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 what is now Shambhala Mountain Center from 1985 to 1992, and served on its Board of Directors for five years. He has taught the Shambhala dharma extensively in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Australia. Before becoming an acharya, he served for two years as shastri for Shambhala Mountain Center and Fort Collins.
Dan is on the founding board of The Beanstalk Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to supporting grassroots social entrepreneurs based in Denver, Colorado. Over the last fifteen years he has translated the Yijing (I Ching) from the Chinese into English under the direction of Eva Wong. He has retired from his career as a mortgage banker in Boulder Colorado, and now serves as the resident Acharya at Shambhala Mountain Center. He is the proud father of his daughter Amanda, who is now in college.