Clear Sky is an act of love.
Founded by a group of dedicated practitioners, we step into the unknown every day as we build a modern monastery.
Instead of being secluded away from the world, we believe in creating a space that meets the world where it is at. This means that our residents undertake lifelong development and exploration and that they have day-jobs which serve our local or global communities.
How do we balance careers with running a meditation centre? How do we embody effective communication and teamwork skills that support varied ages and cultural backgrounds? How can we create a sustainable business model so our centre may support generations to come? These are the questions we grapple with.
It’s messy. It’s exhilarating. It’s our calling.


Acariya Qapel Doug Duncan
Founding Teacher
Qapel Doug Duncan is a Canadian-born Dharma teacher and counselor who has traveled, studied and meditated for most of his life. He received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 1978 and is a lineage holder in that teaching. Known for his direct and compassionate engagement with students, Qapel embraces the full spectrum of the various traditions he employs in order to mentor beings to a more awakened state.

Catherine Pawasarat Sensei
Founding Teacher
In 1998, Catherine Pawasarat Sensei began an intensive spiritual apprenticeship that is rare in the modern West. Studying under Acariya Qapel Doug Duncan, she underwent rigorous daily training in Buddhist meditation and philosophy. Catherine has studied and taught Dharma in remote areas of Antarctica, Brazil, Bhutan, and Guatemala. In addition to Buddhist philosophy and its applications to daily life, Catherine Sensei also draws on generative living, psychology and the arts.

Karen McAllister
Board Chair & Founding Resident
After meeting our founding teachers in Japan, I managed their meditation center in Kyoto for many years.
I am privileged to have been part of the team that took the center from self-starter to second-stage growth.

Duncan Cryle
Co-Executive Director & FOUNDING RESIDENT
I’m the former Clear Sky Chair, a certified Mindfulness teacher, Dharma teacher, and an exec at an innovative technology company.
Through 30+ years of personal practice, and 15+years of teaching meditation and mindfulness, alongside an active career working all over the world, I’ve learnt a lot about an integrated spiritual path.

Maureen Smith
Land & Buildings & Founding Resident
I care so much about what we’re doing here and am passionate about supporting the teachers, wisdom teachings, and others who want to experience more of this.
My training includes studying with Qapel Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat Sensei over the past 20 years. I arrived at Clear Sky in 2005 (straight from living in a light house!) and as the retreat center has grown, I’ve held various positions including bookkeeper, treasurer, and communication manager.
I have benefited tremendously by living in conscious community at this active, awakening modern retreat center. I have found the meaning in life that I was looking for. Woohoo!

Martin Blackwell
maintenance manager & Founding Member
Martin has been in this lineage for over 45 years. We’re prepared to wait that long for his biography.

Cara Conroy-Low
food Forest Founder & Planet Dharma Webmaster
I’m an Acupuncturist and Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine with a clinic in Cranbrook, 30 minutes from Clear Sky.
I fell in love with meditation and Buddhist-based therapy in my early twenties and now have over ten years of personal Dharma experience and training.
Originally from New Zealand, I’ve traveled widely, studying Dharma in both Japan and Canada with Achariya Qapel Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat Sensei.
Now a resident at Clear Sky, I’ve helped develop their farm and food forest. I continue a committed practice of Karma Yoga, meditation, and training.

Elizabeth MacLean
Community & Marketing Manager
In 2016 I came to Clear Sky for a retreat. I still haven’t left.
In short, my life transformed upon meeting Doug and Catherine Sensei.

Dean Nicholson
treasurer
I’m passionate about helping people unfold, and this starts with myself.
My role at Clear Sky allows me to support the ongoing sustainability and growth of the center.
I like to combine my interests in natural sciences, history, and literature into my own way of teaching and supporting people.

David Basu-Roy
Farm & kitchen manager

Duke

Sonora

Onyx

Pasha
