Visiting Teachers

Tara Mandala Visiting Teachers

Amelia Hall, PhD

Dr. Amelia Hall is an Assistant Professor of Buddhism and Department Chair in the Wisdom Traditions Department at Naropa University. She gained her PhD. in Tibetan and Himalayan Studies from the University of Oxford in 2012. She has taught and developed courses on Buddhism at Central Michigan University and Antioch…

Arturo Peal

Arturo Peal has spent over 30 years inspiring and educating yoga teachers, body workers, and movement specialists across the globe through his classes in Anatomy, Kinesiology, and Therapeutic Touch. With a unique gift for translating complex scientific concepts into tangible teachings for his students, he raises awareness of how the…

Barbara Bash

Barbara Bash is a lover of the alphabet and practitioner of contemplative art practices. A longtime Buddhist she explores the mixing of Asian sensibility with Western art forms and has collaborated with musicians, storytellers and dancers in fresh forms of visual learning. Barbara has written and illustrated a number of…

Cady Allione

Through her roles as a mother, dharma practitioner, and leader, Cady has cultivated a strong sense of compassion, patience, humor and wisdom. She has been involved with the Tara Mandala community for almost 20 years participating in retreats, guiding the organization, and supporting the sangha. In addition to her work…

Chakung Jigme Wangdrak Rinpoche

Chakung Jigme Wangdrak Rinpoche (ལྕགས་ཁུང་འཇིགས་མེད་དབང་དྲག) was born in the Golok region of Eastern Tibet as the fourth descendant of the great Tibetan master Dudjom Lingpa – one of the foremost spiritual masters of 19th Century Tibet. At the age of 15 he was recognized as the reincarnation of Rigzin Longsal…

Christina Monson

Christina Monson (Sangye Gyalmo) was a renowned Tibetan language translator and interpreter with over thirty years of study, translation, and practice experience in Buddhism. Her interest in Asian philosophy led her to immerse herself in the study of religion as an undergraduate student at Brown University. Later, she focused her…

Christopher Crotty

Chris Crotty, M.A., is a Buddhist teacher and pastoral counselor. He was authorized to teach in the western insight (vipassana) tradition in 2015, and in 2016 was encouraged to teach vipassana and metta by the Venerable Sayadaw U Indaka (Chanmyay Myaing, Myanmar). Chris’s teaching combines Theravada Buddhism’s emphasis on insight…

Dönla Tsering

Dönla Tsering was born to a Tibetan family in India, and at a young age was entrusted to the care of famous Tibetan scholar and astrologer Ngawang Dakpa. After finishing high school in Delhi, she moved to Italy, where she became a student of Dr. Nida Chenagtsang in 2002 with…

Dr. Larry Ward

Dr. Larry Ward is the co-founder and executive director of The Lotus Institute. He is a senior Dharma teacher in the Plum Village tradition of Engaged Buddhism, and the author of America’s Racial Karma: An Invitation to Heal. Dr. Ward holds a PhD in Religious Studies with an emphasis on Buddhism and…

Dr. Nida Chenagtsang

Dr. Nida Chenagtsang was born in Amdo, in North Eastern Tibet. Interested in Sowa Rigpa, the traditional healing science of his people, he began his early medical studies at the local Tibetan Medicine hospital. Later he gained scholarship entry to Lhasa Tibetan Medical University, where he completed his medical education…

Dr. Peggy Rowe Ward

Dr. Peggy Rowe Ward is the co-founder and director of education at The Lotus Institute. She is a senior Dharma teacher in the Plum Village tradition of Engaged Buddhism, and the author of Love’s Garden: A Guide To Mindful Relationships. She has her doctorate in adult education and an MA in counseling…

Dr. Tenzin Yangdon

Dr. Tenzin Yangdon graduated in 1992 from Men-Tsee-Khang Tibetan Medical College in Dharamsala, India, where she studied traditional herbal medicine, acupuncture, and holistic healing. She practiced for many years under the guidance of the esteemed Dr. Kunga Gyurmey Nyerongsha, personal physician of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama; and in…

