Find a Reputable Teacher
Who Were My Teachers?
Some of you might be interested to know who my teachers are. If so, I’ll start by sharing a page from the Chan Meditation Center in Queens, New York City that gives a little biographical information about Chan Master Sheng Yen, who I followed from 1984 until his death in 2008.
My wife, Laura Nasatir, is currently at a 14 day Silent Illumination retreat at the Dharma Drum Retreat Center in Pine Bush, New York. I have fond memories of the beautiful 200+ acre retreat center where I did many ten day retreats over the years.
Master Sheng Yen was actually my second teacher. I originally learned to meditate by a teacher trained by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. I attended Maharishi International University from 1978 to 1983, when I moved to Taiwan to study Mandarin Chinese.
After I met Master Sheng Yen in 1984, and attended one of his early retreats in 1985, I became a student of Master Sheng Yen. He was the most present person I had ever met.
I'll share an interesting story to illustrate the kind of person Master Sheng Yen was. In the mid-80's, I was teaching English in Taipei as a means to continue my Mandarin studies, peddling from class to class on an old 10 speed bike. When peddling up Zhongshan North Road to my next class, I was side swiped by a city bus that veered suddenly to pick up people at a stop. I was knocked off my bike and found myself under the moving bus, double rear tires coming at me. I rolled and barely missed becoming a permanent part of Taiwan. The next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital, the left side of my face, arm and knee scraped off. Fortunately, I had Master Sheng Yen's name card in my wallet and the hospital notified him that I had been in an accident.
Master Sheng Yen paid the hospital bill, gave me a studio apartment near the Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies in Beitou, Taiwan, north of Taipei, and a job teaching his students there. I ate lunch with him and the Buddhist nuns that ran the institute when he was in Taiwan (he alternated spending three months in Taiwan and three months in New York teaching Chan (Zen) and lecturing world-wide). I have never met a more genuine, down-to-earth, kind-hearted person before or since. Master Sheng Yen was the real deal. I could share many stories.
A third teacher that had a profound influence on me I met when I was living in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where I had moved from San Francisco to help my aging mother in 2000. Fort Wayne, although a very right of center town in a conservative state, had a reputation for accepting refugees, first from Vietnam at the end of the war, and then from Burma (Myanmar) during periods of political upheaval back then. This was back when Republican Christians still acted like followers of Jesus. At one time, Fort Wayne had the largest populations of Burmese people outside of Burma.
I met the young abbot of a local monastery, Ashin Vishakana, who unfortunately has since passed away during the COVID pandemic, and he was teaching me Vipassana meditation. He introduced me to a famous teacher, known as Ven. Chanmyay Saydaw, who was hosting a three week retreat at the Chanmyay Sattipattana Vihara in Springfield, Illinois. I had the opportunity to become a "temporary" monk before the retreat began to learn what it is to follow the over 200 precepts monks must follow. I had been to several Chan retreats by that time, but this Vipassana retreat, and specifically, Ven. Chanmyay's daily instructions, was tremendously helpful in directly experiencing what is meant by "dukha", impermanence and "no-self" in Theravada Buddhism.
Two other teachers that have had a strong influence through the years are the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hahn. I never had the good fortune to meet Thich Nhat Hahn in person, but his writings and lectures available on Youtube are tremendously helpful. I did attend a three day lecture by the Dalai Lama at the University of Indiana on the Tibetan classic, Atisha's Lamp and another lecture he gave in Chicago.
My current teacher is Orgyen Chowang Rinpoche of the Pristine Mind Foundation in Sonoma County California. My wife and I were so fortunate to travel with him to Nepal and Bhutan in 2025 and have attended multiple retreats with him, including the last two Dzongchen meditation retreats he offerred, which require extensive "Ngöndro" preparation to qualify for attending. I highly recommend Orgyen Chowang Rinpoche's book, Our Pristine Mind.
My wife and I also are very fond of Anam Thubten of Dharmata Foundation, who teaches in Richmond, California and hope to attend an upcoming retreat with him.
I can't recommend enough that you find a good teacher that you can trust. A teacher can save you years (lifetimes?) of time on the path to awakening. My recommendation is to stick with traditional teachers such as Chan Master Shengyen, Ven. Chanmyay. Unfortunately, Master Sheng Yen has passed and Ven. Chanmyay is very old and in poor health now. One of the reputable Tibetan teachers like Orgyen Chowang Rinpoche can greatly help your practice. His retreats are a attended by students from all over the U.S. and Canada.
If you are in the Amador County area, come and join us on Sundays in Ione, California for group meditation practice! Meditating with a group of friends is also a great way to improve your practice!
Yours in the Dharma
Barry Wadsworth
