Viveka

Viveka (she/they) was ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order in 1997 and is based at the San Francisco Buddhist Center where she was chair for 16 years until 2016.

Currently Viveka is President of the New York and Mexico City Triratna Buddhist Centers. Viveka teaches Buddhism and meditation internationally with a focus on retreats.

Viveka was a co-founder of Triratna’s Total Immersion longer meditation retreats and has led many month-long retreats to support the deepening of meditation encompassing the interplay of samatha (stability) and vipashyana (insight). Viveka’s personal practice and teaching has depth in early Buddhist mindfulness approaches taught in the Anapanasati and Satipatthana Suttas as well as later Vajrayana non-dual nature of mind meditation and liberating energy approaches, especially the teaching lineages handed down through Milarepa (Mahamudra) and Padmasambhava. Viveka has been a leader in encouraging the development of effective, embodied, emotionally intelligent and creative meditation teaching and practice in Triratna.

In 2022 they trained as a somatic coach and is enjoying how that is enriching their Dharma teaching. Their teaching is healing and trauma informed and creates an atmosphere of welcoming that holds a diversity of peoples.

A proud child of Chinese immigrants, Viveka lives in San Francisco, California with her husband. For 30 years she has been a consultant and leadership coach for racial and social justice as an integral expression of her Dharma practice.