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Alejandro Chaoul
Dr. Alejandro ‘Ale’ Chaoul has studied in the Tibetan tradition since 1989, and for more than 30 years with Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak, His Holiness Lungtok Tenpa Nyima and Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, completing the 7-year training at Ligmincha Institute in 2000. He also received Tibetan Yoga (Tsa Lung & Trul Khor) training in Triten Norbutse monastery in Nepal and Menri monastery in India; and holds a PhD in Tibetan religions from Rice University, with his dissertation on Tibetan Yoga from the Bon tradition and applications in contemporary medical settings. Since 1995, Ale has been teaching meditation classes and Tibetan Yoga workshops nationally and internationally under the auspices of Ligmincha International. In 1999 he began teaching these techniques at the Integrative Medicine Program of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX, where he holds an adjunct faculty position and for the last twenty years has conducted research on the effect of these practices in people with cancer and their caregivers. His research and publications focus on mind-body practices in integrative care, examining how these practices can reduce chronic stress, anxiety and sleep disorders and improve quality of life. He is the author of Chod Practice in the Bon Tradition (SnowLion, 2009),…
Choekhortshang Rinpoche
Geshe Nyima Woser Choekhortshang Rinpoche was born in a village next to the Samling monastery, Dolpo, Nepal on 15th June 1976. His family is leading authority of the Tashi Namgyal monastery in their village. When he was eight years old he traveled to India and, his father and grandfather took him to India, Central School for Tibetans, in Dolanji, Himachal Pradesh, India. He received a modern education and learnt English, Hindi and Tibetan. In 1992 at the age of sixteen he took religious vows and gradually adapted to monastic life. At the same time he was admitted to the Bon Dialectic School of the Menri monastery. He studied Tibetan Bon philosophy, Astrology, Astronomy, Tibetan Literature and History, traditional Tibetan medicine, religious chanting and meditation for sixteen years. He was honored with the Geshe degree, the highest degree in the Tibetan monastic education system, in 2008. During his studies in the Menri monastery he received a special opportunity to serve as a secretary of His Holiness 33rd Menri Trizin, the spiritual head of the Bon religion, for eight years. In 2001, he was selected to be a member of the editorial committee for course books of the Bon Dialectic School.…
Dr. Danny Lewin, Ph.D.
Dr. Daniel Lewin is a licensed psychologist, a sleep and circadian researcher and a board certified sleep clinician. His career focus has been improving public awareness of sleep and circadian health and sleep disorders outcomes. Recently, he has focused on integrating his expertise in sleep medicine with yoga, mindfulness and psychedelic assisted psychotherapy to develop innovative approaches to understand sleep health and sleep behavior in the context of spiritual and cultural practices. Danny has published more than 50 papers and chapters, provided sleep and circadian training to hundreds of healthcare providers and directed an NIH funded sleep laboratory. He has given hundreds of lectures throughout the US and internationally, and chaired sleep-health symposia at scientific meetings.
Dr. Leslie Blackhall
Dr. Blackhall is the section head for Palliative Care at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. She is a nationally known expert in cross-cultural, ethical and clinical aspects of end-of-life care. She did her undergraduate degree at Yale University, went to New York University for medical school and residency training at Boston University. Her involvement in Tibetan medicine spans her career. In medical school Dr. Blackhall received a fellowship in Philosophy and Medicine where she compared Tibetan and Western views on health and illness and later spent a month in Dharamsala, India studying Tibetan Medicine with Dr. Yeshe Dhonden. Following her residency she received a Masters in Theologic Studies at Harvard Divinity School where she studied medical anthropology, the history of medicine, bioethics and Tibetan language. She works with the largest group of Tibetan Physicians in China, and has brought several to UVA as visiting professors. She has served as a visiting professor at the TsoNgon (ch: Qinghai) University Tibetan Medical College.
