(from left to right Jaya Ashmore, Ajay Pal Singh and Gemma Polo Pujol)
A spiritual friend can inspire us to connect with our own potential, but ultimately we ourselves actually have to walk our own way, hear our own genuine voice, and fulfill our own potential. Nobody else can do it for us, but it is okay to need encouragement to stream our own wisdom and love into our lives.
Ajay Pal Singh was born in a small village near Lucknow, India in 1957. After finishing degrees in Sanskrit, Law, Economics and Social Work, as well as a diploma in Yoga, he gave himself to spiritual practice at the age of 29. Four years later, he quietly began to be a spiritual friend to many. Beginning in Lucknow, where Ajay and Jaya first became friends, they started to offer the retreats that evolved into Open Dharma.
Jaya Ashmore has dedicated her life to spiritual awakening—both in her own meditation since 1986 and in helping spark breakthrough and depth for others since 1999. The main influences on her teaching are: her youth in a Christian family, Tibetan and Theravada Buddhist practice, her six years with Advaita master Sri Poonjaji, her fifteen years of practicing Jin Shin Jyutsu, and her long-time friendship with her colleague Ajay Singh.
She has lived most of her adult life in India, and now also spends half the year at Dharmaloca in northeastern Spain.
Gemma Polo Pujol was born in Barcelona, Spain in 1976. At the age of 11 she began meditating on her own, inspired by St. Francis of Assisi. In 1992, she began practicing Zen intensively for ten years. During this time, she also spent two years as a contemplative nun and a Catholic activist in Latin America. Later, while working as an organic beekeeper, she studied Agriculture, International Development and Religious Sciences. Based in India since 2002, she has been offering retreats there and around the world, mainly with Open Dharma.
Open Dharma facilitators sometimes invite experienced participants to assist with the teachings.
Teachings are given freely.
~ The role of the facilitators
The Buddha said that we should be our own refuge, our own light, that he could only point
the way but that we had to walk the path of awakening for ourselves.
Facilitators are only guides.
They are walking on the same path that students walk. They know some of the pitfalls and can
help students avoid them or clear up confusion about them. They can inspire students to
practice but ultimately it's the students themselves who actually have to do the work and
realize the benefits of these practices.
Facilitators are therefore spiritual friends who are willing to share whatever wisdom they
have. This is how their facilitators relate to them.
The point is that no one can free another. Why is that? Because the capacity for freedom is
within each of us already. We simply need to discover ways to develop it.
