Members of the Wise Spirit sangha online and in-person, celebrating an anniversary at Portland Dhamma Center.
Photos by: Molly Bailen, Michael Marlitt

Wise Spirit Buddhist Community is stepping into its next chapter, as one of Portland’s few sanghas dedicated to the Theravada lineage of Ruth Denison and Sayagyi U Ba Khin.

Wise Spirit closes out a milestone year marked by organizational growth, expanded programming, and renewed commitment to foundational Buddhist teachings. Wise Spirit also achieved nonprofit status in 2025.

After several years of planning and development, Wise Spirit Buddhist Community finished 2025 strong by launching a core class on the Buddha’s eightfold path. This is to be the cornerstone of an expanded Theravada Buddhist curriculum in 2026.

Wise Spirit today and looking toward 2026

The community celebrated its six-year anniversary on Dec. 3, and is planning a February three-year anniversary celebration at the Portland Dhamma Center. Founding teacher Gregory Maloof said these milestones reflect stability, and are a launch point for future development.

The sangha also plans to strengthen its outreach and deepen its partnerships with other Buddhist organizations in the region. Its participation in this summer’s Portland Buddhist Festival was a first step in that direction.

In November, with a focus on sangha collaboration and compassionate action, the sangha coordinated with Portland Friends of the Dhamma, No Rank Zendo, and Oregon Buddhist Temple to raise funds for Buddhist Global Relief and Urban Gleaners. The four sanghas hosted the Path to Plenty Walk, in support of food security worldwide. 

Plans for 2026 include:  

• A class on vipassana and an advanced class on jhana meditation
• An increase to quarterly daylong retreats at Portland Dhamma Center
• A continuation and expansion of the guest teacher program

“When students come to our community, they can expect a wonderful balance of authentic teachings within a modern householder framework.” Maloof said. “Our guiding compass is to create a strong support system for people who want liberation — without pretending that householders should expect less of their efforts. We encourage students to honor the limitations of lay life without limiting their possibility of achieving nirvana.”

Preserving a lineage, reclaiming the foundations 

Throughout its evolution, the community has maintained a central intention: to preserve and revitalize the Theravada teachings passed down through Ruth Denison, a pioneering teacher known for her innovative use of movement, and her teacher, the Burmese meditation master Sayagyi U Ba Khin.

Denison (1922–2015) was the only woman authorized to teach by U Ba Khin. A dancer by training, she brought embodied awareness into the Vipassana tradition, and helped establish its spread across Europe in the 1970s. In 1977 she founded Dhamma Dena Meditation Center near Joshua Tree, Calif., where she taught retreats—often for women—until the end of her life.

U Ba Khin (1899–1971), a high-ranking Burmese government official known for his energy and tireless service, attributed his resilience to meditation practice. Encouraged to teach by the revered monk Webu Sayadaw, he founded the International Meditation Center in Rangoon in 1952. His ability to teach in English opened Theravada practice to Western seekers, including Denison and the influential German nun, Ayya Khema. 

Today, Wise Spirit offers the following programs:

• Drop-in Thursdays – A weekly drop-in group with a 35-minute meditation, dhamma talk, Q&A, and metta (loving-kindness meditation).
• Sutta study – A study of a few selected suttas on the first Thursday of the month. Includes group meditation, a dhamma talk, and group discussion.
• First Sunday series – A Sunday morning in-person gathering with group meditation, dhamma talk, and time for tea and socialization.

From drop-in group to dhamma hall 

Wise Spirit began in December 2019, when founding teacher Maloof launched “Wednesday Wake-Up,” a small mid-week meditation group hosted under the umbrella of the Portland Insight Meditation Community. Maloof, a decade-long practitioner at Portland Insight, and a formally authorized teacher in the Ruth Denison lineage, began the group in response to students who were seeking a return to earlier Theravada teachings they felt were fading from contemporary insight communities.

The group quickly found its rhythm — then quickly had to find a new one. By March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered meditation centers throughout the city, the infant Wise Spirit group shifted entirely online. For nearly three years, practitioners logged in weekly from living rooms and kitchen tables, building what Maloof called a “digital dhamma hall” during a period of widespread fear and uncertainty. Despite the distance the group maintained momentum, using meditation and sutta study as a stabilizing refuge. 

In February 2023, on the other side of vaccines and fading lock-down restrictions, Wednesday Wake-Up found that not only did the community survive, but they were presented with the blessed opportunity of continuing in person at the Portland Dhamma Center. This transition from three years of online engagement to in-person gatherings allowed Maloof, and co-founders Doyle Banks and Molly Bailen, to authentically reflect on the inheritance of their Buddhist lineage and the deeper purpose of their efforts. During this time they gained a clearer identity and a far more mature, refined mission. Out of that reflection, the Wise Spirit Buddhist Community name and identity emerged. 

Formalizing a mission centered on monastic support

As the community evolved from Wednesday Wake-Up into the newly formed Wise Spirit Buddhist Community, founding members solidified their commitment to renewing the fundamentals of Buddhist practice and being very intentional in the shaping of the sangha. It was evident that the new home for Wise Spirit would need to be a conducive place for its refined vision and mission, for those to thrive.

Portland Dhamma Center housed several sanghas, but what especially resonated with Wise Spirit members was Portland Friends of the Dhamma’s commitment to supporting monastic life, especially in the Thai forest tradition.

As Wise Spirit formalized its structure, this conviction was woven directly into its mission. The nonprofit’s bylaws include an explicit commitment to supporting Buddhist monastics in a guest teacher program, with particular preference for women monastics in honor of Denison’s legacy. 

The community has welcomed several visiting teachers, including Ayya Santacitta, a bhikkhuni in the Thai forest tradition. Having been hosted by Ruth Denison previously, Ayya Santacitta’s teaching at Wise Spirit was especially connective and nourishing for the sangha.  Other guest teachers have included Dhammadipa, Kate Davies, Flying Fish Murphy and in collaboration with Portland Friends of the Dhamma, Ajahn Jayasāro. 

As Wise Spirit prepares for its next chapter, leaders say the heart of the sangha remains unchanged: a commitment to the original teachings of the Buddha, transmitted through a lineage of lay practitioners, and made accessible to anyone seeking freedom amid everyday life.