Jennifer Coss joined the Insight Meditation Community in 2017 after beginning a daily meditation practice to train an active mind.  She has found the equanimity achieved through mindfulness and loving kindness to be transformative, and supports her practice with pranayama breathing.

Jennifer is a retired attorney and lives in Charlotte with her husband, three rotating young adult children, two dogs and two senior cats.

She is a member of a KM group, serves on the Programs Committee, and is in her third year as a member of the Board.

John Amen has had a daily meditation practice since 2005 and been a member of Insight Meditation Community of Charlotte since 2011. He attended his first 10-day Vipassana retreat in 2004. He has since attended retreats led by Shaila Catherine, Adyashanti, and Mark Nunberg, as well as participated in several IMCC residential retreats. He is a writer, editor, certified Enneagram teacher (Enneagram in the Narrative Tradition), and long-time practitioner of the 12 Steps. John lives with his beautiful wife, Thia Powers, and two cats. He serves on the Communications Committee.
(Photo courtesy of Chad Weeden)

Lakshmi has been practicing meditation for 35 years. She was introduced to meditation by the Brahma Kumaris and has studied with various teachers in the Zen and Vipassana traditions.

Lakshmi moved to Charlotte in 2019 and joined IMCC. She currently serves on the Board as Secretary and on the Metta Committee.

Meditation is an important part of her life.

Dr. Dirk Eybl was born 1951 in Bavaria (Germany). At age 25 he came to the US with a Fulbright scholarship and earned a graduate degree at Ohio State University. It was there that he met his future wife Felicia, from Fayetteville, North Carolina.

They spent their first 17 years of marriage in Germany where Dirk earned his doctoral degree in Microeconomics. Moving the family to Charlotte in 1995, Dirk worked for a German automotive supplier till retirement in 2014.

As a child of European enlightenment, he looks at the world first through the lens of scientific inquiry. Fueled by awareness of worldwide suffering, he began looking for a new spiritual foundation. Starting with a 200 hr Yoga training, he studied Eastern philosophies and still reads with excitement all books seeking to bridge Western and Eastern interpretations of our world. Inspired by one of Charlotte’s longtime meditation practitioners, he has been enjoying a daily meditation / mindfulness practice since his retirement.

Gary Cotler has been a member of the Insight Meditation Community of Charlotte since 2017. After a long-time intellectual interest in Buddhism, he began practicing meditation in 2015 and now considers it an integral part of his overall wellness. Gary has attended residential retreats at Southern Dharma and Heartwood Refuge as well as completed an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course. Practicing and studying the dharma combined with being part of the IMCC sangha have had a tremendous positive impact on his life. Gary currently serves on the Finance committee.