Erin Treat

Erin Treat is the Guiding Teacher of Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center in northern New Mexico and a member of the Spirit Rock Teacher Council, where she is a core faculty teacher of the 6th Community Dharma Leader program.  She lives in Durango, CO and serves as Resident Teacher at the…

Gena McCarthy RN, MFT

Gena McCarthy RN, MFT  is an EMDR certified perinatal psychotherapist.  She is the founder and developer of the Birth Spirituality and Healing Network, the Contra Costa County Perinatal Depression to Wellness Network and developed two local HMO Perinatal Integrative Health Programs.  She co-founded the East Bay/ SF Peer Perinatal Professional…

H.E. Chung Tulku Rinpoche

H.E. Chung Tulku Rinpoche comes from an unusual yak-herding family with 7 sons, 5 of which have been recognized as tulkus. He is the third son, and second tulku of the family. He was born in Bhamarpo in Bhutan, very close to the sacred three-peaked mountain of Gangkharpunsum, which represents…

Jake Nagasawa

Jake Nagasawa is a scholar of Tibetan Buddhism. He has been studying classical Tibetan and Sanskrit formally for ten years. Jake’s research focuses on Tantric Buddhism in ancient and medieval Tibet. He is particularly interested in the tantras and the oral tradition (bka’ ma) of the Nyingma School. Jake also…

Jeanine M. Canty, PhD

Jeanine M. Canty, PhD, is a professor within the Transformative Studies Doctoral program at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco, working from a distance via the foothills of Boulder, CO. Previously, she was a professor of Environmental Studies at Naropa University, a Buddhist inspired institution, and she…

JoAnna Hardy

JoAnna Hardy an insight meditation (Vipassanā) practitioner and teacher; founding member of the Meditation Coalition, www.meditationcoalition.com a teacher’s council member at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, visiting retreat teacher at Insight Meditation Society, Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center and a collaborator on many online meditation programs. She was born into a Catholic family…

Khandro Kunsang Chozom

Khandro Kunsang Chozom, teacher and consort of the late Lama Pema Dorje Rinpoche, beloved teacher at Tara Mandala and master yogi of the Nyingmapa tradition.

Lama Rod Owens

Lama Rod Owens is an author, activist, and authorized Lama (Buddhist Teacher) in the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism. Lama Rod is the co-founder of Bhumisparsha, a Buddhist tantric practice and study community. Lama Rod is also a teacher with the Daishin Zen Buddhist Temple, the Urban Yoga Foundation, Inward…

Lama Willa Blythe Baker

Lama Willa Blythe Baker has studied and practiced in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition for the last thirty years in the non-sectarian Kagyu, Nyingma and Shangpa lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. She completed two three-year retreats in the nineties, and teaches Tibetan Buddhist practice, meditation and yoga in the Northeast. Her teaching…

Mark Coleman

Mark is an inner and outer explorer, who has devotedly studied mindfulness meditation practices for three decades. He is passionate about sharing the power of meditation and has taught Insight meditation retreats in five continents for the past twenty years.  Mark is a senior meditation teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation…

Meg McCraken

Meg McCraken, E-RYT 500. Meg is passionate about sharing the full, rich teachings of yoga and meditation in a truly experiential way that helps us to positively transform and enrich our lives. Having worked as a yoga therapist for over a decade, she is continually inspired by the vitality of…

Michael Meade

Michael Meade, D.H.L., is a renowned storyteller, author, and scholar of mythology, anthropology, and psychology. He combines hypnotic storytelling, street-savvy perceptiveness, and spellbinding interpretations of ancient myths with a deep knowledge of cross-cultural rituals.  He is the author of Awakening the Soul: A Deep Response to a Troubled World,The Genius…

Mushim Patricia Ikeda

Mushim Patricia Ikeda is a writer, Buddhist and mindfulness teacher, and justice activist based in Oakland, California. She is one of several core teachers at the East Bay Meditation Center, an urban Buddhist-and-justice-based community center founded to serve historically excluded communities. She has taught meditation retreats nationally for Black, Indigenous and People of…

