Forgot password

Guiding Teacher

Gareth Young

Gareth is a co-founder and the Guiding Teacher of Red Clay Sangha. He has maintained a committed meditation practice since 1999 in the Zen, Chan and Vipassana Traditions. He received dharma transmission in the Thai Forest lineage of Ajahn Chah, Jack Kornfield and Lisa Ernst. He lives in the Atlanta area with his wife and their dogs, chickens and bees. He has two adult children. 

Gareth holds regular and ad hoc private practice discussions with individuals. Please contact Gareth by email if you would like to schedule a conversation.



Red Clay Sangha Teachers

Anand Garlapati - 

Charli SoKai Vogt - SoKai (she/her) has been a spiritual seeker as long as she can remember, through Lutheran Catechism, Pagan studies, Feminist spirituality and Buddhism. She has been studying Buddhism intensely since 2007, when she received the precepts from Thich Nhat Hanh and has studied with multiple Vipassana and Thai Forest teachers. She is currently studying with Sensei Shun’E Ulrike Greenway in the Zen tradition and received the precepts in a Jukai ceremony February 7, 2024

Katie Rhodes - 

Visiting Teachers

Dhammadipa is the founder of Dassanaya Buddhist Community. She has been practicing Buddhism since 1987. She is a Dharma Transmitted Teacher in the Suzuki Roshi lineage of Soto Zen and was previously ordained in the Theravada tradition for 5 years. In addition to English, Dhammadīpā teaches in Spanish, an expression of her Latin heritage. She is an author whose work has appeared in the Buddhist publications “Lion’s Roar” and the “Buddhadharma” magazine. Dhammadīpā is the mother of a lovely adult daughter, and enjoys sewing and watercolor painting.

Learn more about her and her teachings at:  Dassanaya.org 


Ben Connelly is a Soto Zen teacher and Dharma heir in the Katagiri lineage. He also teaches mindfulness in a wide variety of secular contexts including police training and addiction recovery groups. He works with multifaith groups focused on intersectional liberation, racial justice, and climate justice. Ben is based at Minnesota Zen Meditation Center, travels to teach across the United States, has written for Tricycle and Lion’s Roar magazines, and is author of Inside the Grass Hut, Inside Vasubandhu's Yogacara, Vasubandhu's "Three Natures", and Mindfulness and Intimacy.




Governance of Red Clay Sangha

Red Clay Sangha has three layers of governance: a board of directors responsible primarily for administrative matters; a guiding teacher responsible for dhamma and programming matters; and an Elder's Council, which serves primarily as a consultative body for the guiding teacher, but its members are also available on an as needed basis for members and sangha participants who wish to consult on a sensitive or personal matter. 

Board of Directors

  • Patricia McMahon (president)
  • Chad Crowley (treasurer)
  • Clay Roper (secretary)
  • Natalie KhazaaL
  • Markus Wilms
  • Richard Skoonberg 
  • Gareth Young (non-voting)

Elders Council

  • Gareth Young
  • Sally Landrum
  • Charli Vogt
  • Katie Rhodes


Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software