Apr 27, 2020
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/.