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ABOUT GAVIN


"When a human heart turns deeply and sincerely to truth and love,
awakening to our true essence becomes an immediate and ever present possibility.

We live our precious human life in devotion to what Christ called "The One Thing."

This clarity of intention and unshakable resolve is
perhaps the greatest friend to awakening"

Gavin lives on the Big Island of Hawai’i. He was born and raised in South Africa.

After a year of military service, he studied at The University of the Witwatersrand, graduating as a CPA. He left South Africa in 1974 and lived in Europe, England and Iran before settling in the USA. In 1981, he attended his first Insight Meditation retreat at the Buddhist Retreat Centre in Ixopo, Zululand, where he met his teacher, Joseph Goldstein. In the next years, he ordained as a Buddhist monk at the Taungpulu Forest Monastery in California before beginning a period of long-term retreat at The Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusettes, where he met his other teacher, Michelle McDonald.

Gavin is a recipient of the “Unsung Hero of Compassion” award, presented to him by His Holiness the Dalai Lama for kindness and quiet dedication to others.

He was honoured by the Mens’ Resource Centre in Amherst, Massachusettes with the “Challenge & Change” award in 1998 for “someone who personifies the positive ideals of masculinity.


"It is a tremendous burden to not act from love."

Gavin leads retreats in Hawaii and South Africa. He is a student of Tai Chi, Yoga and Qi Gung. He is the author of In the Lap of the Buddha (Shambhala Publications, Boston 1994). His published writings include:

  • Spinning Tales, Weaving Hope (New Society Printers), an anthology of writings related to peace, justice and the environment
  • Voices of Insight (Shambhala Publications, Boston/London), an anthology of writing by Insight Meditation teachers, an interview in:
  • Tricycle, The Buddhist Review,
    and articles in:
      • Shambhala Sun
      • Yoga Journal
      • Turning Wheel, Journal of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship
      • Karuna, Journal of Buddhist Meditation
      • Inquiring Mind , Insight Journal of the Vipassana Community
      • Tricycle

With snorkeling, swimming and hiking in Hawai’i Gavin continues his lifelong passion for intimacy with the ocean and nature. He is active in community efforts to protect and nurture the Hawaiian green sea turtle. He is single heartedly and wholeheartedly committed to serving the AIDS orphans, vulnerable children women and men of Ufafa Valley, KwaZulu, South Africa and those who serve them at the Woza Moya Project.