Olivia Hoblitzelle

Olivia’s love for the dharma began in the early ‘70s primarily with Vipassana followed by many years in a devotional tradition from India.  In the mid ‘90s, she met her root teacher in Tibetan Buddhism and has since practiced primarily in the Dzogchen tradition. She is a dharma teacher and…

Osho Zenju Earthlyn Manuel

Osho Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, born to parents who migrated from rural Louisiana at the start of WWII, has walked through many different doors spiritually and academically. She was ordained in the Suzuki Roshi lineage. She has a PhD and she’s also a poet and author. Essentially, she’s a Seer in…

Prema Dasara

Prema Dasara is an international teacher of sacred dance and dharma. She is the creator of the Mandala Dance of the 21 Praises of Tara. This profound practice is a vehicle of empowerment, calling forth from dancers and audience the highest expression of wisdom and compassion. Her dances have been…

Rev. Grace Schireson, Ph.D.

Rev. Grace Schireson, Ph.D. Grace has trained extensively in American and Japanese Zen in both the Soto and Rinzai schools.  She has also received a Ph.D., from the Wright Institute in Clinical Psychology and a Masters Degree in Organizational Psychology from Antioch University and has practiced professionally as a clinician…

Rhonda LoPresti

RHONDA LOPRESTI – END OF LIFE COACH, HOME FUNERAL GUIDE As an End of Life Coach, Rhonda is passionate in holding and creating sacred space, personal ritual, spiritual practice and creative choices through dying and deathcare. She believes we can learn to die and in learning to die we actually…

Sangye Khandro

Sangye Khandro became a Buddhist in 1971 when she traveled to Asia, finally arriving in Dharamsala, India, where she began six-months of study at the newly opened Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. Throughout the next seven years, she continued her studies of Buddhist teachings and the Tibetan language. She…

Ven. Dr. Myodo Jabo

Venerable Dr. Myodo Jabo is a Buddhist Priest and Zen Master in the Five Mountain Zen Order. A meditator since 1998, she has been teaching the Buddhadharma and meditation since 2008 and was ordained as a Priest in 2013. She founded Single Flower Zen Center in Claremont, California in 2014.…

Venerable Sogan Rinpoche

Ven. Sogan Rinpoche (Tulku Pema Lodoe) was born in 1964 in the Golok region of Amdo, in eastern Tibet. At the age of seventeen he went to Bayan Monastery to start his formal spiritual training. Later, he was recognized by H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama as the 6th Sogan Rinpoche…

Victress Hitchcock

A long time Buddhist and filmmaker, Victress’ works include – Blessings: The Tsoknyi Nangchen Nuns of Tibet and When the Iron Bird Flies: Tibetan Buddhism Arrives in the West. In 2013 she was authorized as a Buddhist teacher by Anam Thubten. Since retiring from production in 2017, she has become…

Wendy Garling

Wendy Garling Wendy has a BA from Wellesley College and an MA specializing in Sanskrit language and literature from the University of California, Berkeley. She is a vajrayana practitioner and dharma teacher in the Lam Rim tradition; her root teacher was Venerable Geshe Acharya Thubten Loden. In 1976, she took…

Katchie Ananda

Katchie Ananda is an international Yoga and Dharma teacher whose leadership in yoga and social change prompted Yoga Journal to name her one of five top yoga teachers making change in the world. Katchie has 25 years of experience as a full-time yoga teacher and trainer, and is certified in…

Erik Jampa Andersson, MA

Erik Jampa Andersson, MA, is an Environmental Historian, author, and scholar-practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan Medicine. He is a graduate of the Shang Shung Institute School of Tibetan Medicine, where he received a comprehensive education in the Four Tantras (rGyud bZhi), and holds an MA in History from Goldsmiths College, University…

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Fabio Andrico

  Fabio Andrico was born and raised in Italy and is an internationally recognized expert on the unique tradition of Tibetan Yoga, known as Yantra Yoga, from the lineage of the renowned Tibetan translator and Dzogchen master, Vairocana. Fabio studied directly under the great Tibetan Dzog Chen master, Chögyal Namkhai…

