Cheri Maples

Cheri Maples J.D., MSSW, is an American dharma teacher, ordained by Zen Master, poet and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh in January 2008.^[1] She has been a lay member of Hanh's Order of Interbeing since 2002. Maples is also the co-founder of the Center for Mindfulness & Justice, a keynote speaker, and an organizational consultant and trainer. Cheri is known for combining the mindfulness tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh with vipassana practice in her teaching and teaches nationally, including with Sharon Salzberg and at Tara Brach's Insight Meditation Community of Washington. A police officer for 20 years with the Madison Police Department (Wisconsin), she organized a first-of-its-kind non-sectarian retreat in 2003 with Thich Nhat Hanh and criminal justice professionals,^[2] which received considerable national attention.^[3] An outgrowth of the retreat was a book by Hahn entitled Keeping the Peace: Mindfulness and Public Service,^[4] with the foreword by Cheri Maples.

Educational and Professional Background

Cheri Maples received an undergraduate degree in Social Welfare & Economics from University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, a Masters degree in Social Work from University of Wisconsin-Madison and a J.D. from University of Wisconsin Law School.

For 25 years Cheri Maples worked in the criminal justice system, as an Assistant Attorney General in the Wisconsin Department of Justice, the head of Probation & Parole for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, and as a police officer with the City of Madison Police Department, earning the rank of Captain of Personnel and Training. Before becoming a police officer in 1984, she worked as a community organizer, working in neighborhood centers, deferred prosecution programs, and domestic violence programs, and was the first employee and head of the Wisconsin Coalition against Domestic Violence.

Cheri Maples is focusing her efforts on teaching mindfulness and meditation - including to people in prison - keynote speaking, training and Time Banking. She speaks from personal experience about topics such as the effects of secondary trauma on those working in helping professions.^[5] She is a member of SnowFlower Sangha in Madison, WI, where she resides.

References

1. ^ Isthmus "Cheri Maples Ordained A Dharma Teacher" - http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=21504
2. ^ Christian Science Monitor article on Green Lake Retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh - http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0925/p15s01-lire.html
3. ^ Radio Interview of Hahn & Maples from American Public Media's Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett - http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/thichnhathanh/index.shtml
4. ^ Hanh, Thich Nhat. Keeping the Peace: Mindfulness and Public Service. Parallax Press, 2005. ISBN 978-1-888375-48-0
5. ^ van Dernoot Lipsky, Laura. Trauma Stewardship. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2009. ISBN 978-1576759448

External links

• USA TODAY article on Hahn's Green Lake retreat organized by Maples - http://www.usatoday.com/life/2003-08-19-zen-cops_x.htm
• Center for Mindfulness & Justice - http://www.mindfulnessandjustice.org
• Thich Nhat Hanh's Plum Village Retreat Center - http://plumvillage.org
• Article on Maples being ordained by Hahn - http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=21540
• SnowFlower Sangha in Madison, WI - http://www.snowflower.org