Teachers

Mandala Principle

The Shambhala community is organized as a mandala, a circular framework that connects the teachers and teachings with the community of practitioners. The legendary kingdom of Shambhala is traditionally painted as a mandala with the ruler at the centre, and the households radiating from and around that centre. The authority of such a mandala, combining sacred and secular roles of teacher and leader, is known in Tibetan as the tridzin, or "throne holder". In the Shambhala tradition, this has been a family heritage, passed from one generation to the next.

Druk Sakyong
Trungpa Rinpoche

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche
Sakyong Mipham
Rinpoche

The Throne Holder

The first throne holder of the contemporary Shambhala Mandala was Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who served as the first Sakyong (meaning "earth protector"). The current throne holder is his son and spiritual heir, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche.

The Vajra Regent

Osel Tendzin
Vajra Regent
Ösel Tendzin

In 1976 Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche empowered Thomas F. Rich, one of his American students, as his Vajra Regent, Ösel Tendzin. He served as head of the organizations founded by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche from 1987 until his death in 1990. His teachings are preserved both in the Shambhala Archives as well as by Satdharma, the organization established to propagate the teachings the Vajra Regent received from Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, and in the Vajra Regent Library & Archives. For a biography of the Vajra Regent and information on his collected teachings, please visit: www.vrot.org.

Calligraphies by the Vajra Regent

Shambhala Acharyas

Acharya is a Sanskrit word that means "teacher." It refers to individuals that Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche has empowered to represent him and the Kagyu, Nyingma, and Shambhala lineages he holds. Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche chose these individuals because of their knowledge, wisdom, and commitment to the confluence of teachings found in Shambhala.

Acharyas travel to Shambhala Meditation Centers to lead dharma programs and perform Refuge and Bodhisattva Vow ceremonies for those who would like to commit themselves to the Buddhist path. Some have selected certain teachings to be their main focus (such a Maitri, Death & Dying, etc.).

John Rockwell, Ashe Acharya	Dale Asrael, Dean of Meditation Instructors	Marianne Bots	Emily Bower
Christie Cashman	Orhun Cercel	Susan Chapman	Pema Chödrön
Suzann Duquette, Rupa Acharya	Gaylon Ferguson	Michael Greenleaf, Wealth & Generosity Acharya	Moh Hardin
Arawana Hayashi	Jeremy Hayward	Dan Hessey	David Hope
Richard John	Mitchell Levy	Adam Lobel, Kalapa Acharya	Dorje Loppön Lodrö Dorje
Allyn Lyon	Barbara Märtens	Fleet Maull	Norbu McKeever
Noel McLellan	Larry Mermelstein	Melissa Moore	Mathias Pongracz
Eve Rosenthal, Chair of the Acharya_Council	David Schneider	Alan Schwartz	Judith Simmer-Brown, Dean of Teachers Academy
Susan Skjei	Eric Spiegel	Alfonso Taboada	Jenny Warwick
Han de Wit
Acharya Emeriti
Sam Bercholz	Judy Lief	Jules Levinson	Fenja Heupers

In Memoriam
Simon Luna

Current Combined Acharya Schedules

Monthy schedules

Individual schedules

Acharya Protocol is being updated. Please check back later for this document.

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Write to Lin Waters to get additional information on the acharyas and their schedules.

Shastri

In 2010, the Sakyong empowered a group of about 60 teachers in the Shambhala mandala to the new role of shastri. In Sanskrit, shastri literally means "teacher learned in the texts and commentaries". The shastris have been selected from our dedicated senior teachers, as well as from newer, youger teachers and will serve a term of three years. Additional shastris will be appointed in future years, as the needs of our local and regional centres become more clarified.

The shastris role is to bring the current understanding of the Shambhala Buddhist vision and teachings to their centres, to be a reference point for questions about the path, and in particular to help establish The Way of Shambhala curriculum as the core path. A major role of the shastri is to personally mentor and strengthen the local teaching mandala.

Shastris will also support the leadership in Shambhala centres in building comunity and strengthening the vision of enlightened society.

View a list of the first group of shastris.

Teachers and Teacher Training

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the founder of the Shambhala Mandala, had the profound conviction that the teachings he held could be transmitted to students in other cultures and that they, in turn, could be empowered to teach and lead others. Thus, within the Shambhala Mandala, there is a strong emphasis on cultivating different levels of teachers and leaders.

There are programs to train Shambhala Guides. Meditation Instructors, Buddhist teachers and Directors and Assistant Directors of Shambhala Training.

In addition to the acharyas listed above, there are hundreds of meditation instructors and teachers worldwide, working with students at local centres and leading weekly classes and major programs. The teachers leading programs are normally featured in conjunction with the specific programs they are teaching, which can be found on Find a Program.