Instructors
Julia Ferganchick, PhD, MPI co-director, earned advanced degrees in language theory and philosophy from the University of Arizona. She taught university-level philosophy, writing, and linguistics courses, and gave national presentations about the connections between language theory and practice during her career as a college professor (1992-2001). She completed nationally-funded research about the nature of language acquisition and the influences of technology on literacy. During this time, she also started a small business, a café/bookstore, which she ran successfully in Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1999 she survived a major airline crash, which set her on a new course of study about how we deal with trauma and life.
Julia began a serious practice of meditation in 2005. She completed an extensive course of study of Tibetan Buddhism through the Asian Classics Institute, and traveled to Europe, Asia, and India to further her studies. In 2005 she spent two months volunteering and studying in a remote monastery of the Kagyu lineage in eastern Tibet. She has completed advanced studies in meditation and eastern philosophy at Diamond Mountain University, and has completed certification in the Yoga Studies Institute Classics of Yoga and Tibetan Heart Yoga programs. She also studies tai chi and yoga asana, and in 2002 began teaching tai chi. In 2006 she began teaching meditation regularly both in her hometown of Tucson, Arizona, and throughout the world. Julia specializes in teaching meditation practices that are accessible and beneficial to a wide range of people who seek to improve their lives. Contact Julia.
Kelden Pearson MPI co-director, found daily meditation practice easy to establish due to the fact that he had grown up studying and playing music. He went to Bodhgaya in 1996 where he studied with an accomplished master in India for three years, traveling there numerous times from his home country of England. In 1999 he returned to England and became co-director of a Buddhist center in Bristol. During this time, he also developed a successful career in the healthcare industry. In 2001 he moved to the United States to study more closely with his meditation teachers Geshe Michael Roach and Master Culadasa. Kelden completed the 18 courses of study at The Asian Classics Institute, and in 2010 will graduate with an advanced degree in Buddhist philosophy and practice from Diamond Mountain University.
Kelden continues his work in healthcare, supporting people with developmental disabilities and autism. He has a strong daily meditation and yoga practice, and volunteers teaching yoga in a Tucson prison. He is on faculty at Diamond Mountain University, where he teaches a popular meditation course, and he teaches a weekly meditation course in Tucson. Kelden specializes in teaching single-pointed focus meditation. Contact Kelden.
