David R. Loy is especially interested in the conversation between Buddhism and modernity. His books include A New Buddhist Path, Ecodharma: Buddhist teachings for the Ecological Crisis, Nonduality, Lack and Transcendance, A Buddhist History of the West, The Great Awakening, Money Sex War Karma and The World Is Made of Stories. A Zen practitioner for many years, he is qualified as a teacher in the Sanbo Zen tradition.
Doug McGill founded the Rochester Meditation Center in 2004 and is the main teacher there. He gives weekly dharma talks, teaches introductory meditation, and has practiced insight meditation since the late 1980s. He publishes a daily email practice reminder called The Daily Tejaniya, and is a student of the Non-Dual teacher, Rupert Spira. He is a former reporter for The New York Times; bureau chief for Bloomberg News in Tokyo, London and Hong Kong; and in 2006 published “Here: A Global Citizen’s Journey,” a book about immigrants living in Southeast Minnesota.
Until 2015, Emil enjoyed careers advocating for unions as a labor law attorney and counseling in the field of substance abuse, including several years for Hazelden Foundation. Emil also taught as an adjunct associate professor at the Hazelden Graduate School of Addiction Studies. He began attending Common Ground and his meditation practice in 2004 as part of his ongoing recovery from addiction. Since then he has attended numerous residential retreats in the Midwest and a month long retreat at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Emil regularly teaches at Common Ground’s Mindfulness, Recovery and the 12 Steps Group and is one of the facilitators of a mindfulness meditation group at Stillwater Correctional Facility. Emil has also been a guest teacher and led workshops at Common Ground.
Franz Moeckl has practiced and studied insight meditation, Tai Chi and Qigong for more than 25 years, including time as a Buddhist monk in Thailand. He now teaches in the US, Europe and Asia.