Scott Blossom

Scott Blossom is a Traditional Chinese Medical practitioner, Shadow Yoga teacher and Ayurvedic Consultant. He has been studying yoga since 1989 and teaching since 1997. His primary teachers are Zhander Remete, founder of Shadow Yoga, and Dr. Robert Svoboda, Ayurvedic physician and scholar. In 2011 he founded DoctorBlossom.com, a site…

Matthew Brensilver, PhD

Matthew Brensilver, PhD, began practice in the Tibetan tradition and since 2003, has studied with Shinzen Young. He served as a Buddhist chaplain at USC for four years and teaches about the intersection of mindfulness and psychotherapy at UCLA’sMindful Awareness Research Center. Matthew was trained by Noah Levine, with whom…

Marlow Brooks

Marlow Brooks is a calligrapher, painter, Five Element acupuncturist, healer, and longtime Buddhist practitioner. She teaches at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, and conducts private classes in calligraphy and healing. She is a featured artist in the documentary “Chinese Calligraphy in 5000 Years,” and she recently published a book of…

Kunze Chimed

Kunze Chimed, a native of Mongolia, began her study and practice of Buddhism at the age of seventeen under the tutelage of old Mongolian Buddhist masters who survived the Communist regime. She joined the Jamyang Choeling Buddhist Nunnery in Dharamsala, India for three years, and pursued further study of Buddhist…

Pema Chödrön

Pema Chödrön is a leading exponent of teachings on meditation and how they apply to everyday life. She is widely known for her charming and down-to-earth interpretation of Tibetan Buddhism for Western audiences. An American Buddhist nun, Pema studied under the meditation master Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and currently studies with…

Adriana Dal Borgo

Adriana Dal Borgo is a Psychologist and psychotherapist. She met the great Dzogchen Master, Chögyal Namkhai Norbu in Italy in 1986 and has been his student ever since. Adriana learned Chögyal Namkai Norbu’s Vajra Dance from him directly and in 1994 was authorized to teach this method and further authorize…

Julie Daley

Julie Daley is an educator writer, consultant and leadership coach who has led hundreds of people from all walks of life to awaken the soul–the source of true creative expression within. Julie guides individuals from around the world in discovering and uncovering their true nature as creative human beings. She speaks about…

Krishna Das

Layering traditional Hindu kirtan with instantly accessible melodies and modern instrumentation, Krishna Das has been called yoga’s “rock star.”  With a remarkably soulful voice that touches the deepest chord in even the most casual listener, Krishna Das – known to friends, family, and fans as simply KD – has taken…

Khandro Tsering Drolkar

Khandro Tsering Drolkar was born in Bumthang, Bhutan in 1963. In 1984 she began an eleven year retreat under the guidance of her consort Lama Naljorpa at the Phurpaling Retreat Center in Tashiyangtse. During Lama Naljorpa’s lifelong retreat there, she received many teachings and experiential trainings directly from him. She…

Ranjini George, MA, MFA, PhD

Ranjini George, MA, MFA, PhD Ranjini George holds a PhD in English (Northern Illinois University, USA), an MA in English (St. Stephen’s College, New Delhi, India) and an MFA in Creative Writing (University of British Columbia, Canada). She was a Georges and Anne Bochardt Fiction Scholar (Sewannee Writers’ Conference) and…

Chitra Giauque

Chitra Giauque is founder of  the Dakini Wisdom School of Yoga, a living confluence of Yoga, Ayurveda, Jyotish and Continuum movement.  A certified Ayurvedic Practitioner, Chitra studied with Dr. Lad at the Ayurvedic institute where she developed and taught the Yoga Curriculum and Yoga teacher training program for 8 years.…

Lama Sarah Harding

Sarah Harding has been studying and practicing Buddhism since 1974, and has been teaching and translating since completing a three-year retreat in 1980 under the guidance of Kyabjé Kalu Rinpoché. She was associate professor at Naropa University for twenty-five years in Boulder, Colorado, where she currently resides, and has been…

Mutima Rose Imani

Mutima Rose Imani is a Social Justice Visionary, Reverend, Trainer and Facilitator working to Heal the Heart of Humanity. For 35 years, Mutima has offered healings and Rites of Passage programs to women. As a Global Diversity Specialist, she is passionate and skilled at bringing diverse groups together to transmute old wounds and establish…

Luke Karamol

Luke has been studying and practicing yoga for over 15 years and teaches Tibetan yantra yoga and hatha yoga. He was authorized to teach in the thrul khor system of yantra yoga through Chögyal Namkhai Norbu in 2013. Additionally Luke is a hatha yoga instructor having completed a 300 hour…

Stephen Karcher Ph.D.

