About
An American living in the UK since 2005, Buddhist practice has changed my life. The framework of ethics ~ concentration ~ wisdom (sīla ~ samādhi ~ pañña) has guided me for over 20 years. Working with Nonviolent Communication and Right Speech, quieting the mind in meditation, and insight practice have created an unshakable confidence in the foundational role of ethical conduct and the liberating potential of practice.
Influences are many and include Mahāyāna and Theravāda Buddhism, Nonviolent Communication, music, Taiji and Qigong, and study of Chinese, Pāli and Sanskrit. My main teacher is Leigh Brasington, who is guiding me in learning to teach the jhānas. Other very important influences are Ayya Khema, Bhikkhu Anālayo, Heng Sure, as well as Marshall Rosenberg, Sri M, grandma, Nancy Gallop, and Nunuk.
I’m happy to share what I’ve learned when requested and am also happy to receive dana, which enables me to continue this work. Please use the information on the ‘Contact’ page to get in touch if you’d like to set up an individual session, something for your sangha, or a bespoke practice day or retreat.
Current practice
Personal practice includes working with concentration & insight, integrating insights into everyday life, with a special focus on Right Speech. An active student of NeiGong (内功, a form of Qigong) and Taiji (太极拳), these inform my meditation practice. I’m also exploring Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras, the Upanishads, and learning spoken Sanskrit.
Sangha activities include leading: Friends of Early Buddhist Teachings’ monthly sutta study, a local Mindfulness group, a local jhāna sangha, an online Early Buddhist Scottish Sangha, and a Sīlavā sangha. I co-facilitate an online jhāna sangha, a monthly Sakyadhita UK zoom room, participate in a chronic pain sangha and Dhamma book group.
Major surgery in 2022 and a 2-year recovery period have deepened my understanding of working skillfully with uncertainty, pain (physical, both short-term and chronic), and loss.
Pāli & Sanskrit Study
Sunday Pāli Reading Group, April 2023 – present
Pāli Reading Group, with John Kelly — Jan 2022-present (weekly)
Pāli 103, with Aleix Ruiz-Falques, Yogic Studies, Jan-Apr 2023
Pāli, with James Whelan, The Buddhist Society, London, Sep-Dec 2022
University of South Wales
Pāli Summer School, with Richard Gombrich — 25 Aug-6 Sep 2014
Sanskrit Pravesh (प्रवेश:), Bharati UK, Oct-Mar 2023-2024
Sanskrit Conversation 2 (सम्भाषण), Bharati UK, Oct-Nov 2023
Sanskrit Conversation 1 Review, Bharati UK, Sep-Oct 2023
Sanskrit 101, with Antonia Ruppel, Yogic Studies, May-Jul 2023
Sanskrit Conversation I, Samskritam Bharati UK, May-Sep 2023
Sanskrit, with James Whelan, The Buddhist Society, Sep-Dec 2022
My Buddhist journey (highlights)
I look to Early Buddhist teachings rather than identifying as Theravāda or Mahāyāna, and in 2017 founded the Scottish charity Friends of Early Buddhist Teachings.
2015 — Began jhāna practice with Leigh Brasington. Leigh’s talks introduced Pande’s book, Studies in the Origins of Buddhism, leading to increasing interest in and focus on early material.
2014 — Began leading a local mindfulness and meditation group and eco-sangha in Forres, Scotland.
2013 — Attended Amma Thanasanti’s Women’s Facilitators Group, a Dhamma teaching training for women.
2000 — began practice at Abhayagiri (Theravāda Forest Sangha) in
Redwood Valley. Practice with the Theravāda Forest Sangha continued
until 2009.
1999 — began practice at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (Chinese Mahāyāna tradition) in California.
Education & experience
Buddhist — Over twenty years of practice; Dhamma facilitator training with Amma Thanasanti; short-term trainings with Akincano, Christina Feldman, Jack Kornfield, and Tara Brach. M.A. (distinction) in Buddhist Studies from the University of South Wales, dissertation on the Mahā-Maṅgala Sutta.
Forestry — this was my primary livelihood for years. M.S. in Natural Resources- Forestry (Humboldt State University), prepared forestry management plans as a certified SmartWood resources manager, auditor for SmartWood in the US and China, and for many years wrote a weekly newspaper and radio column,Tree Tips & Forest Facts. Former Executive Director of the Northern California Society of American Foresters.
Nonviolent Communication — studied with Marshall Rosenberg and others, over a decade of fortnightly empathy calls, and years of teaching Compassionate Communication. Eventually I created Kindful Communication, a blend of NVC with Right Speech and mindfulness.
Music — self-taught fingerstyle guitarist & lutenist (baroque lute), and from 1999-2005 benefiited from a mentor relationship with acoustic guitar virtuoso Alex de Grassi and regular input from friend and fingerstyle guitar master John Renbourn.
Interfaith activities
When living near Edinburgh, Scotland (2005-2011) founded and served as editor for the ‘Sangha Without Boundaries’ newsletter, as well as the Buddhist Representative to both the Scottish Interfaith Council as well as the Edinburgh Interfaith Association. Interfaith work continued with co-founding and running Interfaith Moray, 2015-2018.
Charitable activites
A partial list of charitable activities includes:
* chair & webmaster, Sakyadhita UK (2020- present)
* founding trustee, Executive Director and webmaster, Friends of Early Buddhist Teachings (2017–present)
* Pet Bereavement telephone support volunteer, Blue Cross, (2017–2019)
* trustee & treasurer, Mintuim Hermitage Trust (2012–2016)
* director, Third Sector Interface Moray (2013–2015)
* director, Transition Town Forres (2012-2014) – fundraised for and established the Healthy Living Centre, EV charging stations, and community kitchen
* co-founder & lead facilitator, Interfaith Moray
* Chair, Northern California Society of American Foresters
Personal
A member of the Society of Authors, the UK Association for Buddhist Studies, and Friends of Early Buddhist Teachings, I enjoy qigong, woodland walks, collies, fingerstyle guitar, and languages, especially Pāli and Chinese. I lived and worked in China, 1985–1986 (Chongqing, PRC and Taiwan) and 1991 (Beijing, Linan, near Hangzhou).
My 'Why'
My aspiration is clear: waking up, of both myself and others. The ‘why’ of all my work is to support this aspiration. This is primarily through research, practice, and sharing of primarily Early Buddhist Teachings (EBTs).
Research — This focuses on trying to identify which texts are likely early, and also on understanding them, looking at texts from the Pāli Canon as well as the Chinese Āgamas. I delve into the Pāli and its Sanskrit roots, and occasionally into Chinese, to understand nuances or alternative translations.
Practice — My personal practice includes concentration (jhānas as described in the suttas as well as mindfulness of breathing), insight, and ethics. Right Speech is of particular interest as I spent years teaching Compassionate Communication (aka Nonviolent Communication). Working with chornic pain is also a special interest, as my practice expanded when coping with the runup, experience of, and ongoing after-effects of major back surgery.
Sharing — It took fifteen years of Buddhist practice before the fog started to lift, and my hope is that through sharing key resources, your path or practice might become a little clearer, a little more quickly. I share knowledge, skills, and resources on this website as well as the site of the charity, Friends of Early Buddhist Teachings (www.FriendsofEBT.net).