Thanissara is Anglo-Irish from London. She trained as a monastic in the Thai Forest School of Ajahn Chah. She's a Dharma teacher, author, and activist. With her partner, Kittisaro, she co-founded Dharmagiri Meditation Center in South Africa and Sacred Mountain Sangha in California.

Kittisaro is a core teacher at Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts, guiding teacher of Chattanooga Insight in Tennessee, and a member of the Teachers Council at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California. He is co-founder with his wife, Thanissara, of Dharmagiri Sacred Mountain Retreat in South Africa, and Sacred Mountain Sangha, a public charity in Sebastopol, CA.