254 Buddhist Perspectives on Death, Afterlife and the Pandemic with Ji Hyang Padma, PhD

Ji Hyang Padma has combined an academic career with her vocation as a spiritual teacher. Ji Hyang currently serves as the Director of the Comparative Religion and Philosophy Program at California Institute for Human Science. For over a decade she served as Director of Spirituality & Education as well as Buddhist chaplain at Wellesley College. She has served Omega Institute for sixteen years as the meditation teacher in residence. Additionally, she has served as a meditation teacher at Harvard University, Boston University, Babson College, and Esalen Institute.

Ji Hyang Padma has done intensive Zen training and teaching in Asia and North America for 20 years. She has completed several 90-day intensive retreats in Korea and North America. Ji Hyang has also served as Director and Abbot of Cambridge Zen Center, one of the largest Zen Centers in the country. She co-leads the North County Zen Circle.

Ji Hyang is also a shamanic practitioner: she is a mesa carrier in the Andean lineage, and performs ceremonies and facilitates group healing work while at Omega. She has walked this path for ten years.

Ji Hyang Padma studied issues of intercultural education, diversity and inclusion through Lesley University’s Counseling & Psychology program. At Wellesley College, she served as a chaplain within the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life and Intercultural Education, and taught programs on conflict resolution and intercultural education-- including the launch of its Campus-Wide Diversity Initiative—which helped to create a more resilient culture within its diverse campus.

Ji Hyang holds a doctorate in psychology from Sofia University. Her dissertation research focused on consciousness & healing. Ji Hyang’s recent writing has been published in Our Neighbor's Faith: Stories of Interfaith Encounters and Arts of Contemplative Care: Pioneering Voices in Buddhist Chaplaincy and Pastoral Work. Her first book, Zen Practices for Transformative Times, was released by Quest Books in 2013.

Ji Hyang also is a professional astrologer: her intuitive astrology illuminates the journey of the soul so that we can live our life to its fullest potential.

More information about her work can be found here: http://www.natural-wisdom.org/ or here: http://www.mountainpath.org/.