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Speakers 
 Venerable Tenzin (Dr Diana Taylor) Chönyi,
Author and Visiting Teacher,
FPMT Australia
Prior to her ordination as a nun in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Ven Tenzin Chonyi was a psychologist at Monash University Counselling Service and later in private practice. After taking ordination became the resident nun at Atisha Centre in Bendigo and spent four years studying Buddhist philosophy and psychology at Chenrezig Nuns Community in Queensland. For the last three years she has been teaching at Vajrayana Institute, Sydney. She writes articles and poetry for Mandala magazine, Dharma Vision and Sangha Magazine.
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 Reverend Bill Crews,
Executive Chairman,
The Exodus Foundation
Bill Crews began his career in community service in 1971 at the Wayside Chapel, tending to the elderly, sick, homeless and disadvantaged. After studying theology, he was ordained as a Minister in 1986 and his first posting was the Ashfield Uniting Church. At Ashfield he created the Exodus Foundation to assist homeless and abandoned youth and other people in need. He is the host the popular radio show, Sunday Night Crews, on Sydney’s 2GB. The show explores spirituality, faith, social trends, religious culture and current events.
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 Geshe Dawa,
Tibetan Lama & resident teacher,
Tashi Choling Institute
Geshe Dawa, Tibetan Lama & resident teacher, Tashi Choling Institute
Geshe Dawa is an eminent Tibetan lama, holding a Lharampa Geshe degree (the highest degree in Buddhist Philosophy), a Tantric Geshe degree and also the Acharya degree from Varanassi University, India. Geshe-la has received many teachings and initiations from great teachers including His Holiness the Dalai Lama. On the invitation of Lama Yeshe who was his friend from Tibet, Geshe Dawa came to Australia and very kindly taught in FPMT centres for over 18 years. Geshe-la was the first resident teacher at Tara Institute, Melbourne, and later, having been requested by Lama Zopa Rinpoche many times, took up the position of resident teacher at Vajrayana Institute Sydney for over eight years. Geshe-la is now semi-retired and lives and teaches at Tashi Choling Institute in Bankstown.
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 Mr Geoff Dawson,
Zen Teacher,
Practicing Psychologist
Geoff Dawson is a psychologist and psychotherapist in full time private practice. He is the teacher of the Ordinary Mind Zen School and a Dharma Heir of the American Zen Teacher Charlotte Joko Beck. Geoff has a special interest in Buddhism and Psychotherapy. He has organised conferences, conducted workshops and published papers on this subject for many years in Australia. He has practiced Zen for 30 years and has been working in parallel as a psychologist during this time.
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 Reverend Stephanie Dowrick,
Author,
Choosing Happiness
Stephanie Dowrick is an internationally best-selling writer whose books include Intimacy & Solitude, The Universal Heart, Forgiveness & Other Acts of Love and Choosing Happiness. She also writes the Inner Life column in Good Weekend Magazine. Alongside her writing, Stephanie also leads workshops and retreats on social, spiritual and ethical issues from an interfaith perspective. She was recently ordained in New York as an Interfaith Minister. Born in New Zealand, Stephanie lived in London for many years where she founded the prestigious publishing house, The Women’s Press.
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 Sarah Edelman,
Lecturer,
University of Technology, Sydney
Sarah Edelman PhD is an author, university lecturer and psychologist in private practice. As a research psychologist at the Health Psychology Unit UTS, she evaluated Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) programs with cancer and cardiac patients and depressed adolescents. She is currently a lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney. She teaches Cognitive Behaviour Therapy as a self-help tool at the Centre for Continuing Education, at the University of Sydney. Her book, Change Your Thinking, is a best seller in the self-help genre, and she has recently co-authored a second book describing CBT self-help strategies for teenagers.
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 Dr Craig Hassed,
Senior Lecturer, Department of General Practice,
Monash University
Senior Lecturer, Department of General Practice, Monash University
Dr Craig Hassed is a General Practitioner and senior lecturer at the Monash University Department of General Practice. He has strong teaching, research and clinical interests in mindfulness-based stress management, mind-body medicine, meditation, holistic healthcare, health promotion and medical ethics and takes courses for professional groups and the general public in these areas. He also teaches at the Gawler Foundation, and the Petrea King Quest for Life Centre. He writes regularly for medical journals, has published three books has been a regular commentator on the ABC.
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 Ms Adele Hulse,
President, Centre for Grief Education Inc. and Columnist,
The Age
Adele Hulse has written a column, under a pseudonym, for The Age for 22 years. Three collections of her columns have been published and she is also the author of the soon-to-be published biography of Lama Thubten Yeshe, Big Love. For the past six years, Adele has worked for the Write Your Story program at the Makor Jewish Community Library in Melbourne. The Library has published around 60 memoirs, most of them by Holocaust survivors. Adele has been President of the Centre for Grief Education at Monash Medical Centre since 2002.
