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Rev. Charles Allen Lingo, Jr. “Al” is a lay Dharma Teacher and member of the Order of Interbeing in the Buddhist tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village. He is also an ordained Protestant Minister, a lifelong civil rights activist and a community development specialist.

In 1964 Al joined Martin Luther King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference as field staff in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. During the 1960’s, he helped organize and participate in civil rights campaigns in Texas, New Jersey, New York and Illinois. From 1966 and through the 1980’s he served as a faculty member of the Ecumenical Institute and the Institute of Cultural Affairs in Chicago, Bombay, Manila, and Nairobi, designing and delivering church and community programs. Decades of working to improve societal systems for all people developed into a passion for effecting change through working to support individuals.

Since the 1990’s, Al has been a sought-after speaker and teacher.  He has led training programs and retreats across the United States and Canada, in South America, Europe and Asia. His teachings highlight the theology and interfaith mission of a new Christianity including the psychosynthesis program, “Unconditional Love and Forgiveness and the Buddhist mindfulness practices of Plum Village.

Al Lingo continues to be on a humbling spiritual journey of growth and transformation. His home is a residential Mindfulness Practice Center where he guides the Breathing Heart Sangha in Decatur, Georgia. He mentors’ aspirants for the Order of Interbeing in North America and most recently, has accepted the challenge to become a teacher of InterPlay in Atlanta.