ABOUT THE TEACHERS IN BODH GAYA AND SARNATH

Teachers in Bodh Gaya and Sarnath may change from year to year.

Jaya Ashmore immersed herself in meditation and in India in 1986 and came to Bodh Gaya in 1987. She studied religion and art at Harvard University. She is based in Lucknow, India, where she spent over six years with Poonja-ji, a teacher of non-duality. She facilitates retreats in different parts of India and elsewhere in the world since 1999.
www.opendharma.org

Christopher Titmuss A former Buddhist monk in Thailand and India, Christopher teaches Awakening and Insight Meditation around the world. He has been teaching annually the Bodh Gaya retreats since 1975. He is the founder and director of the Dharma Facilitators Programme. He gives retreats, participates in Yatras (pilgrimages) and facilitates Dharma gatherings. A senior Dharma teacher in the West, he is the author of numerous books books including Light on Enlightenment and Transforming Our Terror and also editor of the quarterly Dharma e-Newsletter. Christopher is the co-founder of Gaia House, Devon, and lives in Totnes, Devon, England.
www.insightmeditation.org

Radha Nicholson teaches the cultivation of wisdom and compassion through insight. Her teachings focus on inquiry and non-duality. Radha first met Christopher in India in 1975 where she participated in extended retreats. She was one of the founding members of the Australian community, Bodhi Farm. She is a guiding teacher for Bay Insight, Byron Bay and is a member of the Insight Teachers Circle Australia. She is a Registered Psychologist with a private practice in Bangalow, Australia. Radha teaches retreats in Australia. She also teaches with Christopher in Australia and in Sarnath, India. She is the mother of four children and three grandchildren. www.dharma.org.au

Gemma Polo Pujol, was born in Barcelona, Spain in 1976. Inspired by St. Francis of Assisi, she started meditating on her own, at the age of 11. Then starting in 1992, she practiced Zen intensively for ten years. During this time, she was also a contemplative nun for two years and a Catholic activist in Latin America. While working as an organic beekeeper, she studied Agriculture, International Development and Religious Sciences. Based in India since 2002, she has been offering retreats there and around the world mainly with Open Dharma.


Ajay Pal Singh was born in a small village near Lucknow, India in 1957. After finishing degrees in Sanskrit, Law, Economics and Social Work, as well as a diploma in Yoga, he gave himself to spiritual practice at the age of 29. Four years later, he quietly began to be a spiritual friend to many. Beginning in Lucknow, where Ajay and Jaya first became friends, they started to offer the retreats that evolved into Open Dharma.

Zohar Lavie

Zohar has been practicing meditation in different traditions since 1995. This journey has taken her from the meditation cushion into exploring further ways of expressing truth and love and in 2004 she co-founded SanghaSeva. She now spends most of her time dreaming up and facilitating retreats that offer service as a spiritual path around the world. Since 2006 she has been teaching on silent retreats and dharma gatherings in India, Europe and Israel.

Also other teachers participate in the Sarnath programme every year.

Dharma teachers in Sarnath 2007
From left to right: Nathan from England, Kailash from Singapore, Zohar from Israel, Nicole from Germany, Radha from Australia, Christopher from England, Jaya from US/India