Will James

Will James is the resident teacher of Tallowwood Sangha, an insight meditation (Vipassana) community based in Bellingen on the east coast of Australia. He leads the sangha's weekly sits, retreats, days of mindfulness, a mindfulness training course and a Dharma study program.

His path began in the late 1970s, when he attended his first Insight Meditation Retreat with Christopher Titmuss, a pioneer meditation teacher in the west. That meeting kindled a deep interest in meditation and a great love for the Dharma teachings and practices. He went on to study with Christopher through the 1980s, and also studied with Subhana Barzaghi in the Zen and Insight traditions. In 2005 Christopher and Subhana invited him to take up the responsibility of teaching in the Insight tradition.

That same year he joined the sangha's founder, Sexton Bourke, as co-teacher. As Sexton's health declined, Will gradually became the principal teacher. He has since led numerous retreats, sometimes alongside guest teachers including Subhana Barzaghi, Radha Nicholson and Ellen Davison, and has co-led the Dharma Facilitators program with Radha Nicholson.

Will's teaching lays great emphasis on seeing into the "dependent arising" and empty nature of all phenomena. This seeing makes possible a deep understanding that frees the mind and opens the heart.