Acharya
Holly Gayley
Acharya Holly Gayley is an Assistant Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Colorado in Boulder, having completed a Masters at Naropa University in 2000 and Ph.D. at Harvard University in 2009. She has been practicing meditation in the Shambhala tradition for more than twenty years and regularly leads meditation retreats and workshops as a senior teacher […]
Acharya Melissa Moore
Melissa Moore, PhD., has been a student of Shambhala since 1979. She has an MA in Contemplative Psychotherapy from Naropa University, and she has been teaching internationally since 1994. She was empowered as an Acharya in 2013. She Co-founded and continues to offer The Karuna Training, a 2-year professional certificate in Contemplative Psychology. Karuna training […]
Acharya Dale Asrael
Dale Asrael, growing up in a suburb of Washington, DC, studied music and dance and, even as a young child, ruthlessly searched for answers. Through her Jewish ancestry, she learned to celebrate the sacredness of life and, simultaneously be aware of the depth of human suffering. After completing university studies in film and Eastern religions, […]
Emily Bower
Acharya Emily Bower started practicing in the Shambhala community in 1987, in Berkeley, CA. She began studying with Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche when he came to teach in Berkeley in 1991. She served as his editor for various projects, including his first book, Turning the Mind into an Ally. She has studied kyudo with Kanjuro Shibata Sensei and […]
Arawana Hayashi
Arawana Hayashi first saw Vidyadhara Chogyam Rinpoche in the summer of 1974 when her improvisational dance company auspiciously toured through Boulder. She did not remember anything he said, but she had never seen anyone move through the space as he did. That inspired her to stop and sit down on a cushion. In 1976 he […]
Gaylon Ferguson
Soon after reading Meditation in Action, Gaylon heard the Vidyadhara teach several summer seminars in Vermont. In 1973, after giving a “particularly panic-stricken and disorganized ” open house talk, Gaylon joined Tail of the Tiger Buddhist Community (now Karme Choling) where he worked in the garden, set the tractor on fire, and took people into retreat. […]
Richard John
An early student of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Richard also served as acharya for Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. Richard completed the first three-year retreat at Gampo Abbey, and has led meditation retreats throughout North America for over 30 years.
Susan Gillis Chapman
Susan Gillis Chapman is an elder who has been practicing in our lineage since 1974. After the parinirvana of Trungpa Rinpoche, she made a deep dive into mahamudra practice and studied with Thrangu Rinpoche for 20 years, including 9 years at Gampo Abbey. She completed the traditional three-year retreat and went on to serve as […]
Dan Hessey
Daniel Hessey discovered the dharma in 1973 through Trungpa Rinpoche’s book Meditation in Action and moved to Tail of the Tiger (now Karmê Chöling) the following year. He has lived in Shambhala communities — Karmê Chöling, Shambhala Mountain Center, and Marpa House -- for the majority of his adult life. He served as co-director of […]
Charlene Leung
Acharya Charlene Leung has served as Chairperson of the Shambhala International Diversity Working Group since 2009. She was appointed by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche as a Shastri in 2010 and an Acharya in 2018. She first became a student of the Vidyadhara Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1983. Over the years, Charlene has led Way of Shambhala and […]
Acharya Eve Rosenthal
Eve Rosenthal became a student of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, founder of Shambhala and Naropa University, in 1973. In the mid-eighties, she began to teach the dharma in New York City. She was empowered by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche as an acharya (senior teacher) in 2005. She travels widely to teach on meditation and Shambhala and Buddhist principles, leading […]
Acharya Judith Simmer-Brown
Acharya Judith Simmer-Brown, Ph.D., is Distinguished Professor of Contemplative and Religious Studies at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, where she has taught since 1978. She has been a Shambhala Acharya since 2000, and teaches internationally. Her teaching specialties are meditation practice, compassion, Shambhala teachings, Buddhist philosophy, tantric Buddhism, and contemplative higher education. Her book, Dakini’s Warm Breath (Shambhala 2001), […]