Diane Musho Hamilton

Diane Musho Hamilton is a gifted mediator, facilitator and teacher of Zen and Integral Spirituality. She received transmission from Zen master, Genpo Roshi, in 2006. She has worked with Ken Wilber and Integral Institute since 2004.

A meditation practitioner of meditation for over 25 years, Diane began her studies at Naropa Institute in 1983 with Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and is deeply appreciative of his teaching of the Five Wisdom Energies. She became a Zen student of Genpo Roshi’s in 1997. In 2003, she received ordination as a monk with her husband, Michael Zimmerman, and, in the spring of 2006, she received dharma transmission from Roshi. She facilitates the Big Mind / Big Heart, a process developed by Roshi to help illicit the insights of Zen in Western audiences.

As a mediator, Diane is well known as an innovator and specialist in highly controversial dialogues, and has expertise in cross-cultural dialogue, religion and gender relations. Director of the Office of Alternative Dispute Resolution for the Utah Judiciary from 1994-99, Diane has extensive experience in facilitating multi-party meetings, including public policy discussions. Diane received the Utah Council on Conflict Resolution Peacekeeper award in 2001 and the Peter W. Billings Award from the Utah State Bar for Outstanding Work in Dispute Resolution in 2003. She co-founded the Utah Council on Conflict Resolution and has taught meditation at the University of Utah Law School and the University of Utah Communications Institute.

Matthias Heidel

Frankfurt, Germany

I have been studying, practicing and teaching the five wisdom energies for more than ten years. I am a client-centered art therapist and a freelance sculptor. My degree is from the Staatliche Kunst Akademie Karlsruhe. I have been in training to become a non-violent communication mediator with Ike Lasseter, Susan Skye (also childhood trauma), Robert Gonzales (also Living Compassion) and Wes Taylor (also the living energy of needs) and others. I am a long-time student of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and a teacher in the Shambhala Buddhist community.

Sydney Leijenhorst

Wageningen, the Netherlands

For almost forty years, I have been on a journey with the martial, healing and meditation arts. The five elements, or five wisdom energies, are a primary focus. My specialty lies in catalyzing embodied experiences of these inner qualities and integrating their energetic and creative impulses. I have organized various seminars, bringing together various teachers and/or systems with the teachings on the five wisdom energies. My work with Irini Rockwell was one of the most important forces in this development. Other meaningful influences have come from Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Dagsay Tulku and Diane Musho Hamilton. We have incorporated the five wisdom energies into KenKon Integral Life and Training center, of which I am the director. I integrate the energies in my ongoing classes and seminars on karate, qigong and (Tibetan) meditation, as well as trainings for companies and organizations. I use the energies to direct and balance organizational processes.

Carucha Schwencke

Den Haag, The Netherlands

I work as an independent psychosocial therapist, coach and certified mindfulness trainer in the tradition of Jon Kabat-Zinn. The basis of my work is deeply rooted in the contemplative tradition: Buddhist psychology, meditation, and Western therapeutic skills. I completed the two year Five Wisdoms@Work training program with Irini Rockwell with a focus in contemplative psychotherapy. Since then the five wisdom energies have become an integral part of my personal and working life. As a member of the Network Palliative Care Haaglanden (The Hague), I offer spiritual support for those from different religious and cultural backgrounds who are facing death. I am also in charge of mental welfare and safety issues in Het Koorenhuis, an educational arts institute in The Hague. My ‘Buddhist roots’ are in Tibetan Buddhism and I am a long-term student of Lama Karta, of The Yeunten Ling Institute, and have taken teachings with many others. My husband and I offer meditation courses through Mediteren-in-eenvoud.

Monique Volkers

Monchique, Portugal

For fifteen years, I worked as a project manager for the Dutch Refugee Council. Beginning in 2006, I attended the Wisdoms@Work two-year training, which combines personal and professional development for those in the service of others. Subsequently, I took the Mindful Awareness Instructor Training offered through the Five Wisdoms Institute. I learned how to apply meditation in every day work situations, which helped me become more effective in cultivating teamwork. I follow the teachings of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche and am a member of the Shambhala Buddhist community where I serve as a meditation guide. Now my husband, Tom, and I live in the mountains of Monchique, Portugal where we run an organic farm with accommodation for guests. We are developing a summer program on the Five Wisdoms and comedy/theater. We also plan to offer meditation weekends in the near future.

Francesco Melita

Wageningen, The Netherlands

I work as an independent coach, trainer and storyteller. The two-year Wisdoms@Work training has influenced all I do, personally and professionally. My strength lies in creating an open, safe atmosphere that offers space for development and freedom of expression. It is important for me to express my passion, humor and creativity to stimulate those qualities in others. At Winnock, I assisted people suffering from chronic pain; at HAN (Arnhem/Nijmegen), I coached teachers; at Koning Willem I Marketing College, I coached marketing students in professional presentations; at Curnet, I offered creativity training for employees of the four biggest civil-engineering bureaus in the Netherlands. I led a workshop for the Dutch Association of Psychologists. At Wageningen University and Research Centre, I coached students and at the Geemente Reeuwijk en Bodegraven Conference, I presented on a collaboration between the municipalities of Reeuwijk and Bodegraven.

Diane Schaap

Wageningen, The Netherlands

At any given time in my never-a-dull-moment life, I can–and frequently do–dip into my Five Wisdoms treasure trove for insight, inspiration and support. My intensive two years studying with Irini and the others in my group was salted with ‘aha!’ and ‘ah, so…’ psychophysical experiences. Each of these lent several new dimensions to the more standard head-learning I was doing. Now, a few years down the line, the understanding I gained there is often affirmed and also continues to deepen. When I entered the Wisdoms@Work training, I was unable to make sense of having come to the end of a specific career path. In my present work as a freelance language professional and mother of two teens, I utilize my vocabulary of the colors to identify and capitalize on talents I see in myself and those around me. In the same way, I also recognize and respect confusion when I see or experience it. The challenge is to be in touch with my compassion and to make space for it all: a worthy life task!