DOUG MCGILL

I’m a journalist turned meditator, dharma teacher, editor and writer. In 2004, I founded the Rochester Meditation Center in Rochester, MN, serving as its Guiding Teacher until 2020. In 2019, I edited “Relax and Be Aware: Mindfulness Meditations for Clarity, Confidence and Wisdom,” a guide to daily life meditation practice by the Burmese Buddhist monk and teacher, Sayadaw U Tejaniya. Since 2013, I have published "The Daily Tejaniya," a daily email practice reminder based on Sayadaw’s teachings. Since 2022, I’ve led a weekly online meeting, Monday Friends, offering dharma teachings, meditation and spiritual friendship. In addition, I offer four annual weekend retreats, with this year’s series entitled, “Awaken to Oneness.” I first learned how to meditate when, as a New York Times staff reporter in the 1980s, I needed to cope with the stress of daily newspaper journalism. In the mid-1990's, on a holiday visit to Sri Lanka, I started practicing insight (“vipassana”) meditation after reading "The Art of Living" by S.N. Goenka. A few years later, after taking retreats with Steve Armstrong and Kamala Masters, insight meditation became and remains my root practice. In 2013, I met my non-dual teacher and friend, Rupert Spira, who taught me the practice of oneness. This profoundly deepened my insight practice and in time the two practices became one. 

For a collection of my dharma talks and writings, click here.

For some testimonials, click here.