All instructors at our center are highly qualified in terms of training and formal practice. All of them have been authorized in their respective Buddhist traditions, have been practicing anywhere from 20 to 50 years and have been in retreat adding up to several years altogether. Many of them have been or continue to be ordained as a nun or monk.
Teachers of the Center
Fred von Allmen Since 1970 Fred von Allmen has been studying and practicing under teachers of both the Tibetan and the Theravada traditions in Asia, Europe and the USA. Since 1984 he is teaching retreats internationally. He is an author of Buddhist books and a co-founder and teacher of the Meditation Center Beatenberg.
Isis Bianzano Since 1983 Isis Bianzano has devoted herself to Buddhist mind and heart training under various teachers of the Theravada and Tibetan Mahayana tradition in Europe, Asia and the USA. Authorized by Fred von Allmen she has been teaching Vipassana and Metta meditation courses since 2008 and is a trustee of the Meditation Center Beatenberg. In the last 27 years she has worked in various areas of social work.
Ursula Flückiger has been practicing insight meditation since 1980 with teachers such as Ven. Ajahn Sumedho, Joseph Goldstein, Christina Feldman. She also received many teachings in the Tibetan Mahayana tradition and feels very inspired especially by its practices of Great Compassion and the realization of the nature of mind. She is a trained Hakomi psychotherapist and has been guiding insight meditation retreats since 1990. She is co-author of “Mahamudra & Vipassana” (Norbu, in German) and a co-founder and trustee of the Meditation Center Beatenberg.
Rainer Künzi has been practicing insight meditation since 1986 and, since 2002, also in the Tibetan tradition. Authorized as a Dharma teacher by Fred von Allmen, he has been teaching Vipassana and Metta retreats since 2008. He is a member of the Foundation Board of the Meditationszentrum Beatenberg, co-founder of the Kalyana Mitta city center in Basel, and worked for 18 years as a child and family therapist at a municipal counseling service.
Yuka Nakamura, PhD, psychologist and MBSR teacher, has been practicing in various Buddhist traditions (Zen, Vipassana, Vajrayana) since 1993. She teaches Insight meditation at the Beatenberg Meditation Center (Switzerland), Bodhi College, the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) (USA), Gaia House (UK), and other centers in Switzerland and abroad. She also works as a translator of Dharma books.
Samuel Theiler has been practicing insight meditation and Metta for 35 years under Asian and Western teachers, following early "excursions" into various methods of self-exploration and meditation. He was trained and authorized to teach by Fred von Allmen and values a practical, everyday-oriented teaching style. He is a member of the Foundation Board of the Meditationszentrum Beatenberg and manages the distribution of the "Dharma Tapes."
Guest Teachers
Ayya Anopama spent several years in retreat in Myanmar, where she was ordained as a Buddhist nun in the Burmese forest monastery tradition by the Venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw. She has also practiced and studied with renowned teachers in the Early Buddhist, Tibetan Mahamudra and Insight Meditation traditions in both, East and West. She practices and leads retreats in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Her approach emphasizes open awareness and compassion and integrates the relational meditation practice of Insight Dialogue. She is an Insight Dialogue teacher and a member of the Global Insight Dialogue Teaching Community.
Irene Bumbacher has been practicing in Asia, Europe and the USA in several Buddhist traditions (Zen, Vipassana and Mahamudra) since 1989. Authorized by Fred von Allmen, she’s been teaching Vipassana und Metta meditation since 2008. She’s training in offering Insight Dialogue, is a co-founder of the Zentrum für Buddhismus in Bern and has an extensive background as a somatic therapist.
Doris Eckstein has been practicing the Dhamma and mainly Vipassana meditation since 2006. After deepening her meditation practice in long retreats and by serving as a secretary of Swiss-Thai Dhammapala monastery and the meditation center Beatenberg, she completed a 4-year Dhamma teacher training with Fred von Allmen, Isis Bianzano, Irene Bumbacher and Rainer Künzi in 2025.