Stephen Karcher, Ph.D., is an internationally known scholar, writer, translator, graphic artist and an initiated master diviner. He has taught and lectured on the Yijing and divination in the United States, Great Britain, France, Spain, Switzerland, and South Africa. As Research Director of the Eranos Foundation (Ascona, Switzerland) he pioneered a depth psychological…

Drubpön Lama Karma

Venerable retreat master (Drubpön) Lama Karma was born in eastern Bhutan and joined the Long-Nying Chöling Monastery at a young age. His root teacher was Lama Naljorpa, the great yogi of Mahamudra and Dzogchen, from whom he received numerous vows, empowerments, instructions and oral transmissions, including the Chöd Rinchen Trengwa…

Nadine Keller, MA

Nadine is a Somatic Therapist specializing in intimacy, sexuality and spirituality. She holds a Masters in Somatic Psychology, teaches Hatha Yoga, and is an Ordained Priestess and Minister.  She has worked with individuals, couples and families for over 20 years. She facilitates workshops and retreats into the mysteries of the…

Chagdud Khadro

Chagdud Khadro has taught the meditation of P’howa, transference of consciousness at the moment of death, since 1986. Like many Buddhist practitioners, especially in the Tibetan tradition, her teaching is informed by the writings and oral transmissions of such great masters as Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, Sogyal Rinpoche, the Dzogchen Ponlop…

Chöying Khandro, M.A.

Chöying Khandro, M.A., holds the complete transmissions of two lineages, the Ganden Ensa Ear-Whispered Lineage and the Machik Dakini Ear-Whispered Lineage, from her teacher, the late Ninth Khalkha Jetsun Dampa (1932-2012). She brings more than three decades of intense study and practice to her teachings and has completed a number…

Traleg Khandro

Traleg Khandro, long-time student and wife of the late Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche IX, is the Director of E-Vam Buddhist Institute America and Nyima Centre Online Learning in Australia. Khandro studied Buddhism under Traleg Rinpoche’s guidance for 30 years and has undertaken numerous long meditation retreats. At Rinpoche’s request Khandro received…

Anne Klein

Anne Klein/Rigzin Drolma is a Professor and former Chair of Religious Studies at Rice University. She is also the founding director and Resident Lama at Dawn Mountain Tibetan Buddhist Temple, founded in 1996 (www.dawnmountain.org). Her scholarly dharma training includes close textual study with Geshe Wangyal, Lati Rinpoche, Loling Kensur Yeshe Thupden, and…

Lopön Beth Lee-Herbert M.A., L.M.H.C.

Lopön Beth Lee-Herbert M.A., L.M.H.C. began her practice of Tibetan Buddhism under Lama Tsultrim Allione at 22, and completed the practices of the Dzinpa Rangdröl in three-year retreat at Tara Mandala between 2009 and 2012. In 2013, Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche made her the Tsalung Lopön, teacher of the esoteric practices…

Yungchen Lhamo

Yungchen Lhamo born in Tibet she escaped to India overland in 1989. Lhamo’s name means “Goddess of Song” – a name given to her by a Lama soon after she was born near Lhasa. She has made pilgrimage to Dharamsala, to receive the blessings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama . She reaches out to the world…

Eve Ekman

Eve Ekman, Ph.D., MSW, is the Director of Training at the Greater Good Science Center, Eve is an experienced speaker, researcher, and group facilitator with a unique background ideally suited to training individuals and organizations in the science of happiness, resilience, compassion, mindfulness, and emotional awareness. Eve creates dynamic trainings adapted…

Joanna Macy

Joanna Macy Ph.D.

