Kate MundingKate is our Guiding Teacher and a Founding Mother of Assaya Sangha
About Kate
Kate Munding is one of the Founding Mothers of Assaya Sangha as well as Guiding Teacher. Kate has been steeped in Buddha Dharma practice since she was 20 years old, and has been teaching since 2010. She was granted teaching transmission in the Insight Meditation tradition in 2016 after four years of mentorship through the Spirit Rock/IMS/IRC Teacher Training under the tutelage of teachers such as Jack Kornfield, Philip Moffit, and Joseph Goldstein. Kate sits on the Spirit Rock Guiding Teacher’s Council, where she is also a Dharma teacher. When she's not teaching, Kate loves being a mom to her young son, hiking through the hills, and cooking for her loved ones. She lives with her family in the San Francisco East Bay. |
Journey deVriesJourney has found a home in Assaya, illuminating the ways that sangha is a vital part of the path.
About Journey
Journey deVries is a San Francisco native, she met the dharma when raising jer daughters and it has been a steadfast friend since. Her approach to meditation is eclectic folding in poetry and a range of spiritual traditions. Assaya has been her home since 2020 and it has illuminated the ways that sangha is a vital part of the path. Journey has completed the Spirit Rock Dedicated Practitioner Program (DPP7). |
Shakthi Ganeshan,
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Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith, MBARamona Lisa brings years of meditation practice and spiritual studies to her livelihood as a Spiritual Teacher.
About Ramona
Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith, MBA, (she+), brings over 25 years of meditation practice and spiritual studies to her livelihood as a Spiritual Teacher and Leader. She is a dedicated lay practitioner of the Dharma and has spent the last five years undertaking contemporary Upasika vows and living as a lay renunciate. She enjoys scholarly programs and has completed East Bay Meditation Center’s Commit to Dharma Program (C2D3), Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s (SRMC) Dedicated Practitioners Program (DPP6), East Bay Meditation Center’s two-year Spiritual Teacher and Leadership training and certification through the Mindfulness Training Institute. Ramona Lisa is honored to be in the 2025-2028 cohort of the Insight Meditation Society/Spirit Rock Teacher Training Program. Ramona Lisa is a 2023 Dharma Relief 2 Fellow and a certified Indigenous Focusing Oriented Therapy (IFOT) Practitioner. Ramona Lisa is a Free Spirit who creatively weaves together real life experiences into her Dharma interpretation using Earth based practices, authenticity, kindness, humor, music and joy! When not teaching, she is likely meditating, sitting in long, silent retreat practice or enjoying time with her adult daughter, family, friends and Dharma Buddies! |
Liesl PiottiLiesl has found the Buddha’s teachings to be a source of joy, supporting others in finding refuge.
About Liesl
Liesl Piotti has been meditating since her early 30s at the beginning of motherhood, and has found the Buddha’s teachings to be the greatest refuge through difficulty and in creating great harmony and joy in each person’s life as she supports others. She graduated from Spirit Rock’s LEAP (liberation through emptiness and awareness practices) program, has been trained as a meditation teacher, and is a teacher for Assaya Sangha. Her practice has been informed by the Thai forest tradition, guided by the teachings of Ajahn Chah and especially by Ajahn Sucitto. Assaya Sangha has been a foundation for her personal happiness and strength through great difficulty and a source of great joy. In addition to facilitating groups within the Sangha and mindfulness coaching, Liesl is a professional facilitator and New Ventures West certified coach and has worked with teens to learn mindfulness and to help adults find their way to contentment and happiness through mindfulness. She works with teams and organizations to build trust and overcome conflict. Liesl was a parent in the Spirit Rock family program for many years with her two children, Jessica and Kaela, graduating from the Spirit Rock family meditation retreat at age 15. She is deeply devoted to the family program and the benefit it provides to support families based in the teachings. She has been a group leader for the teens in the family program in recent years. |
Betsy RoseBetsy is a co-creator of Assaya, helping to bring women’s lives and voices to the Buddhist tradition.
About Betsy
Betsy Rose is a co-creator of Assaya Sangha, helping to bring women’s lives, stories and voices to the Buddhist tradition. The joy of bringing women into sangha, with teachings, songs, and storytelling that reflect our true realities, is a longtime dream come true! She is a singer and songwriter who for many years has been a voice within the progressive and spiritual movements of our times. Contemporary cultural visionaries such as Thich Nhat Hanh, Matthew Fox, and Joanna Macy have included her music in their work. She has performed widely throughout the world at festivals, ecological conferences , grassroots women’s organizations, and spiritual gatherings. For twenty years she was a teacher in the Spirit Rock Meditation Center Family Program, helping teach the dharma and build community among all ages, through songs, skits, and ceremonies. Deeply influenced by the engaged Buddhism of peacemaker and poet Thich Nhat Hanh, Betsy’s teachings and life integrate social activism, music, and Dharma, all with a woman centered focus. You can find Betsy’s music on YouTube, iTunes, and on her many CDs at www.betsyrosemusic.org. |