Khenpo Choga Rinpoche – Dzogchen Buddhism
Great Perfection of Wisdom lineage holder Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche was born in Tibet, where he began training in Buddhism at the age of five at the Dzogchen Monastery. He has been recognized as the reincarnation of enlightened Tibetan master Gedun Chopel, who is the emanation of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of the Buddha’s Wisdom. He received the transmissions and teachings of the Sutras, Tantras and Shastras from forty-two Buddhist masters and the complete empowerments and instruction of the Dzogchen Tantras from his root masters Khenchen Padma Tsewang, Drupchen Chatral Chochyab, and Guru Dechen Namdrol.
He studied and taught for ten years at the Dzogchen Shri Singha Five Sciences University the five major sciences of Fine Arts, Medicine, Linguistics, Philosophy, and Buddhism, as well as the five minor sciences of Poetics, Synonymy, Prosody, Drama, and Astrology. For seven years he meditated in the Siltrom Mountain caves in the Holy Dzogchen area of Tibet, under difficult conditions, with little food and only a few tattered clothes. During that time, he recited millions of mantras and was directly granted the blessings of Buddha Shakyamuni, Padmasambhava, Shri Singha, Bodhisattva Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara and Tara. Continuously he studies and practices with diligence, as well as being patient, disciplined, and generous to others. He is always radiating wonderful blessings and healing powers of wisdom to all beings and all elements.
Rinpoche is the thirty-third holder of the Dzogchen lineage, lama of Dzogchen Monastery, a Professor of the Dzogchen Shri Singha University, Spiritual Leader of Dzogchen Shri Singha International, Founder of the Dzogchen Shri Singha Dharma Centers, and Director of Dzogchen Shri Singha International Charitable Organizations. He has written more than thirty books on the five major sciences. He currently teaches Dharma and gives practice training to thousands of students, in more than forty countries around the world.
Yangthang Rinpoche – Dzogchen Buddhism
Kyabje Domang Yangthang Rinpoche, a renowned Nyigma leaneage holder of the Nyingthig Yabshi, which combines all the major Dzogchen schools. He is most well known for deliberatyely staying in Tibet after its takeover by China in order to teach in the prisons. He lived for 22 years in Chinese prisons, teaching both the Tibetan prisoners and the Chinese guards. After his release, he traveled throughout Europe, Asia and the US, to give teachings and esoteric transmissions. During his 2013 visit, his story inspired officials in Montgomery County, Meryland, to officially name April 23 “Yangthang Tulku Day”. His life and activities are recounted in the documentary film, Domang Yangthang by Rayonner Films.
Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche – Dzogchen Buddhism
Trulshik Rinpoche – Chokyi Lodro, the head of the Nyingma School, was one of the main teachers of the 14th Dalai Lama, and the heart son of both: Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche and Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.
“When you judje another, you do not define them, you define yourself. Perception is not reality. What appear to be faults in others may actually be reflections of our own emotional afflictions. I don’t have an attitude problem, you have a perception problem. remember the way people treat us is their karma, . The way we react is our own.”
Rinpoche is the subject of a documentary film Destroyer of Illusion: The Secret world of a Tibetan Lama, narrated by Richard Gere.
Yuan Miao – Yoga of Joy
Yuan Miao is a profound Chinese/Tibetan spiritual teacher who was trained from infancy by her enlightened Tibetan Grandmother whose father was a high Tibetan Buddhist Lama Rinpoche. Grandma transmitted her lineage directly to Yuan Miao.
Singer, dancer, artist and author, Miao does not consider herself to be a spiritual teacher but rather a transmitter of joy. Although her spiritual roots are in Vajrayana and Dzogchen Buddhism, Miao’s approach is not Tibetan Buddhist. She imparts a universal wisdom that embraces people of all faiths, as well as those who consider themselves non-religious.
Yoga of Joy is the tantric practice of Vajrayana yoga and primordial yoga (the Yoga of Joy) as “discovered” by master Yuan Miao. Yuan Miao hails from the lineage of her Tibetan grandmother, Yeshe Tsuomu, whose father was a rinpoche in the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.
Yoga of Joy combines postures, breathwork, visualizations, mantra and mudra in a concise and highly effective practice to purify both gross and subtle bodies.
The initial 8 steps of The Yoga of Joy involve form, but the ultimate aim of the practice is to move beyond form–open one’s heart and discover our true Inner Nature.
Master Wang – Tibetan Qigong
Master Zi Sheng Wang (pronounced W-ah-ng), preeminent Qigong healer, has been studying and teaching Qigong for almost 60 years. He has developed the unique ability to transmit energy to tens of thousands at a time, even across vast distances. The International Chinese Medicine Congress honored him as the Most Outstanding Qigong Master of the Year in 1998, and he is recognized as one of China’s foremost energy healers.
In Beijing, he has coached some of China’s top athletes. He is a board member and advisor of many Chinese Qigong associations, and is the founder and president of the San Francisco based International Tibetan Qigong Association. He has authored the book, The Path of Dzogchen, currently available both in Chinese and English.
Fiona Whitmore – Qiqong, Energy Healing
Fiona Whitmore has studied, practiced, and taught healing, intuitive development, rebirthing, mind and emotional transformational tools, breath, Feng Shui/Geomancy, Qi Gong, meditation and Earth Awareness throughout the world for thirty five years. During much of her life she has lived among and studied with indigenous people of Africa, Australia, and Hawaii.
She studied yoga and meditation for over twelve years in India, Australia, England and the US. She was a medium and psychic consultant and gave classes in ‘Awakening to Natural Intuitive Abilities’ throughout Australia in the 70’s. During the 80’s she taught classes in energy healing, shamanism, rebirthing, past life regression, meditation and ‘awakening to natural intuitive abilities’ in Australia, California, and New York. For 16 years she was an apprentice to Grandmaster Hong, a Qi Gong and Feng Shui Grandmaster, one of only a handful of grandmasters in the world. In 1996 she established The Healix Institute in NY. She lives and works in Ojai, CA, but travels to NY to teach in the schools ongoing classes and to see clients regularly.
Dolores Krieger – Therapeutic Touch
“Therapeutic Touch is only partially about healing others. Equally – perhaps even more importantly – it is about an inner journey. It is important to acknowledge that the empowerment in Therapeutic Touch comes through the TT therapist’s quest for a liaison with the Inner Self.” Dolores Krieger
Therapeutic Touch is an intentionally directed process of energy exchange during which the practitioner uses the hands as a focus to facilitate the healing process. It is a contemporary interpretation of several ancient healing practices. Therapeutic Touch is a scientifically-based practice founded on the premise that the human body, mind, emotions and intuition form a complex, dynamic energy field. The human energy field is governed by pattern and order. In health, the field is balanced, however in dis-ease, the energy is characterized by imbalance and dis-order.