s Guiding Teacher. Mark has studied with both Asian and Western teachers and finds deep inspiration in the teachings of Ajahn Sumedho, Ajahn Chah and the Thai Forest Tradition. Mark has also practiced as a monk for five months in Burma and completed four three-month retreats at IMS Retreat Center, as well as many months of practice at The Forest Refuge, also at IMS. Mark continues to be a devoted student of Buddhist practice.
REV. MYO-O MARILYN HABERMAS-SCHER is a supporting teacher at NBMC.
Rev. Myo-O Marilyn Habermas-Scher is an ordained priest and senior practitioner in the Soto Zen Buddhist tradition, teaching classes, lecturing and leading retreats. Her root teacher was Dainin Katagiri roshi, the first Japanese Zen teacher in Minnesota, with whom she studied from 1975 to 1990. Now affiliated with Hokyoji Zen Community under the guidance of Rev. Dokai Georgesen, she has been practicing in the Soto Zen and Vipassana Buddhist traditions for more than 30 years. Myo-O has an extensive background in the performing arts and is also trained in a a number of body-mind practices, including T’ai Chi, Qi Gong and Body Mind CenteringTM. She teaches somatically based VoiceWork in private sessions and she also works as an inter-faith chaplain at Hennepin County Medical Center and Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina, Mn. You may contact her at info@marilynmyo-o.com.
PATRICE KOELSCH is a frequent teacher at NBMC.
Formally trained with a Ph.D. in Philosophy, Patrice Koelsch is a writer and educator who began sitting at Common Ground in 1995. She has been facilitating meditation groups in correctional facilities since 1999. Patrice has also practiced meditation at monasteries in Burma and Thailand. In 2006 she completed a year-long Buddhist Chaplaincy Training Program at the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies. Patrice has been certified to teach through Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leaders Program. You may contact Patrice at pckoelsch@yahaoo.com.
ROGER R. JACKSON is a frequent teacher at NBMC.
Roger R. Jackson teaches the religions of South Asia and Tibet at Carleton College. He has a B.A. in Religion from Wesleyan University and a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from the University of Wisconsin. His special interests include Indian and Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, meditation, and ritual; Buddhist religious poetry; religion and society in Sri Lanka; and contemporary Buddhist thought. He is co-author of The Wheel of Time: Kalachakra in Context (1985), author of Is Enlightenment Possible? (1993) and Tantric Treasures (2004), co-editor of Tibetan Literature: Studies in Genre (1996) and Buddhist Theology (1999), editor and co-translator of The Crystal Mirror of Philosophical Systems: A Tibetan Study of Asian Religious Thought (2009), and author of many articles and reviews. He has been a practitioner of Buddhism since 1974, studying primarily with masters from the Geluk tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, but also with teachers of the other major Tibetan lineages, and of Theravada and Zen Buddhism, as well.
