Stephen and Martine Batchelor are Buddhist teachers and authors who live in South West France and conduct meditation retreats and seminars worldwide. They both trained as monastics for ten years in traditional Buddhist centers in Asia, and now present a lay and secular approach to Buddhist practice.

Association Zen Internationale, based in Paris, is the oldest and largest Zen association in Europe. It brings together several hundred places of practice such as temples, Zen centers and groups.

Giulio Agostini currently lives in Milan and specializes in Indian Buddhism, as well as in classical Chinese, Tibetan, Sanskrit and Pali materials. Previously a faculty member at the University of California, Berkley, he continues to pursue his research and publish in about Vinaya and Hinayana literature and lay Buddhism in ancient India.

Jeff Wilson is an associate professor of religious studies and East Asian studies at the University of Waterloo. He focuses on the interaction of Buddhism and various aspects of North American culture and published Mindful America: The Mutual Transformation of Buddhist Meditation and American Culture in 2014.

Ottawa Inter-Community Buddhist Society is a temple with several resident Buddhist monks from Sri Lanka and other Asian Buddhist countries.

Juhn Ahn is an assistant professor of Buddhist and Korean studies at the University of Michigan. His current research focuses on the development of medieval Korean Buddhism.

Yong K’ai Ch’an Ssu is a Buddhist organization in Venezuela that offers educational and spiritual resources on Buddhism. The philosophy of this organization differs in its practice and education by focusing on incorporating Buddhism into the roots and cultural norms of the South American community.

Read a Dec. 16, 2012, story in the online magazine Awaken about a female Buddhist monk in Thailand and the obstacles she has faced.

Joanna Macy is an eco-philosopher and a scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory and deep ecology. She has been an activist for many years in the peace, justice and ecology movements and conducts workshops and training for many groups, including churches. She lives in Berkeley, Calif. Contact through her website.