About
Lisa Ernst is a meditation teacher and visual artist who founded One Dharma Nashville. She has practiced in the Zen and Vipassana traditions for over 30 years. Ernst teaches classes and leads retreats internationally through organizations including Spirit Rock, InsightLA, and Southern Dharma, with retreats also offered in India and Costa Rica. She integrates Dharma into contemplative photography and writing.
Teaching focus
Lisa Ernst's teaching focus, drawn from the source profile, sits in the Zen and Vipassana traditions. Several threads come up: dharma in dialogue with race, identity, and power;. On talks, the style is closer to thinking-along than presenting. Lisa Ernst works with whatever shows up in the room rather than reading from notes, which is part of why these talks land as conversational instead of scripted. Short pauses, longer sits, and questions that come back to direct experience are usual. Listed specialties on the source profile include retreat. The bigger move Lisa Ernst keeps making is back toward attention itself: what's happening, how it's being held, and what gets in the way. That keeps the teaching close to practice rather than drifting into commentary about practice. For talks, schedules, and longer essays, the affiliated organization's page is where the live material lives. Lisa Ernst's sessions tend to keep returning to the body, to breath, and to the felt quality of attention as the steady ground that the rest rests on. Lisa Ernst's sessions tend to keep returning to the body, to breath, and to the felt quality of attention as the steady ground that the rest rests on.
Background
Lisa Ernst teaches in the Zen and Vipassana traditions. The teaching home is InsightLA. From the teacher's own profile: Lisa Ernst is a meditation teacher, artist and founder of One Dharma Nashville. In her teaching, Lisa emphasizes both transformational insight and everyday awakening as an invitation to embrace all of the path’s possibilities. Lisa has been meditating for over 30 years in the Zen and Vipassana traditions. She teaches internationally and has led retreats and classes for organizations such as Spirit Rock, InsightLA, Sangha Live, Big Bear, and Southern Dharma. Lisa has also led retreats in India and Costa Rica. As a practicing visual artist, Lisa incorporates Dharma into contemplative photography and writing. In the Insight stream Lisa Ernst works inside, the emphasis is on direct attention to body, feeling tone, and mind, alongside the brahmaviharas and an ongoing investigation of how clinging and aversion arise. Talks tend to be conversational rather than scripted, and there's room for sila and ethics to be talked about as part of practice rather than as a separate topic. Lisa Ernst's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Lisa Ernst's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Lisa Ernst's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Lisa Ernst's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Lisa Ernst's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Lisa Ernst's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Lisa Ernst's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography.
Lineage
Lisa Ernst teaches as a lay teacher in the Zen and Vipassana traditions. The institutional home, per the source listing, is InsightLA, and that's where most of the public teaching schedule and any retreat offerings will be posted. The Insight lineage in the West runs through teachers like Mahasi Sayadaw, U Ba Khin, Anagarika Munindra, and Dipa Ma into the founders of IMS, Spirit Rock, and the regional centers, and most contemporary Insight teachers position themselves somewhere in that broad family.
What to expect
On a class or retreat with Lisa Ernst, the basic shape is short instruction, longer sittings, and some Q&A. Retreats are part of the offering, usually a few days to a week, mostly silent. The container is shaped by InsightLA, so format details, fees, and access policies follow that organization's norms. Expect plenty of silence, less talking-at-you than you might think, and an emphasis on letting the practice do its work rather than chasing experiences. For exact dates, registration, and any sliding-scale or scholarship information, There's usually a short Q&A window and, on retreats, optional teacher interviews where students can bring specific questions about their practice.
