Shinzen Young became fascinated with Asian culture while a teenager in Los Angeles. Later he enrolled in the Ph.D. program in Buddhist Studies at the University of Wisconsin.

Eventually, he went to Asia and did extensive training in each of the three major Buddhist meditative traditions: Vajrayana, Zen and Vipassana.

Upon returning to the United States, his intellectual interests shifted to the burgeoning dialogue between Eastern internal science and Western technological science. In recognition of his original contributions to that dialogue, the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology has awarded him an honorary doctorate.

Shinzen's innovative techniques for pain management derived from two sources: The first is his personal experience dealing with discomfort during intense periods of meditation in Asia, and during shamanic ceremonies with tribal cultures. The second is some three decades of experience in coaching people through a wide spectrum of chronic and acute pain challenges.

Shinzen leads meditation retreats in the mindfulness tradition throughout North America, and has helped establish several centers and programs.

Maria Gonzalez has been meditating for over 15 years. She has been studying with Shinzen Young since early 2006. She teaches Mindfulness in organizations as well as public classes, and does one-on-one coaching with individuals who wish to begin meditating as well as those with experience who wish to deepen their practice. She is also Vice Chair and a founding member of the Global Business & Economic Roundtable on Addictions & Mental Health.

In her professional life, Maria is President of Argonauta Strategic Alliances Consulting Inc., a global consulting business in the area of strategic alliances, business strategy and executive coaching. Prior to creating Argonauta, she held executive positions with a major financial institution and taught Corporate Strategy and Organization Development at McGill University in the Faculty of Management, as well as their Executive Institute. Maria has published a number of articles in her field and is a frequent speaker at conferences around the world.

She is an Alma Mater Fellow and holds B.Com. and MBA degrees from McGill University. 

She does considerable philanthropic work and has served on numerous boards. Most recently she has served as Chair of the McGill University MBA Advisory Board, a member of the McGill Faculty Advisory Board, and Chair of the Governance Committee for the Board of the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine. She has also served on the Government of Ontario System Design & Integration Sub-Committee of the Mental Health Implementation Task Force; and as a member of the Corporate Advisory Board for the Harvard Medical School – MacArthur Foundation study on depression and workplace performance.

Stephanie Nash has a psychology degree from Duke University and a Masters from Yale University. She teaches meditation in Santa Monica and has been a facilitator with VSI/Shinzen for over 8 years (and recorded a good deal of his talks & guided meditations during that time).
 
Stephanie sometimes leads the one-day meditation retreats VSI offers at the Santa Monica Zen Center each month (on the 4th Saturday) in addition to her private classes & workshops (which work with issues like: stress, spinning mind, pain, energy/pleasure, the craft of acting, and difficult relationships with food – i.e. Mindful Eating, among others.)  Steph also offers Introduction to Meditation classes and monthly "support your practice" classes.
 
Stephanie has been interviewed 3 times on KPFK (90.7 FM) by Roy of Hollywood, who has also played on-air humorous poems she has written about Shinzen’s teachings – and she’s performed “A White Woman on the Red Road” (her show about her vision quest experience) live on KPFK (with Roy playing the sound effects. Good times.)
 
Steph wrote the study-guide that accompanies Shinzen Young’s “Talks on Teaching” meditation tape series (for training meditation teachers) as well as the “Posture for Meditation” (aka “Posture-Pedia") article that is on Shinzen’s site (and hers:  www.SantaMonicaMeditation.com.)

Steph is presently working on a book that will hopefully lead people to Shinzen’s teachings.

Soryu Forall Scott - I left home to train at a Japanese Buddhist monastery when I was 19. At the time, I was overcome by confusion and despair regarding the suffering people create, and I wanted to face it directly. After searching for a teacher for some time, I found a true Zen Master, Shodo Harada Roshi, with whom I was fortunate enough to train for four years, and under whom I was ordained. I also trained, and served as head monk, at Sariputta Boudh Vihar, an Ambedkarite monastery in southern India, where I worked for the rights of those born into the lower castes and helped to raise thirty boys with the understanding that we are all inconceivably valuable, regardless of family circumstances. I further trained at Hemis Gompa, a Kagyud Tibetan monastery in the far north of India, and Xue Feng Si, an ancient Ch'an monastery in eastern China. Since returning to the US, I have had the honor of participating in several Native American ceremonies, including the Sun Dance and a cycle of vision quests. I have led retreats and guided individuals in the Rinzai Zen style and in the 5 Ways. My greatest passion, other than using Buddhism to resolve the suffering of all living things, is using economics to resolve environmental problems. It is a blessing for me to have the chance to work with Shinzen Young on his Home Practice Program.