Dr. Nikki Mirghafori
Dr. Mirghafori is a Buddhist teacher and Artificial Intelligence scientist. She is a lineage holder in the Theravada tradition, empowered by the Burmese meditation master Venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw, with whom she practiced the jhanas and detailed analytical (Abhidhamma-style) vipassana. She also received empowerment from the Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Insight Meditation Society, Insight Meditation Center, and is a Stanford-trained compassion cultivation instructor. Additionally, Nikki has been a researcher and inventor in AI, holding multiple patents and co-author of 40+ scientific research articles. She has directed international research programs as the Principal Investigator, mentored post-docs and PhD students, taught graduate courses at UC Berkeley, and been a scientific advisor to Silicon Valley technology startups. Nikki serves as a Stewarding Teacher and on the Board of Directors at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, CA and as a Teacher at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA. Nikki is Iranian-American, has taught contemplative practices internationally, and aspires to serve as a champion for wisdom and compassion, as well as ethical AI in our zeitgeist.
Dr. Sangmo Yangri, Ph.D.
Sangmo (Yangri), Ph.D, scholar, teacher, and translator, is the first Tibetan woman to receive a Ph.D In Tibetan Bon philosophy studies. A recipient of the Jwaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund grant, she won the Prime Minister Award from the Tibetan Government in Exile in India in 2013. After completing her PhD, she was asked by His Holiness the 33rd Menri Trizin Lungtok Tenpe Nyima Rinpoche to teach at the dialectic school at the Redna Menling Nunnery in Dolanji. She taught at Lishu Institute in India both in site and online the Bon teaching to western students. She has also translated from Tibetan to English various teachers from Lishu Institute and from Menri Monastery. Sangmo-la’s first book in English is: Escape from Darkness: The spiritual journey of the Buddha Tonpa Shenrab Miwo’s daughter ShenzaNechung. This book is a translation of a chapter of the biography of Buddha Shenrab Miwo. Her second publication in English is The Lamp of UZa Rinchin Sal, a Delog story from the Bön tradition. She has also translated the Zhang Zhung Nyengyud Ngondro: The preliminary Practices to Dzogchen according to the Oral Transmission of Zhangzhung from the Tibetan teaching of PonlobTsangpa Tenzin Rinpoche in Shenten from the Tibetan…
Dr. Tenzin Namdul, TMD, PhD
Dr. Tenzin Namdul, an Assistant Professor and Director of Tibetan Healing Initiative of the Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing at the University of Minnesota, is a medical anthropologist and a Tibetan Medicine doctor, driven to understand mind-body relationship in studying healthy aging and memory, cognitive resilience, and end-of-life care through the lens of biocultural and Tibetan medical paradigms. He incorporates his wide array of training into translational science to examine how cultural values and practices shape the ways in which individuals age and die and care for others who are dying. His doctoral research examines how Tibetan medical doctors, Buddhist practitioners, and lay people’s perspectives about death and dying translate into their care for dying individuals and their own dying process. Specifically, he explores the Tibetan Buddhist contemplative practice called tukdam—a meditation an adept practitioner indulges in after a clinical death—through ethnographic study and shows how it informs and shapes both the sociomoral fabric of life and the sense of wellbeing at the time of dying among Tibetan refugees in southern India. Dr. Namdul’s current research investigates factors associated with cognitive and physical resilience and how they influence aging and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias among Tibetan Buddhist monks in…
Dr. Wenli Liu M.D.
Dr. Liu received her medical degree from Hunan Medical University in Changsha, China. After completing her residency training in Internal Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), She joined on as faculty at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and had a successful 22-year career at the largest cancer center in the world. With her extensive patient care experience and continued efforts to keep abreast of emerging medical research, she became cognizant of the impact that lifestyle has on cancer risks, treatment response, and disease progression. She developed a passionate interest in the areas of nutrition and physical fitness in cancer patients and found herself discontinuing medications much more frequently than prescribing them. She counseled cancer patients on how their lifestyle choices impact their overall treatment plan and well-being. She firmly believes that prevention is the best medicine. Integrating science and lifestyle is her practice motto. The establishment of her clinic, Integrative Medicine Clinic-Houston, will allow her the opportunity to serve a broader community. Dr. Liu hosts an educational channel – Integrative Medicine Perspective where she talks about various integrative medicine topics.
