Kate MundingKate 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 Teacher Council, where she is also a Dharma teacher.
Kate has been a mindfulness educator in schools since 2008. She is the co-founder and primary teacher for Now Children. This work's nexus is mindfulness as a transformative technique that can help steer future generations towards a more conscious and compassionate future. Though this is secular, Kate finds her Dharma practice a necessary foundational support in doing this work. 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. |
The practice I offer is grounded in the tradition of the Buddha. It’s also informed by my life as a mother, a devoted practitioner, and as a conscious member of society concerned for the suffering on our planet.
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Betsy RoseBetsy 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 through songs, skits, and ceremonies. Betsy founded and led the monthly Womansong Circles in the Bay Area which for over 15 years brought the power of song to women’s voices and spirits, locally and nationally. |
Betsy is a social justice activist, and in the tradition of the Civil Rights and other liberation movements, leads folks in song at demonstrations, vigils, and gatherings for peace and justice.
You can find Betsy’s music on YouTube, iTunes, and on her many CDs at www.betsyrosemusic.org. |
Ramona Lisa Ortiz-SmithRamona Lisa Ortiz-Smith, MBA, brings over 25 years of cumulative meditation practice and spiritual studies to her livelihood as a Spiritual Teacher and Leader. Silent Vipassana (insight) meditation retreats, Theravada Buddhist studies and earth-based indigenous spirituality and healing arts are at the heart of her practice. Ramona Lisa is passionate about long silent retreat practice, spiritual studies and sharing wisdom teachings.
Ramona Lisa is a MTI Certified Mindfulness Teacher and Certified Banyan formerly Cloud Sangha Mentor. She is a graduate of Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s Dedicated Practitioners Program (DPP6); and East Bay Meditation Center’s (EBMC) Commit to Dharma Program (C2D3) and Spiritual Teacher and Leadership training. She is also a certified Indigenous Focusing Oriented Therapy (IFOT) Practitioner. |
Using as much integrity, kindness and humor as possible, Ramona Lisa aims to weave her non-traditional entrepreneurial spirit, “black” feminist thought, leadership skills and business mind into her meditation practice, Dharma interpretation and teachings.
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