2025 Buddhist Action to Feed the Hungry Annual Gathering Dharma Speakers

Venerable Thubten Chodron is an American Buddhist nun and the founder and abbess of Sravasti Abbey, a Buddhist monastery in Newport, Washington, USA. Ordained in 1977, she is a student of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan teachers. She teaches worldwide and is known for her practical and humorous explanations of how to apply Buddhist teachings in daily life, and is involved in prison outreach and interfaith dialogue. She has published many books on Buddhist philosophy and meditation, and assisted His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the writing and publication of The Library of Wisdom and Compassion, a ten-volume series of teachings on the Buddhist path. Visit thubtenchodron.org for a media library of her teachings, and sravastiabbey.org to learn more about the Abbey.

BGR Sangha Council member Dhammadīpā is the founder and Guiding Teacher of Dassanāya Buddhist Community in Alexandria, Virginia. She has been practicing Buddhism since 1987 and she was ordained in 2007. Dhammadīpā has received Dharma Transmission in the tradition of Soto Zen, and practiced for five years as a nun in the Theravāda tradition. In addition to English, she teaches in Spanish, an expression of her Latin heritage. She enjoys watercolor painting and spending time with her adult daughter.

BGR Board member and Sangha Council member Bhikshu Jin Chuan was born in New Jersey and grew up in the Bay Area. He discovered his calling to monastic life during his high school years. In 2005, he joined the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, where he now serves as both chaplain and assistant professor at Dharma Realm Buddhist University. Together with Bhikshu Jin Wei, he is helping establish Redwood Vihara, a forest monastery in Boulder Creek, California.

BGR Sangha Council member Bhikshu Jin Wei began his spiritual journey in his native Poland, where he started practicing meditation in 1999. His path led him to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in 2013 to pursue monastic training. Currently, he serves as a lecturer in DRBU Extension while dedicating himself to the development of Redwood Vihara.

David R. Loy is a professor, writer, and Zen teacher in the Sanbo Zen tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism. He is a prolific author, whose essays and books have been translated into many languages. His articles appear regularly in the pages of major journals such as Tikkun and Buddhist magazines including Tricycle, Lion’s Roar, and Buddhadharma, as well as in a variety of scholarly journals. Many of his writings, as well as audio and video talks and interviews, are available on the web. He is on the advisory boards of Buddhist Global Relief, the Clear View Project, Zen Peacemakers, and the Ernest Becker Foundation. David is one of the founding members of the new Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center, near Boulder, Colorado.