Treading the Path to Enlightenment

John Baker has been an active student and teacher of Buddhism for more than 54 years. A close disciple of Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, he co-founded Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, serving as its CEO for the first three years of its existence and teaching Buddhism there for five. He also co-founded and co-directed the Karma Dzong Meditation Center in Boulder. He is the co-editor of Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism and The Myth of Freedom and the author of numerous articles. After 23 years in private business, he retired in 2000. He has continued to teach Buddhist thought and meditation practice throughout North America, delivering lectures, weekend programs, and multi-month courses. Today he is a senior teacher in the North American Buddhist community and at the Path of Awakening Buddhist Center. He has led month-long meditation programs at Shambhala Mountain Center and Karme Chöling Meditation Center and has taught at the Vajradhatu Seminary. John lives again in Boulder, Colorado and with his partner, Valerie Robin.

Barry Cunningham was introduced to Buddhist study and practice at the New York Shambhala Center in 1995. Inspired by the teachings of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Tibetan Buddhism in general, he completed all of the Shambhala training levels in New York before moving to Westchester in 1999. He became involved with the Westchester Buddhist Center shortly after its founding in 2009 and participated in every Buddhist study course offered there, which included meditation instructor and teacher training programs. Subsequently, Barry was approved to teach meditation and Buddhist doctrine. Experience in group and solitary retreats fueled Barry’s inspiration to convey the teachings which he has done since 2015, providing individual meditation instruction, dharma talks in a variety of settings, and co-teaching with John Baker for Westchester Buddhist Center and now Path of Awakening Buddhist Center. Barry lives in Irvington NY. Barry is currently completing his ngöndro, the Vajrayana "preliminary" practices.

Michael Kern became a student of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1978, receiving the Vajrayogini abhisheka in 1985, and is currently a student of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche. He graduated in 1980 from Naropa University with an M.A. in Buddhist and Western Psychology and earned a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Colorado in 1986. He taught Child Development in the Naropa University program and worked for many years with children, adolescents and families in different clinical settings.

Authorized as a meditation instructor in 1982, he has staffed and taught in a variety of programs both at land centers and local Shambhala centers. Since retiring in 2018, he has pursued Buddhist study every summer at Nitartha Institute and has attended pilgrimages to Bhutan and India. He has been a co-teacher with Path of Awakening for the past few years and currently lives in Connecticut.