Diana Lion

I was introduced to Buddhist meditation in 1975 by Joseph Goldstein, when he was traveling around after returning from India. That was enough for our small rural west coast Canadian community to start meeting weekly to meditate together. Over time I met other teachers and sanghas, and ended up in the Bay Area of California. I’ve had the amazing good fortune to meet and learn from many teachers in different Buddhist lineages. I also graduated from the Community Dharma Leadership training program through Spirit Rock Meditation Centre, as well as DPP (Dedicated Practitioner program). In the CDL, I was part of a mixed race sub-group which addressed the unconscious ways that racism played out within ourselves (including myself as a white-bodied person) and the larger dharma community. Meanwhile I had co-founded and was directing a national Buddhist Prison Program within the Buddhist Peace Fellowship for 8+ years. This was work which brought together 2 deep stirrings of my heart: social justice work with dharma. When my health forced me to leave and engage in a long healing process, that became a gateway for deepening my understanding of the intersection of dharma/mindfulness with living with chronic pain and illness. I sought training as a Qigong and Daoist teacher by a Grandmaster Yuan Tze – originally for health reasons, and later for life cultivation ones. We co-founded a non-profit for that teacher in North, Central, and South America. During that period I also learned more intimately about the roles trauma plays in our healing and our dharma practice. I come from a tough background, fraught with a lot of early and ongoing trauma. I became trained and certified in offering trauma healing (especially the NARM approach). I find great joy in all the possibilities the dharma offers – for healing ourselves, our communities, and our world.

#608

2021

Diana

Lion

diana.lion@gmail.com

woman

United States

California

Oakland

CA

(510) 848-9305