Professor Marc Cohen
MBBS (Hons), PhD (TCM), PhD (Elec Eng), BMed Sci (Hons), FAMAC, FICAE

Professor Marc Cohen is a registered general practitioner with degrees in western medicine, physiology and psychological medicine and PhDs in Chinese medicine and biomedical engineering. He is currently Foundation Professor of Complementary Medicine at RMIT University where he performs research and leads the world’s first online Master of Wellness Program. 

Janet Etty-Leal

Janet’s consultancy Meditation Capsules has provided meditation programs for corporate, health, sport, community and educational groups. In 2008 she instigated, with Dr Andrew Joyce of Monash University, ‘The South East Mindfulness Meditation Program’ to train primary teachers to teach meditation to grades 5/6 students.

Meditation programs developed and taught by Janet have enhanced curriculum for students of all ages from pre-school to year 12 in government, private and special schools.

Kevin Hume

International journalist, broadcaster, conference speaker and ministerial advisor, Kevin has a particular interest in the science of meditation and in the cultures and traditions from which such techniques are drawn. As Director of Sydney Meditation Centre he now specialises in teaching meditation. Meditation in Six Spiritual Traditions and Science and the Buddha, researched, written and narrated by Kevin were recently broadcast by ABC radio.

Kevin Hume will be our conference MC again this year.

Kate James

As the founder of Total Balance, Kate James is committed to growing a socially responsible business that assists clients to align personal values and strengths with their career and life choices.

Having discovered meditation over twenty years ago, Kate now shares the benefits with individuals and corporate groups. Believing that there is no better way to enhance creativity, her aim is to demystify meditation and make it accessible to all of the people she works with.

Dr Andrew Joyce

Andrew is a Lecturer in Health Sciences at Monash University. He also works with Southern Health as a health promotion worker for Cardinia Casey Community Health Service. His background includes working in community health, primary schools and academia specialising in mental health promotion and settings based approaches.

Pauline McKinnon

Pauline McKinnon is a family therapist and director of the Stillness Meditation Centre in Melbourne, maintaining the pioneering work of Dr Ainslie Meares. Her book In Stillness Conquer Fear brought public awareness to natural anxiety relief through meditation. Since 1990 her books, recordings and presentations have also contributed widely to meditation for children. She conducts a practitioner training course in meditation, has assisted in the development of a meditation module with the Australian Catholic University and has been instrumental in the formation of ATMA (Australian Teachers of Meditation Association).

David Michie

David Michie is the best-selling author of Buddhism for Busy People and Hurry Up and Meditate as well as the Buddhist thriller The Magician of Lhasa, published in USA earlier this year. His new non-fiction book, Enlightenment to Go, will be launched in Australia in August 2010.

David has been a meditator since 1994 and a student of the Tibetan Buddhist Society for over ten years. Born in Zimbabwe and educated at Rhodes University, South Africa, he has lived and worked in both Johannesburg and London. He is now based in Perth and is married with two cats.

Laurence Mills

Laurence Mills was born in North London in 1932. During a Buddhist retreat he decided to take ordination as a monk, becoming Phra Khantipalo. He spent three years in India then lived in Thailand for eleven years, studying in Bangkok with Ven Phra Sasana Sobhana and meditating in forest monasteries with Phra Acharn Maha Boowa and others. In 1973 he accompanied a senior Thai monk - Phra Pariyattikavee - to Australia, where they established Wat Buddharangsee in Sydney.

Phra Khantipalo was one of the founders of Wat Buddha Dhamma in Wiseman's Ferry, NSW, in 1978 and stayed on as a teacher for the next 14 years. Phra Khantipalo disrobed and left Wat Buddha Dhamma in 1991 and went on to co-found the non-sectarian Bodhi Citta Buddhist Centre in Cairns. He is the author of many books such as Buddhism Explained, What is Buddhism?, Calm and Insight and Buddha — My Refuge.

Clarke Scott

Clarke Scott is a fully ordained Buddhist monk trained in the Tibetan tradition. A student of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Clarke has received personal instructions on Madhyamaka philosophy and meditation from His Holiness. Clarke is also the founder and Chairman of the Australian Institute for Consciousness Studies. AICS was established as a nexus for advancing interdisciplinary understanding of the nature, origin, and potentials of consciousness by combining scientific and contemplative investigatory knowledge.

Clarke will be conducting a worshop on Sunday August 1, from 10.00am - 5.00pm. For more information visit www.meditationevents.com.au

Swami Shankarananda

A Guru in the lineage of Bhagavan Nityananda, and one of the world’s pre-eminent teachers of meditation, Swami Shankarananda's practical method, the Shiva Process, helps seekers uplift their lives, spiritually and practically. 

A former academic, Swamiji travelled to India in 1970 and studied with many great sages. An engaging speaker, he is the author of many books, including the bestselling guide to meditation Happy for No Good Reason. In 2007, in recognition of his more than 30 years of teaching, he received the Hindu title “Mahant” (Great Teacher) from one of the ancient orders of monks. 

Director of the Shiva School of Meditation and Yoga, Swamiji resides at the Shiva Ashram on the Mornington Peninsula.

Arian Young

Arian Young, founder of Intrinsic Wellness and Workspace Meditation and a former Tibetan Buddhist nun, learned to integrate meditation as part of her recovery from a nervous breakdown in 1978. Today, she weaves together meditation with her background in eastern Mind-Body Wellness and psychotherapy.

With over 30 years of meditation experience, she is a regular speaker, facilitator and writer who brings meditation into the 21st century, with a much needed review of what it means to develop an integral meditation practice that supports one's soul. She is passionate about highlighting the ways in which science and tradition have generalised their conclusions in what women need to meditate successfully.

David Jones & Carmen Warrington — Percussion and Guided Meditation

David Jones is one of the world's most innovative and musical drummers. His mesmerising drum solos are dramatic, humourous, surprising and powerful.

In his hands (and feet), the drum kit comes alive as a mini-orchestra, vaudeville act, rhythmic explosion and hypnotic trance-inducer, all in one. Using sticks, brushes, mallets, fingers, elbows, violin bow, dishmops, toys, brooms and any percussion he can lay his hands on, David creates a universe of sounds, textures and rhythms that take you through different cultures, ages, moods and styles.

A true virtuoso, David has toured nationally and internationally and has performed and recorded in the genres of rock and pop, jazz, classical, cabaret, theatre, television and improvised works.

He has performed with many great artists, including James Morrison, John Farnham, Stevie Wonder, John Denver, Marcia Hines, Tommy Emmanuel, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Don McLean and the Melbourne and Sydney Symphony Orchestras.

Carmen Warrington is a performing artist, songwriter, speaker and author who is dedicated to creating works that uplift and inspire. She was introduced to meditation in 1984, a gift which continues to enrich her personal and professional life.

With David Jones, Carmen performs the life-affirming "Inner World Music concert" at intimate venues around Australia. Carmen also performs with Sydney's quartz crystal singing bowls player Susie Nelson-Smith in concert.

Carmen has been studying meditation since 1984 through the Brahma Kumaris and has developed her unique and subtle art of transporting audiences to a higher plane of consciousness. She has released a dozen meditation CDs and cassettes for the Brahma Kumaris. As a meditation guide she has helped millions of people throughout the world find inner peace and power. She frequently conducts guided meditations at public events. Carmen also produces and performs in the "Sounds of Peace" concerts, which are special meditation through music evenings.

Peter Roberts — Harp and Flute

Peter Roberts is seldom heard performing in public, as he works full-time with his music in medical care settings using harp and voice to support those who face life-threatening illness. His music reaches into the very depths of the soul.