Joanna Macy’s wide-ranging work addresses psychological and spiritual issues of the nuclear age, the cultivation of ecological awareness, and the fruitful resonance between Buddhist thought and contemporary science. The many dimensions of this work are explored in her books Despair and Personal Power in the Nuclear Age (New Society Publishers,…

Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel

Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel has studied and practiced the Buddhadharma for over 35 years under the guidance of her root teacher Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. She is the author of two books, The Power of an Open Question and The Logic of Faith. She edited two books by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, It’s…

Ācārya Malcolm Smith

Ācārya Malcolm Smith met the Dharma in 1989. His principle gurus are H.H. Sakya Trichen, the late Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, and the late Kunzang Dechen Lingpa. He is a veteran of a traditional three-year solitary Tibetan Buddhist retreat. He is a translator and has several published and forthcoming translations with…

Andrew Keller

Andrew is a husband, father and mentor committed to the upliftment of humanity and bringing back the wisdom and magnanimous heart of the Divine Masculine.   Dedicated in his own spiritual practice, working in ceremony and brotherhood, he collaborates with Shamanic Practitioners holding ritual, ceremony and prayer in his community.  Andrew…

R. Carlos Nakai

Of Navajo-Ute heritage, R. Carlos Nakai is the world’s premier performer of the Native American flute. He began his musical studies on the trumpet, but a car accident ruined his embouchure. His musical interests took a turn when he was given a traditional cedar flute as a gift and challenged…

Wes Nisker

Wes Nisker has practiced Buddhist meditation for over 35 years with various teachers in Asia and the West. He is the author of the bestselling booksBuddha’s Nature; The Big Bang, the Buddha, and the Baby Boom; andEssential Crazy Wisdom, and the founder and co-editor of the Buddhist journal “Inquiring Mind.”…

Chögyal Namkhai Norbu

Chögyal Namkhai Norbu was born in Derghe, eastern Tibet in 1938. As a child he was recognized as the reincarnation of the great Dzogchen Master, Adzom Drugpa (1842-1924), and later by the 16th Karmapa as a reincarnation of Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (1594-1651), the first Dharmaraja of Bhutan. As a teenager…

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo was born in England in 1943 and named Diane Perry. She and her older brother were raised by her mother in the Bethnal Green area of London after her father’s death when Diane was 2 years old. Mrs Perry was a spiritualist who held séances in the…

Phakchok Rinpoche

Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche was born in 1981 and is a lineage holder of the Profound Treasures of Chokgyur Lingpa from the Nyingma School of Early Translations and one of the throne-holders of the Riwoche Taklung Kagyu Lineage. Phakchok Rinpoche’s primary root gurus are his grandfather, the late Kyabje Tulku Urgyen…

Lama Gyurme Rabgye

Master painter and craftsman Lama Gyurme was born in Dranang, Tibet in 1969. His family sent him to the Mindroling monastery upon the invitation of the head monk to study painting and traditional arts when he was 15. Lama Gyurme’s first teacher was from Kham (Guangzhou) located in Eastern Tibet.…

Anna Raithel

Anna Raithel completed her B.A. in Religion and then lived at Tara Mandala for six years, working as Lama Tsultrim’s Executive Assistant and the Temple Manager. She studied Tibetan language and gyaling, coordinated the annual Drubchens, and was the lead umdze (chant leader) and chöpön (ritual arts leader). She recently finished…

Shiva Rea

Shiva Rea bows to the master teachers, elders and grandmothers from around the world from Africa to Asia who have expanded and deepened her integration of yoga and movement meditation. With a M.A. in World Arts and Cultures, Shiva is the founder of Global School of Living Yoga, Prana Vinyasa,…

Adzom Gyalse Rinpoche

Adzom Gyalse Rinpoche is the reincarnation of Adzom Gyalse Gyurme Dorje, who was the son of Adzom Drukpa Pawo Dorje. He was born in the year of the Iron-monkey (1980) in Bumthang, a region of central Bhutan, which was blessed as a hidden, sacred land by Guru Padmasambhava. He is…

