The Gay Buddhist Forum by GBF

Jonathan Reynolds has trained extensively in the fields of Buddhist meditation, classical yoga, and both Eastern and Western philosophies. His teaching of meditation is influenced by Jack Kornfield, whose wisdom has infused him with compassion, playfulness, and story. Jonathan earned his Masters Degree in Holistic Counseling Psychology from John F. Kennedy University, and his ongoing interests are...

“Gengetsu Junsei” entered formal Buddhist practice in 1993 and received Dharma Transmission in the Soto Zen Buddhist Lineage from Zenkei Blanche Hartman in 2009. Jana led the Street Zendo at 234 Hyde Street, where meditation practices of all kinds are welcome, and was a practice leader of the Gay Buddhist Sangha. Rev. Drakka was a community activist, particularly for the rights of the poor and dis...

A great way to get to know fellow sangha participants, a "Dharma Duo" features two members of GBF sharing their background, what brought them to Buddhism, and how their practice and experience with the dharma has impacted their lives.  ____________  Paul Shepard has been in recovery and concurrently practicing vipassana meditation since 1990. An active member of GBF since 1995, he initia...

Carol Osmer Newhouse has studied Insight Meditation for more than 30 years and has been teaching for 20. She was given Dharma transmission by The Venerable Ruth Denison, student of the great meditation master U Ba Khin of Burma. She has studied with Dr. Rina Sircar of CIIS and Dr Thynn Thynn in Daily Life Practice. She is the founding teacher of the Lesbian Buddhist Sangha in Berkeley, and a Licen...

Prasadachitta was ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order in 2011 and he became the Chair of the San Francisco Buddhist Center in April 2022. He was born on a “back to the land” commune in rural Northern California and that background has inspired his engagement with others in building the SFBC’s rural meditation center called Dharmadhara. He also helped to establish a community of sangha member...

Dorothy Hunt serves as spiritual director of Moon Mountain Sangha and was the founder of the San Francisco Center for Meditation and Psychotherapy. She is the author of Only This!, Leaves from Moon Mountain, and Ending the Search: From Spiritual Ambition to the Heart of Awareness, as well as articles published on nondual wisdom and psychotherapy. She teaches at the request and in the spiritual lin...

John Coleman is a Jesuit priest, an associate pastor at Saint Ignatius Church in San Francisco. He holds a doctorate in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, where he specialized in the sociology of religion. As a Jesuit he is naturally interested in spirituality and its practices. ______________  To support our efforts to share these talks with LGBTQIA audiences worldwide, please...

From his childhood in a devout American Baptist household through his coming out experience and years working with gay non-profits to his recent brief stent working for a Roman Catholic monastic community, Bob will share how he has tried to use these very different life experiences in his pursuit of personal insight and spiritual health. ______________  To support our efforts to share these talks...

Thomas Phillips is the Proprietor of Praxis: Counseling Services, a health and wellness consultancy based in San Francisco, CA. He is a certified therapeutic body worker and a nationally-certified exercise trainer with over 15 years of experience leading wellness retreats for men. Thomas has served as Co-President of the Association of Certified Sexological Bodyworkers (ACSB), as a volunteer massa...

A great way to get to know fellow sangha participants, a "Dharma Duo" features two members of GBF sharing their background, what brought them to Buddhism, and how their practice and experience with the dharma has impacted their lives. ______________  To support our efforts to share these talks with LGBTQIA audiences worldwide, please visit https://gaybuddhist.org/ There you can:    Donat...

Bevan Dufty is the Director of HOPE (Housing Opportunity, Partnerships and Engagement) for the City and County of San Francisco. In 2012, He was elected to serve as a member of the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee. In 2002, he was elected to represent the City's 8th District on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, succeeding Mark Leno. He was re-elected as Supervisor in 20...

Dale Borglum founded and directed the Hanuman Foundation Dying Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the first residential facility in the United States to support conscious dying. Working with Ram Dass and Stephen Levine, Dale helped found the conscious dying movement in the West. He has been the Executive Director of the Living/Dying Project in Santa Fe and since 1986 in the San Francisco Bay Area. He...

Ordained in 2001 into the Western Buddhist Order, Suvarnaprabha (or Suvanna for short) is director of the San Francisco Buddhist Center and a writer. She teaches classes and retreats at the SFBC, workplace wellness and mindfulness based stress reduction at local businesses (stressreductionatwork.com), and occasional meditation classes at the San Francisco county jail. Her humorous advice column, “...

