Dr. Jay Forrest
Jay N. Forrest is a Deistic Buddhist philosopher who has spent the last forty years studying religion, philosophy, and contemplative practice. He completed undergraduate studies at Central Bible College and Berean University and earned his Doctor of Ministry degree from Trinity Evangelical Christian University. Forrest has undertaken advanced and postdoctoral study in Buddhism through programs at Harvard University, Princeton University, the University of Virginia, Naropa University, Columbia University, and Universiteit Leiden. He is a certified meditation teacher, an ordained minister, and the author of over a dozen books on Buddhist philosophy, contemplative practice, and metaphysics.
Dr. Forrest’s early academic work was conducted within Christian institutions, but his philosophical development ultimately led him beyond theistic religion. After more than two decades of ministry and formal theological study, he left Christianity on April 11, 2011, and embraced Buddhism. He subsequently took the Three Refuges and the Five Precepts with Bhikkhu Samahita, later undertaking the Eight Precepts with Bhikkhu Saccananda as an anagārika committed to minimalist, contemplative living. Forrest joined the Albuquerque Insight Meditation Center and began a sustained engagement with the Early Buddhist Texts and the foundations of Buddhist philosophy.
Dr. Forrest has received extensive hands-on training in both Zen and Vipassanā meditation. His Zen instruction was under Rev. Brian C. Taylor, an ordained Anglican priest who also received lay ordination from Soto Zen priest Taigen Dan Leighton. Forrest’s Vipassanā training was undertaken at the Albuquerque Insight Meditation Center with visiting teachers such as Brian Lesage. He received direct, practical instruction in insight meditation from Sally Armstrong of Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Forrest also earned a diploma in Buddhist meditation from Aura Wellness Center, which certified him to teach mindfulness meditation.
Forrest practices insight meditation primarily in the Mahasi Sayadaw tradition, incorporating S. N. Goenka’s emphasis on awareness of breath sensations at the nostrils. In addition to his membership in the Albuquerque Insight Meditation Center, Forrest has been affiliated with organizations including the International Zen Association, the Buddhist Society, the Spiritual Naturalist Society, and the International Society for Philosophers.