Walt Opie

Walt Opie teaches in the Insight Meditation tradition and is on the core faculty of Sacramento Insight Meditation in California. He first met insight practice in 1993 and has sat residential retreats since 2005. He trained in Spirit Rock's Community Dharma Leaders programme under the mentorship of Kevin Griffin and completed the four-year IMS teacher training in 2021. Early Buddhist texts shape much of his teaching, and he names Bhikkhu Anālayo, Sayadaw U Tejaniya, Joseph Goldstein and Gil Fronsdal among the teachers who have influenced him most; he has also helped facilitate Anālayo's courses at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies.

He gives evening talks, daylongs and retreats around the United States, including at IMS, where he is one of the teachers of a 2027 retreat on the core teachings of the Buddha for newcomers and returning students. Much of his service has been with people on the margins: he has taught meditation as a volunteer in California prisons, trained as a Buddhist chaplain through the Sati Center, and chairs the board of the Buddhist Recovery Network. A former communications staffer at Spirit Rock with an MFA in writing, he has published essays and poetry in Buddhist journals. He grew up in Virginia and lives in Berkeley with his family.