Doug is the Artistic Director of THE NOAH PROJECT, a men's ritual performance group in the San Francisco Bay Area. Through a magical blend of chant, movement, poetry and ritual, Doug weaves a spell that encompasses the estatic, the sacred and the wise fool. He draws from many of the world's religious traditions—Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, Zoroastrian, Christian, Jewish and Sufi—to create a...

Todd Ormsby is a sociologist who studies both gay male culture and religion, and teaches comparative religion at San Jose State University. Most recently he has been researching people who choose to leave Mormonism and transition into some degree of “unbelief.” His deeper interests are in understanding how and why people change their personal religious practices and beliefs. He’s especially curiou...

David Lewis has been following the dharma path for 45 years, has a degree in comparative religious studies, and is a graduate of Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s Dedicated Practitioners Program. He teaches Insight Meditation and enjoys sharing the dharma at several sanghas around the Bay Area. He is a proud long-time member of GBF. ______________  To support our efforts to share these talks with LG...

Larry Robinson has been a practicing Buddhist for 47 years, mostly in the Zen and Vipassana traditions. He is a member of the Occidental Laguna Sangha in Sebastopol, studying with Bruce Fortin in the lineage of Suzuki Roshi. A long-time environmental and social justice activist, he is a retired ecopsychologist and former mayor of Sebastopol. He serves on the board of directors of the Center for Cl...

Jennifer Berezan is a unique blend of singer/songwriter, producer, and activist. Over the course of ten albums, she has developed and explored recurring themes with a rare wisdom. Her lifelong involvement in environmental, women’s, and other justice movements as well as an interest in Buddhism and earth-based spirituality are at the heart of her writing. ______________  To support our efforts to s...

Mark Hoffheimer has been a member of Gay Buddhist Fellowship for eight years. Professionally, he is an urban planner and urban designer facilitating community building, shared understanding and shared vision. He has also been involved with the Billys, a heart-centered community of men committed to fostering community, intimacy and personal exploration. Mark has a particular interest in Right Speec...

“Gengetsu Junsei” entered formal Buddhist practice in 1993 and received Dharma Transmission in the Soto Zen Buddhist Lineage from Zenkei Blanche Hartman in 2009. Jana led the Street Zendo at 234 Hyde Street, where meditation practices of all kinds are welcome, and was a practice leader of the Gay Buddhist Sangha. Rev. Drakka was a community activist, particularly for the rights of the poor and dis...

Gary Ost is a retired Episcopal priest living in San Francisco. He began his study of the dharma in 2008, starting with the Shambhala school of Tibetan Buddhism. Since then he has practiced daily samatha-vipassana meditation. He has declared his aspiration to help Christians understand Buddhism better and Buddhists to understand Christianity better. Gary has taken informal bodhisattva vows, and is...

In this talk, Heather shares the teaching of The Two Truths, the relative and absolute, or as she calls them, personal truth and universal truth.  ____________  Heather Sundberg began teaching meditation in 1999. She has completed the four-year Spirit Rock’s Insight Meditation Society Teacher Training. Beginning her own meditation practice in her late teens, for 20+ years, Heather has studied with...

From his childhood in a devout American Baptist household through his coming out experience and years working with gay non-profits to his recent brief stent working for a Roman Catholic monastic community, Bob will share how he has tried to use these very different life experiences in his pursuit of personal insight and spiritual health. ______________  To support our efforts to share these talks...

Susan Moon is a writer, editor, and lay teacher in the Soto Zen tradition. She leads Buddhist retreats and teaches writing workshops in the U.S. and abroad. Her books include "This Is Getting Old: Zen Thoughts on Aging with Humor and Dignity," "The Hidden Lamp: Stories from 25 Centuries of Awakened Women," with co-editor Florence Caplow, and most recently, "What Is Zen? Pl...

David Lewis has been following the dharma path for 45 years, has a degree in comparative religious studies, and is a graduate of Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s Dedicated Practitioners Program. He teaches Insight Meditation and enjoys sharing the dharma at several sanghas around the Bay Area. He is a proud long-time member of GBF. ______________  To support our efforts to share these talks with LG...