Drubdra Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin Rinpoche
About Drubdra Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin Rinpoche Drubdra Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin Rinpoche is a renowned Dzogchen and Bön meditation master and Abbot of the Meditation School at Triten Norbutse Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal. Personally appointed by His Eminence Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, and having and having received all Bön initiations and transmissions from both H.E. Yongdzin Rinpoche and the 33rd Menri Trizin Rinpoche, the previous spiritual head of the Bön Tradition, Drubdra Khenpo Rinpoche brings both profound textual understanding and direct, lived experience. In 2025, he served as chant master at H.E. Yongdzin Rinpoche’s cremation ritual, a deep testament to his devotion, depth of practice, and respect within the lineage. Born in 1968 in East Tibet to a Bönpo family of nomadic herders, Khenpo Rinpoche trained at Lungkar and Menri Monasteries in Tibet, and Triten Norbutse Monastery in Nepal, combining profound textual study with decades of meditative practice. In 2001, Khenpo Rinpoche received the geshe degree from Triten Norbutse, equivalent to a Ph.D. in religious studies. Since 2002, he has led the meditation school at Triten Norbutse, guiding students in Dzogchen and related Bön practices, and has taught internationally in Tibet, China, Japan, Europe, and England. Known for his clarity, warmth,…
Father Francis Tiso
Father Francis Tiso holds the A.B. in Medieval Studies from Cornell University, a Master of Divinity degree (cum laude) from Harvard University and a doctorate from Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary where his specialization was Buddhist studies. Fr. Tiso translated several early biographies of the Tibetan yogi and poet, Milarepa and has led research expeditions in South Asia, Tibet and the Far East. His teaching interests include Christian theology, history of religions, spirituality, ecumenism and interreligious dialogue. Father Tiso was Associate Director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops from 2004 to 2009, where he served as liaison to Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, the Sikhs, and the Reformed (Calvinist) Churches. Since 1988, Father Tiso has been a priest of the Diocese of Isernia-Venafro, Italy, where he now serves as chaplain to the migrant communities in the Province of Isernia. Father Tiso is the author of Liberation in One Lifetime (2014) and Rainbow Body and Resurrection (2016). He is the recipient of grants from the American Academy of Religion, the American Philosophical Society, the Palmers Fund in Switzerland, and the Institute of Noetic Sciences in Petaluma, CA.
Gabriel Rocco
Gabriel Rocco, M.A. is a Senior Teacher for The 3 Doors and a student of its founder, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, for nearly 30 years. Gabriel earned his Master of Arts in Contemplative Psychotherapy from Naropa University in 1982. He was a senior teacher for the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Program for Mindfulness and served as the Mind Body Specialist for the Wellness Community in Philadelphia providing meditation instruction, stress management, and a variety of contemplative healing practices for people living with cancer and their families. Currently, Gabriel, along with his wife, Marcy Vaughn, created and continues to teach The 3 Doors Compassion Project.