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 Mr Graeme James,
Manager,
Lifeline Sydney and Sutherland
Manager, Lifeline Sydney and Sutherland
Graeme has been with the Lifeline movement for over 18 years in a variety of counselling, training and supervision roles. He is a Living Works trainer running Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) courses, a Clinical Member of the Counsellors and Psychotherapists Association (CAPA) of NSW, and maintains a private practice, often working with men. Lifeline receives over 550,000 calls per year through its telephone counselling service and also offers personal counselling for people in times of challenge and personal crisis.
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 Venerable David Lungtok,
Director,
Thubten Shedrup Ling Monastery
Venerable David Lungtok is a Buddhist monk practicing in the Tibetan tradition. He graduated from Monash University Law School in 1978 and developed an interest in Eastern philosophy and meditation while traveling in India. Ordained in 1981, he lived and studied at Nalanda Monastery in France before returning to India in 1986 where for many years he taught Buddhist philosophy and meditation to westerners in Dharamsala. David is currently, Director of Thubten Shedrup Ling Monastery near Bendigo.
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 Ms Megan McQueenie,
Executive Director,
Mental Health Foundation of Australia
Megan McQueenie has been actively engaged in community mental health education, health promotion and illness prevention in Australia (and a stint in Scotland of 5 years) since 1978. Her appointment as Executive Director to the Mental Health Foundation of Australia in 1996 followed a similar position with the Australian National Association for Mental Health from 1984. Her current focus includes growing collaborative networks of community, broader health, media and corporate participation for mental health promotion, illness prevention and to destigmatise mental health issues.
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 Ms Alison Murdoch,
International Director,
UCWP Essential Education, UK
Alison Murdoch has been active in non-profit organisations for over 16 years, originally working with homeless people and then as Director of Jamyang Buddhist Centre in London, UK. She has a particular interest in the links between spirituality and social change and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 2. Since May 2004 she has been developing Universal Compassion and Wisdom for Peace (UCWP), a new international organisation which provides training to help people develop their capacity to be kind and wise. This training is called 'Essential Education' and takes its inspiration from the late Lama Thubten Yeshe.
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Dr. Robin Murray,
Clinical Neuro Psychologist,
University of Sydney Pain Management Centre
Robin Murray, PhD (Psychology), has a special interest in presenting the research findings in positive psychology and happiness to therapists and the wider public. She teaches "The Psychology of Happiness" for the Centre for Continuing Education at the University of Sydney and is a Clinical Associate Lecturer at the University of Sydney and Honorary Associate at the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University. Dr. Murray works at the University of Sydney Pain Management Centre at the Royal North Shore Hospital.
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 Ms Renate Ogilvie,
Psychotherapist and Teacher,
Vajrayana Institute
Renate was born in Germany and now works in Sydney as a psychotherapist in private practice. She holds Masters degrees of Frankfurt University, and Antioch College London, and studied Western Philosophy at Birkbeck College London. After migrating to Australia, she was founding director of Shakyamuni Buddha Hospice, and served on the International Board of Directors of FPMT. She has been teaching Tibetan Buddhism at Vajrayana Institute and elsewhere for over fifteen years and is currently writing a book on The Four Noble Truths for modern life.
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 Dr Nick Ribush,
Director,
Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, USA
After graduating from Melbourne University Medical School in 1964, Nick first encountered Buddhism at Kopan Monastery in 1972. He was a monk from 1974 to 1986. In 1975, with Lama Yeshe, he established the international publishing house, Wisdom Publications; in 1977, Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre, New Delhi; in 1989, Kurukulla Center, Boston; and in 1996, the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, Boston, which he now directs. He was a member of the FPMT board of directors from its inception in 1983 until 2002.
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 Dr Timothy J Sharp,
Founder and Chief Happiness Officer,
The Happiness Institute
Dr. Timothy J Sharp completed a B.Sc. (Hons), a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology and a Ph.D., before establishing what has become one of Sydney’s largest clinical psychology practices. In 1993, he founded The Happiness Institute, an organization focusing specifically on enhancing happiness in individuals, couples, families and organizations. Dr Sharp is the author self-help books including the best-selling The Good Sleep Guide and The Happiness Handbook. He appears regularly in the media and presents fortnightly on ABC Radio.
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Venerable David Venerable,
Director,
Thubten Shedrup Ling Monastery
Venerable David Lungtok is a Buddhist monk practicing in the Tibetan tradition. He graduated from Monash University Law School in 1978 and developed an interest in Eastern philosophy and meditation while traveling in India. Ordained in 1981, he lived and studied at Nalanda Monastery in France before returning to India in 1986 where for many years he taught Buddhist philosophy and meditation to westerners in Dharamsala. David is currently, Director of Thubten Shedrup Ling Monastery near Bendigo.
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 Dr Caroline West,
Department of Philosophy,
The University of Sydney
Dr Caroline West is a Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Sydney, where she specializes in metaphysics, ethics and political philosophy. She has numerous academic publications in these fields, including pieces on personal identity, free speech, censorship, distributive justice and human rights. She is currently working on a book on the topic of well-being on which she has been giving a series of public lectures.
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