Dr Annette Webb is a Consultant Paediatician, Gastroenterologist and Clinical Hypnotherapist. Her MD doctoral thesis was in the area of mind body therapies for Chronic and Complex Abdominal pain. Annette has been meditating since she was a child and has completed formal qualifications in Mindfulness and Stillness Meditation therapy. Annette was employed as a staff specialist at the Royal Children's Hospital, Monash Children's Southern Health and Cabrini Hospital's In Melbourne and is currently in private practice. She continues to utilise meditation practices in her personal and professional life.

Christopher Morris is a lecturer at the Catholic Theological College Melbourne in Christian Spirituality and in a Graduate Course in Meditation. He is a PhD candidate focussing on the Christian wisdom tradition. Christopher is also a spiritual director and oblate of the Camaldolese Benedictines.

Dr Cullan Joyce lectures in philosophy at Catholic Theological College. His doctorate is on the thought of Maximus the Confessor, a pivotal Early Christian ascetic. He is presently researching how Maximus’ work relates to contemporary studies in meditation. He is the founding director of Confluence.

Janet Etty-Leal specialises in bringing Mindfulness to life: developing and delivering meaningful programs, instilled with thoughtful, creative pedagogy to a range of persons and institutions. With many years of experience, her program is informed by neuroscientist and leading educational visionaries, including the work of Professor Martin Seligman, Alfie Kohn and Dr Norman Doige (The Brain that Changes Itself and The Brain’s Way of Healing)

Associate Professor Matthew Sharpe teaches philosophy and Deakin. He has published extensively on the history of Western conceptions of philosophy as a way of life, and is presently working on a co-authored monograph on the subject. He has a particular interest in Stoic philosophy, and the Roman Stoics Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius. He is also presently co-translating a volume of essays in the area by renowned French classicist Pierre Hadot.

Rev. Dr. John Dupuche is a Priest of the Archdiocese of Melbourne. He is Associate Professor at the University of Divinity and an Honorary Fellow at the Australian Catholic University, and chair of the Catholic Interfaith Committee of the Archdiocese. He has a doctorate in Sanskrit, specialising in Kashmir Shaivism and is particularly interested in its interface with Christianity. His book: Abhinavagupta: the Kula Ritual as Elaborated in Chapter 29 of the Tantrāloka was published in 2003; Jesus, the Mantra of God in 2005; and Vers un Tantra Chrétien in 2009 (translated as Towards a Christian Tantra). He has written many articles in these fields. He leads an interfaith ashram on the outskirts of Melbourne. His website is johndupuche.com

Dr Petrina Barson is a certified and senior teacher of the Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) program originating at Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. CCT is a program which draws from traditional contemplative practice and the science of mindfulness and compassion. She has been teaching CCT to medical students at the University of Melbourne since 2014. She is currently involved in research into outcomes of this program amongst medical students and is an Honorary Fellow in the Department of General Practice. She is a long-term member of a progressive Christian community, which inspires and supports her understanding of compassion.

Venerable Toby Gillies has been presenting courses in Buddhist philosophy and the theory and practice of meditation since 1980. He was granted full ordination in 1986 and accepted into the Sera Jey Monastic University in Mysore India. He has completed a study of the five major fields: Logic, Phenomenology, Ontology, Transcendental Wisdom and Monastic Discipline. He regularly teaches these fields as well as the esoteric Vajrayana (tantric) theory and practice. Toby has conducted numerous group and solitary meditation retreats ranging from two weeks to five months in duration. Retreat schedules ranged from seven hours meditation a day up to fourteen hours a day. He has maintained a consistent daily meditation practice for more than forty years.