Michael Zittel is a Buddhist meditation teacher empowered in the Theravāda lineage and the founder of Rogue Wisdom, where he leads retreats exploring classical awakening, Engaged Buddhism, and the embodied integration of practice. He also teaches at InsightLA.

With over 40 years of meditation experience, Michael has trained in both monastic and secular settings across the U.S. and Asia — including in the Thai Forest tradition, Zen Monastic practice, and study at a Tibetan monastery in Nepal. His teaching draws from deep examination of the Pali Canon, Abhidhamma, and awareness-based traditions, weaving together Theravāda discipline (Vipassana, Jhanas, Brahmaviharas), direct experience of Zen, Vajrayana pointing-out instructions, innovation of Pragmatic Dharma, and Shinzen Young’s Unified Mindfulness.

As a licensed psychotherapist and EMDR specialist, he integrates Buddhist psychology with trauma-informed care, offering grounded practices that cultivate emotional resilience, somatic steadiness, and liberating insight.

His work is especially supportive for neurodivergent practitioners and those seeking to align inner transformation with compassionate, collective action. At the heart of his teaching is an invitation into direct experience, psychological clarity, and the spacious, ungrasping freedom of awareness itself.