Lama Tsering Wangdu Rinpoche

Lama Tsering Wangdu Rinpoche was born in 1939 in the Langkor Valley in West Tingri, Tibet. The region was the Tibetan home of Padampa Sangye, the founder of the Shije and Machik Labdron, the founder of Chod. Lama Wangdu Rinpoche began studying with his root lama, Naptra Rinpoche, at age 8.…

Tsoknyi Rinpoche

Tsoknyi Rinpoche

Tsoknyi Rinpoche III was recognized by His Holiness the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa as the reincarnation of Drubwang Tsoknyi Rinpoche II. He is a renowned master of the Drukpa Kagyu and Nyingma traditions and also holds the Tsoknyi lineage, which is based on Ratna Lingpa’s termas. Since 1991, Tsoknyi Rinpoche has been teaching students worldwide in the Dzogchen…

Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche

Gochen Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche is the founder and spiritual director of Ewam International Centers around the world. Born in 1952 into one of the oldest families in Tibet, which eventually came to be known under the name Namchak, or “sky iron,” in an area called Chamdo in the Kham region…

Miranda Shaw

Miranda Shaw, Ph.D., Harvard University, is a Buddhist scholar known for her inspiring and groundbreaking work on women in Vajrayana Buddhism, chronicled in her renowned book Passionate Enlightenment, which has been translated into seven languages. She is also the author of Buddhist Goddesses of India, a thorough and fascinating historic and iconographical…

Alejandra Siroka, M.A.

Alejandra Siroka is a truth seeker who has devoted her life to the study of language and communication. She believes that developing conscious skills with our language and communication is an essential spiritual practice in the path of awakening. Alejandra founded Language Alchemy™, a transformative process that allows individuals, couples…

Michelle Stransky

Michelle Stransky, Founder of WisdomWomen, believes that it is time for women to bring their deep wisdom forward into co-creating the life-affirming world we know is possible. Michelle was the conference director at Wisdom 2.0, where she launched WisdomWomen in 2013. A former management consultant and executive coach, she is…

Dr. Robert Svoboda

Dr. Robert Svoboda is the first Westerner ever to graduate from a college of Ayurveda and be licensed to practice Ayurveda in India. During and after his formal Ayurvedic training he was tutored in Ayurveda, Yoga, Jyotish, Tantra and other forms of classical Indian lore by his mentor, the Aghori…

Anam Thubten

Anam Thubten grew up in Tibet and at an early age began to practice in the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Among his many teachers, his most formative guides were Lama Tsurlo, Khenpo Chopel, and Lama Garwang. He is the founder and spiritual advisor of Dharmata Foundation, teaching widely in…

Frank Trombetta

Frank graduated with a degree in Zoology and later received a doctorate in Holistic Health. He is also a Hakomi (body centered psychotherapy) graduate, trained by instructors from the Naropa Institute. He has done a number of wilderness solo vision quests ranging from two weeks to three months beginning in…

Demetri Velisarius

Demetri Velisarius is a long-time Dzogchen practitioner and meditation teacher and co-founder of Prana Danda Yoga. Students of Lama Tsultrim in the Yab Yum and Dakini Mandala, Demetri and Shiva’s global offerings can be found at www.pranavinyasaflow.com and www.yogaalchemy.com

Khenpo Ugyen Wangchuk

 Khenpo Ugyen Wangchuk is one of the rare advanced level Bhutanese monastics that is willing to teach full-time in the West. Khenpo has studied and practiced Buddhism since the age of 7, and in 2001 completed a nine-year course in Buddhist studies, receiving a Master’s degree (MA) in Buddhist Philosophy from…

Stephan Wormland

Stephan Wormland, 1965, Germany. MA in clinical psychology and trained in Gestalt therapy. Stephan has studied and practiced meditation in multiple Buddhist traditions for over 30 years. He was a monk in the Tibetan tradition for 11 years, spent altogether five years in retreats and teaches meditation in Buddhist centers…

Stacy Zumbroegel

Stacy Zumbroegel is a practicing counselor and meditation teacher who lives in Myanmar and California. Her love of the Dharma and Asian culture has her traveling throughout India, Nepal, and Myanmar. She has been practicing Buddhism for over twenty-five years. As a counselor and mentor, Stacy has experience working with…