Geshe Denma Gyaltsen
Geshe Denma was born in northern Nepal. His father brought him to Menri Monastery, India, regarded as the mother Bon monastery in exile, in 1981 to begin his program of study toward the Geshe degree. He received all the Bon teachings, initiations, and transmissions in sutra, tantra, and dzogchen from His Holiness Lungtok Tenpai Nyima Rinpoche, the 33rd Menri Trizin, and His Eminence Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche. When he became a senior student, he was asked to teach philosophy to younger students. He successfully completed this degree program in 1996 and was awarded the Geshe certificate, which is considered equivalent to a Ph.D. in Bön Buddhist philosophy and religion. Geshe Denma was an accomplished teacher and in 1998 was appointed, with the approval of the Tibetan government in exile, first abbot of Zhu Rishing Yungdrung Kundak-Ling Monastery, a Bon Monastery in Sikkim, India by His Holiness. He served two terms in this capacity until 2003. In addition, from the time he graduated until 2008, Geshe Denma also was active in assisting Geshe Nyima Dakpa with the Bon Children’s Home, which houses many children in Dolanji, India, providing them with food, healthcare and free education. Geshe Denma has traveled many times…
Geshe Tenzin Yangton
Geshe Tenzin Yangton was born into the profound Yangton Lineage in 1974 in Chharka, Dolpo, Nepal. As a child he completed the customary three-year retreat at Yanggon Monastery. In 1990 he became a monk at Triten Norbutse Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal, taking his vows from Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche. In 1992 Geshe Tenzin arrived at Menri Monastery in Dolanji, India, and enrolled in the Bön Dialectic School. There he studied sutra, tantra, and dzogchen. He was awarded the auspicious degree of Geshe in 2006. For several years, Geshe Tenzin served as the resident lama at Serenity Ridge Retreat Center, the headquarters of Ligmincha International located in rural Nelson County, Virginia, U.S.A, until health issues led him to seek treatment and support in Asia. After leaving Serenity Ridge and residing at Menri Monastery, Geshe Yangton, then went on an extended personal retreat. In November of 2024 he came out of retreat and returned to Kathmandu, Nepal, where he currently resides. He is the coordinator of Yanggon Thongdrop Phuntsog Ling Monastery and Dolpo Tsaga Welfare Healthcare Clinic. He is putting his best efforts towards maintaining and developing facilities in Chharka in order to preserve the culture and teachings of Bön in general and…
Geshe Yungdrung Gyatso
Geshe Yungdrung Gyatso is the resident lama of Ligmincha Poland. He lives in the Chamma Ling Poland center in Wilga, near Warsaw. He also teaches throughout Europe. Geshe Gyatso was born in 1980 in Bicher village, in the Dolpo region of Nepal. This is also the home of the Samling Monastery, the oldest and most important Bön monastery in the region. Geshe Gyatso spent his childhood summers taking care of sheep and yaks. The winters he spent mostly with his father in a monastery, where he learned Tibetan reading and writing, recited mantras and sometimes helped his father prepare tsok offerings. At age 9, he and his father traveled to Kathmandu, where he became one of the first monks to begin study at Triten Norbutse Monastery. He received teachings from His Eminence Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche. Following the consecration of a new, large temple at the monastery, Geshe Gyatso joined the dialectic school along with about 100 other monks. He began studying for his geshe degree at Triten Norbutse Monastery in 1994 and received his degree in 2009. He then did a 100-day retreat where he practiced tsa lung and trul khor (which work with breath, channels, chakras and…
His Holiness, the 34th Menri Trizin, Lungtok Dawa Dhargyal Rinpoche, spiritual head of the Bön tradition of Tibet
His Holiness Lungtok Dawa Dhargyal Rinpoche, the 34th Menri Trizin, is the spiritual leader of Bön and the abbot of Menri Monastery in Dolanji, India. His Holiness was selected as the 34th Menri Trizin on January 1, 2018, following a process that included prayers and rituals to Bön deities and protectors. It is a lifelong appointment. The 34th Menri Trizin Rinpoche was born November 29, 1972, in Amdo, Tibet. At age 17 he became a monk at Gamal Monastery in Amdo, and at age 18 he joined the Bön Dialectic School of Gamal Monastery. He received his geshe degree from Gamal Monastery at age 24. Then he made his way to Menri Monastery in India, where he received his second geshe degree, in 2012. He served the 33rd Menri Trizin, His Holiness Lungtok Tenpai Nyima Rinpoche, for many years and held several important roles in the monastery, most recently as general secretary (administrator) of the Yungdrung Bön Monastic Center Society at Menri. In February 2018, Bönpos worldwide joined in celebrating the selection of the 34th Menri Trizin at Menri Monastery. On September 6, 2018, a formal grand enthronement ceremony took place at Menri.
