About Peter

Peter Thompson first practised Relaxation/Meditation in 1970 at the ANU in Canberra. His work in journal began one year later after encountering the work of Karen Horney, Freudian analyst.

Since then he has studied with many famous spiritual teachers in India, USA, Japan and Australia.

The first two major teachers to influence and guide him were J. Krishnamurti and Vimala Thakar.

He first sat Zen Meditation in 1975 as a founding member of Sydney Zen Centre, and attended his first Buddhist Vipassana retreat in the same year with Christopher Titmus.

In 1978-79 his search took him to India for one year to study with Sri Nisargardatta Maharaj and Vimala Thakar.

He has practised much more fully in the Zen tradition since 1986 with a deepening understanding since the early 1990’s.

Peter has studied and practised with many Zen teachers including Robert Aitken Roshi, Hogen Daido Yamahata, Tangen Harada Roshi, Charlotte Joko Beck, Toni Packer, and several Australian teachers.  He holds a special regard for the Zen teachings of Master Dogen Zenji (1200-1253AD) who he now sees as his major guiding teacher.

Although he practises in the broad school of Zen Buddhism, Peter has also been greatly inspired by the Advaita Vedanta path and especially with teachers Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, Papaji (Sri Poonja), Isaac Shapiro and Sailor Bob Adamson.

He was very fortunate to have met and studied with all of these teachers.

Peter is very interested in exploring and helping the transition and integration of Eastern teachings of Zen and Advaita into his native Christian/Western cultural context, exploring the major religious issues of practice/enlightenment, surrender, love, birth and death. He is also most interested in incorporating both journal writing and psychology into the Spiritual Path.

He has a deep commitment to helping to address major modern issues such as the climate change crisis and eco-sustainability ­— to realign Spirituality with the natural world. To this end he has recently initiated the Dharma Gaia Fellowship and AFCAN (Artists For Climate Action Now).

Peter holds an Arts Degree from ANU majoring in Political Science (Hons) and Law, a Research Masters Degree in Community Counselling (UCAN) and a Diploma of Education (UTS). He taught High School for 24 years and is also a qualified professional tennis coach.