Meditation Obstacles: Sleepiness, Restlessness, Desire, Aversion, & Doubt

Sumi Loundon Kim

Buddhist Chaplain

Yale Chaplain's Office

Before joining Yale in 2018, I served as the Buddhist chaplain at Duke University for 8 years. I received a BA in fine arts from Williams College, followed by an MA in Buddhist Studies and Sanskrit from the Harvard Divinity School. I was raised in a Zen community until I was just shy of 9, where my parents lived and practiced. In my teens, I became a student of the Theravada (insight) lineage. I’m the author of Blue Jean Buddha (2001); The Buddha’s Apprentices (2005); Sitting Together (2017); and Goodnight Love (2023), among others. My husband, Professor Kim, teaches courses in Buddhism with the Department of Religious Studies, and we have two nearly-adult children.