Khandro Tsering Wangmo Khymsar
Khandro Tsering Wangmo Khymsar is deeply steeped in the life, rituals and traditions of Yungdrung Bön religion and culture. Her parents fled Yatung, a village in the Chumbi Valley of Tibet, in 1959, to India, where she was born and raised. Her family clan is the important Zhutsang/Zhu lineage. Khandro-la is well known for her personal warmth and vibrant laugh, using personal stories and experiences in her teaching to combine spiritual and practical knowledge. She is the wife of Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. They live together in California with their fifteen year old son, Senghe. Khandro-la has a degree in social services and is deeply involved in education, community building and support for the homeless in the Berkeley, CA area. She has an excellent command of spoken English.
Khenpo Nyima Dhondup Rinpoche
Menri Shedrup Khenpo Geshe Nyima Dhondup Rinpoche is abbot of the Bön Dialectic School at Menri Monastery in Dolanji, India. He was born in 1978 in Delhi, India. His birth name, Tsering Dhondup, was bestowed on him by Tsondue Rinpoche, one of the greatest Bön masters of the 20th century. After completing more than 15 years’ study of Bön sutra, tantra, dzogchen and the five major and minor sciences of the Bön tradition, Nyima Rinpoche received his geshe Degree in the spring of 2006. In 2008 Rinpoche was enthroned as Menri Shedrup Lopon, the principal master of the Bön Dialectic School at Menri Monastery, where he has been teaching for more than 15 years. In February 2012 he was enthroned as the Menri Shedrup Khenpo, the Abbot of the Bön Dialectic School. Rinpoche has served as invited speaker for several major Bön and Buddhist conferences. He is author of three books covering the main philosophical teachings of Bön, and has contributed several articles to Bon-sGo, the journal of Menri Monastery in India; and the Himalayan Bön website in Tibet. He has taken on additional responsibilities as General Secretary of the Governing Council of Menri Monastery, and since 2011, as director…
Lama Kalsang Nyima
Lama Kalsang Nyima is a resident lama of Ligmincha Mexico. He is well known as an artist and thanka painter of the Bön tradition. Previously a resident lama for Ligmincha Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia, he now lives at the Great Bön Stupa for World Peace in Valle de Bravo, Mexico. Born in 1970 in the village of Tad, in the province of Dolpo, Nepal, he is connected to Bön through his father’s Dong lineage, and to Buddhism through his mother’s Nyel lineage. At age 9, Lama Kalsang became a monk at Samling Monastery, the oldest and most important monastery in Dolpo, where his grandfather, Lama Lhagyep Rinpoche, was head teacher. There, he trained intensively for 12 years in the many methods of sutra and tantra, finished his ngöndro (foundational practices) and completed many personal retreats, including a traditional three-year closed retreat. At age 21, Lama Kalsang spent a month walking from Dolpo to Kathmandu to study at Triten Norbutse Monastery with H.E Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche. During his four years of study, in addition to traditional Bön teachings he also learned techniques of traditional thangka painting. Lama Kalsang then spent five additional years studying thangka painting at Tulku Urgyen…
Marcy Vaughn
MARCY VAUGHN has been a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism and Bon for more than 50 years. A senior student of Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, she serves as the director of practice and study for Ligmincha International. She is a senior teacher and serves as President of the Board of Directors of The Three Doors, a secular non-profit founded by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche to bring meditation as a tool for transformation to diverse audiences. Marcy is the editor of Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s books: Tibetan Sound Healing, Awakening the Sacred Body, Awakening the Luminous Mind, and Spontaneous Creativity. A graduate in the first class of the master’s program in contemplative psychotherapy at Naropa University, Marcy leads meditation retreats throughout North America, Europe, and Mexico, and conducts training programs in the therapeutic uses of mindfulness, imagery, and contemplative practices.
