About
Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith practices in the Theravada tradition and has studied Vipassana meditation and Dharma for 12 years. She completed training programs at East Bay Meditation Center and Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Ortiz-Smith has served as Retreat Manager and Community Welcome Leader at Spirit Rock and currently teaches with the Mills College Love and Liberation Sangha. She works as a freelance Retreat Manager, Dharma Leader, Writer, and Executive Administrator.
Teaching focus
Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith's teaching focus, drawn from the source profile, sits in the Theravada and Vipassana traditions. Several threads come up: steady attention to body and breath; the relationship between ethics and meditation; and short, direct teachings rather than long talks. On talks, the style is closer to thinking-along than presenting. Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith 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 Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith 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. Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith'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. Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith'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
Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith teaches in the Theravada and Vipassana traditions. The teaching home is East Bay Meditation Center. From the teacher's own profile: Ramona Lisa (she / her) has been practicing Vipassana meditation, studying the Dharma and sitting silent meditation retreats in the Theravada tradition for the past 12 years. She is a graduate of East Bay Meditation Center's (EBMC) Commit to Dharma program (C2D3) and Spirit Rock Meditation Center's Dedicated Practitioners Program (DPP6). Ramona Lisa has served as a Retreat Manager and Community Welcome Leader at Spirit Rock. She currently serves on the leadership board and teaches for the Mills College Love and Liberation Sangha. She is also former member of EBMC's Leadership Sangha. Ramona Lisa is committed to her service to the Dharma as a freelance Retreat Manager, Dharma Leader, Writer and Executive Administrator, through which she is known for her dedication to customer service, support and love for the Dharma. If you would like to offer a gift to help support Ramona Lisa's service in the Dharma, please do so at Venmo: @Ramona-Ortiz-Smith In the Insight stream Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith 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. Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith'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. Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith'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. Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith'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. Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith'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. Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith'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
Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith teaches as a lay teacher in the Theravada and Vipassana traditions. The institutional home, per the source listing, is East Bay Meditation Center, 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 Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith, 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 East Bay Meditation Center, 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.
