Roshi Joan Halifax

Buddhist teacher, Zen priest, anthropologist, activist, and author

Roshi Joan Halifax is a Buddhist teacher, Zen priest, anthropologist, activist, and author of several books on engaged Buddhism, shamanism, and spirituality. She is founder of the Ojai Foundation and founder, abbot, and head teacher of Upaya Zen Center, a Buddhist monastery and Zen Peacemaker community in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She also directs the Upaya Prison Project, which develops programs on meditation for prisoners. A founding teacher of the Zen Peacemaker Order, her work and practice for more than three decades has focused on engaged Buddhism. For the past 25 years, she also has been active in environmental work.