Martin Aylward

Martin Aylward

After experiencing strong intimations of the spiritual as a teenager, Martin Aylward traveled to India at the age of nineteen to explore meditation. He spent most of the next five years in monasteries, ashrams, and meditation centers in India and Thailand, including two years in a hermitage in the Himalayas with one of his teachers. As well as having the good fortune to learn from and practice with many different teachers, both Asian and Western, Martin has spent much time in solitude with his real guru, Nature—and his teaching often emphasizes contact with Nature as a resource for Awakening.

 In 1995 Martin cofounded the Tapovan Dharma Community in the French Pyrenees with his wife Gail. The number of visitors steadily increased beyond the capacity of the location. In 2005—just ten years after opening—the Tapovan Dharma Community relocated to Le Moulin (Moulin de Chaves), a former Zen monastery in the Dordogne, Southwest France, where Martin and Gail live today with their two children. In addition to guiding Dharma practice at Le Moulin as resident teacher, Martin has been invited to teach Dharma around the world since 1999.

Martin’s approach draws on extensive practice in the Buddhist Theravada tradition, as well as the influence of Nondual teachings and the Diamond Approach. His teaching encourages and inspires a spiritual practice that both integrates meditation and daily activity, and brings awakening to our True Nature into the heart of our personal lives.