Ben Booth

Founder/Executive Director

      Ben Booth has been dedicated from his earliest years to the pursuit of insight.  From a youth spent meditating in his backyard and going down to the sea every day after school, to an adult life traveling through the United States, China and India in pursuit of the world's great teachers, Ben has come to embody the attainment available through formal practice, natural observation and creative insight.

      He has formerly studied eastern meditative and spiritual health practices in traditional settings, with a focus on Zen Buddhism.  He has lived with Zen Master Chang Sik Kim, founder of the Shim Gum Do martial art in Brighton, MA and studied Zen meditation, Dharma talks, sword, two-sword, staff, and Shin Boep, or "Body Dharma" with him.  In China, he studied closely with masters from the revered Shaolin and Wudang temples, exploring deeply the arts of Ch'an Buddhism, Kung Fu, and Tai Chi.  On retreat in India, Ben lived with Gurus of the ancient Southern Indian martial and healing tradition of Kalaripayattu and Yoga.

      Ben has undergone extensive wilderness retreats, living outdoors for months at a time in contemplative harmony with natural rhythms.  He has also logged countless miles on the sea, often in boats of his own design and build.  He was a formidable ocean rowing racer, setting a course record in the 20 mile open water race the Blackburn Challenge.  He is an avid surf launching rower and enjoys offshore kayak passages.  His latest building project is a cedar on oak lapstrake ocean sailing canoe

      Ben has been able to bring the various elements of nature, ocean adventuring, meditation and physical awareness into a comprehensive education system that is embodied in Dharma Voyage.  He has taught hundreds of people Tai Chi, and even more in his unique flowing Yoga.  He has taught in numerous health clubs in the Boston area - Mount Auburn Club, Boston Sports Clubs, Revolution Fitness, and Equinox.  He has taught yoga and meditation at the Sakya Center for Tibetan Buddhism in Cambridge, and also to doctors and health care professionals, professional athletes, dancers, and Buddhist monks.  He has taught Shim Gum Do at the Mind Light Temple and as head instructor of the One Stone Shim Gum Do club.  He has taught in schools, led workshops and wilderness retreats in Vermont and New Hampshire, and works with private clients in meditation, yoga, martial arts and healing in both physical and mental/emotional capacities.    

Darin Wahl

President/Instructor    

     Diverse experiences and a passion for learning has shaped Darin Wahl's skills as a teacher.  He has taught high school math and social studies in New York City and New Jersey.  He has taught English in Tibet and instructed at a school for the children of the incarcerated in Bolivia.  He has volunteered his skills at an orphanage in Lhasa, Tibet.  He has lived and worked on an organic peach farm in Los Angeles County and a sheep ranch in Patagonia.  Darin trained Capoeira Angola while in college, and in China he studied Shaolin Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, Bagua, and Xing-yi.  He is a certified Kripalu yoga instructor, and has taught yoga in the U.S. and China.  As a photographer and writer, Darin has published Deep Roots, a book exploring part of his journey through photographs, poetry, and prose.  Darin is currently studying sustainable design and construction in Vermont.    

Andrew Avault

Board of Directors/Instructor

    Andrew Avault has worked with at risk youth for the last three years at the Penikese Island School, based out of Woods Hole, MA.  In 2007 he was appointed the official Community Outreach Officer at Penikese and as such spent much of his time working with students in underprivileged neighborhoods around eastern Massachusetts. 

    For the last ten years Andrew has been a student of the Zen Martial Art Shim Gum Do, in which he has achieved the rank of fourth degree black belt while also pursuing several other mind/body practices.  Andrew is actively fundraising as well as planning and instructing many of Dharma Voyage's youth programs this summer.