 | Extended Biography |
Jeannine Davies, experimental researcher, writer, dharma teacher, and therapist.
Jeannine Davies conducts research in the areas of consciousness, human capacities, psychology, and modern physics. Her work, best described as the synthesis of existential humanism, nonsectarian dharma, and experiential physics, focuses on the intimate exploration and illumination of awareness, and on the meaningful evolution of our interpersonal relationships.
A successful entrepreneur, Jeannine’s background includes nine years (1991–1999) in the public business and stock portfolio management sectors.
Jeannine was a co-founder of Montello Resources Ltd., a Canadian-based publicly traded diamond and mineral exploration company, and was a member of the board of directors from 1992 to 2006.
Always interested in psychology, Jeannine was drawn to study more directly the nature and subtle patterns of consciousness in relationship to the mind, and in 1999 she took a sabbatical from the business world. Later that same year, she began an intensive theoretical and experiential study of existential Buddhist psychology and insight meditation in Theravada Buddhism through the lineage of one of the modern era’s most respected meditation teachers, the Venerable Sayadaw U Pandita, successor to the Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw.
Along with former Buddhist monk and human rights activist Alan Clements, she began work co-envisioning World Dharma, a nonsectarian-based approach to the realization of dharma in the contemporary world. From 1999 to 2003, she worked with Alan in the organization and presentation of residential World Dharma training and retreats in Canada and North America.
In 2000, Jeannine returned to academia, graduating in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from Vermont College, Montpellier, Vermont. Her undergraduate research explored the synthesis of human consciousness and modern physics, nonsectarian spirituality, western and Buddhist psychology, and awareness-based insight meditation. In 2001, as part of her undergraduate research, she traveled to Burma, where she explored the parallels between meditative insight and modern physics. While in Burma, she undertook an extended period of intensive meditation training under the guidance of a leading Burmese meditation teacher.
In addition to intensive study of Buddhism and meditation practices and academic studies in psychology, from 1999 to 2005 Jeannine undertook extensive training in western-based experiential psychology and psychotherapeutic practices.
In 2006, Jeannine completed her master’s degree in psychology from Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center, San Francisco, California. Her graduate thesis work, chaired by Dr. Stanley Krippner, integrated insights gained through her previous studies of human consciousness and modern physics, nonsectarian spirituality, western and Buddhist psychology, and awareness-based insight meditation into the design of an experiential model of consciousness she calls “Relational Dharma.” Her model utilizes the wisdom of dharma, in relationship, as a mechanism to release awareness and experience into a higher mode of compassion and co-intelligence.
In 2006, Jeannine co-founded the World Dharma Online Institute (a non-Profit wing of the Buddhist Sasana Foundation), where she currently teaches courses and retreats that explore dharma and consciousness as they relate to human freedom. The World Dharma Online Institute is dedicated to the development of courses and public forums that inspire dialogue, awareness, and purposeful action through the interface of consciousness, science, art, and activism. In addition, it seeks to raise international awareness about the struggle for democracy in Burma.
As well as writing, teaching, and evolving a private practice, Jeannine is currently pursing a doctorate in clinical psychology with an emphasis on human consciousness and human capacities at Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center.
Jeannine has published articles and interviews in the area of dharma and consciousness in magazines such as Shared Vision Magazine, The New Times, Alternatives, and The Georgia Straight.
Jeannine resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.