Menri Shedrup Khenpo Geshe Nyima Dhondup Rinpoche
Menri Shedrup Khenpo Geshe Nyima Dhondup Rinpoche is abbot of the Bön Dialectic School at Menri Monastery in Dolanji, India. He was born in 1978 in Delhi, India. His birth name, Tsering Dhondup, was bestowed on him by Tsondue Rinpoche, one of the greatest Bön masters of the 20th century. After completing more than 15 years’ study of Bön sutra, tantra, dzogchen and the five major and minor sciences of the Bön tradition, Nyima Rinpoche received his geshe Degree in the spring of 2006. In 2008 Rinpoche was enthroned as Menri Shedrup Lopon, the principal master of the Bön Dialectic School at Menri Monastery, where he has been teaching for more than 15 years. In February 2012 he was enthroned as the Menri Shedrup Khenpo, the Abbot of the Bön Dialectic School. Rinpoche has served as invited speaker for several major Bön and Buddhist conferences. He is author of three books covering the main philosophical teachings of Bön, and has contributed several articles to Bon-sGo, the journal of Menri Monastery in India; and the Himalayan Bön website in Tibet. He has taken on additional responsibilities as General Secretary of the Governing Council of Menri Monastery, and since 2011, as director…
Rob Patzig
About Rob Patzig Rob is the president of Ligmincha International since 2015, and is an authorized instructor of both tsa lung and trul khor. A teacher of hatha yoga since 2005, Rob encountered the Bön teachings in 2007 and met Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche in 2009, his root teacher. Blessed to have attended many teachings with qualified lamas and Rinpoches and to have directly experienced their incredible power for self-transformation, he tries to build his life around service to his family, teachers and the Bön community. Rob lives in Charlottesville with his wife Eileen and two dogs.
Tawni Tidwell, TMD, Ph.D.
Dr. Tawni Tidwell is a distinguished contributor to the intersection of medicine and Tibetan Buddhist practices. As the first Westerner to be certified as a Tibetan doctor alongside a PhD in anthropology, Dr. Tidwell skillfully bridges traditional Tibetan and contemporary medical worlds. She is deeply committed to holistic health, dedicating her career to the synthesis of cross-cultural medical insights. Dr. Tidwell’s unique expertise offers deep insights into integrated healthcare approaches, making her a leading voice at the forefront of wellness practices.
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, founder and spiritual director of Ligmincha International, is one of only a few masters of the Bön Dzogchen tradition presently living in the West. An accomplished scholar in the Bön Buddhist textual traditions of philosophy, exegesis, and debate, Tenzin Rinpoche completed a rigorous11-year course of traditional studies at the Bönpo Monastic Center (Menri Monastery) in India, where he received his Geshe, degree. In 1992 Tenzin Rinpoche founded Ligmincha International in order to preserve and introduce to the West the religious teachings and arts of the ancient Tibetan Bön Buddhist tradition. Fluent in English, Rinpoche is known for his clear, lively, and insightful teaching style and his ability to make Tibetan practices easily accessible to the Western student. He is a highly respected and beloved teacher to students throughout the United States, Mexico, and Europe. In addition to Ligmincha International’s affiliates in the United States, Rinpoche has established centers in Central and South America, Europe and India. Rinpoche is the author of 10 books: Wonders of the Natural Mind, in which he presents the view and practice of the Bön Dzogchen teachings; and The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep; Healing with Form, Energy, and Light: The…
Yangdron Kalzang
Yangdron Kalzang, a Tibetan Doctor, earned a Tibetan Medicine degree from the Tibetan Medical University in Lhasa, Tibet, and her Master’s degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine from Five Branches University, Graduate School of Traditional Chinese Medicine. She is an Acupuncturist licensed by the state of California and an Acupuncturist and Herbalist certified by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM). She is also a founding member and current faculty member of the Shang Shung Institute, School of Tibetan Medicine in Conway, Massachusetts. Yangdron Kalzang serves as an educational resource for the University of California at San Francisco and Stanford University medical students and faculty and many Buddhist centers in the Bay Area. She regularly lectures and delivers seminars on Tibetan medicine.