Allan Lokos

Allan Lokos is a meditation teacher, author, and former Broadway performer whose career has spanned the performing arts and contemplative education. He appeared on Broadway between 1963 and 1965, performing in the original companies of Oliver! and Pickwick, as well as a Stratford Festival production of The Pirates of Penzance that transferred to Broadway.

Following his performing career, Lokos turned to meditation practice, which he began in the mid-1990s. He studied under a number of prominent teachers in the field, including Sharon Salzberg, Thích Nhất Hạnh, Joseph Goldstein, Andrew Olendzki, and Stephen Batchelor. He went on to found the Community Meditation Center on the upper west side of New York City, where he serves as guiding teacher.

Lokos has taught at a wide range of institutions, among them Columbia University Teachers College, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, Marymount Manhattan College, the Rubin Museum of Art Brainwave Series, BuddhaFest, NY Insight Meditation Center, the NY Open Center, Tibet House US, and the Insight Meditation Community of Washington.

He is the author of three books published by Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin: Pocket Peace: Effective Practices for Enlightened Living (2010), Patience: The Art of Peaceful Living (2012), and Through the Flames: Overcoming Disaster Through Compassion, Patience, and Determination (2015). His writing has also appeared in The Huffington Post, Tricycle magazine, Beliefnet, and several anthologies.

On December 25, 2012, Lokos and his wife Susanna Weiss were aboard Air Bagan Flight 11 when the aircraft crashed while landing in Myanmar. Physicians in Thailand indicated that his injuries were not survivable. Through the Flames documents the crash and his subsequent recovery, framing the experience through Buddhist teachings.