Insight PV Teachers
Rebecca Bradshaw is the Guiding Teacher at Insight PV. She has been practicing Vipassana meditation since 1983 in the United States and Myanmar (Burma) and teaching since 1993. She completed her dharma teacher training at Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, where she is part of the three month retreat teacher team and leads retreats for teens and young adults. She also teaches at other locations in the United States and abroad, including a Spanish language retreat in Puerto Rico. Rebecca has a master's degree in Counseling Psychology, is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), and works as a psychotherapist with meditators interested in supplementing their meditation practice with psychotherapeutic work. Her teaching explores the convergence of love and wisdom. For Rebecca's 2012 Teaching Schedule, click here.
Jean Esther has been training in formal meditation since 1975. In 1982, she began training intensively in Insight (Vipassana) Meditation at Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA with primary teachers Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg and Michele McDonald and has been teaching regularly in that tradition since 2001. Jean has spent the last 30 years as a psychotherapist integrating psychological inquiry with spiritual understanding. In addition to the Buddha’s teachings, her work has been informed by over 20 years of training with Jungian analyst Marion Woodman on re-awakening consciousness through the experience of the body. Jean has a private psychotherapy practice in Northampton, MA, and is a senior Teacher at Insight Meditation Center of Pioneer Valley. She is also a Visiting Teacher at Insight Meditation Society and an adjunct visiting faculty at Smith College School for Social Work.
Mark Hart has practiced Insight Meditation since 1981, studying primarily at Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA. Since 2000 has also studied with teachers of non-dual awareness, including Adyashanti, and has incorporated that into his teaching. He has taught Insight Meditation since 1987 and is founder and guiding teacher of the Bodhisãra Dharma Community in the Amherst area. He holds a Masters of Counseling degree and Ph.D. in theology, has a practice of psychotherapy in Amherst, and is adjunct religious advisor to Buddhist students at Amherst College. To learn more about Mark's Teaching Schedule, visit Bodhisara Dharma Community.
Kim Weeber started practicing meditation in 1987 in the yoga tradition, and studied Zen in Denver with Danan Henry Roshi for 8 years. She started practicing Vipassana in 1997 with Bhante Gunaratana, and studied the teaching of the Dharma with Jacqueline Mandell, one of the early American Vipassana teachers. She has completed the Community Dharma Leader training program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California. Her teaching experience includes meditation instruction at a prison in Ohio for 2 years, and leading local sittings at Insight PV.
Adi Bemak has been practicing Insight Meditation for 30 years. She has been teaching Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) since 1993, and is at present an alternate teacher at the Center for Mindfulness at UMass Medical School. Adi has a mindfulness-based psychotherapy practice in Northampton and Amherst, and is a Community Dharma Leader, trained at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California. Adi is the co-Buddhist Advisor at Mt. Holyoke College (along with Peggy Gillespie).
Chas DiCapua started meditating in 1989 in the Soto Zen tradition. He sat his first Insight Meditation retreat in 1995 at Insight Meditation Society (IMS) in Barre, MA and has called IMS home ever since. He has practiced in both the Mahasi Style and the Thai Forest Tradition as taught by Ajahn Sumedo and others. Chas has served as Resident Teacher at IMS since 2003. Click here for Chas's 2011 Weekly Sitting Group and Retreat Schedule.
Peggy Gillespie was the original Assistant Director of the UMass Medical Center's Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program in Worcester. She is a Community Dharma Leader, trained at Spirit Rock, and teaches meditation locally, including at high schools and colleges. Peggy is the co-Buddhist Advisor at Mt. Holyoke College (along with Adi Bemak).
Manny Mansbach is a graduate of Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s Dedicated Practitioner Program and its Community Dharma Leader Program, and is the former Director of the Center for Somatic Psychotherapy in San Francisco. His current passion is teaching and facilitating group practice integrating wise speech teachings of the Buddha and western-based practices of skillful communication.
