Vipassana Hawai'i Guest Teachers

Jake Davis
Jake was first exposed to mindfulness meditation as a teenager, at the Insight Meditation Society, USA. In addition to extended periods on intensive retreat, he has spent multiple years as a monk under the guidance of Sayadaw U Pandita of Burma, and worked for over a decade as an interpreter for Burmese meditation masters. His studies included training in reading the early Pali Buddhist dialogues, as well as some exposure to the commentarial literature. Jake holds an M.A. in Philosophy from the University of Hawai'i, and is currently a doctoral candidate in Philosophy and Cognitive Science at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. In addition to Vipassana Hawai'i, Jake is visiting faculty at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, lecturer in Philosophy at City College of New York, and a founding member of the Metro-Area Research Group on Awareness and Meditation(MARGAM).

Gregory Pai, Ph.D.
Gregory Pai has practiced meditation since the mid-seventies in the Tibetan, Zen, and Vipassana (Insight Meditation) traditions. His teachers include Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Robert Aitken Roshi, Sayadaws U Pandita, U Silananda, U Lakkhana, U Kundala, and Dr. Thynn Thynn, as well as with Steve Smith, Michele McDonald and Jon Kabat-Zinn. He was trained as a Community Dharma Leader at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and currently teaches a public meditation class at Broken Ridge Korean Temple, and in several programs around Oahu.

Pat Masters
Pat has over 40 years of meditation experience in Vipassana, Zen, and Tantric forms of Buddhism. She has a Masters Degree in Buddhist Studies form UCLA and has taught Buddhist Studies in India and Japan for almost twenty years. She ordained as a Buddhist nun in Bodh Gaya in the Burmese tradition under Sayadaw U. Nyaneinda, and her sangha is in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sagaing Hills and Rangoon, Burma.

Greg Scharf
Greg Scharf has been meditating since 1992. He has studied with a variety of teachers both in Asia and the West, and trained as a Buddhist monk in Burma. He is particularly interested in the role of service in the path of awakening. Greg has been teaching residential retreats since 2007.

Andrea Fella
Andrea Fella has been practicing Insight Meditation since 1996, and began teaching meditation classes in 2003. She is particularly drawn to intensive retreat practice, and has done a number of long retreats, both in the U.S. and Burma. During one long practice period in Burma, she ordained as a nun with Sayadaw U Janeka. Andrea has been in teacher training with Jack Kornfield and Gil Fronsdal, and begins a full teaching schedule in 2010 and has already taught several successful householder retreats in California and Hawai'i.

Daw Agganyani
Samaneri Daw Agganyani is an experienced Abhidhamma teacher and meditation practitioner. A German Theravada nun and student of Sayadaw Dr. U Nandamala, founder of the Dhammavijjalaya Centre for Buddhist Studies in Burma, Daw Agganyani teaches Abhidhamma studies in Europe in a practical but traditional way. She utilizes charts and translations in German and English for easy understanding by students in the West and direct application in daily life and Vipassana meditation