Patricia Genoud Feldman Patricia Genoud-Feldman has been practicing Vipassana and Dzogchen since 1984 in Asia under the guidance of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and Sayadaw U Pandita and later in the West. She completed her teacher training at IMS, USA under the guidance of Joseph Goldstein and others and has been teaching Vipassana meditation since 1997 in Europe, Israel and the USA. Patricia also studied and trained in Insight Dialogue and the Relational Dharma with Gregory Kramer as well as in MBSR in Worcester, MA, USA.
Bernat Font teaches with a combination of scholarly rigour, everyday examples, and an artistic sensibility. Meeting the Dharma at an early age, he has been mainly influenced by Stephen Batchelor, Sayadaw U Tejaniya & the Thai forest tradition. A Bodhi College faculty member and founder of Espai Sati, he has a PhD in Buddhist Studies, translates Pali texts into Spanish & Catalan, and is also a jazz pianist.
He has published ‘Early Buddhist Hedonism: The Role of Spiritual Pleasure in the Pali Discourses’, and co-authored ‘Living life on life’s terms’ with Stephen and Martine Batchelor.
Charles Genoud has been a student and practitioner of Buddhism since 1970. He studied with the Venerable Geshe Rabten and then with Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. He has also practiced Vipassana meditation in India, Burma and the USA. Charles studied sensory awareness for several years with Michael Tophoff and spent some time with Charlotte Selver. His unique approach of Gesture of Awareness is the result of the combination of Buddhist meditation with the practice of sensory awareness.
Katrin Auf der Heyde grew up in South Africa where she practiced in both Zen and Theravada traditions for many years. A physiotherapist and yoga teacher by training she is interested in an embodied practice that integrates sitting, walking and movement. Katrin completed her Dharma teacher training with Martine Batchelor and teaches in South Africa and in the UK.
Phyllis Hicks Phyllis K Hicks has been practicing insight meditation since 1998. She is inspired by the transformative power of bringing awareness and wisdom to relational practices. Invited to train as an Insight Dialogue teacher in 2003, she began co-teaching retreats with Gregory Kramer and has offered ID retreats internationally since 2011. She co-developed the Interpersonal Mindfulness Program (IMP). Retiring as a psychotherapist and Counseling Institute Director of 35 years, she mentors teachers, serves on the IDC Teachers Council, and teaches MBSR for Duke Integrative Medicine.
Ingeborg Mösching, MBSR-teacher and -trainer, graduate nurse, began with Christian Zen meditation in 1986. Since 1996 she has been dedicating herself to Buddhist heart and mind training under various teachers of the Theravada and Tibetan Mahayana traditions in Europe, Burma and the USA. Trained as a Dharma teacher by Fred von Allmen, she has been teaching Vipassana and Metta meditation since 2008. For many years she was a caregiver for the seriously ill, dying and newborns.
Jaya Rudgard lived as a nun in the Theravada tradition for eight years in the UK with Ajahn Sumedho. She completed her insight meditation teacher training in the USA with Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield and teaches retreats in the UK and internationally. She is a faculty member of Bodhi College and serves on the Teacher Council of Gaia House Meditation Centre in the UK. She also teaches qigong.
Catherine Schlaefli began Vipassana meditation with Patricia and Charles Genoud in 2009 and since then has regularly attended retreats in Switzerland and abroad. She completed the Dharma Instructor Program with Charles and Patricia and has also been trained to teach MBSR at the Center for Mindfulness in Zürich.
Akiñcano M. Weber is a Buddhist teacher and contemplative psychotherapist (MA). A former monk, he has lived and practiced for 20 years in European and Thai Forest monasteries. He is the guiding teacher of Atammaya Cologne, co-founder of Bodhi College and teaches meditation and Buddhist Psychology in secular and traditional contexts in Europe and overseas.
Carol Wilson has been practicing meditation since 1971. She studied with a variety of teachers, including Sayadaw U Pandita and Sayadaw U Tejaniya. She also practiced as a Buddhist nun in Thailand. Since 1986 she has been teaching vipassana and metta retreats around the world, including the annual three-month retreat at the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) in Barre, MA, USA.