Starting in July 2022, the Tallahassee Chan Center will hold a series of talks by some of Guo Gu’s assistant teachers and timekeepers. The talks will begin with a 30-minute guided meditation, and will be in-person at the Tallahassee Chan Center and streamed on Zoom. Learn more about our line-up of talks and speakers, below.

To review the past recordings on YouTube, please go to: https://www.youtube.com/c/TallahasseeChanCenter/videos

Mon July 11, 7:30-9pm: “Socially Engaged Buddhist Practice for Equity”


Fran Berry

Fran took refuge as a Buddhist in 1980 in Lexington, KY at a meditation center affiliated with Tibetan Rinpoche Choyam Trungpa, founder of Shambala Meditation. She began studying with Guo Gu in January 2010, after attending English meditation instructions and retreats at Dharma Drum Mountain Monastery in Taiwan. Fran took Bodhisattva Precepts in 2010. Fran is currently the President of the Board of Directors of the Tallahassee Chan Center, and has been teaching Beginning Meditation Workshops and other meditation classes since 2015. She has also taught Taiqi (Tai Chi) for 25 years. Fran has been married for 43 years and is a professor of public administration and policy at Florida State University.

 

 

 


Mon July 18, 7:30-9pm: “How the Mind Affects the Body”


Janette Arispe

Janette began studying with Guo Gu in 2011 and took refuge in 2012 at DDM Taiwan. In 2013 she took refuge in the Bodhisattva Precepts. She was asked by Guo Gu to teach the Beginners Meditation Workshop in 2014 and has been teaching most of the Center’s beginner classes and retreats. She has a daughter and has been married for 28 years. She has also been a long time practitioner of Taiqi (Tai Ch’i). Janette is the Treasurer of the Board of Directors of the Tallahassee Chan Center and volunteers for most of the Center’s activities. She is a retired physics professor in Venezuela, and now works for the Department of Health.

 

Mon July 25, 7:30-9pm: “Recognizing Self to Cultivate Selflessness”


Dewaine Rester

Dewaine began studying Buddhism in 1992 and started training with Guo Gu in 2009. In 2010 he trained as a timekeeper at Dharma Drum Retreat Center, and has been teaching the Beginners Meditation Workshop and other programs at the Tallahassee Chan Center since 2014. Dewaine took Bodhisattva Precepts in 2010. He is also a 2nd Degree Black Belt in both Tae kwon do and Pangai Noon Kung Fu. He is a father of three and has been married for 31 years. In his day time job, Dewaine is a self-employed contractor.

 

 


Mon Aug 8, 7:30-9pm: “Practicing Chan while Working”


Sara Khan

Sara started her Buddhist practice in 2014 as a college student. Later, she became heavily involved in volunteering for the Emory University Buddhist Club and other Buddhist organizations in the Atlanta area. She attended her first retreat at the Tallahassee Chan Center in 2018, and feeling motivated to help the center, Sara left her career as a public health informatics consultant to support Guo Gu and the Tallahassee Chan Center in 2020. As Guo Gu’s assistant and full-time staff member for the Tallahassee Chan Center, she helps manage many of the center’s events, and volunteers for Guo Gu’s Dharma Relief effort.